The Forgiveness of Sins

THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS

 

Ps.130: ³ If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

⁴ But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.

Eph.1: ⁷ In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Heb.10: ¹⁶ This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;

¹⁷ And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.
¹⁸ Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.

The entire world is buckling under the weight of sin. And although sin affects the inanimate creation, it was ushered in by man and it takes its greatest toll on the souls of men. The majority of mankind does not recognize the penalty for sin, and generally man uses his own definition for sin and his own idea of redemption which is usually assessed as doing more good than bad. But that completely misses the truth about sin, and it grossly and eternally underestimates the weight and penalty of human sin.

We define sin as breaking God’s laws or disobeying God. And that is generally true, however it is much more sinister than we can imagine. In fact any attempt to capture the essence if sin in human terms runs the risk of diluting the seriousness of sin. Sin is the instrument which brings forth spiritual death. It doesn’t just run the risk of spiritual death. Sin always causes spiritual death. And since every person born is born a sinner with sin, every person is in need of the forgiveness of those sins otherwise he will die in his sins and inherit eternal death. And just to take one unguarded moment and let your mind descend and walk one second in eternal death and you may at least see just how serious this all is.

Rom.6:23: ²³ For the wages of sin is death…

This death is called the second death. It dooms the soul for all eternity and in the end it will be cast into the lake of fire. There are no big sins and little sins as it pertains to eternity. No unforgiven sin will enter into God’s presence. That is why forgiveness is essential if you wish to spend eternity with Christ. No man can forgive sins. All who pretend to forgive our sins are mere mortals who must account for their own misdeeds. God alone can offer true forgiveness.

In our present state we cannot imagine what eternal death would look like. Yes we can provide some human words which carry some disturbing imagery, but how can we really understand eternal punishment and eternal death? The Scriptures refer to it as the “second death”.

Suppose there is a man in his bed in a hospital and that man is dying. He is in great pain and soon he begs to die, but he continues to live even though he is dying. He writhes in pain and no pain medicine helps even in the smallest way.

You bid him farewell and you leave his side. One year later you happen to be in that same hospital and you see that the very same man is still there and he is still in the throes of death. He is as miserable as a human being can be. You leave the hospital again. In ten years you find yourself visiting someone in that same hospital and yes, that man is still there and still dying. Fifty, one hundred years pass and still that man is dying but cannot die. One thousand years pass and the hospital is now gone but that man is still in a bed and still dying.

One million and two million and billions upon billions of years go by and still that same man is painfully dying but still alive. The heavens are now rolled up and the earth is burned up and is now completely gone, but that man is still in the same dying condition. Yes, that is a picture of the horrific second death. Dying but never dead. Who can know it? Who is not frightened by its imagery? But that is what sin does. That is the penalty for our sin. It must render us immobilized and fearful.

And there is only one escape from that kind of eternal justice. Someone, without sin, must be willing to take my punishment upon himself. And the only one without sin is God Himself, and the man called Jesus was God manifested in the flesh. His death was what all the animal sacrifices throughout the Old Testament pointed to. In the space of six hours Jesus paid for all the sins of the world, and every sinner who by faith believes in that sacrifice is forgiven of the burden of his sins.

What sin would we see as being the worst sin? How about denying the Lord Jesus after you had spent over three years with Him and seen His miracles and heard His words of life? Would that not be a huge weight of sin? Of course it would! Imagine Peter crawling up into the upper room filled with guilt and shame. It must have almost made him sick. But as soon as Peter was filled with the Spirit and was born again, he miraculously stood up and not only preached Christ and Him crucified, but in his first two sermons he boldly and publicly indicted the Jews for crucifying Jesus!

Acts 2: ³⁶ Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Acts 4: 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.

Oh the enormity of God’s forgiveness. Peter is free! In an amazing turn around Peter refuses to be hung on the gallows of his immense sin, but instead receives Christ’s forgiveness and becomes a redemptive study of how we can be cleansed and not be tied down to what is now gone forever. This is salvation, this is redemption, and this is truly the forgiveness of sin. It is the mystery of mysteries but it is also the freedom which can never be known by a self righteous and unforgiving world of darkness. And this cleansing from sin is a continuing promise for every born again believer.

From the smallest and insignificant lie, to what men claim is almost unforgiveable, the cleansing power of His crimson grace can never be measured. It all seems like a Lord of the Rings kind of imagery, and yet one day this reality will give way to that which can never end. And on that day, all sinners from every stripe will stand as one and have nothing, absolutely nothing with which to claim except His stripes, His promise, His sacrifice, and His shed blood. We do not sin in order to experience forgiveness, but when we do sin, and when we receive that divine forgiveness, we must never shrink from testifying openly of its eternal glory!

But how often do we see our obedience with pride and self righteousness? And in order to buttress our own platform of hubris we see the sins of others as more grievous and much more deserving of divine retribution than are ours. But one day, one day filled with unimaginable glory, we will all see that the Lamb that was Slain and the now Risen Christ must receive all the praise and the glory since our presence before Him is all of Him and none of us! The blood of the Lamb can never be unshed. It has been poured out for whosoever will believe in Jesus Christ.

Man of Sorrows! what a name
For the Son of God, who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Bearing shame and scoffing rude,
In my place condemned He stood;
Sealed my pardon with His blood.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Guilty, vile, and helpless we;
Spotless Lamb of God was He;
“Full atonement!” can it be?
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Lifted up was He to die;
“It is finished!” was His cry;
Now in Heav’n exalted high.
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

When He comes, our glorious King,
All His ransomed home to bring,
Then anew His song we’ll sing:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!

Expanding Your Heart

EXPANDING YOUR HEART

Ps.51: ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

Mk.12: ²⁹ And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

Throughout Scripture the Lord seems to hold a person’s heart as the barometer of his or her spiritual life. All the outward religion is useless if our hearts are not broken and pure before Him. The word "heart" is a noun which means the inner person and the unseen core of a person which only God can fully see and evaluate. It is who we are when we are not performing before men. Our hearts are what we present before God, not any works that have been done before men. So in reality when we use the word heart in a spiritual sense we are using it to mean who we really are inside.

Now the only person that can change a human heart is the Spirit of God. Yes, an unsaved person can make some adjustments and he can alter some things about the way he thinks, but those things still come from a fallen heart that seeks his own happiness even though that person may do works that seem humanitarian. In fact, in a stunning display of clever narcissism, sometimes people do humanitarian works in order for others to applaud them. Yes, it is very subtle and we all must be very vigilant about such things.

In December of 1967 South African surgeon Christiaan Barnard conducted the first heart transplant on 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky. Since then there have been over 80,000 heart transplants with several thousand being done each year. As wonderful as that is, they are just a human transplant of a muscle.

But with all the psychology and psychoanalysis being performed today, no one has been able to change a person’s inward makeup, or in other words, his heart. Regardless how man tries, the attempt to change a human mind and heart is still in the experimental stage. I am not against any counseling help at all, but it is evident man cannot reach inside a person and change the way he thinks and feels. In fact, many psychologists themselves are addicted to drugs and alcohol and are unfaithful in their relationships. You see, they themselves cannot change themselves even while they attempt to change others.

And that is exactly why without a change of heart there can be no authentic Christianity. You may have church membership and baptism and all the religious accoutrements, however if there has been no change of heart all you have is a religious practice. You may even change some things on the outside including giving up some bad habits and going to church and even changing your views on some moral issues, but if your heart has not been changed all you have done is an outward adjustment which is meaningless to the kingdom of God.

And so once a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, he just doesn’t start to attempt to live right. He has been made into a new creation with a new heart, and in a great mystery that person now desires to live right and serve Jesus his Redeemer and Lord. All of us who have come through that wonderful experience can rejoice over and over again as we think back on that event even if it was many years ago. I can think back to good times I have had in the past with friends and family, but nothing can compare to the day I met Christ and was changed forever. Only another believer can identify with what I feel when I think about how lost I was and how the light came rushing in. Since that day I have made many mistakes and I have sinned against God, but I have never been the same.

But after we receive a new heart, just like the muscle itself, it needs to be exercised. Our new hearts need instruction and guidance, and they need to be expanded in order to more fully represent the heart of Jesus, the One who created them. This is a labor of love in which every true disciple of Jesus should fully engage, and even through some pain and suffering we should joy in the fact that we bless our Heavenly Father and His Son. And this “expansion”, if you will, can only be achieved by reading and obeying God’s Word through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Our own understandings are not only useless, but they are enemies of the Spirit.

Some misguided believers think that expanding our hearts is dangerous and leads to Biblical compromise. For instance, some believe if you reach out in love to a lost gay person you are condoning sin and compromising God’s truth. They would never be seen in the company of a prostitute or drug addict lest another believe condemn them. It is attitudes like those that keep a person’s heart locked up and sealed with doctrines of stone and not with the immutable truths of God’s Word that live and breathe with the power of His love. You see, it is possible to know all the right doctrines but not understand the length and width and depth and breadth of God’s love, and in so doing you are keeping Jesus on a piece of paper and not allowing His dangerous life to be lived with all its fullness through your heart and life.

When you worry about what men think about you then you walk in fear and even pride. Release the bonds of men’s opinions and be set free to love people in ways that some men condemn. That does not mean we sin against God’s Word, but it does mean that we sacrifice our reputations on the altar of the cross and we expand our hearts to make room for the vilest of all sinners. And if you desire to please and serve Jesus in that way, than you can never get involved with politics or nationalism since they both cause fallen divisions and even hatred. But there is unbelievable freedom in God’s love, and when you are living in the steps of Jesus you do not fear what men will say.

We all have a tendency to withhold our love and only give it to those we deem worthy. However Christ loved us when we were still His enemies. That is our standard; that is our pursuit. For too long we have doled out our love in small doctrinal increments and we have allowed our hearts to constrict. But the Spirit desires to expand our vision, expand our grace, and expand our love as it pertains to a dark and needy world. Do not fear, we must always retain the truth of God’s Word that clearly reveals that no one can be saved except through a personal faith in Jesus Christ. But we are epistles that can be used of the Spirit to lift up Jesus and allow them to be drawn to Him.

And if we desire to be surrendered servants of Jesus and living sacrifices in His name, then our hearts need to be enlarged and expanded in such a dramatic way that our lives are changed in a way that affects and infects the kingdom of darkness.

Do you ever feel your heart hardening sometimes? Do you feel self righteous from time to time? Does your heart grow cold and callous over time? We all know those kinds of feelings. Let us seek the ministry of the Spirit and allow Him to search and expand our hearts so that we can know the mind of Christ and so that our lives are lived as He would desire.

We Should be Different

WE SHOULD BE DIFFERENT

Ex.11:7 …that ye may know how that the Lord doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel.

Lev.10:10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;

II Cor.6: ¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Throughout the Scriptures God’s people are exhorted and commanded to be different and even separate from those that do not know God. This is a non-negotiable aspect of walking with God, and in the New Testament walking in the Spirit. We cannot be aligned with the world of darkness and still profess to be walking in the light of Jesus Christ.

Now it may be somewhat difficult to stand out if we lived within a moral culture that lived outwardly according to the moral dictates of Scripture. If the culture was pro-life and had solid traditional marriages, and if the culture was not seeking material gain and personal success, and if the culture was peaceful and nonviolent, then it would be difficult to appear outwardly different while living in that culture. But even then we still would be exhorted by Scripture to remain separate from unbelievers regardless how moral they seemed to be.

But we do not live in a culture which in any way resembles any of the dictates and teachings of the New Testament. In fact, the culture in which we live exhibits a pattern of life that is at great odds with the teachings and example of Jesus. And within this culture we as believing followers of Jesus live. But the trappings of a culture such as this are very alluring. In fact, like the undertow of an ocean they relentlessly seek our minds, our hearts, and ultimately our lives. Like the sirens of Homer’s mythology, this culture beckons us through many avenues. And to a large degree, the church has heard their voice and has responded.

When the Lord teaches us about being different and even separate, what does that entail? I mean we all have to work and eat and buy things. But we can generally classify these things into two categories. They are the affairs of the flesh and the affairs of the spirit. Let us deal with the affairs of the flesh first. We, as believers, must strive to keep ourselves unspotted from the sinful and lustful behaviors of the world. It would seem that this would be easy but in fact it is not.

Believers by the millions think nothing of embracing forms of entertainment that are an affront to God and at odds with Scriptural teachings. Millions go every weekend and sit in front of large screens that show all sorts of sinful and salacious acts that include offensive language, horrific violence, and all kinds of sexual acts. And just because it is a movie and considered entertainment believers feel no conviction about allowing such things to entertain them, especially if they voice their disapproval. This is not to mention that our money goes to help produce more of the same.

The same can be said about television and cable. But another way in which the church has succumbed to the ways of this world is marriage. Believers date the same way as do unbelievers, they choose mates in a similar way, and they divorce along the same lines. Believers remarry with the same regularity as do the unbelievers as well. This should not be, but it has become common and accepted practice within the church that is supposed to different and remarkable.

One of the most ways the church acts just like the world is in the issue of money and material things. Somewhere along the line the church bought in to the capitalist mindset and now everything the world does short of stealing is on the table. Now a believer can be in great debt through mortgage and car loans and even credit cards and still be considered a faithful Christian. The house can be larger than he needs, the car can be above his needs, and some of his possessions can be labeled as luxuries and yet that remains commonplace within the church. There are even thousands of “Christian cruises” offered every year in which believers spend literally thousands upon thousands of dollars to see the sights and consume large amounts of food. And that is being different than the world?

HERE is an authentic Christian cruise.

There are many unbelievers who read the Bible and have bumper stickers. They even say their prayers. And within the evangelical church where those kinds of spiritual disciplines should be remarkable, they are not. The average evangelical church member spends a paltry amount of time in seeking Christ. And in many, many cases the preacher spends more time in meetings, lunches, and even golf than he does in deep prayer. Where is the difference in that? Instead of being a vibrant and pulsating representative of Jesus Christ the church has been diluted into a religious organization that bears a striking resemblance to other secular organizations with the major difference being what they say they believe.

In this world there seems to be only two gods, Jesus and money. Now the western church has taken the god named “money” and renamed it “Jesus”. Now that seems to work as long as Jesus does not come back or as long as we do not believe the Bible. Can it be possible that God sees the horror of children dying by the millions without food or water and medicine, and yet He directs His followers to borrow great sums of money to build comfortable buildings with all the media technological advances of sound and screen? Is that the kind of God Jesus represented? Is that really who Jesus was? We are no different than the Moose Club.

And then there are the ways in which we are supposed to be different in spirit. That means we are supposed to see things in the Spirit and not the flesh. We are different than the fallen culture. Our pursuits are different, our desires are different, our message is different, and our hearts are different. We see sinners in a redemptive light. We recognize that placing band aids on the fallen world only soothes the flesh but accomplishes nothing for the kingdom of God. We have no stomach for politics and the allegiances of men. We are not on any side except for Jesus. America is not our home, heaven is.

But as the years went by the church looked out at the world around and saw some things she likes. And even though we were never promised utopia here as pilgrims, believers began to desire a better earthly life. And the sin all around them disturbed believers and instead of the gospel and the love of God, the church turned to politics and legislation. How could this be? How could the church act and pursue ways that were like the ways of the heathen? It’s because the church pledged her allegiance to an earthly country and thereby unknowingly sold her birthright. It does not mean a believer is not saved, but it does mean a believer who pledges allegiance to a country has compromised his spiritual power and no longer walks in the ways of Jesus.

Back when I was born again many churches focused on being separate and were even legalistic about it. Of course they concentrated on drinking and smoking and ignored the nationalism part, but at least it was an issue. But through the years separation no longer was a church issue. Today you can almost live any way you desire and still feel very comfortable attending an evangelical church. The whole concept of “church” has fundamentally changed. It is now a place where people can find ways to compliment their lives rather than places where believers meet to worship and serve Jesus corporately. And churches gear their entire ministry to attract people.

But I believe where God desires to have believers most different is in their hearts. Since we claim theologically to have a new heart and life, it should follow that we manifest such a change in ways practically, dynamically, and spiritually. I mean what would separate a person living in America if he or she set out to literally and without compromise live out the unabridged teachings of Jesus? Would that life appear fundamentally different than those around it? And even though that would mean avoiding certain practices and living without many accepted avenues of personal aggrandizements, wouldn’t what would be most remarkable about that kind of life be found in what he or she does rather than what they avoid?

Wouldn’t that be a marvel if people thought Christians were different because of the way they loved and the way they forgave and the way they helped everyone they could? And because of such a phenomenon people couldn’t help but wonder “Why”. And as they wondered they remembered something. These same people seemed to use the name “Jesus” a lot. And perhaps these people might even believe that this Jesus, although He died a few thousand years ago, was somehow still alive. And that, my friends, is the revelation which should mark us as believers and the church as a whole.

I Pet.2: ⁹ But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;

Keep Planting!

KEEP PLANTING!

 

Planting good seed, God’s Word, will have an effect even when everything seems otherwise. My daughter became pregnant in her senior year at a Christian university. She went to an abortion doctor and was given a gown and left on a gurney to wait in a room. While she was there she could not forget everything she had heard in a preacher’s home, and she could not get the picture of her standing before Jesus out of her mind. She left the doctor’s office still pregnant.

Eight years later she now has two precious sons and is still married to their father. They go to a Baptist church every Sunday. Keep planting God’s Word in your children. They will need every single Word throughout their lives.

The Steps of Jesus Lead to the Poor

THE STEPS OF JESUS LEAD TO THE POOR

Matt.25: ³⁴ Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

³⁵ For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
³⁶ Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
³⁷ Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
³⁸ When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
³⁹ Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
⁴⁰ And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
⁴¹ Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
⁴² For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
⁴³ I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
⁴⁴ Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
⁴⁵ Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
⁴⁶ And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Matt.19: ²⁰ The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?

²¹ Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
²² But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Lk.4: ¹⁷ And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written,

¹⁸ The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
¹⁹ To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.

My two sons coach a varsity and junior varsity girl’s basketball team in a public high school. I cannot communicate to you just how “challenging” the home life is for the majority of these precious girls. Most of them are African American and Latino, but that should never matter to us believers except that we should understand the depth of their challenge. I lived for 22 years before my mother died and I only heard my parents quarrel once. I lived a Disneyland existence compared to what girls like these live.

And these and other teachings that I have posted clearly reveal the heart of God as it pertains to the poor. The prosperous church in America has given token importance to the plight of the poor in America, to say nothing about the poor in other countries. It is an affront to the name of Jesus how American believers complain loudly about unemployment and welfare and the 47% of people who supposedly pay no taxes. The overwhelming majority of white Americans have no idea what it means to be a part of the marginalized and disenfranchised poor, or for that matter the subtle and overt implications of being an ethnic minority. And worse yet, the evangelical church in America clings to the founding fathers and turns a deaf and even a demeaning ear to the plight of millions of people who were raised in conditions conducive to poverty, immorality, and a fractured family unit.

You would think that in light of the life and teachings of Jesus that loving and ministering to the poor and the ignored would be one of the ways the church of Jesus Christ distinguishes itself from the rest of the hedonistic and political culture, but you would be wrong. The church heartily joins in to castigate the lowly or the lazy or the criminal elements without ever considering how they were raised, the opportunities that were denied to them, as well as the blessedness of our own upbringing. If Jesus had only died for those who deserved it no one would be saved, and yet we juxtapose our sense of morality and personal industriousness upon those who cannot see and are in desperate need of unconditional love which ministers to their need instead of condemning their situation.

You want orthodox doctrine? I have just given it to you in no uncertain terms. Go ahead and proudly display your Trinitarian credentials, or your Scriptural inerrancy resume, or your salvation by grace through faith alone doctrines. Go ahead. But how do you feel about the black mother who has five children through five different fathers? What does your heart tell you about the 13 year old black boy who brandishes a gun in the streets? What about the Latin kid who has never known his father and was arrested breaking into your own home? What does your heart say to you about these people?

Make no mistake about it, loving and serving the poor is every bit a Christian doctrine as the virgin birth. In fact there are more Scriptures about ministering to the poor than there are about many of our other doctrines. What about the Book of James? Is that inspired of God? Well here is what James says concerning faith without works:

Jam.2: ¹⁵ If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

¹⁶ And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
¹⁷ Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.

Do you see what the Spirit has done? He has couched works in the context of serving the poor? Millions give up smoking after they are saved and we marvel at those wonderful works. Millions begin to go to church and we consider those great works. And yet the Spirit describes spiritual works of faith by caring and giving to the poor. So who is right, the Spirit or the church? Churches by the tens of thousands in America borrow millions to build lavish buildings and then pay interest for decades. How many churches have borrowed millions to minister to the poor and needy? Come on, let’s get real here. The church has been so affected and infected by this capitalist culture that we cannot even see how far we have strayed from true and pure Christianity.

And now the prosperity gospel preys upon the poor. There must be a special judgment upon such heretics. But the average “We are not a prosperity gospel” church still gives an embarrassing little amount of attention to the poor. We spend more on the monthly electric bill than we do the poor. Let a “professional” Christian musician come in and his love offering could feed many people. The money we waste upon ourselves is a great sin. And how do we justify such a practice in light of all the teachings about God’s servants reaching the poor? We do not have to justify anything…we have crafted our own brand of Christianity and loudly proclaim to believe the Bible.

As I mentioned my two sons coach a girl’s basketball team. Many of the girls serve as surrogate mothers to their younger siblings. Many sit home on weekends while their mothers go out. And I have watched my sons spend countless hours driving these girls to and from practice, and to and from watching other teams, and giving them some spiritual counsel as well as the gospel. And while I was attending a recent game where we were watching another team, the boys had picked up two of the girls to come along. These girls are thrilled to be out of the house. I went to the concession stand and as I returned I saw the girls sitting there. I turned to my oldest son to volunteer to pay for these girls to get something to eat and I saw my son quietly slip some money into their hands without them even expecting it. One girl is black with a large blond afro and the other girl is Latin with long beaded hair. They would be prime candidates for criticism from the evangelical community.

But I submit to you that my sons have many faults, almost as many as do I. But what he did was light years more of Jesus than taking a journey to a voting booth.

What is a Profession?

WHAT IS A PROFESSION

I Tim.6: ¹² Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

Heb.3: Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus;

Heb.4: ¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.

Heb.10: ²³ Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

²⁴ And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

Three times in these verses I provided the Spirit uses the word “profession” in reference to us, the believers. The Greek word for profession indicates a public declaration which includes an open praise that substantiates and authenticates the profession. And in verse 24 of Hebrews chapter 10 love and good works are also directly associated with our profession. You see, a profession without works is no profession at all. In the ecclesiastical parlance of today, if a sinner “makes a profession of faith” in Christ, it is only authenticated by that sinner’s changed life.

No certificates of church memberships, no baptisms, no tithing, and no amount of local church activities qualify as authentication for a person’s profession of faith. But in today’s quick fix atmosphere that is almost exclusively what qualifies as substantiating a person’s profession of faith. In fact, in some circles just repeating a few words in a prayer is recognized instantaneously as a bone fide salvation experience. That is how shallow and self serving the church has become. We are far more interested in numbers than we are true discipleship.

But just what is a true profession? To be sure sinners come to Christ in all kinds of circumstances and in a variety of ways. Many times people are truly converted through the ministry of the Spirit in churches and in situations in which we would strongly disagree. I know personally people that were born again in a prosperity church and later came out of the cult. I know some people who were saved while in the Roman Catholic Church who later came out. That is the exception but still it shows us that the Spirit is not bound.

But a sinner must recognize who Jesus is by the illumination of the Spirit. No man comes to Jesus but that the Spirit draws him. And the Spirit desires to draw all men to Christ. Yes, I said all men. The notion that Jesus only died for a veritable handful and did not die for the entire human race is a falsehood and in fact blasphemous since it presents a gargantuan devaluing of the sacrifice at Calvary. But when the Spirit opens a person’s heart and reveals to him who Jesus is and what He has done as well as that person’s dire need, then that sinner must make a choice.

But that is not just some check the box choice. It is a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus that requires everything. Of course as we walk out our faith we learn just how much it will cost but we also learn more and more about just how much it cost our Redeemer. But this idea that a person can mumble a prayer and then go about his business is not only unbiblical, it is detrimental to the faith and has deceived millions. But the local church has now been designed to swiftly pronounce people saved and get them into attending and supporting that particular local church. And it has been very efficient in doing so.

But these shallow professions have no roots and they soon reveal just how ineffectual they were. But let me reveal something even more sinister that the local church practices. While these quick fix professions of faith are taking place, the church practices a continuing system of affirmation and assurance. That means that the local church and its pastor continually assures its members that they are saved and have no need to worry. So not only does the church have a system whereby sinners can make a costless and rapid profession of faith, but they aggressively assure those who make such professions that their profession need not be questioned. And now you have a religious system and not the true church of Jesus Christ.

That is not to say that no one ever comes to Christ in an American evangelical church because they do. That is because of the grace of God and the ministry of the Spirit. However many are deceived into believing they are saved because they have been whisked through an organized process and have been quickly affirmed. Let me unpack it a little further. Many times a trained “soul winner” leads a person in the “sinner’s prayer”. Now that sinner knows almost nothing, and many times the soul winner is well versed in his part of this process. Sometimes the soul winner has an aggressive personality and that becomes part of the equation as well. But no sooner has the sinner said “Amen” after the sinner’s prayer, the soul winner is trained to lavish upon him assurance of his salvation.

Did you understand that? Right after the sinner repeats a prayer, the trained soul winner asks him a question somewhere along these lines: “NOW if you died where would you go?” And the sinner sometimes sheepishly says “Heaven?” The trainer says “Yes!!” The discussion varies but the desired results are the same. There is little room for the Spirit to work because the system is streamlined to bring about the desired results. Let me also admit something here. The overwhelming majority of churches that practice such things believe that Christ died for the entire human race and that God has given man a free will. Yes, those that believe as do I are the culprits. Most reformed believers would never practice such a thing.

So I ask again, what is a profession of faith. When a sinner comes to understand who Jesus is and what He has done, and when that sinner believes on the Lord Jesus, he is born again. Now as he walks out his profession he will begin to do things he never did before and he will give up things he did with regularity before. He has become a new creation in Christ Jesus and the Spirit that led him to Jesus now begins a process we call sanctification. That means that our lives begin to change in order to more clearly reflect the profession we have made. It does not mean we will never stumble or that we will always be as aggressive in following Jesus as we should. However it does mean we will exhibit fruit that can only be defined as coming from a follower of Jesus.

And those that have made true professions will also believe and teach a true confession of God’s Word. That means that true believers will not change who Jesus is and how a sinner can be saved. There is also a possibility that a true believer can be deceived, however that is a dangerous path. But those who profess Jesus must follow Jesus in word and in deed. The assembly line type of professions is counter to the gospel and has led to a massive ecclesiastical practice that is no more remarkable than the Shriner’s club. In short, what the modern church calls a profession of faith is detached from what the Word of God teaches.

II Cor.13: ⁵ Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

The Sheep on His right; The Goats on His Left

THE SHEEP ON THE RIGHT

THE GOATS ON THE LEFT

 

Matt.25: ³¹ When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

³² And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

The day is almost here. No one knows the day or the hour, but all who have the Spirit can discern the times. And on that day, Jesus the Messiah will come again to this earth. Only this time He does not come as a gentle Shepherd as He did when He walked among us for over thirty years. This time He comes wrapped in all of His glory, the glory He had before time was. This Redeemer, this King, this Lord comes from the majesty of His own throne room and He enters this time and space reality, one that He Himself created, and He takes up His rightful throne. And every eye will see Him; every knee shall bow.

And with one Word He gathers the entire human race before Him. Every soul that was ever born. All ethnic groups, all the aborted babies, all who died in war, all who worshiped idols, all who lived one day and all who lived over a century. Every soul is gathered before Him, and He will separate them into only two groups. Those who have no redemptive garment and who stand in the judgment of their own sins will be moved to the left. Those who wear the blood washed robe of His righteousness will be moved to His right hand. And looking out over the billions of souls the goats stand at His left awaiting judgment while the sheep stand on His right awaiting entrance into His everlasting kingdom.

In the arresting moment of that scene, the Great Shepherd of our souls turns to His sheep and invites them into His everlasting kingdom. And at that moment which of us will not be filled with wonder since now that we stand in His presence we are assured we have done literally nothing to deserve His favor. Then and only then we will understand the true meaning of God’s grace. And now because of His blood and His offer of grace we will spend eternity in His presence. All doubt is gone and all burdens are relieved.

And with a terrifying reality the Creator of all there is casts the goats into everlasting fire which is also the eternal dwelling place for the devil and his angels. This must be the most horrifying day in all eternity when souls by the billions are cast away for all eternity. On that day all the discussions and arguments about the existence of such a place will seem like the debates of fools. There will be historical figures from all over the world. There will be those who openly rejected Him and those who thought is wise to wait. There will be ordained Christian preachers. There will be people who tried to do good. There will be our loved ones who thought of us as fools. There will be the kings of the earth. If they are allowed to scream as they go, I can only imagine the intolerable wailing that will rebound all over the halls of eternity.

This may be imagery now, but one day it will be reality. Eternity will have arrived and all will be where they will be forever. This is no fairy tale although it is an inconceivable event. But please, consider this. If this event, which we say we believe will come, is actually a future reality, where is the atmosphere of crisis and passion within the church? I mean if every person born will either be ushered into everlasting bliss or everlasting judgment, why are we so placid about the urgency such an event should bring? The answer is very simple. We do not believe it.

The Journey of Death that Leads to Life and the Journey of Life that Leads to Death

THE JOURNEY OF DEATH THAT LEADS TO LIFE AND THE JOURNEY OF LIFE THAT LEADS TO DEATH

Matt.10: ³⁸ And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

³⁹ He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

Gal.2: ²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

What is life? What is death? Are these terms just defined by a blood flow or a consciousness? Is life a compilation of years? Is it a collection of material things and wealth? Is death the loss of material things? Well, as far as the world is concerned that is exactly what men mean. And men measure life and death in those ways. But just what is Christ speaking of when he uses such terms?

No one can understand the things of the Spirit unless the Spirit reveals them to him. And the Spirit will not reveal those things to an unregenerate man. Only when a sinner is redeemed and transformed by the power of that Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ can a human being understand the things of the Spirit. And when we have been given the mind of Christ only then can we know that life does not consist of the abundance of things, and that death does not mean the cessation of the muscle known as the human heart. It is almost impossible to describe to a lost person the experience of being born again, but that spiritual experience changes everything. Yes, I said everything.

The world and everything that is in it suddenly appears very different. The things we once assumed were important now seem peripheral and even the enemies of our spiritual beings. And the word “life” now can only be understood in conjunction with the Lord Jesus, and the word death is now history for us since we died at Calvary. The only death we now seek is the death to our own ambitions, our own desires, our own ways, our own understanding, and literally a death to our own carnal life. Although no one seeks a physiological death, we no longer fear its implications. As Paul said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain”.

So why do we cling feverously to this life and all its allurements? Why do we allow our flesh to dictate our desires since the path we say we have chosen cannot, must not, lead to where we desire to go. The divine path is stained by the stripes meted out upon His back, and that trail of blood leads to the place of death, Golgotha. And it is there we die to live. In this there can be no compromise or dilution. And where is the church calling and exhorting us to come and die? The abundant life that is so often touted is only found in an abundant death.

This is not psycho-babble or the brothers Grimm. This is the very essence of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. Sacrifice and self denial are a great privilege and reflect His glory while raining joy within our souls. But in today’s evangelical three ring circus self denial is seen as a problem and self affirming and self elevation is encouraged. Preachers are gods and churches are centers of performing arts. Watch the television and the so called Christian programs which are filled with accomplished thespians who make merchandise of the sheep and the goats.

The abundant life is now defined as what pleases me and my own desires. Serving Jesus is now sowing seed which means giving money to preachers. This is not just a minor aberration of the faith. It is not even a major aberration of the faith. It is not Christianity at all and it preaches another Jesus altogether. And people by the millions watch these demon circus acts and they send in their money in hopes to see a Genie grant their wish. The entire evangelical landscape is awash in doctrines of demons and an open display of the spirit of antichrist. Make no mistake, regardless of which Christian television show you watch, it is all against the gospel.

How can you explain men like David Jeremiah and Charles Stanley and even the most orthodox among us, how can you explain that God wants them to support these ungodly stations that pour venomous deception 24 hours a day? Do we join hands with those who present a false Christ and a false gospel? I watched in horror as David Jeremiah stood on the platform at TBN with all those false teachers and heretics and gave a message on giving. How far have we gone? How much of the spirit of Balaam will we tolerate?

In order to come to this place of spiritual ambivalence you must marginalize all things eternal. In fact, the concept of eternal punishment and eternal reward seems like religious mythology when measured by the spiritual behavior of the church. And even though you might say you believe in those things, the church has invented ways to expedite the salvation process in order to stamp the word “saved” on a sinner and quickly make him a part of the ecclesiastical machine. But there is no aura of the eternal in the American church. The entire construct is set up to deal with and enhance the earthly life of its congregants. The eternal realities are alluded to infrequently and in doctrinal terms however they constitute almost no passion within the church.

We cannot return to Christ in an hour or a day or even a month. We have been so contaminated by the culture and by the false church and by the spirits of antichrist that much repentance is necessary to even begin to seek His lovely face once again. This hedonistic culture has constricted itself around our beings and has all but squeezed out His life from us. The end is upon us and we still play games? We still march like lemmings to worthless voting booths to elect the next liar and we think we serve Christ? It cannot get any more serious.

The world is on the brink of total economic collapse, and war rages now with a worldwide conflagration eminent. Oh yes, I am overly dramatic. If you believe that then go about your business. But I tell you in all sincerity and without using me as a yardstick, the deception surrounds us like a thick fog. The only way out is through the cross of Jesus Christ. We must bow to His death and die to our ways. Life, true life, can only be found in Him. But this is not the message and surely not the practice of this modern ox cart church. The western evangelical church is not even carrying the Ark on a forbidden ox cart anymore. It has thrown the Ark away and it now carries itself on alluring ox carts of gold, silver, and promises of personal success. And deceived mobs follow their pernicious ways while dancing to the music of demons.

This deception is so strong and so enveloping that even if the church knew Jesus was returning this year it would change little. Can you even comprehend the strength of such a deception? The devil has systematically implemented his plan and slowly the evangelical church has been steered away from Jesus and toward itself. And words like mine seem like the ramblings of a mad man to the majority of contented church members. Watch them shake hands and smile and bow to one another Sunday after Sunday after Sunday. The prophetic climax is knocking on our doors and yet the preacher delivers his sermon with a predictable redundancy ending to make way for the afterglow in some restaurant or in front of a football game. Same songs, same offering, same announcements, same time, same next week.

People’s children are walking away from Christ and are in a world of spiritual crisis and yet the church rehearses its same dry eyed performance once again. And we believe the world will see Jesus and His Word through us when we have less urgency and less anguish than if we lost our dog? This is the faith that saw men drawn and quartered by the sword? This is the kind of spiritual expression that fed lions? This self serving, emotionless practice is what demanded men and women to be burned? What kind of lie are we living here? Our hearts are not broken, our lusts are not put to death, our prayers are benign, our fastings are for diets, and our gatherings are timed. And in the midst of the most destructive demonic forces since before the Reformation that have brought in the high places right into the church there is still no trace of spiritual desperation?

We have used His death for our statements of faith and our choreographed baptism and in our “Easter” pageants, but we ourselves refuse to die. A thief has come in and sown tares among us and has deceived the wheat. But we still have “church” and we go home, remove our clothing, and settle in for another week just like the last. We have fulfilled our religious obligation and let’s face it, things are getting worse and there is nothing we can do about it. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Christianity, neatly packaged and well worn in a culture of utter darkness.

Sacrifice can be seen only in church history, if people are even curious about that history anymore. Our children have never heard of Jim Elliot or John Huss or George Whitefield or Hudson Taylor or John Wesley or David Brainard. Most will live and die and never read a sermon by Charles Spurgeon or D. L. Moody or Jonathan Edwards. Most will never know all night prayer meetings ever existed. Most will never even consider a one day fast. And most will not even know what a revival is. Our children think divorce is the way of the church. They think debt leveraged luxury automobiles are God’s blessing. They have never seen a service dedicated solely to prayer and the Lord Supper. They have seen preachers going into a theatre to see some R rated movie. And this…THIS.. is the faith we are leaving to them?

Yes, this kind of Christianity serves its purpose in our lives. It soothes the soul and provides a forum for our spiritual and moral convictions. It accommodates every age group of our families. And it can fit nicely into our busy schedules. All in all, the western brand of Christianity is custom made for a well rounded American experience. And in the end Christ died so we can live it up. That, my brethren, is what the church has become.

If the evangelical church in America can ever become salt and light in accordance with God’s Word, the entire construct must be demolished. We must repent and tear down the cultural scaffolding and weep over what we have done. This is not time for some minor alterations or a tweaking of the system. Everything must be placed upon the table and presented before God and we must allow the Spirit to burn everything that is not of Him. Everything. And while the flames of God are still burning our ecclesiastical construct, we ourselves must step forward and allow those same flames to burn the dross within our own beings.

And we must not leave still protecting our own ways and our own wills. When we leave the church behind and seek the reconstruction of the Spirit, we must go through the death process of the cross, and then walk in newness of life. And in that newness of the resurrection we will find joy and peace and humility and grace and mercy and love. And like Mary in the garden, we will see Jesus. And if that is not our desire than let us eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.