Blessed be the LORD my [S]trength which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight… (Psalm 140:1)

…[T]hou hast enlarged me when I was in distress… (Psalm 4:1)

 

We find multiple meanings for the word fight in Scripture. In our text we find the word fight to mean the fight of faith or the fighting to be faithful. Another meaning for fight in Scripture is prayer. In the Old Testament we find fighting to be in the very literal sense. We find many references to warfare whether it be in the days of Abraham, Moses, Joshua, the days of the Judges, during the reigns of Kings Saul and David as well as during the reigns of other kings.

In the New Testament however, there is very little reference to literal fighting. Some would teach that there is never a good reason to fight in the literal sense. Though much is said of the metaphorical fight.

Many would site our Lord’s teaching to turn the cheek as well as loving thy enemy, etc. These are of course right teachings and one is right to site them as long as they are qualified and in context with His meaning. Before anyone gets angry and stops reading, we are not disagreeing with the Master nor are we correcting Him, God forbid.

If a Christian is struck for being a Christian one should turn the other cheek. One should seek grace to demonstrate Christ’s love and patience to an enemy. If a Christ-ian is struck by another with the intent of harming his wife he is not to turn the other cheek but instead to physically turn the cheek of the attacker.

It is a truth that those that are persecuted for Christ’s sake are blessed. We have additional teaching from Paul who taught us to live peacefully with all men with as much as lieth in us. This is not a license to be violent. This “with as much as lieth in us” does not allow us to say, ” It did not lie within me to be peaceful.” There are no loopholes in Scripture nor should a believer look for one. Need we remind you that it is the Holy Spirit that lies within you?

Peter teaches us to revile not when we have been reviled and he uses the blessed Example of Christ.

All of the above is true and beyond reproach.

However, you may recall I used the word qualified when we quoted the Words of Christ. When we use that word we are not using it with the force of a “yeah, but.” Each of the Lord’s teachings are perfect and without assail when they are used properly.

We believe it was in the spring break of 2015 when a young girl was gang raped in Florida. There were, it was reported, approximately (100) one hundred persons watching and not only watching this crime but recording it with their phones. This is a fine example of human depravity at its worst and we are not speaking only of the rapist. The only innocents was the young girl that was attacked. It is days like that when depraved humanity should be glad that we are not king.

In Chicago in the Spring of 2016 a young woman was brutally attacked by multiple assailants on a train with onlookers doing nothing to intervene. When this girl was interviewed afterwards she stated how shocked she was that no one helped her. These types of brutalities occur on a regular basis with very little intervention. Think about the trauma these two girls and their families and friends live with daily. Think of the rage the fathers live with and the fear the girls live with. These girls, their families and friends have seen human depravity first hand. It is probably safe to assume that they have and hold very little hope in and for humanity. Let us hope that they find hope in Christ.

But what is the Christ-ian suppose to do in situations like these? The answer is obvious, isn’t it? The Christ-ian should turn the other cheek and show love to the enemy, right? Wrong. To do that is to show zero love to the suffering neighbor not to mention it is not your cheek to turn. The right and proper action to take is to step in and do whatever is appropriate. If the circumstances can be curtailed by simply speaking up then speak up. If speaking up is not enough and force is needed then be “slow to speak” and act. Call upon God for Samson like strength, ask God to enlarge you for the battle at hand and if you have any skill in battle thank Him for teaching your fingers to fight and your hands to war as well as when to do so and then …..fight a good fight.

What manner of love simply stands by while one of God’s creations is being abused? It is not Christ-ian love. The abused may be a Christ-ian sibling for all you know.

The Christ-ian response to physical evil should be appropriate. If we see an argument escalating we should not jump in and strike the one escalating the argument, God forbid. The proper response is to attempt to calm things down with right words. If we see a young girl being attacked and or raped save your words for the police, call upon others to help, you step in (after calling upon God) and step on. Step on means to do what is necessary to remedy the circumstances and make safe the situation. All of this presupposes someone has already called 911 (Romans 13).

Some may still be unconvinced with our arguments. Let’s try another. God gave us the law. Today they are called the Ten Commandments and they are clearly defined and understood. However, many miss the individual inferences.

When you look at the commandments individually you find them stated in the negative (Thou shalt not) or in the positive (Thou shalt). When you find an individual commandment in the positive or the negative you must convert that commandment to the opposite state to obtain the full meaning. We will use “Thou shalt not kill or murder” as an example. This command is in the negative so if we are to glean to full intent of the Law Giver we must convert it to the positive. The positive would command us to save a life. To save a life can take different forms. One form would be to stop gossip from harming or killing a good reputation and another is intervening on another’s behalf. The positive of “Thou shalt not steal” is the responsibility to cease another from stealing.

Two last pieces of counsel; “Take heed that ye do not your alms (good deeds) before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” and number two: There cannot be, there must not be hate mixed in with your righteous indignation. If one is to act on the behalf of another let righteous indignation be the cause and not wrath for “The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” If hate and wrath are mixed in and, God forbid, the assailant is killed you have committed murder. One may act in the defense of another in the names of righteousness, justice, goodness, honour but never in the names of hate, lust, or wrath.

If Paul had never ended a Christ-ian life being a (stand by and do nothing) witness to Stephen’s would be enough to call him a murderer.

“For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible. Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.”    (2 Cor. 10:10-11)

In the above text we find  St. Paul quoting some of those that are part of the Corinthian church. He then follows up with verse eleven. We will paraphrase his words here, “If you think I sound like I throw my weight around and am powerful in my writings just wait until I am present with you. For you have not begun to feel my power or see me throw my weight around.”

Could a truly humble man say such things? Is this little man power hungry or is he mad with power? Does this man drip of arrogance? The answers to these questions are Yes, No and no.

The world and sad to say the church has the wrong idea or image of humility. Humility is not seen in a man with his head down, his eyes in a sad state, and his hands folded ever so gently while he is being used as a doormat. No! NO! NO! Truly humble men have been known to confront kings, judge a nation, lead armies, and empty out a misused house of God with a small scourge of cords.

The church has fallen for this satanic machination that they feel prideful if they acknowledge their spiritual gifts given them by the Spirit of Christ to edify and perfect the church. We’ve heard blood bought believers say such things as this, “I’m not bragging or being prideful but I think I have the gift of…” Little did this saint know it but instead of bragging and being prideful this saint was offending God. Reader, Never “feel proud” or guilty for what God has given you and never be afraid to brag upon Him Who gave it.

A disgusting sight is the pride filled person that bases their pride upon their “humility.” We know this is a cliche but that does not make it untrue. This is another trick of satan (no cap).

What is Biblical humility then? Biblical humility is knowing from Whom you receive all things and not being too proud to lay prostrate (in literal terms or spiritual) upon one’s face in the Prescence of God and acknowledging your need and the richness of all His provisions. Humility is knowing that without Him one can do nothing and without Him one is nothing but an old depraved creature walking upon the broad path.

What does humility look like? Humility can take many forms. Humility can appear arrogant, Humility can appear boastful, and Humility can appear royal. Humility can appear in many ways but at Humility’s core is the continuous acknowledgement of a  dependence upon God.

Did the Man Christ Jesus sound humble when He announced His second advent? An Advent full of power and great glory? He may not have sounded humble but humble he was.

Did David sound humble when he confronted Goliath? Wasn’t he a little arrogant bringing simple smooth stones to the battle? Hear David’s words, “Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the [N]ame of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, [W]hom thou hast defied. This day will the LORD deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee…and all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’s and [H]e will give you into our hands.” Was David a humble servant of God when he said this?  He was a humble servant because he recognized that the victory would be won by God.

Brothers and Sisters,

Humility is not hiding what God has given you but showing, shouting, and sharing what God has given you and He will be glorified thereby.

He has gifted me with faith, knowledge, discernment, and the gift of preaching His Word. What or how has He gifted thee? Read 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4.

Always remember God giveth more grace to the humble.

“it is no great thing if [satan’s] ministers…be transformed as ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”  (2 Corinthians 11:15)

There are always churches looking for new pastors. Pastors leaves churches all the time for many reasons. The pastor-less church will then (DV) appoint a group of upright and proven believers to search for a new pastor. If the men chosen to be a part of this group have never served in this capacity they have no idea for what awaits them. If these men or some of these men have served in this capacity prior then they do know what is a head of them and may God bless them for their is a Samson like effort.

In the hunt for a pastor hearts may be broken, tempers may flair, and much can be learned. A disqualified pastor will have a broken heart, the group of men may at times show their “old man” and much can be learned about each other and the brothers and sisters they are serving as well as the God that comforts and sustains.

Many different types of preachers will be interviewed and possibly heard. In this post (DV) we will speak to the different types of preachers one finds in Christ-ian-dom. But first let us  define Christ-ian-dom. Christian-ian-dom is the mixed multitude that is found under the banner of Christ-ian. It could be likened to the mixed multitude of Moses. Some believed and many did not. In the visible church there are true believers and many false or professing unbelievers. The Lord told us to know them by their fruit. This is true of preachers for Some are saved and some are not. Some are true some are not. Some can show the lost the Way to Life while others couldn’t careless about this. Paul and John warn us to prove all things and to test the spirits.

At this point we will (DV) speak to the divers types of preachers. To start with we will put forth the preachers that a church does not want. The church does not want any of the following because they are truly dangerous to the Christ-ian spirit.

First up is taken from our text. satan’s (no cap for him) minister that appears to be a minister of righteousness. Joel Osteen is certainly one and many more can be found on Trinity Broadcasting Network. Many of the television preachers are dangerous. However, God is represented by a few good men on television and radio. satan’s ministers are not only found in the bigger ministries but they can be found in any ministry. Some of these ministers knowingly serve satan in the Christian church, I’ve met one. While others are serving satan unknowingly.

Up next: The Volunteer Preacher. Most likely this man is a graduate of a big name Bible college or rather manufacturing plant. This man was not called by God but instead was asked to volunteer or guilted into volunteering by another Non-God called preacher. This preacher may know a lot about the Word of God but does he know anything about the God of the Word? If this man truly knew God…the God of Scripture he would know that God is sovereign and that Sovereign God initiates all things including who will be His enabled and gifted representative before man. This type of preacher feeds into the rest of our negative types. Also please note from Scripture, all of the men that took it upon themselves to give themselves to Christ were sent away. Only those whom Christ chose, after long prayer, were accepted.

The Plastic Preacher: This man’s sermon is prepared by Monday morning. He will spend the next week “preaching” to himself in the mirror. The sermon that is to be preached next Sunday will be the perfect or perfected sermon of a man but not a message from God. This man, when approached by a hurting lamb, will have and will give all the pat answers that anyone could want. If a believer tells this man that he is struggling with…… the man will quote “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” Case closed…next. When this man goes “door to door” he will invariably say,” May I show you how you can be 100% sure you’re going to heaven when you die?”  Another problem with this type of preacher is that he melts when things get too hot. He is also easily crushed and recycled. If we were to compare him to a plastic gallon of milk we would find that once to prepared and produced contents are consumed all that is left is an empty vessel.

Book of the Month Preacher: This rather pathetic species depends on books written by others to supply himself with “sermon material.” They often use sermon outline books to preach from. This is evidence that this man is not walking with the Spirit of Christ. This preacher reads the newest releases in the stead of the Bible. His preaching is verbal plagiarism! This man’s ministry lives or dies based on the UPS schedule.

The Current Affairs Preacher: While it is good and wise to keep up on current events, IE. our Chris-ian family is being persecuted throughout the world, it is not acceptable to God that currents events supplies the preacher with his “sermon material”

The above types of preachers are not Scriptural based nor are they Scripturally sound. These preachers do not have meat and drink that others know not of. These men have not been called to be servants of God in a ministerial manner. Many of these men meant and mean well. In many cases these men have been they prey of our next very dangerous species of preacher.

The Preying Preacher: ….Read it again. We did not write praying preacher. In stead we wrote preying preacher. The preying preacher is he that preys upon the Christ-ians emotions. This is the preacher that calls the volunteer preacher and is, in many cases, responsible for all the other types we have discussed. The cries of a true prophet of God are these; “Thus saith the LORD”; Blessed art thou”; and Woe unto thee” but the preying preacher’s cries are these, “Don’t you care”; “What will you tell your neighbor at the judgement when he asks you ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ ” or “What more can God do than give you His Son?” The preacher that preys upon emotions is very dangerous and must be avoided at all costs.

Lastly in our not-exhaustive list of dangerous preachers is the works preacher. In the eyes of this preacher everything is quantifiable. His concern is on how many. “How many souls were saved on Saturday?”; “How many were at your church last Sunday?” “How many visitors did you have?” “How many were baptized last year?” How many will be baptized this year?” “How many doors did you knock on?”; “How many cattle …I mean people did you invite?” To this man #’s = spirituality. it has been said by one man, “if there is no work in heaven…well then I don’t want to go.” This type of preacher and this type of (?)christ-ian(?) rely on their works to please God when the fact is they have not found “their” idea of God to be very pleasing or satisfying.

 

At this point we will (DV) describe God’s preacher. This preacher has been called by God in the same way Abraham was, in the same way Noah was, in the same way Moses was, and in the same way Paul was as well as the Lord’s twelve. In the same way Luther was and Calvin was, and Graham was, etc. etc. etc. This man had nothing at all to offer to God other than His whole self. Yes! this man was selected, called, gifted, enabled, and raised up by God and he knows it even if no one else sees it kind of like Joseph and David. When asked by others, “how do you know, though?” All he can answer is, “I just know that I know and I know Whom I have believed.”      [Writers note…We are covered in goosebumps..]

This man, although he has already been made a new creature in Christ, he has again been made into a servant of God for a certain work. This man’s allegiance is to God, God’s Word, and God’s blood bought people, he is never to be the same again.

This man is solely dependent upon God for all his needs and all the needs of the little flock of Christ. This preacher does not depend upon the ideas or books of others. This preacher does not attack the emotions of God’s people. No! The preacher trusts the Word of God to have His way.  There is nothing plastic in this man. There is no emptiness in this preacher for he has hidden the Word of God in his heart. This preacher man has meat and drink that others know not of. This preacher man…this godly man walks with the Spirit of Christ everyday and in every way just as the disciples walked with the Man Christ Jesus everyday and in every way.

This preacher knows nothing of sermons he knows only of the life giving manna that is given him daily and is then given out to others daily. There is no stale or sweetened manna from this preacher. This life giving manna provides the cause to the people of God so much so that there is no need for “works sermons.” Instead the people of God hear the Spirit of their Lord and Savior and say, “Come and dine; rest in Me and with Me awhile.”

My hope is that any church that is in need of a pastor avoid the dangerous preachers we have written upon and find in their stead a man called of God and gifted to be a man sent from God.

“Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.”

“…if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised [H]im from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

A great divider is the sadly debated subject of Christ’s Lordship. In the church or rather in religious camps there have been debates for years on this topic. The two sides are these: In one camp the preacher will offer “Jesus” as Saviour to anyone who will believe. In the other camp it is argued that one cannot “receive” Christ as Saviour lest one is willing to submit to His Lordship or His rule over one’s life. The first camp say’s one can receive Christ as Saviour and make the decision later if one will “make” Him Lord of one’s life. The second camp will argue that Christ will not save one that will not submit.

It is probably obvious on which side we stand.  To us it is clear as ….the Chrystal Sea that when one calls out to God for salvation one is willing to give oneself completely over to God. To get to the root of the issue we should ask this question, “From what are we being saved from?” The answer is obvious, right? We are being saved from hell…………..WRONG! This is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible states clearly that Christ has come to save His people from SIN.

So if we are being saved from sin does that not presuppose that the problem all along was sin? So as a sinner one is living against God’s Authority in one’s life, right? So then does it not logically follow that salvation is a submission to that same Authority?

The Scriptures always support this. The Scriptures use “Lord and Saviour” in that order; first Lord and then Saviour. It goes with the doctrines of repent and believe. The thinker might object by asking how one can repent without first believing. Here is the answer. One repents or submits to Christ’s lordship and then one can believe. Believe means more that a change of mind or an acceptance of facts. To believe is to love, trust, and obey. So in other words before one can love Him one must turn from their love of sin. Before one can trust Him one must cease trusting in other things. Before one can obey Him one must cease from disobeying Him. In Scripture there is condemnation for all who do not love Christ. In Hebrews we read that Christ is the Saviour of those who obey Him and without trusting Him there is no love or desire to obey.

The very text that the first camp love to use defeats their argument. They love to quote Romans 10:9; That if thou shalt confess with thine mouth the Lord Jesus…. see it’s in the text.. to be saved one must confess Christ as one’s Lord and then Christ will be one’s Saviour.

We are not saying that there are certain words that must be used like Lordship. What we are stating is that when salvation occurs in one’s life it is because one has completely given everything over to the Lord Jesus and that includes one’s will and all one’s life.

If it is so obvious in Scripture why do so many get it wrong? It is far easier to sell a saviour (small s) and a happy ending than to charge all sinners, with Heaven’s authority, to submit their lives to the righteous rule of Christ the Lord and to be saved from the sin they so love. In fact it is impossible lest the Holy Spirit gives life to whom He will.

“And the man said, The woman whom [T]hou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.”

An excuse is not a reason and it does not make things right. An excuse betrays one’s weakness of character. An excuse much of the time is the evidence of guilt. I the above text from Genesis three we find Adam blaming God and Eve for his sin. Speaking from this side of the veil, God’s heart must have dropped into His stomach. Put yourself at the scene of the crime.

As you walk upon the crime scene you see your child and you also see the evidence of murder and loss. You rush to your child, “what have you done?” and as he looks at you with fear in his eyes he points the finger of blame at you. As a parent we can only imagine the thoughts that would go through our head at that moment. We believe that the blame being put upon us, at that moment, does not do the harm not even the death but the manifestation of our beloved child’s great fall from us and the loss of what may have been. But the parent’s love still lives.

As you have already deduced this post is on excuses. Not the excuses we find individuals giving in Scripture but the excuses that are given by the lost.

The list of fallacious excuses is long. I limit this posting to focus on the excuses given by those that do not attend church services or fellowships, or Bible studies. We’ve all heard them over and over. Here is a sampling: “The weekend is my time of rest”; “The church is full of hypocrites”; “I don’t have to attend church to prove I’m a Christ-ian” and my favorite, “I don’t like organized religion.”

We will (DV) focus on the last excuse. We do not like overly organized services either. Some churches are so organized that the Holy Spirit has been organized out. What do these excuse makers really mean when they say they dislike organized religion? We can’t speak for all of them but many of them are pretty easily read. What follows is a list of  their true meaning:

• I dislike waking up that early
• I dislike meeting new people
• I dislike feeling fearful of new things
• I dislike my idea of God
• I dislike submitting to authority much less divine Authority
• I dislike that I have known religious people in my past and they have hurt me
• I dislike my stern and abusive upbringing
• I dislike commitment

The list could go on for a while but we see that their dislike of organized religion is code for fear or anger in many cases. Of course there are those than simply do not want to go to church because they enjoy sin and they know that the two do not mix. Sometimes we must dig deeper to see what excuses are covering up. The Bible say’s that it is love that covers a multitude of sins and not excuses.

To those that use this excuse let me try to put things in perspective.

Imagine a television studio deciding that they did not like organized t.v. show scheduling. One would never know when a program is ever on or when to DVR a program. Imagine a surgeon deciding that he/she dislikes organized surgery scheduling. Imagine if an employer decided that he/she dislikes organized business hours and hours of operation yet this employer still hold you responsible for getting you work done. How would you do it if you never knew when the doors to the building would be unlocked?

The point is that organization is necessary but we do agree that organization must have limits.

 

 

“…know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?”  (a portion of James 4:4)

We remember hearing about worldliness and the evils thereof from many a pulpit. And to be sure there is evil a plenty in this world for we are told from Scripture that satan (no capital s for him) is the god of this world (system). The Scriptures also speak of this “present evil world.”  The Bible tells us to “love not the world.” If one does not love the world one is not in danger of worldliness.

So it is true the Christ-ian should be…must be separate from this world. That is to say undefiled by the differing standards and the trends that the world props up. The believer is to be Christ-like and nor like the world. This does not mean we cannot use the things of the world or enjoy the things of the world for “[H]e has given us richly all things to enjoy”

The above teaching on worldliness is not what we heard from the pulpits. To these preachers worldliness was defined as women in pants, cinemas, types of music, types of hair styles, jewelry, etc.

Here is the hypocrisy and irony. While they are wailing against their own ideas worldliness they were using the world’s methods to grow their church and make no mistake it was their church. It would be comical if it didn’t displease the Lord.

A spiritual principle goes like this; if one is to be wise one must spend time with the wise. As that is true then we should be able to tell with whom a preacher spends his time with. If he uses the world’s methods he is spending time with the world. If the preacher is appropriating the method’s of Lord Jesus, the Apostles, and Scripture we know with Whom he is spending his time with.

The flesh will count and the spiritual will pray.

“And satan (no capitalization for him) stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel.”                                                                                                                                                 ” …Joab answered [David’s charge to number], The LORD make [H]is people an hundred times so many more as they be? ….why will he [David] be a cause of trespass to Israel?”              “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore [H]e smote Israel”                                                                                                                                    (1 Chronicles 21)

 

The sequel to these events are as follows God sends His prophet to David. This prophet is named Gad. God sent Gad with (3) three choices of punishment. The (3) three choices were these (3) three years famine, (3) three months to be destroyed by thy foes, or “else three days the sword of the LORD, even the pestilence, in the land, and the angel of the LORD destroying throughout all the coasts of Israel.”

David made the wise choice. He fell upon the mercy of God and God sent pestilence upon Israel…(70,000) seventy thousand fell.

An obstinate person may question whether or not this was mercy. We would counsel them to consider the other choices. A famine would kill more than God’s pestilence did and certainly the enemies of Israel would have slain many more than God’s pestilence.

A tried and tested solution to the trouble we make for ourselves is to fall upon the mercy of God.

However, this post is not about the mercy of God. It is about the flesh’s need to count or to quantify.  (Rabbit trail…I would be remiss not to point out an object lesson. We stated this post is not about God’s mercy yet we find God’s mercy written about. The object lesson is this: the child of God can always find God’s mercy. Back to this post’s purpose.) We use to be a member of a church that counted those in attendance. This church would count a pregnant woman as two (as do I but not for their purposes). If the pastor did not like the count or felt it was too low he would have another count taken.

Crowd counting for the purpose of feeding ones flesh’s can lead one to do bad things. We saw a pastor, during an invitation, ask those who want to be saved to “slip up your hand with every head bowed” and “no one looking around.”  No one was responding so the pastor (wolf) said, “I see that hand.” Reader, there was no hand but after others heard the lie or the false witness many hands began to pop up and counters began to count.

We are aware that there are time when counting is necessary. If one is preparing a large family meal one needs to know the number of people to buy for and to cook for. If your child is on a filed trip you want the teacher to count the children before departing. If one is O.C.D counting is a way of life. If one is training their observation skills one will count steps and how many times this or how many times that, etc.

We will even concede that counting attendance at church is not sinful in itself. But to count attendance to feed one’s flesh and pride is akin to the love of money. Why do I say that ? In some religious camps large numbers of members and visitors is a currency. For example… and be careful here because you may find out something about yourself. This writer has had the honour and privilege to preach, solely by His allowances, in different states as well as in the “Black” church (What life there is in these churches.) We taught in a church for a decade. We’ve attended the big camp meetings and saw men glorified by other men. And now we teach out of the home to a handful of believers. When others here of our ministry they think only size. So, Reader,  Which service would you rather attend the larger church or one that is in a home where only a handful attend?

Granted, that was not a fair question. There are, of course, large churches that are faithful to God and there are home churches that are not. One must “try the spirits” and “prove all things.”

In the last paragraph we conceded that counting is not sin in itself but our text of 1 Chronicles 21 does show that their is a counting that is evil. In David’s case his counting demonstrated one of the few times he failed to trust God. likewise, when a preacher is all about the count he is serving himself and others and not God. When a preacher bases his decisions on the count he serves himself and others and not God. When a preacher is willing to abase his office to shenanigans he is serving himself and others and not God. Please take note as to who it was that influenced David to begin with.

A preacher that serves God knows that there is Only One to please and Only One that counts.

Some might not see how dangerous these practices are. We would encourage you to look up Nadab or Abihu in your concordance to see the danger of doing God’s work the world way.

Another danger is a lost person has been deceived into believing they are saved. They believe in their salvation but they have not believed in Him. Consequently when a faithful servant of God approaches the deceived they are ignored.

The dangers continue. There is a mixed multitude in the visible church and this, to be sure, weakens her and causes shame to the Name of Christ. The world sees this mixed multitude-church and they see zero difference between the church and themselves. So why listen to the church? Look at the divorce rate in the visible church.

Another danger… a future danger. During what is known as the seven year tribulation period this deceived mixed multitude will betray the true children of God just like Judas.

This mixed multitude is the weed in the church’s garden and it was planted by the church, herself.

 

“He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause [H]is [V]oice to be heard in the street.                                                                                                                                                         (Isaiah 42:2)

“He was oppressed,  and [H]e was afflicted, yet [H]e opened not [H]is [M]outh: [H]e is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so [H]e opened nit [H]is [M]outh.                                                                            (Isaiah 53:7)

“And [H]e answered him [Pilate] to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly.”                                                                                                             (Matthew 27:14)

 

In the book of Acts chapter 4 we are told of the great dissension between the high priest and Peter and John. In this chapter we read the words of Peter as he boldly preaches against those that crucified his Lord. In his proclamation he tells of the great power that resides in the Name of “Jesus Christ of Nazareth [W]hom [they] crucified, [W]hom God raised from the dead…”  Peter continues by proclaiming that salvation is found in Christ and in Christ Alone.

The inspired narrative then tells us that “when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”

We can often take knowledge of others who have spent time with Lord Jesus. How is this knowledge taken one might ask. The answer is simple. If one spends time in the Presence of God one is changed and this change is apparent.

One could reference Moses and the glow that was upon him after being with the Lord. One could study the change in the kings Manasseh and Nebuchadnezzar. The conversion of Saul of Tarsus is certainly a trophy of God’s grace. One could even look at the Magi that visited the new born King. Scripture tells us that after being with King Jesus they “departed another way.”   Let us not forget Jacob. If our understanding of Scripture is correct Jacob wrestled with the pre incarnate Word and was changed forever when the Lord touch the hollow of his thigh or hipbone. No one that encounters Christ remains the same.

Onto the topic of composure. Methinks that one of the saddest sights in all the world is a Christ-ian in worry mode or showing a fear of man.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is peace. Paul calls this a peace that passes all understanding. Our Lord teaches us that in patience we shall possess our souls. Solomon wrote that a person who could control their emotions is greater than a man with a great army. God told David to “Be still and know that I am God.” Peter calls us to “gird up the loins of your mind.”

From the above paragraph we have peace, patience, control, being still, and the mind. These are the necessary elements for composure in times of fret, fear, discomfort, pain, anger, worry, etc.

Peace is a Spiritual fruit as well as a gift that the Lord left us, “Peace I leave with you, [M]y peace I give unto you…”

Patience is endurance or perseverance or longsuffering which is also fruit of the Spirit.

Control or temperance, you guessed it…fruit of the Spirit.

Being still and knowing that God is God and that God knows…God knows what is happening and this is the truth that brings peace that passes all understanding.

The mind is where all this takes place. Many preachers call the world our battlefield however, we have learned the battle begins and ends in the mind.

All that has been written above cannot be manufactured. The composure the peace that we speak of is realized only by spending time with Him.

“…I the LORD thy God am a jealous God…”

“Thou shalt not covet….”

 

Pride-filled Idiot: “So the Bible says we shouldn’t covet others, right?                                Bible believer: That’s right….                                                                                                                        P-F I: Well, then there is a contradiction because in the 10 Commandments God calls  Himself a jealous God…                                                                                                                            Bible Believer: You are misunderstanding the definitions. In Scripture jealousy means…      P-F I: Gotta Go.

 

Recently our family went to Florida on vacation. The family enjoyed the Magic Kingdom and we all spent a day at Universal as well as The Holy Land Experience. (We are not supporters of the TBN network.)

While at Universal we went to the Harry Potter Theme Park (Romans 14; John 13:34) and my eldest daughter was chosen to take part in a presentation. She was very excited to say the least. We noticed some others were disappointed or even envious that their birthday boy wasn’t picked we then looked at our twins and all we saw in their expressions was happiness and excitement for their big sister. Afterwards the twins demonstrated jealousy over their big sister’s fun yet still no envy.

Some might see a contradiction in terms in the last sentence. Some might query, “How can there be jealousy without envy?”

If we look at our texts above we see God stating that He is a jealous God and then He forbids us from coveting or being envious. Is this a contradiction in Scripture as the pride-filled idiot thought? Of course not.

Jealousy deals with what one owns and envy deals with what another has. God forbids envy or covetousness because it could lead one to break all of the other nine commandments to obtain the envied object. God starts the commandments by declaring Himself jealous or hyper-protective over His own peculiar people (Peculiar is another word that lazy preachers wrest out of it meaning). And because God is so jealous/protective over His people He provides them/us with what will allow for a good life.

Elsewhere in Scripture we find that Elijah, the prophet is jealous/protective over the Name of God and Ahab is covetous/envious of Naboth’s field. Judas is envious of the expensive ointments that were so rightly “wasted” on Christ.

The Lord Jesus demonstrates great jealousy when He over throws tables in the temple and drives out the men with His scourge of small cords and as He excoriates those that would use the temple differently than that of God’s intended purpose of prayer.

His divine jealousy is showcased as well when He steps in as His disciples are being questioned by bully pharisees.

In prophecy we learn that God will show the nations of the earth how jealous He is over Israel when these puny grasshopper nations, which are less than nothing to Him, seek to destroy Israel. And why do these puny nations hate Israel so much? They covet the blessing of God that Israel has enjoyed.

This hatred, due to envy, is a spiritual principle that our Lord teaches us in John 15:19,“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

He goes on to pray this, “I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are [T]hine.”

He continues His prayer with, “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on [M]e through their word…” If you missed it the “for them also…” is you and me!!!

The Christ-ian is loved by a very jealous God and therefore, he shall envy no one; yet he shall be envied by every one.