Wednesday 09/09/15
Series: Glorifying God
Message – Glorifying God III.mp3
On Sunday we were still winding down on our messages of the Good Heart, but did not cover everything we needed to cover. As I was praying about what direction to go tonight I saw that it was no stretch at all to continue Sunday’s message tonight since it in every way has a direct impact on our ability to glorify God.
So tonight we finished talking about the deceptions that have crept into the church – slowly infiltrating a moral relativism that is ravishing the hearts of God’s children – leaving them bereft of any reliable moral compass and effectively drawing them further and further away from true intimacy with Him.
Man and his subjective comprehension of morality is NOT a reliable measuring line for genuine morality. Morals needs to be understood from God’s perspective NOT mans! The only true standard for moral behavior is God’s unchanging character – and all morality owes it’s very existence and definitions to His existence and person.
Man attempts to justify behavior based upon a subjective understanding of the “whys” surrounding morality. We see “good people” behaving in ways that the scriptures call evil and our minds attempt to compensate for what appears to us as a contradiction. We believe the scriptures are true, but we also believe our own subjective understanding of “good” is solid. So this requires the Christian to either…
- Re-evaluate their belief in the reliability of scripture.
- Redefine biblical words and passages to accommodate their moral dilemma.
- Redefine what a “good person” is by accepting God’s word as true – regardless of what they “think” they see in another.
Unfortunately, FAR too often, Christians opt for one or both of the first two options. To make matters worse, many of those who are “main-stream”…popular Christian teachers, have opted for this approach as well – effectively leading the masses into error, JUST like Jesus and the writers of the New Testament warned would happen.
PLEASE even if you read NOTHING else that I write, please PLEASE read the passage below and allow your heart to begin to be reconciled to the truth of it…
Rom 1:22-32,
(22) Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
(23) and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
(24) Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
(25) because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
(26) For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
(27) and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
(28) And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
(29) They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
(30) slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
(31) foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
(32) Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
Deception
We are living in the days when false teachers and prophets will abound and deceive MANY.
“And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you.
For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.
And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you, and you will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake.
And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.
And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” ~ Matt. 24:4-14
Paul writing to Timothy while ministering at Ephesus during the later part of Nero’s reign said,
“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” ~ 2Tim. 3:1-5
In an attempt to appear loving and grace giving, the modern “seeker friendly” church has allowed wolves into the sheepfold. In so doing they have disobeyed 2 Tim. 3:1-5, and made it impossible for true Christians to obey it’s command without forsaking their own places or worship. This is because the modern church not only allows known sin in the congregation without confrontation, they go so far as to invite the lost into the sheepfold. Expecting this open-door policy to elevate the lost to eternal life, it actually has a corrosive effect on the morality of the sheep by “worshiping” along side those who “claim” to love God while willfully continuing in sinful, lascivious life-styles.
This is all done under the banner of “love”
……under the false teaching of “not judging”
…..under the misrepresentation of “grace”
which is to say, it is being done under the guise of “tolerance” due to a genuine fear of loosing patrons & tax benefits.
Examples of moral decay in the church
BEWARE of BALM (Born Again Lesbian Music)!
The following is a quote lifted directly from the BALM website…
“BALM ministries is successful because of the generous support of a lot of WONDERFUL people. We not only need your support financially, but in your prayers as well. Here are some ways you might consider participating in this network of support for this powerful ministry.
Special Bridge-building Fundraiser Create Your Own Compilation CD. We are now offering to create a personalized CD for those who will make a donation of $100 or more toward funding BALM Ministries’ outreach to mainstream churches…”
Listen to their goal! It is nothing less than to promote tolerance of the Homosexual Agenda inside the mainstream churches.
Satan is working relentlessly to corrupt America’s churches! If Satan can corrupt America’s religious leaders, then the crowds will follow…they are sheep.
Psalm 97:10 commands us, to love the Lord and HATE evil. I can’t think of anything more evil than teaching America’s churches, through BALM’s UPBEAT! program, that it’s acceptable with God to practice homosexuality when the scriptures are more than clear on the evils of this life-style. It is NOT acceptable on any level and should NOT be tolerated within the church.
Should those who are wanting to be freed from that life-style receive love, acceptance and help – absolutely IF, they have proven that they have made more than a superficial confession of the Lordship of Christ. You cannot claim He is Lord, while practicing the very things He is against.
Luke 6:46-49,
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? (47) Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like: (48) he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. (49) But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”
Mat 7:13-27,
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. (14) For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. (15) “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (16) You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? (17) So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. (18) A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. (19) Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. (20) Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.
(21) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
(22) On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ (23) And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
(24) “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. (25) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.
(26) And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. (27) And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
Homosexuality is just one of many examples of sin in the church, but it is a good one because it is SO prolific that nearly everyone has in one way or another been effected by it and seen it.
The homosexual community is working relentlessly to pervert the Bible (Romans 1:25) to justify their sin. The New International Version (NIV) of the Bible even removes the word “sodomite” entirely. Is it any surprise to discover that there were known homosexuals on the translating committee of the NIV? Also, the parent company who publishes the NIV also publishes The Satanic Bible and The Joy Of Gay Sex.
We should not seek to expose people if it can be avoided but rather, sinful agendas that are infiltrating the church in mass.
An article I recently read clearly and accurately addressed the dangers of homosexual sin in the church. It addressed the diluting effect known sins like this were having on the morality of the churches and their doctrine. However, even the writer of the article was not exempt from the diluting effects….read what he wrote towards the end of his article.
“Certainly, a believer may be a homosexual, for even the best of Christians still sin. This is not to say that God permits sin, it just means that the sinful flesh cannot be tamed and even the closest Christians to the Lord sin every day. Christians should try to live as perfectly as they can with the Lord’s help, but only Jesus Christ is perfect.”
Is this last statement correct?
Can a person BE a homosexual and simultaneously BE a Christian?
Let’s look at what the scriptures say…
“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?
DO NOT BE DECEIVED. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.“ ~ 1Cor. 6:9-10
To think that someone can live perpetually in a sinful life-style and their confession of Christ as LORD still have any meaning is deception on the highest level!
Sinful life-styles & besetting sins…what’s the difference?
What can we do, you may ask….doesn’t every Christian struggle with sin in their lives?
On some level the answer is without question – yes!
It doesn’t matter if your are a Pastor or a plumber, a priest or a house wife, a nun or a ditch digger – we all sin, without exception and we all have sins to which we are more prone than others.
Most men struggle in some way against sexual lust, while most women struggle with some form of vanity – though neither sin is restricted in any way to one gender. Some struggle again lying and others against anger, some against over-eating and some against drunkenness.
However, there is a HUGE difference between being given over to a sin – embracing it, living in it unrepentedly, while justifying the behavior as normal and good as opposed to hating a besetting sin, struggling against it, repenting for it when one falls and striving after holiness – though one often may fail.
Using our sin of homosexuality as our example – it is the difference between BEING a homosexual and struggling against homosexual desires. It isn’t the desire that is inherently wrong – it is the embracing and acting on it that is sin.
Even Jesus desired something contrary to the Father – He desired to not go to the cross. However, Jesus did not act on His desire, but drew near to the Father and placed His desires before Him. When the Father told Jesus He must be crucified, He only replied – “not My will, but Yours be done”!
As a pastor and the writer of this article, I myself struggle against sin. I have times when I look to long at a sensually dressed woman, I have times when I get inordinately irritated or even angry at people for simple things, I sometimes avoid doing things I should in preference for things I’d rather do – and so often after these kinds of sinful actions I reflect on Christ and wish I had chosen His coarse of action and words instead of my own. NONE of us are exempt!
What about mercy?
Is not God loving and forgiving? Absolutely!
In fact, the Apostle Peter tells us to count the long-suffering of the Lord AS “salvation”. However, we are NOT to take his mercy for granted. Every Christian should be diligent to seek the Spirit’s aid in removing FAR from their hearts any sin approaching presumption.
God loves those who expect in His mercy – but NOT those who presume upon it!
What about grace?
Grace is perhaps the MOST abused and misunderstood term in the New Testament and has been misused to “cover” sin and justify behavior.
In a recent article, a main stream – well-known preacher, used the term “grace” to represent an attitude of love and acceptance towards sin. This type of distortion of true GRACE is unbiblical. To illustrate, simply read the following passage…
Tit 2:11-15,
“For the GRACE OF GOD has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, (12) TEACHING us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, (13) waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, (14) Who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for Himself a people for His Own possession who are zealous for good works. (15) Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority…”
THAT is New Testament grace! Where in that verse does it tell us that grace teaches us to be accepting of sin?
A Biblically balanced approach
Contrary to some who are legalistic about sin – people are actually born with a “tenancy” towards certain evil desires. These proclivities towards certain sins are passed on both genetically and by upbringing. Also, there are some sinful desire that develop in today’s world due to special conditions we have in more developed countries.
For example, there are many studies today that point to pollutions in our environment, chemicals in our water by passing through PVC pipes and drugs which adversely effect the balance of hormones in the body all of which can have an altering effect on one’s desires – See article. These can bias a person biochemically towards homosexual desires. HOWEVER it does not MAKE a person a homosexual and NO ONE IS BORN a HOMOSEXUAL or LIAR or THIEF or MURDER!!! As horrible and even seemingly unfair as some of this is, NONE OF IT MAKES a person sin.
Sin is still a choice!
As Christians we need to avoid fighting the unnecessary battles of how a person became inclined towards a particular sin and focus more on the brokenness of humanity and the redemption that is to be found in Christ.
We are NEVER to hate people but we are to love them enough to not lower the Bibilcal standard, but rather preach to Good News of Christ and His reign in His kingdom and invite them into a surrender to His Lordship.
Finally, we ended with a brief statement of the…
The Law and the Believer
In these last few minutes of the message I covered these verses and how they play out in the life of believers.
While I encourage you to listen to the message, I will simply say here that the scriptures are VERY clear that the believer IS NOT UNDER the law. The word “UNDER” means, they are NOT the slaves of – it does NOT mean, that the law has nothing to do with the believer – THAT is a huge misunderstanding!
While a Christian is not subject to condemnation, IF they are NOT walking in the love of the Lord and sensitivity to the Holy Spirit within, but are in a state of being backslidden, they may very well “feel” the effects of the law’s tutorage which will of course bring them back to submission to Christ,
“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.” ~ Gal. 3:24-25
“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.” ~ 1Tim. 1:5-11
Remember our quote from Matt. 24,
“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.
But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.”
It is a true statement that we can’t overcome sin without faith. We MUST trust in the inner work of the Spirit of God to enable us to do, what we CANNOT do alone without sin. Yes, a person can stop ACTING in a certain way, but even if we stopped sinning – if it was by our own determination – that in itself is sin because we did so as an act of independence from God rather than dependence upon Him. NO freedom from sin can ever be realized by a sel-effort, but MUST be the result of trusting reliance upon God.
This is where we connect with the GOOD HEART & GLORIFYING GOD…
An evil heart will wait until they hear from God and will NOT take any steps towards riding their lives of sin.
What is Sin? To know to do good and do it not.
There are two approaches to righteous behavior.
The Good Heart
They begin with a heart sensitive to God and in love with Him. When they realize the malignity of their sin, they are broken and come to Him in worshipful repentance – seeking His face and unwilling to stop until they HEAR Him.
Bad Heart
The heart that is NOT acting from love and devotion to Christ will need to be broken as well. This person is chaffed by the command to “sin not”, so they are at a cross-roads.
- Do they make excuses for their sinful behavior so to lessen the effect the commandment has upon their heart? This will harden them, sear their conscience and lure them into an acceptance of sin and the new norm.
- This eventually becomes a pattern they must maintain with others – so they become accepting of other’s sins as well. They rely upon the half – and misquoted passages of “Judge not” and “there is none righteous no not one” to validate their acceptance of sin and actually make it appear humble.
- Do they listen the growing discomfort of the command – do they face the condemnation of the law and allow it to have its crippling effect on their soul? If so, this one will be “tutored” towards Christ through brokenness which left them empty and without strength. They will see Christ as the only true answer and He will become beautiful to them. In the romance of this encounter they will pick up where the Good heart started – in worship, adoration, praise and broken helplessness over their disloyalties and will stay there until His purging work is done in them through revelation of Himself and His inner work in them.
Both paths of brokenness lead to a deep respect for the Lord – the Fear of the Lord which is to HATE evil.
Challenge
Is there known, allowed and even excused sin in your life?
What are you going to do about it?
If I love you, I will press you on this – and even more as we see the day approaching.
I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and learn to abide in Him by the help of the Holy Spirit.
You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege to introduce you to the Lord. Attendance at our church will NOT even be mentioned nor will money.
If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give to its ministry, we appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.
Blessings!
