Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church… By Paul Washer, with edits by David Robinson

Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church… By Paul Washer, with edits by David Robinson

…Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church…

Authors Note: I first published this back in June of 2011... Time to revisit it again.  Please, there is so much going on in the Church today, that men and women are being turned inside out by all the doctrines that are out there.    May we find time to re-read this again and see our own weaknesses and begin to search out God's grace and truth once again...      

…Before Reformation: 10 Indictments of the Modern Church…

An exposition on the sermon of Paul Washer [1]

            From time to time, the Christian Church has called out for reformation, for revival and an awakening.  Why?  Why do the precepts of God cause such turmoil in those that profess to believe?  What God made so clear in His Holy Scriptures man has written almost 2000 years worth of explanation, trying to understand what He said.  Men smarter than I have tried to figure this out, so let’s leave the scholarly discourse to them, but this is my take: Truth creates controversy.   Let me try to explain this.  The Truth found in the word of God demands action from its hearers and readers.  This Truth stipulates that once we learn what God expects from us, we are then to do it.  The “doing” then, I believe, represents all of man’s efforts to “reform” his religion, to change the way he has worshipped, and what the meaning of what he purports to believe is.  Undoubtedly, it is in these times of “reformation” that man has sought to return to the “pure” teachings of the writ of God, to free it if you will, from the shenanigans of man-inspired doctrines and release the Word to do what it was that God had intended.  Trouble with that attitude is the “reformation” sought is just a different adaptation of the man-inspired doctrines that it was supposed to replace.  Yes, change has occurred, some of it in the right vein, some not; some heresies have been erased, others introduced.  These things were foretold in Scripture:

Job 24:1-2 (NKJV)
¹     “Since times are not hidden from the Almighty,

Why do those who know Him see not His days?

²     “Some remove landmarks;

They seize flocks violently and feed on them; ^[2]

Jeremiah 6:16 (NKJV)
¹⁶Thus says the Lord:

“Stand in the ways and see,

And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,

And walk in it;

Then you will find rest for your souls.

But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ ^[3]

Jeremiah 18:15 (KJV)
¹⁵Because my people hath forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up; ^[4]

When we remove the ancient landmarks, when we stray from the path God himself set before us, then we have erred, and gotten off of the narrow path and are walking instead on the broad way that leads to destruction.  Jeremiah says this is “…to walk in paths, in a way not cast up…”, and so when the “church” has done this, good minded men have made attempts to set us on course again.  The problem with this?  What it has always been: man.  You see, we need God’s way, God’s idea of reformation, God’s plan for revival and an awakening to this all important fact.  The old paths are found the hard way, by having our knees bleed from prayer, for straining to hear the voice of God speak out the way back to Him.  Things must change, for the world we once knew is rapidly changing about us; soon we won’t recognize it anymore.  Only upon the Rock of Ages must we stand, because that will be the only thing constant left in this world when the fire hits.  To this end, I write this epistle.  To the glory of the Most High God, and His Son, our Savior Yeshua Ha’Machiach, and the Ruach Ha’Kodesh, I give thanks for this opportunity.  What I am about to share with you is not new.  I’ve felt these things for a long time, even before I was saved.  Paul Washer, pastor and missionary of the HeartCry Missionary Society, gave a sermon that can be heard or seen at:

http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=17378&commentView=itemComments

I always give credit where credit is due.  We build upon each other’s work, one plants, another waters; it has always been this way.  What you’ll read in this epistle builds upon the foundation of Pastor Washer’s original sermon, not because I don’t have any original ideas, but because what Pastor Washer spoke of requires repeating and additional exposition.  It is also what the Holy Spirit requires of me, and what He teaches, I must repeat.  The point: beloved, it’s time;   time for the western church, particularly the American church, to answer the indictments given about her.  Messiah gave them first, in the Book of Revelation, now, those of us who are hearing God, must speak also.  We are not alone; we only hope those who are truly God’s will hear and come out of Babylon, and not only confirm their salvation and their callings, but lift up the name of Messiah as it should be, not watered down in the muck of human reasoning and philosophy.  We ask you to awaken O bride! Awake and trim your lamps, for the time is coming for you to make yourself ready for the groom!  See yourself in the light of the Holy Word of God, and repent – return to where you started, return to your first love.  Some of you may get angry, some of you… well I don’t know.  I care not whether you agree, or disagree, whether or not you think I’m being overly critical, or just plain nuts.  Some will undoubtedly feel that maybe I have an axe to grind and wonder why I criticize the church at all, I mean; who do I think I am?  Beloved, let me tell you this, I’m nobody.  I am just a voice crying in the wilderness, for any and all to hear or reject.  If these words be not God’s but only a man’s, then that is all you’ll hear, the voice of a man.  But if they be True, and only the Spirit of the Living God can confirm that for you in your heart, then hearken unto them, for then they are born from on high.  I stand here, in the gap, seeing afar the trouble we are in, and can’t be silent anymore.  I ask you to listen, let your heart decide.

…10 Indictments of the Modern Church and what Believers must do…

Indictment #One:

A Practical Denial of the Sufficiency of Scripture

2 Timothy 3:15-17 (KJV)
¹⁵And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Messiah Yeshua. ¹⁶All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: ¹⁷That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. ^[5]

A battle is on the horizon, a battle for the soul and mind of the true believer. This battle is not new; it is born out of the original lie of the enemy of God:

Genesis 3:1-5 (NKJV)
¹Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” ²And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; ³“but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” ⁴Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. ⁵“For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” ^[6]

“Has God indeed said…?” This battle that is being waged against God’s word has two fronts:

Ö  Is the Bible inspired?

Ö  Is the Bible sufficient?

These tactics aren’t new, for they have been touted before.  Yet, in today’s modern church, they seem to be gaining a foothold as every thing that we believe in as Americans is being questioned and redefined.  Now this is not a treatise on politics, but it is worthy to note that the foundations of our nation are being shaken by those who want to interpret the Constitution and the Bill of Rights as “living documents”. These so-called “living documents” they believe are  then subject to the interpretation of the times and the whims of the masses, or better, the intellectual elite that supposedly know better.  Just a quick look at the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence will show that our founding fathers used very clear and concise language when they drafted these documents, so that their true intent and meaning could not be misconstrued.  They provided a means by which future generations could add or subtract from these documents, by amendments, to help the nation as it grew, but their intention was not to provide a document that was subject to fads or desires, but one that lent itself to reasoned and informed debate.  “Living documents” can be hijacked, can be twisted to fit a particular bent or frame of mind, leading to excesses and ultimately, loss of freedoms.  Our founders understood that; they also understood the role of Almighty God in the governing of this nation, and we have all seen the result of the whims of a minority that has effectively removed God from His rightful place as head of this great nation.  Now, the same thing is happening in churches all across America, as some question the Scriptures for not being “relevant” in our time.  They twist the role of women, the role of morality, call those that profess righteousness profane, homophobic and xenophobic, replace absolutes with what they deem as relevant; what is called into question is the very fabric of the Holy Scripture.  If the Bible can be viewed from the “living document” lens, then it is easier to change doctrines to meet whatever need a particular denomination or congregation seeks to fill or justify.  So let us see if there is answer to all this.  The advantage I have over Pastor Washer’s sermon is that I can explore these topics with you, so that you get a better chance to understand.

            Beloved, can we trust the Bible?  The answer to this question is fundamental to our walk.  We must believe that it is true and we have to be able to trust it, for let’s face it: we are betting our life on it, in this world and for all eternity.  Friends, if we can’t believe in the sufficiency of the Word of God, then, we just don’t believe God.  We are making Him out to be a liar.  There are usually two words that are associated with the discussion of inspiration (which in truthfulness IS the sufficiency of the Word):

1.    The Word of God is infallible: this says that it is true in all it affirms, that it comes from God, and since God doesn’t lie, then all it says must be true.

2.    The Word is inerrant: This applies to the doctrine that there are no errors in scripture (as contained in the original autographs, the Hebrew and the Greek texts), no internal contradictions and no contradictions between text, science and history, so forth and so on.

In the last 30 to 50 years we have seen these two points vigorously debated within the Christian community and in the seminaries.  We have seen at the academic level in the Christian community (especially at the Fuller Theological Seminary[7]) that the points in question fall into two areas of contention:

Ö  Is it “…all Scripture is inspired…” or is it “…all the Scripture that is inspired…”?

Ö  This then becomes the question “How much Scripture is from God?”

è Which then becomes an argument that Scripture is then bound by “limited inspiration”.

·         Does inspiration apply to ALL the Bible;

·         Or is inspiration limited to just faith and practical issues?

Now, this discussion could take up most of this epistle, but what has to be seen here is the role that social sciences (psychology and sociology in particular) are playing a very large part in this debate within the church.  What I ask here is this: since when should we let these worldly philosophies dictate the discussion at all?  Do we not realize that these philosophies were created by man in the first place as a protest against the word of God?  Church, why does this discussion even come up?  Either the word of God is what it says it is, or it isn’t.  We as believers have to hold to this word, or we aren’t believers.  If we are using this controversy to make ourselves more relevant to those outside the church, then how does questioning God’s word make that happen?  Being seeker friendly is sending men and women to hell!  The only seeker we should be pleasing is God Himself, for He is seeking righteous men and women to be His people!  No, instead we seek the wisdom of men over the wisdom of God, the blind leading the blind, the dead burying the dead.  Now some may think me arrogant for such a statement, like how can this former drug addict just pop up out of no where and speak against the church in this manner?  It is because God Himself has been my teacher that I can speak like this.  For 37 years the Lord kept me out of church just so I would not be blinded by the hypocrisy that unfortunately permeates a large portion of what is called the church today.  I come into it with fresh eyes and a teachable heart, not claiming to know, but freely being given for I hunger for the Word of Truth.  How dare anyone question the Word of God!  In the blackest heart of man the Truth is known, that is why that heart runs so far and so fast away from it.  It doesn’t want to stand convicted of its sin!  How can we go down these paths, and still call ourselves believers, when we openly mock the very words of life that were given so that we might live!  The very scope of salvation itself is tied to the sufficiency of Scripture; without a firm belief in God and His word as inerrant and infallible there is no salvation, for we cannot believe in what we do not believe.  Thus all hope is gone, and all our confessions and pronouncements are in vain.  We have then believed the oldest lie,

“…Has God indeed said…?”

Indictment #Two

An Ignorance of God

            What do you know of God?  What are you taught of God?  What do you know of the following?

 The Solitariness of God

The Decrees of God

The Knowledge of God

The Foreknowledge of God

The Supremacy of God

The Sovereignty of God

The Immutability of God

The Holiness of God

The Power of God

The Faithfulness of God

The Goodness of God

The Patience of God

The Grace of God

The Mercy of God

The Love of God

The Wrath of God

The Contemplation of God [8]

I ask this for a reason.  If the truth be told, God is controversial.  If the truth of the attributes of God were to be taught within most churches today (especially those that concern God’s justice, His wrath, sovereignty, His Supremacy and His Glory), a large part of the church, if I may dare say the majority of it would likely reject those teachings and most would declare: “That’s not my God! I could never love a God like that!”   What a large part of Christianity has grown to love is not the true God or Messiah: they are in love with the image that they have made, with the god that bests fits their lifestyle.  Most want the easy way, the way of the flow, the way that will have a minimal impact on their ambitions, possessions, and their pleasures.  We as a body suffer from the lack of the knowledge of God, the lack of the understanding of the attributes of God.  Instead of a daily diet of repentance, self-sacrifice, carrying our cross and dying to ourselves, instead of a steadfast plan to keep ourselves immersed in the word of God, what do we do?  We work, we worry, we stress, we climb the ladder, we exercise our bodies so that we “look good”, we read all the latest “self-help” books to gain an edge; we covet, we strive, we envy, we gossip…  Because we don’t know God we need all these little tricks of the flesh to fill in the gaps, those deep yawning chasms of emptiness that mark a life that is without the knowledge of God.  Worse of all, we mistake grace for license and the result is rampant sinning!

1 Corinthians 15:34 (KJV)
³⁴ Awake to righteousness, and sin not; for some have not the knowledge of God: I speak this to your shame.^[9]

The question we must ask is “Why this lack of the knowledge of the one true God?”  The answer is simple.  We are not taught who God is.  We are told in Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 11:5 (KJV)
⁵ As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: even so thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all. ^[10]

In Ecclesiastes Solomon tells us in Chapter 11, verses 1-6, four times “…thou knowest not…”  He says in verse 2 “… Give a portion to seven, and also to eight; for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth…” ^[11]; “…knowest not what is the way of the spirit…” and “…thou knowest not the works of God who maketh all…” in verse 5 [ this is also translated in the Greek Septuagint as “…you shall not know the actions of God, as much as He shall do in all things…”[12]]; and finally in verse 6 he says “…In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper, whether this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good…”^[13]

Shame be upon us brethren!  I know we cannot know all about Him, (Isaiah 55:8-9 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith Jehovah. ⁹For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.)^[14]

Also:  

Psalm 139:1-6

¹O Jehovah, thou hast searched me, and known me. ²Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising; Thou understandest my thought afar off. ³Thou searchest out my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. ⁴For there is not a word in my tongue, But, lo, O Jehovah, thou knowest it altogether. ⁵Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thy hand upon me. ⁶Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain unto it.^[15]

But we must ask ourselves this: why aren’t our lives so entwined with His that we share in His most intimate secrets?  In Amos 3:7 the Word of God states: “…Surely the Lord God does nothing,

Unless ^dHe reveals His secret to His servants the prophets…”^[16]  Yeshua Ha’Machiach addressed this in John’s Gospel:

John 15:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵ No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, ^sfor all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. ^{16 t}You did not choose Me, but I chose you and ^uappointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father ^vin My name He may give you. ^[17]

If this then is the case, why do we “…knowest not…”?  Deuteronomy 29:29 says “…“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law…(emphasis mine)” ^[18]

Bear with me now.   To understand God’s word, we must define the terms.  Let us define “servant”. When looking at the word in Amos 3:7, servant is the Hebrew word (Strong’s #H5650) עבד ‛ebed eh'-bed.  While technically defined as “slave” or “servant”, a broader context of the word is “one chosen and beloved by God”.[19]  In the context of John 15:15, the word for “servant” is (G1401) δοῦλος doulos doo'-los, which carries with it the same general connotation, along with the idea that “…Often the service involved is voluntary, in which a person willingly offers obedience, devotion, and loyalty to another, subordinating his will to him…”^[20] I believe we have to look even deeper still to find the more subtle use of the word by Messiah.  I deduce this from the new name Messiah uses to describe them with – the word for “friend” (G5384) φίλος philos.  Messiah Yeshua, by His use of this word, has drawn them into a deeper relationship with Him, from one that is subject or bound to Him (even if willingly), to one He associates with, the bridegroom’s friend who on His behalf, asks for the hand of the bride and then renders to Him various services in closing the marriage and then joining in the celebration of the nuptials.[21]

You can see my friends, how we are held in esteem by our Yahveh Adonai.  Think of your friends – who are they to you?  Dare I say that there are few if any you hold close enough for you to send them to the one you love to ask them for their hand in marriage to you, yet this is precisely the distinction Messiah holds us in as His “philos.”

O brethren! “…Thou knowest not!” O pastors! Why don’t you teach who God is!  O teach upon His attributes, His infinite Glory; get to know Him!  This is our eternal life!  Eternal life begins not at the gate of heaven: it starts at the regeneration of our heart!  It started before the foundation of the world!  Look at how He trusts His own - are we included in this trust?  We, who by our former natures were at such odds with Him, yet now are held by Him as עבד ‛ebed – one chosen and beloved.  O shame I say again Christian!  That we know not Him so deeply. O how His heart must ache for our closeness, for the familiarity that He desires, that He craves! Yes, Craves!  Our Master longs for our love, our undivided, unfettered love!  How can we be so fickle, so hard-hearted as to deny Him this intimacy that He seeks?  What holds you away beloved?  Why thou knowest not? 

Start now!  Study the Bible- get to know Him!  It would be better not to have Sunday morning… Sunday morning is the greatest example of idolatry in America today, because most people are not worshipping the one true God.  People are worshipping the god they have created out of their own minds, out of their own flesh.  The great masses worship satanic devices and worldly intelligence.  They made a god just like themselves and he looks more like Santa Claus than YHVH.  I tell you this; God Almighty is a Holy God! Infinite in power, absolute Sovereign in all He does, says and is.

 Psalm 111:10 (NKJV)
^{10     k}The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;

A good understanding have all those who do His commandments.

His praise endures forever.^[22]

Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)
⁷ The fear of the LORD is the beginning^d of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. ^[23]

Proverbs 2:5 (KJV)
⁵ Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. ^[24]

There is no fear of God before us today because we have no God before us!  No knowledge.

Woe unto us….

Indictment #Three

A Failure to address Man’s Knowledge

Romans 1

1 Paul, a bondservant of Messiah Yeshua, ^acalled to be an apostle, ^bseparated to the gospel of God ^{2 c}which He promised before ^dthrough His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, ³ concerning His Son Messiah Yeshua our Lord, who ¹was ^eborn of the seed of David according to the flesh, ⁴ and ^fdeclared to be the Son of God with power according ^gto the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. ⁵ Through Him ^hwe have received grace and apostleship for ⁱobedience to the faith among all nations ^jfor His name, ⁶ among whom you also are the called of Messiah Yeshua;

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, ^kcalled to be saints:

^lGrace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Messiah Yeshua.

⁸ First, ^mI thank my God through Messiah Yeshua for you all, that ⁿyour faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. ⁹ For ^oGod is my witness, ^pwhom I serve ²with my spirit in the gospel of His Son, that ^qwithout ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers, ¹⁰ making request if, by some means, now at last I may find a way in the will of God to come to you. ¹¹ For I long to see you, that ^rI may impart to you some spiritual gift, so that you may be established— ¹² that is, that I may be encouraged together with you by ^sthe mutual faith both of you and me.

¹³ Now I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that I often planned to come to you (but ^twas hindered until now), that I might have some ^ufruit among you also, just as among the other Gentiles. ¹⁴ I am a debtor both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to wise and to unwise. ¹⁵ So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the gospel to you who are in Rome also.

¹⁶ For ^vI am not ashamed of the gospel ³of Christ, for ^wit is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, ^xfor the Jew first and also for the Greek. ¹⁷ For ^yin it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ^z“The just shall live by faith.”

^{18 a}For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and ^bunrighteousness of men, who ⁴suppress the truth in unrighteousness, ¹⁹ because ^cwhat may be known of God is ⁵manifest ⁶in them, for ^dGod has shown it to them. ²⁰ For since the creation of the world ^eHis invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and ⁷Godhead, so that they are without excuse, ²¹ because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but ^fbecame futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. ^{22 g}Professing to be wise, they became fools, ²³ and changed the glory of the ^hincorruptible ⁱGod into an image made like ⁸corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things.

^{24 j}Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, ^kto dishonor their bodies ^lamong themselves, ²⁵ who exchanged ^mthe truth of God ⁿfor the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

²⁶ For this reason God gave them up to ^ovile passions. For even their ⁹women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. ²⁷ Likewise also the ¹men, leaving the natural use of the ²woman, burned in their lust for one another, ¹men with ¹men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

²⁸ And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things ^pwhich are not fitting; ²⁹ being filled with all unrighteousness, ³sexual immorality, wickedness, ⁴covetousness, ⁵maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, ³⁰ backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, ^{31 6}undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, ⁷unforgiving, unmerciful; ³² who, ^qknowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things ^rare deserving of death, not only do the same but also ^sapprove of those who practice them. ^[25]

The Epistle to the Romans gives us a unique glance into the mind of Paul.  While it isn’t what modern day scholars regard as systematic theology[26], it is still the closest one can come to in the New Testament.  While only chapter one of Romans is cited here, the first three chapters are the Holy Spirit’s indictment (through Paul) of mankind; this indictment is summarized in the following verses:

Romans 2:1-10 (NKJV)
2     Therefore you are ^ainexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, ^bfor in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. ² But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. ³ And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God? ⁴ Or do you despise ^cthe riches of His goodness, ^dforbearance, and ^elongsuffering, ^fnot knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? ⁵ But in accordance with your hardness and your ¹impenitent heart ^gyou are ²treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, ⁶ who ^h“will render to each one according to his deeds”: ⁷ eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; ⁸ but to those who are self-seeking and ⁱdo not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness—indignation and wrath, ⁹ tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew ^jfirst and also of the ³Greek; ^{10 k}but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ^[27]

And in verse 31 of Romans 3, we see the reason for all things:

Romans 3:31 (NKJV)
 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. ^[28]

This is the reason for the law, or more correctly, the Torah.  In it’s fullest sense, Torah exists for one purpose, to teach us what is hateful to God and to instruct us on a moral course that we are to live by.  There is in Christianity today the idea that the Torah is done away with, that we are not “under the law” anymore, for it is grace which abounds.  But what is grace? Is grace license to sin?  What is sin, if we are not under the law? For Paul tells us:

“…Rom 7:7  Therefore, what are we to say? That the Torah is sinful? Heaven forbid! Rather, the function of the Torah was that without it, I would not have known what sin is. For example, I would not have become conscious of what greed is if the Torah had not said, "Thou shalt not covet." 8  But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, worked in me all kinds of evil desires — for apart from Torah, sin is dead. 9  I was once alive outside the framework of Torah. But when the commandment really encountered me, sin sprang to life, 10  and I died. The commandment that was intended to bring me life was found to be bringing me death! 11  For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me; and through the commandment, sin killed me. 12  So the Torah is holy; that is, the commandment is holy, just and good. 13  Then did something good become for me the source of death? Heaven forbid! Rather, it was sin working death in me through something good, so that sin might be clearly exposed as sin, so that sin through the commandment might come to be experienced as sinful beyond measure. 14  For we know that the Torah is of the Spirit; but as for me, I am bound to the old nature, sold to sin as a slave. 15  I don't understand my own behavior — I don't do what I want to do; instead, I do the very thing I hate! 16  Now if I am doing what I don't want to do, I am agreeing that the Torah is good. 17  But now it is no longer "the real me" doing it, but the sin housed inside me. 18  For I know that there is nothing good housed inside me — that is, inside my old nature. I can want what is good, but I can't do it! 19  For I don't do the good I want; instead, the evil that I don't want is what I do! 20  But if I am doing what "the real me" doesn't want, it is no longer "the real me" doing it but the sin housed inside me. 21  So I find it to be the rule, a kind of perverse "torah," that although I want to do what is good, evil is right there with me! 22  For in my inner self I completely agree with God's Torah; 23  but in my various parts, I see a different "torah," one that battles with the Torah in my mind and makes me a prisoner of sin's "torah," which is operating in my various parts. 24  What a miserable creature I am! Who will rescue me from this body bound for death? 25  Thanks be to God [, he will]! — through Yeshua the Messiah, our Lord! To sum up: with my mind, I am a slave of God's Torah; but with my old nature, I am a slave of sin's "Torah”…”[29] 

No, what Paul is telling us is not that the law dictates to us all that is sinful, but rather is the agency that God has used to awaken within us the knowledge of our depraved souls, the sin nature.  If, as Ravi Sha’ul (Rabbi Paul) says “…apart from Torah, sin is dead…”, then what is sin?  We are not as some profess free of the law, for these are the commandments of God, and He changes not.  What He decreed to the Israelites, He decreed to believers today.  If all the law (Torah) hangs upon the two greatest commandments,

Matthew 22:36-40 (NKJV)
“³⁶ “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”

³⁷ Yeshua said to him, ^x‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and great commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ^y‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ^{40 z}On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” ^[30]”, then how is Torah put aside, seeing as how Torah is based on love?  The bottom line here is if apart from the law sin is dead, then why does man need a Savior?  If there is no law, there is no sin.  If no sin, Messiah needn’t have died.  Hell’s best kept secret is in convincing man that we no longer are under Torah.  If man has no sin, then for what does he seek salvation for?  John the Baptist asked the Pharisees “…who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?…”^[31]  Charles Spurgeon once said:

            “…Lower the Law, and you dim the light by which man perceives his guilt.  This is a very serious loss to the sinner, rather than a gain; for it lessens the likelihood of his conviction and conversion…I say you have deprived the Gospel of its ablest auxiliary [most powerful weapon] when you have set aside the Law.  You have taken away from it the schoolmaster that is to bring men to Messiah…They will never accept grace till they tremble before a just and holy Law. Therefore, the Law serves a most necessary and blessed purpose, and it must not be removed from its place…”[32]

Torah then represents not the end, but the means by which man’s need for salvation is realized.  Much too often, we picture Messiah as pleading with sinners to come, to accept Him as Lord so that He can save them.  We approach salvation as “man-centered”, not Messiah centered.  Oh but you say, “Not so!”  “We give an altar call by telling them of what Messiah can do for them!”  Friends, this is attraction.  We try to make Yeshua “appealing”, so that the masses will find Him attractive and want to “try” Him out.  This is not salvation!  How does the sinner turn himself around?  How can a dead man make himself live?  For Scripture tells us in Romans 3:10-18 (NKJV):

¹⁰ As it is written:

^l“There is none righteous, no, not one;

¹¹There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

¹² They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”

¹³“Their ^mthroat is an open ⁴tomb;

With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;

ⁿ“The poison of asps is under their lips”;

¹⁴“Whose ^omouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵“Their ^pfeet are swift to shed blood;

¹⁶Destruction and misery are in their ways;

¹⁷And the way of peace they have not known.”

^{18 ”}There ^qis no fear of God before their eyes.” ^[33]

The natural man thinks not of the things of God (1 Cor. 2:14); only God through His Spirit makes men live (Zechariah 4:6 (NKJV) “ ⁶ …So he answered and said to me: “This is the word of the Lord to  ^fZerubbabel: ^g‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts… ^[34]”) and again in John 1:12-13 (NKJV); “¹² …But ^qas many as received Him, to them He gave the ⁵right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: ^{13 r}who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God…” ^[35]  So the common way of “seeking converts” holds no promise of true repentance, no promise of eternal life for we seek dead men to save themselves, instead of allowing God to do His work.  The Spirit must quicken the dead heart, must restore it to life, and then that man would seek to flee the wrath that is to come when he comes face to face with the certain judgment of a Holy God.  He must be brought into the knowledge of self before he can be brought to the knowledge of the Savior and salvation.  Every hope in the flesh has to be cast down before they can be brought to the cross; such is the fallen manner of man. 

There must be a reckoning of self; no “invitation” is sufficient for the sinful man, you must break their hearts!  Plow their hearts till the Spirit of God brings them to their knees.  Forget the invitation – the ground must be worked, must be torn asunder, must be broken by the harrow and the tooth, by the disc and the plow – for if we just talk to them, just give them some “nice” points to ponder – then we have made them into a two-fold son of hell, never to be open to the gospel again because of the damnable easy lies we have told – asking them to pray a “sinner’s prayer” or a prayer of “invitation” to “make a decision” when they are dead and have no life within them to even begin to ask such a thing.  This religious lie is a spewing lukewarm paste in our mouths.  When we treat sin as an exercise, as a thing that can be tossed about casually, then we are fighting against the Holy Spirit who has come to convict the world of its sin!  Why do preachers today want to give you your best life now when they should be concerned with your eternity!  Think about it brethren!  When a man or preacher does not preach or mention sin, repentance, daily dying to oneself, or carrying your cross in his sermons, then the Holy Spirit has nothing to do with his ministry, unless it is to work against it.  If we don’t preach against sin, if we say our ministry isn’t concerned about sin, then we are in contradiction with the Holy Spirit because His ministry is about sin!  It is His primary ministry, to convict men of sin, to bring them to the truth, to reveal to them Messiah Yeshua!  If we do not deal with men in their sin, in their depraved condition with passion, conviction and love – then the Holy Spirit is no where near us and God is not in the house.  We are also deceivers if we deal not with the sin of men or treat it lightly [compare with Jeremiah 8]:

Jeremiah 6:8-19 (KJV)

⁸ Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart^c from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.

⁹ Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets. ¹⁰ To whom shall I speak, and give warning, that they may hear? behold, their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken: behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it. ¹¹ Therefore I am full of the fury of the LORD; I am weary with holding in: I will pour it out upon the children abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together: for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged with him that is full of days. ¹² And their houses shall be turned unto others, with their fields and wives together: for I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD. ¹³ For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. ¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt^d of the daughter^† of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. ¹⁵ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD. ¹⁶ Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. ¹⁷ Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken.

¹⁸ Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. ¹⁹ Hear, O earth: behold, I will bring evil upon this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not hearkened unto my words, nor to my law, but rejected it. ^[36]

Not only are we deceivers, but we are immoral, for we shy away from the truth so that those around us won’t be cross with us.  “Oh but they’ll be angry- they’ll be sad…”  And yet how can we justify keeping the one truth from them that will save their lives?  Teachers and pastors will say though, “My sheep are weak, they can’t bear the truth! We just must bring them along slowly… Why even Paul tells them in 1 Cor. 3:1-2:  “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. ² I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” ^[37]  Even Yeshua told them in John 16:12: “… I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now…” ^[38]” 

Let me say this: man has never been able to bear the truth of God’s word.  Either he’ll react to it with anger, reject it with finality, or he’ll be broken by it, crushed by the weight of his iniquity and be saved. 

“Oh but,” says the pastor, “it’ll crush what little self-esteem they have!”

I say what little self esteem?  SELF is all they esteem!  More than they esteem God!  We are all thieves when we speak not of sin.  Look at the morning sky- bright is the sun.  The stars have gone (though not really!) but what they are, is dwarfed by the light.  In the absence of light, when the sun goes down and the sky darkens, the whole of the visible cosmos shines and we see the stars everywhere.  This is how sin is.  In the absence of the Son of Man, the darkness takes over and sin abounds, unabashed and unashamed to be seen, standing tall in its pride and in the power of itself.

When we refuse to preach and speak on the utter depravity of man, we refuse to give glory to God, His Son and His Spirit.  There can be no glory in self!  Found there are only darkness and the revealed sin, unabashed, unashamed.  God is only glorified when we see Him in and as the light, when He is the light dwarfing our darkness in Glory, Power and Honor.  Only the cross of Messiah and its glory is revealed in the back drop of our own depravity.  It is impossible to bring Glory to God, His Messiah and His Cross if we fail to teach about man’s sin.  Consider the following story:

Luke 7:36-48 (1901 ASV)
And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he entered into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat. ³⁷And behold, a woman who was in the city, a sinner; and when she knew that he was sitting at meat in the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster cruse of ointment, ³⁸and standing behind at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hair of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. ³⁹Now when the Pharisee that had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have perceived who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him, that she is a sinner. ⁴⁰And Yeshua answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Teacher, say on. ⁴¹A certain lender had two debtors: the one owed five hundred shillings, and the other fifty. ⁴²When they had not wherewith to pay, he forgave them both. Which of them therefore will love him most? ⁴³Simon answered and said, He, I suppose, to whom he forgave the most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged. ⁴⁴And turning to the woman, he said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thy house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath wetted my feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵Thou gavest me no kiss: but she, since the time I came in, hath not ceased to kiss my feet. ⁴⁶My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but she hath anointed my feet with ointment. ⁴⁷Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little. ⁴⁸And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.^[39]

She loved much for she was forgiven much and she was forgiven much for she knew how wretched she was… 

 Man can never know or love God unless we tell him how wicked he really is, by showing him the Torah and all of God’s counsel.  We’ve robbed them of the opportunity to put aside self, to not boast of himself by failing to exalt Yahveh Adonai and letting them boast of His salvation and grace.

Indictment #Four

The Ignorance of the Gospel of Messiah Yeshua the Lord

This nation is not Gospel hardened; it is Gospel ignorant because most of its preachers are.  Why does our country appear so outwardly depraved?  Is it because of the liberal politicians, the corrupt bankers or Hollywood?  Does it have more to do with the Wall Street thieves, the gamblers, drunkards and drug abusers?  Is it the conservative politician, the left wing, the right wing, the immoral, the abortionist, the pro-life movement, the straights, the gays?  What is the cause of our country’s maladies today?

            I’ll tell you the truth, and you won’t want to hear it.  The problem is in reality the so called evangelical pastor of today, the preacher and the evangelist.  It is the televangelist, the “seer”, the self-proclaimed prophet and prophetess, the self-appointed “anointed” apostle of today that are at the root of this corrupt society and nation in which we live.  We do not know the Gospel.  We have taken the Glorious Gospel of our Blessed God and have reduced it down to “four spiritual laws” and “five things God wants you to know” with a little superstitious prayer at the end and we hope someone repeats it after us with enough conviction so that we can raise our hands and shout “Hallelujah!” and then we can pope-ishly declare him forgiven of his sins and say to all he is born-again!

We’ve traded regeneration for decisionism.

How many will admit, and I mean, how many of you who say you’ve walked with Yahveh Adonai all your lives some 10, 20 some thirty years, will say at the end of this “I’ve never heard this before!”?  It is the doctrines of election, of pre-destination, of redemption and propitiation we are talking about – and this begins with knowing and understanding the nature of God.  The Gospel begins here, and then moves from there onto the nature of man and his fallen state, his great depravity.  This then sets up the great dilemma.  If God is just – and He is – He cannot forgive you.  This is the greatest problem of Scripture.  How can God be just and at the same time be the justifier of wicked man?  Scripture plainly tells us in Proverbs 17:15:

^15  mHe who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,

Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord. ^[40]

Yet in spite of this we will sing every Sunday about how God justifies the wicked.  The greatest problem we face is a just God that cannot and will not forgive wicked men.

            If you understood the nature of God, you wouldn’t be sitting in your pew; you’d be prostrate on the ground before Him!  O wicked man! It isn’t for you that you have found justification – it is for His Glory and His purpose, His Eternal Purpose, laid before the foundation of the world that He would send His Son, His only begotten Son to the tree – to bear upon His blameless self the sins of you, the sins of me.  He would become a curse to remove the curse – for love’s sake, for His Glory.  God to be just must condemn wicked man, but He Himself gave a way – became the way – by His own Blood did He redeem us.  All of us, all of Christendom knows the story.  But do you know the truth?  O we say “Yes!”, that Yeshua hung on that cross, suffering, bleeding, dying – and God, God had to turn away, had to forsake this man who became sin…

Some would say God didn’t have it in Him to bear it…

- NO! -

In the garden Yeshua prayed “…take this cup from me…”  We all assume it was the cup of suffering, the death that awaited Him, but no, the cup was exactly what Messiah knew it to be: the Wrath of God.  The wrath that had to be poured out onto sinful man – someone had to die…  Someone had to be the vessel of wrath: 

Isaiah 53 (NKJV)
53  Who ^ahas believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? ² For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no ¹form or ²comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no ³beauty that we should desire Him. ^3  bHe is despised and ⁴rejected by men, A Man of ⁵sorrows and ^cacquainted with ⁶grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and ^dwe did not esteem Him. ⁴ Surely ^eHe has borne our ⁷griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we ⁹esteemed Him stricken, ¹Smitten by God, and afflicted. ⁵ But He was ^fwounded ²for our transgressions, He was ³bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His ^gstripes ⁴we are healed. ⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord ⁵has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet ^hHe opened not His mouth;  ⁱHe was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. ⁸ He was ^jtaken from ⁶prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For ^kHe was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken.  ^lAnd ⁷they made His grave with the wicked—But with the rich at His death,  Because He had done no violence, Nor was any ^mdeceit in His mouth. ¹⁰ Yet it pleased the Lord to ⁸bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul ⁿan offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. ^11 9He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied. By His knowledge ^oMy righteous ^pServant shall ^qjustify many,  For He shall bear their iniquities. ^{12  r}Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, ^sAnd He shall divide the ¹spoil with the strong, Because He ^tpoured out His soul unto death, And He was ^unumbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And ^vmade intercession for the transgressors. ^[41]

It pleased the Father to crush Him, and crush Him He did.  We think of Messiah’s suffering, the scourge, the crown of thorns, the beatings, the humiliation – we consider this punishment at the hands of men, to the cross, to be the propitiation of our sins, that His suffering paid our debt.  This is our romantic powerless view of the Gospel.  It pleased God to crush Him.  Wrath had to be poured out for sin; and only the Son could bear it.  This suffering had to be, this wrath of God – but it wasn’t payment for our sin.  Messiah bearing our sin – that was payment.  Messiah taking our sin – that was payment.  If we stop at the suffering of Messiah – we don’t have a Gospel.  Messiah was crushed by the justice of God.  By satisfying the justice of God with His death, God the Just could become the justifier of wicked man – the debt was paid.

…We wonder why the Gospel as it is preached has no power…

…All we focus on is the suffering – not the redemption by justice…

We want to think of God shedding a tear as Mel Gibson portrayed in his “Passion of the Messiah”…

…No – it pleased God to crush Him…

We can and sometimes do spend a lifetime searching the Scriptures.  We dig and dig, looking for the next “golden nugget”, and when we gleam one, we want to shout and share with all who will hear.  We will spend month’s studying Paul’s Epistles, and will comb endlessly through John’s and Peter’s.  Maybe we’ll even spend some time trying to understand Torah, the Prophets and the Wisdom literature.  But the Gospels?  O, we know the story. Verily, verily I tell you, we know nothing.  We don’t even understand the seven parables of the Kingdom of God!  First and foremost, forget the rest!  Pick up the Bible – don’t put it down until you understand one thing: fill yourself with the Cross.  Get around it; grab hold of it, for without it we are pathetic indeed.  It isn’t about suffering, or substitution, it is about justice revealed and redeemed.  What is the message taught by the Apostles?  Messiah crucified – Messiah resurrected – that is what we must know!  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2 (NKJV):

² For I determined not to know anything among you ^aexcept Messiah Yeshua and Him crucified. ^[42]

Barnes says of this verse:

“…Not to know - The word “know” here εἰδέναι  eidenai is used probably in the sense of “attend to, be engaged in, or regard.” I resolved not to give my time and attention while among you to the laws and traditions of the Jews; to your orators, philosophers, and poets; to the beauty of your architecture or statuary; to a contemplation of your customs and laws, but to attend to this only - making known the cross of Christ. The word εἰδω  eidō to know, is sometimes thus used. Paul says that he designed that this should be the only thing on which his mind should be fixed; the only object of his attention; the only object there upon which he sought that knowledge should be diffused. Doddridge renders it “appear to know.”

Anything among you - Anything while I was with you. Or, anything that may exist; among you, and that may be objects of interest to you. I resolved to know nothing of it, whatever it might be. The former is probably the correct interpretation.

Save Messiah Yeshua - Except Messiah Yeshua. This is the only thing of which I purposed to have any knowledge among you.

And him crucified - Or, “even καί  kai him that was crucified.” He resolved not only to make the “Messiah” the grand object of his knowledge and attention there, but even a “crucified” Messiah; to maintain the doctrine that the Messiah was to be crucified for the sins of the world; and that he who had been crucified was in fact the Messiah. See the note at 1Co_1:23. We may remark here:

(1) That this should be the resolution of every minister of the gospel. This is his business. It is not to be a politician; not to engage in the strifes and controversies of people; it is not to be a good farmer, or scholar merely; not to mingle with his people in festive circles and enjoyments; not to be a man of taste and philosophy, and distinguished mainly for refinement of manners; not to be a profound philosopher or metaphysician, but to make Christ crucified the grand object of his attention, and seek always and everywhere to make him known.

(2) he is not to be ashamed anywhere of the humbling doctrine that Christ was crucified. In this he is to glory. Though the world may ridicule; though philosophers may sneer; though the rich and the frivilous may deride it, yet this is to be the grand object of interest to him, and at no time, and “in no society” is he to be ashamed of it!

(3) it matters not what are the amusements of society around him; that fields of science, of gain, or ambition, are open before him, the minister of Christ is to know Christ and him crucified alone. If he cultivates science, it is to be that he may the more successfully explain and vindicate the gospel. If he becomes in any manner familiar with the works of art, and of taste, it is that he may more successfully show to those who cultivate them, the superior beauty and excellency of the cross. If he studies the plans and the employments of people, it is that he may more successfully meet them in those plans, and more successfully speak to them of the great plan of redemption.

(4) the preaching of the cross is the only kind of preaching that will be attended with success. That which has in it much respecting the divine mission, the dignity, the works, the doctrines, the person, and the atonement of Christ, will be successful. So it was in the time of the apostles; so it was in the Reformation; so it was in the Moravian missions; so it has been in all revivals of religion. There is a power about that kind of preaching which philosophy and human reason have not. “Christ is God’s great ordinance” for the salvation of the world; and we meet the crimes and alleviate the woes of the world, just in proportion as we hold the cross up as appointed to overcome the one, and to pour the balm of consolation into the other…”[43]

“What?” say you…  I can get by with knowing so little about the Second Coming – even if all of Christendom wants to know when, cause that’s all they care about – pre-tribulation, mid-trib, post-trib, no trib – I say just give me the cross.  I cry “O let me know you Yeshua on that cross!  Let me know and understand how You took the wrath, the justice of God for me!  Let me weep at what I don’t know, teach me O Holy One what I must know – let me spend eternity trying to understand that which even the angels don’t…”  How can we continually treat the cross and the justice it represents as if it is a ten minute lecture, with a beginning, a middle and an end?  It is all of it – The Cross is ALL!  Upon it is SALVATION!  What good is it to me to know all the mysteries if I neglect the cross?  I want men to know the cross, for only there is the Gospel’s power, only there is salvation.  Rise up O Christian!  Get Angry O man!  Get angry at what they’ve done to the Cross! They’ve turned it into a sideshow, a carnival, a play to be seen only at that pagan festival they call “Easter”! They’ve down played its Glory, its Power, its life-changing magnificence.

It is all about Him, on that tree, that execution stake.  Catch a glimpse at what He did on that tree.  Before the tree there was Abraham and Issac.  We know how God stayed Abraham’s hand.  Thousands of years later, with Abraham’s knife in His Hand He produced His own lamb, and slaughtered His own Son under the full force of wrath.  Messiah did not become sin; to have been spotted with sin would have blemished Him, making Him unacceptable; He was a pure sin offering, once for all.  Nothing blackened the heart of this offering, not the stripes, the thorns, the beatings.  Nothing besotted the pure Spirit, no guile, no sin.  He stood in the face of the gale, the maelstrom of Holy Anger and Justice, and gave His own what they could not obtain; the satisfaction of Holy Justice.  Do you see now why this little gospel you preach has no power?  That is because you preach not the Gospel.  Man calls it “Good news”; get away from man, call it what it is, The Cross.  Study it, learn the cross – learn God’s justice, His wrath – see it put forth upon that tree and then, only then will you see power in the words you preach, not emotion, not “seeker-friendly”, not pop-psychology dressed up as Biblical wisdom, but power that can only come from God’s holy word.  This comes only if you see a glimpse of Yeshua on the cross.  Spend your life on your knees – get to know the cross.

Indictment #Five

An Ignorance of the Doctrine of Regeneration

I’m going to say this bluntly: Calvinists and Armenians’ – and all “strange animals” in between.  Those who call themselves believers tend to run from one spectrum to the other.  If you don’t know what I’m talking about, then you have some work to do ahead of you.  Is the problem with most denominations the fact that they reject the tenants of Calvinism? No, it is regeneration.  Briefly, let us look at what I’m talking about for those who don’t have a clue.

Calvinism (named for John Calvin and also called the Reformed tradition, the Reformed faith, or Reformed theology) is a theological system and an approach to the Christian life that emphasizes God's sovereignty or control over all things.[44]  The main tenants of Calvinism are:

“…Calvinist theology is sometimes identified with the five points of Calvinism, also called the doctrines of grace…The central assertion of these canons is that God is able to save every person upon whom he has mercy and that his efforts are not frustrated by the unrighteousness or the inability of humans.

Total depravity

The doctrine of total depravity (also called "total inability") asserts that, as a consequence of the fall of humanity into sin, every person born into the world is enslaved to the service of sin. People are not by nature inclined to love God with their whole heart, mind, or strength, but rather all are inclined to serve their own interests over those of their neighbor and to reject the rule of God. Thus, all people by their own faculties are morally unable to choose to follow God and be saved because they are unwilling to do so out of the necessity of their own natures…

Unconditional election

The doctrine of unconditional election asserts that God's choice from eternity of those whom he will bring to himself is not based on foreseen virtue, merit, or faith in those people. Rather, it is unconditionally grounded in God's mercy alone… (including the doctrine of predestination of the elect)…

Limited atonement

Also called "particular redemption" or "definite atonement", the doctrine of limited atonement is the teaching that Yeshua' substitutionary atonement was definite and certain in its design and accomplishment. The doctrine is driven by the concept of the sovereignty of God in salvation and the Calvinistic understanding of the nature of the atonement…Moreover, since in this scheme God knows precisely who the elect are and since only the elect will be saved, there is no requirement that Christ atone for sins in general, only for those of the elect. Calvinists do not believe, however, that the atonement is limited in its value or power (in other words, God could have elected everyone and used it to atone for them all), but rather that the atonement is limited in the sense that it is designed for some and not all. Hence, Calvinists hold that the atonement is sufficient for all and efficient for the elect.

Irresistible grace

The doctrine of irresistible grace (also called "efficacious grace") asserts that the saving grace of God is effectually applied to those whom he has determined to save (that is, the elect) and, in God's timing, overcomes their resistance to obeying the call of the gospel, bringing them to a saving faith.

The doctrine does not hold that every influence of God's Holy Spirit cannot be resisted, but that the Holy Spirit is able to overcome all resistance and make his influence irresistible and effective. Thus, when God sovereignly purposes to save someone, that individual certainly will be saved.

Perseverance of the saints

Perseverance (or preservation) of the saints is also known as "eternal security." The word saints is used in the Biblical sense to refer to all who are set apart by God… The doctrine asserts that, since God is sovereign and his will cannot be frustrated by humans or anything else, those whom God has called into communion with himself will continue in faith until the end. Those who apparently fall away either never had true faith to begin with or will return…”[45]

There is of course more to Calvinism than can adequately be examined here; that is why I said you have work to do if you aren’t familiar with these two positions.

“Classical Arminianism”

“…Classical Arminianism (sometimes titled Reformed Arminianism or Reformation Arminianism) is the theological system that was presented by Jacobus Arminius and maintained by the Remonstrants^[10][46]; its influence serves as the foundation for all Arminian systems. A list of beliefs is given below:

• Depravity is total: Arminius states "In this [fallen] state, the free will of man towards the true good is not only wounded, infirm, bent, and weakened; but it is also imprisoned, destroyed, and lost. And its powers are not only debilitated and useless unless they be assisted by grace, but it has no powers whatever except such as are excited by Divine grace."^[11]

• Atonement is intended for all: Yeshua' death was for all people, Yeshua draws all people to himself, and all people have opportunity for salvation through faith.^[12]

• Yeshua' death satisfies God's justice: The penalty for the sins of the elect is paid in full through Yeshua' work on the cross. Thus Christ's atonement is intended for all, but requires faith to be effected. Arminius states "Justification, when used for the act of a Judge, is either purely the imputation of righteousness through mercy… or that man is justified before God… according to the rigour of justice without any forgiveness."^[13] Stephen Ashby clarifies "Arminius allowed for only two possible ways in which the sinner might be justified: (1) by our absolute and perfect adherence to the law, or (2) purely by God's imputation of Christ's righteousness."^[14]

• Grace is resistible: God takes initiative in the salvation process and His grace comes to all people. This grace (often called prevenient or pre-regenerating grace) acts on all people to convict them of the Gospel, draw them strongly towards salvation, and enable the possibility of sincere faith. Picirilli states "indeed this grace is so close to regeneration that it inevitably leads to regeneration unless finally resisted." ^[15] The offer of salvation through grace does not act irresistibly in a purely cause-effect, deterministic method but rather in an influence-and-response fashion that can be both freely accepted and freely denied.^[16]

• Man has free will to respond or resist: Free will is limited by God's sovereignty, but God sovereignly allows all men the choice to accept the Gospel of Yeshua through faith, simultaneously allowing all men to resist.

• Election is conditional: Arminius defined election as "the decree of God by which, of Himself, from eternity, He decreed to justify in Christ, believers, and to accept them unto eternal life."^[17] God alone determines who will be saved and his determination is that all who believe Yeshua through faith will be justified. According to Arminius, "God regards no one in Christ unless they are engrafted in him by faith."^[17]

• God predestines the elect to a glorious future: Predestination is not the predetermination of who will believe, but rather the predetermination of the believer's future inheritance. The elect are therefore predestined to sonship through adoption, glorification, and eternal life.^[18]

• Eternal security is also conditional: All believers have full assurance of salvation with the condition that they remain in Christ. Salvation is conditioned on faith, therefore perseverance is also conditioned.^[19] Apostasy (turning from Christ) is only committed through a deliberate, willful rejection of Yeshua and renouncement of belief.^[20]

The Five articles of Remonstrance that Arminius' followers formulated in 1610 state the above beliefs regarding (I) conditional election, (II) unlimited atonement, (III) total depravity, (IV) total depravity and resistible grace, and (V) possibility of apostasy. Note, however, that the fifth article did not completely deny perseverance of the saints; Arminius, himself, said that "I never taught that a true believer can… fall away from the faith… yet I will not conceal, that there are passages of Scripture which seem to me to wear this aspect; and those answers to them which I have been permitted to see, are not of such as kind as to approve themselves on all points to my understanding."^[21] Further, the text of the Articles of Remonstrance says that no believer can be plucked from Christ's hand, and the matter of falling away, "loss of salvation" required further study before it could be taught with any certainty.

The core beliefs of Jacobus Arminius and the Remonstrants are summarized as such by theologian Stephen Ashby:

1. Prior to being drawn and enabled, one is unable to believe… able only to resist.
2. Having been drawn and enabled, but prior to regeneration, one is able to believe… able also to resist.
3. After one believes, God then regenerates; one is able to continue believing… able also to resist.
4. Upon resisting to the point of unbelief, one is unable again to believe… able only to resist.^[22] …”[47]

The point is there are considerable differences in doctrine; what I hold to isn’t the issue at this time.  Men like Wesley, Tozer, Spurgeon, Pink, Ravenhill and Ironsides, among others – I can fellowship with them all despite what they believe concerning any other doctrine, for they believed this one thing:  that salvation cannot be manipulated by the preacher: that it is the providence and choice and will of God Almighty alone that decides upon whom He’ll have mercy.  It is the magnificent work of the power of God alone that accomplishes salvation – this these men agree, thus with them I can stand.  Think of this.  Salvation and regeneration is a greater work than God accomplished at creation.  By a great manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit, God created the world out of nothing, but with a greater work regenerates a fallen wicked man out of a corrupt mass.  It is parallel with the restorative resurrection of our Savior from the dead.

Preacher.  There are preachers, teachers, preacher/teachers, expositors, on and on – all necessary for the health and well being of the church – but do you understand?

G. Campbell Morgan (1893-1945) who authored several of the books in the popular “Westminster Pulpit” series wrote once that before he would mount the steps into the pulpit, he would repeat the following verses to himself:

Isaiah 53:7 (NKJV)
⁷     He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet ^hHe opened not His mouth;

ⁱHe was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth. ^[48]

And:

Jeremiah 11:19 (NKJV)
¹⁹ But I was like a docile lamb brought to the slaughter; and I did not know that they had devised schemes against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, ^vand let us cut him off from ^wthe land of the living, that his name may be remembered no more.” ^[49]

Preacher, man of God: before you speak one word of God, can you say the same things?  Do you measure your words by the yardstick of Scripture?  Is all that comes forth supported by Sola Scriptora, the Bible alone?  Do you shut your mouth and only open it unto the Spirit of God?  If it isn’t through the glorious work of the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit – your words are dead!  It is the Spirit that gives life, and if we proclaim, then all who proclaim must do so as a prophet!  You ask, “What do you mean by that?”  Beloved, we are always Ezekiel; we are always standing in the valley of dry bones – very dry indeed.  As we stand in those places of desolation, we come to the realization that these bones can only live if the breath of God blows upon them, and when we truly grasp this and humble ourselves to this truth, then we will no longer be a part of the manipulation of souls that characterizes so much of what we try to pass off as “evangelism”.  You will stand there and cease to speak with your own words; you will cease to speak with your own interpretations; instead you will prophesize  “Hear the Words of Yahveh Adonai”, and speak as a man of God, with the mouth of the Spirit.  You’ll proclaim His word.

The doctrine of regeneration.  Evidence of a saved life.  Consider John and Charles Wesley.  Come to America from England at the insistence of George Whitefield to preach in the open air to the miners and others who “normally wouldn’t see the inside of a church”.  Here they constantly encountered other ministers/preachers, everyone a professing Christian, confirmed, baptized at birth, shown approved by men, brought into the covenant of grace, ordained as leaders of the church, yet men full of indulgences and heresies that lived like devils.  These traded regeneration for creedism that was given authority by the religious leaders of the day.  It was against such that the Wesleys stood against, came and declared that they were wrong “…that the evidence of a regenerate life was not upon them…” and that they needed to “…check themselves to make sure of their election and calling.  Test yourselves to see if you are of the faith!”  O brethren, ye must be born again, born from above, there must be evidence.

Here in America, over the last several decades of evangelism, the idea of “born again” is totally lost; what it has come to mean is that at one time or another in a church or at a crusade you made a decision and you think you were sincere.  But I say unto you – is there evidence of a supernatural recreating, regenerative work by the Holy Spirit in your life?  Are you becoming someone you were not?

·         If any man (not some men) be in Christ, he is a new creature.  That was yesterday; same as today.

·         What do we face now?  What besets us today?

Is it the issue of water baptism or confirmation by a church authority?  Is it the myriad of other issues that divide the denominations, those that serve to separate the body?  No, it is the “sinner’s prayer”.  Here is the line in the sand; it is here I declare war.  “Gasp!” goes the crowd!  In the same way that infant baptism was the “Golden Calf” of the reformation (and by the way, this debate still rages on today…)[50], for the Baptists (along with other denominations) and evangelicals today the “sinner’s prayer” has sent more people to hell than maybe anything else in the world.

I can hear it now, you asking “How can you say this?  Show me in Scripture where this is so!”

Scripture does not say that Yeshua came to the house of Israel and said “Behold, the time is at hand; the kingdom of God has come to you, and who now would like to ask me into their hearts?  Okay… I see a hand back there and one over there…”  That is not what Scripture records.  It says He Said:

Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)
^{17 o}From that time Yeshua began to preach and to say, ^p“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven ³is at hand.” ^[51]

And elsewhere:

Mark 1:14-15 (KJV)
¹⁴ Now after that John was put in prison, Yeshua came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. ^[52]

Repent and believe was Messiah’s first message; today man is trusting his salvation upon someone else, upon the fact that he came forward and someone said “Repeat after me…”; he trusts his eternal destiny on the supposition that he was sincere enough (at least by the preacher’s standards) and then it was pronounced he was saved.  If you ask them how they know they are saved do they tell you that “Yes, I’m saved, for I look only to Messiah and His redemptive blood, that His Spirit is alive and working within me, and the proof of this is in the evidence of a regenerated life!” – or do they say “ Yes I am, for I accepted Yeshua into my heart at 10:21 am, Sept. 7, 1999…” and what you see is them living the same life they had lived before they made “the decision”…  They live like devils, but O, they prayed a prayer.

Decisionism.  The idolatry of decisionism.  Men are going to hell because they’ve made the determination to judge the sincerity of their own decision. 

  Paul came to the church in Corinth and did not say to them “…Look, you’re not living right – let’s go back to the time you made your “decision” and see if we can’t find that sincerity again…”  No – he said “…test yourself, examine yourself; see if you are of the faith or not… (2 Cor. 13:5)”.

Salvation is by faith, which is a work of God, and nothing else.  Sincerity has nothing to do with it.  It is grace, upon grace, upon grace.  The proof of salvation is in the ongoing evidence of the regenerated life – FRUIT!  O beloved; look at what we’ve done… Isn’t a tree known by its fruit?  Sixty to seventy percent of Americans say that they are converted, but only 34% claim they are “born-again”[53], but they practice no discernable religion. [54]  This self-same “Christian” majority is shrinking and in a nation that claims to be “Christian”, 2700 babies a day are slaughtered in the womb.  Fruit.  A regenerated life.  So many are claiming to do the work of God yet God is no where near to them as the piece together their own moral code and follow whatever seems right in their own eyes: 

Proverbs 16:2 (KJV)
² All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the LORD weigheth the spirits.

Proverbs 16:25 (KJV)
²⁵ There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. ^[55]

Who is to blame?  For sure, first ourselves.  Yet who has been charged by God to lead His flock, to tend His sheep?  The shepherd.  Now listen, this brings us to…

Indictment #Six

An Unbiblical Gospel Invitation

Look at how we do it today.  It matters not what denomination or what doctrinal belief.  Calvinists, Arminians, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist, Catholic, no matter – they all talk about different things and hold to different viewpoints, and “agree to disagree”, yet when it comes down to the superficial “invitation” what do they all do?  They walk in lockstep together.  It is almost as if everyone has lost their minds!  Walk up to someone and say to them “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life…” and unless they are a hard core atheist or just plain degenerate they’ll most likely say “What?  Why, that’s great!  God loves me!  Well I love me too!”  “What’s that?  Oh, if I accept Him now, I’ll have my best life now!? – Wonderful!” 

Brethren that is not Biblical evangelism.  Let me give you a different example:

Exodus 34:5-8 (NKJV)
⁵ Now the Lord descended in the ^ecloud and stood with him there, and ^fproclaimed the name of the Lord. ⁶ And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord ^gGod, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in ^hgoodness and ⁱtruth, ^{7 j}keeping mercy for thousands, ^kforgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, ^lby no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children’s children to the third and the fourth generation.”

⁸ So Moses made haste and ^mbowed his head toward the earth, and worshiped. ^[56]

Evangelism begins with understanding the nature of God, understanding who God is.  Can a man recognize his sin if he has no standard by which he compares himself?  If we tell him nothing but the general and (now don’t get this wrong for nothing about God is…) trivial things of God, those things that are pleasing and tickle the ear and the carnal mind – if these are all we enumerate about God – can the natural man ever be brought to true repentance and saving faith and grace?  We must not, we cannot begin with “God loves you and has a wonderful plan…”  It must begin with the full counsel of God’s word, who God is!  It must begin with the judgment of God against sin, and about how as sinners, we are His enemies.  We must tell him right from the start that it may – nay, it will – cost him his life.   The way we do it now is to start with the exploratory questions “Ah, hey, have you ever stolen anything?  Maybe lied? Do you know that you’re a… a… sinner?”  We dance around the question in order not to offend… Friends, someone is already offended, and it is God!  What fluff.  What smooth talk we dance with.  What about just coming out and saying: “Sir, I fear I must tell you; a terrible fate awaits you, a judgment is coming.”  No dancing, just the plain truth.  But instead, we tap dance up to the sinner and say, “Umm, you do know that you are probably a sinner don’t you?”  Just walk up to the devil and tell him he is a sinner and he’ll say “I’m a sinner?  Oh, you betcha – and a pretty good one – or bad one – depending on how you look at it…”

            The question is not or should not be “are you a sinner?”  The questions should be “Is the Holy Spirit at work within you, bringing to your mind and heart the weight of sin – do you not see it for all its blackness, all its darkness?  Does it not crush you, bearing down upon you, making what you once loved, this sin, into what you now hate and want to be rid of? Do you now want to run from it, does it turn your stomach?  Is this hellish pleasure worth the price of your soul?”  Are we willing to be this bold, this truthful?  Recognition of sin doesn’t bring fruit meet for repentance; only the weight of sin and the judgment that awaits the soul that is locked into sin can accomplish the Godly sorrow that leads to repentance and then salvation.  This is where it begins…

            The next question today’s evangelist asks is “Do you want to go to heaven?”  Parents, if you have children, beware!

            In 90-95% of the churches today we send our children off to Sunday school, or to Vacation Bible School.  We leave them in the hands and under the care of the “youth pastor” and they tell little stories about Yeshua and play the “Veggie-Tales®” movies.  They show the Yeshua animated movie and ask our children “isn’t Yeshua wonderful?  Who wants to accept Yeshua?”  Little Billy or little Sally says “I do!” and they repeat after the pastor the “sinner’s prayer” (there it is again!), are baptized and then, hopefully, they’ll live a type of “Christian” life, sort of modeled after what they see the teachers and their parents do.  Suddenly, they are fifteen and sixteen year olds and discover the world and all its attractions.  They then begin to assert their independence and wander or stray away from the “faith” – we go to them and ask them why are they back-sliding?  If we are living by the book, then we could in truth say to them “Here is the Holy word of God.  You declared Him – it was your declaration; why do you now walk away from life and turn toward death?  Repent and come back to Him for the salvation of your soul…”  We can say this if our life reflects the light of God.  Remember though, they learn from what is modeled.  If you are in rebellion, why does it surprise you that they follow suit?  Because our own walk is compromised, we then excuse them, we favor them – “Oh we trained them in the way they should go…”  O brethren, O yes we did.  After college, after a more-than-likely Godless education at a secular institution, maybe around twenty-four or thirty, they might turn; after a failed marriage or a failed career, they might turn.  They’ll go back to the church, “re-dedicate” their lives and live in the pseudo-morality of “Churchianity”, never knowing the true Messiah, never knowing real and living God but believing what they were once told; they “accepted” Messiah before so now they have eternal salvation.  Then, O brethren then, they hear on that Great and Terrible Day…

“…Begone from me, you worker of iniquity; I know you not…”

            Do you think I’m angry?  The real question is, shouldn’t you be also?  Somebody must be!  We cry all the time “Revival! Revival!” yet we don’t even have the foundation down from which to build a revival!  O yes, revival come!  But why, O why now, while our eyes are open and our ears unstopped, why don’t we return to Scripture and rebuild the broken walls, straighten the foundations and be the repairers of the breach?

            “Would you like to go to heaven?”  Friend I don’t know anyone that doesn’t want to go to heaven – most just don’t want God to be there.  This shouldn’t be the question!  The question should be:

“Do you want God?”

Do you want to renounce your hatred of Messiah and repent?  Do you desire Him?  All of us want to go to heaven!  Politics is always trying to bring about Utopia – but on man’s terms, not God’s, for men hate God!  Again the question has to be:

“Do you want God?  Is His Messiah precious to you?”

Friends, people pray, and then are asked “Do you want to accept Yeshua?”  They say yes, and yes, some are saved, not because of the question or their decision, but in spite of it.  For in spite of the false premise of the act, God has chosen that time and place to affect His plan of salvation for that one.  But, and this has to be understood – it is always God’s decision who is saved, never ours.  In this moment, if the one is truly being led by one who has in truth the Spirit of God, he’ll be asked “…Do you see your sin beloved?  Do you understand the darkness of your heart, and the judgment that awaits if you do not repent?  If so, then let us look at God’s Holy Word, so that you will understand what is being asked of you.  Do you understand repentance?  Do you understand the cross?  Do you understand the cost?  Throw yourself upon Messiah, and trust in Him alone!”

Friends, beloved; listen to me closely now.  We have the authority, given to us by God, to witness to others, to tell them of Messiah Yeshua and the Gospel.  We have the authority to declare our testimony, to lift up and exalt His name.  We have the authority to teach and to preach, to bring them to the knowledge of saving grace – but hear me – we have absolutely no authority to tell anyone they are saved.  That alone is the providence of the Holy Spirit and Almighty God – not us.  How dare we take a lost soul at the altar and ask him “Did you accept Yeshua into your heart?”  He says yes.  “Did you confess your sins?”  He says yes.  “Well then brother," we say, “Then you are saved!”  We then take him into a back room, hand him a New Testament only (for we are no longer under Torah of course), have him fill out a decision card so that we can proudly proclaim next week that “x amount of souls were saved last week”, council him for 5 minutes and then send the poor bewildered brother out the door, telling him to start in John and go from there, then we go get a big dinner at Denny’s® like a good evangelist should; and we have just sent a hurting soul out, just as lost as when he came in but filled with a false sense of assurance that wasn’t ours to give.  That man is still lost, lulled into sleep by an unbiblical salvation, and if he doubts his salvation, continues his life in carnality, showing no growth save the sporadic visits to church; if there is no fruit evident, why, hopefully we’ll be able to bring him back in, re-dedicate him, council him for another 5 minutes, tell him “Once saved, always saved” and if he back-slides again, oh well, he is just a carnal Christian…

No – he is damned; he is lost.

And it is our fault.

The doctrine of the “carnal Christian” has sent more lives to hell than any other.  Do Christians struggle with sin?  Yes.  We don’t have time here, but if you have questions on this, I can give you a study which will help you understand this struggle.  Can a Christian fall into sin?  Yes.  Can a Christian live out his life in a constant state of carnality, with no growth, no fruit and still be a Christian?  Absolutely not.  If this would be so, then every promise in the Old Covenant and every warning of discipline in the Tanakah and the Book of Hebrews is a lie.  The Word of God comes from His Own Holy lips – and He cannot lie.  A tree is known by its fruit.  Why?  Why would men who understand the Gospel, why would preachers who know the word tell such a lie?  What is it about this doctrine that fools men so?  Yeshua says in John 14:6-7:

⁶ Yeshua said to him, “I am ^fthe way, ^gthe truth, and ^hthe life. ⁱNo one comes to the Father ^jexcept through Me. ^{7 k}“If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.” ^[57]

How do we get to Messiah?  John 6:44  ^kNo one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me ^ldraws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. ^[58] 

If you understand these words uttered by our Savior, why would you presume to tell a man he is saved when you know only the Father can draw a man to Messiah?  It is His decision, not ours, not the lost’s.  We must allow the Spirit to work in the heart.  We must sit and pray, and explain that after the preaching is over – the work begins.  How many evangelists go forth, thunder their sermon, call forth the sinners to come to the altar and say “Now repeat after me…”  How many then stand and declare “Hallelujah, a new name has been written in the Lamb’s book of life… Praise God!” and they know nothing of the sort… 

…How dare they…

They make their declaration, pass this poor lost soul over to one of the altar workers who has no business being a counselor in the first place, and at the end of the night count the number of “decisions” and declare it was a “good night for God” when all they’ve done is put on a show, thrown out a few tricks and presumed that they speak for God.  All the while God is crying out – “Teach this man!  Show him my promises, agonize with him over sin!  Turn Him to me from his idols – urge him to repent!  Work for me – work for my lost sheep!”

            But no.  The amplifiers are turned off the hum of the speaker fades, the evangelist goes to his room or to dinner – and a lonely, hungry lost soul wonders what just happened?  He takes his emotional encounter, his thin New Testament and his “decision” card and thinks about the invitation to “come back next Sunday”.  Alone, he trudges home.  In the gloom of his room he searches his heart, yet the weight of his sadness and sicknesses still press him down – O he longs for that release they said would come.  Maybe he thinks, maybe it’ll come by morning, maybe a good night’s sleep will help him.  By morning, the weight of the world is still upon him.  He looks at the book that he doesn’t understand, no body ever opened it up with him, and he goes on, decides he’ll try to be good, maybe then it’ll work.  O but that weight…  O if only, he muses, if only somebody would have taken the time to show him what he was to do next…  He goes back to the church the next day, but the doors are locked…  So then, into the long dark night he’ll go once more, alone, unsure, unconvinced, unsaved.  On and on it goes, all over America, all over the world… the evangelist smiles and the lost die.

…How dare we…

If we are going to evangelize the lost, we must do it the Master’s way.  We must present Him, tell all who hear that we will work with this one, to make sure they understand what it is that had just happened to them, to open the Word of God to them and help them to truly understand salvation, repentance the regenerative work of the Holy Ghost, and most importantly, the Cross and the crucified Messiah.  We have to let them know the assurance, the joy, peace and love that comes from a relationship with Messiah – not just an emotional “decision” done at the spur of the moment.  We have to let them know we won’t leave them till we see that Messiah has been truly formed in them – this brethren is evangelism – this is the great commission, not the “great omission.” 

O look at what we are doing!  O look at what we’ve done!  It isn’t a cult that is destroying Christianity! It is us!  Church, Christian, STOP IT!  STOP IT I say!

…How dare we…

We can’t afford to kill anymore.

Indictment #Seven

Ignorance Regarding the Nature of the Church

 God has only one religious institution – His church.  Now, before we proceed, I am almost hesitant to use the word “church” to describe this institution, mainly for the reason of what we’ve come to believe the “church” is.  Today the “church” is practically synonymous with “denomination” or “organized religion”.  The truth is that the word “church” appears nowhere in the original languages of Scripture.  Some one hundred and fifteen times the Greek word ἐκκλησία ekklēsia (ek-klay-see'-ah) was used in the New Testament; in our English translations, the word is translated as “church” one hundred and thirteen times, and the other two times it is translated as “assembly” or “congregation”.  The English word "church" has various meanings. Webster gives the following definitions for the word church:

“…1) a building for public Christian worship. 2) a religious service in such a building. 3) (sometimes cap.) a. the world body of Christian believers; Christendom. b. any major division of his body; a Christian denomination. 4) a Christian congregation. 5) organized religion as distinguished from the state. 6) …b. the Roman Catholic Church. 7) the profession of an ecclesiastic.  8) to perform a church service of thanksgiving for (a woman after child birth)…”[59]

The English dictionary reveals that the English word "church" which is used in our English Bible is taken from the late Greek word "kyridakon" not"ekklesia." ^[60] The Greek word "kyridakon" is not found in the New Testament and only came into being in the 16th Century long after New Testament times. Thus the English word "church" cannot be translated back into Greek because there is no word in the New Testament Greek that is the equivalent of the understanding of the English word. [61]  This is just a brief explanation about my hesitation, for I feel we must use the correct translation of Scripture to understand God’s intent.  Strong defines ekklēsia as:

“…(G1577) ἐκκλησία ek-klay-see'-ah :From a compound of G1537 and a derivative of G2564; a calling out, that is, (concretely) a popular meeting, especially a religious congregation (Jewish synagogue, or Christian community of members on earth or saints in heaven or both): - assembly, church…” [62]

“Ekklēsia” is formed by two words, the first being  ἐκ, ἐξ ek  ex (ek, ex), which has the meaning of “…origin (the point whence motion or action proceeds), from, out (of place, time or cause; literally or figuratively; direct or remote)…” [63], and the word καλέω kaleō (kal-eh'-o) which denotes “…to “call” (properly aloud… directly or otherwise): - bid, call (forth), (whose, whose sur-) name (was [called])…” [64]

I am taking some time here to lay down a proper understanding of the word “ekklesia” for I propose to you this question: What are we supposed to be, this church, this body, this Bride of Messiah?  If we don’t understand this, the most fundamental aspect of who we are supposed to be as believers, what else can we possibly hope to understand?  What are we supposed to be?  The answer can be found in Scripture..

John 10:3-4 (KJV)
³ To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. ⁴ And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

John 10:11 (KJV)
¹¹ I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.

John 10:27-28 (KJV)
²⁷ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: ²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. ^[65]

Ephesians 5:25 (NKJV)
 ^kHusbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church (ekklēsia) and ^lgave Himself for her ^[66]

Hence we can see from our definitions and from usage that the ekklēsia  are  the “called out” of God.  Called out of what?  Called out of the world that is this system of religious posturing and pandering that we see today?  We are called to be separate, “Holy unto Yahveh Adonai”.  Israel was called The Kingdom of God (or heaven) (notice they were “called”), so where do we fit in?

In ancient Israel, the kingdom was considered as a sheepfold, ruled by a shepherd-king.  The subjects were called “sheep” [Hebrew צאון    צאן^o tsô'n  ts^e'ôn tsone, tseh-one'; see Ezek. 34:2-10].  The whole of the people of Israel was designated by the term עדה ‛êdâh ay-daw' or the term קהל

qâhâl kaw-hawl, “the gathered” or those “called to assemble”  as a divinely called congregation.  The early Christians believed themselves to be this " qâhâl " or the true sheep of Israel.  Stephen spoke of this ekklēsia as being in the wilderness with Moses (Acts 7:38).  The ekklēsia (called out) and “sheep (tsô'n) ” are equivalent terms.  The sheep are "called out" of this world to live righteously as the kingdom of God (Luke 17:21).    “…Yeshua as the shepherd-king died only for His sheep (the church).  He did not die for every individual man woman or child however, he did die for "all men".  God had limited his "calling" to Israel under the old covenant but because of their idolatry, he extended the kingdom (calling) to all flesh (red flesh, yellow flesh, black flesh, white flesh) (see Joel 12:28; Acts 2:17).  Men of every nation, tongue, and kindred will be a part of the church (flock) according to their election from the foundation of the world (Eph. 1:4).  Yeshua died only for his sheep (the church - the called) which were given to him by his father (John 6:37-39; John 17:2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 24). Yeshua died for an exact people. Yeshua did not die for the man in hell (Luke 11).  He is dying the second death (Rev. 20:6, 14; 21:8) paying for his own sins.  Death means separation from God (Luke 16:26).  Yeshua was separated from God for this church (sheep) when he cried "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken (separated yourself from) me (Matt. 27:46)".  Every man must die once (Heb. 9:27).  If Yeshua died (paying the debt) for any mans sins who spends eternity in hell, then there is an inequity with God in that he is requiring double payment for sins.  God is righteous, he will not do that.  Yeshua chose his sheep before the world began (2 Thess. 2:13).  He gave them hearing (spiritual) ears to hear, then he commanded them "follow me" (John 1:43).  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them "he also called"; and whom "he called" he justified, and whom he justified he glorified (Rom. 8:30).[67]

Proverbs 20:12 (NKJV)
^{12     j}The hearing ear and the seeing eye, The Lord has made them both. ^[68]

Isaiah 50:5 (DARBY)
⁵ The Lord Jehovah hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not away back. ^[69]

Matthew 11:15 (NKJV)
 ^oHe who has ears to hear, let him hear! ^[70]

To “hear” is the Greek word ἀκούω akouō ak-oo'-o, which in the way Matthew recorded Messiah as using it means “to understand” by imperative command; this ends up having the same effectual work of God as when He said "Let there be light" - It is so.  We need to hear my beloved.  This lengthy and in-depth look at the proper use of the word ekklēsia (or “church” if you desire this definition) has a reason.  What was just said may startle some of you, those who think Messiah died for all men.  He did not.  He died for His “church”, and it is this “church” that we should be working for today.  The ultimate goal of revival will be the planting of Biblical ekklēsias or churches.  Biblical churches will never be fashionable.  Tell someone you’re an itinerant preacher with a global outreach and you’ll be ushered in to the head of the table; tell that same someone you are a pastor or minister at a home church or of a congregation that is made up of 20 to 100 souls – they’ll seat you in the pew at the back.  Yeshua is the Prince of the shepherds, the pastors; I don’t believe He has much to do with the globe-hopping preacher, the TV preacher, the mega-church superstar preacher sans “apostle”.  Yeshua gave His life for the ekklēsia, the called out ones and the little God fearing pastor that He trust with His bride.  The one He has sent to fetch His beautiful, pristine virgin bride.

When I speak of the true church, I speak of the Bride of Messiah.  We must be very careful when we speak of her, for she is beloved of our Savior.  I’m not speaking of large brick buildings with fine lawns, multi-piece bands, recording studios and TV cameras; I’m not referring to over flowing parking lots and capacity crowds.  We have all heard the tale of the “remnant”.  In the ancient days of Israel a remnant existed, holy people loving a Holy God, and surrounded by wicked men.  God made an everlasting covenant with this remnant, with this wicked nation, and for Abraham’s sake, He’ll keep it.  For His Holy Name’s sake, what He promised will come true, but this isn’t what I am talking about.  Inside is the bride – inside this vast religious organization that makes up the Christian church today – is the bride, and this forms the body, the one body of Messiah.  No matter how small a group they are or how large, the Bride exists and she is one.  We’ve all heard how, especially in America, that the “church” is sick.  So much sin, so much divorce, so much pornography and sexual and financial immorality, O so much…  So much that the name of God has been blasphemed among the pagans and the Gentiles for what the “church” has become.  They say that the “church” is a hypocrite, that it has become no better than a whore…  I say careful… be careful…

The Bride of Messiah is no whore.  What we have is the Bride surrounded by carnal wicked men, tares among the wheat, and goats among the sheep.  The sheep cry out “Feed us! For we only want to worship God!” yet because of the goats, the name of Messiah is drug through the mire and sheep, His true believers, are blamed for what the goats do.  It is because of the preachers and the pastors and the ministers and the teachers that this has happened!  There is no Godly compassionate discipline in the “church” today – fear of losing their jobs and/or a fear of alienating a large portion of their congregation have led pastors to turn their heads and let sin have its way within their local assembly.  I’m not talking about God’s people – they are not the problem.  It is those who live like the devil six days a week and come in on Sunday… They are happy because of easy preaching, fluff talk about goodness and prosperity; they receive their dose of social philosophy and get a bit of psychology tossed in along with an unoffending Scripture or two.  There is no challenge to the wickedness in their hearts, no light shown upon their secret sins, so they write their check and go away, smug in their sin and dying on their feet.  There is no discipline.  The crass is ignored or glossed over, the call for repentance quieted down.  Sin is not mentioned and the vast pool of wicked men are pleased – and the sheep starve.  The mob rules and pastors don’t have the courage to stand up for the God they serve.  Their 501c3 or 501c8 non-profit status is more important to them than speaking the truth.  They grow in leaps and bounds because the don’t confront the hard issue – SIN – and the sheep starve.  Worse, they don’t even know what a price it is that they will ultimately pay – read Ezekiel 34.

The Bride of Messiah though hangs on; desperate for legal food and holding up feeble hands in worship to God, She holds on.  She strives to overcome her sins, she weeps for the sins she sees, the fear of Him is in Her heart and His Word is in Her inner parts [Jer. 31:31-34 and Jer. 32:39-40].  One day, the hungry sheep will leave Babylon, and together the Bride will assemble in places where the truth is spoken and God is worshipped in Spirit and this Truth.  The sheep understand the most basic truth of God; if there is no fear of God, then there is no regeneration of life, and if no regeneration, there can be no covenant with a Holy God.  They will leave the liberal denominations, the word-faith teachers, the prosperity doctrines, and the sham and show that the church has become and they will gather as the ekklēsia, maybe in small groups, maybe in house churches, but gather they will.  And they will be called bigots, fundamentalists, racists, homophobes, haters, cultists; their businesses will be targeted, their children harassed, their jobs threatened or eliminated.  Persecution will come; the hardest from the “goat churches” who will denounce the true believers as heretics or worse criminal.  What side stands ye on O pastor?  What side stands ye on O layman?  What side will ye take O teacher?  Will you side with the Bride, hence Yeshua, or will ye stand with the “church”?  A decision waits – as does judgment.  Only the Bride of Messiah is worth the pain that is coming.  Messiah Yeshua loves His Bride; He died for Her that is how precious She is to Him.  Your reputation, everything you have will be put to the test for Messiah’s bride.  We can no longer pretend that the “church” will right itself – the Bride will, the true church will – but not this carnal “Churchianity” that has sprung up around her.  What side will ye be on O congregation?

Will ye stand and “…be holy as He is Holy…”?

Indictment #Eight

A Lack of Loving and Compassionate Church Discipline

Thought I already covered this one, didn’t you?  It is really simple: it is misunderstood, so let us define it.

Most evangelical pastors today should take Matthew 18 and rip it out of the Bible.  Theology gets left behind by most leaders – they speak it well in their offices, they discuss it well but they run their churches by carnal means. 

Paul gives us the answer:  “…Galatians 6:1 (NKJV) Brethren, if a man is ¹overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of ^agentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted…” ^[71]  Ye who are spiritual… this is where it begins.  We must confront culture within the doors of the church.  That means we have to be walking right ourselves.  Matt 18:15 says “…if thy brother shall trespass (sin)…” tell him!  Love him, but tell him…  Follow this by the word – do what is right – hear what Messiah is saying.  If we won’t correct and discipline ourselves, then God will; brethren, I pray… I hope that maybe it isn’t already too late, that maybe we’ve gone too far.  If we follow the culture in our churches, then the world has come in and we stand ready for judgment.  If we stand on Biblical principles – and this must be how it is done – if we stand on the Word of God and not rule by intimidation and fear then we will correct ourselves and be spared the judgment of God.  Friends, the Word is not used to promote control; it is used to promote holiness and righteousness.  Let us not forget this.  Control is man-made – it has no place in God’s house, for then it is man that is feared, not Yahveh Adonai.  Godly discipline is administered in love and truth.  Are you willing to lay your life on the line?  What are the teachings of old?  What is the ancient marker?  The Books of Old tell of Messiah, they tell of regeneration, of salvation, of grace and faith.  They tell of how to be a winner of souls.  Look on today’s bookshelves and what do you see?  You’ll see psychology; psychiatry, self-esteem, self-help, prosperity and more – you’ll see Rome!
            We see in these modern books how to keep the congregation “happy” and “engaged”… You’ll see how to “grow”, how to run a church on the “one over one” model, a theocracy…  What you won’t or don’t see is how to call sin “sin” or any heart-felt discussion on eternal reward or punishment.  What you don’t see is anyone telling the truth of who God is, or what the Gospel really means and the matter of the Law that points the way to salvation.
            Evangelicals tell the same stories and believe the same doctrines as Rome.  We preach for thirty to forty-five minutes, with at least half or more of that time devoted to funny stories to keep our “flock” entertained.  We mention one or two Scriptures, take them out of context and build a sermon upon them, usually with faulty exegesis.  We call forth the sinner to the altar, pray over him for three minutes (if that), lay our hands on him and tell him he is saved – and spend the rest of the time we see them in church “discipling” them and wondering why they don’t grow…
            We’ve discipled one on one since the 70’s.  The “Jesus movement” brought this practice back into the church, called it the “Shepherding movement” and it failed because it wasn’t about learning of Messiah as much as it was about control, man over man.  We’ve seen attempt after attempt to teach and discipline fail, and we’ve wailed about how as many leave out the back door as come in the front door and our answer?  We just aren’t discipling or disciplining enough.  So we write another book and tell each other how to do it this way or that.  Beloved, for almost 2000 years, we didn’t need any book but one – and disciples were made.  It isn’t discipling that is needed – it is conversion, true regeneration that only happens when the Gospel of Messiah is preached and when the Cross is spoke.
            Making disciples and discipline in the church will cause problems but if we love, we will do it.  Disciplining is more than teaching, it is leading, it is by example.  Will we obey God and do what He asks by doing what He says?  This is not a game, for it isn’t just about this life!  Eternal principles await!  Where is the new birth? Where is the true Gospel?  Where is the preaching that pricks the conscience so The Spirit can save the soul?  Beloved, we expend all our energies trying to convert a goat into a sheep; no matter how hard you try, you can’t teach a goat to become a sheep.   Isn’t our job anyway.  Only God can change that goat; we are just to be available to speak the truth so that He can work through us by the preaching of His word!
            Church discipline needs to be taken seriously.  How many of us would welcome this discipline?  I’m not talking about controlling every aspect of a man’s life – I’m talking about the careful watch over a man’s soul by one who has the courage to say “Where’s the fruit?” not “Where’s the obedience to the church?”  If the fruit is missing then we can lovingly come along side and help the one in need find what it is that they are missing.  And this, my friends, is the crux of the matter, what Godly discipline truly is – the bringing of one back to the safety of God.

Indictment #Nine

The Silence on Separation

 Brethren, there is a void in the serious teaching on Holiness.  We all cry out for holiness, we all say we want it, but do any truly pursue it?  Hebrews 12:14 says “…without holiness…no man shall see Yahveh Adonai…”  I ask you two questions:

How many truly believe this?

What is holiness?

            Let us look:

Isaiah 6:3 (NKJV)
³ And one cried to another and said:

^d“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;

^eThe whole earth is full of His glory!” ^[72]

Revelation 15:4 (NKJV)
^4     mWho shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?

For You alone are ⁿholy.

For ^oall nations shall come and worship before You,

For Your judgments have been manifested.” ^[73]

            In these verses we see one thing: that holiness belongs to God alone.  Let’s look at another:

Luke 18:19 (NKJV)
¹⁹ So Yeshua said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but ^mOne, that is, God. ^[74]

In this verse we see another truth: only God is absolutely God.  What does this mean to us?  Simple: this holiness thus demands from us supreme veneration of God if we ourselves hope to become holy as He is Holy, for He doeth the work in us [see Luke 1:49; John 17:11; Acts 3:4, 4:27, 30; 1 John 2:20; Hebrews 7:26; Revelation 4:8]. 

Let us compare two more verses, to set the stage if you will…

Isaiah 6:9 (NKJV)
And He said, “Go, and ^jtell this people:

‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;

Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ ^[75]

And:

Matthew 5:48 (NKJV)
^{48 f}Therefore you shall be perfect, just ^gas your Father in heaven is perfect. ^[76]

We shall now examine what the connection is between these verses.  The connection is where Yeshua tells them “…you shall be perfect…”  The Greek word used here is (G5046) τέλειος teleios

tel'-i-os.  Teleios implies two things, depending upon the subject it is referring to:  in man, the implication is toward the attaining of knowledge, likened to that which a fully grown man may finally obtain; and in God, teleios is more likened to the description of one of the attributes of the

Most High, namely, that which has brought something to it’s end, made it a finished work; by no implication does this say of God that He lacks in anything, rather it speaks of the completeness of God, the wanting nothing necessary to achieve completeness.  You can if you will say this is also a description of the sinlessness of God.  Adam Clarke puts it this way:

“…God himself is the grand law, sole giver, and only pattern of the perfection which he recommends to his children.  The words are very emphatic, εσεσθε ουν υμεις τελειοι [esomai humeis oun telios {esom-ahee hoo-mice oon tel-i-os}], “Ye shall be therefore perfect”- ye shall be filled with the spirit of that God whose name is Mercy, and whose nature is love.  God has many imitators of his power, independence, justice, etc., but few of his love, condescension, and kindness.  He calls himself Love, to teach us that in this consists that perfection, the attainment of which he has made both our duty and privilege: for these words of our Lord include both a command and a promise…”[77]

            What is holiness?  I repeat the question because it is so important to get a solid answer, not just a guess.  When I look into the Word beloved, I have to pause.  The reason for this in truth?  To me, the word of God, this Holy writ that has been passed unto us from a transcendent, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent living God, takes my breath away.  What is holiness?  It’s that state I step into when I worship – when I lift my heart, my mind, my being into a place I shouldn’t even be allowed to go into.  It is here, within the pages of this Word that I can call out to God “Holy, thou art Holy” and I know it is echoed by a thousand times a thousand angelic beings, and continuously cried out by the Cherubim and Seraphim that circle the throne of God.  In this one moment, I touch the untouchable and get a glimpse of the unknowable, unsearchable Ancient of Days.  Outstretched hands contact heaven itself and…I weep.  Do you understand beloved?  Do you understand the holiness of God – the holiness that He demands of us?  How can I describe it to you, this that is undescribable?  You’ve either been there or close to it, this holy of holies, or you haven’t.

            Do I presume that I have?  Friend, I have to answer like Paul: “…I know a man, whether in the body or in the Spirit I know not…”  I can truthfully say this, that I know I have touched what is holy, or more accurate, what is holy touched me – and I haven’t been the same since.  I know that there are times I have had to prostrate myself on the floor, for I was on holy ground and in His presence, that presence of holiness.  I also know that I have the right because of the shed blood of Yeshua to come before the mercy seat of God – I just don’t know if I should…  Let me explain this before you raise an eyebrow at me… it is because I don’t know if I can bear it.  O how we sing and pray for the glory of God to come down!  We talk about His glory like it is a light thing; like it’s a blanket we can pull over ourselves and take off at will.  Let me tell you friends, I still have so much within me that the Spirit of God needs to purge.  O how I long for His glory – to be surrounded by the light, the fullness of the Holiness of God!  Yet, I cannot bear it!  My sin would cause me to cry out like Isaiah Isaiah 6:5 (KJV) “…Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone^b; 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…” ^[78]  Brethren, I am afraid.  I fear this Holy God, I tremble at the thought of being full in His presence; but O to touch the Holiness of God, to behold Him in His Glory – even if for just an instant – would be worth my death.  That is holiness; do you want this beloved?  Yes, this is my definition, but it is the only one I know how to give you.  I ask you do we teach this brethren, the keeping the sacred from the profane?  Do we not understand if the glory of God fell upon most congregations as they ask for that very few would survive?  Their hidden sins would kill them in the presence of the Glory of God!  Tell me, do you wake up in the morning with praises or with curses?  Do you read God’s Holy Word first, or do you reach for the newspaper or check your email before you check your soul with the Ruach Ha’Kodesh?  Do you - and when I say you…I also mean I… flop down before the TV set and pop in a movie or switch to a channel that profanes all that is holy to God? 

“In every way, acknowledge Yahveh Adonai!”  Do I do that or do I hold onto this unholiness of self to feed myself upon the food that has turned to worms?  My food should only be the bread of life – yet – I continue to eat the swill of the world.  My drink should be the cup of righteousness, that blessed cup of suffering, the cup of sacrifice, mercy and grace, but still I drink the cup brimming with the poison of the flesh, of self.  If my cup is ninety-nine percent pure and holy, yet still contains only one percent profane – to God Almighty, it is all profane.

O I struggle!  O how I am strapped with the body of death, a stinking rotten corpse that decays my soul and blotches my flesh!  Only He can cut the bonds that hold this profanity to my self!  Yet, every time He tries I flinch away – for I’m not ready to be free yet, my flesh screams “Not Yet! Alas, I’m not done!”  But, though my eyes be blind, my heart feels the light… the warmth, the love… and I – I yearn…  O I’m so ashamed; I want that light… I need that light…

…O cut me free Yahveh Adonai… no matter the cost… please cut me free…

Holiness will kill you.  It will.  It will kill the pride, the haughty look, the arrogance.  It will kill the clothes you wear; if they frame your face it pleases Him, for in your face is the light of His glory.  If you frame your body – then you are profane – your idol is yourself.  Holiness will kill your flesh – what you look at, what you read, what you speak, what you do – it all has to change.  Holiness will demand you change – if you don’t, then, hear me closely now:  He is not in you and you are not in Him.  Churchianity is not holy!  Christianity is if it is true.  True Christianity is holiness before Him.  You’ll be a grown man or woman, wanting nothing necessary for completeness for you will be complete in Him.  The fullness, pleroma of God (Col. 1:19) is in Him.

Holiness will kill you.  It is the only way we can see God.  Will you pay the cost?  Can you?  I tell you a truth – you must pay it or you must walk away.  Don’t even bother anymore if you aren’t willing to pay the cost. 

What was unacceptable to God when we were yet sinners is still unacceptable to God as His children!  Nevertheless, all over America those who claim to follow Messiah Yeshua drink, smoke, do drugs, watch pornography, lie, cheat, steal, divorce, hold profane what is sacred, vote for the politics of death, hold sacred that which is profane…on and on.  Holy?  No – an abomination to the Most High God, an insult to the sacrifice of His Son.  None of us are immune, least of all I.  I hold on to His mercy knowing that only holiness can free me.  Messiah Yeshua is the embodiment of God’s holiness; only He can free me.  O take me God, put me into the fire so hot that my flesh withers and all I can do is fall on my knees and reach out to touch the hem of your garment; O the tallit [79]of holiness!  Without it, I cannot see you.

Separate yourself!  Turn off the TV, the talk radio, the DVD.  Turn of the internet and pick up the word of God!  See that which is holy – look for that which is pure – let holiness kill you!  For what does light have in common with darkness or the sacred with the profane?  Who told you O man of God that it was acceptable to entertain the world?  Who told you that it was acceptable to live for hell while claiming you are saved?  Grace applies to those who obey, not to those who walk their own hodos – their own way!  My encounter with what is holy comes only when I am willing to lay aside my flesh and lift up my cross.  In addition, I must weep for my sins and those of my brethren and of the nation.  I must weep as Daniel did in Daniel 9:2-19.

With this cry we can begin.  With this repentance holiness begins.  Separate yourselves Christian – or walk away.  If this is a hard saying, to whom will you go?  Think about where you first heard that…

·         Holiness is working in your life if God is disciplining you – and you accept it.

·         Holiness is working in your life if God has to beat you down to save it – and you welcome it.

·         Holiness exists when you obey the word of God – and not just hear, but do.

·         Holiness exists when you agree with God “Others can; but I cannot.”

O come out of her, come out of Babylon, you daughters of Zion.  Come out of lawlessness (which is no Torah!), come out of darkness (which is no knowledge!), come out of satanic devices (which is Churchianity!), and come out of the life and worldliness of the unbeliever, which is enmity toward God. 

…Repent and return…

Indictment #Ten

Psychology and Sociology have replaced Scripture with regard to the Family

            We come now to my regret.  The only thing I regret in my life is that I did not heed God’s call sooner so that I could have raised my sons as a Godly father and not in the example of a heathen.  My regret doesn’t last long though, for I know what God told me when I asked Him why I had to spend 40 years of bondage to satan before He freed me.  His answer was short, and clear: “For my glory.”  I can stand on that, and as I grow in the belief and knowledge of my Savior, as the evidence of a regenerated life becomes clear to my loved ones, God’s will for them will unfold and the promise made to the Philippian jailer in Acts 16:31 will become mine…

Acts 16:30-31 (KJV)
³⁰ And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved? ³¹ And they said, Believe on the Lord Messiah Yeshua, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. ^[80]

I bring this up not to boast, except in Him who saved me, but so those who agonize over the ones they love may see that hope lies within the One who was Slain, but now lives.  There may also be those who say “He can’t control his own house, yet he preaches to us?”  To these I say, look over again at the House of David; was he able to control his house?  We know the answer to this; nevertheless, God was able to use him.  Therefore, all Glory, Honor, Power and Praise be unto the Mighty God, Elohim; for out of brokenness can He raise up men of valor and turn them into vessels that He can and will use.

All this said let us turn to Scripture:

Deuteronomy 11:16-21 (NKJV)
¹⁶ Take heed to yourselves, ⁿlest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and ^oserve other gods and worship them, ¹⁷ lest ^pthe Lord’s anger be aroused against you, and He ^qshut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and ^ryou perish quickly from the good land which the Lord is giving you.

¹⁸ “Therefore ^syou shall ⁸lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your ^tsoul, and ^ubind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ^{19 v}You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. ^{20 w}And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ that ^xyour days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land of which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them, like ^ythe days of the heavens above the earth. ^[81]

Fathers, mothers; what is your guide to raising your children?  Husbands, what tells you how to love your wife, what serves as your example?  Wives, is there a source for you to go to that aids you in those difficult times?  If you are using anything outside of the Word of God, stop.  There is no authority outside of Scripture that we have that can instruct us in the right and proper way to raise our children and loves our mates.  Trouble is Churchianity has found an ally in its ever-increasing assault on the word of God and the Christian home.  The whims and lies of this age, psychology and sociology, have all but replaced Godly instruction in our homes.    What are we supposed to do?  “…Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul…”  When we implant the words of life into our heart and soul what need we of man’s supposed wisdom?  Look at who are the “experts” today telling us how to raise our children; men and women that emerged from the cultural revolution of the 1960’s, children themselves in that time who were disrespectful of their parents and authorities, who turned to alternate philosophies and chemical solutions for the emptiness of their souls.  Today these same people are hailed as the vanguard of the “progressive” movement that is shaking all that is right and just, calling the sin moral and the moral sin.  What has this humanistic movement brought us?  58,000,000 plus dead children, slaughtered at the idol of choice; William J. Bennett gave some staggering facts in 1993: “…Since 1960, the U.S. population has increased 41%; the gross domestic product has nearly tripled; and total social spending by all levels of government (measured in constant 1990 dollars) has risen from $143.73 billion to $787 billion--more than a fivefold increase. Inflation-adjusted spending on welfare has increased by 630%, spending on education by 225%.
But during the same 30-year period there has been a 560% increase in violent crime, a 419% increase in illegitimate births; a quadrupling in divorce rates; a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes; more than a 200% increase in the teenage suicide rate; and a drop of almost 80 points in SAT scores…”[82]  To be fair, we have seen some improvement in these sad statistics since 1993, but the overall trend still puts America in a downward spiral of moral decline.  The driving factor?  The removal of God from public conscience and the liberalization of the church.  What we are seeing are the symptoms of a sick society that has arisen due to the failure of the man of God to hold his ground and not compromise the tenets of God.  We have pastors that spend long hours, devoted to their ministry, neglecting their families in the name of God.  This in turn leads to a higher than usual divorce rate among pastors, incidents of immorality and other problems.  These problems spill out among the congregations and soon you have no difference between what you see in the world and what is seen in the pew and pulpit. 

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)
² And ^cdo not be conformed to this world, but ^dbe transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may ^eprove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. ^[83]

We see from this verse that God’s will is perfect… God would never have a pastor of His neglect his family for the sake of a ministry.  In fact, we don’t have to violate the will of God in order to fulfill any ministry – he who will sacrifice his family or his principles for the sake of ministry doesn’t do it for God – he does it for the sake of the kingdom he is carving out for himself.  To violate the family is to violate God.  Why do we forget God doesn’t need us to accomplish His will; He does desire that we be obedient to His word, but He is God, His will shall be done.

Genesis 18:19 (KJV)
¹⁹ For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him. ^[84]

            Does your church have a Sunday School?  If you belong to a denomination, or are affiliated with an organized religious order, it is a safe bet that collectively across America there are enormous sums of money being expended each and every year on the establishment and maintenance of a Sunday School program for the little ones.  Money is spent on facilities, curriculum, teachers, and administration of these programs, from the largest church to the smallest.  Look at Genesis 18:19 again.  What does it say?  “…For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him…”  God was referring to Abraham, the father of nations.  He would instruct his children in the ways of Yahveh Adonai.  How many programs are there out there that teach men, fathers, how to pass along God’s word to their children?  I bet it is a safe bet that it doesn’t even get one nickel spent on it in your church…  I’ll even go so far to say that the thought hasn’t even been approached.  Why?  Look at the lead in verses to this indictment.  “…You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up…”  This is God’s plan “A”… He has no plan “B”, for if plan “A” doesn’t work, neither will plan “B”.  Sunday school classes are just really a form of entertainment to the child, so in this vein, for what little instruction it provides, it is okay.  If though, there is no plan in place to equip the father to teach his children of God, if the Sunday School replaces the ministry of the father in the home, then I have but one recommendation – kill it.  The school is no place for instruction, for it has no authority for discipline; even if it did, chances are likely that they wouldn’t do it anyway – they don’t believe in it.  It is for the father to “raise up the child”; this is his primary ministry – church, do not deny him of it; teach him how to fulfill it. 

            Since we are taking about children, what about the older ones?  What about youth ministries?  Proverbs 13:20 says:

Proverbs 13:20 (KJV)
 He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed^f. ^[85]

Who does your youth hang out with?  Are they hanging out with the wise, or the fools?  How many unbelievers are there in typical youth groups?  Most of the youth groups may have a core of believers, but more than likely the group is not much more than one likened to an after-school activity, a place for socializing or “getting out of the house”, or a way for parents to drop off the kids and get a “night off”.  Who then should youths hang out with?  Trained, caring, compassionate adults, not other youths, for how else do they then learn to be adult and put away the “childish things”?  How do the blind lead the blind?  “But” you say, “What about the lost youth?”  What do these lost kids see when they come into your church?  They see the same thing they see at their home: no parents, no caring adults, kids teaching kids, or at least one a few years older with mousse in his hair doing the teaching.  What would happen if that lost child stepped into a church and saw a loving committed relationship between a father and a son, a mother and a daughter – quite possibly the very thing that is missing from his or her life.  What would the impact be?  Could the revelation of love be what this child needs to have a heart of stone melt, and be replaced by the Spirit’s heart of flesh?  O what walls fall when love is introduced!  O what wounds heal when the love of Messiah is modeled…

            Why do our children do what they do?  When we as fathers violate biblical principle after biblical principle, is there any wonder why every thing then turns to madness? 

1 Timothy 4:1-6 (NABWRNT)
^{1 †} Now the Spirit explicitly says that in the last times some will turn away from the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and demonic instructions

² through the hypocrisy of liars with branded consciences.

³ They forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

⁴ For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected when received with thanksgiving,

⁵ for it is made holy by the invocation of God in prayer. ^†

^{6 †} If you will give these instructions to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Messiah Yeshua, nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching you have followed. ^[86]

Paul warns Timothy of what is going to happen; his words ring just as true today as they did in the 1^st century; all hell is going to break loose and the culture will fall into madness.  Does he tell Timothy to then get involved in politics, to protest in the streets, to wage a war against the prevailing culture?  No, God in His wisdom gives Paul simple instructions to give to Timothy; he is to be “…nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound teaching you have followed…”  Brethren, how else do we fight this war that has already erupted upon the world in which we live?  Can we fight it the same way that the world fights us, and not compromise our walk?  Sadly, no we cannot.  If we adopt their tactics, then we have no more moral authority in the name of Yeshua.  God is seeking men of character – polished swords.  Men that will devote themselves to God’s word, to the unflinching, uncompromising bold pronunciation of the Writ of God, calling sin sin and standing firm in the faith.  We can’t fix what is broken with an empty tool box; we must be hearers and doers of the word, “…nourished on the words of the faith and of … sound teaching…”.  Sound doctrine.  God’s men cannot accomplish His aims if they aren’t first taught and then obey His word.  Now you may get a better understanding of why I teach the way I do, why I try to go into the depth of the words so that you may truly understand God’s intent.  Not for my glory, or that any will applaud me; please don’t.  Honor God!  Study His word!  Test the words I say against His Holy Word and if I teach you falsely, then may I be accursed!  O brethren, a simple intellectual study of God’s word will no longer do in these mad times we are facing![87]  You cannot learn doctrine well till you are following the doctrine you learn.  Obey!  Do!

            The “emergent” church movement, the “expanding” church, the culturally sensitive “church growth” crowd; what price are we paying for the throwing out of Biblical doctrine just to fill the pews and the tithe box?  The kingdoms of man are being carved out of the hearts and souls of the hurt by a bunch of little boys wanting to play church without the power of God in their lives.  It is the lesser of David trying to fit themselves in Saul’s armor.  The more we see the flesh in the church, the more we see men-pleasers and entertainers, the less we’ll see of the power of the Living God. 

            God in these turbulent days will be pouring powerful and sharps swords of the Word of God out of heaven; who among us will be able to wield them?  Is your only concern with your best life now, or if and when Messiah will rapture you out of this cess-pool, even before you’ve done a lick of work?  What about eternity?  What about love, mercy, grace?  What about the change, the regenerated life, the move of the Spirit, the cross of Messiah, the precious blood?  Who will go for me, sayeth Yahveh, the Adonai of Hosts?  Who will die, so that others may live?

The End of the Matter

Are we Ready?

It is quite a list that has been presented here, and I pray I’ve done my Yahveh Adonai service.  Church, I do not despise you!  I mourn for you, for what you’ve become.  Are you ready?  O bride, I know you are out there – you must hang on, keep your lamps full and the wick trimmed, for He is coming for you.  You must go through the fire; you will be made to suffer for what you believe.  Find some one who will stand with you, teach one another the truth.  Pour through your Bibles, discipline yourselves to do what is right and holy in the eyes of God!  Trust not the words of man, the traditions of man, but trust in the things of God!  Hear and obey, do not despise the old ways, hold to the Torah of truth, and to the Son of righteousness.  Pray for the brethren, your family that is Jew and Gentile, pray for the one new man and the peace of Jerusalem!  Cleanse yourself, call for the hand of God to wield His knife and cut you free from the body of death that man’s religion has strapped upon you!  Then O then brethren wash your selves clean in the Living water and the fountain of the Blood!  O Yeshua break our hearts, so that we will in earnest weep, and in the power of your might stand; give us a sword to wield and teach us how to use it for the sake of love, not harm!  O Father, we are humbled to be allowed to speak these words, when you had and have such mighty warriors like David Wilkerson and Paul Washer that were and are so much better equipped for the task by your Spirit, may we be thankful You’ve taught us through them…

Yeshua, it is all about You.  Without You O Savior, what would we do?  To whom would we go?  You are the Son of the Living God, You are the Word of Life, the Way and the Truth, O my Yahveh Adonai, search me, search us, drive from us all iniquity, purge our sin, forgive us our trespasses, for it is against You alone that we have sinned…  Yeshua, may these words be yours, may hearts be touched, may Your bride see what needs to be done and may

You come soon O Yahveh Adonai

Now to You Forever be Honor and Glory and Power,

May You reign From Heaven and our hearts

May the Father be exalted

These things we ask in the power of Ruach Ha’Kodesh

And Your precious name O Yeshua Ha’Machiach

Amein

Amein

---

[1] Title taken from a sermon by Paul Washer; see the link at : http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=17378&commentView=itemComments

[2] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[3] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[4] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (Electronic edition of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[5] The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (Electronic edition of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[6]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[7] “…Since the 1970s, Fuller Seminary has been heavily influenced by and associated with Pentecostals and Charismatics. Russell Spittler of the Assemblies of God has been a faculty member since 1976. In 1996 he was elected the provost and vice president for academics. He is an ecumenist who is frequently involved in dialogues. In the early 1980s, Fuller invited John Wimber to teach a course entitled “MC510, Signs, Wonders, and Church Growth.” He encouraged the students to seek after signs and miracles and taught that every believer should lay hands on others and heal them. John Wimber opened the floodgates to many errors by downplaying the importance of biblical discernment. He warned against being “too rigid” and “too heavily oriented to the written Word” (Counterfeit Revival, p. 109). One would say something like that only if he were attempting to promote things which were not in accordance with the Word of God. The Psalmist said the written Word “is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path” (Ps. 119:105). It is impossible to be too strongly oriented toward the Bible! In his healing seminar, Wimber made the following statement, “It’s evil when you hide behind doctrinal beliefs that curtail and control the work of the Spirit. … The Church today is committing evil in the name of sound doctrine. And they are quenching the work of the Holy Spirit” (Wimber, Healing Seminar Series, cited from Testing the Fruit of the Vineyard by John Goodwin). Wimber had a large influence through his books, conferences and through the Vineyard Fellowship of Churches that he led until his death in 1997.

Another Fuller professor, C. Peter Wagner, supported Wimber in his false doctrine and has gone on to become one of the most influential voices in the spiritual warfare movement. I heard both Wagner and Wimber speak in 1990 at the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit and World Evangelization in Indianapolis. They were perfectly at home with the 10,000 or so Roman Catholics who were in attendance. The closing message of the conference was delivered by Catholic priest Tom Forrest, who said in one his messages that he praises God for purgatory because he knows that it is the only way he can get to heaven. Wagner’s 1998 book New Apostolic Reformation promotes charismatic heresies such as tongues (actually gibberish), prophecy, spirit slaying, spiritual mapping, territorial demons, and binding the devil. Wagner wrote the preface to one of Robert Schuller’s books saying, “I am personally indebted to Robert Schuller for much of what I know and teach.” Schuller has redefined the gospel in accordance with his self-esteem theology. He said that defining sin as rebellion against God is “shallow and insulting to the human being” (Schuller, Self-Esteem: The New Reformation, p. 65). According to Schuller, born again means that we must be “changed from a negative to a positive self-image” (p. 68), sin is “any act or thought that rob myself or another human being of his or her self-esteem” (p. 14), hell “is the loss of pride that naturally follows separation from God (p. 14), and Christ “was self-esteem incarnate” (p. 135)…” [excerpt taken from “The Unbelief at Fuller Theological Seminary”, Updated May 13, 2004 (first published August 23, 1999) (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org]

[8] Contents from “The Attributes of God”, by A. W. Pink, first published in the booklets “Studies in the Scriptures”, published without interruption from 1922 to 1953; Reprints now available from Chapel Library; they may be  contacted at www.mountzion.org

[9]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. ©1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[10]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. ©1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[11]  Darby, J. N. ©(1996). The Holy Scriptures : A new translation from the original languages. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

[12] The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English, by Sir Lancelot C.L. Brenton, originally published 1851, ©2007 Hendrickson Publishers

[13]  Darby, J. N. ©(1996). The Holy Scriptures : A new translation from the original languages. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

[14]  American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[15]  American Standard Version. ©1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

d  Gen. 6:13; 18:17; [Jer. 23:22]; Dan. 9:22; [John 15:15]

[16]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

s  Gen. 18:17

t  John 6:70; 13:18; 15:19; 1 John 4:10

u  [Matt. 28:19; Mark 16:15; Col. 1:6]

v  John 14:13; 16:23, 24

[17]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[18]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[19] Gesenius’ Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament Scriptures, translated by Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, LL.D., (first issued 1847) ©1979 Baker Book House Company, Grand Rapids, MI: pp 599.

^[20] Hayford, J. W., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. ©(1995). Hayford's Bible handbook. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

[21] Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, by Joseph H. Thayer, (published originally 1896), 2007 Hendrickson Publishers, Peabody MA; pp 665.

k  Job 28:28; [Prov. 1:7; 9:10]; Eccl. 12:13

[22]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

d  the beginning: or, the principal part

[23]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[24]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

^a  1 Cor. 1:1; 9:1; 15:9; 2 Cor. 1:1; 1 Tim. 1:11

^b  Acts 9:15; 13:2; [Gal. 1:15]

^c  Acts 26:6

^d  Gal. 3:8

¹  came

^e  2 Sam. 7:12; 1 Chr. 17:11; Is. 9:7; Jer. 23:5; Gal. 4:4

^f  Ps. 2:7; Acts 9:20; 13:33; Heb. 1:2

^g  Ps. 16:10; [Heb. 9:14]

^h  Eph. 3:8

ⁱ  Acts 6:7; Rom. 16:26

^j  Acts 9:15

^k  Acts 9:13; Rom. 8:28; 1 Cor. 1:2, 24

^l  Num. 6:25; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2

^m  1 Cor. 1:4; Eph. 1:15; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2:13

ⁿ  Acts 28:22; Rom. 16:19

^o  Rom. 9:1

^p  Acts 27:23

²  Or in

^q  1 Thess. 3:10

^r  Rom. 15:29

^s  Titus 1:4

^t  [1 Thess. 2:18]

^u  Phil. 4:17

^v  Ps. 40:9, 10

³  NU omits of Christ

^w  1 Cor. 1:18, 24

^x  Luke 2:30; Acts 3:26; Rom. 2:9

^y  Rom. 3:21; 9:30; Phil. 3:9

^z  Hab. 2:4; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38

^a  [Acts 17:30]

^b  Rom. 6:13; 2 Thess. 2:10; 2 Pet. 2:13; 1 John 5:17

⁴  hold down

^c  [Acts 14:17; 17:24]

⁵  evident

⁶  among

^d  [John 1:9]

^e  Job 12:7–9; Ps. 19:1–6; Jer. 5:22

⁷  divine nature, deity

^f  2 Kin. 17:15; Jer. 2:5; Eph. 4:17

^g  Jer. 10:14; [1 Cor. 1:20]

^h  1 Tim. 1:17; 6:15, 16

ⁱ  Deut. 4:16–18; Ps. 106:20; Jer. 2:11; Acts 17:29

⁸  perishable

^j  Ps. 81:12; Acts 7:42; Eph. 4:18, 19

^k  1 Cor. 6:18

^l  Lev. 18:22

^m  1 Thess. 1:9

ⁿ  Is. 44:20; Jer. 10:14; 13:25; 16:19

^o  Lev. 18:22; Eph. 5:12

⁹  Lit. females

¹  Lit. males

²  Lit. female

¹  Lit. males

¹  Lit. males

^p  Eph. 5:4

³  NU omits sexual immorality

⁴  greed

⁵  malice

⁶  without understanding

⁷  NU omits unforgiving

^q  [Rom. 2:2]

^r  [Rom. 6:21]

^s  [Ps. 50:18]; Hos. 7:3

^[25]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[26] “…Systematic theology is a discipline of Christian theology that attempts to formulate an orderly, rational, and coherent account of the Christian faith and beliefs. Inherent to a system of theological thought is that a method is developed, one which can be applied both broadly and particularly. Systematic theology draws on the foundations of the sacred texts of Christianity, and also looks to the development of doctrine over the course of history, philosophy, science, and ethics to produce as full a view and as versatile a philosophical approach as possible…” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systematic_theology

a  [Rom. 1:20]

b  2 Sam. 12:5–7; [Matt. 7:1–5; Luke 6:37]; John 8:9; Rom. 14:22

c  Rom. 9:23; 11:33; [2 Cor. 8:2; Eph. 1:7, 18; 2:7; Phil. 4:19; Col. 1:27; 2:2; Titus 3:6]

d  [Rom. 3:25]

e  Ex. 34:6; [Rom. 9:22; 1 Tim. 1:16]; 1 Pet. 3:20

f  Is. 30:18; [2 Pet. 3:9, 15]

1  unrepentant

g  [Deut. 32:34]; Prov. 1:18; James 5:3

2  storing

h  [Job 34:11]; Ps. 62:12; Prov. 24:12; Jer. 17:10; [2 Cor. 5:10; Rev. 20:12, 13]

i  Job 24:13; [2 Thess. 1:8]

j  Amos 3:2; Luke 12:47; Acts 3:26; Rom. 1:16; 1 Pet. 4:17

3  Gentile

k  Rom. 2:7; Heb. 2:7; [1 Pet. 1:7]

[27]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[28]  The New King James Version. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[29] The Complete Jewish bible, translated by David H. Stern ©1998 by David H. Stern, Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc, Clarksville Maryland

x  Deut. 6:5; 10:12; 30:6

y  Lev. 19:18; Matt. 19:19; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; [Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14; James 2:8]

z  [Matt. 7:12; Rom. 13:10; 1 Tim. 1:5]

[30]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[31] The King James Version, (Cambridge: Cambridge) 1769.

[32] The Best of C.H. Spurgeon, by Charles H. Spurgeon ©1986 Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI

l  Ps. 14:1–3; 53:1–3; Eccl. 7:20

m  Ps. 5:9

4  grave

n  Ps. 140:3

o  Ps. 10:7

p  Prov. 1:16; Is. 59:7, 8

q  Ps. 36:1

[33]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

f  Hag. 1:1

g  Is. 30:1; Hos. 1:7; Hag. 2:4, 5

[34]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

q  [John 11:52]; Gal. 3:26

5  authority

r  [John 3:5]; James 1:18; [1 Pet. 1:23; 1 John 2:29; 3:9]

[35]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

c  depart: Heb. be loosed, or, disjointed

d  hurt: Heb. bruise, or, breach

†  A Hebrew word occurs that is not directly translated in the King James Version.
Hebrew Strongs: 1323
Stem, Mood: 8676

[36]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[37]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[38]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[39]  American Standard Version. 1995 (Electronic edition.). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

m  Ex. 23:7; Prov. 24:24; Is. 5:23

[40]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

a  John 12:38; Rom. 10:16

1  Stately form

2  splendor

3  Lit. appearance

b  Ps. 22:6; [Is. 49:7; Matt. 27:30, 31; Luke 18:31–33; 23:18]

4  Or forsaken

5  Lit. pains

c  [Heb. 4:15]

6  Lit. sickness

d  [John 1:10, 11]

e  [Matt. 8:17; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 2:24]

7  Lit. sicknesses

9  reckoned

1  Struck down

f  [Is. 53:10; Rom. 4:25; 1 Cor. 15:3, 4]

2  Or pierced through

3  crushed

g  [1 Pet. 2:24, 25]

4  Blows that cut in

5  Lit. has caused to land on Him

h  Matt. 26:63; 27:12–14; Mark 14:61; 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9

i  Acts 8:32, 33; Rev. 5:6

j  Matt. 27:11–26; Luke 23:1–25

6  confinement

k  [Dan. 9:26]

l  Matt. 27:57–60; Luke 23:33

7  Lit. he or He

m  1 Pet. 2:22; 1 John 3:5

8  crush

n  John 1:29; Acts 2:24; [2 Cor. 5:21]

9  So with MT, Tg., Vg.; DSS, LXX From the labor of His soul He shall see light

o  [1 John 2:1]

p  Is. 42:1

q  [Acts 13:38, 39; Rom. 5:15–18]

r  Ps. 2:8

s  Col. 2:15

1  plunder

t  Is. 50:6; [Rom. 3:25]

u  Matt. 27:38; Mark 15:28; Luke 22:37; 2 Cor. 5:21

v  Luke 23:34

[41]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

a  1 Cor. 1:23; Gal. 6:14

[42]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[43] Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, by Albert Barnes, ( electronic edition), e-Sword^®, ver. 8.0.4,  copyright ©2000-20008 by Rick Myers

[44] Benjamin B. Warfield. "Calvinism". in Johann Jakob Herzog, Philip Schaff, Albert Hauck. The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge. pp. p. 359 . "[T]he fundamental principle of Calvinism ... lies in a profound apprehension of God in his majesty, with the inevitably accompanying poignant realization of the exact nature of the relation sustained to him by the creature as such, and particularly by the sinful creature.". http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/encyc02.html?term=Calvinism

[45] Loraine Boettner. "The Perseverance of the Saints". The Reformed Doctrine of Predestination.

[46] Following footnotes correspond to the article that follows (in order as indicated by [10] thru [22]:

·  10 Ashby, Stephen "Reformed Arminianism" Four Views on Eternal Security (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 137

·  11 Arminius, James The Writings of James Arminius (three vols.), tr. James Nichols and W.R. Bagnall (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1956), I:252

·  12 Arminius I:316

·  13 Arminius III:454

·  14 Ashby Four Views, 140

·  15 Picirilli, Robert Grace, Faith, Free Will: Contrasting Views of Salvation: Calvinism and Arminianism (Nashville: Randall House Publications, 2002), 154ff

·  16 Forlines, Leroy F., Pinson, Matthew J. and Ashby, Stephen M. The Quest for Truth: Answering Life's Inescapable Questions (Nashville: Randall House Publications, 2001), 313–321

· 17 ^{a b} Arminius Writings, III:311

·  18 Pawson, David Once Saved, Always Saved? A Study in Perseverance and Inheritance (London: Hodder & Staughton, 1996), 109ff

[47] Taken from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminianism

·  19 Picirilli Grace, Faith, Free Will 203

·  20 Picirilli 204ff

·  21 Arminius Writings, I:254

·  22 Ashby Four Views, 159

h  Matt. 26:63; 27:12–14; Mark 14:61; 15:5; Luke 23:9; John 19:9

i  Acts 8:32, 33; Rev. 5:6

[48]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

v  Ps. 83:4; Jer. 18:18

w  Ps. 27:13

[49]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[50] While we won’t get into this debate here, I’d just like to add my thoughts…  The current debate over infant baptism seems to center on the typology argument.  Is infant baptism the new circumcision?  What is overlooked by all opponents and proponents is this one simple fact; God had the Jewish male circumcised as a sign of separation, nothing more.  The question isn’t baptism, it is separation.  How separate are His people today from the rest of the world?  There is only one baptism (see Eph. 4:4-6), and it isn’t water; it is the baptism of the blood, the baptism of repentance, dying to self and daily carrying our cross.  This is the baptism of Christ (as defined by Messiah Himself in answer to the mother of the sons of Zebedee’s request in Matthew 20:22-23).  Dying daily is the only baptism we need, for it is accompanied with the Holy Spirit.  (Author’s notes)

o  Mark 1:14, 15

p  Matt. 3:2; 10:7

3  has drawn near

[51]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[52]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[53] “…The American population self-identifies as predominantly Christian but Americans are slowly becoming less Christian… 86% of American adults identified as Christians in 1990 and 76% in 2008… 34% of American adults considered themselves “Born Again or Evangelical Christians” in 2008…”  Source: AMERICAN RELIGIOUS IDENTIFICATION SURVEY (ARIS) 2008, Principal Investigators: Barry A. Kosmin and Ariela Keysar, Trinity College, Hartford Connecticut

[54] “…A new nationwide study says a majority of Americans pick and choose their religious beliefs, effectively customizing their religion rather than adopting beliefs taught by a church.  The survey conducted by The Barna Group, claims that 71 percent of Americans say they are more likely to develop their own set of religious beliefs. Young people under the age of 25 led this particular 'a la carte' group. The survey, released on Monday, also shows that among those people who describe themselves as being a Christian:

-Almost half believe that Satan does not exist.

-One-third say that Jesus sinned when he was on earth.

-Two-thirds say they do not have a responsibility to share the Gospel with others.

-One-quarter dismiss the idea that the Bible is accurate in all of its teachings…” source cited the Barna Group, in article on CBN.com, dated 17 Jan. 2009

[55]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

e  Ex. 19:9

f  Ex. 33:19

g  Num. 14:18; Deut. 4:31; Neh. 9:17; Joel 2:13

h  Rom. 2:4

i  Ps. 108:4

j  Ex. 20:6

k  Ps. 103:3, 4; Dan. 9:9; Eph. 4:32; 1 John 1:9

l  Josh. 24:19; Job 10:14; Mic. 6:11; Nah. 1:3

m  Ex. 4:31

[56]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

f  [John 10:9; Rom. 5:2; Eph. 2:18; Heb. 9:8; 10:19, 20]

g  [John 1:14, 17; 8:32; 18:37]

h  [John 11:25]

i  1 Tim. 2:5

j  [John 10:7–9; Acts 4:12]

k  John 8:19

[57]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

k  Song 1:4

l  [Eph. 2:8, 9; Phil. 1:29; 2:12, 13]

[58]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[59] Webster's Universal College Dictionary,   (New York: Gramercy,  ©1997),  p. 143.

[60] …ibid… pg. 143

[61] The Mistranslation of the Greek Word "Ekklesia" in the English Bible and its Ramifications, by Cooper P. Abrams, III, source found at:  http://www.bible-truth.org/Ekklesia.html#N_6_

[62] Strong’s Dictionary,( electronic edition), e-Sword^®, ver. 9.0.3,  copyright ©2000-2009 by Rick Myers

[63] …ibid…

[64] …ibid…

[65]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

k  Eph. 5:28, 33; Col. 3:19; [1 Pet. 3:7]

l  Acts 20:28

[66]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[67] From the “Word of the Week” teaching series by Pastor Jim Brown, Grace and Truth Ministries, Hendersonville, TN  [see at www.graceandtruth.net]

j  Ex. 4:11; Ps. 94:9

[68]  The New King James Version Bible. ©1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[69]  Darby, J. N. (©1996). The Holy Scriptures: A new translation from the original languages. Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems.

o  Matt. 13:9; Luke 8:8; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13

[70]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

1 caught

a Eph. 4:2

[71] The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

d  Rev. 4:8

e  Num. 14:21; Ps. 72:19

[72]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

m  Ex. 15:14

n  Lev. 11:44; 1 Pet. 1:16; Rev. 4:8

o  Ps. 86:9; Is. 66:23

[73]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

m  Ps. 86:5; 119:68

[74]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

j  Is. 43:8; Matt. 13:14; Mark 4:12; Luke 8:10; John 12:40; Acts 28:26; Rom. 11:8

[75]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

f  Gen. 17:1; Lev. 11:44; 19:2; Luke 6:36; [Col. 1:28; 4:12]; James 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:15

g  Eph. 5:1

[76]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[77] Commentary on the Holy Bible, by Adam Clarke, LL.D., F.S.A., etc., Abridged from the original by Ralph Earle, Th.D., ©1967 Baker Book House, Grand Rapids, MI

b  undone: Heb. cut off

[78]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[79] Tallit: the prayer shawl that is worn by most Jews for prayers.  In the King James Version, this was the garment (or translated as “robe”) that the woman touched; it is also what is referred to as your “prayer closet”.  A Jewish worshipper would cover his head and face with the tallit and within the confines of this shawl, would make his petitions known unto God, in private and in secret prayer.

[80]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

n  Deut. 29:18; Job 31:27

o  Deut. 8:19

p  Deut. 6:15; 9:19

q  Deut. 28:24; 1 Kin. 8:35; 2 Chr. 6:26; 7:13

r  Deut. 4:26; 2 Chr. 36:14–20

s  Deut. 6:6–9

8  Lit. put

t  Ps. 119:2, 34

u  Deut. 6:8

v  Deut. 4:9, 10; 6:7; Prov. 22:6

w  Deut. 6:9

x  Deut. 4:40

y  Ps. 72:5; 89:29; Prov. 3:2; 4:10; 9:11

[81]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[82] Quantifying America's Decline by William J. Bennett, The Wall Street Journal, Monday, March 15, 1993

c  Matt. 13:22; Gal. 1:4; 1 John 2:15

d  Eph. 4:23; [Titus 3:5]

e  [1 Thess. 4:3]

[83]  The New King James Version. 1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

[84]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

f  destroyed: Heb. broken

[85]  The Holy Bible : King James Version. 1995 (electronic ed. of the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version.). Bellingham WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.

†  [1–5] Doctrinal deviations from the true Christian message within the church have been prophesied, though the origin of the prophecy is not specified (1 Tim 4:1–2); cf Acts 20:29–30. The letter warns against a false asceticism that prohibits marriage and regards certain foods as forbidden, though they are part of God’s good creation (1 Tim 4:3).

†  [6–10] Timothy is urged to be faithful, both in his teaching and in his own life, as he looks only to God for salvation.

[86]  Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Board of Trustees, Catholic Church. National Conference of Catholic Bishops, & United States Catholic Conference. Administrative Board. (1996, c1986). The New American Bible : Translated from the original languages with critical use of all the ancient sources and the revised New Testament. Confraternity of Christian Doctrine.

[87] Paul Washer