Tag: Satan
The Gift
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
CHRISTMAS STORY: Pa never had much compassion for the lazy or those who squandered their means and then never had enough for the necessities. But for those who were genuinely in need, his heart was as big as all outdoors. It was from him that I learned the greatest joy in life comes from giving, not from receiving.
It was Christmas Eve 1881. I was fifteen years old and feeling like the world had caved in on me because there just hadn’t been enough money to buy me the rifle that I’d wanted so bad that year for Christmas.
We did the chores early that night for some reason. I just figured Pa wanted a little extra time so we could read in the Bible. So after supper was over I took my boots off and stretched out in front of the fireplace and waited for Pa to get down the old Bible. I was still feeling sorry for myself and, to be honest, I wasn’t in much of a mood to read scriptures.
But Pa didn’t get the Bible; instead he bundled up and went outside. I couldn’t figure it out because we had already done all the chores. I didn’t worry about it long though; I was too busy wallowing in self-pity.
Soon Pa came back in. It was a cold clear night out and there was ice in his beard. “Come on, Matt,” he said. “Bundle up good, it’s cold out tonight.” I was really upset then. Not only wasn’t I getting the rifle for Christmas, now Pa was dragging me out in the cold, and for no earthly reason that I could see.
We’d already done all the chores, and I couldn’t think of anything else that needed doing, especially not on a night like this. But I knew Pa was not very patient at one dragging one’s feet when he’d told them to do something, so I got up and put my boots back on and got my cap, coat, and mittens. Ma gave me a mysterious smile as I opened the door to leave the house. Something was up, but I didn’t know what.
Outside, I became even more dismayed. There in front of the house was the work team, already hitched to the big sled. Whatever it was we were going to do wasn’t going to be a short, quick, little job. I could tell. We never hitched up the big sled unless we were going to haul a big load.
Pa was already up on the seat, reins in hand. I reluctantly climbed up beside him. The cold was already biting at me. I wasn’t happy. When I was on, Pa pulled the sled around the house and stopped in front of the woodshed. He got off and I followed. “I think we’ll put on the high sideboards,” he said. “Here, help me.” The high sideboards! It had been a bigger job than I wanted to do with just the low sideboards on, but whatever it was we were going to do would be a lot bigger with the high sideboards on.
When we had exchanged the sideboards Pa went into the woodshed and came out with an armload of wood—the wood I’d spent all summer hauling down from the mountain, and then all fall sawing into blocks and splitting. What was he doing? Finally I said something. “Pa,” I asked, “what are you doing?” ”
You been by the Widow Jensen’s lately?” he asked. The Widow Jensen lived about two miles down the road. Her husband had died a year or so before and left her with three children, the oldest being eight.
Sure, I’d been by, but so what? “Yeah,” I said, “why?”
“I rode by just today,” Pa said. “Little Jakey was out digging around in the woodpile trying to find a few chips. They’re out of wood, Matt.” That was all he said and then he turned and went back into the woodshed for another armload of wood. I followed him.
We loaded the sled so high that I began to wonder if the horses would be able to pull it. Finally, Pa called a halt to our loading, then we went to the smoke house and Pa took down a hold side of a Deer and a fewTurkeys. He handed them to me and told me to put them in the sled and wait. When he returned he was carrying a sack of flour over his right shoulder and a smaller sack of something in his left hand.
“What’s in the little sack?” I asked.
“Shoes. They’re out of shoes. Little Jakey just had gunny sacks wrapped around his feet when he was out in the wood-pile this morning.
I got the children a little candy too. It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a little candy.”
We rode the two miles to Widow Jensen’s pretty much in silence. I tried to think through what Pa was doing. We didn’t have much by worldly standards. Of course, we did have a big woodpile, though most of what was left now was still in the form of logs that I would have to cut.
So why was Pa buying them shoes and candy? Really, why was he doing any of this? Widow Jensen had closer neighbors than us. It shouldn’t have been our concern.
We came in from the blind side of the Jensen house and unloaded the wood as quietly as possible, then we took the meat and flour and shoes to the door.
We knocked. The door opened a crack and a timid voice said, “Who is it?”
“Lucas Miles, Ma’am, and my son, Matt. Could we come in for a bit?”
Widow Jensen opened the door and let us in. She had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. The children were wrapped in another and were sitting in front of the fireplace by a very small fire that hardly gave off any heat at all.
Widow Jensen fumbled with a match and finally lit the lamp. “We brought you a few things, Ma’am,” Pa said and set down the sack of flour. I put the meat on the table. Then Pa handed her the sack that had the shoes in it. She opened it hesitantly and took the shoes out on e pair at a time. There was a pair for her and one for each of the children—sturdy shoes, the best, shoes that would last.
I watched her carefully. She bit her lower lip to keep it from trembling and then tears filled her eyes and started running down her cheeks. She looked up at Pa like she wanted to say something, but it wouldn’t come out.
“We brought a load of wood too, Ma’am,” Pa said, then he turned to me and said, “Matt, go bring enough in to last for awhile. Let’s get that fire up to size and heat this place up.”
I wasn’t the same person when I went back out to bring in the wood. I had a big lump in my throat and, much as I hate to admit it, there were tears in my eyes too.
In my mind I kept seeing those three kids huddled around the fireplace and their mother standing there with tears running down her cheeks and so much gratitude in her heart that she couldn’t speak. My heart swelled within me and a joy filled my soul that I’d never known before. I had given at Christmas many times before, but never when it had made so much difference.
I could see we were literally saving the lives of these people. I soon had the fire blazing and everyone’s spirits soared. The kids started giggling when Pa handed them each a piece of candy and Widow Jensen looked on with a smile that probably hadn’t crossed her face for a long time. She finally turned to us. “God bless you,” she said. “I know the Lord himself has sent you. The children and I have been praying that he would send one of his angels to spare us.”
In spite of myself, the lump returned to my throat and the tears welled up in my eyes again. I’d never thought of Pa in those exact terms before, but after Widow Jensen mentioned it I could see that it was probably true. I was sure that a better man than Pa had never walked the earth. I started remembering all the times he had gone out of his way for Ma and me, and many others. The list seemed endless as I thought on it.
Pa insisted that everyone try on the shoes before we left. I was amazed when they all fit and I wondered how he had known what sizes to get. Then I guessed that if he was on an errand for the Lord that the Lord would make sure he got the right sizes.
Tears were running down Widow Jensen’s face again when we stood up to leave. Pa took each of the kids in his big arms and gave them a hug. They clung to him and didn’t want us to go. I could see that they missed their pa, and I was glad that I still had mine.
At the door Pa turned to Widow Jensen and said, “The Mrs. wanted me to invite you and the children over for Christmas dinner tomorrow. The turkey will be more than the three of us can eat, and a man can get cantankerous if he has to eat turkey for too many meals. We’ll be by to get you about eleven. It’ll be nice to have some little ones around again.
Brother Miles. I don’t have to say, “‘May the Lord bless you,’ I know for certain that He will.”
Out on the sled I felt a warmth that came from deep within and I didn’t even notice the cold. When we had gone a ways, Pa turned to me and said, “Matt, I want you to know something. Your ma and me have been tucking a little money away here and there all year so we could buy that rifle for you, but we didn’t have quite enough. Then yesterday a man who owed me a little money from years back came by to make things square. Your ma and me were real excited, thinking that now we could get you that rifle, and I started into town this morning to do just that. But on the way I saw little Jakey out scratching in the woodpile with his feet wrapped in those gunny sacks and I knew what I had to do. So, Son, I spent the money for shoes and a little candy for those children. I hope you understand.”
I understood, and my eyes became wet with tears again. I understood very well, and I was so glad Pa had done it. Just then the rifle seemed very low on my list of priorities. Pa had given me a lot more. He had given me the look on Widow Jensen’s face and the radiant smiles of her three children.
For the rest of my life, whenever I saw any of the Jensens, or split a block of wood, I remembered, and remembering brought back that same joy I felt riding home beside Pa that night. Pa had given me much more than a rifle that night, he had given me the best Christmas of my life. Count your blessings everyday, slowly and thoughtfully.
Let us Pray!
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When I was a kid, we enjoyed the Christmas time because it was wend we got everything we wore out that year.
So for the Christmas we got a pair of new; or sometime not so new hand me down shoes. We got new clothing and sometimes that too belonged to your older brother or sister the year before.
And last but not lease we got a Toy, oh yes a toy. Christmas was also a time of year we could eat as much as we wanted.
Why because Mom always cooked the biggest Turkey she could find, but the problem was we just got finished eating turkey sandwiches from Thanksgiving and now you got another month of eating it again.
Somehow Mom made Turkey in so many ways it was always good to the last bite.
Mostly Christmas was a time of family coming together, sometime aunts and uncles who you did not know you had would come and visit and they always gave you a piece of money.
I can remember one Christmas more then any; it was the one we had nothing.
My Dad had a farm in Florida where we were living at that time and he had gone back to work on the Ships. So it was just my Mother and oldest step brother with all of us 6 kids left on the farm to keep it going till Dad came back home.
Sometimes he would go for 6 months some times up to a year we would not see him so money was hard to come-by at times. There was enough just no extra money for anything that year;
Mom had to make due with what she had. But you know somehow that was the best Christmas we had because I can still remember it and none of the others.
About two days before Christmas my oldest brother went out and cut down a pine tree that we set-up in the house. Then he had a bag full of pine cones, we ask what are then for, he said to have fun with and he got out some old paint. So that is what we did painted pine cones any colour we wanted and when they were dried we hung them on the tree.
Mom as normal got my brother to kill the biggest turkey we had on the farm and my brother managed to sell a few others to the city people who came looking. So there was plenty to eat and the extra money from selling Turkeys sue came in handy that year. That was always like Mom pulling a rabbit out of the hat again and we all got a Toy.
Christmas is a wonderful time of year. It is a time of giving, a time that we can visit family and friend that we might not have seen all year long. It is a time of getting back together and just remembering the past as we look forward to the future.
As in our Story many times our parents sacrificed and did with out in order to give to there Children things that they needed not things that they wanted.
God gives us things we need, things like forgiveness and eternal life.
- John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
When we choose to disobey God, when we turned our back and walked away from his love? When we rejected him and all his goodness, He still does not gave up on loving us.
When we sin and chose to die in our blindness and stupidly, God sent His Son his only Son to die in our place so that he could give us life once again.
For God so loved the world,
That little Verse of Scripture says a lot. In the days of Creation we are told that after God had finish his act of creation he looked out and saw everything he had make
In the book of Genesis 1: 31: we are told, God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.
God did not just through us into a dead old world; every thing that came from the Master hand came with the best intensions.
God gave of the best that heaven could give in the creation of Mankind, in that we were created in the image of God. What an honour God places on Man to be made in the likens of his Creator
The Scripture goes on to say that he also gave his only begotten Son,
Not only did God love us but he had also planned ahead that in the event man would prove to be unfaithful, there would be hope for him.
Just how would this come about; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The plan for our redemption was not an afterthought, a plan formulated after the fall of Adam.
It was a revelation of “the mystery which hath been kept in silence through eternality.” Rom. 16:25, R. V.
It was an unfolding of the principles that from eternal ages have been the foundation of God’s throne.
From the beginning, God the Father and Christ knew of the apostasy of Satan, and of the fall of man through the deceptive power of the apostate.
God did not ordain that sin should exist, but He foresaw its existence, and made provision to meet the terrible emergency head on.
So great was His love for this world, that He covenanted to give His only-begotten Son, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
This could not be done by force. The exercise of force is contrary to the principles of God’s government; He desires only the service of love.
For love cannot be commanded; it cannot be won by force or by authority.
Only by love is love awakened. To know God is to love Him; His character must be manifested in contrast to the character of Satan.
This work only one Being in all the universe could do. Only He who knew the height and depth of the love of God could make it known.
Upon the world’s dark night the Sun of Righteousness must rise, “with healing in his wings” (Mal. 4:2). {RC 23.3}
17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
To all who have accepted Christ as a personal Savoir, the Holy Spirit has come as a counsellor, sanctifier, guide, and a witness.
The more closely believers have walked with God, the more clearly and powerfully have they testified of their Redeemer’s love and of His saving grace.
Romans 8:
39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
In the beginning, God was revealed in all the works of his creation. It was Christ that spread the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth. It was His hand that hung the worlds in space, and fashioned the flowers of the field.
“His strength settled fast the mountains.” “The sea is His, and He made it.” Ps. 65:6; 95:5. It was He that filled the earth with beauty, and the air with song.
And upon all things in earth, air, and sky, He wrote the message of his Father’s love for Mankind.
So I ask you this Christmas before you open the first present. Take time and thank God for all the gifts he has giving you.
Take time to thank Jesus for taking your place on the cross and dyeing in your place in order to give you the gift of eternal life.
We did not have all the things that Kids have today, but the little we had we knew and understood the price of what it cost. And that was the sacrifice of our parents
Instead of toys this year just give to your Children something more, give them a box of Love and let them see in you the Gift of Gods forever Love.
There is an old song I remember that went something like this; Iam getting nothing for Christmas Mom and Dad are made, Iam getting nothing for Christmas cause I ant been nothing but bad.
Truth is we were all bad, but God loved us so much he gave us the greatest Gift Heaven could give. His Son Jesus
God Bless and have a very marry Christmas
Elder Tim McNab
Last Day Counterfeits
Prov. 14:12 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
If you were the devil and could counterfeit anything you wanted, what would it be? Certainly it would be some thing of great worth.
Have you ever seen a counterfeit pile of dirt or a counterfeit toothpick? We only copy valuable things. Money is often copied.
“Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ.”
Matthew 13:24,25 – “Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.‘”
Satan especially likes to plant his tares among the wheat.
The arch counterfeiter is the devil. So, as you might expect, the biggest forgery today is in religion. Churches (most of them unknowingly) have become involved in teaching forged illusions of Bible truth. With so many clones out there, truth seekers become confused and many simply seek out the best counterfeit. Never be satisfied with anything less than the genuine article.
Swindler Satan’s simulations reach fervent pitch in the last days. In Luke 21:8 Jesus said: “Watch out that you are not deceived.”
I Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow ddeceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
God’s truth has splintered into more than 250 different beliefs. This forgery of truth has been masterminded by the devil.
This replica of truth is not new. Christ warned about it in His day: Mark 7:7 – “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the Commandments of men.”
Let us look at a few of the many delusions the devil has devised and that most of the world accepts:
Everything was Good
(1)–Creation/Evolution Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe that in the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through the evolutionary processes is comparable to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a landfill might accidently assemble a space shuttle all gassed up and ready to fly from the junk in the dump.
If we can’t believe in the first sentence in the Bible, then we must reject every other page as fraudulent.
Another hoax emanating from the time of Genesis comes from the Garden of Eden. It was there that the original “Snake in the Grass” announced a great counterfeit that is still believed by most of the Christian world today.
(2) – There is no Death. Genesis 3:4 – “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman…” Almost every church today believes this deception. Most of the religions of the world have purchased the devil’s lie- hook, line, and sinker. In saying “There is no death” he was introducing the delusion that there is life apart from God, Who is the source and maintainer of all life. God said man is mortal, the devil said he is immortal and that evil or good, man will never die. Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The wage of sin is NOT eternal life. Even if that life is in the fire of hell. Think about it, if you are alive in the fire of hell forever then you would have to have eternal life. Not much of a life!…. but it does last an eternity. Is that what the Bible says? NO! The wage of SIN is not life in hell or anywhere else. The wage of sin is death. Eternal Death. Just the opposite of the gift of God which is eternal life. Praise God for Eternal life! (Note that even Jesus said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)
So, this counterfeit, that there is no death, opens the door for yet another fabrication!
(3) – I call it– Fake Fire. You see, if a sinner dies, and somehow does not die, then he must be alive somewhere. Where is that? Hell! And so the belief that there is no death means that life is indestructible. After “death” the person continues to live on somewhere. The unsaved sinner can’t die. So people believe that when the sinner is cast into hell fire, he must live there forever.
He can’t die. And do you know that 95% of all Christian Churches, yet to this day, still believe it?! They have accepted the counterfeit. Why do I call this “fake fire”? Because -if- the fire of hell can’t do its job in a million years or more then it is lukewarm fire!
How does the Bible describe hell fire? II Peter 3:10-12 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Next delusion: When Adam and Eve were created from the hand of God, their first full day was spent in worship on the holy Sabbath Day. This brings us to the next counterfeit:
The 7th day is the Sabbath
(4) – Sunday is the Sabbath. A gigantic perversion of Bible truth in religion today, involves the question of which day is the true day of worship. Sunday observance has its roots back in the days immediately after the flood (Genesis 10 and Nimrod) In that time, Sun worship was conducted on the day of the sun, that we call “Sun-day.” As sun-worship began to increase, God decided to give to his people a written copy of His law. In the heart of it is His Sabbath commandment.
Exodus 20:8-11 The longest commandment is the only one with the word REMEMBER! If there was not a counterfeit in the making, why do you suppose God would say that? And so today there are many Christians accepting this counterfeit as the genuine article.
But fortunately today there is a movement in the world to get back to the real thing. The Seventh-day Adventist church is basically a call for a return to the truth as it is in the Bible.
Sunday keeping is a counterfeit of God’s Bible Sabbath. God says: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy!
The counterfeiting continues. The devil needed a logical event on which to base a reason for first-day observance. And so today we have good Christians keeping Sunday because of the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week. This is not a Bible reason for Sunday worship. We certainly believe in the resurrection of Christ. But this is not a reason to switch from keeping Sabbath.
Now because one lie leads to another, the need arose for a counterfeit Baptism.
(5) – Is Sprinkling Baptism: Baptism under the water is God’s true symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Sunday is not the symbol to honor His resurrection. The new life of the new Christian is! And so if you take Sunday keeping as the symbol of the resurrection, you must introduce a counterfeit baptism that does no require this three fold symbolism. Hence: sprinkling! And so the large majority of Christians today accept this counterfeit baptism and don’t know why.
Ephesians 4:5 speaks of one baptism. Matthew 3:16 tells of Jesus baptism; going down into the water, being buried in it, and coming up out of the water renewed.
(6) – False Christs Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible.”
How many Redeemers do we have? One! Who is that? Jesus Christ. Any other is a false Christ. However, it seems that the Papacy is about to establish an additional redeemer. The over 400 apparitions of the “Virgin Mary” in the last 100 years are shaking the Roman Catholic Church to its core. During just the last four years Pope John Paul II has received over four Million signed petitions to name Mary as CO-REDEMPTRIX with Jesus Christ.
The Pope is considering naming Mary also as the “Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God.” This means that all prayers must flow through her as the ONLY channel of grace from Jesus Christ.
This would in essence elevate Mary to a place in a new “Holy Quartet” of the Godhead!
[for more information see Waymarks, a pamphlet published by the Southern Union Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Volume 2, # 4, October 1997 issue.]
In John Paul II’s own words, “the new Eve beside the New Adam [Christ] in the Redemption.” Thus Mary would be the daughter of the Father, the mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
see Freedom Alert a periodical published by the Council on Religious Freedom, Vol. 13, Issue 4, 1997, E-mail address: page 8.
So you can see there are apocalyptic counterfeits currently in the making. If and when Mary is made a God, it means the World is racing inexorably towards a prophetic date with destiny! You have heard of these little books: God’s Little Instruction Book and etc. Now there is a Mary’s Little Instruction Book.
(7) False Church: God has a true church. She is described as a woman who is in deadly combat with a devil like dragon. Revelation 12:17 – “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
Lutherans and Calvinists are adopting common communions. [AP, 8-18-97]. A public announcement was made in Chattanooga, TN on Sunday May 4, 1997 by an archbishop of the Episcopal Church stating that Protestantism has all but died and that will leave only the Roman Catholic Church to represent Christianity. “God’s church is catholic,” he said. see Chattanooga Free Press, May 10, 1997 p. B1.
Ralph Reed, the director of the Christian Coalition in 1996 said: There is a growing strength of evangelicals and their Roman Catholic allies. “Dark distrust about popery has been swept into the ash heap of history. John F Kennedy’s election in 1960 buried the Catholic bogeyman forever. No longer burdened by the past, Roman Catholics, evangelicals, Greek Orthodox and many mainline denominations are forging a new alliance… See Freedom Report April, 1996, Clifford Goldstein, Editor.
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of Doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees, sustain their institutions, then protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” – EG White, Great Controversy p. 445
(8) A COPIED COMING Prophecy warns that in the last days Satan would attempt to impersonate Christ’s second coming. II Thess. 2:3-4 That day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed as God showing himself to be God. II Thess. 2:8-12 That wicked shall be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Even him (Satan) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. With all deceit (many counterfeits).
Luke 21:8 – “many shall come in My name.” II Cor. 11:14 (KJV) – “Satan, himself, is transformed into an angel of light.”
“in the last days he will appear in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the second time. He will bear the APPEARANCE OF CHRIST IN EVERY PARTICULAR…” – EG White, Vol. 5, Testimonies for the Church, p.698
Back in the 1970’s a rare discovery was made. It was called a pathological phenomenon. Scientists in China discovered a lady actually growing horns out of the top of her head. The written account said that she looked “like the Devil.”
For years the devil has sought to teach a false-hood here. We picture him as a red skinned imp with a tail and horns, and a pitchfork in his hand. This is a false picture. A trick. He has thrown this dust in the eyes of most in the world so that when he comes as an angel of light no one will recognize him and his coming will be accepted as the coming of Christ, Himself. What a counterfeit!
Speaking of Christs second coming: I Thess. 4:16-17 states the correct manner of His coming in the clouds of glory, and in the air.
Every Eye will see Jesus coming
Rev. 1:7 – Every Eye will see Jesus come!
Very soon, Satan will appear as the true Christ “He will be clothed as an angel of light…The apostate churches unite in the exaltation of Satan…” – EG White, Testimonies for Ministers, p.62 “Disguised as an angel of light, Satan will walk the earth as a wonder-worker. In beautiful language he will present lofty things. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction, Satan will turn the people from the LAW OF GOD. – EG White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 471-472.
“He will declare that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week and that he is the lord of the first day.” – EG White, Maranatha p. 205
“Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive. God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will COUNTERFEIT the miracles that will be wrought.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 16.
Matt. 24:24 (KJV) “..shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, in so much, that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” – Revelation 16:14 (KJV) says “for they are the spirits of DEVILS, working miracles…”
“Before the end of time he (Satan) will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform ACTUAL miracles.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p.698
(9) – Hoax Healings – these miracles are another great counterfeit of Satan.
Revelation 13:13 – “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.”
Revelation 16:14 – “They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs…”
EG White – 2SM51 – “He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world.”
EG White Testimonies t the Church, Vol 1 – “The sick will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are we prepared for this?”
Have you ever thought about why it is that we seem to be seeing less and less true miracles of physical healing from God? Could it be that these things will fade in importance in the last days, because Satan is counterfeiting so many of them. The devil knows his time is short and these miracles and the imitation of Christ’s Second Coming are his trump cards. As we hear more and more about these false healings and false Christ, we should wake up to the fact that the real genuine article is almost here. How often the fake just precedes the real event.
EG White Great Controversy, p. 625 – “Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent.” …. “only those who have been diligent students of the scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.”
(10)-His counterfeit of the Bible– There are so many books out there claiming to contain the truth. The Koran, the book of Mormon, the new age writings, … the list could go on and on.
But there is only one Bible and It is hard to know which Bible is the Real Bible.
I stood at a Bible Book store and saw a
• Bible for Men with nuts, bolts, gears on the front cover.
• I saw a Bible for Women.
• A Bible For Mothers.
• A bible for Fathers.
• A bible for Students.
• A bible for Teenagers.
• A bible for Boys.
• A bible for Girls.
• A bible for Parents.
• A bible for New Converts.
• A bible for hillbillies.
• A bible for African Americans.
• A bible for Catholics.
I wanted a copy of God’s real word for me!
(11) –His emulation of the church-fellowship…
“The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give His people. It’s an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting fellowship. It is a place where you can tell secrets and they usually don’t want to tell others. The bar flourishes not because many people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and to be known, and loved, and many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers and are led into the devil’s trap and barred from eternal life.”
(12) –His backward millennium with its deadly second chance after seven years of tribulation AFTER the second coming. Revelation 20 does not indicate there will be a second chance after the rapture. Jesus will come at the beginning of the 1000 years. All the righteous will be taken to heaven and all the wicked will be left behind dead and unburied.
(13) — TANGLED TONGUES:
There is a movement today in religion that says unless you speak in tongues you are not saved. Yet Jesus never spoke in tongues or David or John or hundreds of other Saints. Most of what is claimed as Bible examples of speaking in tongues is actually the gift of another LANGUAGE.
Listen to Acts 2:2-6 (Living Bible) – “Suddenly there was a sound like
the roaring of mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the
house where they were meeting. What looked like flames or tongues of fire
appeared and settled on their heads. And everyone present was filled with
the Holy Spirit and began SPEAKING in languages they didn’t know for the Holy
Spirit gave them this ability.
And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, CROWDS CAME
RUNNING to see what it was all about and were stunned to hear their OWN
LANGUAGES being spoken by the disciples.”
That is how the Holy Spirit came to them. The same could and must happen to each of us today. The time is here. The Spirit is even now being poured out. Are you receiving it yet? If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be filled with another spirit.
I would like to share with you something that I will never forget. It happened when I was about 11 years old. A young lady about 26 years old had been suffering from cancer for eight months. She was paralyzed and wasn’t able to walk. One Saturday night she asked her husband to take her to the Holy Ghost Pentecostal church. He did and carried her in through the door. The group there were with the spirit that night and excitement was high. Immediately that paralyzed lady began to preach and pray. She started talking in an unknown tongue. “I couldn’t understand her,” her husband said.
But in a few minutes she stopped, and then, as if a hand had raised her to her feet, she stood up and began to walk around. (Remember she had been paralyzed.) They were all praising the Lord about that time. Suddenly she darted from the church with her husband trailing behind her; but he couldn’t catch her. She kept running until she reached the highway, where upon she immediately jumped in front of a passing car. She was killed. (Newspaper- Houston Press, Nov. 17, 1952)
Here was a woman who went to a Holy Ghost meeting. She started speaking in tongues. She apparently seemed to be healed and then was lifted out of her seat and ran out and flung herself in front of a speeding car.
Could that be the Spirit of God? I can’t believe it. The spirit of the DEVIL leads to self destruction as in the case of the swine that ran into the sea. If the Holy spirit takes charge of our lives, then he will lead us to life in Christ. If the Evil spirit takes charge, he will lead us to the road of destruction. Let us make sure that we have the Holy Spirit in control of our lives. The Devil is now trying to counterfeit every truth of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.
Our only safety is to be led by the Holy Spirit. I want to be a son of God. Don’t you?
The best way to detect a counterfeit twenty dollar bill is to KNOW THE GENUINE. To avoid being taken in by all the falsehoods and videos and cassette tapes and mimeographed sheets that come in the mail, what must you do? Must you wade through all that stuff? NO! You concentrate on knowing Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Study your Bible. Focus on Jesus. And someday when the counterfeit is placed in your hands, you will instantly know it is a fake. I saw a counterfeit bill one day and it only took a glance and I knew it was bad.
Sometimes I wish Jesus would keep the counterfeits of His truth out of circulation like the Bank tries to do with the bad money. You can’t go to the Bank and get any counterfeit money. So do your spiritual banking with Jesus! Invest in the truth. The truth is Jesus.
Jesus said: “I am the way the Truth and the Life.”
Stick with Jesus and you will not be deceived.
Sermon from McDonald Road SDA Church
Forgiveness is free But not Cheap!
He Died for YOU
Kim and her six year old son prepared to eat dinner at a restaurant and her son asked if he could say grace. As they bowed their heads, he said “God is good God is great, Thank you for the food, and I would even thank you more if mom gets us ice cream for dessert and liberty and justice for all! Amen.”
Along with the laughter from the other customers nearby; Kim heard a woman remark, “That’s what’s wrong with this country. Kids don’t even know how to pray. Asking God for ice cream! Why I never!”
Hearing this, her son burst into tears and asked, “Did I do it wrong? Is God mad at me?”
As his mother held him and assured him that he had done a terrific job and God was certainly not mad at him, an elderly gentleman approached the table. He winked at the boy and said, “I happen to know that God thought that was a great prayer.” “Really?” her son asked. “Cross my heart,” the man replied.
Then in a theatrical whisper he added (indicating the woman whose remark had started the whole thing), “Too bad she never asks God for ice cream. A little ice cream is good for the soul sometimes.”Naturally, of course, Kim ordered ice cream for her son at the end of the meal. What happened next came as a complete surprise. Kim explained.
“My son stared at his ice cream a moment and then did something I will remember the rest of my life. He picked up his sundae and without a word walked over and placed it in front of the woman. With a big smile he told her, ‘Here, this is for you, Ice cream is good for the soul sometimes and my soul is good already.’“The story illustrates the power our words may have upon others, either for good or for bad.
It seems to me that since we want to be ready for Jesus’ coming, we will also want to make the best use of our time. And since part of that preparation involves encouraging and strengthening our fellow believers, and our family members, we will want to be very careful in what we say.
The Bible emphasizes these themes clearly. Satan is like a lion seeking whom he may devour. Troublous times are coming, it tells us. The Lord is coming. Time is indeed a precious commodity. How we treat each other is an important part of that preparation.
Let us Prayer !
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Luke 24: 6-7
6: He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7: Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
Have you every got something for free?
Somehow every time someone tells me this is free, I find out later that it cost me something in the end.
I had once had a phone call once and the guy on the other end said Hi Mr McNab I have great new for you today, you just won and all expense paid Vacation for two, to the beautiful island of Jamaica.
He said how does that sound I said well that sounds great.
He then started to tell me more about the package and other things I could do while there in Jamaica.
After we were on the phone for about 15 minuets and got all the stuff needed out of the way, he said now all I need to do is to forward him $139.00 for the processing fee and I will be on my way.
Then I said, I thought you said it was free, $139.00 is not free to me.
There is only one thing in this world that is Free and that is salvation, WHY ?
Because Jesus gave his life for you and gave it to you for Free.
But it was not free to God dears Son, he would have to paid the price for you,
Free to you, but it cost the life of God dear son.
John 1
1. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2. The same was in the beginning with God.
3. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
10. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
If God is so good and if God is so wonderful WHY?
Why did God permit Sin?
Why did he create the earth?
Why did he permit our firth parent to sin?
Why did he make me?
The only answer I have is because of Love
It is a hard question to understand unless you understand what true Love really is all about.
STORY: The Prodigal Son
STORY: The Father Love for his Son
Truth is we are all like the Prodigal Son and God the father is waiting for us and rejoice when one his children except Jesus sacrifice on the cross and come home.
Because the Father Loved his children, even when they ran away His love followed after them, the Father did not say well that’s over, He stayed waiting for the return of his runaway Children
Satan is always trying to keep us from knowing one thing, how much God cares and Loves us.
A few years ago there was a young girl, who brought a friend to church,
As the friend heard the pastor and how much Jesus loves her. This young girl gave her life to God and was baptize.
When the parents found out about it they got angry and got a layer and sue the church. The Court was in favor of the parents because the girl was only 16 and considered a miner
You don’t need parental permission in this country to get an Abortion but you do need it to get Baptize. How amazing!
Is there something wrong with this Picture? How far have our morals falling in this country
When Noah finished building the Ark, the great door in the side was open and Noah said to the people.
There is safety only in the Ark; soon there will come a flood to destroy the earth.
But no one went in Why? Everyone was too busy with the cares of this world to believe a foolish old man about something that never happened before. Really Rain like if water will float up to the sky and fall down again, impossible.
They all said He is just a crazy foolish old man as everyone laugh at him.
When you except Jesus as your savior can you expect to have problems too.
Why 1Peter: 5:8: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
We will have problems but Jesus will be there to help us through.
Remember Peter for only one second took his eye off Jesus and he started to sink. And like Peter all we have to do is say Lord save me.
Satan will put many roadblocks in our way even people we know. He will use every means possible to lead us the wrong way. And a way from the finish line “away from God.”
Satan hates Jesus and he hates people who love Jesus all the same.
For three and a half-year the deciple followed Christ, yes they loved him. They were also proud to be associated with him.
Jesus said one day let us go to Jerusalem, There the son of man will be betrayed and they will kill him but I will “rise again the third day”.
As Jesus made his way in to Jerusalem his deciple were full of joy as they heard the people saying Ho-san-na blessed is he that comet in the name of the Lord.
Now they thought that Jesus would take his place as King of Israel “But he did not”
And only a few days later in the upper room, After washing the deciple feet and breaking bread and giving them the cup that would represent his blood shed for all mankind.
He said one of you will betray me. When we Sin we too betray Jesus
They could not believe what he just said. “Who witch one of them?”
STORY: In the garden 3 times Jesus came looking for someone who understood
The arrest filthy men put there hands on him as if he were a Thief
The trial they beat him and spit on him
Hung on a cross He said Father forgive them for they no not what they do.
Jesus disciples were there watching him as he hung on the cross. They could not believe that he would let himself be crucified.
All there hopes all their dreams of Jesus being King and they by his side.
There had hoped that he would redeem Israel from the grip of Rome.
But now every thing hung on the cross.
As they looked, they heard Jesus say IT IS FINISH and bow his head and died.
Their hearts almost stop beating when there realized that Jesus was now dead.
Is it over, is it all over they though to themselves.
There minds were so blinded by Jesus death that there did not remember Jesus saying the 3rd day I will rise again
John 19:31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
That Sabbath day was a special Sabbath day
It was a hi-day “it was the Sabbath and a feast Sabbath” making it a Hi-Sabbath
Death by the cross was slow and the Jews did not won’t the body of Jesus hanging were all could see what religious leaders done.
Jesus Disciples watched as Joseph and Nickodemos remove the body of Jesus and place it in a tomb and seal it.
In the book of Luke 24:1-7
1. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices, which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6. He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7. Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
That evening two of the disciples were walking, and as they walk they did not noted the man walking with them.
Till he said what kind of communications are these that ye have one to another, as walk and are sad
One said to him art thou only a stranger here in Jerusalem and have you not know what had come to pass in the last days.
Jesus said what things
Luke 24:
21. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the “third day” since these things were done.
Jesus looked with love in his heart and said O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?
And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
They felt hope as he talks for it is what Jesus would have said
As they reach there home they invited him in but he did not except but they said the day is far-spent come and enter and spend the night
So Jesus went in (our savior does not force himself on anyone) he will come in only when he is invited to.
As they sat for the evening meal they look
Their companion spreads forth his hand in the exactly the same way their master used to do.
They look again and low they now see in his hands the prints of NAILS
Both exclaim at once it is the lord Jesus. But he vanished out of sight.
As they look at each other and said did not our heart burned with in us as he talked with us.
They go to tell the others
When they find the disciples and knock for entrance and the door open for them and another unseen enter in with them.
As the disciples tell that they seen Jesus and how he open the scripture to them and was know in the braking of bread.
They heard a voice saying PEACE BE UNTO YOU.
They started back in terror for his radiance fills the place; Love was shining from him it was coming out his face.
Then he spoke the word of love that left no need for douth, and just because he knew our heart he spoke our feeling out.
Why are you so troubled why are you in fear; see my hand and see my feet for I my self am here. Reach out now and handle me till all of you been shore.
My life is more then spirit for I am here in flesh and bones.
Before Christ left he made a promise that he will come back for all that believed in him
STORY; The little Girl and her new doll
She wonted to give the best she had
God the Father gave the best heaven could give his son Jesus Christ
God gave his life for all who by Faith will believe & Trust in Him
What a shame that so many will pass-up the opportunity to accept Jesus as their savior and accept His free gift of eternity Life.
All because they are too busy with the cares of this world to believe a foolish story about something they believe never happened. A God dyeing for me impossible, they are all crazy and foolish people, as the world laugh.
But when the door of the ark closed and it started to rain, it was too late.
Forgiveness is free for who will believe, but it was not cheap! Jesus had to die to pay the price for you and me.
Preaching Another Gospel
STORY: Island of Lost Sailors
Every time a bad storm went by, sailors would be found washed up on the beach of this island sometimes dead, sometimes still alive.
The local islanders decided to build a rescue station on the beach and when there were storms at sea, they would each take turns manning the station. The governor heard of this endeavor of the islanders. He saw this as a good thing for his hope to get re-elected, so he contributed to the building funds and also donated a small generator to help power the place.
With the government’s help it was not long before there was a full size, fully equipped rescue station operating on this island.
The people enjoyed coming to the rescue station. They couldn’t wait for a storm, just so they could go out and look for sailors who got caught in the storms.
Soon someone voted to make meeting at the rescue station a weekly event. What better choice as it had everything, running water, electric Power, etc.
Before long, the people found themselves meeting two, and sometime 3 times a week at the station.
Now and then, a storm would blow in, and a lonely sailor would wash-up on the beach and find his way to the station, only to find the local island people busy. By some chance of luck, he may get someone’s attention.
Daily the island people met at the station, it was where you could hear the latest news and get latest reports on what was going on through the islands.
Before long, someone wondered, why hadn’t they built the meeting hall in the middle of town instead of so close to the beach?
It is so very easy to loose site of why we are here today….
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Do you remember Peter Marshall, the famous Scottish preacher and chaplain?
As a boy he worked one summer in an English village of Bamburgh, 16 miles from the border of Scotland.
One very dark night he had to walk home and decided to take a shortcut. He knew there was a deep, deserted limestone quarry in the area, but he thought he could avoid the danger.
The night was dark, there were no stars. It was black as the inside of an ink bottle.
He had walked slowly for some time when he suddenly heard someone call: “Peter” in an urgent tone.
He stopped and all he could hear was the wind. He called out, “Who is there?” There was no answer.
He thought he was mistaken and walked on a few steps and then he heard that voice again, even more urgently: “PETER!” This time he stopped dead still and tried to peer into the impenetrable darkness.
He stepped forward and fell over something and reached out to catch himself but there was nothing there! He groped around to the left and to the right. Then he realized that he was right on the edge of the quarry, one more step and he would have fallen to his death! There was nothing there.
He was right on the edge of death. He was saved, but just barely in the nick of time.
Peter never forgot that voice his whole life. He always listened to that voice through the rest of his life. God had warned him and he shuttered that he almost did not listen.
Has something like that ever happened to you? Has God ever said to you, “there is a time when you need to wake up.
Has some sign happened to you that you didn’t listen to?
How many times will God warn us?
How many times will we not listen?
God is capable of saving us to the uttermost if we will just respond to Him. Don’t put off responding to God, to listening to God.
It is dangerous to put off responding to the leading of God. The road to spiritual loss is usually greased with the slime of indifference and neglect.
Sometimes I feel that we walk in darkness in our Christian experience. We all like to feel that we are safe because of what we believe, but how do you know it is the truth?
After all, everyone today believes that only their Church is the true Church and that they are living and teaching the truth.
What makes a church a church? What makes your church different from any other?
If someone asks you: Are you saved? What would you tell them?
What if they ask you: Are you a Christian? What would you say?
You can be 99% saved and 1% lost and guess what, you are still LOST…
Church is a body of believers, no one part is better then the others, and that is what makes Christianity different from all other religions.
It is the belief in the power of one Man’s life that will transform others. Lifting them up and giving them the power to go and tell others about God.
We call this word “Gospel.”
But what is it about “this Gospel” that makes it so much different from the many other world religions?
Do you know what the Gospel of Jesus is?
Do you know what truth is?
Can you tell a fake from the real thing?
In the world we live in; there are two Gospels and only two.
No matter what religion or faith you keep, you are either one or the other.
1. The Gospel of Truth.
2. The other is the gospel of lies!
The Gospel of truth is that which God himself has given unto mankind.
The gospel of lies is also God’s Word, but turned around by Satan’s lies.
Look at Genesis 3:1″Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Very true what the serpent said is it not; God did say that our first parent could eat of every tree of the Garden.
2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Notice how the serpent applied his tactfulness. He is not denying the fact he is clearly stating something that was already known. He has the woman off guard now, being that he is quoting the same thing that God had told them.
3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Now, the woman goes on to repeat the rest of what God had told them. That in the day they eat or even touch this fruit, they would die.
Now notice, there was nothing in the fruit that would cause death. This tree was like all other trees God had made, the only different was God said not to eat the fruit off the one tree.
4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Here is the first and biggest lie ever told in our world by Lucifer!
5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan again, puts doubt into the mind as to what God’s true propose is! He has taken the truth that God has given, but turned it into just the opposite.
And it is no different in our world today, the same lies told 6,000 years ago are still at the corner stone of the very popular religions in our world today.
97% of all world religions today teach that when you die you don’t really die. They teach that you get transferred to some other place or transformed into something else.
It is only true Christians who study the word of God that have a clear understanding of what God said. That when you die you do just that, you die!
Genesis: 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
So what is death?
Death is the opposite of life.
Before you were born, did you know anything? NO
Why
Because you were dead, you did not exist, you were not born yet.
You are a living soul because of two things.
1. You have the dust of the ground
2. You have been giving the breath of the living God, and so you became a living Sole.
1+1 always equals = 2
Remove one; and what do you have “you have, death”, because God said in Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:17 . . . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Come, let’s turn to the book of Galatians and see what problems Paul was having in his days.
How old was the Church then, not quite 50 years.
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Paul left to go on a mission trip, no sooner is he gone, then other men came in preaching something a little different. Just like in the Garden of Eden, not much different, just enough.
What does Paul tell them? I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul goes on to say, not that it is another gospel, but the words are distorted. Meaning something different from what God told Paul and the other disciples to preach.
8: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Paul knows that Satan will stop at nothing to pervert the Word of God, so he makes it very clean that even if an angel comes and starts to preach something different, don’t believe it.
We as Christians, have only one way of knowing Truth, and that is by knowing God’s Word!
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Read it! Live it! Believe it!
We know that in the last days Satan will try an impersonate Jesus Christ and deceive the whole world. Why? Because of people who will not study to find the truth, they went with only what they heard from preachers!
Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
There is only one Gospel my friend, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, anything else that deviates from that, even one millionth of inch, is not the Truth.
10: For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11: But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12: For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I have always said this one thing, don’t believe a word I say, study for yourself, search the scriptures, for only in them will you find the truth.
Understand what Jesus is telling you. You might say, “how I can do this; I can’t understand what the Bible is saying.”
Understanding will come through prayer and giving God your time.
Ephesians 6:10 Paul said, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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Truth has never been popular
But truth has always been the truth.
When you are surrounded by the enemy, don’t fear, Jesus is right there with you…
Sometimes, we in Church forget the reason we are here. It is not about pot luck or fellowship, it is about how to bring the message of Jesus to a fallen world; How to bring those who have been washed-up on the shore of sin into Gods heavenly kingdom.
Just like the story of the island people, before long no one remembers why the building was even built on the beach.
The same thing was happening to the Church in Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5: Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Why are there so many different religions in our world today?
One of the main reasons is because of Burger King. That’s right, everyone wanted to have it their way!
We are a society of having everything fast.
Fast life, fast food, fast cars, fast family, and fast religion.
I am amazed by some of what we here in the U.S.A. call, ‘Church.’
It has very little to do with worshiping God, it is more to do with pleasing oneself.
I looked on the internet the other night and this one Church was advertizing itself.
Showing pictures of the Church basketball court, weightlifting room, swimming pools.
We have a lot to offer, the ad said, and yes, we even take our tithes and offerings by e-mail.
Well that’s great, but what about going to Church to find Jesus, have they gotten so big, the main reason they go to Church is no longer necessary?
What does Jesus say is going to happen?
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Remember The ten virgins?
Five went into the wedding and 5 were left out.
Why was this? Why was only half of them ready when the Lord came?
What does a ‘woman’ represent in bible prophecy? “A Church.”
So this is not the world we are talking about here, this is God’s people, the Church.
Half of them will be ready and the other half will not.
So what is the difference? The difference will be in what they teach at the end time. We live in a time of grace because the Gospel has not been given to all the world yet.
But the time is coming when the Spirit of God will convict all, rich and poor, small or great..
Everyone will have the same opportunity to know and believe, or to reject the truth!
Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7: Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Praise God and our Lord Jesus for rescuing all who have washed up on the beaches of this world of sin, by just putting their faith in Him.
God Bless and be with you all.
In the Eye of the Storm
I met a man many years ago who in fact changed my life.
He turned my life from a Church back pew warmer to a Church Leader.
But the thing that amazed me most about him was his Faith.
No Matter what happen to this man, he always had a smile and always said thank you Jesus, whether good or bad…
Daniel 3:17 “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.”
STORY: Pastor Frank
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We must understand that the King of this world is Satan, and he has only one aim and that is to
keep you from Jesus, by letting little things get in your way and become an obstacle between you and salvation.
Don’t let the little troubles in life get you down. Jesus knows what you are going through, He knows your problems. He says “just put your truth in Me and I will take care of you.”
There are many Storms in life that we fight everyday, and if we try and fight them with our human strength we will fail, it is only as we depend on Jesus and put our trust in Him that he will enable us to meet the trial ahead and in His name be Victorious!
Let us Pray!
When thing are going bad for you, can you still hold up your head and say Praise you Jesus?
Bad things may happen, but if a bad thing happens at the right time is it still a bad thing?
Story: The Van in Florida:
When God has His hand over His people there is no need to worry, He is taking care of the little matters that we forget.
Have you ever been between a rock and a hard place?
Where no matter what decision you make it is going to be the wrong one…
Look at what happen to Jesus:
Some of the leading priest of his times, who he came to save; gave Him the hardest times and made His life very bitter.
Mark 12:14 “And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not?”
What a deception, if they knew that he was a true teacher, why did they keep on him with their malicious hate?
Continually they kept-up with their words of hate and drought. Beating upon God’s dear Son for no other reason then because He was different.
His holy life made there sinful life all the more revealing; In the presence of Jesus they could not hide or cover up there Sins.
15: Shall we give, or shall we not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? bring me a penny, that I may see it.
Jesus fully understood their motive and read into their malice therefore He said unto them
16: Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar’s.
17: And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. And they marvelled at him.
Even though Jesus was the Son of God, He did not use any of His Godley power to withstand the attacks of satin,
He just like us today must fully rely on the protection of the Father.
We too, need to learn this lesson; many times we try in our ‘Human way’ of thinking to do it our own way, and it never works…
Too late sometimes, when all we needed was to trust in Jesus!
When in time of trouble, don’t worry about what you are going to say, just rely on Jesus, He will give you the right words to say that will convict the hearts of people who are truly seeking.
Hardly any stories in the Bible matches the Faith of three Hebrew young Men.
Story: One day a King made a decree, All he was trying to do is to get every one on the same playing field.
There were problems in the kingdom and so he made a plan to resolve it.
This is about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
All the King was asking for was a little compromise, a little helping out here, you scratch my back and I am going to scratch yours.
Was that too much to ask? He made this ‘decree,’ and it must be obeyed.
Everyone else was making a compromise, no one will care about you Hebrews, and you can go back to servicing your God tomorrow.
Daniel 3:16 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, 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.
18: But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”
Many times in our life we become entangle in a storm that seam like there is no way out.
If we would only trust in God and not in Man we too would say “our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the fiery furnaces of Life, and he will deliver us out of hands of the king’s of this world.
Jesus will take all who put their trust in him through the fire’s of Life.
Story: Fire at Sea….
It was just an ordinary winter day back in February 1976. The M/V Aleutian Island was loading up to make another run to an offshore rig that was a little over 100 miles out to Sea. She was loaded with Drill Mud and 48 inch Cashion and had a full load of Fuel, Water and other drill rig supplies.
The weather started out very nice but by the time the Aleutian Island made it out to the Field the weather started getting bad.
Little to the Knowledge the crew, it would be a night they would never forget.
It all started while in transit from one Platform to another the first of many problems started.
1. Port Main Engine Exploded and caught the Engine room on fire.
After the fire was put out, they continued to the rig on one engine.
2. The Starboard main engine exploded and it too caught the engine room on fire again.
3. All they had was the ship’s anchor while they waited on a rescue tug.
4. Weather was getting bad.
That night there was 70 mile an hour winds and 30 foot seas, the ships anchor was not designed to hold in weather like this!
The Anchor stopper plates were kicked out by the force of the waves, the electrical brake was burnt out, the manual brakes was all they had left and they were not holding. Little by little the chain was being pulled out.
But somehow with God’s help the anchor chain held until the storm passed and help arrived.
No one could believe that we made it through that storm on one little anchor.
God will keep you through the storms of your life if you will trust Him.
Story of Paul:
Paul was taken prisoner, but he did not fear. Why? Because he knew that sometimes, bad things happen to God’s good people. But he was not going to let it get in his way, or let Satan have the victory.
He was going to find a way to let the bad things praise God.
He was put on a ship to go to Rome where he was to answer to Caesar because of his faith in Jesus
Acts 28:3 “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.
4: And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.
5: And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.
6: Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.”
Each and every one of us will have trials that come before us, there will be times when it will look like the whole world will be against you, and more then likely it will be.
Our Hope must be in Jesus
Look at Isaiah 54:13 “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.
14: In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee.”
We have the promises of God that those who remain faithful that He will be their protector.
Psalms 91:5 “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6: Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8: Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
9: Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
10: There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11: For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
12: They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.”
There is not a Christian today who can say he is not without trials in life. If you are having problems give Jesus praise for it.
Thank Him that you are counted as worthy to be tried
1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”
Satan is not seeking his own people to persecute, they are already in his bag, he my friend, is after God’s people. To try them and to make sure their life is as bitter as he can make it!
All he is asking for is a little compromise, you will not have to give up much and you can go right back serving your God tomorrow.
Look at what the Bible says:
Revelation 12:17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
God’s people will love him so much that they would rather die then to sin.
Revelation 17:14 “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
While we may drink of a bitter cup now; the daylight of Christ’ return is coming. A day of hope and gladness for all who have kept the faith and put their trust in Him.
We are told by the Prophet John in Rev 21:1 “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2: And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3: And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4: And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5: And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6: And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7: He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.”
Daniel 3:17 “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.”
Our God whom we serve will save His people from the fiery trials that Satan puts us through, because greater is He that is in us then he that is in this world.
So if your life is in the midst of a storm just remember Jesus, and like Peter, cry out from the bottom of your heart, Jesus save me, and He will be there to take your hand and lead you out of the fire, but only through your faith.
God bless and keep you my friend
D5 Creation
