Innocent

Psa 26:6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O LORD:What a marvelous statement to be able to say this in truth. This should be what every person that proclaims Christ is their Savior strives to be. We are seen as innocent in the eyes of God because of the blood of Jesus. Complete innocence will not be achieved until we join the heavenly host. That does not mean we should not give up on this life we live and the innocency that we desire. May we wash our hands in holiness.

COURAGE

Joshua 1:9; Daniel 3:16,17; Philippians 1:28

I am reminded of that old saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” There is an element of truth in this saying. What I have observed is, courage is not a reckless abandonment without due consideration. When we see anyone rush into a burning building, it is not reckless abandonment but with quick deliberation and an understanding that great harm might come to the rescuer. Courage is not the abandonment of all sense, but the consideration of the possibility of harm.

In the consideration of our position with God through His Son Jesus Christ, we do not abandon all sense as we live our lives in a Godly manner and witness for Him. Joshua received a word of encouragement in Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” We have the support that others do not have. Through prayer, before we enter the fray, God is right there with us to support us in all of our endeavors to witness to lost and saved alike. Why did I say the saved? Because of some that are saved stray or fall back and we need strength, courage, and wisdom to go to and encourage them. The lost we understand but sometimes we forget about those that have backslidden.

Our adversaries love to see us as weak and uncertain. While teaching seminary, I instructed students that when they came to one of those words in the Old Testament that they were not sure of how to pronounce, instead of muddling around and hemming and hawing, simply say it with authority. Many, who think they know how to say it will say hmmm, maybe he is right. Understand, I am not saying to speak salvation in ignorance or any other doctrine for that matter. Know the plan of salvation and support scripture. Know doctrine and support scripture. Then say it with authority instead of being mealy-mouthed in our discussion. There are certain things we should be masters in knowledge. In Ephesians 6 we are told to stand. I love the answer of the three Hebrew children in Daniel 3:16,17 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. This passage thrills me to no end. The part of the answer where they say, “. . . we are not careful to answer thee. . . “ this thrills me to my tippy toes. They are saying, we don’t have to think about our answer, we don’t have to consult each other about our answer, we don’t even have to pray about it because we know God’s answer already. NO,NO,NO. These young men were standing as Joshua was told to stand and be courageous. There is another part to this answer that I also love, “If it be so. . . “. Let me tell you about the power of our God. If He wants to deliver us, He will. If He does not want to deliver us, that is ok also. We will not lose our trust and faith in God. Do what you want and what you think you can king. We are prepared.

Preachers, Pastors, we are called to be courageous and to stand. I have communicated with a number of you that are dissatisfied with how some things are slipping among our churches. I have heard the terms, fed up, wrong, things amiss and a few other things. There seems to be a fear that one might be ostracized or shunned to speak up with courage and take a stand. May I restate a common scripture, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Let me add this, who cares who is against us. A good preacher friend of mine, solid scripturally, accepted the pastorate of a small Southern Baptist Church. His thought was to teach and preach the truth to this church and bring it into our work. All the time he pastored this church, they never observed the Lord’s Supper. After several years he came to the realization, that he would never achieve his goal and resigned. He came to me and said, I want to join your church, I know you are the pastor and I will always support you. My reply, why not pastor Brother. He said I have been blackballed in our local and national association. My reply, welcome brother. Maybe it is my age, maybe I am just ignorant. I simply believe in the Word of God and believe that if we don’t take a stand today, tomorrow may be too late. Paul said to the Philippian Brothers, Philippians 1:28 “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” Every member and every preacher and pastor is called to stand and be of great courage. I challenge you to stand for the scripture truth and follow many of our forefathers in the battle for God.

What is Faithful?

Firm in adherence to the truth and to the duties of the Word of God.

Firmly adhering to duty; of true fidelity; loyal; true to allegiance; as a faithful subject.

Constant in the performance of duties or services; exact in attending to commands; as a faithful servant.

“A faithful man shall abound with blessings:” – Proverbs 28:20 KJB

“ . . . be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Rev 2:10c

COURAGE

Joshua 1:9; Daniel 3:16,17; Philippians 1:28

I am reminded of that old saying, “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” There is an element of truth in this saying. What I have observed is, courage is not a reckless abandonment without due consideration. When we see anyone rush into a burning building, it is not reckless abandonment but with quick deliberation and an understanding that great harm might come to the rescuer. Courage is not the abandonment of all sense, but the consideration of the possibility of harm.

In the consideration of our position with God through His Son Jesus Christ, we do not abandon all sense as we live our lives in a Godly manner and witness for Him. Joshua received a word of encouragement in Joshua 1:9 “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” We have the support that others do not have. Through prayer, before we enter the fray, God is right there with us to support us in all of our endeavors to witness to lost and saved alike. Why did I say the saved? Because of some that are saved stray or fall back and we need strength, courage, and wisdom to go to and encourage them. The lost we understand but sometimes we forget about those that have backslidden.

Our adversaries love to see us as weak and uncertain. While teaching seminary, I instructed students that when they came to one of those words in the Old Testament that they were not sure of how to pronounce, instead of muddling around and hemming and hawing, simply say it with authority. Many, who think they know how to say it will say hmmm, maybe he is right. Understand, I am not saying to speak salvation in ignorance or any other doctrine for that matter. Know the plan of salvation and support scripture. Know doctrine and support scripture. Then say it with authority instead of being mealy-mouthed in our discussion. There are certain things we should be masters in knowledge. In Ephesians 6 we are told to stand. I love the answer of the three Hebrew children in Daniel 3:16,17 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. 17. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. This passage thrills me to no end. The part of the answer where they say, “. . . we are not careful to answer thee. . . “ this thrills me to my tippy toes. They are saying, we don’t have to think about our answer, we don’t have to consult each other about our answer, we don’t even have to pray about it because we know God’s answer already. NO,NO,NO. These young men were standing as Joshua was told to stand and be courageous. There is another part to this answer that I also love, “If it be so. . . “. Let me tell you about the power of our God. If He wants to deliver us, He will. If He does not want to deliver us, that is ok also. We will not lose our trust and faith in God. Do what you want and what you think you can king. We are prepared.

Preachers, Pastors, we are called to be courageous and to stand. I have communicated with a number of you that are dissatisfied with how some things are slipping among our churches. I have heard the terms, fed up, wrong, things amiss and a few other things. There seems to be a fear that one might be ostracized or shunned to speak up with courage and take a stand. May I restate a common scripture, “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Let me add this, who cares who is against us. A good preacher friend of mine, solid scripturally, accepted the pastorate of a small Southern Baptist Church. His thought was to teach and preach the truth to this church and bring it into our work. All the time he pastored this church, they never observed the Lord’s Supper. After several years he came to the realization, that he would never achieve his goal and resigned. He came to me and said, I want to join your church, I know you are the pastor and I will always support you. My reply, why not pastor Brother. He said I have been blackballed in our local and national association. My reply, welcome brother. Maybe it is my age, maybe I am just ignorant. I simply believe in the Word of God and believe that if we don’t take a stand today, tomorrow may be too late. Paul said to the Philippian Brothers, Philippians 1:28 “And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.” Every member and every preacher and pastor is called to stand and be of great courage. I challenge you to stand for the scripture truth and follow many of our forefathers in the battle for God.

Abiding In Christ

John 15:5; I John 2:28; II John 9

Abide – to dwell, to rest to continue, to stand firm.

John 15:5 “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.”

Abiding is fruit-bearing. The place of abiding is in Jesus Christ the Son of God. Some choose to abide in the world, in sports, arts, education, politics, power or prestige. The propensity of some to always gravitate to worldly things is evident in what holds their attention and receives their time. These days of hectic activity of the world, we hardly have time for Jesus, much less abiding in him. Abiding means to spend time with him. We abide in our house that we call our home. This is where we eat, we sleep and basically live our lives. This is the hub of our life. Jesus should be the hub of our life.

With Jesus, we are “in Him.” We should be just as comfortable being in him as we are at home. Abiding in Him means that no matter where we are He is ever-present. Since we are in Him at work, we should be just as faithful in representing Him at work as we are at Church. Where ever we are, if we abide in Christ, we will produce, not just fruit but much fruit. Notice that statement “… for without me ye can do nothing. If we are not producing fruit, maybe we should examine ourselves to see if we are abiding.

II John 1:9  “Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”

If we are abiding in Christ, we have an overwhelming desire to abide in His doctrine. Truth is so important in a time of lying and deceit. So many distort and twist the doctrine of Christ in this modern depraved age. The Bible says, “ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free” John 8:32. We areresponsible for diligently searching for the truth and finding it. Finding the truth tells of the love we have for Christ.

I John 2:28 “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

My desire is to not be ashamed before God when I stand before Him. Therefore, I must abide. I don’t know when His return is so I must be ready at any time. I have confidence in his return as a thief in the night and because His appearance will not be announced, I must be faithful and true at all times. I must not be drawn away by worldly lusts or desires. I MUST abide in Jesus at all times.

TRUTH IS . . . TRUTH!

William Andrew Dillard

A most interesting and intriguing question is that reverberating from the lips of the Roman magistrate Pontius Pilate when he asked our Lord, “What is truth?” That question ever remains the point of division among men. Pseudo-scientists reject elements of faith in search of a truth they will not find. Philosophers offer variant, opposing viewpoints of what they think is truth. Religious leaders propagate diametrically opposing views all in the name of truth. Worse than all the others, they purport that the truth they espouse comes from God. Surely, the fierceness of judgment is ever increasing.
But back to the question, “What is truth?” Some say there is mathematical truth; medical truth, moral truth, religious truth, historical truth, etc. Why do these divisions exist? They are man-made, and exist mainly due to man’s desire to achieve an ecumenical mastery of life on the false premise that he is on an evolving scale of existence, denying his Creator. In that rejection, he is allowed to proceed to the ultimate global disaster by the very grace of the Creator he insists does not exist. Let it be underscored that truth is truth no matter what discipline of life it primarily affects, and that all truth comes from God.
Jesus asked our Heavenly Father to “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” John 17:17. It is God Who created and set in order every aspect of creation, thus it is His Word that stands the test of time and eternity as truth. Jesus said to His disciples of then and now, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
So, where does all the variant lines of so-called knowledge purporting to be truth originate? Jesus plainly identifies them as coming from Satan, saying, “. . .He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. . .” John 8:44. On the other hand, we are told of the Holy Spirit Who is given to God’s people, “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.” I John 2:27.
Accordingly, the Spirit of God is altogether true, and teaches His people in all things that are true! The abiding Holy Spirit in the church of our Lord enables it to discern the Holy Word; hence, to be the “Pillar and ground of the truth.” Through it, the Spirit of God impresses upon searching hearts the unity, symmetry, and harmony of magnificent truth that is far more than bedrock solid. All who live within the confines of it walk in truth, not in total separation from the flesh, but in spite of it.

TAKE A STAND

When you take a stand

For Truth

you are going to have a head-on collision

With Error

ARGUE WITH GOD?

Tell it to them like it is in the Bible,

and if they want to argue about it

tell them to argue with GOD.

Adrian Rogers

Understanding the Word

Our understanding should come from the Word of God. Psa_119:169  TAU. Let my cry come near before thee, O LORD: give me understanding according to thy word. We are told to study the word and not trust our own understanding. Pro_3:5  Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Have you heard that God has exalted His Word above His Name? Yes that is true. Psa_138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. Do you know what that means? We better get it right.

There are many today that try to destroy God and His Word. A declaration that God does not exist does not cause God to go away or diminish. Psalm 14:1 states, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. I see the handy work of God all around me. Where is the proof there is no God? The theories of how earth and animals and men has never been able to prove evolution. When man “thinks” he has it figured out, then a flaw to “rational thinking” shows the impossibility and therefore another “theory” has to be brought into play.

Since there is a God that has created all things, He must have a desire to communicate to man. Leviticus 1:1,2 reveals that God used Moses as His spokesman to the children of Israel. Jeremiah 1:4 tells us that God sent His Word to Jeremiah and Jeremiah 1:5 reveals to us that God said to Jeremiah – “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. We find Revelation 1:1 where John makes the undisputed claim that God’s word was given to Him.

God wants to communicate His Words to us and He does not want His Word changed at the whim of man therefore God gave this warning. Moses, the first writer of the Bible gave a warning in Deuteronomy 12:32 – What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it. God makes sure that this warning can be misconstrued to only apply to the Old Testament by adding a warning in the book of Revelation chapter 22 verses 18 and 19 – For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:

19  And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.  Oh yes, just incase this did not register with some people, he made this statement in Proverbs 30:5,6 – Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.  6  Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.  God didn’t stop there The first book of the New Testament, Matthew records a very important message for those that think God’s Word would be lost with the passage of time.

Mat 5:18  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. What this should mean to us is very simple. Be sure you know what the scripture says. Don’t twist it, change it or take it out f context.

Truth

Satan’s greatest weapon is man’s ignorance of GOD’s Word.

And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. – John 8:32