Following Judah's Lion

Arminian Highjack

The bottom line difference between Calvinism and Arminianism is that a true Arminian believes that Christ died for everyone and that everyone has a chance to be saved. But in the evolving theological stream in these modern times some professors of Arminianism thought it best to help God out by contouring the message of the gospel to appeal to the cultural masses and tilt the probabilities in favor of sinners choosing salvation through Christ. They have assumed that the reason that so many reject Christ is that the message is unwieldy and unattractive to the average hedonistic westerner and therefore by molding the gospel with flowery language and earthly promises and removing the distasteful elements of sacrifice and cross bearing many if not most would run to believe in Jesus. And they measure their success by numbers, quantity as opposed to quality.

Now the end result is massive amounts of shallow believers whose conversion experience resembles nothing more than a hypnotists stage trick who manipulates unsuspecting members of the audience to repeat his suggestive commands. And when they awake from their momentary illusion they have forgotten what everyone else saw because it really wasn’t done with the power of their own will but the will of the hypnotist. The same is true with millions of these sinner’s prayer conversion experiences that were done in the power of the well trained “soul winner” and not in the power of the Holy Spirit. And after so many of these false conversions never exhibit the fruits of authentic conversions the church turns an unconcerned head with little if any question about their methods as they head for the next parrot. Now the implications of these theatrics are staggering. How many millions of people that were given assurance of their eternal destiny based simply upon their recitation of a form prayer will eventually wind up in the lake of fire? Serious business, no?

But this was not always the Arminian way. The great preachers of old presented the true gospel complete with the forsaking of all and the taking up our cross to follow the Lord Jesus forever. Some of the Arminian preachers were borderline legalists, and they would absolutely reject the watered down and unrecognizable message that passes as the gospel today. But the message has been high jacked and carried into the cesspool of humanism and relativism with no mention of sacrifice and little reference of eternal life. So we now have a church that doesn’t actually believe in eternal life and desires the fruit of this present world, giving no thought to the sufferings of the Messiah. The stripes, the thorns, the punches, the spit, the beard, the nails, the mocking, and the spear just translate into God helping me climb the corporate ladder and making me successful in this life. That, my friends, is blasphemy at its very core. A false Jesus is presented as an agent of earthly makeovers which always are painless and advantageous to man while not mentioning the glory of God.

Who is this Jesus? Why was He rejected of men and we are applauded? Why was He poor and we heap up treasures? Why was He acquainted with grief and we want no part of it? Why was He called Beelzebub and we desire honor? Who has the right to transform the incarnation into a hedonistic tool for our benefit?

The goats and sheep started herding together unnoticed decades ago, sharing and mixing food and listening to many different shepherds with many different pastures. And today the goats are told they are sheep and the sheep receive the goats into their fold. And after a while, after much mixing and intermarrying of herds, the community of believers was no more than a mixed multitude. Could it get much worse? Yes. Not only have goats infiltrated the sheepfold, but grievous wolves have been invited to show us the way to Jesus, the Great Shepherd, when they themselves have never met Him. Oh yes, millions will flood church pews this Sunday to celebrate the Christ child who are no more born again then Judas himself. Watch as the crowds sing Hosanna to Jesus only to walk away and return to their lives of selfish pleasures and Spiritual death. And the false teachers will stand in front of many sheepfolds and spew utter nonsense in the name of the Savior.

For every congregation that is brought to tears of true repentance, there will be tens of thousands that leave with an earthly effervescence that they claim is God’s joy. Oh brothers and sisters, I can feel the love that brought Bethlehem’s birth, but can we not feel the grieving of the Spirit of Almighty God? Who are they preaching, who do they pray to, who are they worshipping, who is this one they call Jesus? Why doesn’t this Jesus change; why doesn’t this Jesus convict; why doesn’t this Jesus bring us to our knees in utter contrition and awe? Could it be because this Jesus is the creation of man and not the same Christ that made John fall as though dead? This is not the same Jesus whose face was transformed upon the mount. This is not the same Jesus who sits upon the majesty on high and awaits the final moment when He will bring the judgment that this world so richly deserves. This is not the same Jesus from whose very face heaven and earth fled.

So amidst the festivities of this “season” let us not forget that the gospel is the only hope of escape from the wrath that is at the door. Do not be fooled by these well groomed ear ticklers that preach a Jesus that is palatable to the carnal mind and will gladly take up a small part of your busy life. No, a thousand times no, He is the Lord and He deserves and demands all. Look around and see the multitudes of religious professors who know more sports stats than they know about the Savior. Who never read God’s Word, never have seasons of prayer, never fast, never witness, and feel positive about their Spiritual standing and confirmed by shallow men in earthly clothes.

And in the end, if you believe that Jesus died for every man, be careful and guard the message of the everlasting gospel and keep it pure and unchanged. For if a man embraces a false Jesus, ultimately, he might as well be an atheist.

Jesus, reveal Yourself to us and give us the power to follow hard after You. We desire You and You alone. Not what man says, not what the world presents, not what we want, but just You.
You, Jesus, You.