The cross that Jesus died on was Bloody and Stained!
Jesus took the wrath of God upon Himself for those who believe in HIM!
That same wrath is still held upon the lost!
And quite frankly what we have done to cheapen the gospel to one of only love is what has lead us into the dispair we now have that we call Christianity.
Jonathon Edwards saw the hypocrisy that beladened his congregation and knew that unless God did something they would all perish!
In turn having gotten on his knees and crying out for his lost congregation the Lord gave him this sermon that had the power and backing of the Holy Spirit!
In turn people were cut to the heart convicted and seen their need for a Saviour.
I have been reading lots of history on the revivals.
In those revivals many people were truly saved until one of the great fallacy's of Finney!
Who brought in the alter call.
I will say that Finney did contribute a lot of good in his time, but I feel the whole alter call could possibly overshadow some of those other things.
In today's time we have alter calls being substituted for the "Call". Call on the name of the Lord and you will be saved. And we also have easy believism that is a heresy!
Which in turn brought in a whole new generations of unbelieving people into the congregations.
Now what we have is people who don't want to be offended, and pastors who don't want to lose anyone by offending them with the truth.
Jesus first words on the scene were REPENT for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!
John the baptist called the religious of his day a Brood of vipers!
We are to be using the whole bible as the word says it is good for reproof, rebuke etc......
To leave out some very very important parts of the bible in an attempt to not offend people is doing an injustice to the Lords work.
The sermon Jonathon Edwards presented was to his church! People who thought they were saved. There comes a time for us to be gentle with people. And then there comes a time that we need to stir them out of their seats of complacency.
We are in that time of stirring them out.
How many churches do we have in the U.S. ? And yet this nation is failing and full of lost souls.
Just like there were back in the day of Whitfield and the like.
Those men saw the desperation of what was needed to bring the people back to God.
They didn't need a seeker sensitive message of Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
No!
They needed to hear the truth about God's wrath that was on them.
Read Revelation where the words says "I will vomit you out of my mouth."
That is not gentle, that is a loving God who warned the people to Repent, but they didn't. He is speaking to people held up in Churches!
Lost hypocrites! People pretending to be one thing and yet are totally another.
As a parent I love my children and give them hugs and praise them when they are doing good.
I also have to discipline them and show some harshness when they are going astray.
God chastises those whom He loves.
So to just be one who only preaches the love part of the bible and nothing else is wrong.
The wrath is upon the lost, that is biblical. And unless we are out there warning the people what is impending upon them, there will be no need to tell them of the love.
I also know there is the time for grace. And in Gods wrath there is grace!
Because He so loved the world that He gave!
The cross was not a pleasant non violent issue! It was a wrathful, harsh, bloody and violent death Jesus suffered for us.
That must be told also!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Sinner Beware! An exerpt from Sinners of an Angry God by: Jonathon Edwards
"Now, what significance does this have to do with our daily lives?
Perhaps this awful subject may awaken those who remain unconverted in the church, for what you have read is the case of everyone is out of Christ.
If you are not a child of God, that world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you.
Below you is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; hell's mouth is gaping wide open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of.
There is nothing between you and hell except the air; it is the only power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not aware of this, for although you find you are kept out of hell, you do not see the hand of God in it.
Instead, you attribute your current state to other things, such as the health of your body, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own perservation.
But, indeed, these things are nothing; if God should withdraw His hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling than the thin air can hold up a person who is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you heavy as lead; it drives you down, with great weight and pressure, toward hell.
And if God were to let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf.
At that moment, you will see that your health, your own care and prudence, your best contrivance, and all your righteousness, have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web has to stop a falling rock.
Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you for one moment, for you are a burden to it.
The creation groans with you, 'for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together' (Romans 8:22); creation is unwilling made subject to the bondage of your corruption."
This sermon continues on, but I am not going to put the rest down.
Go and buy the book "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by; Jonothan Edwards.
You see this sermon was for those who were in the church that Jonathan Edwards pastored.
He saw the desperation of the time.
When men and women grew cold in their walk with Christ.
He knew in his heart that not all of those in his congregation that claimed to be Christian were saved.
That same scenario goes on every Sunday in our churches.
There are countless lost people sitting in pews every Sunday thinking they are on their way to heaven.
They are decieved!
Unless you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you cannot be saved!
All the serving and helping is not going to get you into heaven.
If you were told after holding a pastors hand, praying a prayer or doing the every eye closed thing that you were saved.
And yet have no change in your life and have no desire to go out and proclaim the name of Jesus, you better seek God!
Unless you call on the name of Jesus and repent of your ways you may very well be decieved into thinking you are going to heaven.
Please check your heart, ask God to show you if you meant what you said, or if you just did what you were told and believed a man instead of God!
Perhaps this awful subject may awaken those who remain unconverted in the church, for what you have read is the case of everyone is out of Christ.
If you are not a child of God, that world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you.
Below you is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; hell's mouth is gaping wide open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor anything to take hold of.
There is nothing between you and hell except the air; it is the only power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not aware of this, for although you find you are kept out of hell, you do not see the hand of God in it.
Instead, you attribute your current state to other things, such as the health of your body, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own perservation.
But, indeed, these things are nothing; if God should withdraw His hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling than the thin air can hold up a person who is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you heavy as lead; it drives you down, with great weight and pressure, toward hell.
And if God were to let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf.
At that moment, you will see that your health, your own care and prudence, your best contrivance, and all your righteousness, have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web has to stop a falling rock.
Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you for one moment, for you are a burden to it.
The creation groans with you, 'for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together' (Romans 8:22); creation is unwilling made subject to the bondage of your corruption."
This sermon continues on, but I am not going to put the rest down.
Go and buy the book "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" by; Jonothan Edwards.
You see this sermon was for those who were in the church that Jonathan Edwards pastored.
He saw the desperation of the time.
When men and women grew cold in their walk with Christ.
He knew in his heart that not all of those in his congregation that claimed to be Christian were saved.
That same scenario goes on every Sunday in our churches.
There are countless lost people sitting in pews every Sunday thinking they are on their way to heaven.
They are decieved!
Unless you repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ you cannot be saved!
All the serving and helping is not going to get you into heaven.
If you were told after holding a pastors hand, praying a prayer or doing the every eye closed thing that you were saved.
And yet have no change in your life and have no desire to go out and proclaim the name of Jesus, you better seek God!
Unless you call on the name of Jesus and repent of your ways you may very well be decieved into thinking you are going to heaven.
Please check your heart, ask God to show you if you meant what you said, or if you just did what you were told and believed a man instead of God!
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Do not labor for the food that perishes....The work of God!
"Truly truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." John 6: 26-27
My heart breaks! My heart is breaking for all of those who are looking for food from those who have fed them. Yet they don't realize what they really need is the Lord Jesus Christ!
So much is done for the poor like feeding them and clothing them and such. Yet many times they never hear the good news.
Jesus had good news! He was and is the good news!
Yet the people he had just fed the previous day came looking for him the next day, not to hear the word, but to get more food.
I hear a lot of people using the scripture of Jesus feeding the 5000 and the other story where he fed the people as a reason to go and feed the lost.
Which is good in and of itself, but if that is all you are doing then you just lost the whole scope of the message of the cross!
Jesus was trying to feed them a spiritual word. In the meantime he gave them physical food to help sustain them.
When they came back the next day seeking Jesus they weren't looking for the spiritual food, but the physical food. Jesus knew their hearts!
You see the bread of God is Jesus and it is only through him that we have eternal life!
We must be preaching Christ and Him crucified! We must be willing to tell the people that they need to repent! We must be willing to give the people the real food! The Bread of Life!
My heart breaks! My heart is breaking for all of those who are looking for food from those who have fed them. Yet they don't realize what they really need is the Lord Jesus Christ!
So much is done for the poor like feeding them and clothing them and such. Yet many times they never hear the good news.
Jesus had good news! He was and is the good news!
Yet the people he had just fed the previous day came looking for him the next day, not to hear the word, but to get more food.
I hear a lot of people using the scripture of Jesus feeding the 5000 and the other story where he fed the people as a reason to go and feed the lost.
Which is good in and of itself, but if that is all you are doing then you just lost the whole scope of the message of the cross!
Jesus was trying to feed them a spiritual word. In the meantime he gave them physical food to help sustain them.
When they came back the next day seeking Jesus they weren't looking for the spiritual food, but the physical food. Jesus knew their hearts!
You see the bread of God is Jesus and it is only through him that we have eternal life!
We must be preaching Christ and Him crucified! We must be willing to tell the people that they need to repent! We must be willing to give the people the real food! The Bread of Life!
Monday, October 19, 2009
A word from W. Carl Ketcherside
Greed for money is at the bottom of much of our sad plight.
Men make a profession of dispensing the water of life which God has freely given to all.
They then inaugurate a special caste to minister in this profession and demand support from the rest of God's children.
Others see an opportunity to make gain and seize power by instituting organizations to produce and train the professional clergymen.
Theological seminaries under the guise of Bible colleges are begun and again a tax is levied
against the "clergy of God" to produce a special clergy which will steal the very privileges of
those who pay tribute to this earthly hand-maiden to produce them.
Eventually the simplicity of God's original plan of priesthood becomes so obscure, that those who plead for a return to the old paths are derided, maligned and laughed to scorn.
-W. Carl Ketcherside
Men make a profession of dispensing the water of life which God has freely given to all.
They then inaugurate a special caste to minister in this profession and demand support from the rest of God's children.
Others see an opportunity to make gain and seize power by instituting organizations to produce and train the professional clergymen.
Theological seminaries under the guise of Bible colleges are begun and again a tax is levied
against the "clergy of God" to produce a special clergy which will steal the very privileges of
those who pay tribute to this earthly hand-maiden to produce them.
Eventually the simplicity of God's original plan of priesthood becomes so obscure, that those who plead for a return to the old paths are derided, maligned and laughed to scorn.
-W. Carl Ketcherside
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Just a word and thought!
In my journey walking with Christ I have never been the "normal" sit in your pew kind of Christian. I have always been the type of Christian that was hungry for the word and wanting to know more. My heart has always been striving for that goal that Paul mentions in the scripture. I have not and will not waiver!
That is not to say that I haven't sinned or will not continue to sin in the future.
The difference is that I am forgiven. As no one is perfect in their walk with Christ.
Every since I was five years old I have been on a journey God has called me too.
I wasn't walking in His ways all the years, but I can look back now and see at different instances where He was involved in my life. All the while trying to get my attention.
I thank God for all He has and is doing in my life and the life of my family. I praise Him for my wife of 19 years +. I praise Him for my 4 beautiful children.
My home is at peace and my life is great.
My walk with the Lord has been and is a great journey that I would not change for anything.
He has spoken to me in different ways throughout my life and though I didn't always listen I always knew it was Him and He had a plan for me.
I am not an arrogant man. No, my confidence is in Christ who called me to this wonderful walk.
I have my convictions and beliefs. And again I won't waiver from them.
I don't need to explain myself in order for people to know that I believe in the only Son of God.
There is nothing that can change a mans heart except the Lord who uses His Holy Word and His Holy Spirit.
Most all of my life the Lord has kept me questioning why! Why, do we do this in the church? Where is that in the bible? Who says this is correct?
And now I have been coming into more of the truth and the light of what God has been showing me. I have found people on the internet through blogs, facebook etc. that are on the very same journey asking the same questions.
I have met people in person and still fellowship with some who had the same question. Why?
This word is for all of you!
Continue to move forward in what God is showing you! Don't get discouraged in being let down by others. Don't allow the enemy to put thoughts into your mind that you are crazy for not staying with the status quo! And don't allow money or the love of money to stop your journey the Lord has you on.
Don't be like the Israelites who were set free from Pharoh and the system of Eygpt and were promised a land of milk and honey. Yet they waivered and made what was supposed to be a short journey into a 40 year journey.
Don't allow the machine we call "church" in America to bring you down.
Don't allow the attacks upon the truth to make you want to stop moving forward.
This is not some issue that will just go away with enough opposition. No, because what God starts He finishes.
Martin Luther didn't waiver when his life was being threatened! He didn't cower to the powers to be in the system.
He continued the race until his death.
This reformation God has us on is going to continue. It is not a new thing as some would have us believe. This move God has us in has been going on since the beginning.
So continue the race and continue to encourage one another.
Pray for one another and continue to show the love of Christ to all!
That is not to say that I haven't sinned or will not continue to sin in the future.
The difference is that I am forgiven. As no one is perfect in their walk with Christ.
Every since I was five years old I have been on a journey God has called me too.
I wasn't walking in His ways all the years, but I can look back now and see at different instances where He was involved in my life. All the while trying to get my attention.
I thank God for all He has and is doing in my life and the life of my family. I praise Him for my wife of 19 years +. I praise Him for my 4 beautiful children.
My home is at peace and my life is great.
My walk with the Lord has been and is a great journey that I would not change for anything.
He has spoken to me in different ways throughout my life and though I didn't always listen I always knew it was Him and He had a plan for me.
I am not an arrogant man. No, my confidence is in Christ who called me to this wonderful walk.
I have my convictions and beliefs. And again I won't waiver from them.
I don't need to explain myself in order for people to know that I believe in the only Son of God.
There is nothing that can change a mans heart except the Lord who uses His Holy Word and His Holy Spirit.
Most all of my life the Lord has kept me questioning why! Why, do we do this in the church? Where is that in the bible? Who says this is correct?
And now I have been coming into more of the truth and the light of what God has been showing me. I have found people on the internet through blogs, facebook etc. that are on the very same journey asking the same questions.
I have met people in person and still fellowship with some who had the same question. Why?
This word is for all of you!
Continue to move forward in what God is showing you! Don't get discouraged in being let down by others. Don't allow the enemy to put thoughts into your mind that you are crazy for not staying with the status quo! And don't allow money or the love of money to stop your journey the Lord has you on.
Don't be like the Israelites who were set free from Pharoh and the system of Eygpt and were promised a land of milk and honey. Yet they waivered and made what was supposed to be a short journey into a 40 year journey.
Don't allow the machine we call "church" in America to bring you down.
Don't allow the attacks upon the truth to make you want to stop moving forward.
This is not some issue that will just go away with enough opposition. No, because what God starts He finishes.
Martin Luther didn't waiver when his life was being threatened! He didn't cower to the powers to be in the system.
He continued the race until his death.
This reformation God has us on is going to continue. It is not a new thing as some would have us believe. This move God has us in has been going on since the beginning.
So continue the race and continue to encourage one another.
Pray for one another and continue to show the love of Christ to all!
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