“BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO GOD’S TRUE FAITH”?
BY:J.FARRELL FISHER, MAY 28,2019
I RECENTLY READ THOMAS ARNOLD’S COMMENT ABOUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’ WHEN IN THE “ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS QUOTATIONS”, (FLEMING H.REVELL COMP., WESTWOOD,NJ,,1965),HE SAID, “THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN CHRISTIANITY & ALL OTHER SYSTEMS OF RELIGION CONSISTS LARGELY IN THIS, THAT IN THESE OTHERS, MEN ARE FOUND SEEKING AFTER GOD, WHILE CHRISTIANITY IS GOD SEEKING AFTER MEN.” SO TRUE! BECAUSE IT’S HOLY GOD KNOCKING ON THE DOORS OF MEN’S HEARTS ASKING TO BE INVITED IN!
PROVERBS 1:22-29 TELLS US OF ‘SCORNERS & FOOLS’ WHO DESPISE THE ETERNAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE “LIVING GOD”! IT SAYS: “HOW LONG, YOU SIMPLE ONES, WILL YOU LOVE SIMPLICITY? & THE SCORNERS DELIGHT IN THEIR SCORNING, & FOOLS HATE KNOWLEDGE? TURN YOU AT MY REPROOF: BEHOLD, I WILL POUR OUT MY SPIRIT UNTO YOU, I WILL MAKE KNOWN MY WORDS UNTO YOU. BECAUSE I HAVE CALLED, & YOU REFUSED; I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HAND, & NO MAN REGARDED;
BUT YOU HAVE SET AT NOUGHT ALL MY COUNSEL, & WOULD (HAVE) NONE OF MY REPROOF: I ALSO WILL LAUGH AT YOUR CALAMITY; I WILL MOCK WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES; WHEN YOUR FEAR COMES AS DESOLATION, & YOUR DESTRUCTION COMES AS A WHIRLWIND; WHEN DISTRESS & ANGUISH COME UPON YOU.
THEN SHALL THEY CALL UPON ME, BUT I WILL NOT ANSWER; THEY SHALL SEEK ME EARLY, BUT THEY SHALL NOT FIND ME; FOR THAT THEY HATED KNOWLEDGE, & DID NOT CHOOSE THE FEAR OF THE LORD.”
HOW INSPIRING, HOW AWAKENING, HOW TRANSFORMING DO YOU FIND THE WORD OF GOD, AND ESPECIALLY AS IT UNFOLDS ‘FALLEN MEN’S BLINDNESS’ TO GOD’S LOVE, HIS MERCY, & HIS GRACE? IN ISAIAH 65:2-12 WE READ, GOD SPEAKING, “I HAVE SPREAD OUT MY HANDS ALL THE DAY UNTO A REBELLIOUS PEOPLE, WHICH WALK IN A WAY THAT WAS NOT GOOD (IS NOT NOW!), AFTER THEIR OWN THOUGHTS; A PEOPLE THAT PROVOKE ME TO ANGER CONTINUALLY TO MY FACE; ( A LOT OF PEOPLE ‘THINK’, ‘LOOK TOWARD’, EVEN ‘REFLECT UPON “GOD”, BUT THEN LOOK INWARD TO A SELFISH LEAN RATHER THAN UPWARD TO A SAVIOR’S LOVE!); THAT ‘SACRIFICE’ IN GARDENS, & BURN INCENSE UPON ALTARS OF BRICK; (CHRIST JESUS ISN’T ‘BRICK’; HE’S THE ETERNAL “BLESSING” OF THE MIND, HEART, & SPIRIT OF HOLY GOD!); WHICH REMAINS AMONG THE GRAVES, & LODGE IN THE MOUNTAINS, WHICH EAT SWINE’S FLESH, & BROTH OF ABOMINABLE THINGS IS IN THEIR VESSELS;
WHICH SAY, STAND BY YOURSELF, COME NOT NEAR TO ME; FOR I AM HOLIER THAN YOU. THESE ARE A SMOKE IN MY NOSE, A FIRE THAT BURNS ALL DAY. BEHOLD, IT IS WRITTEN BEFORE ME:I WILL NOT KEEP SILENCE, BUT WILL RECOMPENSE, EVEN RECOMPENSE INTO THEIR BOSOM. YOUR INIQUITIES, & THE INIQUITIES OF YOUR FATHERS TOGETHER, SAYS THE LORD, WHICH HAVE BURNED INCENSE UPON THE MOUNTAINS, & BLASPHEMED ME UPON THE HILLS; THEREFORE WILL I MEASURE THEIR FORMER WORK INTO THEIR BOSOM. (IS THAT “HARDENING THEIR HEARTS EVEN MORE”?).
THUS SAYS THE LORD, AS THE NEW WINE IS FOUND IN THE CLUSTER, & ONE SAYS, DESTROY IT NOT; FOR A BLESSING IS IN IT; SO WILL I DO FOR MY SERVANTS’ SAKES, THAT I MAY NOT DESTROY THEM ALL. AND I WILL BRING FORTH A SEED OUT OF JACOB, & OUT OF JUDAH AN INHERITOR OF MY MOUNTAINS; & MY ELECT SHALL INHERIT IT, & MY SERVANTS SHALL DWELL THERE. AND SHARON SHALL BE A FOLD OF FLOCKS, & THE VALLEY OF ACHOR A PLACE FOR THE HERDS TO LIE DOWN IN, FOR MY PEOPLE THAT HAVE SOUGHT ME. ( ARE “YOU” A SEEKER?).
BUT, YOU ARE THEY THAT FORSAKE THE LORD, THAT FORGET MY HOLY MOUNTAIN, THAT PREPARE A TABLE FOR THAT TROOP, & THAT FURNISH THE DRINK OFFERING UNTO THAT NUMBER. THEREFORE WILL I NUMBER YOU TO THE SWORD, & YOU SHALL ALL BOW DOWN TO THE SLAUGHTER: “BECAUSE” WHEN I CALLED, YOU DID NOT ANSWER; WHEN I SPOKE, YOU DID NOT HEAR; BUT DID EVIL BEFORE MY EYES, & DID CHOOSE THAT WHEREIN I DELIGHTED NOT.”
GOD SAYS, “I CALL, BUT YOU DON’T ANSWER?” “I KNOCK, BUT THE DOOR OF YOUR HEART, MIND, & WILL REMAINS UNDER YOUR SELF-PROTECTION?” “I LAY BEFORE YOU MY PROMISES, BUT YOU ‘REST’ IN YOUR PRETENSE?” OH, GOD ALSO SAYS, “I CRY, I MOURN, I LAMENT, OVER MEN,”LIKE THE WORD DELIVERED IN 1 TIMOTHY 6:1-6, & 11-12! IT SAYS: “LET AS MANY SERVANTS (ARE “YOU” A ‘SERVANT OF CHRIST” OR ONE CAPTURED BY ‘SELF-WILL, SATANIC INFLUENCES, WORLDLY, SELF-INDULGING IMPULSES’??).AS ARE UNDER THE YOKE COUNT THEIR OWN MASTERS (BOSSES) WORTHY OF ALL HONOR, THAT THE NAME OF GOD & HIS DOCTRINE BE NOT BLASPHEMED.
AND THEY THAT HAVE BELIEVING “BOSSES”, LET THEM NOT DESPISE THEM, BECAUSE THEY ARE BROTHERS; BUT RATHER DO THEM SERVICE, BECAUSE THEY ARE FAITHFUL & BELOVED, PARTAKERS OF THE BENEFIT. THESE THINGS TEACH & EXHORT. IF ANY MAN TEACH OTHERWISE, & CONSENT NOT TO WHOLESOME WORDS, EVEN THE WORDS OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, & TO THE DOCTRINE WHICH IS ACCORDING TO GODLINESS (1 PETER 1:14-15!); HE IS PROUD, KNOWING NOTHING, BUT DOTING ABOUT QUESTIONS & STRIFES OF WORDS, WHEREOF COMES ENVY, STRIFE, RAILINGS, EVIL SURMISINGS, PERVERSE DISPUTINGS OF MEN OF CORRUPT MINDS (ROMANS 1), & DESTITUTE OF THE TRUTH, SUPPOSING THAT GAIN IS GODLINESS: FROM SUCH WITHDRAW YOURSELF. BUT GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN.
THEN, 1 TIMOTHY 6:11-12! “BUT YOU, O MAN OF GOD, FLEE THESE THINGS; & FOLLOW AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS, GODLINESS, FAITH, LOVE, PATIENCE (OR STEDFASTNESS!), MEEKNESS, (OR TEACHABLENESS!). FIGHT THE GOOD FIGHT OF FAITH, LAY HOLD ON ETERNAL LIFE, (&”DON’T LET GO”!!), WHEREUNTO YOU ARE “CALLED”, & HAVE PROFESSED A GOOD PROFESSION BEFORE MANY WITNESSES.”
THE HOLY WORD OF GOD, THE “LIVING PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST IN YOU BY WAY OF REPENTANCE TOWARD GOD & FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK, & HIS ABIDING PRESENCE IN YOU ILLUMINED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT”, & THE “WITNESS” OF HOLY MEN & WOMEN AROUND YOU IN YOUR DAILY WALK OF FAITH” – I TELL YOU, ‘YOU’ SHOULD NEVER “FALL AWAY”!!
IN PROVERBS 7:1-5 THE “WISE MAN” WROTE: “MY SON, KEEP MY WORDS, & LAY UP MY COMMANDMENTS WITH YOU. KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS, & LIVE, & MY LAW AS THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE. BIND THEM UPON YOUR FINGERS, WRITE THEM UPON THE TABLE OF YOUR HEART. SAY UNTO WISDOM, YOU ARE MY SISTER; & CALL UNDERSTANDING YOUR KINSWOMAN: THAT THEY MAY KEEP YOU FROM THE STRANGE WOMAN, FROM THE STRANGER WHICH FLATTERS WITH HER WORDS.” THE “STRANGE WOMAN”? THAT’S THE SPIRITURAL OR LITERAL ADULTERER; THAT’S THE “PRETENDERS OF THE FAITH” APART FROM “POSSESSED & OWNED BY GOD THROUGH HIS “BLOOD PURCHASE”; THAT’S THE “WORLDLY” SOLD OUT FOR THE HERE & NOW IN THE ‘BEST’ (?) OF “FLESH, OLD SIN-NATURE ALLEGIANCE, & DEMONIC DECEPTION”?
IN HEBREWS 3:6-14 WE ARE ALERTED TO ‘UNFAITHFUL RELIGIOUS DEVOTION, VOID OF TRUE ETERNAL ONENESS IN & THROUGH CHRIST ALONE ! THE HOLY WORD SAYS: “BUT CHRIST AS A SON OVER HIS OWN HOUSE; WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE IF WE HOLD FAST THE CONFIDENCE & THE REJOICING OF THE HOPE FIRM UNTO THE END. WHEREFORE (AS THE HOLY SPIRIT SAYS, TODAY IF YOU WILL HEAR HIS VOICE, HARDEN NOT YOUR HEARTS, AS IN THE PROVOCATION, IN THE DAY OF TEMPTATION IN THE WILDERNESS: WHEN YOUR FATHERS TEMPTED ME, PROVED ME, & SAW MY WORKS FORTY YEARS.
WHEREFORE I WAS GRIEVED WITH THAT GENERATION, & SAID, THEY DO ALWAYS ERR IN THEIR HEART; & THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN MY WAYS. SO I SWORE IN MY WRATH, THEY SHALL NOT ENTER INTO MY REST.) TAKE HEED, BRETHREN, LEST THERE BE IN ANY OF YOU AN EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF, IN DEPARTING FROM THE LIVING GOD. BUT EXHORT ONE ANOTHER DAILY, WHILE IT IS CALLED “TODAY”; LEST ANY OF YOU BE HARDENED THROUGH THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN. FOR WE ARE MADE PARTAKERS OF CHRIST, IF WE HOLD THE BEGINNING OF OUR CONFIDENCE STEDFAST UNTO THE END.”
OH, THEN IN HEBREWS 4:9-11, WE READ ABOUT “THE REST OF TRUE FAITH IN CHRIST’S FINISHED WORK”! “THERE REMAINS THEREFORE A “REST” TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD. FOR HE/SHE THAT IS ENTERED INTO “CHRIST’S REST”, HE ALSO HAS CEASED FROM HIS OWN WORKS, AS GOD DID FROM HIS.” AND HEBREWS 4:15-16 NOT ONLY CLOSES THIS PARTICULAR CHAPTER, BUT ENLIGHTENS TRUE BELIEVERS IN WHERE THEIR SPIRITUAL VICTORY OVER THE LAW OF SIN & DEATH HAS BEEN BIRTHED!!
“FOR WE HAVE NOT AN HIGH PRIEST WHICH CANNOT BE TOUCHED WITH THE FEELING OF OUR INFIRMITIES; BUT WAS IN ALL POINTS TEMPTED LIKE AS WE ARE, YET WITHOUT SIN. LET US THEREFORE COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, & FIND GRACE TO HELP IN TIME OF NEED.”
I LOVE WATCHMAN NEE’S WRITINGS, & ESPECIALLY IN HIS BOOK, “THE SPIRITUAL MAN”, (COPYRIGHTED IN 1968 BY CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP PUBLISHERS, INC. NEW YORK), WHEN HE WROTE(P.193), “FOR A BELIEVER WHO STRIVES AFTER GOD THE ELEMENT TO BE APPREHENSIVE ABOUT IS THE INORDINATE ACTIVITY OF THE SOUL BEYOND THE MEASURE SET BY GOD. THE SOUL HAS BEEN IN ASCENDANCY FOR SUCH LONG DURATION THAT IN THE MATTER OF CONSECRATION IT EVEN PRESUMES TO TAKE UPON ITSELF THE TASK OF REALIZING THAT ACT TO GOD’S SATISFACTION. MANY CHRISTIANS ARE UNAWARE HOW DRASTICALLY THE CROSS MUST WORK SO THAT ULTIMATELY THEIR NATURAL POWER FOR LIVING MAY BE DENIED.
THEY DO NOT KNOW THE REALITY OF THE INDWELLING HOLY SPIRIT NOR THAT HIS AUTHORITY MUST EXTEND TO GATHERING UNDER HIS CONTROL THE THOUGHTS, DESIRES, & FEELINGS OF THE ENTIRE BEING. WITHOUT THEIR HAVING AN INNER APPRECIATION OF THIS, THE HOLY SPIRIT (THOUGH PRESENT) IS UNABLE TO ACCOMPLISH EVERYTHING HE WISHES TO DO. THE GREATEST TEMPTATION FOR AN EARNEST & ZEALOUS SAINT IS TO ENGAGE HIS OWN STRENGTH IN GOD’S SERVICE RATHER THAN TO WAIT HUMBLY FOR THE HOLY SPIRIT TO WILL & TO PERFORM.”
LATER, (P.202-203), NEE SAID:DON’T MISS THIS! “WHAT SEPARATED THE HOLIEST & THE HOLY PLACE WAS REMOVED (THE VAIL WAS, IS, & FOREVER WILL BE REMOVED BECAUSE OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTION PRESENCE!). GOD’S AIM WAS NOT TO DWELL PERMANENTLY IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES. QUITE THE CONTRARY. HE DECIDED TO EXTEND HIS PRESENCE TO THE HOLY PLACE TOO. HE WAS MERELY WAITING FOR THE CROSS TO COMPLETE ITS WORK, FOR IT IS THE CROSS ALONE WHICH CAN REND THE CURTAIN & PERMIT GOD’S GLORY TO SHINE OUT FROM THE HOLIEST PLACE.” ( DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THE “BLOOD-BOUGHT HEART, MIND, & LIFE OF THE REDEEMED SINNER” IS “NOW” GOD’S “HOLY TEMPLE”?).
I PRAY THAT THE WORD OF HOLY GOD IS NOT ‘TIRESOME’ TO YOU! JESUS SAID, “MAN DOES NOT LIVE BY (‘PHYSICAL’) BREAD ALONE; HE LIVES BY EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD!” AND, IN 1 CORINTHIANS 6:19-20 APOSTLE PAUL ALERTS US: “WHAT? KNOW YOU NOT THAT YOUR BODY “IS” THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST WHICH IS IN YOU, WHICH YOU HAVE OF GOD, & YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN?(THAT’S AFTER HIS “BLOOD-BOUGHT PURCHASE OF YOU” & YOUR REPENTANCE & ABIDING FAITH!). FOR YOU ARE BOUGHT WITH A PRICE; THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY, & IN YOUR SPIRIT, WHICH ARE GOD’S.”
IF YOU WERE CONFRONTED, CONVICTED, CONVERTED, & CONSECRATED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT WITH YOUR “PURCHASED BODY” NOW OWNED & INDWELT BY CHRIST JESUS, DO YOU TRULY BELIEVE IT’S YOUR ‘CHOICE’ TO DO AS YOU PLEASE? GIVE ME A BREAK!! IF YOU BELONG TO CHRIST, YOU ARE NO LONGER YOUR OWN TO DO AS YOU PLEASE!!!!!
IN THE OLD BROADMAN HYMNAL (PRODUCED BY THE BROADAMAN PRESS, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, COPYRIGHTED IN 1940) P.75, IS THE HYMN, “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE.” IT SAYS: “O WORD OF GOD INCARNATE, O WISDOM FROM ON HIGH, O TRUTH UNCHANGED, UNCHANGING, O LIGHT OF OUR DARK SKY: WE PRAISE YOU FOR YOUR RADIANCE THAT FROM THE HALLOWED PAGE, A LANTERN TO OUR FOOTSTEPS, SHINES ON FROM AGE TO AGE.
THE CHURCH FROM HER DEAR MASTER, RECEIVED THE GIFT DIVINE, AND STILL THAT LIFE SHE LIFTS O’ER ALL THE EARTH TO SHINE. IT IS THE GOLDEN CASKET, WHERE GEMS OF TRUTH ARE STORED; IT IS THE HEAVEN-DRAWN PICTURE OF CHRIST, THE LIVING WORD.
IT FLOATS LIKE A BANNER BEFORE GOD’S HOST UNFURLED; IT SHINES LIKE A BEACON ABOVE THE DARKLING WORLD; IT IS THE CHART & COMPASS THAT O’ER LIFE’S SURGING SEA, ‘MID MISTS & ROCKS & DARKNESS’, STILL GUIDES, O CHRIST, TO THEE.
O MAKE YOUR CHURCH, DEAR SAVIOR, A LAMP OF PUREST GOLD, TO BEAR BEFORE THE NATIONS YOUR TRUE LIGHT, AS OF OLD. O TEACH YOUR WANDERING PILGRIMS BY THIS THEIR PATH TO TRACE, TILL, CLOUDS & DARKNESS ENDED, THEY SEE YOU, LJC, FACE TO FACE!”
BUT ‘FALSE RELIGIONS’, ‘IMITATION-DISCIPLES’, ‘DECEIVED PASTORS’, EVEN SOME ‘INTELLECTUALLY-BRED, BUT HEART-DEAD, & MIND DECEIVED’ PROFESSORS & SOME ‘CHURCH-FOLK’, BOUND BY ‘RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS’, NOT ETERNAL BIBLICAL TRUTH, LIVE AS SUPERFICIAL THINKERS WHO CAN’T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE WORLD, THE OLD SIN-NATURE, & SATAN’S DECEIT, LIVING ‘RELIGIOUSLY’ BUT BLINDED TO ETERNAL TRUTH!
I WANT TO LAUGH EVERY TIME I READ ROBERT BROWNING’S WRITING ENTITLED, “BISHOP BLOUGRAM’S APOLOGY”. “ALL WE HAVE GAINED THEN BY OUR UNBELIEF IS A LIFE OF DOUBT DIVERSIFIED BY FAITH, FOR ONE OF FAITH DIVERSIFIED BY DOUBT; WE CALLED THE CHESS-BOARD WHITE, – WE CALL IT BLACK.”
OH, & I WANT TO CRY WHEN I READ A PASSAGE LIKE MARK 4:40, DISCIPLES “WITH JESUS” IN A BOAT & A “STORM” ARISES! THE DISCIPLES SAID TO JESUS, “MASTER, DO YOU NOT CARE THAT WE PERISH?” & JESUS AROSE, & REBUKED THE WIND, & SAID UNTO THE SEA, “PEACE, BE STILL.” AND THE WIND CEASED, & THERE WAS A GREAT CALM. & JESUS SAID UNTO THEM, “WHY ARE YOU SO FEARFUL? HOW IS IT THAT YOU (DISCIPLES OF MINE) HAVE NO FAITH?” AND THEY FEARED EXCEEDINGLY, & SAID TO ONE ANOTHER, “WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS, THAT EVEN THE WIND & THE SEA OBEY HIM?”
“BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”? HOW ABOUT “BRINGING UNCERTAIN DISCIPLES TO THE CERTAIN CARE OF CHRIST?’ HOW ABOUT “BRINGING IMMATURE DISCIPLES TO THE SOLID FOUNDATION OF THE INDWELLING CHRIST?” WHAT ABOUT “BRINGING TIMID, TERRIFIED, TOUGH-LESS DISCIPLES TO THE UNCEASING, UNWAVERING, UNWEAKENING STRENGTH OF ALMIGHTY GOD?”
IN MARK 13, I WANT YOU TO FOLLOW ME IN VERSES 13-37, THAT’S 24 VERSES OF EMPOWERING TRUTHS FOR YOU IF “YOU” ARE A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST WHO, YES, “CHRIST JESUS” CHANGES “FALSE RELIGIONS, FALSE PROFESSIONS & PROFESSORS, FALSE CHURCHES” INTO TABERNACLES OF HOLY PRESENCE”!! HOLD ON, THE STORM-CLOUDS, THE WINDS OF OPPOSITION TO DIVINE TRUTH, THE DEMONS OF DARKNESS MAY WANT TO INTENSIFY THEIR “ETERNAL DARKNESS” OVER YOU!! MARK 13:13-37!
“AND YOU SHALL BE HATED OF ALL MEN FOR MY NAME’S SAKE; BUT HE THAT SHALL ENDURE UNTO THE END, THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED. BUT WHEN YOU SEE THE ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, SPOKEN OF BY DANIEL THE PROPHET, STANDING WHERE IT OUGHT NOT, (LET HIM THAT READS THIS UNDERSTAND), THEN LET THEM THAT BE IN JUDEA FLEE TO THE MOUNTAINS; & LET HIM THAT IS ON THE HOUSETOP NOT GO DOWN INTO THE HOUSE, NEITHER ENTER THEREIN, TO TAKE ANY THING OUT OF HIS HOUSE: & LET HIM THAT IS IN THE FIELD (ON THE WAREHOUSE JOB, THE CITY GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBILITY, THE SCHOOL SYSTEM, THE BANKING BUSINESS, THE HOSPITALS, THE DOCTORS’ OFFICES, THE PRIVATE CORPORATIONS, THE PILOTS, THE BUS DRIVERS, THE YARD CARETAKERS, THE ATHELETES, COACHES, & FANS),….NOT TURN BACK AGAIN TO TAKE UP HIS GARMENTS.
BUT WOE TO THEM THAT ARE WITH CHILD, & TO THEM THAT GIVE SUCK IN THOSE DAYS! AND PRAY YOU THAT YOUR FLIGHT BE NOT IN WINTER. FOR IN THOSE DAYS SHALL BE AFFLICTION, SUCH AS WAS NOT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION WHICH GOD CREATED UNTO THIS TIME, NEITHER SHALL BE. AND EXCEPT THAT THE LORD HAD SHORTENED THOSE DAYS, NO FLESH SHOULD BE SAVED; BUT FOR THE ELECT’S SAKE, WHOM HE HAS CHOSEN, HE HAS SHORTENED THE DAYS. AND THEN IF ANY MAN SHALL SAY TO YOU, LO, HERE IS CHRIST;OR,LO, HE IS THERE; BELIEVE HIM NOT: FOR FALSE CHRISTS & FALSE PROPHETS SHALL RISE, & SHALL SHOW SIGNS & WONDERS, “TO SEDUCE”, IF IT WERE POSSIBLE, EVEN THE ELECT. BUT YOU TAKE HEED: BEHOLD, I HAVE FORETOLD YOU ALL THINGS. BUT IN THOSE DAYS, AFTER THAT TRIBULATION, THE SUN SHALL BE DARKENED, & THE MOON SHALL NOT GIVE HER LIGHT, & THE STARS OF HEAVEN SHALL FALL, & THE POWERS THAT ARE IN HEAVEN SHALL BE SHAKEN.
AND THEN SHALL THEY SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING IN THE CLOUDS WITH GREAT POWER & GLORY. & THEN SHALL HE SEND HIS ANGELS, & SHALL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE EARTH TO THE UTTERMOST PART OF THE HEAVEN.NOW LEARN A PARABLE OF THE FIG TREE; WHEN HER BRANCH IS YET TENDER, & PUTS FORTH LEAVES, YOU KNOW THAT SUMMER IS NEAR; SO YOU IN LIKE MANNER, WHEN YOU SHALL SEE THESE THINGS COME TO PASS, KNOW THAT IT IS NIGH, EVEN AT YOUR DOORS. VERILY I SAY UNTO YOU, THAT THIS GENERATION SHALL NOT PASS AWAY TILL ALL THESE THINGS ARE DONE.
HEAVEN & EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY; BUT MY WORDS SHALL NOT PASS AWAY. BUT OF THAT DAY & THAT HOUR KNOWS NO MAN, NO, NOT THE ANGELS WHICH ARE IN HEAVEN, NEITHER THE SON, BUT THE FATHER. TAKE YOU HEED, WATCH & PRAY; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE TIME IS. FOR THE SON OF MAN IS AS A MAN TAKING A FAR JOURNEY, WHO LEFT HIS HOUSE, & GAVE AUTHORITY TO HIS SERVANTS, & TO EVERY MAN HIS WORK, & COMMANDED THE PORTER TO WATCH. WATCH YOU THEREFORE; FOR YOU KNOW NOT WHEN THE MASTER OF THE HOUSE COMES, AT EVENING,OR AT MIDNIGHT, OR AT THE COCKCROWING, OR IN THE MORNING; LEST COMING SUDDENLY HE FINDS YOU SLEEPING. AND WHAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SAY UNTO ALL, WATCH.” CAN I SUMMARIZE THIS TEACHING FOR YOU? BELIEVE I WILL! “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO TRUE FAITH”?
- THERE ARE FALSE MESSIAHS, FALSE PROPHETS, FALSE DISCIPLES,
FALSE CHRISTIANS, FALSE MINISTRIES MORE INTERESTED IN YOUR ‘MONEY’ THAN YOUR ETERNAL HEALING THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST! BE CAREFUL! (MATTHEW 24:4-5)
2)THERE ARE WARS, TURMOILS, BATTLES, THREATS, ATTEMPTS AT …..MAJOR DECEPTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:6)
…..3)THERE ARE PERSECUTIONS! (MATTHEW 24:7-12)
4)THERE IS THE CHALLENGE TO ENDURE! (MATTHEW 24:13)
……5) THERE IS HOLY GOD’S, KINGLY JESUS’S, THE HOLY SPIRIT’S, YES, THEIR MANDATE ON MINISTRY AS A DISCIPLE! (MATTHEW 24:14)
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD OF 1940 OF THE SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION COPYRIGHTED THE SONG I WANT TO SHARE IN THE “BROADMAN HYMNAL OF 1940! IT’S ENTITLED: “IT IS FINISHED!” SAYING: “IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, AS HE HUNG ON CALVARY; OH, THE AWFUL PAIN & ANGUISH, SUFFERING THERE FOR YOU & ME.
“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOUR, HE HAD WROUGHT SALVATION’S PLAN; SEE HIM, AS BY GOD FORSAKEN, HANGING THERE FOR SINFUL MAN.
“IT IS FINISHED,” SAID MY SAVIOR, WON’T YOU TRUST THIS SAVIOR NOW? TURN FROM ALL YOUR SINS TO JESUS, AT HIS FEET, COME, HUMBLY BOW.
“IT IS FINISHED,” “IT IS FINISHED,” MY SALVATION FULL & FREE; JESUS PAID THE DEBT FOR SINNERS, WHEN HE DIED ON CALVARY.”
THE SAVIOR, THE LORD JESUS, WAS GOD’S SACRIFICE FOR YOUR SINS! THE SAVIOR’S SHED BLOOD WASHED THE GUILT OF SIN AWAY, THE SAVIOR BURIED YOUR OLD LIFE AS HE TOOK YOU WITH HIM TO THE CROSS,DIED, BURIED THAT OLD LIFE IN HIS GRAVE, & AROSE TO SAY TO YOU, “COME TO ME, & I’LL GIVE YOU REST, RELEASE, RECOVERY, & REAL VICTORY OVER YOUR SINFUL WORLD, OVER YOUR SINFUL NATURE, & OVER SATAN’S DESIRE TO BIND YOU IN HIS CHAINS,HOPING NOT TO SEE YOU FREE FOREVER THROUGH THE BLOOD OF CHRIST’S ATONEMENT!!
OH, I KNOW, IN THIS 21ST CENTURY WE LIVE IN A TIME PERIOD OF “SPIRITUAL PRETENSE” WITH MANY CHURCH MEMBERS PRETENDING APART FROM THE PRESENCE OF THE RESURRECTED CHRIST, EXTENDING HIS ETERNAL MINISTRY THROUGH THEIR REDEEMED, REGENERATED, RESTORED TO ETERNAL GLORY HEARTS & MINDS, THROUGH HIS ETERNAL GRACE!
IN PSALM 37:34-40 WE READ: “WAIT ON THE LORD, & KEEP HIS WAY, & HE SHALL EXALT YOU TO INHERIT THE LAND; WHEN THE WICKED ARE CUT OFF, YOU SHALL SEE IT. I HAVE SEEN THE WICKED IN GREAT POWER, & SPREADING HIMSELF LIKE A GREEN BAY TREE. YET HE PASSED AWAY, &, LO, HE WAS NOT: YES, I SOUGHT HIM, BUT HE COULD NOT BE FOUND. MARK THE PERFECT MAN (IS THAT THE MAN TOTALLY PERFECTED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, BIRTHED AS GOD’S “NEW CREATION” TO BRIGHTEN THE WORLD AROUND THEM?), & BEHOLD THE UPRIGHT (UPRIGHT?) -(THAT’S NOT ‘PRIDE’ – THAT’S THE PRIVILEGE OF GRACE & MERCY & GOD’S LOVE!). FOR THE END OF THAT MAN IS PEACE. BUT THE TRANSGRESSORS SHALL BE DESTROYED TOGETHER; THE END OF THE WICKED SHALL BE CUT OFF. BUT THE SALVATION OF THE RIGHTEOUS IS OF THE LORD: HE IS THEIR STRENGTH IN TIME OF TROUBLE OR NEED.
AND THE LORD SHALL HELP THEM, & DELIVER THEM: HE SHALL DELIVER THEM FROM THE WICKED, & SAVE THEM, “BECAUSE THEY TRUST IN HIM.” TELL ME ABOUT YOUR “TRUST LEVEL” IN THE LORD!
PROVERBS 3:5-6 SAYS, “TRUST IN THE LORD WITH ALL YOUR HEART; & LEAN NOT UNTO YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING. IN ALL YOUR WAYS ACKNOWLEDGE HIM, (THAT’S DAILY, FAITHFULLY GIVING HIM THE REINS OF YOUR LIFE!!), & HE SHALL DIRECT YOUR PATHS.” THE AMERICAN HYMNAL OF 1940 HAS A HYMN ENTITLED , “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH.” IT SAYS: “GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH, PILGRIM THRO’ THIS BARREN LAND; I AM WEAK, BUT YOU ARE MIGHTY, HOLD ME WITH YOUR POWERFUL HAND : BREAD OF HEAVEN, FEED ME TILL I WANT NO MORE; BREAD OF HEAVEN, FILL ME TILL I WANT NO MORE.
OPEN NOW THE CRYSTAL FOUNTAIN WHENCE THE HEALING WATERS FLOW; LET THE FIERY, CLOUDY PILLAR LEAD ME ALL MY JOURNEY THRO’: STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD; STRONG DELIVERER, BE THOU STILL MY STRENGTH & SHIELD.
WHEN I TREAD THE JORDAN RIVER, BID MY ANXIOUS FEARS SUBSIDE ; BEAR ME THRO’ THE SWELLING CURRENT, LAND ME SAFE ON CANAAN’S SIDE: SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE; SONGS OF PRAISES I WILL EVER GIVE THEE.” WHAT’S THE TITLE OF THIS TEACHING? “BRINGING FALSE RELIGIONS TO GOD’S TRUE FAITH!” HAVE YOU? ARE YOU “LIVING TRIUMPHANTLY IN GOD’S TRUE FAITH”?