Bible Lesson 182
The state of man today Proverbs 16:7
“When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him”
“If we let ourselves believe that man began with divine grace, that he forfeited this by sin, and that he can be redeemed only by divine grace through the crucified Christ, then we shall find a peace of mind never granted to philosophers. He who cannot believe is cursed, for he reveals by his unbelief that God has not chosen to given him grace.”
Blaise Pascal
One of the most important things that God calls a man to do is to “examine Himself to make sure that He is in the Faith. God inspired the writer to call us to test ourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you”.unless indeed your are disqualified.” 2nd Corinthians 13:5. How often do we today, examine our faith, and I don’t mean by asking ourselves mentally, ‘do I have faith’. What I do mean is have we stopped and put everything else out of our minds and gotten alone before God, and really laid out what we believe, who we believe and to what extend we believe and live, to prove our belief or faith.
God has put us all on the spot with that verse of scripture, and it’s time we, every one of us, understood that there are all kinds of faith and all kinds of beliefs and all kinds of denominations and all kinds of churches and all kinds of preacher/pastors. We have allowed so much trash into our minds and hearts and religious lives that we are for the most part unable to make a check of what we believe; because we have believed so much (false preaching) that we are incapable of really sorting out what we really believe. We for the most part wander around in darkness believing we have the light of life, who is Jesus Christ.
I am afraid that most people today who call themselves church members, have heard some little sugar coated gospel and they liked it so much that they close their ears to the truth and really do not want to know what God has said or what God is saying to us today. Yes, God is still speaking to us today, and He speaks to us through His Son who is the savior of those who obey Him. Christ speaks to us through His Word the Bible, which is the inerrant Word of God. When a person really studies the word and opens himself to God, as a rotten and depraved worm who desperately needs a Savior’.the Lord speak to us and give us that soul saving truth that sets us free.
Has anyone stopped recently and really looked at the shape of our world and what we call our civilization’ If we would do that, we would realize that what we have been hearing from pulpits around the country cannot be found in the Bible. Many of these preachers do not need a Bible because they are afraid of the Bible. Their preaching calls God’s Holy Inerrant word into question and they are followed by thousands every time they begin to sell their snake oil.
So how did we get to this point, where in many, or probably most churches, have more of the devil’s children than they do God’s Children. That is sad to say, but if you really are aware of God’s Word, you have to admit it is true. There are so many who think that all they have to do is to be baptized in the water at some denominational church and they are saved. They think that because they go to church every time the doors are opened; or because they teach a Sunday school class, or sweep the floor, or tithe a little of their income, that God will have to accept them into His family. Now, don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of those things, but none of them has anything to do with saving a soul. The reason that we have reached this point is that we have lost preachers who would preach for nothing and preach under God’s trees, if they were not called by some organized church to preach. Now, if you miss the rest of this lesson on our churches, it’s members, or it’s preachers and teachers, do not miss this?.brobob is not saying that there are no good churches: not saying that there are not preachers who preach the truth unfailingly: not saying that there are no truly saved people in most churches.
What I am saying is that there are so many voices, so many unsaved preachers, so much cheap grace being doled out to congregations and so many people who have sought to join the churches for the wrong reason that we have now become a mixed multitude, and in the words of a great old man of God, “We are many?.but we are not much”! I know that there are many Who have joined one of the many denominational churches, and been assured by the church leaders that they are saved, that they are going to heaven and they have reveled in that assurance; but let me be quick to advise you that there is no preacher, prophet or pope that can assure you that you are saved. We are assured by the Holy Spirit (who is in every saved person) that we are God’s children. He (the Holy Spirit) teaches the saints (all saved people) about Christ, and He dwells in them continually and imparts the love of God. Ephesians 1:13; Romans 5:3-5; John 16:7-15; John14:26.
A person does not become saved, and inherit heaven, by joining the church. Joining a church makes you a church member, becoming yoked with Jesus Christ for eternity, makes you a Christian. Nobody can simply look at a person and know whether they are saved or not. We can make a pretty good judgment about their salvation if we live close and observe them, but even then we cannot know for sure. One thing that we can know for sure is that we have allowed our civilization to degenerate to the point that in many places today people cannot walk the streets without fear of being robbed, or killed. Instead of our being what God called us to be we have decided that we want to be ?nice, caring, compassionate, and positive’. For those of you and there are thousands upon thousands out there that have taken up that kind of sharing of the gospel of Christ, let me say that God instructs us in James 3:17, “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure,(truth), then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” Now, what do we think that means? It certainly does not elude to those who change or misrepresent the truth of God’s word. Instead it means that those who are preaching the truth will never ever attempt to soften the warnings or prohibitions of God’s word or will. They preach what the Lord has said without equitation or misrepresentation, with no apologizes; and those who are true Christians are never offended by the word of God. James used the word ?peaceable’, which does not mean that we ever surrender to the false ideas and false gospel ideals. The Christian preaches peace, on God’s terms, and God’s terms for peace is only found in a sinners surrender to Christ.
We have an explosion of preachers in our society that seem to think and preach that God is to be spelled god with a small g, because man is able to manipulate Him and use Him for man’s purposes. That is heresy, pure and simple; and that is one of the reasons that our society is layered with wolves, masquerading as sheep. Jesus spoke about these false prophets in Matthew 7:15, when He said “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.’ It should alert us to the danger of being led astray by those who are using people for the purpose of money, fame, or simply those who are doing the devil’s bidding. Jesus follows His Preaching in the Sermon of the mount, where He tells us in the two verses prior to verse 15, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” I want you to stop here and look at what the Son of God, God in the flesh, Jesus Christ is saying and it is a warning to those who are aware and awake as they read the scriptures. Jesus preached in verses 13, 14, and 15 of Matthew chapter 7, to warn us that there are ?two gates’ that lead to ?two different destinations’ and that we will encounter false prophets that will preach in such a way as to cause us to enter the wrong gate, and find ourselves in hell for eternity. I wish people would make a word search to find how many times we are warned about false prophets, in the Word of God. Yet, we in our selfish, arrogant and narcissistic natures seek out those who are false prophets, and we follow them like lemmings over the cliff.
Cheap grace preachers, preaching false prophecy, have made merchandise of millions over the world, and our culture is suffering to a great extend because of the lack of morality, and the loss of direction because we have been led away from Bible study and the Christian walk.
There is no such thing as cheap grace! Grace belongs to God and it cost Him His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to make the one and only way that leads to God, and grants man redemption from sin. We have heard so much untruth, that we will not accept the gospel truths, and as a result of that, we are not saved and will in the end hear God say to us?.”Depart from me you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” Matthew 25:41. The truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ does not teach a health and wealth gospel. It does not teach a prosperity gospel, and it does not teach an easy life gospel. Instead God said to the Apostle Paul when he prayed three times for relief from a ?thorn in his flesh’, ” My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2nd Corinthians 12:9. When Jesus was approached by a person who said that he would follow Jesus wherever He went; but Jesus said to him “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head; and as to an easy life, Jesus Christ said “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword”, and again He warned us that if we really follow Him, and spoke and lived and believed and obeyed like He did, that we would be hated by the world, John 15:18-20. That is the reason that it is so important that we know the Word of God and the God of the Word.
No man is ever saved until he is called by the Father to the Son by Grace, and exercises informed and God given faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ to redeem them from sin and it’s condemnation, John 6:44; Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 8:1-11. The One and Only Savior, the One who gave His life as a substitute for sinners, has been replaced by feel-good, hope for God’s Grace in the end, kind of ignorance. So many people have been assured by preachers who have poked their finger in the eye of our Omnipotent God, and lied to congregations who wanted the discounted kind of religion, that it is hard today to get a conversation about the Bible from anyone anymore. Let me be quick to say that it is those who have wanted to sell a sanitized gospel, one that does not offend or scare anyone but instead takes all comers and pronounces them saved for eternity. These are false prophets, people who look good and speak well but who are wolves who will cost many people their chance at real salvation. How can anyone who has ever even perused the Word of God, the Bible, get the idea that God is not to be feared, that hell is not a place where people will be tormented for eternity, that God does not demand a lifestyle that is established in His Word the Bible. If any of you who believe any of those lies are reading this lesson, please contact me because I have some water front property in Arizona that I want to sell you. Matthew 10:28; Matthew 18:6-9; Matthew 25:31-46; Luke 16:19-31; Ephesians 2:10; 2nd Corinthians 5:17.
How in the world can we completely throw aside God Inspired Word and assist people in their attempts to go to hell on their own terms, as we vote for instead of standing on the word of God that clearly paints homosexuality as a sin, Romans 1:18-32; 1st Corinthians 6:9; Deuteronomy 23:17; Leviticus 20:13; Leviticus 18:22. Now let me add, Homosexuality is a sin as it is pointed out in the above verses. So we deal with homosexuality as a sin, by loving those who have been allured into the practice of homosexuality as God’s creatures who need to know the truth (From God’s Word), so that they can be set free from the bondage of sin. We do the same thing with those who commit any other sin. Going along to get along is not a trait that is taught by God’s Word, so we do not demonstrate love for those who sin by agreeing with them about their sin; instead we take the time and make the effort to snatch them from the flames of hell, by sharing God’s inspired, inerrant word of God with them. Once we have done that, we have done all that God says that we should do.
God cannot be clipped and trimmed, to make Him fit our ideas about life and living, instead we are to be what God says we are to be, in the Bible. If a person just cannot stand the heat of the Word of God then they must move away from those who love God enough to obey Him. That begs the question?.”How does our society measure up to God’s stated plans for those who will inherit heaven?” The answer is, that we are nowhere near where we should be as a society. That does not mean that nobody lives in such a way to please God; however, not nearly enough people who are church members come anywhere close. You see, godly living has nothing to do with being a church member. It should but we have come so far from God and been so apathetic and lazy and self-minded that in many churches today, you would have to look hard to find a real Christian, and that includes some of the preachers. Most like to think that any man who stands behind a pulpit and speak soothing words to them is a God called preacher; but that is not true in every case. To prove my point just listen to what your preacher teaches most of the time and you will find that much of it contradicts what the Bible says.
We have the majority of preacher today who have made God subservient to man; and they do that by teaching that God loves everybody, and Jesus Christ loves everybody and Christ died for everybody, and that contradicts the Word of God. Look for yourself at John 14:15; John 14 21-24; John 15:9-16; Hebrews 5:8-9; Ephesians 1:1-6. And then you have those who call the clear teaching of God into question with their laissez-faire attitude about the inerrancy of the Word of God, and about the existence of hell. Most preachers do not have the intestinal fortitude to openly say that the Bible has errors in it, but they will make it plain that there are, by the way they preach and how they stand on the word of God . Take for instance, the issue that is in the forefront today in our country (America), and that is the issue of Homosexual marriage and the approval of homosexual conduct. The Bible is clear that homosexuality is a sin and so if a preacher chooses to support it or chooses to be silent about it you can know that he is denying God. The same is true of so many of the issues that are involved in a person’s understanding of what the truth really is. We tend to like to take the wide gate and follow that broad way and to never really come down on the verse of scripture that deals with things like, Will God do anymore than He has already done to free a sinner from sin? Can a person make up their mind to be saved without God first drawing them to Christ?
Is God or man in control of all of salvation? Does salvation fundamentally change every person who is saved? Does church membership equate to salvation? Will every truly saved person demonstrate their salvation by hungering and thirsting after God, or is salvation like a credit card or a pass that we can use to get into heaven? Now let me answer the five or so questions that I just asked above from the Word of God, the Bible. First, will God do anything more than He has already done to free a sinner from bondage to sin and save them? The answer is absolutely not, because the death of Jesus Christ was the remedy for sin and there is nothing else required! Let me say right here that salvation belongs to God and He does it all. God The Father, planned individual salvation before the foundation of the world and predestined every elect individual to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4-5; Hebrews 5:9; 2nd Timothy 2:8-13; John 3:16-21; Psalms 3:8; Acts 4:12; Psalms 50:23. Second, Can a sinner just decide to be saved? The answer is absolutely not, because everyone of us was born dead in trespass and sin, and a dead man can decide nothing, especially about salvation, Ephesians 2:1-4; John 6:44; John 15:16. Third, is God or man in control of Salvation? The answer is obvious, if we look at the answers to the two questions above.
Salvation belongs to God and we must be drawn ( drug) by God to the Cross of Christ. Fourth, Does everyone who is saved by Grace through faith experience a fundamental change in their hearts and mind, which influences their lifestyle. The answer is yes and I recommend that you read first Ephesians 2:10, and then 2nd Corinthians 5:17;Galatians 2:20; 2nd Corinthians 5:21. Fifth, does church membership equate to salvation? In our society and religious situation, it does not even come close. Joining a denominational or non-denominational church makes you a church member; but having submitted to the Lordship of Christ, bowing to His work on our behalf as being sufficient to save us and having repented and demonstrated works that point to salvation, make us a yoke-fellow of Christ. Romans 10:9-10; Acts 2:38; Luke 24:47; Matthew 11:28-30; Romans 8:1-11. Last, but not least, Do all truly saved people demonstrate their salvation by hungering and thirsting after God. Yes we are commanded by Christ in His Sermon on the Mount . Read Matthew 5:1-16; Isaiah 55:1-2; Exodus 20:1-7; Matthew 4:10; Psalms 119:10. Now if you are interested in gaining heaven and missing hell for eternity, I pray that you will read and study this lesson to find the truth about our God and His Grace and His Gospel. Understand that man is not in the drivers seat regardless of who told you that you were. Don’t believe it because I said it, read it and believe it because our Creator God, the only Omnipotent One, said it and I quoted you the scripture where He said it.
God made man to be strong and understanding and dependent upon Him alone. God made man to be a leader who could and would be willing to take on the gates of hell, once God saves him; but man has lost his way and in doing so, we have led our families, our friends, our churches and our schools and our government astray. Too many men today would walk past twenty churches in order to watch foot ball or basket ball of some other sport on the one day that God gave man to recreate and learn about and love and worship God. You may not like this but as I see it, man has sold out to the highest bidder, and in today’s market it is our government. Think about this the Lord gave the responsibility of helping the poor to the church, but we allowed the government to take it over, and now we have almost half of our population dependent upon the government and it’s entitlement programs. Someone has said and I agree, ?Entitlement programs are meant to help the poor in hard times?..they are not meant to be career choices. That’s the reason that man has slipped ?he allowed himself to become dependent of someone other than God. I will leave you with this thought “When a saint is down to nothing, He does not have to worry because God will always make a way.” until next time, draw near to God by reading and studying and meditating upon God inspired Word, the Bible. This is brobob
P.S. Let me share with you some truth from A.W. Pink (1886-1952), and Brother Pink titled this small truth ?.?Are you truly saved’ How may I be sure that my name is written in the Lamb’s book of Life? We answer, very briefly. First, by God’s having taught you to see and brought you to feel your inward corruption, your personal vileness, your awful guilt, your dire need of the sacrifice of the Lamb. Second, by causing you to make Christ of first importance in your thoughts and estimation, perceiving that He alone can save you. Third, by bringing you to believe in Him, rest your whole soul upon Him, desiring to be found in Him, not having your own righteousness, but His. Fourth, by making Him infinitely precious to you, so that He is all your desire. Fifth by working in you a determination to please and glorify Him.
Until next time,
may God bless and keep you
This is Bro. Bob