Search n For The Truth » Salvation

ELIMINATION OF CHRISTMAS

bernie — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 21:04:04 +0000

It should not surprise us too greatly that there are a group of people who want Christmas replaced with some other name such as Happy Holiday or whatever (just so the name of God isn’t in it). The atheist is not satisfied to believe what he does, he has a restless need for everyone else to believe as he does. There are two reasons for this.

The first reason is that the atheist is afraid that he might be wrong. If he were honest with himself he would admit to that. For one thing he knows he is going to die. Hebrews 2:15 tells us that Jesus came to earth to “deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”.

This is the good news of Christmas.

Spending all their lives trying to squelch this feeling; they somehow feel that by convincing others they will feel more sure of themselves and their opinion. According to II Thessalonians 2:11 and other places they can and will finally come to the horrible place where they actually believe the lie. They have crossed a line and cannot return. Meanwhile, Christmas is a reminder of something or Someone that must be gotten rid of.

The second reason is the entire issue of good and evil. Why does the atheist not give up? Neither good or evil has a tendency to give in to the other. It’s a matter of principle. Good lives to give. Evil lives to take. On the one hand you have God, the Ultimate Good Who gave His only Son so that “in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus”: Ephesians 2:7.

On the other hand there is Satan, the ultimate personification of evil Without realizing it the atheist, so proud of being his own man (or woman as the case may be) is a tool of Satan. There us a good example of this in Daniel 10:20. A mighty warrior angel tells Daniel that he (the angel) is in combat with one of Satan’s hosts. He explains that Persia will be replaced by a king of Greece. In fact, so well was this prophecy laid out that the high priest of Israel read it to Alexander, telling him it spoke of him. Alexander thought he was his own man, but actually he was a pawn in a cosmic chess game. At 33 years of age he was thrown off the board. So was the king of Persia whom Alexander replaced, as the angel told Daniel would happen. Either I knowingly serve God or I unknowingly serve Satan. Now the more one is filled with the Spirit of God the more he will exude goodness. So also the more one is filled with a Satanic spirit the more he will exude evil. The psalmist says: “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God; corrupt are they”.

The good news for the Christian is the statement made by angels that first Christmas night: for unto you is born this day a Saviour which is Christ the Lord.

THE EXCLUSIVE GOSPEL

bernie — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 14:27:00 +0000

There is an old song we used to sing in church and also quite often at missionary conferences. It was:Shall we whose souls are lightened, With wisdom from on high;

Shall we to men benighted, The lamp of life deny”?

In this day of political correctness that would be anathema. Fifty years ago we knew what we believed and we believed it because we saw it as true and the opposite was false. Tolerance simply meant that I would never use force of any kind to make one change his mind on a subject. We knew our attitude toward him must always be one of goodwill. But I did not think him to be right. I might even think it my duty to show him the error of his beliefs.

Today tolerance means that I must see that his beliefs are in every way as good as mine, even if it’s going to harm him or me. But the men benighted are still benighted. The truth does not change just because we do. Jesus said: “I Am the light of the world; He that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life”’ He also told us that no one can come to God the Father but through Him. He taught that we must repent of our thoughts and actions and receive His free gift of salvation. To say that those who do not are benighted, lost and on their way to hell and that He is the only way to God is not politically correct, but true nevertheless.

` There is the hue and cry across the nation that we need smaller government and a turn around in the economy. To many people the two things will work together. That is no doubt true. But there is a more fundamental truth which we find in the Bible. There can never be long lasting prosperity without moral goodness. This moral goodness, based on the laws that God has written in the Bible is largely ignored today. Again, much of the blame for this is our obsession with political correctness. I really don’t think we will get back to obeying the Bible. Political correctness will stand squarely in the way and also most people still see that the answer is in correcting the economy.

We put God out of the schools, out of every part of our national life disobey His Word, claim it has no relevance for today, then sing: “God bless America”.

SALVATION IS OF THE JEW

bernie — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 13:39:36 +0000

The ancient nations all had their gods. They are the long forgotten gods, many known to us only because they are found in the Bible. There is Dagon, god of the Philistines; Chemosh, the god of Amon; Nisroch, the god Naaman’s master worshipped; Baal and Ashteroth of Caanan; and Diana, goddess of the Ephesians. Most of these are now found in dusty history books, as are the nations they ruled.
Then there were the gods of ancient Egypt. Among many others were Thoth, Usiris and Rah, the sun god, all resurrected for the benefit of the thousands of tourists and as quickly forgotten by them. The best known gods were those of Greece with it’s
multitude upon Olympia. Zeus was the father of all these. In Acts 14 we find Jupiter and Mercury.
The liberals and secular historians would place the god of the Israelites in the same category as the ancient, forgotten gods. They call Him Yahweh, one of the lesser gods. He does not measure up to the gods of Egypt and certainly not to the gods of Greece. He was the tribal god of a despised people. The learning and wisdom of Greece has always been held in high esteem. Israel has always been looked down on, from their days of slavery in Egypt. They were conquered by the Assyrians, taken captive by Babylon, held as a vassal state by Persia and later Greece. The Israelites were sold as slaves or scattered into almost every country on earth. Haman, Herod and Hitler tried to wipe them out, or kill their King. Today the Arabs are determined to destroy them, and every time the UN makes a pronouncement regarding Israel it is with the thinly veiled attempt to destroy them as a nation. The church has tried to destroy them and even today is doing it’s best to wipe out the nation of Israel.
With all that in mind, isn’t it strange that the despised tribal god of this enslaved people is now Universal Lord, recognized as God of Heaven in every nation on earth? Not the gods of esteemed Egypt or mighty Rome, but the God of Israel rules, unchallenged by the mighty gods of the past.
To whom did Jesus say, “Salvation is of the Jews”? To the Samaritans, who hated the Jews. God still says this to the UN, the Arabs, the anti-Semites and to most of the church which has long ago claimed that Israel was no longer God’s chosen people. That’s not very diplomatic ( today we would say, “not politically correct”), but He is Unbendable God. I once heard a woman preacher in Africa read from John 4. She came to verse 22 and openly and defiantly skipped that verse. (Jesus speaking, “Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews”.) The problem is that for her there was no salvation.

THRU ANOTHER

bernie — Thu, 06 May 2010 22:52:36 +0000

I Receive Christ Through Another’s Teaching
John 17:20
II Timothy 1:5; 3:15

I Must Come To Know Christ By Myself
Matthew 1:21
Romans 3;23
Romans 5:12
Romans 6:23

I Then Go On To A Life Of Holiness: Through The Word
Colossians 1:12-14
Matthew 7:21-23
II Peter1:3
John 6:63; 12:48

Baptism
Matthew 28:19
Mark 16:16
Acts 2:36-38
Acts 16:29-33
I Corinthians 10:1,2
Romans 6:1-5 Identification
Romans 6:6,7 The Doctrine
Galations 3:27

LORD OF THE HARVEST

bernie — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 14:10:02 +0000

I’m thankful the Lord doesn’t say, ‘Be successful’, but he says, ‘Be faithful’.”
This gIves a new perspective on Luke 10:2 about praying that the Lord of the harvest would send laborers into His harvest. While trying to obey the command I tended to pray that God would send missionaries to the harvest fields of earth. I still think this is a good prayer. But after getting B___’s letter I saw something more. The ‘something more’ is not the thousands of professional missionaries but the millions of little people scattered all over the world. These are the people God is using in many places.
The people I know of include B____ distributing tracts, the man who led a neighbor to Christ, the people with their little Bible studies, the parents bringing up their children in the fear of the Lord.
When you look at this command in Luke you see the relevance of John 15:1-8. The little people scattered all over the world need to do nothing other than abide in Christ. All who abide in Him will bring forth fruit. They are the ones open to His leading. And, also, how much of the time the person is not even aware of being used. How relaxing this is. All I have to do is abide in Him, sit at His feet and learn of Him. John 6:63: “The Word that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life.”
Is this not very different from the frustration of wanting to be used by God in a great way? Most of us are too prone for pride for that, anyway. We want purpose in life. Paul said that his high calling was to know Christ: Phil 3:10-14. We are called to be obedient saints: That’s all.
This brings us to the second reason to abide in Christ. The first is, of course, so we can be used of God in His purpose. The second reason to know Christ is that we will be judged by His Word. In John 12:48 Jesus said, “The Words I speak will judge him at the last day.” But we can only obey what we know.

GOD MANIFEST IN THE FLESH

bernie — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 18:39:40 +0000

The gods of ancient people
Of Egypt and of Rome:
Each nation had their tribal gods
Which they could call their own.

The Grecians had their Jupiter
The Canaanites had Baal
And sacrifice of beast and babe
Is not allowed to fail.

The pagan gods demanded all
Both little ones and grain
The god’s demands left all the poor
With never hope of gain

The tribal gods were greedy gods
And took what people had
They only cared if men were rich
But never good or bad

The tribal gods were vengeful gods
Oppressing poor and meek
Their help seemed only for the strong
But never for the week

For centuries men served the gods
Through bitter bondage sore
And no relief was ever felt
But only bondage more

The God who ruled above them all
A different, kinder God
Who thought of more than sacrifice
Nor asked for human blood

A God Who looked for truth and right
A God Who mercy knew
Demanding of the powerful
That they show mercy too

He did not take things from the poor
And give them to the strong
This God had sent the sun and rain
Through generations long

This God, unrecognized by man
The One they did not see
Who freely gave through passing years
Ungrateful though men be

But God did see in sinful man
That justice was not done
Unlike the gods of ancient Ur
Jehovah sent His Son

The blood of men He did not ask
Of beasts would not suffice
But God Himself took our guilt
Himself our Sacrifice

And now in every nation
This message being spoken
With every where the ancient rule
Of demons being broken

For every place the gospel comes
Proclaiming Jesus’ reign
We see that Jesus Name and Might
Is breaking Satan’s chain

And still the ancient powers
Contesting every gain
Will not submit to Jesus’ rule
Or recognize His reign

But powers will be broken
Of evil and of night
And every evil vanquished
When Jesus comes in might

TO M—-

bernie — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 15:59:17 +0000

M—-, here is what I’m sending about your question on Calvinism.
The problem as I see it is that Calvinism begins in the middle. An example would be Genesis 2: 4-6. This passage could be interpreted different ways, which is why the evolutionists like it. Genesis One is perfectly clear which is why the theistic evolutionists always want to interpret it in the light of Genesis 2: 4-6. The real problem that the Calvinist has is his determination to start in the middle, ignore the context and insist that he reads everything in the light of all of Scripture.
From the very beginning God talks to people assuming that they know what He is talking about. “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering waited in the days of Noah” : I Peter 3: 20. Joshua is even more specific in Joshua 24: 15: “choose you this day whom ye will serve”. In Isaiah 1: 18 we see clearly that God assumes that these people have the ability to reason, using this very word.
Look at what God says of Himself:
A As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked: Ezekiel 33: 11
B Eliphaz the Temanite said in Job 22: 3 “Is it any pleasure to the Almighty, that thou art righteous?” But in Job 42: 7 we note that God was angry with Eliphaz because he had not spoken of God “the thing that was right”. I think Eliphaz was the original Calvinist.
C “if thine heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice”: Proverbs 23: 15
D Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world: John 1: 29
E God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son: John 3: 16
F Herein is love, not that we loved God , but that He loved us: I John 4:10
Now lets look at Romans 9. But first we must go back to Isaiah (as we want to get everything in the light of all of Scripture). In Isaiah 45: 4 God very specifically tells us that Israel is His elect. Se also Isaiah 41:8; 44:1; 49:3 and 65:9 and 22.
Now , as we go to Romans 9 (at least 1-29) we have to recognize that Paul is talking about Israel. It is clear that he has the Old Testament in mind.
In the first we see the special place that Israel has before God. They are the chosen ones, the Israelites who have received the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the law, the service of God, the promises. Theirs are the fathers and of them Christ came.
Compare this with Ephesians 2:11 and 12. They are God’s elect people. We do not have a like claim on God. He chose the Gentiles as a special act of mercy. In Matthew 24: 22 Jesus is talking of the elect or Israel. And in Mark 13: 20 we see the same thing. Also in 1 Peter 1: 2 Peter is referring primarily to Israelites (but here as members of the church). See also 1: 18 and 2: 12.
Next, let’s take verses 6-9. I know that some people like to apply this to Christians but it’s referring to the children of Israel. They take this statement “they are not all Israel”,etc. That would be like the British royalty saying “The only good Englishman is one who faithfully serves the King”. The American may be as loyal to the crown as any Englishman but that will never make him into a Britisher. Verses 6-9 is only about Jews, whether good or bad.
In verses 10 –21 Paul is writing to Israelites about Israel and her foes. The election speaks of God simply choosing one over the other. The reference in verse 13 goes back to Malachi 1: 3 and has more to do with Edom as a people and their rejection of God. God hardened Pharoah’s heart so that he would not let the people go.
Neither had anything to do with salvation. We also read in Luke 14: 26 about hating father and mother. As in Romans 9: 13 it has to do with making a choice in favor of one.
In Romans 9: 22-29 Paul is writing to Jews about the Gentiles. “also of the Gentiles—which were not My people—called the children of the living God—“
Again, in verses 27-29 Paul makes it clear that not all Israelites will be saved.
Finally, 9: 30 to 10: 4 is the great message on faith versus works. Again we
see that God expects us to have the ability to respond by faith in the gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 7: 18 that a corrupt tree cannot bring forth good fruit.
If your pastor showed up in Geneva in Calvin’s day he would have been punished for believing the Bible instead of Calvin.
Remember, this doctrine had it’s birth with Augustine. It was unknown until then.
Hope this helps or call me
Dad

ETERNITY

bernie — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:36:05 +0000

ETERNITY

About sixty years ago I read a book. I have entirely forgotten what the book was about, but I do remember that the flyleaf had something that made a lasting impression on me. Let me share that with you. It said:

“In the far north there is a rock which is one thousand miles long, one thousand miles wide and one thousand miles high. Every three hundred years a little bird sharpens it’s beak on that rock. When that rock has thus been worn away one day of eternity will have passed”

DESALA

bernie — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:32:54 +0000

In the early 1900s while in Ethiopia, the church leaders of the Wolayta tribe told me the story of Desala. Desala was a businessman and also a witch doctor. He began to realize that his religion, especially that of being a witch doctor was false, based on lies. So he tried Islam. When Desala saw the violence and evil in Islam, he concluded that this also must be false. It simply did not fit with what he knew to be truth and righteousness.

Some missionaries told Desala to try Christianity and gave him an Amharic Bible. Although a Wolayta he could read Amharic. The Amharic is the biggest tribe in Ethiopia and they had a Bible. Desala agreed rather half-heartedly. By this time he decided that all religions were equally good or bad. Although not too interested at first, he soon saw that he had come onto something real. Within a few months Desala was an ardent Christian.

About that time there was a meeting of witch doctors at the village of Gotcha Godu, the head witch. Desala, belonging to the fraternity was also there. While there Desala was talking to some of his acquaintances and sharing the gospel. Gotcha Godu heard him and ordered him to stop but Desala replied that the witch’s teachings and beliefs were built on lies and Desala had the truth. He refused to stop.

Now, members of the S.I.M mission had given Desala his Bible. Gotcha Godu knew this. He pointed his finger at Desala and said, “Within six months, before the next meeting, a member of S.I.M will die.” Desala replied, “That’s an easy guess, there are many of us. Name one. Name me.” Gotcha was on the spot and knew he had no choice but to point at Desala and predict that, before the next six month’s meeting Desala would die.

Desala was somewhat frightened over what he had done. He knew the witch doctors did have real powers: Satanic ones. He asked the missionaries if he had done the right thing. They assured him that he had; that God would protect him from the power of Satan. They also told him never to go out at night or even to be alone. They were sure that Gotcha Godu would do his best to make his prophecy come true.

Six months later Desala was at the next witch convention. Gotcha tried to ignore him, but Desala stood and reminded him of his prophecy telling him that he was a fake and liar. Within a minute most had fled the village afraid that lightning would strike. Nothing happened. A look of confusion came across Gotcha’s face and he turned and ran into his hut. He not only lost his power with the people but lost his satanic powers as well.

Desala, unlike the other witch doctors did not choose power, wealth and honor. When he tried Islam he did not choose what Islam offers; every satisfaction to man’s natural desires. He chose that which was right. He had one question: what is true? And found it in Christ and broke the power of witchcraft in his area.

“Them that honor Me, I will honor” 1 Samuel 2:30

STRAIGHT THE GATE NARROW THE WAY

bernie — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:48:59 +0000

There are two things that influenced my thinking on this subject. The first is an article by Ken Ham in which he shows that almost the entire younger generation is lost to the gospel. The second is an example I saw of this in the country of Holland in Europe. About twenty years ago grandma and I spent a few days there. While there we also visited some friends; Minie and her husband Albert. Some of you will remember Uncle Harv and Aunt Ann. Minie was her sister. On Sunday we went with this couple to a very large church in Amsterdam. It would have seated a couple of thousand people but in that vast auditorium there were about fifty, all older people and one young couple. One important thing was the woman preacher which Albert and Minie thought to be very good. To them it was a sign of progress. Now the really important thing was that of their seven children none attended a church. You see what happened. The parents, on one point left the strait and narrow, entered the broad road and their children simply followed.

Once on the broad road it can lead anywhere. There is no limit.

Let me make some specific points here:

1-We must be very clear in our minds that the narrow road leads to heaven and the broad road to hell and that both are everlasting.

2-Recognize that the truth is very narrow. Jesus said “ Man shall live by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4: 4.

3-If the parents, especially the father, have a firm commitment to Biblical truth the children will tend to follow. The opposite is also true.

4-Recognize falsehoods. Perhaps the two most prevalent today are evolution (not so subtle) and New Age teaching (very subtle). Perhaps at this point, more than any other, it is the duty of the parents to instruct the children.