This morning, I noticed a passage of Scripture on my desk which I had written down from a sermon presented by Charles Stanley.
When I went to the passage, I thought how appropriate and significant it is for this blog. Lately, there have been many posts here by a non-believer whose unequivocal stated goal is similar to satan's; to kill, steal and destroy those who have genuine faith in Jesus Christ.
Matthew 6:19 (KJV) -
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
Mat 6:20
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
Mat 6:21
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Mat 6:22
The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light.
Mat 6:23
But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great [is] that darkness!
Here is the NLT version of Matthew 6:19-23:
19 "Don't store up treasures here on earth, where they can be eaten by moths and get rusty, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where they will never become moth-eaten or rusty and where they will be safe from thieves. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there your heart and thoughts will also be.
22 "Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. 23 But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!
Did any readers here see "The Passion of the Christ"? Remember the part where Mel Gibson depicts satan as an androgenous being? This being was not portrayed as visually ugly (as many devil depictions typically are portrayed), but it was shown to be attractive, inviting, seductive, subtle and waiting in the background to tempt, capture and deceive. Except for one thing. We see that there is something wrong when a slithering snake suddenly appears from inside the nose and then just as suddenly slithers back again into the hiding place where it cannot openly been seen or detected.
This was a great illustration of how evil works.
Unlike the obvious evil of the terrorists attacks, much evil is done gradually, seductively, as the Matthew passage states, "23 But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!"
Notice that the light is first shut out, and then the evil eye plunges one into darkness. Notice what Jesus says next, "If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!
Those who have goal(s) opposite of what Jesus teaches are not open and receptive to the Gospel message; they are intent on destroying it. Through their mind's eye, being steeped in deception, they see their own intent as "good" and Bible believing followers of Christ as "evil". Isaiah has a lot to say about such deception and intent to destroy God's Word
Isa 5:21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Isa 5:22 Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink
Isa 5:23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
Isa 5:24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, [so] their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
When people do not carefully observe the distinction between good and evil, destruction soon follows. The typical mantra today by the relativistic liberal God ignoring crowd is one that states, "No one can decide for anyone else what is really right or wrong." They may think that getting drunk or taking illicit drugs can't hurt them. They may think that fornication, extramarital sex, homosexual sex, pornography, abortion etc. isn't really wrong. They may think that the love of money doesn't control them. But when we make excuses for our actions, we break down the distinction between right and wrong. If we do not take God's Word, the Bible, as our standard, soon all moral choices will appear fuzzy. Without God, we are headed for a breakdown and much suffering.
The people in Isaiah's day suffered because they rejected God's law. It is really sad, today, to see so many people searching for meaning in their lives while scorning and rejecting the very thing (God's Word) and Person (Jesus Christ) that gives their lives meaning, now and in eternity!
Non-believers don't realize or recognize God's greatness, mystery, and power. In Isaiah 6:1-4, Isaiah presents his lofty view of God. He shows that he recognizes his sinfulness, confesses it before God and this in turn encourages us to confess our sin. Isaiah's picture of forgivenss reminds us that we, too, are forgiven when we accept God's provision for that forgiveness:
Romans 10:9 (KJV) - That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
When we recognize how great our God is, how sinful we are and how utterly powerless we are to conquer that sin in our lives, we see the extent of God's forgiveness and we receive the pwer to do his work.
Notice that in a time of moral and spiritual decay when depravity had peaked, Isaiah saw God in his holiness. Holiness means morally perfect, pure, and set apart from all sin. We also need to discover God's holiness! What typically keeps us from discovering His holiness? Society's pressures, our daily stress and frustrations, our shortcomings, tendency to sin and pride of self reduce and narrow our view of God. We need the Bibles' view of God as high and lifted up to empower us to deal with our problems and concerns. God's moral perfection, properly seen (as through the Person of Jesus Christ) will purify us from sin, and when allowed, the Holy Spirit within will cleanse our minds from our problems and enable us to worship and serve.
It is only then, when sin is purged from the soul and forgiveness bestowed by God that a person is enabled to worship and serve.
Isa 6:6 -
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isaiah 6:7 -
And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isaiah 6:8 -
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here [am] I; send me.
Before we can accept God's call to speak for him to those around us, we must be cleansed just as Isaiah was, confessing our sins and submitting to God's control. Letting God purify us may be painful, but we must be purified so that we can truly represent God, who is pure and holy. In fact, Isaiah reveals how aware Isaiah became of his own powerlessness and inadequacy to do anything of lasting value without God.
Isaiah 6:5 - Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
But he was willing to be God's spokesman. When God calls, will you also say, "Here am I. Send me!" ?
Michael W. Smith - Here I Am
From the album, " Healing Rain ."
There’s a place where I can go
Where the angels hear me pray
“I want to change, yes I need Your touch”
I’m waiting here for You
And I fall, at Your feet
I’ll give it all, until the day we meet
Chorus:
Here I am
Ready to give up my life for the One
Here I am
Ready to pour out my heart for the Son
Here I am
Here I come to Your threshing floor
Where the angels fear to tread
I’m waiting here for the King of love
And to hold the hands that bled
And I fall, at Your feet
I’ll give it all, until the day we meet
THE POTENTIAL DEATH BLOW — J. D. VANCE SITS WITH JOE ROGAN
45 minutes ago
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1 comment:
Thomas,
My time is limited this morning so rather than spend time searching for your previous comments, I will simply say that as I recall, you told me (paraphrased here)that since your ideology differs greatly from mine, you intend to fight the religious right through supporting causes, legislation, and the courts that would advance your particular ideology and so-called "rights" to the detriment of the Christian Bible-based ideals as well as the original intent of our Constitution. Perhaps I worded it incorrectly. What I meant was that you (possible gay activist?), and others like you, as non-believers are intent on killing, stealing and destroying the ideals, moral values and ethics, free speech and freedom of association that Christians hold dear in their lives through their genuine faith in Jesus Christ.
Thomas: "and more generally folks ought not to persecuted for their religious beliefs."
The current homosexual "marriage" rights agenda and the accompanying mantra to punish and/or destroy churches who hold up Biblical morals on these issues ARE a form of persecution for our religious beliefs! You deny this? If the U.S. follows the same route into moral decay and spiritual oblivion that is currently happening in places like Scandinavia, Canada, and Spain, I see the plunge into deeper moral depravity as imminent. These signs are prophesied in Jude and Revelation so it is no surprise to Biblically literate Christians. But we are called to stand up for Christ in this increasingly morally depraved and spiritually dying world. We are to stand firm and preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit until the very end. And, we born-again, evangelical Christians intend to do so.
You listen to the likes of Christopher Hitchens? That certainly explains a lot!! Anyway, you can choose whom you want to believe in (or not believe in) and whom you listen to (or not listen to) and whom you follow (or not follow) for that is your God-given free will right to exercise; even if you don't believe in God. Jesus walked this earth and had conversations with satan as recorded in Scripture. Are you claiming that Jesus was a liar when he spoke of, and directly to, satan in those encounters? Most skeptics know better than to doubt that the Person of Jesus Christ actually existed in history. The Biblical accounts of his death by crucifixion, burial, resurrection, and subsequent sightings by the disciples and over 500 other people cannot be refuted, and, according to Simon Greenleaf, would win an affirmative verdict in a court of law based on the evidence shared within the Gospel accounts as well as several secular accounts (e.g. Josephus). Jesus doesn't give us a half-hearted choice when answering his question, "who do you say that I am?" As C.S. Lewis put it, he is either a liar, lunatic or Lord. But we must choose which of those three to believe. Your namesake Thomas was known as the doubting Thomas. Yet, even he concluded that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.
Morality is built in by God. If there was no such thing as moral absolutes, then we would not be able to make moral judgments. The question is, where did these moral absolutes come from? The further question on this is how to determine such moral absolutes with the mantra of moral relativism? There are some moral situations that cannot be negotiated, no matter how one tries to relativize them. An example by Christian Apologist Greg Koukl is evident when asking the question, "Is it ever right to torture babies for fun?"
All of the things that you stated as "wrong"...why are they wrong? Who or what sets the standard? I'm sure you can spout all the philosophical claims you have studied, but where have such claims come from? We could take it further and discuss if all these things are wrong, why do they exist in this world? Furthermore, what is the answer to the sin problem that continually purports such things throughout history? Why is each individual heart of man "deceitful above all things; who can know it?"
Jesus said in Matthew 12:30 - He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad. You don't like what he says about non-believers? Take it up with Him!
The depiction in the film of the androgynous creature was not about you, Thomas. I was describing Gibson's use of poetic license (it was a movie...ya know) to illustrate the presence, nature, intent, deception, and evil of the being known as satan.
Take another look at Jesus' words in the Matthew verse. There is NO INBETWEEN on this issue and where one stands once this short life on earth is over. You seem to be comfortable with the current state of your soul. So be it. I will continue to pray for you to have a change of heart.
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