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/