Mini "SERMONETTES"- #3

1) "Seek the Lord, and His Strength: seek His Face evermore." -(Psa. 105:4)
"I AM the Vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for WITHOUT ME YE CAN DO..... NOTHING. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fiire, and they are burned." -(John 15:5-6)
***** If one's faith (for Righteousness, both for SALVATION and SANCTIFICATION) is not in Christ's Blood Sacrifice (ie: "THE CROSS"), he is n-o-t i-n C-h-r-i-s-t.
We have no "strength" on our own to combat the forces of Satan that are arrayed against us to "steal, kill, and to destroy" (see Jhn. 10:10a). His shed Blood (and our faith in THAT) is our only Defense which allows HIS Strength (the HOLY SPIRIT) to fight him on our behalf! (Rom. 8:2). Once we begin trusting in "ourselves and our performance of do's... See More and dont's), that mighty Strength (via His GRACE) is frustrated, and can potentially become "cut off" (see Gal. 2:21; 5:4). When Paul speaks of "law" in those preceding verses, he is speaking of any system of our "do's and dont's". This includes all man-made and devised methods, programs, regimens, performance of spiritual disciplines, denominational rules and ordinances, etc.
Are we not to do many of these things? Of course we are, but NOT AS A MEANS OF ACCEPTANCE WITH GOD FOR SPIRITUALITY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. Christ has already paid for that on the Cross!

2) The Bible's formula for daily victory over Satan & (the) sin (nature)= The "Fear of the Lord" (Eccl. 12:13; Pr. 8:13; 16:6) + "Confession & repentance of sin" (Pr. 28:13; 1 Jn. 1:8-9; Mk. 1:14-15) + "Faith for Righteousness exclusively in Christ & His Blood" (IE: "Christ crucified) (Rom. 10:4; Rev. 12:10-11; Rom. 5:9;... 1 Cor. 1:17-18,23-24; Rom. 8:1-2) )... and each of these three things are now sorely missing in the modern church, or else all three are not stringed together, as God requires.
Just to "park it" in one area produces an imbalance and error.

3) *** WILLFUL REJECTION OF REVEALED TRUTH*** is a terrible thing. There is a certain scripture passage mentioned SEVEN TIMES throughout the Bible, which portrays God's judgment of "a hardening of the heart" upon a person (during his lifetime) who does this!
Seven scriptures: (Isa. 6:9-10; Matt. 13:14; Mk. 4:12; Lk. 8:10; Jhn. 12:40; Acts 28:26-27; Rom. 11:8)
"... Go unto the people, and say, Hearing you shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing you shall see, and not perceive:
For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
What you have just read... is God's manner of allowing Satan to deceive a person. If that person WILLFULLY REJECTS TRUTH, God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the Truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness. (see 2 Thess. 2:10-12)
Look around you, folks, we see this ... See Moreright before our very eyes!!!!
Very sobering. Once we receive Truth, we best not REJECT it, or we open ourselves up to this of which I just shared with you. God's Word cannot lie!
So... what can cause a person to "reject the Truth"? Well, for one thing, FEAR. Fear of what people will think, fear of losing income, etc, etc. Friend, you better fear the LORD instead, or you will have some REAL fear in store for you, and you will wish you had obeyed the Truth plainly showed to you!
I speak now as a servant of the Lord: REPENT, and begin obeying that Truth which YOU KNOW, or DECEPTION.... is at the door, leading to destruction (I speak this in love, not in malice.).
Remember how that JESUS, numerous times throughout the scriptures, makes this statement: "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear"? Well... this is what He was referring to !!
DO you have faith that God will keep and preserve you from the ire of man? DO you believe that He is of more power than Satan and rebellious people? Right here is a test of that, where "the rubber meets the road", so-to-speak! Friend, you will not regret it. God MAKES A WAY, WHEN THERE SEEMS TO BE NO WAY. HE IS A GOD OF A-L-L P-O-W-E-R. HALLELUJAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith (Christ and Him Crucified), giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
Speaking lies in hypocrisy; HAVING THEIR CONSCIENCE SEARED WITH A HOT IRON;" -(1 Tim. 4:1-2)
God gives man the free will to accept or reject His Way (Christ) and Means (the Cross) for not only Salvaton, but for Righteousness in daily living. And if that is rejected by those who claim to know Him, He is forced to give them over to apostacy, deception, and potential destruction unless they repent. Is God mean? NO, HE has provided man a Way out. Man's PRIDE is the problem!
"The same Sun (God) which melts wax (softens the humblecl repentant heart) HARDENS the clay (hardens the proud unrepentant heart)."

4) There are countless opinions of man on... whatever, but THE WORD OF GOD shall stand; And those who are IN the Word of God, through faith in HIM (Jesus) AND HIS BLOOD (ie: "The Cross") shall stand as well. "On Christ the solid Rock I stand; All other ground is sink-ing sand."
"When dark-ness veils His love-ly Face, I rest in His un-changing Grace; Through ev-ry high and stor-my gale, my anchor holds with-in the veil!"
That's the bottom line, now isn't it, regardless of the countless opinions out there.
.... and friend, if you get THAT right, and remain in that Faith daily, the HOLY SPIRIT will take care of all those peripheral areas: like things you WATCH, things you LISTEN to, where you are to go, the things you are to avoid, etc. He will show you.
... "Howbeit when He, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will guide you into all Truth...' -(Jhn. 16:13)

5) "... whatsoever is not of faith is sin." -(Rom. 14:23). Meaning.... if you are doing good/ obeying the Word through "law", simply out of compulsion and not from faith in your heart, it is s-i-n. (For God looks at the HEART.)
You see, friend, you could be "doing all the right things", and yet still be rejected by God, BECAUSE YOUR MOTIVES ARE NOT RIGHT.
EVERYTHING we receive from God (which is lasting) must come through that faith in the Cross, because WITHOUT THAT SACRIFICE, God can have absolutely no fellowship and dealings with us whatsoever. HE.. is perfectly pure and holy, WE... See More... are not; And that Cross is like a Bridge between the two. If we are in the flesh in the very least, in THAT AREA (whatever area of our life that is), we are cut off from His Grace, and His Life-giving Spirit will not be flowing

6) "Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin." -(James 4:17).
Meaning.... if you know the morally right thing to do, and WILL NOT DO IT, because of fear of people or loss of income or ..... whatever, it is s-i-n. If that is you, you best repent, or d-e-c-e-p-t-i-o-n will be at your door, for you are deliberately rejecting revealed Truth, and God expects you to o-b-e-y.
Fear of what people will think of you, (ie: fear of losing status, prestige, position, etc.), and fear of losing income because of that... because of a decision to obey what the Holy Spirit has plainly told you to do or shun..constitutes UNBELIEF IN GOD, which He hates!

7) Man's problem is not "low self-esteem; it is not "a troubled past"; It is not "abuse from another person"; It is not "lack of education"; Man's problem is (A) "SIN" (NATURE), inherited from Adam's fall, through his impure blood-line (See Ezek. 18:4,20; Rom. 5:12; 3:23).
The SOLUTION (or "Way") whereby man can be saved from sin's deadly decree of "spiritual death" (IE: eternal separation from God in a "lake of fire" -Rev. 20:15; 21:8) is.......
1) REPENTANCE OF SINS (Ezek. 18:21-22; Acts 17:30; 3:19; Mk. 1:15; Lk. 24:46-47), and....2) FAITH EXCLUSIVELY IN "JESUS CHRIST" (Jhn. 14:6), AND HIS BLOOD SACRIFICE ON THE CROSS (Jhn. 3:14-16; 1 Cor. 1:17-18,23-24; 2:2)...
Moreover, the same Way a person gets SAVED is the same Way he LIVES FOR GOD (Col. 2:6): By "GRACE THROUGH FAITH" (Eph. 2:8-10) exclusively in Jesus Christ and His Blood Sacrifice on the Cross (HIS Sacrifice), not by "LAW" (our trust in OUR sacrifices/ performance of "do's and dont's) -Gal. 5:4; For the STRENGTH of (the) SIN (nature) is "LAW" (1 Cor. 15:56b; Rom. 7:9). Any time we begin once again trusting in "the flesh"/ "law"/ any system of OUR sacrifices of do's and don'ts... the GRACE OF GOD IS FRUSTRATED IN OUR LIVES (Gal. 2:21), the Holy SPirit is "quenched" in our life (1 Thes. 5:19), and "the law of sin and death" (the sin nature) begins to come alive again (Rom. 8:1-2), bringing us back into bondages of sin (Gal. 5:1).

CHURCH RETURN TO THE CROSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8) A Divine Faith always has as It's Object Christ & Him Crucified, and is always based upon the SCRIPTURES, not upon outward observances & feelings. (Jn. 3:14-16; 2:23-24)

9) "He who believes on the Son has everlasting Life: and he who believes not the Son shall not see Life; but the wrath of God abides on him." -(Jn. 3:36)
The great Dividing Line of humanity is 'the CROSS' (Christ's Blood Sacrifice). Which side are you on? God's everlasting Life? Or His wrath? ... and that begins NOW, in this present lifetime.
"And this is the record, that God has given to us Eternal Life, and this Life is in His Son. He who has the Son has Life; and he who has not the Son has not Life." -(1 Jn. 5:11-12)
Either we unreservedly give our life to Christ, trusting in His Sacrifice for our sins, and LIVE, or... we live for OURSELF, retaining our sins, and PERISH. ...On the one Side: Light; On the other side: darkness. God is commanding each of us, now more than ever... to CHOOSE.

10) Jesus did not come to win a popularity contest: He came to do the will of His Father: which was to save humble repentant sinners who want TRUTH.
.... and His followers are to be the same way. Yeah, if you wanna have everyone to like you, and to "not make waves" and have "no drama", then true Christianity is not for you, friend! Example, say 95 % of those around you believe ONE thing, contrary to the Bible,.... and there YOU are, basing your life UPON the Bible, and to top it off- preaching AGAINST that one thing.... oooo, you got trouble.
...."HOW D-A-R-E YOU !!" ...and then you hone in on the ULTIMATE sore spot: One's sacrifice for righteousness, what they TRUST in..... Oh my!


11) PRAISE GOD I'm not "wanted by the law"; My picture is not posted in Satan's post office! (See Gal. 3:10; 1 Cor. 15:56b; Romans 10:2-4: Phil. 3:9; Rev. 12:10-11)

12) "THE CROSS" strikes against all man-made efforts of pride for righteousness, which is why it is an 'offence' to the 'religious'. (1 Cor. 1.23; Gal. 5:11: 6:12-14: Gen. 4:3-8)