tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81526222930087633172024-02-06T20:46:54.326-08:00downtown ministriesReaching men on the streets for Jesus ChristDowntown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-71830711303619206622017-08-29T15:15:00.003-07:002017-08-30T09:18:56.511-07:00Disaster<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Disaster</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Isaiah 45:7, “I form the light and create darkness, I bring
prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Amos 3:6, “When a trumpet sounds in a city, do not the
people tremble?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When disaster comes to a
city, has not the LORD caused it?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">These are verses no one likes to talk about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is love, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes, He is love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But we don’t talk about the fact that He is
also just, and that He brings judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
have seen, heard and read about the trouble that has come on the earth from the
beginning of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can read in the
Scriptures about the flood that God brought on the earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can read about how God used the Jews to
bring judgment on the Canaanites.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can
read about how He brought judgment on the Jews through the Babylonians.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can see today the atrocities committed in
Syria.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can see the coming war against
Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We can see the possibility of a
war with North Korea.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We remember 911, Katrina
and now, Harvey.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And if we read prophecy and the Book of Revelation, we can
understand that things are going to get worse. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Matthew 24:6-8, “You. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see
to it that you are not alarmed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Such
things must happen, but the end is still to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom
against kingdom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There will be famines
and earthquakes in various places.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All
these are the beginnings of birth pains.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 6:8, “I looked, and there before me was a pale
horse!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Its rider was named Death, and
Hades was following close behind him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by the sword,
famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 8:7b, “A third of the earth was burned up, and all
the green grass was burned up.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 8b-9, “A third of the sea turned into blood, a
third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were
destroyed.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 8:11b, “A third of the waters turned bitter, and
many people died from the waters that had become bitter.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 9:5-6, “They were not given power to kill them,
but only to torture them for five months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion
when it strikes a man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During those days
men will seek death, but will not find it; they will long to die, but death
will elude them.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 9:15, “And the four angels who had been kept
ready for this very hour and day and month and year were released to kill a
third of mankind.” </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 9:20-21, “The rest of mankind that were not
killed by plagues still did not repent of the work of their hands; they did not
stop worshipping demons, and idols of gold, silver, bronze, stone and wood— that
cannot see or hear of walk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor did they
repent of their murders, their magic arts, their sexual immorality or their
thefts.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Revelation 20:13, “If anyone’s name was not found written in
the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Why?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why the disasters?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God is getting our attention.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Romans 1:18-19, “The wrath of God is being revealed from
heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth
by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">What has God made plain to us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is just, and He hates sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He warns and brings disaster, and He judges.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He is love.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Following are some suggestions for what we need to do as a
nation, and as individuals.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This list is
not exhaustive, but perhaps a place to start.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It will make some angry, but I don’t care.</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Stop
abortion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listen to the cries of
millions of babies…and stop.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
Stop pornography in all its forms, that which
ruins lives, ruins families and is a stench on our society.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
Undo laws that promote sin. </div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri",sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 8pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
As an individual, be reconciled to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Your sin separates you from your God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you let it remain that way, Revelation
20:13 will apply to you:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“If anyone’s
name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of
fire.”</div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">How do you become reconciled to God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You can’t do it on your own.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Neither you nor I can undo the fact that we
are sinners worthy of judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
Jesus can.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 3:21-26, “But now a
righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law
and the Prophets testify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There is no difference, for all have sinned
and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified (declared righteous)
freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God presented Him as a sacrifice of
atonement, through faith in His blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He
had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished---He did it to demonstrate
His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies
those who have faith in Jesus.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Romans 4:23-25, “The words ‘it was credited to him”
(Abraham) were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will
credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from
the dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was delivered over to death
for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (that we would be
declared righteous).”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Ask God today to apply to your life what Jesus did for you
at the cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He payed the penalty for
your sin and took it out of the way and was raised to life so that you could be
reconciled to God and to have God declare you righteous in His sight.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God will then do that and give you the free
gift of eternal life with Him.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">And if you are a child of God today, and are suffering as
the result of a disaster, remember that God has not appointed you to
wrath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But maybe for such a time as
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe you will have the
opportunity today and in the days to come to share the Gospel with someone, and
perhaps they will themselves be reconciled to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is good when disasters happen that there are people who will step up and help their fellow man. This is needed. But as we are stepping up and treating the symptoms of a society moving away from God, let us not neglect going after the root cause.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 8pt;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri";">Our prayers are with you.</span></div>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-15020605092514106412016-12-04T14:48:00.001-08:002016-12-04T14:48:17.726-08:00Taking God Seriously, Romans 3:4
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With all of the
recent talk about multi-faith, interfaith, inter-denominational mergers and
alliances, all roads lead to heaven, ecumenism, etc., are we taking God
seriously?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Was what Jesus did at the
cross not as necessary in order for people to be saved from judgment?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the end, will God wink at the ignorance
and rebellion of man and let everyone into heaven anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Can we just disregard what He says in
Scripture?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:4, “So that You may be proved right when You speak and
prevail when You judge.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The other day my wife and I read Hosea chapter 13.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first and second half of the chapter
talks of the judgment of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In the
middle of the chapter, in verse 14, we read, “I will ransom them from the power
of the grave, I will redeem them from death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where, O death, are your plagues?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Where, O grave, is your destruction?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When we read about God’s judgment and then His compassion
and grace and then His judgment again, atheists call this “schizophrenia.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What they do not understand is that God is
wholly just and wholly love at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What we see in Hosea chapter 13 is that there would come a time when the
perfect justice of God and the perfect love of God would meet.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Isaiah 53:10-11, “For it was the Lord’s will to crush Him
(Jesus) and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt
offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the
Lord will prosper in His hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the
suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His
knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their
iniquities.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jesus would be crushed and would suffer as a guilt offering
for the sins of man.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the suffering
of His soul He would be resurrected, see His offspring and be satisfied.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the cross the justice of God would be
satisfied when Jesus stood in the gap and bore the brunt of God’s wrath that we
deserved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He would pay the penalty for
our sins and take them out of the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then the love of God could be poured out on all of those who would by
faith accept what Jesus did for them.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:21-28, “But now a righteousness from God, apart
from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, and are justified (declared righteous) freely by His grace through the redemption
that came by Christ Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>presented Him as a sacrifice of atonement,
through faith in His blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did this
to demonstrate His <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>justice, because in
His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He did it
to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One
who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">“Where then is boasting?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is excluded.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On what
principle?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On that of observing the
law?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, but on that of faith. For we
maintain that a man is justified (declared righteous) by faith apart from
observing the law.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Sin was serious enough in God’s sight that it would bring
justice and wrath.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus stood in the gap and bore that sin in
His body on the cross and bore the brunt of that wrath on our behalf.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And having paid the penalty for our sin, He
took it out of the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you want this
to be applied to your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you want
your sins paid for and for God to justify you or declare you righteous?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We already see in the last half of the
passage above that this does not happen by your observing the law.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It happens by faith alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God will credit righteousness to you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:23-25, “The words ‘it was credited to him (Abraham)’
were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit
righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the
dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was delivered over to death for
our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ask God to apply what Jesus did at the cross to your life,
and He will do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 10:13, “For
everyone who calls on<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the name of the
Lord will be saved.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So what happens to a person after they have asked God to
apply this to their lives?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since the
justice of God is satisfied through what Jesus did at the cross, His wrath is
no longer directed at you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1
Thessalonians 5:9-10, “For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He died for us so that, whether we are awake
or asleep, we may live together with Him.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now God is able to pour out His love on you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>1 John 3:1, “How great is the love the Father
has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And that is what we are!”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">That is the Gospel, my friends.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Good News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You and I can’t work our way to heaven.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God does not require that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, He rejects our efforts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 3:20, “Therefore no one will be
declared righteous in His sight by observing the law; rather, through the law
we become conscious of sin.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus did
for you what you could not and cannot do for yourself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 11:6. “And if by grace, then it is no
longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.” God’s justice and
love will meet you at the cross.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This now, brings me to my first point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about multi-faith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What about interfaith?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does God look away when someone tries to
enter into heaven another way than the One who is the way?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Does God wink at this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If someone falsely tells you another way and
preaches a false gospel, will God overlook it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Will he let it go, or will God judge the false teacher of prophet?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Will God judge those who have followed the
false prophet or teacher, or will He overlook it?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jeremiah 14:14-16, ‘Then the LORD said to me, “The prophets
are prophesying lies in My name.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have
not sent them or appointed them or spoken to them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are prophesying to you false visions,
divinations, idolatries and the delusions of their own minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, this is what the LORD says about
the prophets who are prophesying in My name:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I did not send them, yet they are saying, “No sword or famine will touch
this land.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those same prophets will
perish by sword and famine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the
people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and sword.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
will be no one to bury them or their wives, their sons or their daughters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will pour out on them the calamity they
deserve.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">False prophets and followers alike will receive what they
deserve.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>From the hand of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They told you to take a different road, and
you followed them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You did not think God
needed to be taken seriously.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You
thought God would wink at your following a false prophet, a counterfeit Christ,
doctrines of demons and a false gospel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>You will have forfeited the grace that could have been yours.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You will have encouraged your loved ones to
follow the same path you were on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And
you will have caused them to also forfeit the grace that could have been
theirs.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Hebrews 12:15, “See to it that no one misses the grace of
God…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let me take this time to focus on a people group that
chooses to disregard the truth and perpetuate a counterfeit Christ (a brother
of Lucifer and a polygamist), a false prophet (no fulfilled prophecies and did
not preach of a righteousness that originates with God), doctrines of demons
(God is a polygamist and had relations with Mary to produce Jesus), and a false
gospel (Jesus died to ensure everyone a resurrection so that we can work our
way to heaven).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mormonism.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was raised 4<sup><span style="font-size: x-small;">th</span></sup> generation Mormon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My great grandfather moved west with Brigham
Young.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In December of 1981 I learned
about the grace of God through Jesus Christ and asked Him to apply what Jesus
did to my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He justified me at that
moment and I became a born again believer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I now have the assurance of eternal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A couple of months later God brought me to
the understanding that Mormonism had lied to me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, I rejected and renounced Mormonism.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Some have said that I now have bitterness and resentment
towards Mormonism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That is not
true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I have anger towards
Mormonism.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have led countless
people to forfeit the grace that could have been theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God does not wink at sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God does not wink at ignorance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Those who have died having forfeited this
grace are now in Hades waiting until sentencing at the White Throne Judgment,
where they will be sent to Gehenna (the Lake of Fire).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And of those countless people are my great grandfather, my
great grandmother, my grandfather, my grandmother, uncles and aunts,
cousins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And I have loved ones alive
today that are forfeiting the grace that could be theirs. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And not taking God seriously, they are also
leading their loved ones to forfeit the grace that could be theirs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless they repent and come to Christ on His
terms, they will be like the rich man Jesus told us about in Luke
16:19-31.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They will end up in Hades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After they have discovered there will never
be any relief for their torment, they will hope someone will tell their loved
ones of this place so they will not end up there.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Will this be the sum of your life?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tormented in your own torment and tormented
that your loved ones ended up there?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Forever tormented.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Forever
forgotten.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It does not have to end that way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take God seriously.</span></div>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-32300238944572357992015-09-29T15:27:00.000-07:002016-12-05T17:45:36.554-08:00A Different Jesus<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2 Corinthians 11:4</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“For if someone comes to you and preaches
a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit
from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted,
you put up with it easily enough.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When we want to consider whether or not Joseph
Smith, the founder of Mormonism, was truly a prophet of God and therefore what
he said and what Mormonism teaches is true or false, God gives us the means to
determine this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And as I have pointed
out in a previous post, Joseph Smith fails the test of a prophet that was sent
by God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As I sought to publish that previous post around the
internet, I ran into a defender of Mormonism who claimed that Joseph Smith did
say that Jesus came in the flesh, therefore he was a prophet of God (though he
had failed the other tests):</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2 John 1:7, “I say this because many
deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have
gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Well, he had me there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For a time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Then it occurred to me that when Joseph Smith taught about Jesus, and
when Mormonism teaches about Jesus, they aren’t talking about the same Jesus <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the Bible teaches us about.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Jesus that
Joseph Smith saw (if indeed he saw him), and that Mormonism teaches, is an
imposter, a </span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">different Jesus than the Biblical Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the remainder of this post I will
compare Mormonism’s Jesus with the Biblical Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In reading the quotes about Mormonism’s Jesus
compared with the Biblical Jesus, you will see that the Biblical Jesus is real
and Mormonism’s Jesus is different and an imposter.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">First, I’ll give
you a quick summary of Mormonism’s Jesus and then a quick summary of the
Biblical Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ll
then follow that with quotes from Mormonism concerning their Jesus and quotes
from the Bible concerning the Biblical Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>To make this easier to read, the summary of Mormonism’s Jesus and their
quotes on Jesus will be in blue, the summary of the Biblical Jesus and quotes
from the Bible about the Biblical Jesus will be in red, and my words will be in
black.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus was born as a spirit to God the Father and one of His
wives and is the brother of Lucifer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He
worked His way to godhood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was and is
a polygamist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is not able to keep His
word and the darkness has the ability to overcome Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His blood may not atone for all of your
sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His offer of salvation to you
depends on your good works, and after all you can do, he may not be able to
keep his promise.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everlasting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The same yesterday, today and forever.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He was and is without sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do you
understand why Jesus was able to rise from the dead?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was by the Spirit of Holiness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 1:4, “…and who through the Spirit of
holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the
dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sin
entered the world through one man, and death through sin (Romans 5:12).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Death could not hold Jesus because Jesus is
without sin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He went to the cross to pay
the penalty for your sin and take it out of the way and offers to credit your
account with His righteousness so that death will not be able to keep you down
either.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By asking the Jesus of Scripture
to apply what He did to you, you will receive the gift of eternal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guarantee of eternal life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were
included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised
Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption
of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord
will be saved.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is able to and does
keep His Word.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus wasn’t always God:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The first spirit to be born in heaven was Jesus (Mormon Doctrine, p. 129).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">•Milton R. Hunter: "Jesus became a God and reached His great state of
understanding through consistent effort and continuous obedience to all the
Gospel truths and universal laws" (The Gospel Through the Ages, p.51).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Jesus of Mormonism had a beginning in heaven and
progressed to become a God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus has always been God:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John 1:1, 14, “In the beginning was the
Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Word became flesh and made His
dwelling among us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have seen His
glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace
and truth.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same
yesterday and today and forever.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Isaiah 9:6</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“For to us a child is born, to us a son is
given,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
the government will be on his shoulders.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And he will be called</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus is God, is the same yesterday,
today and forever, and everlasting.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore
the Biblical Jesus has no beginning and has always been God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus is the spirit brother of Lucifer:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus and Satan are spirit brothers and we were all born as siblings in
heaven to them both, (Mormon Doctrine, p. 163).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus created all things, including
Lucifer:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Colossians 1:16-17, “For by Him all things
were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and
for Him.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John 1:3, “Through Him all things were
made; without Him nothing was made that has been made.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus was contaminated with a fallen
nature and he was influenced by it:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“But while he was tabernacling in the flesh, he was more or less contaminated
with fallen nature. While he was here, in a body that his mother Mary bore him,
he was more or less connected with and influenced by this nature that we have
received. According to the flesh, he was the seed of Adam and Eve, and suffered
the weaknesses and temptations of his fellow mortals”( Journal of Discourses
6:95-96).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus is holy and without sin:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made him who had
no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of
God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered
once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was
put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hebrews 4:15, “For we do not have a high
priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has
been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet he did not sin.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Colossians 2:9, "For in Him dwells
all the fullness of deity in bodily form."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus is God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had no sin, was not influenced by sin and
is the righteous who died for the unrighteous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Jesus, who is the same yesterday and today and forever, being deity, did
not become contaminated with a fallen nature and therefore become different.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">How did the birth of Mormonism’s Jesus come about?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"The birth of the Saviour was as natural as are the births of our
children; it was the result of natural action. He partook of flesh and
blood--was begotten of his Father, as we were of our fathers," (Journal of
Discourses, vol. 8, p. 115).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“... I believe the Father came down from heaven, as the apostles said he
did, and begat the Saviour of the world; for he is the ONLY-begotten of the
Father, which could not be if the Father did not actually beget him in
person.... I believe the Father came down in His tabernacle and begat Jesus
Christ.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Prophet Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, v. 1, p. 238</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“Christ Not Begotten of Holy Ghost... Christ was begotten of God. He was
not born without the aid of Man, and that Man was God!”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Prophet Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, v. 1, p. 12, 1954</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God in the most literal sense. The body in which He
performed His mission in the flesh was sired by that some Holy Being we worship
as God, our Eternal Father. Jesus was not the son of Joseph, nor was He
begotten by the Holy Ghost.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">- Prophet Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 7</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus was the result of God the Father
having relations with Mary. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism’s
Jesus was not begotten of the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is this true of the Biblical Jesus?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Matthew 1:20, ‘But as he considered these
things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying,
“Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”’</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Luke 1:35, “The angel answered, “The Holy
Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So
the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus was begotten of the Holy Spirit.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus is not able to cleanse from all
sin:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Jesus' sacrifice was not able to cleanse us from all our sins, (murder and
repeated adultery are exceptions), (Journal of Discourses, vol. 3, 1856, p. 247).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Brigham Young said: "It is true that the blood of the Son of God was
shed for sins through the fall and those committed by men, yet men can commit
sins which it can never remit...there are sins that can be atoned for by an
offering on the altar...and there are sins that the blood of a lamb...cannot
remit, but they must be atoned for by the blood of the man" (Journal of
Discourses, vol.4, p.53-54, also published in Deseret News, p.235, 1856).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">•Bruce McConkie explains: "But under certain circumstances there are
some serious sins for which the cleansing of Christ does not operate, and the
law of God is that men must then have their own blood shed to atone for their
sins" (Mormon Doctrine, p.92).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">•McConkie continues: "Christians speak often of the blood of Christ
and its cleansing power. Much that is believed and taught on this subject,
however, is such utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to
lose one's salvation. Many go so far, for instance, as to pretend, at least, to
believe that if we confess Christ with our lips and avow that we accept Him as
our personal Savior, we are thereby saved. His blood, without other act than
mere belief, they say, makes us clean" (What the Mormons Think of Christ,
p.22).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But what about the Biblical Jesus:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 John 1:7, “But if we walk in the light,
as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of
Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all
unrighteousness.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Bible, unlike Mormonism’s teachings, tell us
that the blood of Jesus purifies a person of ALL sin, and if we confess our
sins God will purify us from ALL unrighteousness.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">In Mormonism, you have to accept Joseph Smith as a
prophet of God in order to be saved (even though Joseph Smith fails the
Biblical tests to be considered a prophet of God).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This teaching, of course, usurps the
authority of Christ.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith as a prophet of God
(Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1, p. 188).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">No man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial
kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith. From the day that the
Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding up scene of all things,
every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a
passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are" </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, vol. 7, p. 289)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But what does the Bible say?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must
be saved."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and
one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">There is only one mediator between God and man, the
man Christ Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism’s Jesus
takes a back seat to Joseph Smith.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus was crucified because of his
belief in the plurality of wives:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Orson Pratt (LDS apostle) stated: "the great Messiah who was the
founder of the Christian religion, was a polygamist...marrying many honorable
wives himself…God the Father had a plurality of wives…the Son followed the
example of his Father…both God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ inherit
their wives in eternity as well as in time" (The Seer, p.172, 1853). </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">•Jedediah M. Grant (second counselor to Brigham Young) stated: "the
burst of public sentiment in anathemas upon Christ and his disciples, causing
his crucifixion, was evidently based on polygamy…a belief of a plurality of
wives caused the persecution of Jesus and his followers" (Journal of
Discourses, vol. 1, p.346).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus was crucified to pay the penalty
for our sin:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Isaiah 53:5-6, “But he was pierced for our
transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought
us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have
gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did
not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for
many."</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than
this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1 Peter 2:24, “He himself bore our sins”
in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for
righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus did not go to the cross as a
result of polygamy or polygamous beliefs.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He went to the cross to bear your sin, to lay down His life as a ransom
for you.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At the following link we can see that Mormonism
teaches that the true church of Jesus was lost from the earth and that<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph Smith is greater than Mormonism’s
Jesus:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/manual/primary-3/lesson-6-jesus-christs-church-has-been-restored?lang=eng"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">https://www.lds.org/manual/primary-3/lesson-6-jesus-christs-church-has-been-restored?lang=eng</span></span></a></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><em><span style="font-family: "cambria";">“</span></em><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-style: normal;">People changed his teachings so that the true Church was
lost.”</span><em><span style="font-family: "cambria";"> </span></em></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #4f81bd;"><em><span style="font-family: "cambria";">“</span></em><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-style: normal;">From these scriptures, we can learn that Jesus restored the
true Church through Joseph Smith.”</span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><em> </em></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">"Jesus made his appearance on the earth in the meridian of time,
and he established his kingdom on the earth. But to fulfill ancient prophecies
the Lord suffered that kingdom to be uprooted; in other words, the kingdoms of
this world made war against the kingdom of God, established eighteen centuries
ago, and they prevailed against it, and the kingdom ceased to exist. The great
beast that John saw made war with it and prevailed against it, and human
institutions, without prophets or inspired men, usurped the place of the
ancient kingdom of God." </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">LDS Apostle Orson Pratt Journal of Discourses 13:125</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">Really?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The kingdoms of this world made war against
the Kingdom of God and prevailed against it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Impossible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless you’re
thinking of a different Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">John
1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish
it.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">The darkness can never prevail against the light.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">“I have more to boast of than ever any man had. I am the only man that
has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A
large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor
Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I. The followers
of Jesus ran away from Him; but the Latter-day Saints never ran away from me
yet" </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">(Joseph Smith, History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 408-409)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">Such boastful words!</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">But the Biblical Jesus
holds all things together by the power of His Word.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the Spirit of Christ tells us that the
church would continue throughout all generations.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">Ephesians 3:20-21, “Now to him who is able
to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that
is at work within us, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>to him be glory in
the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!
Amen.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">Hebrews 1:3, “The Son is the radiance of
God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by
his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at
the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">The Biblical Jesus holds
all things together by the power of His Word and has made sure the church was
never lost from the earth.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; line-height: 115%;">Mormonism’s Jesus takes a
back seat to Joseph Smith and Brigham Young:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"What the world calls 'Mormonism' will rule every nation. Joseph
Smith and Brigham Young will be the head. God has decreed it, and his own right
arm will accomplish it." </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">LDS Apostle Orson Hyde<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Journal of
Discourses 7:53</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">But the Jesus of the Bible is the head over all
things:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Colossians 1:18, “And he is the head of
the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the
dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ephesians 1:22, “And He put all things in
subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Ephesians 5:23, “For the husband is the
head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is
the Savior.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Colossians 2:10, “…and in Him you have
been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And if you still have questions as to whether or not
Mormonism follows a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Scriptures, read on:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“As a church we have critics, many of them. They say we do not believe in
the traditional Christ of Christianity. There is some substance to what they
say” (Gordon Hinckley, “We look to Christ,” Ensign (Conference Edition), May
2002, p. 90).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">“It is true that many of the Christian churches worship a different Jesus
Christ than is worshipped by the Mormons or The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints” (Bernard P. Brockbank, “The Living Christ,” Ensign
(Conference Edition), May 1977, p. 26).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: #548dd4; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">"In bearing testimony of Jesus Christ, President Hinckley spoke of
those outside the Church who say Latter-day Saints 'do not believe in the
traditional Christ.' 'No, I don't. The traditional Christ of whom they speak is
not the Christ of whom I speak. For the Christ of whom I speak has been
revealed in this the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. He together with
His Father, appeared to the boy Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and when Joseph
left the grove that day, he knew more of the nature of God than all the learned
ministers of the gospel of the ages.'" (LDS Church News Week ending June 20,
1998, p. 7)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2 Corinthians 11:4, “For if someone comes
to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive
a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the
one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Is that you?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Do you put up with an imposter, a different Jesus?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This Jesus of Mormonism is not the Scriptural
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">John 16:7-9, “But I tell you the
truth:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is for your good that I am
going away.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless I go away, the
Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When He comes, He will convict the world of
guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In regard to sin, because men do not believe
in me…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you have
followed the Mormon Jesus, then you have not been believing in the Biblical
Jesus, the true Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Considering the
evidence, it’s time for you to reject Mormonism’s false Jesus and embrace the
Biblical Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s time to stop
following this “different Jesus” and to follow the Biblical Jesus, the Jesus
who is able to save you from judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Go to the following link and learn how much Jesus
did for you and His desire to save you from the coming wrath of God and how
quickly He will give you the gift of eternal life, if only you’ll ask.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/definition-of-grace.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/definition-of-grace.html</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">
</span></div>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-25993361691139248522015-04-05T13:42:00.000-07:002015-04-05T13:42:02.382-07:00We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
We thank thee, O God, for a prophet</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
To guide us in these latter days.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We thank thee for sending the gospel</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
To lighten our minds with its rays.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We thank thee for every blessing</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Bestowed by thy bounteous hand.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We feel it a pleasure to serve thee</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
And love to obey thy command.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
When dark clouds of trouble hang o'er us</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
And threaten our peace to destroy,</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
There is hope smiling brightly before us,</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
And we know that deliv'rance is nigh.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We doubt not the Lord nor his goodness.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We've proved him in days that are past.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The wicked who fight against Zion</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Will surely be smitten at last.</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
We'll sing of his goodness and mercy.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
We'll praise him by day and by night,</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Rejoice in his glorious gospel,</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
And bask in its life-giving light.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Thus on to eternal perfection</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The honest and faithful will go,</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
While they who reject this glad message</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Shall never such happiness know.</div>
</li>
</ol>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Yesterday I was watching the 185th General Conference of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was one of the songs they sang, a praise
to Mormonism’s prophet Joseph Smith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But
is he a prophet that was sent from God?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From the beginning of Scripture to the end of Scripture we find there
are many prophets, and many more to come.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But we read that there are prophets who are sent from God, and there are
prophets that are not sent by God (false prophets).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we are told by Jesus and His disciples
that in the last days there would be many false prophets:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Matthew 7:15, “"Watch out for false prophets. They come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Matthew 24:11, “…and many false prophets will appear and
deceive many people.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2 Peter 2:1-3, “But there were also false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly
introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought
them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth
into disrepute.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In their greed these
teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long
been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So we find in the Scriptures that destruction is waiting for
false prophets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is waiting for those
who follow them?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jeremiah 14:14-16, Then the Lord said to me, “The prophets
are prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them or appointed them or
spoken to them. They are prophesying to you false visions, divinations,
idolatries and the delusions of their own minds. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore this is what the Lord says about the
prophets who are prophesying in my name: I did not send them, yet they are
saying, ‘No sword or famine will touch this land.’ Those same prophets will
perish by sword and famine. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the people
they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their
wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity
they deserve.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Those who follow the teachings of false prophets are not
safe from the wrath of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Nor are
their families.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So innocently following
a false prophet, though with good intentions, will not deliver a person or
their family from the wrath of God that is coming.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I know that Mormons are taught to follow the Mormon church,
the Book of Mormon, and Joseph Smith by receiving a “burning in their
bosom.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But that is not the criteria God
gave us to test whether a prophet is sent by God or not.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He has given us two ways to test a prophet,
and He expects us to use them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To not
use them and to follow a person blindly can lead to a person’s certain
destruction.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I remember a number of years ago, when I was a teenager, I
was hitchhiking on L Street in Omaha, Nebraska.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A police officer pulled over and was giving me a ticket for this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said there were no signs saying I couldn’t
hitchhike.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He pointed out a bank on the
street corner.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said, “Do you see a
sign saying not to rob me?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I said
no.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said ignorance of the law is no
excuse.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">As we see in Jeremiah above, following a false prophet in
ignorance is no excuse.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Destruction will
still come.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, let’s start with the first test God gave to us to
determine whether or not Joseph Smith is a prophet sent by God:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deuteronomy 18:22, “If what a prophet proclaims in the name
of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has
not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Joseph Smith gave prophecies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Did they come true?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Go to the following link and read Joseph
Smith’s false prophecies:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="https://carm.org/false-prophecies-of-joseph-smith"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">https://carm.org/false-prophecies-of-joseph-smith</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And what about Joseph Smith’s revelation to go and sell the
copyright to the Book of Mormon in Canada?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Brother Hyrum said it had been suggested to him that some of
the brethren might go to Toronto, Canada, and sell the copy-right of the Book
of Mormon for considerable money: and he persuaded Joseph to inquire of the
Lord about it. Joseph concluded to do so. He had not yet given up the stone.
Joseph looked into the hat in which he placed the stone, and received a
revelation that some of the brethren should go to Toronto, Canada, and that
they would sell the copy-right of the Book of Mormon. Hiram Page and Oliver
Cowdery went to Toronto on this mission, but they failed entirely to sell the
copy-right, returning without any money. Joseph was at my father's house when
they returned. I was there also, and am an eye witness to these facts. Jacob Whitmer
and John Whitmer were also present when Hiram Page and Oliver Cowdery returned
from Canada. Well, we were all in great trouble; and we asked Joseph how it was
that he had received a revelation from the Lord for some brethren to go to
Toronto and sell the copy-right, and the brethren had utterly failed in their
undertaking. Joseph did not know how it was, so he enquired of the Lord about
it, and behold the following revelation came through the stone: 'Some
revelations are of God: some revelations are of men: and some revelations are
of the devil.' So we see that the revelation to go to Toronto and sell the
copy-right was not of God, but was of the devil or of the heart of man. When a
man enquires of the Lord concerning a matter, if he is deceived by his own
carnal desires, and is in error, he will receive an answer according to his
erring heart, but it will not be a revelation from the Lord. This was a lesson
for our benefit and we should have profited by it in future more than we did
(An Address to All Believers in Christ, 31).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And what about the Kirtland Bank failure?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Warren Parrish, who had been an officer in the bank and had
apostatized from the Church, made this statement: "I have listened to him
[i.e. Smith] with feelings of no ordinary kind, when he declared that the
AUDIBLE VOICE OF GOD, INSTRUCTED HIM TO ESTABLISH A BANKING-ANTI BANKING
INSTITUTION, who like Aaron's rod SHALL SWALLOW UP ALL OTHER BANKS (the Bank of
Monroe excepted,) and grow and flourish and spread from the rivers to the ends
of the earth, and survive when all others should be laid in ruins."
(Painesville Republican, February 22, 1838, as quoted in Conflict at Kirtland,
page 297) </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wilford Woodruff, who
remained true to the Church and became the fourth President, confirmed the fact
that Joseph Smith claimed to have a revelation concerning the bank. Under the
date of January 6, 1837, he recorded the following in his journal: "I also
herd [sic] President Joseph Smith, jr., declare in the presence of F. Williams,
D. Whitmer, S. Smith, W. Parrish, and others in the Deposit office that HE HAD
RECEIVED THAT MORNING THE WORD OF THE LORD UPON THE SUBJECT OF THE KIRTLAND
SAFETY SOCIETY. He was alone in a room by himself and he had not only [heard]
the voice of the Spirit upon the Subject but even an AUDIBLE VOICE. He did not
tell us at that time what the Lord said upon the subject but remarked that if
we would give heed to the commandments the Lord had given this morning all
would be well." ("Wilford Woodruff's Journal," January 6, 1837,
as quoted in Conflict at Kirtland, page 296)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Kirtland Bank was created in the State of Ohio by Joseph
Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Joseph was the Cashier and Sidney was the President.
Unable to obtain a Banking Charter, Joseph and Sidney created an
"Anti-Bank" Bank. Depositors were lured in because Joseph Smith told
his followers that as a Prophet of God, the Bank would never fail. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Joseph Smith's
delusions left them empty-handed and the bank declared bankruptcy. Many
faithful Mormons lost their life savings and investments - and their faith.
Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon fled Kirtland under the cover of darkness in
January of 1838 to escape bank depositors who were given worthless bank notes
in exchange for gold and silver deposits.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So Joseph Smith has failed the first test God has given us
to give to a person claiming to be a prophet sent by God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What about the second test?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Deuteronomy 13:1-5, “If a prophet or someone who has dreams
arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and
that sign or wonder he has promised you comes about, but he says, ‘Let us
follow other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us worship them,’<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>do not
listen to that prophet’s words or to that dreamer. For the Lord your God is
testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and
all your soul.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You must follow the Lord your God and fear
Him. You must keep His commands and listen to His voice; you must worship Him
and remain faithful to Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That prophet
or dreamer must be put to death, because he has urged rebellion against the
Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from
the place of slavery, to turn you from the way the Lord your God has commanded
you to walk. You must purge the evil from you.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The second test is if a prophet prophecies something that
comes to pass, does that prophet lead people away from the truth to follow
other gods?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read the following link to
see how Mormon teachings and doctrine are contrary to the truth of God’s Word:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<a href="http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/progressive-revelation-or-making-god-of.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri;">http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/progressive-revelation-or-making-god-of.html</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">
</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Joseph Smith was a prophet, but a false prophet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The tests God has given us to use prove
this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God expects you to use these
tests and is holding you accountable for this.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember the verse in Jeremiah: “And the people they are prophesying to
will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and sword.
There will be no one to bury them, their wives, their sons and their daughters.
I will pour out on them the calamity they deserve.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Joseph Smith preached a gospel other than the one Paul the
Apostle preached.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Galatians 1:8, “But
even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we
preached to you, let him be eternally condemned.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless Joseph Smith repented from what he
preached, he is eternally condemned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
the modern prophets of Mormonism don’t repent of preaching this different
gospel, they will be eternally condemned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Unless those who follow Mormonism’s different gospel repent, they will
be eternally condemned.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God says He will
pour out on them the calamity they deserve.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">What is this calamity?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Revelation 20:13-15, “And the sea gave up the
dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them;
and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death
and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake
of fire.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And if anyone's name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Most people misunderstand what death means.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The death of a marriage means two people
split.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They move on, but their marriage
is dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When a person dies they don’t
cease to exist.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their body is laid in
the ground, and they move on into eternity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The second death mentioned in Revelation doesn’t mean a person is
annihilated.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It means a person exists in
eternity apart from the life of God, an object of God’s wrath, under eternal
condemnation and punishment.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">How does a person escape this?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Through the real Gospel, the Good News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bad news is that we are sinners and the
wages of sin is death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Seperated from
the life of God for all of eternity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
Good News is that Jesus paid the penalty on the cross for our sins.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The penalty that a holy and just God demands.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus took them out of the way so they would
no longer be counted against us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>“Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against
him.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus, the perfect Son of God,
then offers to credit to our account His righteousness, “Christ is the end of
the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So Jesus went to the cross and took out of
the way what separated you from your God and offers to credit His righteousness
to your account and reconcile you to God, none of this your own doing, none of
this depending on your works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s
grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“And if by grace then it is no longer
by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So stop following and singing praises to a false prophet,
ask Jesus to apply what He did at the cross to you…and He will, “For everyone
who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And you will have a sure hope and a future.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But if you continue to follow false prophets: “And the
people they are prophesying to will be thrown out into the streets of Jerusalem
because of the famine and sword. There will be no one to bury them, their
wives, their sons and their daughters. I will pour out on them the calamity
they deserve.”</span></div>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-54771219767701680322015-03-18T17:58:00.002-07:002015-03-18T17:58:25.000-07:00Progressive Revelation (or making the God of the Bible out to be a liar)
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Recently I read a Mormon article about “progressive
revelation.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Throughout the day I kept
thinking about this and then it occurred to me that Mormonism’s progressive
revelation is not what it appears to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In reality, it makes the God of the Bible out to be a liar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Numbers 23:19a tells us, “God is not a
man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should change His mind.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Progressive revelation can be likened to a rose.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First you see the bud, and as time goes on
and it begins to open up, you begin to see the beauty that was hidden
inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was always there,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>but you couldn’t see it.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Following is a Scripture that tells us of the progressive
revelation of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 16:25-27, “Now
to Him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus
Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past,
but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command
of the eternal God, so that all nations might believe and obey Him—to the only
wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Amen.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We can see from these verses that the Gospel was contained
in the prophetic writings but only revealed to us or opened up to us when God
gave the command.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to come back to
this passage at the end of this post.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now Mormonism’s progressive revelation does not reveal
something more to us that is already contained in the Scriptures.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism’s progressive revelation in reality
contradicts what we read in God’s Word and makes the God of the Bible out to be
a liar.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s say I were to meet with you for a cup of coffee and
some conversation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During the course of
our conversation I relate to you that I have never had a drink in my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Two weeks later we meet again for coffee.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At that point I tell you I used to be an
alcoholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What I have just relayed to
you makes my first statement to you a lie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That’s not progressive revelation.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But this is what Mormonism makes God out to be, a liar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What God has revealed to us in Scripture,
they change completely.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not
progressive revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Following are
some examples:</span></div>
<br />
<ol style="direction: ltr; list-style-type: decimal;">
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah
43:10, “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and My servant whom I have
chosen, so that you may know and believe Me and understand that I am He.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before Me no God was formed, nor will there
be one after me.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
So we see from this verse that God clearly
says He alone is God and will always be the only God.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Joseph Fielding Smith said, "Our
father in heaven, according to the Prophet, had a father, and since there has
been a condition of this kind through all eternity, each Father had a
Father" (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:47).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
And Joseph Smith, the first Mormon prophet <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>said, “It is the first principle of the gospel
to know for a certainty the character of God, ...and that He was once a man
like us; yea, that God himself, the Father of us all, dwelt on an earth, the
same as Jesus Christ Himself did; ...you have got to learn how to be gods
yourselves, and to be kings and priests to God, the same as all gods have done
before you, namely, by going from one small degree to another,... from
exaltation to exaltation, until you attain to the resurrection of the dead, and
are able to dwell in everlasting burnings. and to sit in glory, as do those who
sit enthroned in everlasting power" (History of the Church, Vol. 6, Ch.
14, p. 305-6).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
So we see that the God of the Bible said
there are no gods before Him and there will be no gods after Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Mormonism by its teachings makes the God
of the Bible out to be a liar by their teachings that there are gods before God
and that we can become gods.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not
progressive revelation.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Here’s
what the God of the Bible tells us of how Jesus came to this earth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Isaiah 7:14, “Therefore the LORD Himself
will give you a sign:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The virgin will be
with child and will give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Matthew 1:20-23, But after he (Joseph) had
considered this, and angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph
son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is
conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She will give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus,
because He will save His people from their sins.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All this took place to fulfill what the Lord
had said through the prophet:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“The
virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him
Immanuel”—which means “God with us.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The God of the Bible clearly tells us that
Jesus would be born of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>a virgin and that
which was conceived in her was of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But following is what Mormonism teaches about
how Jesus came to this earth:</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Brigham Young taught: "The birth of
the Savior was as natural as are the births of our children; it was the result
of natural action. He partook of flesh and blood---was begotten of his Father
as we were of our fathers" (Journal of Discourses vol.8, p.115); and
"when the Virgin Mary conceived the child Jesus, the Father had begotten
him in his own likeness [flesh and blood]. He was not begotten by the Holy
Ghost" (Journal of Discourses, vol.1, p.50).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Bruce McConkie (LDS apostle) states:
"Christ was begotten by an Immortal Father in the same way that mortal men
are begotten by mortal fathers" (Mormon Doctrine, p. 547, 1979). </div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Carfred Broderick (Mormon author) writes:
"God is a procreating personage of flesh and bone...latter-day prophets
have made it clear that despite what it says in Matthew 1:20, the Holy Ghost
was not the father of Jesus...The Savior was fathered by a personage of flesh
and bone" (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Autumn, 1967,
p.100-101).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The God of the Bible tells us that what was
conceived in Mary was of the Holy Spirit and that Mary was a virgin.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism teaches God lied when He told us
these things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That Mary conceived Jesus
by having relations with God the Father and that what was conceived in her was
not of the Holy Spirit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is not
progressive revelation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This makes the
God of the Bible out to be a liar.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Colossians 1:16-17, “For by Him (Jesus) all
things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible,
whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by
Him and for Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is before all
things, and in Him all things hold together.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
God tells us in this verse that Jesus
created all things and is before all things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Yet Mormonism teaches that Jesus and Lucifer, a fallen angel, are
brothers:</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Milton R. Hunter (one of the LDS General
Authorities) explains "The appointment of Jesus to be Savior of the world
was contested by one of the other sons of God. He was called Lucifer…this
spirit-brother of Jesus desperately tried to become the Savior of mankind"
(The Gospel Through the Ages, p.15, 1945).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
"And Satan came among them, saying: I
am also a son of God" (Pearl of Great Price, Moses 5:17).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The God of the Bible tells us that Jesus
created all things (which would include Lucifer).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But Mormonism would teach us that the God of
the Bible lied to us and that in reality Lucifer is Jesus’ brother.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah
43:11, “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from Me there is no savior.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
John 14:6, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus answered, "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one
else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must
be saved."</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Pretty clear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The God of the Bible tells us there is NO
savior apart from Him.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
But Mormonism tells us this:</div>
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</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Brigham Young taught: "Sin is upon
every earth that ever was created ... Consequently every earth has its
redeemer, and every earth has its tempter" (Journal of Discourses, vol.
14, p.71).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
Bringham Young said, "From the day
that the priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding up things of all
things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior,
as a passport to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are -- I
with you and you with me. I cannot go there without his consent" (Journal
of Discourses 7:238).</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
The God of the Bible tells us He is the
only Savior and that the only Name given by which a person can be saved is the
Name of Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yet Mormonism would make
God out to be a liar by saying there are many saviors and for this world you
must be saved by the certificate of Joseph Smith.</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
There are many more instances where Mormon
teachings are proven to not be progressive revelation, but in reality makes the
God of the Scriptures out to be a liar.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It’s important to know the difference.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I would like to quote the verse I quoted earlier in this post:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 16:25-27, “Now to Him who is able to
establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages past, but now revealed and
made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God, so
that all nations might believe and obey Him—to the only wise God be glory
forever through Jesus Christ!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Amen.”</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
</li>
<li style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;"><div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1;">
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I would
like to make one more point.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has
revealed His gospel to us through the prophetic writings (the Bible).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Gospel means “Good News.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism would teach that the God of the
Bible lied when He said salvation from judgment was by grace alone through
faith by saying that salvation from judgment is by works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Read the following link and see whom you will
believe:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The God of the Bible, or
Mormonism that makes the God of the Bible look like a liar:</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="color: black; font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 10pt; margin-top: 0in;">
<a href="http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/definition-of-grace.html"><span style="color: blue;">http://downtownministries.blogspot.com/2015/03/definition-of-grace.html</span></a>
</div>
</li>
</ol>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-77726956339153894862015-03-01T16:14:00.001-08:002015-03-07T05:46:12.269-08:00Definition of Grace<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">There is a difference in the definition of grace between
what the Scripture teaches <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>and what Mormonism
teaches.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s look first at what
Mormonism teaches about grace and then do what the Holy Spirit says through
Paul the Apostle in Galatians 4:30 and Romans 4:3 and discover for ourselves, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“What does the Scripture say?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">First, before we reveal Mormonism’s definition of grace, let’s
consider something the Holy Spirit tells us through the Apostle Paul in Romans
3:21, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What does this Scripture verse tell us?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>A true prophet of God will testify that there is a righteousness that
does not originate with us, but is a gift from God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we look at Mormonism’s definition of
grace, let us learn where they believe righteousness originates from and
whether it lines up with what Scripture says.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Does Mormonism testify about the righteousness that originates with God
and is apart from law or do they teach a righteousness that comes from the law.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">In 2 Nephi 25:23 in the Book of Mormon we read about grace
in this way, “For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and
also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we
know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And in Moroni 10:32 we read, “Yea, come unto
Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if
ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might,
mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye
may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ,
ye can in nowise deny the power of God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And in the LDS Bible dictionary grace is defined as, “It is
through the grace of the Lord Jesus, made possible by His atoning sacrifice,
that mankind will be raised in immortality, every person receiving his body
from the grave in a condition of everlasting life. It is likewise through the
grace of the Lord that individuals, through faith in the Atonement of Jesus
Christ and repentance of their sins, receive strength and assistance to do good
works that they otherwise would not be able to maintain if left to their own
means. This grace is an enabling power that allows men and women to lay hold on
eternal life and exaltation after they have expended their own best efforts.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">And at LDS.org we go to the following lesson and read the
excerpt: </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Aaronic Priesthood Manual 1 Lesson 30: The Plan of Salvation</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Have the young men read again Abraham 3:25.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">•According to this scripture, why is earth life so
important? (We are being tested to see if we will obey the Lord’s commandments.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">•If we obey the commandments, what will happen?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Emphasize that this is the way we obtain our return ticket
home to our Heavenly Father.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So, according to Mormonism grace can be yours only under the
following conditions:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">1.You cannot be saved in your sins, (The Book of Mormon,
Alma 11:37).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2.By grace you are saved, after all you can do, (2 Nephi
25:23).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">3.You must give your best, (The Teachings of Ezra Taft
Benson, p.354.)</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">4.You must deny yourselves of all ungodliness, (Moroni
10:32).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">5.Turn from all former sins and commit them no more,
(Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff, pp.71-72).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">6.If you commit any past sin again, the former sins return,
(D&C 82:7).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">7.Therefore, in order to remain forgiven you must never
commit the sin again, (Mormon Missionary Discussion F, Uniform System for
Teaching Families. 1981, p.36).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">According to Mormonism you could say you are saved at this
very moment if you are no longer in your sins, if you’ve done all you can do,
if you’ve given your best, if you have denied yourself of ALL ungodliness, and
if you’ve turned from your former sins and will never commit them again.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">I don’t know about you, but I know this could never be true
of me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So why don’t we find out what the Scripture says first about
the law and works and see if it is possible to be saved by them, and then see
what the Scripture says about grace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember, the Scriptures, the Bible, is the Standard God has given us by
which we can grade everything we read, hear and think.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Bible God has given us is the final word
on the matter.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Can a man be justified or declared righteous by observing
the law?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:20a, “Therefore no one will be declared righteous
in His sight by observing the law…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified
(declared righteous) by faith apart from observing the law.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:2, “If, in fact, Abraham was justified (declared
righteous) by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:13a, “It was not through law that Abraham and his
offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Galatians 3:10-11a, “All who rely on observing the law are
under a curse, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to
do everything written in the Book of the Law.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Clearly no one is justified (declared righteous) before God by the law…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">We see by the Scriptures that God will not declare anyone
righteous by their observance of the law. </span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Is it possible to mix works and grace (grace after all we
can do)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Holy Spirit says in Romans
11:6, “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would
no longer be grace.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If I were to offer you a gift with a value of one hundred
dollars and then demanded payment for that gift, it would no longer be a gift
would it?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So if God offers you the gift
of eternal life and then demanded you earn it, it would no longer be a gift.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">So let’s talk about real grace, unearned favor, unmerited
love, the infinite love of God shown to us in what Jesus did on the cross and
what that can mean for you:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Reconciliation to God, adoption as His child,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>the guarantee of eternal life and never being
afraid of God breaking His promise to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>What was it the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 5:13, “I write these things
to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may KNOW that you
have eternal life.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You can know right now that you have eternal life…not a life
you have to earn, but a life freely given to you and guaranteed to you by a
gracious God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let’s find out the Scriptural definition of grace.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace (unearned favor) you
have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not
by works, so that no one can boast.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is by grace (unearned favor) that a person is saved from
judgment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This happens through faith
(believing).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And this ability to believe
God doesn’t originate with us, but the ability to believe God comes from
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And we are not saved by works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one will boast before God.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">If we look at ourselves honestly we can agree with God that
we are not righteous, but sinners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Romans 3:23, “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But God demands righteousness:</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “Be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And He says
in Matthew 5:20, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that
of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the
kingdom of heaven.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">But we’re not perfect as our Heavenly Father is
perfect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our righteousness does not
exceed that of the Pharisees.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Where are
we to get this righteousness?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mormonism
says we have to obtain this in order to be saved, but when we look honestly at
ourselves we see this goal is unrealistic.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:21-26, “But now a righteousness FROM GOD, apart
from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This righteousness FROM GOD comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, and are justified (declared righteous) FREELY by His grace through the
redemption (the action of saving from sin, error, or evil) that came by Christ
Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God presented Him as a sacrifice
of atonement (the reconciliation of God and humankind as accomplished through
the life, suffering, and death of Christ), through faith in His blood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He did this to demonstrate His justice,
because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He
did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the
one who justifies (declares righteous) those who have faith in Jesus.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">By God’s grace there is a righteousness that originates with
Him and is imparted to us when we believe that Jesus went to the cross to satisfy
the justice of God, save us from sin and evil by His suffering with the purpose
of reconciling us to God. Our sins separate us from God, causing Him to hide
his face from us and not hear us.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have separated you from
your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jesus paid the penalty for those sins, to take them out of
the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Isaiah 53:11b, “…by His
knowledge my righteous servant will justify (declare righteous) many, and He
will bear their iniquities.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sins and
take them out of the way, and become the fulfillment of the law in you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 10:4, “Christ is the end of the law so
that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This free gift of righteousness that originates with God
comes through faith and is credited to those who believe Him.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:28, “For we maintain that a man is justified
(declared righteous) by faith apart from observing the law.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:3, “WHAT DOES THE SCRIPTURE SAY?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>‘Abraham believed God, and it was credited to
him as righteousness.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:5, “However, to the man who does not work but
trusts God who justifies (declares righteous) the wicked, his faith is credited
to him as righteousness.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:9b, “We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was
credited to him as righteousness.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:13, “It was not through law that Abraham and his
offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through
the righteousness that comes by faith.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:16a, “Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so
that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:23-25, “The words ‘it was credited to him (Abraham)’
were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit
righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the
dead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He (Jesus) was delivered over to
death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification (that we would
be declared righteous).”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Isaiah 53:11b,<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“…by
His knowledge my righteous servant will justify (declare righteous) many…”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 5:1-2, “Therefore, since we have been justified
(declared righteous) through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in
which we NOW stand.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This sounds like a grace we can have now, not after all we
can do.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">It is through faith (believing that Jesus was delivered over
to death to pay for your sins and was raised to life for your justification)
that you are declared righteous and reconciled to God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You don’t wait until after all you can do,
but as a result you will stand in God’s grace NOW.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 8:1-4, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for
those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the
Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For what the law was powerless to do in that
is was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending His own Son in the
likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And so he condemned sin in sinful man, in order that the righteous
requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to
the sinful nature, but according to the Spirit.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">A person who is reconciled to God stands in His grace now,
not after all he can do, and is no longer under ANY condemnation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His sins are remembered no more.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And nothing in all of creation can separate him
from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 4:7-8, “Blessed are they whose transgressions are
forgiven, whose sins are covered.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will NEVER count against him.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Paul the Apostle asked the children of God in Galatia this
question in Galatians 3:2, “I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did
you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">This is a rhetorical question he asks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We know by reading the above Scriptures that
the Galatian believers received the Spirit of God by faith (believing what they
heard).</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Will you today be reconciled to God and receive the Spirit
of God by believing what you have read in His Word?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have compared Mormonism’s definition of
grace to the Biblical definition of grace and have seen they are
different.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God has given you the
Standard to test what you have heard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Does what you have heard line up with Scripture, or does it contradict
Scripture?</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 3:4, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">When testing a teaching, the Word of God is always the final
say.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God’s grace can be yours now, it
will never happen after all you can do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Salvation from judgment doesn’t happen by works, but by the grace of God
shown to you through the finished work of Christ on the Cross.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>“He was delivered over to death for your sins
and was raised to life for your justification.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">You have sinned, I have sinned, we have all fallen short of
the glory of God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And the wages of sin
is death, both physically and spiritually (the lake of fire).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death,
BUT the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ask God today to apply what Jesus did at the cross to your
life…to forgive you of your sin, to credit the righteousness of Christ to your
account, to reconcile you to Himself and give you the free gift of eternal
life, and He will do it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Romans 10:13, “Everyone
who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will then adopt you as His child and seal
you with His Holy Spirit and guarantee you eternal life with Him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Ephesians 1:13-14, “And you also were included in Christ
when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having believed, you were marked in Him with
a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit GUARANTEEING our inheritance
until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of His
glory.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">My hope and prayer is that today you asked yourself, “What
does the Scripture say?”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope you
understood that whenever you hear a teaching that is contrary to Scripture that
the Scripture is always right.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I hope
you made the decision to follow the Scriptural teaching on how to be reconciled
to God and asked God to save you from judgement, not based on your merits, but
on His grace shown to you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jesus
understands you can’t do it and that the burden has been too heavy, that’s why
He said in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and
I will give you rest.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Let Jesus give you rest today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let Him forgive your sin, credit His
righteousness to your account.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let God
reconcile you to Himself, adopt you as His child, seal you by the Holy Spirit
and give you the sure hope of eternal life, and the promise that NOTHING will
ever be able to separate you from Him.</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Romans 8:37-39, “No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through Him who loved us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For
I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither
the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">God bless you.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">For more information on what Mormonism really believes, watch the following two commentaries, each about an hour in length:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9WJVsJL_Q">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jt9WJVsJL_Q</a></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Calibri;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57snXPKmoKo">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57snXPKmoKo</a></span></div>
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-31332623180482677972015-01-26T14:52:00.000-08:002015-01-26T14:52:49.851-08:00Be AlertIn reading Ephesians 6:10-20 we find Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, describing the armor we must be wearing on the battlefield when under Satan's attacks. I don't know about you, but there have been times in my life when I haven't been fully dressed, and as a result I've found myself laying on the battlefield, wounded, sometimes severely.<br />
<br /><br />
But praise God for His grace, mercy, compassion, longsuffering and patience. Thank God He continues to uphold us with His righteous right hand. And thank God He heals us.<br />
<br /><br />
What I wanted to focus on in this post is verse 18b in chapter 6, "With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."<br />
<br /><br />
What this verse says to me is that on the battlefield we will at times see some of our brothers and sisters in Christ, who themselves haven't been fully dressed in the armor of God, and as a result have been wounded, sometimes severely, and are now laying on the ground.<br />
<br /><br />
God is telling us to be alert for this and to pray for them. What is implied here also is that God will hear and answer those prayers.<br />
<br /><br />
I love to go and share the Gospel with those who are on the streets, and it is a joy to see someone make the decision for Jesus. But what I'm finding is that about 90 percent of the men I'm talking to are those who have at one time given their lives to Christ. Somewhere along the line they got mixed up in something they shouldn't have (haven't we all), and as a result of not wearing their full armor they have been wounded. Most times they have been seriously wounded. They have become addicted to drugs, alchohol and many other things. Relationships have been wounded and marriages have been broken up. They are desperate and in despair. And the worst wound I've seen is the deception that God has walked away from them. This is a violent wound to the soul that robs someone of their peace.<br />
<br /><br />
They need someone to come along side them and reassure them God hasn't walked away. They need this. This is what will bring back God's peace to them and heal their soul.<br />
<br /><br />
I was talking to a man on the street this weekend from Detroit, Michigan. He's in his sixties. He gave His life to Christ in 1971. But he made the mistake of getting caught up in the partying of the late sixties and early seventies.<br />
<br /><br />
His life is full of failures, regrets, broken relationships and a broken marriage. He's been trying for a long time to get his life back on track, but every time he gets close to accomplishing this, another failure comes along.<br />
<br /><br />
We talked for a few minutes and then I told him what I thought the problem was. Satan was holding him to his past failures and convincing him God was ashamed of him and angry with him. Although he didn't realize it was Satan doing this to him.<br />
<br /><br />
I told him that it was not God accusing him for these things, but that it is Satan who is the accuser of the brothers. The fact is that God has forgiven him of all of his sins and has credited the righteousness of Christ to his account. Satan wanted to convince him that God was displeased with him so that in fear he wouldn't go to God's throne of grace to receive help.<br />
<br /><br />
We talked about who he is in Christ, how his esteem is in Christ, that God is for him and not against him, that God was with him in his failures as well as in his successes.<br />
<br /><br />
He was very encouraged and I'm confident the Lord will use His relationship with him and His Word to help this brother in Christ.<br />
<br /><br />
My hope is that you will pray for him. Undergird him with prayer because as with anyone who has fallen on the battlefield, the wounds are deep and there isn't much strength. You don't have to pray for him everyday, but just this once or whenever God puts him on your heart.<br />
<br /><br />
Pray that God would help him to understand everyday that he is God's child and God will never leave. That he would know God's joy that will give him strength. And that God would help him out of this homeless situation he's in. I believe that any child of God who understands and senses God's grace, peace and joy can come out of the worst of circumstances.<br />
<br /><br />
God bless you.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-54573245294538005212015-01-10T16:41:00.002-08:002015-01-10T16:41:20.572-08:00Just Passing ThroughI met a man in Colorado today and I would like to pass on his story.<br />
<br /><br />
He was born in Frankfurt, Germany about thirty years ago as his dad was in the military. When he was about six years old his dad and mom divorced. His mom moved to Colorado and he was raised by her. He has one older brother who lives in Missouri and has done well for himself.<br />
<br /><br />
His mom passed away awhile back and this was very devastating to him. A good friend of his passed away recently. They had had a falling out and had not had the chance to reconcile before this happened. This was also devastating to him.<br />
<br /><br />
He likes music and is very involved in the industry.<br />
<br /><br />
He is a very honest man, and our conversation was pleasant. We had the opportunity to talk about God and Jesus and talk about some issues he had with that subject. He doesn't doubt creation. He doesn't doubt that he (as well as all of us) are sinners. What he was not sure of was that Jesus went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. I told him I appreciated his honesty, as did God, and that Stephanie and I, as well as our Christian friends would pray that God would give him clarity on the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.<br />
<br /><br />
When I got home I mulled over our conversation. It struct me that no matter where any of us are or what we're going through, we're all just passing through. Whether we're going through a loss, some emotions, going from one career to another, one town to another or one day to another, we're just passing through.<br />
<br /><br />
It also struck me that for each one of us the day will come when we will arrive at our destination. There is a stopping point for each one of us. It's important to understand that there are only two destinations at which we can arrive. No matter the journey, at some point it will be over.<br />
<br /><br />
Jesus said there were two roads, and everyone was on either one or the other:<br />
<br /><br />
Matthew 7:13-14, <span class="text Matt-7-13"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>“Enter through the narrow gate.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-23330A" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-23330A" title="See cross-reference A">A</a>)"></sup> For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.</span></span> <span class="text Matt-7-14" id="en-NIV-23331"><span class="woj"><sup class="versenum"> </sup>But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj">With only two roads, there are only two destinations. One destination is destruction and one destination is life.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj">He asked me if I believed in heaven. I said I did. He asked if I could tell him what it was like. In so many words I told him it was where God's throne was. Where there were peals of thunder and lightnings. It's where the angels are and where Jesus is preparing homes for those who have been reconciled to God through Him. It was a place where we would no longer suffer. A place of peace and love and joy. A place where no one could take anything away from us and where nothing would deteriorate.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj">But the other destination, hell, was a place that lacked all these things. A place where a person is separate from the life of God. A place for the people who refused to be reconciled to God. A place of torment.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj">My hope is that he will make the decision to be reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. He was honest and said he didn't understand all of it. So please pray for him that God would make all this clear to him, and that he would make the decision for Jesus.</span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj">Hebrew 11:13-14, "<span class="text Heb-11-13" id="en-NIV-30186">All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised;<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-30186AA" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-30186AA" title="See cross-reference AA">AA</a>)"></sup> they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance,<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-30186AB" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-30186AB" title="See cross-reference AB">AB</a>)"></sup> admitting that they were foreigners and strangers on earth.<sup class="crossreference" data-cr="#cen-NIV-30186AC" data-link="(<a href="#cen-NIV-30186AC" title="See cross-reference AC">AC</a>)"></sup></span> <span class="text Heb-11-14" id="en-NIV-30187">People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own."</span></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><span class="text Heb-11-14"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><span class="text Heb-11-14">Pray that though passing through, he would be on the right road and that his destination would be heaven, with our Lord.</span></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><span class="text Heb-11-14"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<span class="text Matt-7-14"><span class="woj"><span class="text Heb-11-14"><br /></span></span></span>Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-12045888096585633992014-12-07T17:44:00.002-08:002014-12-07T17:44:52.661-08:00Blessings and CursesDeuteronomy 28:1-2, "If you fully obey the LORD your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the LORD your God..."<br />
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Deuteronomy 28:15, "However, if you do not obey the LORD your God and do not carefully follow all His commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you..."<br />
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I met a man on the streets of Texas today. His life has been rough. His mom bore him and his siblings at an early age...and then left them, though he will not fault her. His grandparents on one side died when he was young. The other grandparents raised him, though they were not emotionally there. He has known a life of abandonment.<br />
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He spent some time in prison. And this is where he met Jesus. He responded to an alter call and went to several Bible services a week. He grew a lot in the Lord and was on fire for the Lord.<br />
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When he got out of prison, to a certain degree he went back to the old way of life, and this has resulted in his ending up on the streets.<br />
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First I addressed the issue of abandonment. God says He will never leave His children (Hebrews 13:5). Never means never. I know some like to say you can walk away from God, but if God never leaves, how is that possible. Maybe it's possible for us to ignore Him at times, but we can never walk away from a God who never leaves us.<br />
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I quoted Ephesians 1:13-14 to him, "And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory."<br />
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The above verses tell us that the guarantee that a child of God has an inheritance with the Lord is from the moment he first believes until the Lord comes back for him. We find that the redemption is the time of the resurrection of the saints. Romans 8:23, "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."<br />
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Not taking away personal responsibility, he said the devil and the powers of darkness had a part in luring him back into the world. I quoted Romans 8:38-39 to him, "For I am convinced...neither angels nor demons...will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."<br />
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Not even the powers of darkness can separate him from God.<br />
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Abandonment by God is not something he will ever face. He has been united with God through Jesus Christ and has the assurance of salvation.<br />
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Now there is the issue of the consequences of sin. He has escaped the coming wrath, but that doesn't mean that God won't punish or discipline us for doing the wrong things...but He will do this for our good. As a child of God, he will never be under God's curse. We know the Scriptures above that list in Deuteronomy 27 and 28 the curses due for disobedience to God. And God is just in announcing and carrying out these curses. Since all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory, we are all justly deserving of these curses.<br />
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But as a child of God, when reading these chapters, it's important to read them through the lens of the Gospel. Galatians 3:13, 'Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."'<br />
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God was just in decreeing curses for the disobedient (which includes all of us), we are deserving of those curses, but for the child of God, Jesus became a curse for you. You are no longer under God's curse.<br />
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The man I met was very encouraged. We prayed together.<br />
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Pray for him, that he would learn more of God everyday, what it means to belong to Christ, who he is in Christ, and that God would deliver him off of the streets. In talking to him, I think it's okay to say as much as one can, that he belongs to the Lord, loves the Lord and is sincere in his faith. He needs you prayers.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-23653503522187477322014-11-23T15:45:00.001-08:002014-11-23T15:45:41.483-08:00Bread of LifeJohn 6:35, "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."<br />
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Three weeks ago I talked to a man on the streets of Texas who was born in an old bread truck at the gate posts of the Biloxi Airbase in Mississippi just when hurricane Camile was hitting the gulf.<br />
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He had a good life, raised with one sister. As a child he had dreams of becoming a space explorer, but early in life, this dream was interrupted. He got caught up in a serious domestic abuse situation and as a result served 28 years in prison. I didn't ask him what the charges were, and he didn't volunteer the information. Evidently, he could have appealed his sentence, but there's a limitation on how much time a person has to do that, and his time had run out.<br />
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But during that time in prison, he came to know the Lord, and spent a lot of his time in Bible studies, learning about the Lord and what difference that made in his life.<br />
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He is out of prison and on parole. He has a job, and is working to rebuild his life. Pray for him that the Lord will help him to stay the course and not give up. I'm sure the journey for him is not easy.<br />
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Today I met a man named A J. He was born and raised in northern Mississippi as a military brat. Life was difficult. There was really no church upbringing, and at the moment I met him, he had been somewhat following the meditations of Buddha and alchohol, trying to forget the phantoms of the past.. With a bad upbringing and having served in the Bosnia war, he had a lot he was trying to forget.<br />
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I asked him if he could tell what he knew about Jesus. He said he tried following Him as well.<br />
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I explained that unlike Buddha and others, Jesus came to undo the works of the devil, i.e. the bad upbringing and the horrors of war. I said that first of all, the most important thing for a person to deal with in their life was to be reconciled to God. I explained that a lot of people don't understand what death really is. Death isn't that something ceases to exist, but that something is separated from something. A husband and wife divorce. The husband continues to exist and goes his own way. The wife continues to exist and goes her own way. But the marriage is dead. A person dies. Their body is laid in the ground, yet their soul goes on into eternity. They are merely separated from their body. When Adam was in the Garden, he walked in union with the Lord. When Adam sinned, his sin separated him from the God of Life, and Adam became spiritually dead...separated from the life of God.<br />
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I explained that Jesus came to undo the works of the devil and to reconcile him to God. He did this by taking A J's sin, that which separated him from God, and pay the penalty for it at the cross and taking it out of the way. Jesus was now offering to credit to his life His own perfection, thus making him acceptable to the Father, and that God would then adopt him, seal him by the Holy Spirit, and give him the gift of eternal life. But he had to ask for it, "For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13. He said he would like to ask. We prayed together and he received Jesus as his Savior. <br />
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I then explained to him what had just happened. Ephesians 1:13-14, "And you, A J, were also included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing your inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of His glory."<br />
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I explained to him that in this life he would continue to have troubles. But one thing had just been settled in the court of heaven: he was now a child of God and his inheritance with the Lord was guaranteed. From the moment he first believed until the redemption of those who are God's possession. Romans 8:23, "Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies."<br />
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Pray for A J, that every day he will learn more and more about what it means for him to be included in Christ, and for deliverance from the things that haunt him from his past.<br />
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Two men, two different lives. Both called by God to obey the Gospel. Both making the decision to take Jesus up on His offer. Come to Him, the Bread of Life and the Water of Life, and be satisfied.<br />
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Praise God for His grace and mercy that He has shown to us through His Son Jesus Christ.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-37955045954818474622014-11-02T16:50:00.000-08:002014-11-02T16:50:04.410-08:00Who's doing the work?Philippians 1:6, "...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."<br />
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I met a man from Pennsylvania on the streets of Texas today. He was a man who had received Jesus as his Savior, but had made some wrong decisions in his life. He did 5 years in prison as a result of several DWI's. He has been fighting alchohol addiction for quite some time. At the time I talked with him he had been dry for 13 days.<br />
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After discussing this with him, I found what I thought might be the problem. He was trying to defeat alchoholism so that he would be accepted by God, not understanding that he was already accepted because he was in Christ.<br />
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Paul tells us in Romans chapter 7 about the struggle he had when as a child of God he sought to approach God through obedience to the law. He found that by doing this that he would do what he didn't want to do, and not do what he wanted to do. He found only frustration.<br />
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I told the brother in Christ that I was talking to that his approach was all wrong. He was already accepted by God as a result of what Jesus did at the cross. Jesus took all of his sins and nailed them to the cross and paid the penalty in full for all of them. When he asked Jesus to save him from judgment, Jesus credited His righteousness to his account and made him acceptable to a just and righteous God. God then adopted him as His child, sealed him by the Holy Spirit, and gave him a sure hope and future. It was important for him now to discover what God's unfailing love was all about, and learn to walk as a child of God, not trying to become a child of God.<br />
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Paul tells us 3 very important truths in Philippians 1:6. First, it is God who began a good work in us. Second, God will complete what He started. Third, what I had overlooked for a long time: it is God who carries on the work. <br />
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That's what I encouraged this man with. God had never left him, no matter the mistakes. God would never leave. God was with Him now, carrying on the work.<br />
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Pray for him, that he would discover more and more what it means to have God's unfailing love, and as a result find victory over the things he doesn't want in his life anymore.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-32199486438697793002014-08-31T18:52:00.002-07:002014-08-31T18:52:35.188-07:00Second ChancesThis afternoon my wife and I decided to take a drive and look for someone to share the Gospel with. After cruising for about an hour, we saw a man carrying a back pack and bedroll walking through town. We stopped and asked him if he wanted a ride to the nearest mission. He said he was actually walking to the nearest truck stop (which we later discovered was about 30 miles away).<br />
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I said we would take him to the mission and that I was interested in getting his story. He was agreeable to that.<br />
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He is from California and has several siblings, a lot of them whom he has not met. He was in the foster care system, moving from home to home, for most of his growing up years. As a result of this he had been introduced to several “faiths.”<br />
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His mother died a few years ago, and as a result of the loss and not understanding how God could let this happen, he took to the road and has been there ever since, trying to make sense of life.<br />
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We explained to him how sin had entered into the world through Adam and as a result death had entered into the world. We live in a corrupt and dark world where bad things happen. Not to take away from the pain he was going through, we also explained that Jesus was a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. He could understand what he was going through.<br />
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He wasn’t sure what to believe about Jesus, our condition and the remedy.<br />
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We asked him if he agreed with God that he was a sinner. He said he did. We asked him if he believed Jesus paid the penalty for his sin at the cross. He said he did. We asked him if he believed Jesus had risen from the dead. He said he wasn’t sure.<br />
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I knew from this that he wasn’t ready to receive Jesus. Only if Jesus has risen from the dead can we be saved.<br />
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We prayed with him and asked God to open his eyes to the truth. We shook his hand and told him it was a pleasure to have met him. He got out of the car at the mission and we drove away.<br />
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I felt as if this opportunity to share the Gospel had been incomplete. I realized I could have explained to him how it was that Jesus was raised from the dead. I prayed about that and repented to God that I could have said more.<br />
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My wife and I stopped at a Burger King to have a bite to eat, about 3 miles from the mission. As I was looking out of the window, I saw the man walk into the gas and shop across the street.<br />
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The God of second chances. I realized he had made the decision to leave the mission and walk to the nearest truck stop. My wife and I left Burger King and gave him a ride to the truck stop.<br />
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On the way I explained to him how it was that Jesus was able to rise from the dead. Sin entered the world through Adam and as a result we are all sinners. Death entered the world through sin and as a result we all die.<br />
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But Jesus is without sin. In Romans chapter 1 we are told that it was by the Spirit of Holiness that Jesus was able to rise from the dead. Since Jesus had no sin, death was not able to hold Him.<br />
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He still wasn’t ready to receive Jesus as his Savior. <br />
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I told him it had been a pleasure meeting him. If he decides to receive Jesus as his Savior, I know I’ll see him again, even if not here.<br />
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But if he chooses to remain separate from God, then we won’t meet again.<br />
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Pray for him. Pray that God would open his eyes by the Holy Spirit to the truth and that he would make a decision for Jesus.<br />
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Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-3821623356482290222014-06-12T14:04:00.001-07:002014-06-12T14:04:17.031-07:00DeceivedIn my previous post I wrote about Jesus opening up the gates of hell that have kept people imprisoned by deception and releasing the captives. During this past week I have been thinking of those who have been deceived and their reaction to finding that out. So I’m writing this post in the hope that those who are set free will run to God as a result of His mercy to them.<br />
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Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.”<br />
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I know someone who came out of a religious organization very disillusioned and angry at God as the result of discovering that they had lied to him, that he had been deceived.<br />
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The reason for my writing this post is a few days ago I was reading that there is an exodus from a religious organization as the result of people realizing they have also been deceived. My concern is the reaction I saw in the person who became angry with God. This caused him to walk completely away from God, and I don’t see that as the appropriate reaction.<br />
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We see in the Scripture above that Satan is the deceiver of the whole world. You have been deceived, and I have been deceived. Welcome to the fallen human race that has been under to the control of the evil one.<br />
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1 John 5:19, “We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.”<br />
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But let what has happened to you be the reason for you to run to God with thanksgiving that He thought of you enough to deliver you from deception and destruction and lead you to a knowledge of the truth. His purpose in that is that He wants you to be forgiven and delivered from judgement and to receive eternal life from Him and an inheritance with Him. And to receive this hope from Him is simple.<br />
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Jesus carried your sins to the cross, was crucified and paid the penalty for your sin, taking them out of the way. Colossians 2:13-15, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”<br />
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Jesus died and was buried, but on the third day He was raised from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness. There is no sin in Jesus, therefore death was not able to hold Him. Romans 1:4, “and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”<br />
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He wants to credit His righteousness to your account, the righteousness that God demands and only Jesus can provide. Romans 3:21-26, “But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified (declared righteous) freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies (declares righteous) those who have faith in Jesus.”<br />
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In a simple prayer, if you ask Him to apply this to your life, He will do it. He will adopt you as His child, seal you by His Holy Spirit, and give you the guarantee of eternal life with Him. John 1:12-13, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”<br />
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It’s that simple.<br />
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That’s the good news. You don’t have to work to be in right standing with God. Jesus did everything needed to make the way for you to be saved from judgment. Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”<br />
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Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-58768962737946203922013-12-07T09:49:00.003-08:002013-12-07T09:49:13.120-08:00Lift Up Your Heads, O You Gates; Be Lifted Up, You Ancient Doors, That The King Of Glory May Come In (Psalm 24:7)“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I (Jesus) am?”<br />
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Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”<br />
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Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:15-18)<br />
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For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. (Mark 4:22)<br />
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Meditating in recent days about what Jesus meant when He said that the gates of hell would not prevail against the fact that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God, I’ve come to somewhat of an understanding, at least in part, of what that means. <br />
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When we think of gates, we think of trying to keep something in, and trying to keep something out. In this case I think of the gates of hell being used to keep people in bondage to deception and keep the truth that would save them from destruction, out. We read in 2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” That is very sad, and will not end well for those who are not delivered from this.<br />
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But Jesus said that the gates of hell would not be successful in keeping its captives from hearing the truth that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus said that what is hidden from the eyes of the unbelievers is meant to be made clear to them.<br />
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So, with the age of the internet, and with the emergence (coming into view, existence, or notice) of the cultic and occultic movements, I find myself praising God because I can see the gates of hell being torn down. In order for these movements to gain notoriety they have to open the gates. When they open the gates, the truth is able to get in and captives are being set free.<br />
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And all these emerging groups have their own goals. For some it is to gain more money. For some it is recognition. For some, as in the Satanic movement, it is insanity. <br />
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I remember watching a boxing match a couple of years ago where one opponent was knocked out in the middle of the third round. He came to just as the name of the victor was to be announced. He stood up and raised his hands, walking over to be recognized as the victor. It was pretty ridiculous really. Everyone knew he had lost the fight. Do you remember the fight I’m talking about? No? That’s because that fight never happened. If you have ever watched a boxing match you know that one man knows he is the one who has been defeated, and the other man knows he is the victor.<br />
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Colossians 2:15 says, “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he (Jesus) made a public display of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” It’s insane for the devil to go about and claim himself to be victor, because he has already been defeated. And it is insane for anyone to be part of a Satanic group to believe him and to believe that somehow they will prevail against God as well. And it is insane for anyone to think, as in cultic movements, that somehow you will be able to side step the cross and make it into heaven some other way.<br />
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But in all of this, the age of the internet and the emergent movements, Christ is being preached. Paul says in Philippians 1:18, “But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.”<br />
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The gates are open. Christ is being preached. People are searching and asking questions. Praise God. Keep asking questions. Proverbs 8:17, “I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.” Jesus said in Matthew 7:7 and 8, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”<br />
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So, if you are one of the ones who has been held captive to deception, since the gates have come down, the Lord is giving you an opportunity to hear or read and receive the truth and by His grace be saved from judgement.<br />
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There is nothing you have done that He will not forgive. Matthew 3:28, “I (Jesus) tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them.”<br />
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You and I both are sinners by nature and as a result objects of God’s wrath. But Jesus went to the cross to pay the penalty for our sin and take out of the way what separates us from our God. He was crucified, died, was buried, and rose again on the third day by the Spirit of holiness. He wants to credit His perfect life to your account and become in you the righteousness that God demands. Ask Him to do this and He will. Then God will adopt you and seal you by His Holy Spirit and will give you the guarantee of eternal life. He will make you stand firm in Christ. He will raise you up in the presence of Jesus and you will not be found lacking, you will be complete in Christ.<br />
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He will be your hope.<br />
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God, thank you that you have opened the gates. Thank you that what was hidden from the captives eyes is now being disclosed to them and they are receiving salvation from you. Thank you that you are proved right when you speak. Thank you that the gates of hell will not prevail against the truth the Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.<br />
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Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-50168881755851079602013-10-15T13:05:00.000-07:002013-10-15T13:05:19.804-07:00What in Hell is Going On?Gods Covenant With Abram (Genesis chapter 15):<br />
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After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision:<br />
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“Do not be afraid, Abram.<br />
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I am your shield,[a]<br />
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your very great reward.[b]”<br />
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2 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”<br />
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4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir.” 5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the sky and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring[d] be.”<br />
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6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.<br />
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7 He also said to him, “I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it.”<br />
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8 But Abram said, “Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?”<br />
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9 So the LORD said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”<br />
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10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away.<br />
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12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the LORD said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”<br />
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17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram and said, “To your descendants I give this land, from the Wadi[e] of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites, 21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites.”<br />
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The significance of this covenant that the Lord made with Abraham is very important. During Abraham’s day if two men made a covenant, they would cut animals in half and walk between them, signifying that if either of them broke the covenant, that person would end up like those animals. What is amazing is that as Abraham expectantly prepared for the Lord and himself to walk between the animals, that the Lord caused Abraham to go into a deep sleep. And then the Lord Himself walked between the animals alone, signifying that He would take responsibility for both parties. In other words, if the Lord defaulted, He would end up like the animals, if Abraham defaulted, the Lord would end up like those animals. <br />
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This covenant that the Lord made with Abraham was confirmed by the Lord 430 years prior to the Law being introduced (Galatians 3:17). We find in Scripture that the Law was added so that trespass would increase, so that when we recognized our sinfulness we would be led to Christ who went to the cross and payed the penalty for our sin. He went to the cross alone and ended up like those animals. He took responsibility for us and paid the penalty for us because we couldn’t keep our side of the covenant. This is the Covenant of His blood that Jesus tells us about. So anyone who comes to Jesus and agrees with Him that they are a sinner, thanks Him for paying the price for their sin, and asks Him to give them eternal life, He will do that. <br />
<br />
Ephesians 1:13 and 14:<br />
<br />
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14 who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.<br />
<br />
This brings me to the title of this blog post: What in Hell is Going On?<br />
<br />
2 Corinthians 4:4, “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”<br />
<br />
I was thinking this morning about all the “ism’s” in the world today. Roman Catholicism, Mormonism, Buddhism, Muhammedism, and all the other “ism’s” out there. There is really no difference between any of these, except for the wrapper they come in. What they have in common is keeping people blinded to the covenant Jesus wants to make with a person. They reject that only He could pay the price and they teach we have to approach God through the Law. In their pride they are eager to walk in between those animals with the Lord. The problem is that they will end up like those animals because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. You see, God in His grace would not allow Abraham to walk in between those animals because it would have meant the end of Abraham. Abraham would have ended up breaking covenant and would have been destroyed as a result. And anyone attempting to approach God on their own merits will end up the same way.<br />
<br />
Deuteronomy 5:29<br />
<br />
“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever.” Have you kept all of His commands all the time? Neither have I. That disqualifies us from things going well for us forever. But if Jesus paid the penalty for our sins, took them out of the way to never hold them against us again, and credited us with His righteousness, then wouldn’t we be qualified? Yes. Trusting in what Jesus did for us will qualify us for things to go well with us forever.<br />
<br />
Hebrews 7:18-19:<br />
<br />
“The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.”<br />
<br />
The Law is not able to make us perfect. Only Jesus can, by taking our sin out of the way and never holding it against us again and by filling our account with His righteousness.<br />
<br />
What is going on in hell is that the Devil wants to prevent you from coming to Christ and embracing His grace toward you by keeping you focused on the Old Covenant of the Law that cannot save you from judgement. If he can do that, then he can destroy you.<br />
<br />
In our culture we like to embrace religious diversity. We talk about how beautiful it is. It is good that God has given people freedom of choice, but it’s important to understand the consequences of those choices. And there are really only two choices. Will you continue to reject the free gift of salvation that Jesus is offering you and seek to approach God through the Law (which Jesus set aside)? Or will you trust in Jesus alone to save you from judgement?<br />
<br />
1 John 5:12<br />
<br />
“He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”<br />
<br />Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-62029035473890510172013-07-27T12:58:00.003-07:002013-07-28T19:00:34.711-07:00False Prophets and Their MotivationThe most basic need a person has is revealed to us in Proverbs 19:22a, "What a man needs is unfailing love..." Whether a person realizes this or not, it is what the Scriptures teach us. But we know there is an issue that gets in the way of our having this love that does not fail. It's sin. So what can we do about that? God has set eternity in the hearts of men. We know we are seperate from Him, and we long to be with Him. But we find that the wages of our sin is death, or eternal seperation from Him. We know that we don't have that unfailing love.<br />
<br />
But what if there was a way to change that? What if there was an answer? There is. And only one answer.<br />
<br />
God chose to satisfy the demand of His justice and extend His unearned favor toward us through His Son Jesus. <br />
<br />
Almost 2,000 years ago Jesus, the Son of God, God Himself, the Creator of all things, chose to bear the penalty for your sins and for mine. He chose to remove what seperated us from Him. So He was crucified, not for His own sin, because He was sinless, but for our sin. He died and rose again from the dead on the third day by the Spirit of holiness. Romans 1:4, "who through he Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." You see, it is because of a person's sin that that person is held captive by death when he dies. But Jesus was able to rise from the dead because there was no sin in His own life by which death could hold Him.<br />
<br />
He is waiting. He did it for you. All you have to do is ask for forgiveness and the gift of life. And He will not turn you away. At the moment you ask Him, He will take away your sin (that by which death could hold you down), credit His righteousness to you so that you also will rise from the dead, adopt you as His child, seal you by His Holy Spirit, and give you the guarantee of eternal life. That's it. That's all you have to do. That's the only thing you can do. That's the simplicity of the Gospel. <br />
<br />
This now brings me to the topic of this post: False Prophets and Their Motivation.<br />
<br />
I can't say that I have dug real deep into the doctrines that some preach, whether religious or otherwise. But I can say that through study of the Scriptures (the Bible), I have found in Scripture some very basic common denominators concerning false prophets and false teachings.<br />
<br />
When someone is in the business of finding those who create counterfeit money, they don't study all of the counterfeit currency out there to do this. They spend their time studying the real thing, and then what is counterfeit is noticable. Then they are able to track down the counterfeiters and prosecute them.<br />
<br />
God prosecutes counterfeit teachers and those who pass counterfeit teachings as well. Without repentance, the sentence is far greater than what someone would receive for counterfeiting currency here. Paul says in Galatians 1:8, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned."<br />
<br />
You see, in the Scriptures, specifically in the Apostolic letters, we are told about the simplicity of the Gospel and what a person needs to do to inherit eternal life. But in some religions and movements the teachings are different than what is taught in the Scriptures. Why are there some who are willing to preach falsehoods to others (false prophets) and to hold those who follow them captive to their false teachings? What is their motivation, and what is behind it?<br />
<br />
Let's start with what, or who, is behind it. Jesus said in John 10:10a, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..." The devil is the thief, who comes to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you. And the demons work for him.<br />
<br />
1 Timothy 4:1 says, "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith (the Apostolic teachings in the Apostolic letters) and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons."<br />
<br />
So the false prophets abandon the sound doctrine of the simplicity of the Gospel found in the Apostolic letters and teach things taught by demons who are out to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you.<br />
<br />
What is the motivation of these false prophets? <br />
<br />
2 Peter 2:1-3a, "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up."<br />
<br />
So false prophets motiviated by greed will exploit you by teaching doctrines of demons who are out to steal from you, kill you, and destroy you.<br />
<br />
How are demons able to destroy you? Galatians 1:8 and 9, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned. As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted (the gospel Paul is talking about here is the gospel taught in the Apostolic letters), let him be eternally condemned." Demons are able to destroy you by keeping the truth from you so that you will not submit to the gospel and be saved. By presenting a different gospel to you and making you feel and believe as if everything is okay, while you are presently under condemnation and don't realize it. <br />
<br />
There is only one way to be saved, and that's Jesus' way. Through the simplicity of the Gospel taught in the Apostolic letters. A person cannot be saved from judgement by following a doctrine that is contrary to the teaching of the Scriptures. Whether a person follows the wrong way knowingly or unknowingly, the outcome is the same: eternal condemnation. Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."<br />
<br />
False prophets, whether religious or non-religious, by their greed seek to exploit you. And they use doctrines of demons to do so. Why? Because they can't exploit you by using the truth. Jesus said in John 8:31a, 32, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth will set you free, but with their lies they can put you into bondage and keep you there.<br />
<br />
False teachers strive to get your money, and the devil strives to keep your soul. Jesus came to give you life, and life more abundantly. False teachers disregard the Scriptures, especially the Apostolic letters that tell there is good news for you, and keep you from the Scriptures as well. But you have a choice. Read the Apostolic letters for yourself. Ask Jesus to save you from judgement, and He will, keep your money and walk away from these false teachers. <br />
<br />
How can we be sure we can rely on what the Scriptures say?<br />
<br />
Hebrew 1:3, "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by the power of His word." If Jesus' word had not been able to endure, all of creation would have ceased to exist. So, the one who sustains all of creation by the power of His word has also been able to keep the true gospel from being lost. He's holding you responsible to compare what you have heard with His word, the Scriptures.<br />
<br />
What are some of the false teachings that contradict Scripture, the reliable Word of God?<br />
<br />
<br />
1. Jesus is not God.<br />
<br />
John 1:1a, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."<br />
John 1:14a, "The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us."<br />
Romans 9:5, "Theirs (the Jews) are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry<br />
of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen."<br />
<br />
2. Jesus didn't create us and all of creation.<br />
<br />
John 1:2, "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made."<br />
<br />
3. There are many ways to heaven and many who can get you there.<br />
<br />
John 14:6, Jesus said, "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father<br />
except through me."<br />
<br />
4. You have to work or pay money to get into heaven.<br />
<br />
Ephesians 2:8 and 9, "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from <br />
yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast."<br />
Romans 11:6, "And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer<br />
be grace."<br />
<br />
5. There are those who are equal to God, or that Jesus is subservient to others.<br />
<br />
Philippians 2:9-11, "Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name<br />
that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on<br />
earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of<br />
God the Father." <br />
<br />
And these are just a few. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-39155344190272945622013-07-18T18:32:00.001-07:002013-07-18T18:32:42.175-07:00The Stones Will Cry Out<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<br />
Luke 19:37-40, When he (Jesus) came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen. <br />
<br />
"Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" <br />
<br />
"Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" <br />
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Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" <br />
<br />
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."<br />
<br />
The Scriptures tell us that there is nothing new under the sun. Today, we see those who want God's children to be silent. They have taken prayer out of the schools. They have taken the Ten Commandments out of our courthouses. They are on a crusade to remove anything that has to do with the cross of Christ, that which testifies to the suffering our Lord went through to purchase eternal life for those who would ask. They want the children of God to stop spreading the Gospel and leading others to eternal life. They want us to believe that the Bible, the Scriptures, are myth.<br />
<br />
But, the stones will cry out.<br />
<br />
As I was thinking about it today, archaeology cannot lie. Archaeology must bear witness to the history that was there. I don't believe there is any scientist or reasonable person who would deny that.<br />
<br />
There is an arcaeological find outside of Jerusalem, the Palace of King David (1000 BC) that is proving out the Biblical accounts. This is undeniable. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/king-davids-palace-discovered-archaeologists-israel-photo-1352231">http://www.ibtimes.com/king-davids-palace-discovered-archaeologists-israel-photo-1352231</a><br />
<br />
Now, those who want to reject Christ and teach others to do the same, must find a different avenue. This one of proclaiming the Bible to be myth has been proven wrong.<br />
<br />
For those who want to look at the facts, the facts of the Scriptures and the facts born out in history and archaeology, Jesus is still waiting. Ask Him, who died for you and then rose from the dead, to apply to you what He has done. To forgive you of your sin and give you eternal life. He will do it.<br />
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-63940144686314328302013-07-14T15:15:00.001-07:002013-07-14T15:15:09.096-07:00Identity CrisisAfter dealing with some issues in my own life a few days ago, I believe the Lord put it on my heart to deal with what I see as an identity crisis in our world today. An identity crisis among those who don't belong to Christ, and an identity crisis among God's children. I will write about unbelievers first, and then about believers in the Lord Jesus.<br />
<br />
Now, when I write about those who don't know Jesus, it will seem harsh, because in reality it is harsh. One of the verses that stands out with me is Isaiah 66:6, "Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the LORD repaying His enemies all they deserve." It seems to me that when the time comes for the LORD to deal with His enemies that it will be so severe He will not even let His own children watch. This is more than harsh. This is terrifying. It should not be anything anyone would want to face. But some will face it. Why?<br />
<br />
When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they died spiritually. They became separated from the Spirit of Life. They became spiritually dead. They became by nature objects of the wrath of God, worthy of judgement. As a result, the whole human race became by nature separated from the Spirit of Life and objects of wrath worthy of judgement. Jesus said to all of us in John 8:44a, "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire." I don't believe that when Jesus spoke this that He was wanting to insult or degrade. I believe He was stating a fact. We are the result of the work of Satan in the Garden of Eden that caused all of us to rebel against God and be separated from Him. That is our identity. It doesn't matter the color of our skin or our social or economic status. Our identity is that we are of our father the devil facing judgement. That's who we are.<br />
<br />
But Jesus is the remedy. He came for the purpose of providing hope where we have no hope, peace with God where we had no peace. A good future when we had a horrible future. He came to give us a new identity.<br />
<br />
Jesus went to the cross for the purpose of receiving that judgement for us on Himself. To pay the penalty for our sin and to take it out of the way so that it would be, before God, as if we had never sinned. And then to credit us with His performance. As God's Son Jesus never sinned. That's why He was able to rise from the dead. Death could not hold Him because He was sinless. He took our sin out of the way and wants to credit to us His perfection. Do you want that from Him? Do you want Him to take your sin out of the way, credit His righteousness to you, adopt you as one of His children and give you a sure future with Him? Ask Him right now and He will do it. Romans 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Then you will belong to Christ, and 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" If you ask Jesus to save you from judgement, then you will become a new creation. You will have a new identity. You will then be a child of God, no longer facing judgment.<br />
<br />
Now, for those of us who are already in Christ, who have already asked Jesus to save us from judgement, we need to come to more of an understanding of who we are in Christ. I know that in my own life, and in the lives of those I talk to, we have a lot to learn.<br />
<br />
I believe the sins and issues in our lives stem mainly from not understanding our identity and what God has done for us in Christ. Below, I'm going to list some of the truths about us, and would like to encourage you, along with myself, to become well acquainted with these. We have a lot of negative thoughts about ourselves and believe them. We need to displace the untruths with the truth of God's Word. Paul tells us in Romans chapter 12 verse 2 that the way to transform our lives (or to have victory over the sins in our lives) is to renew our mind. We are new creations in Christ. The things that used to be true of us are no longer true. But before I list those I would like to deal with the most basic, foundational truth that you and I need. That need is for a love that does not fail. Proverbs 19:22a, "What a man desires is unfailing love;".<br />
<br />
Will God's love ever fail you? Is it possible to lose that position you have in Christ and as a result no longer be in a position to receive God's unfailing love? Doesn't God say that He will meet all of our needs in Christ (Philippians 4:19)? This is our most basic need, and I believe God has already fully met this need, forever, in Christ. I know there are some who preach we can lose our salvation, but I don't believe the Scriptures teach this. In Romans 8:37-39 Paul tells us that nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. I know there are some who would say, "except you." I don't know if I would get into the habit of adding to what God has said. It doesn't say "except you," in this passage. In John 10:28a Jesus says, "I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." I was reading online, "Eternal Security of the Believer," by Dr. Harry Ironside, So He says, “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish.” He puts no conditions around that promise, “They shall never perish.” The word “perish” is in the middle voice, so that if rendered literally in English, you would have to make two words of it, because we do not have a middle voice. The words “perish” and “destroy” are the same in Greek. “I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never destroy themselves.” So, since God promises to never leave us, since God says nothing in all of creation will be able to separate us from His love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord, and since Jesus said He will not allow us to destroy ourselves, then what we have is God's love that will not fail us. That is our most basic need that God has met for us in Christ.<br />
<br />
So from that foundation we need to counteract the negative, untrue things about ourselves that we've been taught or the devil or the world system, or others, want us to believe about ourselves. Now I'm going to list below some of the truths in Scripture about who we are in Christ, and hope that you, along with myself, will take maybe one of these a day and meditate on it. And I believe that the victory we are hoping for in our lives will be seen as a result of our transforming the way we think. And for those who have just asked Jesus to save them from judgement, these truths are true of you as well. Meditate on them. God has done a great thing in your life.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times-Roman;"><div align="LEFT">
WHO I AM IN CHRIST</div>
<br />
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I am God’s child John 1:12</div>
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I am Christ’s friend John 15:15</div>
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I have been justified Romans 5:1</div>
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I am united with the Lord (one spirit) 1Cor.6:17</div>
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<div align="LEFT">
I am bought with a price; I belong to God 1Cor.6:19-20</div>
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I am a member of Christ’s body 1Cor. 12:27</div>
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I am a saint Eph. 1:1</div>
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I have been adopted as God’s child Eph. 1:5</div>
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I have access to God through the Holy Spirit Eph. 2:18</div>
<br />
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I have been redeemed and forgiven Col.1:14</div>
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<div align="LEFT">
I am complete in Christ Col.2:10</div>
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<div align="LEFT">
I AM SECURE</div>
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I am free forever from condemnation Rom. 8:1-2</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I am assured that all things work together for good Rom. 8:28</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I am free from any condemning charges against me Rom. 8:31-34</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I cannot be separated from the love of God Rom. 8:35-39</div>
<br />
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I am established, anointed and sealed by God 2Cor. 1:21-22</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I am hidden with Christ in God Col.3:3</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I am confident that the good work He has begun in me,</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
will be perfected Phil1:6</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I am a citizen of heaven Phil 3:20</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
I have not been given a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a</div>
<br />
<div align="LEFT">
Sound mind 2Tim 1:7</div>
<br />
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I can find grace and mercy in time of need Heb 4:16</div>
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I am born of God; the evil one cannot touch me 1John 5:18</div>
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I AM SIGNIFICANT</div>
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<div align="LEFT">
I am the salt and light of the earth Matt 5:13-14</div>
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<div align="LEFT">
I am a branch of the true vine, a channel of His life John 15:1,5</div>
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I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit John 15:16</div>
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I am a personal witness of Christ’s Acts 1:8</div>
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I am God’s temple 1Cor 3:16</div>
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I am a minister of reconciliation for God 2Cor 5:17-21</div>
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I am God’s co-worker (1Cor 3) 2Cor 6:1</div>
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I am seated with Christ in the heavenly realm Eph 2:6</div>
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I am God’s workmanship Eph 2:10</div>
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I may approach God with freedom and confidence Eph 3:12</div>
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I can do all things through Christ who strengthens Phil 4:13</div>
<br />
Me<br />
<br />
The lists above come from research done by Neil T. Anderson. He has written several books, two that have been very helpful to me: "Victory Over the Darkness," and "The Bondage Breaker." Following are a few more that I have discovered in 2 Corinthians. Search the Scriptures. There are more that God wants us to discover.<br />
<br />
God comforts you in all your troubles. 1:4<br />
<br />
Our hope is firm in Christ. 1:7<br />
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God will continue to deliver us. 1:10<br />
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You will be boasted of in the Day of our Lord Jesus. 1:14<br />
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All of God's promises are yes in Christ. 1:20<br />
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God makes you stand firm in Christ. 1:21<br />
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God set His seal of ownership on you.<br />
God put His Spirit in your heart to guarantee what is to come. 1:22<br />
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God always leads you in triumphal procession in Christ. 2:14<br />
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You are the aroma of Christ. 2:15<br />
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You are ministers of a new covenant. 3:5<br />
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You reflect the Lord's glory.<br />
You are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory. 3:18<br />
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You are God's minister. 4:1<br />
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You carry the gospel of Christ. 4:6<br />
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You will be raised in the presence of Jesus. 4:14<br />
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Inwardly you are being renewed day by day. 4:16<br />
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God built an eternal house for you in heaven. 5:1<br />
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The Holy Spirit is a deposit to guarantee you what is to come. 5:5<br />
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You are in Christ.<br />
You are a new creation.<br />
Your old nature is gone. 5:17<br />
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God did this.<br />
You are a minister of reconciliation. 5:18<br />
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You are an ambassador of Christ.<br />
God makes His appeal to the world through you. 5:20<br />
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Jesus, though rich, became poor so that you could be rich. 8:9<br />
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God has richly blessed us.</span><br />
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Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-23139841759520185562013-07-04T15:20:00.000-07:002013-07-04T15:20:53.982-07:00Heroes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Today we are honoring the fallen, and our independence. Those who have given their lives so we can live. We remember our soldiers who have given their lives for us at great sacrifice. Their families also having sacrificed a spouse or a parent so that we could have our freedoms. We remember the firefighters of the Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew and their families who have sacrificed so that we could keep our lives, our homes, and our possessions. <br />
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My wife and I watched a 4th of July parade today in Williams, Arizona where the Granite Mountain Hot Shot Crew was honored on several floats. It brought a lot of tears. We also saw a young lady who had what appeared to be cerebral palsy riding a horse, showing her courage in overcoming obstacles in her life as well as being an example to others to overcome obstacles as well. To me, this was a day of recognizing heroes. All of these people have lived honorable lives and some have given their lives honorably. They should be honored by all of us.<br />
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I remember a man asking me once who I thought the strongest person in the world was. He listed some names, and of course today I would add the names of the above to that list. They all have shown great strength and courage.<br />
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But the strongest, most honorable, courageous person who ever lived would have to be Jesus, who deserves our greatest honor. Colossians 2:13-15, "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."<br />
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We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and the sentence for our sin is seperation from God for all of eternity. Death. After sentence was given toward us, Jesus stepped down from glory and paid the penalty Himself, for an undeserving creation. He then rose from the dead by His own Spirit of holiness. Having paid the sin debt of all who come to Him, He took away the power of the devil to rightfully accuse us for our rebellion against God. For those who receive Jesus as their Savior, their sin is gone, He clothes them in His own righteousness, adopts them as His children, seals them by His Holy Spirit who is the guarantee of their inheritance in Christ, and gives them eternal life.<br />
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Jesus, the Son of God, carried the sins of the whole world on His own shoulders to the cross and paid the penalty for us so that we could live with Him forever. There was no one else that was able to do that. <br />
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So, in the honoring of the fallen today, let us not forget to honor the One who died for us, and then rose from the dead to save us. <br />
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And if you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, if you have never asked Him to save you from judgement by what He did at the cross, ask Him now. Anyone who comes to Him, He will in no way cast out.<br />
Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-1481599027573334682013-06-03T15:32:00.001-07:002013-06-03T15:32:54.024-07:00Consider therefore the kindness and sterness of God (Romans 11:22a)I think we can first start by considering the sterness of God to help us understand what's going on in our world today. It's important to understand what that is all about, and to understand that it's going to only get worse.<br />
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God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden with only one command: to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They made the choice to disobey God and as a result they died spiritually (they were seperated from the Spirit and life of God) and became by nature objects of God's wrath and judgement. All of their descendants inherited this nature that is an object of God's wrath and judgement. The creation was also subjected to frustration. God cursed the ground as a result of their disobedience.<br />
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We read throughout Scripture about the wrath and judgement of God, which should make us aware that God is just and will judge and does judge. Jesus, in Luke 12:49 says, "I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!" And Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit says in Romans 1:18, "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness," and in Romans 8:22, "We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time."<br />
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We don't live in a perfect and pleasant world. Mankind is at emnity with God and is facing judgement. God is reminding us of that. We see it everyday in our own lives, and in local, national and world news. <br />
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So where does the kindness of God fit into all of this? At the cross. We first find reference to that in Genesis 3:15 where God will put emnity between the serpent (Satan) and the woman, and between Satan's offspring and the woman's offspring. Satan would strike the heel of the womans's offspring, but the woman's offspring would crush Satan's head. We find the fulfillment of this at the cross. Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgression, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." and Isaiah 53:11 says, "After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied." Jesus suffered to pay the penalty for your sins and for mine. And then He rose from the dead by the Spirit of Holiness. Being without sin, death could not keep Him down. And John 1:12 says, "Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God." And Romans 10:13 says, "Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved."<br />
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So mankind is at emnity with God and is by nature an object of wrath. Creation is in an upheaval. Tragedy is happening to us and all around us. God's wrath is being revealed. His kindness is shown to us at the cross, where the God of justice made the way for people to escape the coming wrath. What will be your choice: Will you continue on your path to destruction, or will you receive Jesus as your Savior and ask Him to save you from Judgement?Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-75380323202682572782013-04-21T21:39:00.001-07:002013-04-21T21:42:19.154-07:00Itching Ears 2 Timothy 4:3-4"For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." (2 Timothy 4:3-4)<br />
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In the first few chapters of Daniel we can see that King Nebuchadnezzar had the habit of surrounding himself with people who would say what his itching ears wanted to hear. He had magicians, enchanters, sorcerers, astrologers and diviners. We can understand this because when he had his first vision in chapter two, he was not willing to tell them what the dream was. He wanted them to tell him the dream and then interpret the dream. The dream was troubling to him and he was in no mood for flattery. He wanted truthful answers. As it was they couldn't tell the king the dream or interpret the dream. What God finally revealed to King Nebuchadnezzar through the prophet Daniel was, among other things, that his kingdom would fall. This was not good news for the king.<br />
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Again in chapter four King Nebuchadnezzar has another troubling dream. Perhaps because of the bad news from the previous dream, he calls his magicians, enchanters, astrologers and diviners to him again. It looks as if the king was not willing to receive any bad news this time so he brought those who would say good things to him. What his itching ears wanted to hear. This time he told them the dream, perhaps to give them something to go on. Not only could they not interpret the dream, apparently they couldn't even fake it. But God again reveals the meaning through his prophet Daniel. It was worse news this time. This time it was going to be personal. God was going to judge King Nebuchadnezzar for his pride.<br />
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We see in the accounts of King Nebuchadnezzar that after the first dream he looked for the truth and found it. After the second dream he turned his ears away from the truth but the truth still found him. He could not escape it.<br />
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What thoughts that run through your mind trouble you? What questions do you have? And where do you go for answers? To those who will say what you want to hear, or to those who will tell you the truth?<br />
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Who are you listening to today? Are you listening to people that tell you everything is okay? Your good with the man upstairs? God will save everyone? It will all work out in the end? There are many ways to heaven? There is no judgement? There is no hell? Are astrologers leading your life? Tarot cards? Those who have sidelined the Scriptures? There are plenty of people out there who are willing to say what your itching ears want to hear. How long will you put up with their flattery? How long will you allow them to blind you? <br />
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A few months ago I went into a Christian bookstore in Colorado Springs to buy a pocket NIV New Testament. I like to have one with me. A few days later as I was looking through it I realized wording had been changed. I went to the same Christian bookstore in Midland, Texas to find another pocket NIV New Testament. The wording in those had also been changed. Asking more questions, I found that the version I was used to was being removed from the shelves and being replaced with these new ones. I also found out that they were putting NIV gender neutral Bibles on the shelves. Sales must be down. Putting gender neutral Bibles on the shelves will increase sales, won't they? If the general population doesn't want to hear the truth, then put on the shelves what their itching ears want to hear. But changing God's Word will not change God. Malachi 3:6a, "I the LORD do not change." <br />
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The fact is that when you wipe away all of the deception, God is still judge and is still going to judge. The only way to escape the coming wrath of God is to take refuge in Christ. He is our only answer. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin. He offers to forgive us and give us eternal life. Just ask Him. Romans 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." What is left for those who reject such a great salvation? Judgement. 1 John 5:12, "He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life."<br />
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Don't run from the truth.<br />
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<br />Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-86185059573546614662013-04-11T09:52:00.002-07:002013-04-11T09:52:34.179-07:00The Harvest Field is RipeI was in a downtown park hoping for an opportunity to share the gospel...and I got one. I met a young couple, who I found out later had just been talking about the need to be reading the Bible together.<br />
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They, like a lot of others, were confused because of all of the religions out there. Each one claiming to be the way, and some saying all the ways lead to heaven. It is confusing. But a few days earlier I had been going over Romans chapter 4 where Paul is talking about the issue of works versus faith. And then Paul asks the question, "What does the Scripture say?" <br />
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So we went through Scripture and saw how Jesus was the only way, that our sin had to be dealt with and Jesus dealt with it, and would save anyone who comes to Him. This young couple made the decision to receive Jesus as their Savior and we prayed. They are now part of the family of God, with a sure hope and a future. It is a blessing to see how God works, and still saves.<br />
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Please pray for this couple. That God would open up His Word to them as they read. That they would find some great fellowship and grow with others who are in the family of God. That God would give them wisdom to make good decisions with their lives now that they belong to the family of God.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-12337291756707416872013-03-26T17:45:00.001-07:002013-03-26T17:45:35.748-07:00Critical ThinkingOn the Bill O'reilly show on March 25, 2013 Juan Williams said that when the professor of a university class instructed students to write Jesus' name on a sheet of paper and then put it on the floor and stomp on it "inspired critical thinking."<br />
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I think that to inspire critical thinking you first have to have all the facts. If a person is contemplating jumping off of a 100 foot cliff to see what happens, shouldn't he first know about the law of gravity? If he doesn't, he will be found dashed against the rocks.<br />
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I would bet that the professor didn't first explain the following facts to the students before giving them their assignment.<br />
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Hebrews 10:29, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?"<br />
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And Isaiah 66:6, "Hear that uproar from the city, hear that noise from the temple! It is the sound of the LORD repaying his enemies all they deserve."<br />
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Now is the time for critical thinking. Jesus said in Mark 3:28, <span style="color: red;">"I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them."</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">It's not too late for the professor and the students to repent of what they have done. Jesus will forgive. All they need to do is ask Jesus to forgive them of their sin and to give them eternal life, and He will do it. Romans 10:13, for, "Everyone who calls on the name of he Lord will be saved."</span><br />
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<span style="color: red;"></span>Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-62929969013291828072013-03-24T14:08:00.001-07:002013-03-24T14:08:46.033-07:00Warfield--An interesting story<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yesterday my wife and I had to go to Midland, Texas to take care of some business and while there, to get to know the city a little better. We first stopped at a diner off of Interstate 20 at the exit to the airport called Warfield.<br />
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We had seen the rooster on the way into the diner, so we asked the waitress about him. She said he had an interesting story. So I made up my mind that I would talk to him on the way out and get his story from him.<br />
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After breakfast, my wife lingered in the diner talking to the waitresses. I took a cup of coffee and a handful of birdseed and went outside. As I drank my coffee and Warfield ate his birdseed, we talked.<br />
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Several months ago he and most of his family had been told of a wonderful trip they would take. They would go to Miami where there were beaches, lots of sunshine, an abundance of birdseed, and more chicks than you could shake a stick at. Being from Kansas, all of this sounded very promising.<br />
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So all of them loaded up on a truck one day and headed out. The ride was rough, the road was hard, they didn't get any food or water on the way, but they kept hearing how great it would be once they reached their destination. Their came a point when Warfield started to doubt the promises. He started to think the driver of this truck had something else in mind, and it wasn't good. <br />
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He started to talk to his family about his doubts, but they said he was just trying to spoil the fun. There was no way they were going to miss out on what was ahead.<br />
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When the truck stopped in Midland, Texas, Warfield knew this was the time to escape. He knew no one would understand, but he knew he needed to gain his freedom. He knew these promises were no good. So when no one was looking, he opened the cage and jumped. No one noticed.<br />
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But now Warfield is free. He has shelter from the heat, and food when he needs it. The patrons who frequent Warfield Diner make sure of this. But Warfield, knowing he is now safe from the deception of the one who was leading him and his whole family to the slaughter, thinks and prays about his family. He prays they will be able to identify the one who is deceiving them and also identify the one who desires to set them free.<br />
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John 8:44, <span style="color: red;">"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies."</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">John 10:10a, </span><span style="color: red;">"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy;"</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">Matthew 23:37, </span><span style="color: red;">"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing."</span><br />
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<span style="color: black;">John 10:10b, </span><span style="color: red;">"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."</span><br />
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What truck are you on? What promises have been made to you? Have you been told it will all work out in the end? Have you been told there are many roads to heaven? Have you been told that when you die, you'll go to one great big party? Have you been told that when things are weighed out on a scale, you'll probably come out okay? Remember that the devil has been a liar from the beginning. His only purpose is to lead you to the slaughter. Will you continue to follow him?<br />
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Jesus said He came to give you life, and to give you life more abundantly. He gave Himself as a sacrifice on the cross for you. He did it deliberately. He paid the price for your sins and will fill your account with His righteousness and make you acceptable to the Father right now if you will only ask Him to. For everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13.Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8152622293008763317.post-639692453480178932013-03-16T18:44:00.003-07:002013-03-16T18:56:07.835-07:00Who will be Exalted?"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth."<br />
Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous"<br />
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Isaiah 42:8, <span style="color: blue;"><span style="background-color: white;">"I am the LORD; that is my name! <em>I will not give my glory to another</em> or my praise to idols."</span></span><br />
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"I have more to boast of than any man had. I am the only man that has ever been able to keep a whole church together since the days of Adam. A large majority of the whole have stood by me. Neither Paul, John, Peter, nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such work as I." (History of the Church, Vol.6, pp. 408-09). (Joseph Smith)<br />
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Matthew 16:18, <span style="color: red;">"And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build <em>my church</em>, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it."</span><br />
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<em>namely, that no man or woman in this dispensation will ever enter into the celestial kingdom of God without the consent of Joseph Smith</em>. <em>From the day that the Priesthood was taken from the earth to the winding-up scene of all things, every man and woman must have the certificate of Joseph Smith, junior, as a to their entrance into the mansion where God and Christ are</em>—(Journal of Discourses 7:289)<br />
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Acts 4:12, <span style="color: blue;">"<em>Salvation is found in no one else</em>, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."</span><br />
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Hazrat Isa (Prophet Jesus) is an honored Prophet. After he comes down he would still be a Prophet and Messenger. An affirmation by a person of no account <em>that he will be only a member of the Muslim community</em> is not correct, inasmuch as he being one of the Muslims and his giving effect to the Islamic law is not inconsistent with his being a Prophet and a <em>Messenger</em>. (Alfatawa Alhadisiyyak, p.129)<br />
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I believe that our Holy Prophet, Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, is more exalted than all the <em>Messengers</em> and is the Khatamul Anbiya. (Hamamatul Bushra, p.8)<br />
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These are just a few who claim to be equal to God or greater than God. It would be too time consuming to investigate and list all the others and the claims made by them or about them. I'm not necessarily trying to single these out, but I use them because I'm more familiar with them.<br />
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This idea of wanting to be equal to or greater than God is not a new one. Satan was the first. We read in Isaiah 14:12-15:<br />
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<span style="color: blue;">How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations! You said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." But you are brought down to the grave, to the depths of the pit.</span><br />
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And what was the first temptation Satan brought to man? The same thing he tried to do and what led to his downfall. Genesis 3:5, <span style="color: blue;">"For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."</span><br />
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And this resulted in Adam and Eve being cast out of the Garden of Eden.<br />
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Not only is this attempt to be like God or greater than God not a new one, but God's response to this attempt is consistent. He will share His glory with no one.<br />
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Isaiah 2:17 & 18, <span style="color: blue;">"The arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled; <em>the Lord alone will be exalted in that day</em>, and the idols will totally disappear."</span><br />
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Are you one of the many who are following those who make these claims? Are you believing what they are saying? <span style="color: red;"><em>Are you believing a gospel they are preaching that is no gospel at all? If they are not telling you the truth about God and about themselves, then they are not telling you the truth about how to be saved from judgement.</em></span> If you're reading this post, you don't have an excuse. The Word of God, the Bible, is available everywhere, the standard by which you can grade everything you read and hear. You probably have a Bible in your home, or can buy one at your local bookstore, or ask for one at your local Christian church. Or you can read the Bible online. It's not like the Word of God is not available to you. You have access to it. Open it up and ask God for understanding. He says that He gives wisdom without finding fault.<br />
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It is imperative that you find out the truth. Your very life depends on it. God will not accept anything from you but that you belong to Jesus. If you want to belong to Jesus, scroll down to the bottom of my blog and you will see how.<br />
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<strong>Philippians 2:6-11</strong></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Who being in very nature God,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">did not consider equality with</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">God something to be</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">grasped,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">but made himself nothing,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">taking the very nature of a</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">servant,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">being made in human likeness.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">And being found in appearance as a</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">man,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">he humbled himself</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">and became obedient to death--</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">even death on a cross!</span></div>
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<em><span style="color: blue;">Therefore God exalted him to the</span></em></div>
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<em><span style="color: blue;">highest place</span></em></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">and gave him the name that is</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">above every name,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">that at the name of Jesus every knee</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">should bow,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">in heaven and on earth and under</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">the earth,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">and every tongue confess that Jesus</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">Christ is Lord,</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">to the glory of God the Father.</span></div>
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<span style="color: blue;">The LORD alone will be exalted in that day.</span></div>
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<br />Downtown Davehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06500162214861829196noreply@blogger.com0