Saturday, June 8^th 2013

This part of the series will address another “mark” which identifies the CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God. This mark involves motive, specifically, their motive for addressing the issues found within the Body of Christ and the apostate church congregations.

Keep in mind once again the meaning of “apostate” while this topic of motive is being address.

Apostate is defined as one who commits apostasy.

Apostasy is defined as:

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary

1 : renunciation of a religious faith

2 : abandonment of a previous loyalty : DEFECTION

a renunciation or abandonment of a former loyalty (as to a religion)

one who betrays a trust or an allegiance — see TRAITOR

Nelson’s new illustrated Bible Dictionary states the following regarding apostasy:

Please note the areas I have underlined.

“In Acts 21:21 Paul was described falsely as one who taught the Jews living among the Gentiles to commit apostasy (forsake, NKJV). Second Thessalonians 2:3 declares that the Day of Christ “will not come unless the apostasy comes first” (NASB). This great apostasy will be the time of “the final rebellion against God, when wickedness will be revealed in human form” (2 Thess. 2:3, REB).

Apostasy is generally defined as the determined, willful rejection of Christ and His teachings by a Christian believer (Heb. 10:26–29; John 15:22). This is different from false belief, or error, which is the result of ignorance.”

Even though Paul was clearly innocence of partaking in apostasy, apostasy is something that starting being taught and acted upon very early on in the establishment of the Christian Church. Today we see apostasy and apostate teachings in record degrees like no other time in history.

Apostasy will/would be a hallmark sign before Christ returns. Widespread apostasy will/would be mankind’s final rebellion against God before the end; apostate being that “willful rejection” of either Christ or Christ’s teachings/the Word of God or both by Believers. Not by the world, but by those who started out as Believers. Whereas these individuals started out sincere they have now perhaps renounced true faith, abandoned loyalty to Christ and/or the Word of God, betrayed their allegiance to Christ by betraying the Word of God – distorting it, dismissing it, and making it of no effect.

Another “mark” which identifies the CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God is that they cannot stand this apostate/apostasy, which is taking place within their Christian community. They have a very hard time staying silent while they watch their beloved Church fall apart. They grieve, as Christ grieves, what they see among people who where once dedicated brothers and sisters in Christ.

The CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God is motivated by love for the Body of Christ to speak up, speak out, and speak against what they see taking place within the Body of Christ and with apostate church congregation. Just like Paul, their actions and motives are wrongly assessed. They desire to see the apostate congregations return to true allegiance to Christ and the Word of God. They desire to see the Body of Christ stay on track when they see them veering off into dangerous territory. Many I have talked with have been wrongly maligned as having a wrong spirit and/or having an anti-christ type of spirit. Maligned through the misuse of the scripture, which addresses “accusers of the brethren” [Rev. 12:10]. They are in good company however, since Jesus Himself was accused of having a wrong spirit and being motivated by Satan [Mat. 12:22-30]. Love and allegiance to Christ and the Word of God are their only motive for addressing the issues found within the Body of Christ and the apostate church congregations.

It can be easy to get caught up in the belief that the majority must be right. However, more times than not the majority is exactly whom you do not wish to follow if you are wise. Remember God made it clear that the narrow road was the correct road and that few would find their way to, and on, it [Mat. 7:13-14 & Lk. 13:24].

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Friday, June 07, 2013

These are the types of young people we need to encourage and support, for they are part of what and who will make a godly difference in our society.

Courage – it takes courage people!

http://foxnewsinsider.com/2013/06/06/roy-costner-iv-south-carolina-valedictorian-rips-speech-and-recites-lord%E2%80%99s-prayer

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

All too many religious congregations believe that they can compromise God’s Standards for how things are to be done; thinking God will look the other way because after all, they are trying to use their compromised methods to reach people for Jesus. This is something that appalls the CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God because they know God is Holy and does not sanction such compromise.

I will use an event that took place with the Ark of the Covenant as an example to explain this point.

The touching of the Ark of the Covenant was really the secondary sin that resulted in Uzzah’s death [2 Samuel 6]. Had God’s original commands been followed, the Ark would have never tilted and Uzzah would have never reached out to touch the Ark. The greater sin was in the breaking of the original instruction, which was that the Ark was to be hand carried on the shoulders with poles;[Exodus 25:10-16 and Numbers 4:5, 4:15] it was not to be transported via a cart with animals pulling it. The Ark was to be transported by man carrying its weight.

This is what is referred to as the greater and lesser degrees of sin. Many times, we are both effected and affected by what might be referred to as a secondary sin in our lives, when really the greater sin is that we did not follow God’s first command.

Usually sin can be traced back to a root. Often we can recognize the weeds of sin that are growing and we know they are sin. What we tend not to realize is the root of the sin, which would be the first sin, the original sin, that produced the weeds in our lives. The original sin in the tragedy of the Ark of the Covenant was that they did not transport it as God commanded. The secondary sin was that he touched the Ark, because of the fact that they did not transport it, as they should have.

The CURRENT Spiritual Remnant recognizes that the end result does not justify the means by which one gets there. Many congregations now justify much of their behavior as being Seeker Sensitive. They say they are trying to get people to God, they are trying to lead people to Jesus, they are trying to introduce people and have them arrive at a relationship with Christ. These congregations take the attitude that God is not so much concerned anymore with how they got the people there, the method so to speak. God is and has always been concerned with the method. The event, which took place with the Ark of the Covenant, is a great example of this truth.

Sin can be found in the method. Even if you are attempting to do a great thing, a godly thing, if there are sins in the root of that godly thing or that godly effort, God is not pleased. If there are sins in the roots, there will be sins in the weeds, in whatever it produces. What does sin do? Sin always kills, destroys and/or causes something to die in some manner – either literally or figuratively, meaning in either a literal sense or the spiritual sense.

We have to remember God that is not harsh; God is Holy. Therefore, the end result is not good enough, how we get there does matter! Ungodliness around us, whether in a secular or religious setting is no excuse before God or man for personal ungodliness. Public opinion or religious rules are not our Standard in life; God’s Word, God’s Standard, should be our standard in life.

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Thursday, May 30, 2013

Something has come up several times recently in several ways, which speaks to both identifying the CURRENT Spiritual Remnant of God and identifying an apostate church congregation. It involves the intent of the group or individual in the area of creating God-dependence or Man-dependence.

Man-dependence is created to exert a certain amount of control and to be able to manipulate people. God-dependence is created to help people be able to depend primarily, and even solely, upon God in situations where there is the need. Religion wants to make people dependent on man, spiritual godliness and godly spirituality wants to make people dependent on God and therefore, points people to God.

Here is a real life example that will help you gain further insight.

The following prophesy was given to a church congregation as a means through which Jesus could building faith in the members of the congregation. This Rhema Word falls into the category of exhortation and encourage forms of prophesy meant for the growth of the Saints. The Pastor of this congregation first said this was not a ‘Word from God’ then later relented on his position when asked in the presence of witnesses how it was in error. He then took the position that the Word could not be presented because people in his congregation needed first to ‘Be renewed in their minds.’ To that end one would wonder is not this type of Word part of that very process; a statement you will understand better once you have read the Rhema Word for yourself. No, this pastor did not want such a power Rhema Word of Faith put out to his congregation because it pointed the people to the All-Sufficient Work of the Cross of Christ and would birth great faith in Jesus, and Jesus alone, among his congregants – creating less dependence on him as their shepherd.

Judge [discern] the Word for yourself.

The Rhema Word has been duplicated here exactly as it was given to the Pastor of said congregation.

Thus says the Lord God, “You seek Victory yet, you have Victory. You seek Truth, yet you have Truth. You seek Freedom, yet you have Freedom. You seek and cannot seem to find, can you not see that what you seek is Me. I Jesus am Victory. I Jesus am Truth. I Jesus am Freedom. I have told you in My Word that if you seek Me, the Truth, you will find Me. If you know Me, you know the Truth. I told you in My Word you would know the Truth and the Truth would make you free – free because I am the Truth. I and my work on the cross is all that is needed for victory and freedom; it is all that is needed to live in Truth. Why do you continue to seek Me for something that you have already if you know Me, if I am in you and you are in Me. Stop seeking to get and look at what you have and find overcoming power. I am the Lord your God hear Me.”

Spiritual/Political Disclaimer:

This blog will not be for the faint of heart or the easily offended. It will not be in any way politically correct. It will make every effort to share the truth in love, [Ephesians 4:11-16], to a decaying and dying society and church. I share what I share not to hurt, harm, or offend any person[s] or group; I do it because Christ’s Standard and Truth is not being represented by enough of His Followers and I do it out of love. I love enough to tell His Truth.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NKJV

¹¹And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹²for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.