REFLECTION OF ANOTHER TIME

40 yrs. ago this week I went to France. Spent time in Nice. A very wonderful city to visit. Beautiful beaches, friendly people.
To have a terrible deed done during their Independence Day celebration is just criminal. Terrorist don't care who you are, what you do, or weather you worship any god. The world is so accessible that travel should be open to anywhere anyone would want to visit, just to view the grandeur, the wonders, food, people. Yet, we live in a fallen world where the powerful control, belittle and kill people for no more reason than that they can.
The Holy Bible holds the TRUTH, God's HOLY WORD that should we choose to follow The Gospels of Jesus Christ would bring down the DEMONIC spirits that have plagued the world since Adam.
I fear that Christians are not preaching the gospel to the world or even among themselves. When a prosperity pastor says that you may not get in to heaven if you don't tithe, may be a wolf in sheep's clothing. Nothing will change until the gospel is preached and we move out of the safe places we call church. Until we take the path that is narrow, the gospel will never flourish beyond ourselves.
Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
Matthew 9:35 And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
Mark 16:15-16 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. (16) He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

THE CLOCK

Time moves forward, or does it?

As the sweep hand moves past 12,

one minute has expired.

Yet we look at this as time advancing,

When we should see it as decreasing.

Why decreasing you ask?

A time limit on our existence,

Put on us by God, for through Adam and Eve

God numbered our days by their sin.

As the clock hands move forward,

Our time on earth decreases,

Each trip around the sun brings us towards our end.

Jesus Christ made a way for us to have eternal life,

The Way, The Gospels of Jesus Christ, Salvation only

By the Risen Savior. (Acts 4:10-12)*

*Acts 4:10-12 KJV

(10) Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.

(11) This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

(12) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

AN UNFINISHED WORK IN PROGRESS.

Heaven and Hell

The Scriptures speak of two places, "Heaven" and "Hell," where the "righteous" and "wicked" respectively are to spend eternity. The one demands the other. There can be no Heaven without its counterpart Hell. If there is no Hell there is no Heaven, for the same Book speaks of both.


I. HEAVEN

Heaven is a "PLACE," it is not a state or condition. The New Jerusalem is not Heaven, though it is a city of Heaven. The Apostle John tells us that he saw it "coming down from God OUT OF HEAVEN." Rev 21: 2. It is the "PLACE" that Jesus told His Disciples He was going away to prepare for them. Joh 14: 2. It did not exist at the time Jesus was on earth. It was built between the time Jesus ascended in A. D. 30, and the time when John saw it in vision descend from Heaven in A. D. 96, or if not yet built, it will be built before the Rapture of the Church, for it is to be the Residence of the Bride, the Lamb's Wife. Rev 21: 9-10. Of Abraham we read—" He looked for a City which hath foundations, whose 'builder' and 'maker' is GOD." Heb 11: 10. The New Jerusalem is that City. The Apostle says—" Here we have no continuing city (permanent abiding place), but we seek one to come." Heb 13: 14. The Scriptures speak of three Heavens. (1). The Heaven of the earth's atmosphere. "God gave you rain from heaven." Act 14: 17. (2). The Heaven of the Stars. The "High Places" where the "Principalities and Powers" of evil have their abode. Eph 6: 12. (3). The Heaven where God dwells. It was to this "Third Heaven" that the Apostle Paul was caught up, when at Lystra he was stoned and his spirit apparently left his body. Act 14: 19-20. Paul calls it both the "Third Heaven" and "Paradise." 2Co 12: 1-4. The two then must be identical, or "Paradise" be a part of the "Third Heaven." It is to this "Paradise Section" of Heaven that the "Soul" and "Spirit" of the Righteous go since the Resurrection of Christ. See the Chapter on "The Spirit World," page 88. The word "Paradise" means a "garden" or "enclosed place." It must therefore be a most beautiful place of trees and flowers and fruits. There the "Spirits" of the Righteous in their "Soulish" bodies, conscious and happy, and in fellowship with loved ones and the saints of all Ages, await the First Resurrection, when, having received their glorified bodies, and been judged at the Judgment Seat of Christ, and married to the Lamb (Christ), they go to dwell in the New Jerusalem, the home of the Bride. See Chart, page 274. From this we see that we must distinguish between Heaven proper, and its suburb Paradise, and the New Jerusalem. But we must not forget, that while Paradise, the place where the Saints of God now dwell, is a glorious place, and the Saints are there in the enjoyment of Heavenly things, that they are under certain limitations. They have not as yet received their resurrection body with all its glorious powers, nor been judged so as to receive their reward, or crown, if they are entitled to any. The description of Heaven and the New Jerusalem as given in the Book of Revelation from the third chapter to the end of the Book, is still future, and the things there described will not come to pass until after the Rapture of the Church, so what is said of the New Jerusalem and its occupants does not apply until after the Judgment of Believers.


Larkin, Clarence (2012-06-18). Rightly Dividing The Word [Illustrated] (Kindle Locations 3126-3128). PreservedWords. Kindle Edition.

CHRIST OUR PASSOVER

Wherever the Bible has gone the story of the night when the Passover was first observed in Egypt has been told. Wherever a Jew exists on the face of the earth that night is remembered, celebrated and pointed to as the greatest event in their national history. Of its historical truthfulness there can be no question. It is the most remarkable instance of Divine intervention recorded in the Scriptures. The Children of Israel from being the honored guests of Pharaoh became his slaves. As slaves they desired freedom, but their struggles for freedom only increased their bondage (Exo 1: 13-14), and in their despair they called upon God (Exo 2: 23-25), and God sent a "Deliverer"— MOSES, and through him said to Pharaoh—" Let 'MY PEOPLE' go that they may serve Me." Exo 8: 1. The Children of Israel were not made for Egypt, nor Egypt for them, they were made for Canaan. God intended that they should drink of the water of Jordan and not of the water of the Nile. While they were born in bondage they were made for LIBERTY. God had told Abraham that his seed should be a stranger in a land that was not theirs, where they should be afflicted for 400 years, and afterwards should come out with great substance. Gen 15: 13-14. When the time for their deliverance and return to Canaan had come, God found it necessary to wean them from Egypt by making their lot in Egypt unendurable. To this end He stirred up the heart of Pharaoh to increase their burdens. The deliverance of the Children of Israel from Egypt is a type of the deliverance of the sinner from the bondage of sin and is well worth our study. Egypt is a type of this present "EVIL WORLD." In Moses' day it presented the best specimen of worldly glory and magnificence that the world has ever seen. In it were gathered the world's wealth, art, and commerce. As seen in its ruins there was nothing lacking in that which would gratify the "Lust of the Flesh," the "Lust of the Eye," and the "Pride of Life." The food of Egypt was not only plentiful, but gross and stimulating. It was composed of cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. Egypt was also famous for its fish. Num 11: 4-5. But Egypt was not to be compared with Canaan for beauty or food, for Canaan was a land of figs and pomegranates, of olive oil and honey, of new corn and wine. Deu 8: 8-9. Pharaoh was a type of "Satan." Egypt was full of idolatry, the very stronghold of Satan, and a "hotbed" of every species of sin. Having Israel in his power Pharaoh tried to make it permanent. That is what Satan tries to do with the sinner. It is Satan's "Taskmasters" who make the sinner sweat in hard bondage. Moses was a type of Christ. Notice that God is always "BEFOREHAND" with His salvation. Salvation is no "AFTER-THOUGHT" of God's. God was preparing Moses in the Wilderness for the work he was to do in delivering Israel. The quickest way to get relief is "via" the Throne of God. Israel phoned to God, God phoned to Moses. God always knows where the man needed for the occasion is. In fact, owing to His foreknowledge, He has him ready. When Moses appeared in Egypt and made his mission known there was trouble. He was looked upon as a "labor agitator," and Pharaoh increased the burdens of the Children of Israel. So Satan makes the way rough for the sinner who desires to get away from him. When Pharaoh refused to let the Children of Israel go then God took a hand, and proceeded to bring judgments, in the form of "Plagues," upon Egypt. The purpose of the "Plagues" was to make Pharaoh and the Egyptians see that the God of Israel was stronger than the "gods" of Egypt. The "Plagues" were 10 in number and distributed over about a year. With the exception of the first and the last they were "Natural Phenomena" common to Egypt, the miraculous thing being that they came and went at the command of God and were of great severity. The "Ten Plagues" were judgments against the "gods" of Egypt. (1). "Water into blood," against the Nile, the "Idol River." (2). "Frogs," against the worship of frogs. (3). "Lice," against the earth god "Seb" and the priests, who could not officiate when vermin was upon them. (4). "Flies," against the atmosphere "Shu," son of "Ra," the SUN-GOD. (5). "Murrain," against the "Sacred Bull"— APIS. (6). "Boils," against "Sutech" or "Typhon," to whom victims were offered, their ashes being flung to the winds. (7). "Locusts," against the "Sacred Beetle." (8). "Hail," against "Shu." (9). "Darkness," against the "Sun-God" —RA, of whom Pharaoh was believed to be the child. (10). "Death of the First-Born," against the nation guilty of wholesale infanticide in ordering that all male Hebrew children should be cast into the river Nile. Exo 1: 22.
The first 9 Plagues may be divided into 3 groups of 3 Plagues each. In the first two of each group Pharaoh was warned; in the last no warning was given. The first group only affected the comfort of the people, and were universal upon Egyptians and Israelites alike. The second group affected only the Egyptians, the Children of Israel's cattle were spared for sacrifice. Here property suffered. The third group fell mainly upon the Egyptians, there being no hail in the land of Goshen, and the Children of Israel had light in their dwellings.
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Larkin, Clarence (2012-06-18). Rightly Dividing The Word [Illustrated] (Kindle Locations 2974-2980). PreservedWords. Kindle Edition.

Faith and Works

 We hear a great deal about "Faith" and "Works." Some say we are saved by "Faith" alone, others make a great deal of "Works." Some say that both are necessary to salvation for the same reason that a bird cannot fly without two wings, or that you cannot make progress in a boat without two oars. One quotes Paul, who says— "That a man is justified by FAITH, WITHOUT THE DEEDS OF THE LAW," (Rom 3: 28), the other quotes James, who says—" Ye see then how that by WORKS a man is justified, and not by faith only." Jam 2: 24. But the Apostle James is not speaking of the "Doctrine of JUSTIFICATION," but of a man justifying himself before men. The illustration he uses is that of Abraham offering up his son Isaac. Abraham was a man of faith, but the only way he could make it visible to the men of his generation was by his WORKS, so God commanded him to offer up his son Isaac. Gen 22: 1-2. Abraham's works had nothing to do with his salvation, but simply bore witness to his faith, for Abraham believed God, and it was imputed to him for righteousness. Jam 2: 21-26. So great was Abraham's faith in God's promise as to Isaac being the one through whom the promised seed was to come, that he believed that if he offered him up as commanded, that God would raise him from the dead. Heb 11: 17-19. In like manner Rabab's faith was justified or made visible by her works when she tied the "Scarlet Cord" in her window. Jos 2: 15-21. And to show the relation of "Works" to "Faith" the Apostle ends by saying—" For as the 'body' without the 'spirit' is dead, so faith without 'works' is dead also," that is, is DEAD FAITH, for if a man does not make his faith visible by his works it is a question whether he has any faith at all. Now it is noteworthy that the Apostle Paul uses this same incident of Abraham offering up his son Isaac to prove that Abraham was justified by "Faith" without "Works." "If Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; BUT NOT BEFORE GOD. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham BELIEVED GOD, and it was COUNTED UNTO HIM FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Rom 4: 2-3. Gen 15: 6. So we see that it was Abraham's "Faith" that justified him before GOD, and his "Works" that justified him before MEN. But I think I hear some one ask—" Does not the Bible say— That we are to 'WORK OUT OUR OWN SALVATION?'" Yes, the Apostle Paul in writing to the Philippians says—" Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is GOD WHO WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do His good pleasure." Phi 2: 12-13. But a man cannot work out what he has not got. He must first have "Salvation" before he can work it out. Paul was writing to the "Saints" at Philippi, to those who were already saved. The doctrine the Apostle desired to express was that "Salvation" included more than the mere escape from the "Penalty of Sin," it meant also escape from the "Power" and "Presence of Sin," and this meant that they must work or strive with "fear and trembling" to overcome indwelling sin, for it was God who would work in them, if they would let Him, to make the fruits of Salvation complete in their lives. So we see that we are saved by "Faith" and not by "Works," but "Works" have their place in the Believer's life as we shall see.



Larkin, Clarence (2012-06-18). Rightly Dividing The Word [Illustrated] (Kindle Locations 2278-2283). PreservedWords. Kindle Edition.

Hillsong Church NYC: Cult of Celebrity

In 1 Corinthians 2:2, the Apostle Paul stated:

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.  For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

Paul was afraid that if he added his own wisdom or gimmicks to his message, he would detract from the central focus of the gospel, Jesus Christ and His substitutionary atonement.  It’s a shame our ministers today don’t have the same passion at heart.  I think if Paul were evangelizing today, he wouldn’t be hip enough to draw the young, entertainment loving, concert-going crowd.
In New York City, Hillsong Church’s NYC campus is pastored by Carl Lentz.  In an article on Yahoo, the first sentence reads, “Carl Lentz is not your typical pastor.”  (Online Source)  I knew it would only get worse from there.
The Hillsong campus in NYC is a megachurch, and their uncoventional pastor looks like every other culturally relevant, hip, expressive young upstart on the street.  He has his tattoos, and his really cool ”half-shaved head and slicked-back mohawk.” (Source:  See link in paragraph above.)
When pastors and their sermons mirror the culture, the culture is what you see and hear in their churches.

People squeeze into whatever space they can find and take notes on iPhones as Lentz marches across the stage, peppering his sermon with Bible verses, jokes, pop music lines and street slang.

“If you’re new to our church, we love you,” said the 34-year-old Lentz. “Don’t be alarmed by the craziness you see. One time somebody said, ‘Y’all are crazy in your church,’ and I said, ‘You ever seen you dance drunk? Don’t be judging us up in church.’”

No, don’t judge – just hop aboard the crazy train and feel your way along!
Lentz is targeting the young, concert-going street crowd, which in and of itself is not a bad thing.  They need to hear the gospel!  Where the train jumps the tracks is where Lentz apes the culture in order to build a culturally relevant church that looks nothing like Christ.  How can it look like Christ when it looks JUST LIKE the world?   Put plainly, mirroring the culture will not produce godly converts, it will produce worldly, unrepentant sinners.
According to the article, most attribute the success of the church to its “young, unorthodox leader.”  In fact, the church claims to attract a crowd of approximately 5,500 to its Sunday services.  That is a lot of warm bodies in one place!  So, why all the attention?  What does this church offer that others don’t?  One simple thing:

Lentz has established himself as his own brand. He has more than 67,000 followers on Twitter and 59,000 on Instagram, where you can find pictures of him standing next to Jay-Z and NBA star Kevin Durant. Justin Bieber posted a picture of himself eating lunch with Lentz, “talking ’bout our savior Jesus Christ.”  (Emphasis mine.)

Hmmm… how important does one have to be to eat lunch with Justin Bieber!  (Not being mean, but unless you’re a 13 year old girl, no one will be much impressed with that.)  Should any pastor, who purports to be a minister of the gospel, exalt himself and establish himself as a “brand?”  Shouldn’t our desire be to exalt the Lord Jesus Christ and bring glory to Him and Him alone?  We can make idols out of anything – even ourselves.
In closing, let’s take a look at one last point from the article that I believe reveals how Lentz holds up against the really relevant cultural question of the hour – gay marriage.
When asked his views on gay marriage, did Lentz take the straight and narrow path and stand on what God’s Word has to say about the issue?  No.  He declined to discuss the topic because he feels it is a polarizing issue that young evangelicals have said in repeated surveys that they do not want to be a focus of church.
What I read that to mean is that Lentz won’t stand up and be counted as standing for the truth of God’s Word because the issue would be polarizing to the point of repelling the culture he strives so hard to attract.  You can’t be a brand with no audience to sell it to.
But, is that really so surprising?
I leave you with this from Charles H. Spurgeon:

“An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted can hardly fail to notice it during the past few years. It has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them.

From speaking out as the Puritans did, the church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the church. If it is a Christian work, why did not Christ speak of it? “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). That is clear enough. So it would have been if He had added, “and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.” No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him.

Then again, “He gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers .., for the work of the ministry” (Eph. 4:11-12). Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people or because they refused? The concert has no martyr roll.

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the church to the world? Ye are the salt” (Matt. 5:13), not the sugar candy—something the world will spit out not swallow. Short and sharp was the utterance, “Let the dead bury their dead” (Matt. 8:22) He was in awful earnestness.

Had Christ introduced more of the bright and pleasant elements into his mission, he would have been more popular when they went back, because of the searching nature of His teaching. I do not hear him say, “Run after these people Peter and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it. Be quick Peter, we must get the people somehow.” Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them.

In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of this gospel of amusement! Their message is, “Come out, keep out, keep clean out!” Anything approaching fooling is conspicuous by its absence. They had boundless confidence in the gospel and employed no other weapon.

After Peter and John were locked up for preaching, the church had a prayer meeting but they did not pray, “Lord grant unto thy servants that by a wise and discriminating use of innocent recreation we may show these people how happy we are.” If they ceased not from preaching Christ, they had not time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution, they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). That is the only difference! Lord, clear the church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods.

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the church met them halfway, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment has been God’s link in the chain of the conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.”

http://slaughteringthesheep.wordpress.com/2013/07/24/hillsong-church-nyc-cult-of-celebrity/

PROPER DOCTRINE USED TO MATTER TO THE CHURCH

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Aug 22, 2013 in AM Missives, Current Issues, Features

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. (2 Peter 2:1-3)
Once Upon A Time, In A Place Far Away, Proper Doctrine Used To Matter To The Church
The current apostasy just continues to grow; spiritual blindness becomes darker, and mainstream evangelicalism has largely rejected sola Scriptura in favor of its infatuation with Contemplative Spirituality/Mysticism (CSM). Sadly, this all began with evangelicalism’s spiritual adultery with the sinfully ecumenical Emerging Church aka Emergent Church, which had CSM as a core doctrine and has contributed mightily to its postmodern form of liberalism that the EC refers to as Emergence Christianity.
And so we’ve now reached the exact same place in the visible church as that once encountered by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in the Baptist Union with the encroaching liberals of his day. However, what seems to be largely forgotten today within the Christian community is the command that the pastor-teacher must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9).
Unfortunately, right now far too many evangelical pastors are not willing to refute those who contradict sound doctrine; and have instead, become more like Peter in Mark 8:33 where our Lord ended up having to rebuke him — “you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” In fact the following comment from The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, well respected within evangelical circles, will prove enlightening to those who have ears to hear:

Jesus’ words to Peter were not only very severe, they were deliberately spoken in the presence of the other disciples (“Jesus turned and looked at his disciples”). They probably shared Peter’s views and needed the rebuke, too. The severity of the rebuke arises from Jesus’ recognition in Peter’s attempt to dissuade him from going to the Cross the same temptation he had experienced from Satan at the outset of his ministry. Satan offered him the option of using the world’s means of accomplishing his mission (cf. Matt 4:8-10).
On that occasion Jesus rebuked him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: `Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only’” (Matt 4:10). Here, too, Jesus recognized the satanic opposition in Peter. “‘Get behind me, Satan!’ he said. `You do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” Peter was opposing the divine will. He had in mind a popular messiahship. That was the way the world thought; it was not how God had planned Jesus’ ministry and mission.1

So you see, it’s not as if we haven’t had the chance to listen to the Spirit’s subtle warnings not to think like men and then try to preach the Gospel the way they think it should be preached in this biblically foreign mission field of fading postmodern America. For those who have eyes to see, it’s really right there in the text of Scripture, and even evangelical biblical scholars and pastors have said it—though apparently they haven’t realized that God the Holy Spirit is using them to speak. Or is it only with bored indifference and a false humility that we pray: “Lord use me as Your vessel.”
And I do wish you to know that I fully understand there are many who ignore my warnings—as well as those of other online apologetics and discernment ministries—considering us some kind of warped “ODMs.” But, at the same time, I offer that it might not be wise to so easily dismiss what some of us are saying. O, without a doubt, the accepted way of writing today is to do a kind of “plus-minus” assessment of a given subject. Yet I wonder, have we really actually considered this from the Lord’s perspective;  or could it rather be, simply the things of man in secular academia?
Suppose I were to write an article about cancer. Would I really need to elaborate on some of the more “positive” aspects of this terminal disease; like how it so suddenly metastasizes, and just how completely dead it kills a body? As a pastor-teacher the Bible tells me there are times where I have to — charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine (1 Timothy 1:3), contrary to proper Christian teaching. In addition, I’m also not afraid to speak the truth from God’s perspective because Jesus says — “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters” (Matthew 12:30).
The truth is clear; conveniently and comfortably the evangelical community has now assimilated itself into the pragmatic business methods of the world a la Rick Warren on the one hand, and on the other it’s embracing spurious CSM, which has led to quasi-Christian leaders like Rob Bell who are attempting to exploit you with false words from within the mainstream of the visible Christian community. We need to remember that when we’re shown from the Bible that these things are not in line with what God Himself would have us do, and we still choose to walk in them, then we have made a choice to put ourselves in step with Satan himself.
In other words, these variant levels of compromised, aberrant, and/or heretical doctrines ultimately originate from the same rotten root. They derive from Satan and then his deceiving spirits are sent forth to manipulate men until the teachings of demons merge onto the broad way, and all who foolishly follow them will eventually arrive at the same eternal destination of destruction. Laugh if you will, but no matter how much we’d like to try and convince ourselves that God will just sort it all out in the end, the absolute fact remains that Jesus has left us here as His ambassadors (c.f. 2 Corinthians 5:20) to set the record straight.
Our Lord has unambiguously told us — “As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you”  (John 20:21). Clearly then,  just as it was also once a part of His job, the Master has now entrusted us to warn people who are in sin—and particularly those claiming to be within the Body of Christ—to leave that practice immediately. Sin means “to miss the mark” of Christ; and when we do miss this mark, it’s God’s Name which is sullied, and it is His church that is mocked. Just take an honest look at all of the garbage this pseudo-Christian EC has already dragged into the mainstream of the visible church today.
As I close this out, for now, 1 Thessalonians 2:4 instructs ministers of the Gospel that—irrespective of prevailing opinions—and regardless of whatever culture into which our Lord sends us that — we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. Well, the time has come to realize that this isn’t a drill; to be a Christian or a pastor-teacher is not a game, and some of the saddest words in the Bible are — Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me (2 Timothy 4:10). And how it must break our Lord’s heart today that there are far more Demas’ in the church right now than there are Pauls.

Further reading

• CONCERNING FREE WILL OR THE BONDAGE OF THE WILL
• GOOD NEWS: KEN SILVA OUT OF THE HOSPITAL
• AL MOHLER AND SBTS EXECUTIVE TEAM VISIT RICK WARREN

Endnotes

1. Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., Expositor’s Bible Commentary: With the New International Version of the Bible[Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1976-92), in Zondervan NIV Study Bible Library, limited ed., Matthew (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), CD-ROM, emphasis added. ↩