THE WORD FROM THE MANGER

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” 

(John 1:1-14, NKJV)

Hello everyone, 

I was trying to remember if I had ever heard a Christmas sermon from John 1 and couldn’t remember hearing one. So I went to YouTube and found that there are some, but not many based on John 1 compared to Matthew or Luke’s gospel accounts (at least on YouTube!). 

Well, I don’t know what you think after reading the first 14 verses above, but I think that not only is this the ‘essence’ of ‘why’ Christ was born, but actually gives us the ‘backstory’! I mean, jus look at ‘who’ this baby was that was born: He not only existed before all things but was actually the ‘creator’ of all things. Have you ever looked at a picture or manger or movie of the nativity and when you saw the baby Jesus thought to yourself, “Wow, there is the Creator of All things!” If not, maybe now you will- I know I will! And then if you follow the ‘story’ here in these 14 verses you see His announcement come by His messenger, John, and then in verse 14 you have the great statement about his birth, “and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,” then you can probably hear the heavenly host singing, “And we beheld His Glory, the Glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of Grace and Truth.” Again, I have to say, Wow! That’s an amazing ‘nativity story’ isn’t it? Let’s try and remember exactly ‘Who’ we are celebrating this Christmas: The Word made Flesh, Jesus, Creator of All! Amen.

Until next time, Merry Christmas! 

Randy

HOW MUCH LONGER BEFORE…?

“For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.” (Heb 9:24-28)

So, do you all ever watch, read or hear some of the news about things that are going on in our world and just think to yourself, ‘How can this go on much longer?’ It seems that not a day goes by anymore that some ‘new’ or ‘outrageous’, sinful, something is thrown at us by a ‘them’ or ‘they’, pardon the pronouns- at least ‘thrown’ or ‘stuffed’ is how it feels! But then Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, “That which has been is that which will be, And that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new"? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.” (Ecc 1:9-10) So, I guess I’m wrong when I think that there couldn’t have ever been a time as sin filled as this as a matter of fact, the time that Jesus was on the earth, in the Roman empire, may have had this time beat. I mean, right around the time Paul and Peter were being beheaded, Nero, the ‘ruler of the world’, the ‘son of a god’, was getting married to a boy! Wow, looks like Solomon, uh, God is right, He always is! You see, ever since the fall in the garden of Eden, mankind- everyone-  has been corrupted by Sin: the result being the sins that each of us were guilty of before God, deserving of His wrath and punishment just as guilty as anyone committing one of the ‘newsworthy’ sins you and I gasp at every day! But Jesus died to atone, to forgive us (and them) of our sins, to cleanse us, and to justify us (and them)  before God, when we (they) believe in Him. And then to put His seal on the redemption, He rose from the grave and sent us the ‘seal’, the ‘guarantee’, of The Holy Spirit. Our ‘Sin’ has been taken care of, nailed to the cross in Jesus.  Our ‘sins’ we will war and struggle with while in this body, but when that day comes Glory! So, while you watch a ‘world gone crazy’, remember, there is hope for mankind, but that hope will only be found in Christ. 

We will continue this Sunday in our study about defending our faith by knowing the scriptures, with the doctrines of Mankind (regeneration) and the Church. Once again we will go through scripture- but I have added some questions- they are attached to this email so you can get a head start if you want to. I am also adding below a reading by Oswald Chambers and after that  a two part video series by John MacArthur on being 'Self-deceived'.

Enjoy everyone, and see you Sunday! 

Randy

"My Utmost for His Highest, Updated Edition" by Oswald Chambers -

"The Nature of Reconciliation 

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 

“Sin is a fundamental relationship”it is not wrong doing, but wrong being”it is deliberate and determined independence from God. The Christian faith bases everything on the extreme, self-confident nature of sin. Other faiths deal with sins”the Bible alone deals with sin. The first thing Jesus Christ confronted in people was the heredity of sin, and it is because we have ignored this in our presentation of the gospel that the message of the gospel has lost its sting and its explosive power. The revealed truth of the Bible is not that Jesus Christ took on Himself our fleshly sins, but that He took on Himself the heredity of sin that no man can even touch. God made His own Son “to be sin” that He might make the sinner into a saint. It is revealed throughout the Bible that our Lord took on Himself the sin of the world through identification with us, not through sympathy for us. He deliberately took on His own shoulders, and endured in His own body, the complete, cumulative sin of the human race. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us” and by so doing He placed salvation for the entire human race solely on the basis of redemption. Jesus Christ reconciled the human race, putting it back to where God designed it to be. And now anyone can experience that reconciliation, being brought into oneness with God, on the basis of what our Lord has done on the cross. A man cannot redeem himself”redemption is the work of God, and is absolutely finished and complete. And its application to individual people is a matter of their own individual action or response to it. A distinction must always be made between the revealed truth of redemption and the actual conscious experience of salvation in a person’s life."

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John MacArthur, “Self-deceived” Part 1 and 2

https://youtu.be/b47CJlE-ut0

https://youtu.be/Ztj_jyOPTVg

THE THREE "I's"

 THE THREE "I's"

2Ti 4:3-4 (NAS95) "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Hi everyone, 

Wow! Another week flying by- at least for me it has been- at any rate, I hope you  are all having a blessed and joy filled week. 

I’ve been thinking about Scripture and the Gospel a lot for quite a while now, and I am more convinced than ever that what we have been learning about false teaching being ‘heretical’ (that’s a  ‘hard’ word but I think appropriate) when it comes to belief in Scriptural Inspiration, Inerrancy and Infallibility (3 I’s) and the teaching of the True Gospel (doctrine), is essential to keeping us ‘on the Path’ of the obedient walk of discipleship (the daily, sanctifying, glorifying, life we will live until Jesus comes.. or we go!). We have been looking into this issue the last couple weeks, but this week we will ‘separate’ the Gospel into two parts- Man and Jesus- because the Gospel has to do with both, and false teaching will distort both of these ‘doctrines’. I can’t wait to go through this with you on Sunday. 

For now, I want to leave you with a teaching by Alistair Begg that dives right into this subject we will be looking at- "The Apostles Teaching".  It was either this one or a John MacArthur sermon, "You Can Trust Scripture"- Had a hard time choosing so I will just include the link to both for those of you who would really like to take some time to look into what true ‘doctrine’ means and why should we ‘trust’ the Bible? I will also include the transcripts for those who would rather read than listen. 

Enjoy, and see you all Sunday!

Randy

Alistair Begg

https://youtu.be/RZA5K6RifF4

John MacArthur

https://youtu.be/VILPlRcmfXc

DON'T BELIEVE EVERY SPIRIT!

 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1Jn 4:1-6)

Hi everyone,

Hope you all are having a blessed week! In the passage from 1 John, he says that ‘every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God.’ And, every spirit that doesn’t is ‘of the antichrist,..’ So, it must be pretty significant that one ‘confesses’ that Jesus came in the flesh, but why? 

What was happening doctrinally during this writing of 1 John is what the apostle John was addressing. At this time there was a ‘false teaching’ being pushed in the church that said all ‘flesh’ was totally sinful and only the spirit was not sinful, because of this, it was being falsely taught that Jesus could not have ‘come in the flesh’ or he would have been sinful. Trying to ‘justify’ their own twisted thinking, they were teaching a false doctrine so significant that the apostle thought it needed to be addressed. This teaching of which I speak was called Gnosticism- and in John particularly, a form of twisted Gnosticism introduced by a heretic named Cerinthus. Cerinthus was putting his twist on ‘who’ Jesus was during the time of the apostle, and John was refuting his teaching. Cerinthus actually taught that Jesus was born in the flesh by Mary and Joseph, that he had such a superior knowledge (gnosis) that the logos (Spirit of wisdom) came on Jesus at his baptism (symbolized by the dove) when he became ‘Messiah’ (Christ). When Jesus faced suffering and death the Spirit left Jesus and the body died but the Spirit of Christ lives on. So, what John is saying here is that if you believe that Jesus Christ didn’t ‘come in the flesh’- that He is, and was, both God and man- then you are believing an antichrist teaching and are of the antichrist! John took false teaching seriously, and so should we. 

This is why the past couple months we have been studying some of the present day ‘antichrist’ teachings and what scripture has to say in its own defense! Yes, that’s correct- scripture, God’s Word, will defend itself; that is why it is so important for us to know the Word- it is only by God’s infallible, inspired and inerrant Word that we have the sure foundation to stand on against any and all false teaching. The warning is just as pertinent and serious today as it was in John’s day! We will wrap up this teaching Sunday as we look at scriptures that describe false teachers and talk about the warnings and how they apply to our lives in today’s church. I’m attaching below a Steve Lawson bible study that covers this portion of 1 John 4 and speaks about false teachers in the church. 

Enjoy, and talk to you all this Sunday!

Randy

First a reading from A.W. Tozer in ‘The Purpose of Man’. 

“You are a mirror of the Almighty, and this is the reason you were created in the first place. This is your purpose. You are not created so that you might only take something over here and put it over there—work. You were not created only that you might develop your brain so that you can speak with a cultured accent—education. Neither are we here to enjoy ourselves, even the pure pleasures of life. Nor are we here for the thrills life brings. All the holy prophets and apostles teach that man fell from his first estate and destroyed the glory of God, and the mirror was broken. God could no longer look at sinful man and see His glory reflected. Man failed to fulfill the created purpose of worship to his Creator in the beauty of holiness. He forgot this, forfeited it by sin and is busy now finding other things to fill that emptiness. It is terrible what people will look to if they lose God. If there is no God in their eyes, then they get something else in their eyes; and if they do not enjoy worshiping the great God Almighty that made them, they find something else to worship. If a person does not have God, he has to have something else. Maybe it is boats, or maybe it is money, amounting to idolatry, or going to parties or just simply raising the devil. They have lost God, and they do not know what to do, so they find something to do, which is why all the pleasures in life have been invented.”

And why false teaching appeals to so many!

The Bible Study: Steve Lawson  1 Jn 4:1-2

https://youtu.be/JZWp-eUYW8s

 

THE COMFORT OF BEING 'LUKEWARM'! [THE PATH DEVOTIONS]

“"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this: 'I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 'So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 'Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 'Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 'He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'"” (Rev 3:14-22)

Hi everyone,

Wow, that passage from Revelation really speaks to a church that has the confidence that they are on the right track, and yet, God says that they are ‘wretched, and miserable and poor and blind and naked’- not a very accurate self-assessment! So, what can make a ‘church’ so confident that they are doing good, when in reality, God sees them in such a disgusting light? One word: Lukewarm. God hates the ‘lukewarm’ churchgoer: He wants us to be Hot for him, or ‘cold’ against Him. Why? Because ‘lukewarm Christianity’ leads people to death (eternal or relational) by its works based religion, its moralistic deism, or it’s ‘easy believism’ (words without conversion): all void of a true relationship with The Savior due to a misunderstanding and misapplication of Scripture. For those who have drifted into ‘lukewarmness’, He says for them to open their spiritual eyes, and, He is using discipline to try and guide them back into True relationship with Him. For those who are lost, He is knocking at the door, saying, ‘open your spiritual ears and hear the knocking so you can open the door to a relationship with Me’. In both cases, God wants a relationship, not a stagnate, lukewarm ‘religion’. 

Many in the church today have either drifted into some type of ‘lukewarm Christianity’ with a moralistic bent or a situationally ‘purpose driven religion’; or, have been led by false teaching into a ‘lukewarm comfort’ and false assurance while having an unconverted and unrepentant heart. That is what this last couple months of instruction about false teaching has hopefully helped us to see: these dangers are all around us and could very well be in our midst. Let’s all be diligent in our own walk with God to stay Hot and remember that we have in our possession the ‘salve’ of Truth to give to those around us who have become ‘lukewarm’, so they can see clearly the relationship they need with Him; or, by the power of the Gospel, direct the ears of others who don’t yet know him to the sound of Him knocking so they can open the door and experience the ‘radiant heat’ of His presence for the first time!

This Sunday we will be completing our study on the doctrine of ‘The Church’ and then finishing with a look at scriptural warnings specific to false teachers like those we may be familiar with or heard about. Until Sunday, I will leave you with a reading from A.W. Tozer that is really relevant to our discussion about Mankind and the Church. 

Enjoy, and See you all Sunday!

Randy

Quote from, "Experiencing The Presence Of God" by A. W. Tozer -

"I have noticed that in recent years a serious error has developed among religious people in general. I fear that its focus is on what I will call a Christ-less nature mysticism. This is even invading what is termed as the evangelical church. When the fall of the year comes around, these nature mystics imagine a little man with a paintbrush painting the leaves, and some get very watery eyed about this. Again, in the spring, when the frogs begin to make their music in the little ponds, man’s thoughts turn to love and the kind of things the poets write about. That is very dangerous, because if it is cross-less —without redemption, without Christ and without a proper reconciliation—it can be deadly. Yet, there are churches spending millions of dollars on fabulous buildings, but the congregation never hears a thing, year in and year out, about reconciliation. 

Today’s church faces the danger of a cross-less Christianity. A preacher will get up in front of the congregation and talk so piously about the “Great All Father.” Or he might say, “This we ask in the spirit of Jesus.” He did not ask it in the name of Jesus, but in the spirit of Jesus. He was a nice fellow, not wanting to offend anybody and surely too nice to embrace the cross. This does not represent the biblical focus of Christianity. We must get back to the idea of a priesthood. We must get back to the idea of God on one side and man on the other, and the two of them alienated from each other. This alienation is not by the fault of God, but by the fault of man. We must get back to a sacrifice and a priest who can come between God, who is holy, and man, who is unholy, and bring the two of them together. That is priesthood."

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