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How false doctrine is perpetuated

Charisma can entice Christians to believe a new doctrine, even if it does not entirely line up with scripture. We are told that if one does not follow scripture, there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20) A church or a group may be bound to an old pioneer’s singular viewpoint, despite evidence that he or she was fallible and made many errors of judgment. For example, the Baptist farmer William Miller preached that Jesus would return to earth on October 22, 1844, despite the warning of Jesus that no man knows the time of my return (Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32).

How false doctrine is perpetuated Miller repented of his error while the early church of the Seventh-day Adventists as devout followers of Miller, added a caveat after Christ did not return, fabricating an erroneous doctrine around the 1844 disappointment that overlooked several clear doctrines of the Word of God:

  1. of the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ,
  2. the finality of the Atonement at the Cross,
  3. the glorious entry of Christ to unify with the Father in His presence at the Ascension,
  4. the Sanctification of the believers via the Holy Spirit indwelling the church— the New Jerusalem— the temple wherein Christ dwells on earth, and
  5. limiting the understanding of the New Covenant by keeping members within the Old Testament typology of an incomplete atonement and a limited justification as one works harder towards purification from all sin (referred to as The Investigative Judgment)!

The scripture teaches that your sin will find you out. Proclaimed as a prophet to never question, Ellen G. White has made other erroneous statements that do not line up with scripture to support the Investigative Judgement doctrine which is based on he 1844 error. One scripture misinterpretation leads to another. These became more evident in the information age.

This is only an example of how a misbelieving church can lead the followers of Christ down a wrong path away from the beautiful teachings of scripture. Some churches have shameless leaders who claim to have prophetic insight, implying that they are similar to Moses, Jeremiah, or the apostles, yet scripture warns us to beware even of those who claim to be prophet guides to the church:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” (Matthew 7:21-23 NIV)

Most senior leaders within these groups have gained prestige and are highly honoured by the church. They have a looming retirement pension and years of shared fond memories with like-minded friends. Status quo has many psychological and physical rewards that can keep one from biblical honesty. Standing with error when revealed is a sin of unbelief. A heretic never says, “I’m a heretic.” A deceiver never alerts you to his true intentions, and a friend can turn on you at any moment. A family member, or even a spouse, can betray your trust Jesus taught. Authenticity and reliability are hard to find, and so are real friends — even within church groups bound to such erroneous viewpoints. And correctly asserting the truth, without standing in judgment of someone else, is decidedly difficult. Giving each other the benefit of the doubt is difficult where Scripture marks a decided division from the doctrinal norm.

We cannot truly know another person without first knowing ourselves in relation to Christ and His Word. And we cannot overcome our demons without first separating ourselves from the work of Satan’s deceptions and delusions—both inside and outside of the church. To be set free, we have to cut ties with the darkness—and Paul tells us how. To combat the darkness, Paul ultimately shows us a better way. We are not meant to pick up the threads of our old sinful lives in the world. We are also not meant to retain and incorporate false doctrinal threads into our beliefs at all; instead, we’re called to rebuild our lives on the redemption we find alone in Jesus according to the light of scripture which the Holy Spirit will lead us into. (Psalm 25:5; John 16:13) Peter was given the keys to the kingdom to build up the church of Jesus Christ, to discern and only teach scriptural truth led by the Holy Spirit which the Lord has agreed with:

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 ESV)

It is only in Christ that we can find completion—wholeness—not in doctrine muddied with errors which can delude others and lead them astray eternally—and certainly not in association with those that chip away at or compromise your relationship with Jesus. Anything less than the pure prophetic teaching of scripture and a relationship to our God will just leave us broken, wandering in delusive fractured guidance. False doctrine and people can’t fill the God-sized hole in our hearts.

Paul states that if we cleanse ourselves from defilement, then holiness will be brought to completion. “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1).

We need our hearts to be cleansed by the living God—our minds cannot clarify truth when confusing or lying guidance is ranting at us, drawing us into its snare—“the Son of God who bled and died and rose again for me” must lead. Christians have to make many difficult decisions, and many of them are based in our relationships to churches and people. What relationships should we maintain? Which relationships are okay to let go of? And when should we cut ties with someone? Whenever we are being led astray from God, we must make changes, no matter how difficult those changes are. We must never go back to ungodliness, deception, lies, delusional doctrinal errors—anything that defies belief in Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives transforming us into His image as He leads us via His Holy Spirit.

 

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Be diligent to confirm your calling and election

Relative to the Christian believer’s security, the bible indicates that there is indeed security for every child of God—a security that is conditioned upon the right choices by that believer to determine a life of obedience to scripture as we are led by the Spirit to overcome.

Let’s look at scriptures which teach this. The conditioning word, “if” will testify to the need to live a life in such a way as to ensure our high calling and election as per 2 Peter 1:10: Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. 

The word “if” occurs 592 times in the New Testament often to show the conditions upon which our Christian standing depends. The following looks at 7 of these conditional statements.

  1. In John 8:31, Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Later in the same conversation, He said  in verse 5:1: “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” 
  2. In John 15:6-7 there is that sobering repetition of the word: “If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you”. Again, in verse 10: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.”
  3. Look at the conditioning word “if” as Paul uses it in writing to the gentile Christians in Rome: Romans 11:17-23: “But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.”
  4. Consider Colossians 1:21-23: “And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
  5. Paul makes a solid appeal to the Thessalonian Christians in 1 Thessalonians 3:8: “For now we live, if you are standing fast in the Lord,” which grew out of the concern which he manifested in verse 5: “For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labour would be in vain.”
  6. There are two striking appearances of this little word in Hebrews 2:1 in the appeal which grew out of the author’s earnest exhortation that “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.” In Hebrews 3:6, he shows that Christ is better than Moses, who was a faithful servant in his house: “Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” Then in verse 12 and following, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.  But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.  For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.”
  7. Further Peter uses this little conditioning word in the first chapter of his second letter, where, after exhorting his hearers to the development of all the Christian graces, he summarizes by saying in 2 Peter 1:8-11: “For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities, you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

Why the conditional “if” in the teaching of the apostles? It is because God is Holy, and he calls us to live holy lives while on this earth. In fact he empowers and leads us to achieve this: “prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:13.16

John, wrote this in 1 John 1:9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If you are human you realize that sin is lurking close by “if” we are not careful to remain faithfully obedient to scripture at all times. We live in this mortal flesh and will be tempted which brings us to the need to confess. Confess your sins, asking to overcome sin, and the Lord will enable you to overcome Satan. “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” Note that John admonishes us in verses 1 John 1:5-7: “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin”

We aim higher daily, yet Paul admitted that he had not yet reached entire holy perfection: “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

The above is taught by Armenians such as the Wesleyans beginning with the Methodist Church founded by John Wesley. He followed the works of Jacobus Arminius, who contended with Calvin’s doctrine. I have learned a good deal from  studying: Further Insights into Holiness, edited by Geiger, Publisher Beacon Hill.

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God always dwells in the midst of His true people

Know ye not that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which ye have from God? and ye are not your own”. (1 Corinthians 6:19 ASV)

In the old testament, we find that God began to teach Israel, about His holiness using symbols. “And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst.” (Exodus 25:8 ESV)

It is only the presence of God with his people that had any distinction of holiness. This was seen when God was present at the burning bush at Mt. Horeb when Moses was called to lead Israel out of Egypt saying: “take off your shoes…the place where you are standing is holy ground”. Further, God promised Moses that He, though holy, would be with him to lead Israel out of bondage: “My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”(Exodus 33:14 ESV)

In the tent sanctuary built by Moses as instructed by God, and later in the temple of Jerusalem, the holy place and further the most holy place was the habitation of God’s Holiness, was the centre of all God’s work to teach Israel symbolically using types, that living a holy life was dependent on His actual presence in the temple. Everything connected with it was holy. The altar, the priests, the sacrifices, the oil, the bread, the vessels, all were holy, because they belonged to God. “There I will meet with the people of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by my glory…I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.” (Exodus 29:43,45 ESV)

The place where God dwells came to be known as the holy place. All around where God dwelt was holy: the holy city, the mountain of God’s Holiness, His holy house, till we come within the veil in the sanctuary of old Israel, to the most holy place, also referred to as the holy of holies — the place where the High Priest would enter once a year during the day of atonement, when Israel would confess their sins and offer up sacrifices to the Lord. The holy place was holy, because it was nearer to God’s presence. But the inner sanctuary, where the Presence dwelt on the mercy-seat, was the Holiest of All, was most holy. Here is where the Shekinah glory (Hebrew: שכינה‎‎) visited. The English transliteration of the Hebrew noun means “dwelling” or “settling” and denotes the dwelling or settling of the divine presence of God’s glory.

To old Israel, God’s call to be holy was clearly stated: “For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy” and “Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the LORD your God” (Lev 11:44; 20:7 ESV) The principle lesson of this still holds: holiness is measured by the nearness to God; the more of His Presence, the more of true holiness; perfect indwelling was perfect holiness, which we witnessed in the life of Jesus. There is none holy but the Lord; there is no holiness if there is no proximity to Him. He cannot part with a portion of His holiness, and give it to us apart from Himself. It is time, that we stop  thinking of God as up there in heaven, distant from us here on earth, when Jesus taught that “the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21)

Christians are called to holiness. The New Testament developed the dwelling of God, to a much higher level moving from the shadow symbols of the Most Holy Place of the physical tent and house of God in Israel to the place of the believer’s spirit. It teaches us at the New Covenant level that the Presence of God makes the place holy where He dwells in His holiness via the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.

The New Covenant continues the call for holiness. God promises to make us holy by His indwelling if we cooperate with him willingly and obey: “but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16) and “my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now…work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” with the promise that it is the Lord present with you who is doing the progressive transforming work as you cooperate with him in willing obedience “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV) We are to be conformed into the image of Christ as we obey the Word of God via the indwelling of His Spirt: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers” (Romans 8:29 ESV)

Have you ever noticed that there is a very close link between the character of a house and its occupants — the pictures, books, the knick-knacks, the music, all reflect the owner’s character or his likeness. Holiness expresses more than a quality or ornamental feature — it is the very personal being of God in His infinite perfection and goodness. His house testifies to this one truth, that He is holy, that where He dwells He must have holiness. Moreover, it is His indwelling that makes the place of His abode holy.

In His command to His people to build Him a holy place, God distinctly said that it was that He might dwell among them: the dwelling in the house was to be the shadowing forth of His dwelling in the midst of His people — His indwelling by His Spirit. The house with its holiness thus leads us on to the holiness of His dwelling among His redeemed ones. Jesus promised this to His disciples, that they would begin to realize this truth after His resurrection and ascension: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20 ESV)

If you have a love for Christ you will have a love for His Word, which speaks of Him and reveals His will. One must know His commands to love God and love one another and the manner of holiness taught by His apostles if one is to dwell in the presence of the master: “Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23 ESV) There it is, “we will come to him and make our home with him”.

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 KJV) Christ’s death made it possible to approach the Father.  Contemplate Christ’s priestly prayer and you will begin to see that God’s dwelling with man in unity with Him predicates man’s potential to live abidingly with Him with a pursuit of holiness. In the parable of the vine, Jesus taught that without Him we can achieve nothing good. Again we can note the dwelling of the Father and our Lord are to be inseparably close to His followers.

“Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world (see John 17:22-24 ESV)

There is an antithetical aspect of God’s holiness in the old testament. God’s claim of His holiness was brought into sharp focus in the demand for cleansing, for atonement, for holiness, in all who were to draw near, whether as priests or worshipers. And God’s promise for the provision for making holy, was the sanctifying power of the altar, of the blood and the oil. The house presented two sides that are united in holiness, the repelling and the attracting, the condemning and the saving. By keeping the people at a distance, then by inviting and bringing them nigh, God’s house was the great symbol of His own Holiness as distinct from man’s sinfulness and his need for a mediating priest. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place.

In the New Covenant we see now that God’s working with Israel via the temple, was a symbol that through the sacrifice of Jesus and His High priestly ministry in heaven, we now — after His Crucifixion and Ascension — can draw near to God: ”

We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever” (Hebrews 6: 19-20 ESV).

This new access to God’s holiness was symbolized by the inner veil being ripped at the moment of Christ’s death: “And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split” (Matthew 27:51 ESV)

We are called to holiness. We must also understand that it is a progressive transformation of character over a lifetime. Progress only will occur when we allow Christ to indwell our Hearts by His Spirit. “Christ in you the hope of glory!” The apostle Paul made this clear: “I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me” (Philippians 3:12 NLT)

For a deeper study click: Christ: Our High Priest of a New Covenant

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The Role of Conscience in Sanctification

Here is an introduction to our study on the role of the conscience.

  • God gave Adam a conscience that was uncorrupted before he sinned. After his sin, it was depraved and corrupted, but not totally erased.
  • Conscience serves as a witness to the truth (Prov. 20:27), but moral choice tells whether it has been obeyed (Josh. 24:15).
  • A man’s own conscience accuses him of sin (Gen. 42:21; 2 Sam. 24:10; Matt. 27:3), and it will condemn him when the books are opened. Every mouth will be silenced, and God’s judgments will be seen to be true and just (Rev. 20:12-15).
  • The believer who is walking in the Spirit will repent of, and confess any known sin. In this way, it is possible to have a blameless conscience that is void of offence. (Rom. 9:1; 14:22; cf. Acts 24:16). Conscience is educated and perfected by faith through the redeeming sacrifice of Jesus Christ. 1

The Hebrew term translated into the English as “conscience” occurs in the Old Testament, but very sparsely. However in the New Testament, there seems to be a fuller awareness of the importance of the function of conscience in the Christian life. The Greek word for conscience appears in the New Testament thirty-one times, and it seems to have a two-fold dimension, as the medieval scholars argued. It involves the idea of accusing as well as the idea of excusing. When we sin, the conscience is troubled. It accuses us. The conscience is the tool that God the Holy Spirit uses to convict us, bring us to repentance, and to receive the healing of forgiveness that flows from the gospel. 2

By the correct use of our conscience we can aim for absolute purity in Christ by the power of His Holy Spirt. The holiness nearing divine character, follows absolute surrender to the Holy Spirit every day every hour. “Conscience” (συνείδησις, syneidēsis) appears six times in the Pastoral Letters, always combined with an attributive adjective (1 Tim 1:5, 19; 3:9; 4:2; 2 Tim 1:3; Titus 1:15). Overall, the Pastoral Letters emphasize the importance of “having faith and a good conscience” (1 Tim 1:19). First Timothy 1:5 states that “the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience”

Such a life, not manipulated by the world’s allurements, yields one’s entire being up to God for His sole use. Being careful to think, say, do only what is right — and in truth represent what is right in the eyes of  God — as a witness to others — evidencing a solid biblically balanced character guided by the Holy Spirit. (1 Tim. 4:12; Rom. 8:14)

But the power of sin can erode the conscience to the point where it becomes a faint voice in the deepest recesses of your soul. By this, our consciences become hardened and callous, condemning what is right and excusing what is wrong. 3 We become a culture in trouble when we begin to call evil good and good evil. To do that, we must distort the conscience, and, in essence, make man the final authority in life. All one has to do is to adjust his conscience to suit his ethic. Then we can live life with peace of mind, thinking that we are living in a state of righteousness. 4

Our conscience testifies to our reasoning mind: that we have not aligned with the wisdom of this world but in accord with God’s grace and truth. A holy conscience renders a tranquil mind — peace with God, and with others, as we mirror the Righteousness of our Lord Jesus, who imputes his holiness via the Spirit. He gives us strength to stand firm to resist the devil who flees before such character — when one holds fast to the Word of Life, defined by the doctrinal Truth as revealed by the Spirit of Jesus (John 16:13; 2 Cor. 1:12; James 4:7) Our conscience must testify to the truthful witness of the Spirit as to how we live in mind, body and soul in accord with the truth of scripture. Why? Jesus Himself as he walked on this earth was the incarnate Word, wherefrom truth issues, now by His Spirit within us, in unity as His church wherein His kingdom is manifest in a fallen world. (John 14:6 Eph. 4:15) In fact Jesus said that his Spirit will guide us into all truth, directly from the heavenly courts. (John 8:31-32, 17.17) 

It is not just the imputed righteousness that we receive when we believe in Jesus Christ. We are also to participate in his righteousness through obedience to His Word. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! (Hebrews 9:14 NIV)

Such righteousness of Christ indwelling the godly one displays necessary integrity that guards a man or woman when tempted and brings our Lord’s bestowed favour & honour — withholding no good thing from those whose walk is blameless (Psalm 84:11) 

Be obedient to the entire word of God, in body, mind and soul ready to adhere to only His will. This will enable you to do and to be a holy representative to His glory’s loving goodness. The faculty of the conscience, is designed to operate well, only when the mind is established in the Word of God, through regular prayer and study.

In the world, we will be tested; in a sense, we are under probation — with our conscience either condemning or confirming our conduct — which begins in our mind, with reason weighing each circumstance for or against Christ’s Covenant of Grace. Regard the following text as a warning, that our mindset can be fixed on purity and holiness with the Holy Spirt empowering our obedience to the Word of God; or conversely, we fall prey to the alluring desires of Satan that the world presents, in sin:

To the pure all things are pure: but to them that are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.  (Titus 1:15-16 NAS) Further in Hebrews, we find that a pure conscience aligns us with Christ’s work of redemption: The One who makes people holy and the people he makes holy belong to the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. (Hebrews 2:11 NIrV)

When open to accept the Spirit of God’s directives, He reveals God’s truth. Only then can God’s truth renew our conscience. 

By regular exposure to the Word of our Lord, the Spirit educates the believer’s conscience with the will of God. Thereby our biblical standard formed by the conscience begins to align with the standard of revealed truth. The prayer of David expresses his concern for God to show any unknown infringement against God’s will: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” (Psalm 139:24)

Apostle Paul wrote of the danger of “the searing of the conscience“.

Paul clearly understood the damaging effects of sin on the human heart. He spoke insightfully of those who were “seared in their own conscience as with a branding iron” (1 Timothy 4:2), and those who “because of the hardness of their heart (have) become callous.” (Ephesians 4:18-19) Both metaphors—the seared conscience and the hardened, calloused heart—describe the same condition. Further, he describes this process as the “wandering away from” a “good conscience,” (I Timothy 1:5-6) and the corrupting of the conscience (Titus 1:15). Both describe the same process of inner moral backsliding that occurs when a person allows sin to re-establish itself within their mind. Continuance in this course lessens our resistance to corruption, desensitizing our conscience to the evil nature of sin. In such cases, their conscience undergoes a constant searing — the inability to sense any guilt regarding sin, which defies the Word — a process that will eventually lead to the death of conscience. 

Adam Clarke described a soul in this depraved state as “one cauterized by repeated applications of sin, and resistings of the Holy Ghost…”

 By disregarding the conscience and remaining in sin long enough, it is terrifying to understand that there can become a point where a person is no longer influenced by the Holy Spirit. 

There is hope only in Christ to retrieve such a one—by repentance, acknowledging guilt and taking steps to put change aright—the hardened heart begins to soften, and the soul gradually begins to feel the conviction of sin once again. In this way, Christ positions the believer back where God can reach him or her and help the believer to overcome. As the writer of Hebrews exclaimed: “how much more will the blood of Christ… cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)

Stand guard as a man or woman called unto holiness, reject erroneous  ways — with cleansed hands, eye and mind, checked ongoingly by conscience as residing in the Spirit — abiding in the vine of Christ’s Sovereign Power — shielding us from every dart, every lustful allurement and whispering argument of satan — to live for the Christ’s Kingdom true (Rom. 8:14; Gal. 5:25)

Truth as it proceeds from Christ’s Word will protect you from the many wiles of the devil’s deceits. (1 John 4:1; 2 Thess. 2:9; Gal. 1:6-7; Heb 13:9; James 1:26, 4:3; Titus 1:14; 1 Tim. 6:20) In this way the Light of Truth as revealed in Christ’s scriptural Word will protect your soul from deceit, and erroneous interpretations and temptations which might allure, while guiding your conscience into a sound foundation, and a holy unified walk as a Christian amidst the church, honouring the Lord. (John 8:32, 36; Lk. 11:36; Eph 5:8; John 12:35)

1 Companion Bible Commentary.

2 R. C. Sproul, How Can I Develop a Christian Conscience?, First edition., The Crucial Questions Series (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2013), 6.

3 Ibid

4 Ibid

 

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The love songs of the world

But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness,
let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints;
neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting,
which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. (Ephesians 5:3-4)

When sitting in a restaurant, I prefer to hear instrumental music: classical baroque, flamenco, or light jazz. Unfortunately, I often hear young singers crooning out heart-throbbing lyrics related to wanting love, lamenting the loss of love; being loved, or making love.

The premise behind the music is a crying quest for love, albeit the fantasy of love to be or love despairingly lost. The world bases its love on what they get out of it. The lyrics, the movies, the romance novels, and TV series string people along into chasing an illusion of finding that perfect love. But that love is primarily selfishly conditional — it is full of lust, sexual innuendo, and self-pleasure — certainly not God’s intent for true marital love. It’s Satan’s perverted delusion of God’s love, which He prefers is shed abroad in our hearts. His love for His children is forgiving, unconditional, and self-sacrificing.

Little wonder the songs bellowing from these young singers sound so shallow, selfish, sensual, and often sexual.

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The Servant Leader Shuns Unbiblical Thinking

The following is a sermon from John MacArthur:

Today it’s considered noble for someone to say they have an open mind. But is it really virtuous to leave our thinking so exposed? We have doors in our homes to keep some things out and other things in, and we open the doors at our discretion to make that distinction. A wise man guards his mind in the same way—only a fool would leave his mind open to anything and everything.

That’s why God’s Word places so much importance on discernment. Scripture takes the naïve, inexperienced, immature, uninformed, ignorant person whose mind is an open door and teaches him when to shut it.

The apostle Paul had that goal in mind when he instructed Timothy to “have nothing to do with worldly fables” (1 Timothy 4:7). “Fables” is a translation of the Greek word muthos, from which we transliterate the English word myth. Second Timothy 4:4 says that some “will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” So Paul considered truth and myths (or fables) as opposites. The Christian should gain spiritual nourishment from the truth and shun that which opposes it.

The identification of fables as “fit only for old women” (1 Timothy 4:7) has a cultural meaning. Philosophers used the phrase as a sarcastic epithet when they wanted to heap disdain on a particular viewpoint. It conveyed the picture of an old lady with aging faculties telling a fairy tale to a child. The expression also generally referred to things that lacked credibility.

The mind is a precious thing. God wants those who serve as spiritual leaders to have pure minds saturated with the truth of God’s Word. There’s no place for worldly fables or unholy contradictions to the truth. Yet somehow contemporary society would rather follow any of those than biblical truth.

The mark of theological scholarship in some circles is no longer how well a man knows the Bible but how well he understands the speculations of the secular, academic establishment.

When I was considering completing a doctoral degree in theology, the representative of the graduate program looked over my transcripts and concluded I had had too much Bible and theology in my undergraduate work. So he gave me a list of two hundred books I was to read before the school would admit me into its program. I ran the list by someone familiar with the titles and learned that the whole list contained nothing but liberal theology and humanistic philosophy—it was full of worldly fables passed off as scholarship! The graduate school also required me to take a course called Jesus and the Cinema. That involved watching contemporary movies and evaluating whether each was antagonistic to or supportive of what they termed “the Jesus ethic.” That course had reduced the divine Jesus to an ambiguous ethic. I met with the representative again and said, “I just want to let you know that I have spent all my life to this point learning the truth, and I can’t see any value in spending the next couple of years learning error.” I put the materials down on his desk and walked away.

Conversely, a friend of mine who lacked firm truth convictions went to a liberal seminary to prepare for ministry. He came out a bartender. The confusion of liberalism had destroyed his motivation to serve God.

I’m grateful to God that from the beginning of my training right on through to today, He has allowed me to fill my mind with His truth. My mind is not a battleground of indecision about what is true and what is false, over things “which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith” (1 Timothy 1:4). I can speak with conviction because there’s no equivocation in my mind. I have conscientiously avoided the plethora of supposed intellectuals and scholars who disagree with biblical truth.

Your mind is precious, and it needs to be kept clear from satanic lies. The faithful shepherd maintains his biblical convictions and clarity of mind by exposing himself continually to the Word of God.

(Adapted from John MacArthur’s The Master’s Plan for the Church and Final Word)

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The Current Real Power of Pentecost

Recently Catherine and I noticed the day of Pentecost in our Christian calendar and determined to keep this day in remembrance of our Lord, not because of any church rule, but because we wanted to bask in the Trinity’s glory via Christ’s Spirit — with the Father, Son and in their Spirit.

At Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) the Holy Spirit was made available to all who believed in Jesus. Jesus promised this to his disciples prior to his ascension, when he returned to heaven to sit down at His Father’s right hand.

I am going to send you what my Father has promised but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. – Luke 24:49 NIV

This gift is for every Christian believer who follows Jesus Christ as Saviour and Sovereign Lord in this wicked world. We all received the Holy Spirit — when baptized within him — when we receive Jesus Christ. The unifying baptism of the Holy Spirit must be understood in the light of his total work in a Christian’s life as He builds his church and sustains it.

The Spirit firstly marks the beginning of the Christian experience. We cannot belong to Christ without his Spirit (Rom. 8:9); we cannot remain united to Christ without his Spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).

We cannot be adopted as his children without his Spirit (Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 4:6-7). We  are in the body of Christ insofar as we receive the baptism in the Spirit (1 Cor. 12:13).

The Spirit empowers our new lives to overcome sin and remain united in Christ amidst our life’s journey — throughout the inevitable ups and downs. He begins a progressive, lifelong process of change as we become more like Christ (Gal. 3:3; Phil. 1:6).

By receiving Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God.  The Holy Spirit works in us to help us become like Christ.

The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ (Eph. 2:19-22). And the Holy Spirit is to be experienced by all, as he works through all His church family. (1 Cor. 12:11; Eph. 4:4).

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The very present danger is upon us, NOW

Part 2 for Insight into our collective dilemma facing the world today:

Though this is a long read, Joseph Mercola’s insights are a helpful synopsis which I have edited down a bit for the main nuts and bolts. I was impressed that he is also culling from the Economist, a great fiscal magazine. Looking back, Joseph interviewed primarily Christian doctors with deep insights into health in general and covid survival. Make sure you read down to the excerpts from the Economist.

The very present danger is upon us, NOW:

Across the world, experts and analysts are now warning of skyrocketing food prices and catastrophic food shortages. In mid-May 2022, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the world is facing years of famine, and urged Russia to “permit the safe and secure export of grain stored in Ukrainian ports” to ease shortages.1,2

Blame for this global food shortage is, officially, being laid at the feet of “climate change,” the COVID pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.3 But while all of those have played their role, other factors are also contributing to bring our food system to the breaking point.

For example, between January 2021 and April 2022, at least 20 food processing facilities have gone up in flames,4 and a string of barn fires has also impacted farmers.5,6 While most of these fires have been blamed on equipment or safety failures, and fact checkers insist fires are common in these kinds of facilities, there were only two such fires in 2019, and at least some of the barn fires at the end of 2021 were suspected arson.

In 2020, wildfires also destroyed a number of farms,7 and in in early 2022, bird flu outbreaks among poultry resulted in the culling of millions of chickens, ducks and turkey.8

In March 2021, a massive container ship became wedged across the Suez Canal in Egypt — blocking “an artery of world trade,” triggering a rise in oil prices and leading to fallout that affected shipping around the globe.9

More recently, there was the U.S. infant formula shortage, precipitated by the Food and Drug Administration shutting down one of the manufacturing facilities that is part of the U.S. formula monopoly.

Russia is also withholding fertilizer exports10 in response to the EU’s decision to ban seven of the nine Russian banks from the SWIFT system,11 and anyone who wants to buy Russian oil or gas has to pay in Rubles.12

On top of the fertilizer shortage and subsequent price increase triggered by Russia’s ban on exports, Union Pacific (a key investor in which is BlackRock) is also restricting fertilizer shipments by train, causing shipment delays and higher prices.13 A Canadian Pacific freight train carrying potash (a key fertilizer ingredient) also recently derailed in Alberta, Canada.14

President Biden’s decision to transition the United States away from energy independency by shutting down the Keystone pipeline,15 canceling offshore oil leases in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico,16 and freezing new leases and permits for federal oil and gas drilling17 doesn’t help either.

We need fuel to farm and to ship food and fertilizer, so rising prices at the pump automatically result in higher outlays for farmers and higher food prices. It also doesn’t help or make sense for the U.S. and U.K. to continue paying farmers to not farm or grow less when a global famine is looming.18 And, let’s not forget the elephant in the room — out of control money printing — which is the real cause of inflation.

Shortages Are Predicted Everywhere

As reported by The Economist:

“Ukraine’s exports of grain and oilseeds have mostly stopped and Russia’s are threatened. Together, the two countries supply 12% of traded calories. Wheat prices, up 53% since the start of the year, jumped a further 6% on May 16th, after India said it would suspend exports because of an alarming heatwave …
Nearly 250m are on the brink of famine. If, as is likely, the war drags on and supplies from Russia and Ukraine are limited, hundreds of millions more people could fall into poverty. Political unrest will spread, children will be stunted and people will starve …
Russia and Ukraine supply 28% of globally traded wheat, 29% of the barley, 15% of the maize and 75% of the sunflower oil … Ukraine’s food exports provide the calories to feed 400m people. The war is disrupting these supplies because Ukraine has mined its waters to deter an assault, and Russia is blockading the port of Odessa …
China, the largest wheat producer, has said that, after rains delayed planting last year, this crop may be its worst-ever. Now, in addition to the extreme temperatures in India, the world’s second-largest producer, a lack of rain threatens to sap yields in other breadbaskets, from America’s wheat belt to the Beauce region of France. The Horn of Africa is being ravaged by its worst drought in four decades …
All this will have a grievous effect on the poor. Households in emerging economies spend 25% of their budgets on food … In many importing countries, governments cannot afford subsidies to increase the help to the poor, especially if they also import energy — another market in turmoil …
Since the war started, 23 countries from Kazakhstan to Kuwait have declared severe restrictions on food exports that cover 10% of globally traded calories. More than one-fifth of all fertilizer exports are restricted. If trade stops, famine will ensue.” 19

Food Prices Skyrocket Worldwide

Globally, food prices increased by 29.8% between March 2021 and March 2022, while meat prices rose 2.2% in a single month between March and April 2022. The map below, posted on Twitter by Marc Ross,20 shows the areas of the world hardest hit by food price increases.

Not surprisingly, poorer countries notice price hikes the most, while people in wealthier nations can afford to pay more without tipping into starvation. Eventually, however, as inflation continues while salaries remain flat, even the middle-class will start to feel it. And, of course, at a certain point, it won’t matter how much money you have because you can’t buy food, at any price, if there is none.

Is the Great Reset Underway?

By now, you’ve likely heard about the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Great Reset and their plan for you to “own nothing and be happy” by 2030. We’re now seeing this plan in motion all over the place.

For example, in the first quarter of 2021, 15% of U.S. homes sold were purchased by corporate investors21 — not families looking to achieve their American dream. Seemingly without warning, we’ve entered an era where home ownership is becoming out of reach for many, and that’s a first step to “owning nothing.” As noted in a tweet by Cultural Husbandry:22

“This is wealth redistribution, and it ain’t rich people’s wealth that is getting redistributed. It’s normal American middle class, salt of the earth wealth heading into the hands of the world’s most powerful entities and individuals. The traditional financial vehicle [is] gone forever.
Home equity is the and BlackRock, a federal reserve-funded financial institution is buying up all the houses to make sure that young families can’t build wealth … This is a fundamental reorganization of society.”

Indeed, and it’s right in line with plans for societal reorganization described under banners such as The Great Reset, Build Back Better, Agenda 21, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,23,24 and the Green Energy movement. These agendas all work together toward the same goal, which is a global monopoly on ownership and wealth, with a clear separation of the haves and have-nots; the owners and the owned; the rulers and the ruled; the elite and the serfs.

If meat consumption, frozen foods, fossil fuel use, home appliances, air conditioning and single-family homes are ‘unsustainable,’ it stands to reason that the goal of any sustainable development scheme is to eliminate all of those things, and this process of elimination is now well underway. In 1992 at the Earth Summit, under-secretary-general of the Convention on Climate Change and executive director of the UN Environment Program, Maurice Strong, stated that:25

“Current lifestyles and consumption patterns of the affluent middle class, involving high meat intake, consumption of large amounts of frozen and convenience foods, use of fossil fuels, appliances, home and workplace air-conditioning, and suburban housing, are not sustainable.”

If meat consumption, frozen foods, fossil fuel use, home appliances, air conditioning and single-family homes are “unsustainable,” it stands to reason that the goal of any sustainable development scheme is to eliminate all of those things, and this process of elimination is now well underway.

It’s All About Creating Forced Dependency

Understand, The Great Reset involves the destruction of supply chains, the energy sector, the food supply and the workforce, to create dependency on government, which in turn will be taken over by private interests and central banks through the collapse of the global economy.

A large-enough war would accomplish all of these aims, which is why the possibility of world war cannot be discounted. An anonymous correspondent recently wrote about this on WinterOak.org:26

“Welcome to the second phase of the Great Reset: war. While the pandemic acclimatized the world to lockdowns, normalized the acceptance of experimental medications, precipitated the greatest transfer of wealth to corporations by decimating SMEs [small and medium-sized businesses] and adjusted the muscle memory of workforce operations in preparation for a cybernetic future, an additional vector was required to accelerate the economic collapse before nations can ‘Build Back Better.’”

The current conflict between Russia and Ukraine is a big catalyst for the World Economic Forum’s Great Reset agenda, facilitated by an interconnected web of global stakeholders and a diffuse network of public-private partnerships.”

Disruption to supply chains fit right into this plan, while food shortages, driven by the many factors discussed and, perhaps, orchestrated attacks on food plants, will accelerate the acceptance of synthetic foods, such as lab-grown meat, which has also been championed by Great Reset front men like Bill Gates.

Are there solutions?

There are solutions, but we have to jump on them now. In my previous article, “Why Food Prices Are Expected to Skyrocket,” I review how biodynamic farming can help us out of these dilemmas, as it doesn’t use synthetic fertilizers and requires far less water. I also discuss new investment opportunities that can support regenerative agriculture projects. On an individual, more immediate basis, however, some key areas of basic preparation include:

  1. Food — Grow some of your own food, make friends with local farmers, create or join a local CSA, and shore up your long-term food stores. (Rather than panic buying mass quantities all at once, consider spreading it out and just buy a little more than you need for the day or week each time you go shopping. You can build up a backup supply rather quickly that way)
  2. Water — Identify sources of potable water and make sure you have one or more ways to purify questionable water supplies
  3. Power — Consider how you might power some of the essentials in your home if there are rolling blackouts, or the electrical grid goes down altogether
  4. Firearms training for self-defence and hunting — Learn how to use, store, carry and clean a firearm and work on your marksmanship. Other forms of self-defence training can also be useful, if nothing else, to make you feel more competent and confident in potentially high-risk situations
  5. Communications — Give some thought to how you will communicate with friends and family if cell towers and/or the internet goes down
  6. Medicine — Stock up on nutritional supplements, medications, how-to books on alternative home remedies and first-aid supplies
  7. Money — Keep cash on hand, including smaller denominations. Both power grid and internet outages can eliminate your ability to buy without cash. For more long-term protection against inflation, consider buying physical precious metals such as gold and silver

Remember to consider and include analog devices and manual tools in your preparation. We’re so used to having unlimited electricity and continuous wireless communications, it can be difficult to imagine the restrictions you’ll face without them. If need be, turn off the breakers in your home for a day or two, ditch all wireless devices, and see what challenges come up. Then, figure out what you need to solve them.

Also, consider keeping hardcopies of useful books and important documents, such as your most recent bank statements, asset statements, the deed to your home or car and so on.

Entire books can, and have, been written on prepping, and some will take it to extremes. But while you probably won’t need an underground bunker stocked with a decade’s-worth of food, everyone, at this point, really ought to be prepared, to some degree, for food and energy shortages.

Thank you for reading the above. It is pertinent to realize that we have and are facing plague-like outbreaks in the world, famines, heat waves and water shortages in many places including the southwest USA. Many of the underground water reserves are also drying up. It is of great import that a leading Christian preacher of renown John MacArthur, is currently over the age of 80, is emphatically preaching that judgement is upon us — on the church inclusive.

Please share your thoughts on constructive solutions. Glen Jackman

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A Very Present Danger

 I figured that I had best spend some time examining why many concerned folks are talking about “The Great Reset” while others believe it is just another conspiracy theory. I had read Chrystia Freeland’s Plutocrats several years back – thus the resonance. This, coupled with friends nudging me to assess Agenda 21 – which I delved into. The stunning issues of hyper-inflation impoverishing the middle class, now confronting us, are so absolutely real, that I thought I’d better delve deeper looking for theological nuance. God helps us wake up when we see the writing on the wall, which often is late in the underworld’s gambit. The Lord is in control. I see this playing out prophetically, and moving at ramp-speed toward the buy and sell restraints that we will all come under, except the very elite.

This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God’s people. Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. It exercised all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and made the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose fatal wound had been healed. And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. (Revelation 13:10-17)

It is pertinent to realize that we have and are facing plague-like outbreaks in the world, famines, heat waves and water shortages in many places including the southwest USA. Many of the underground water reserves that supply water to cities like Los Angeles are also drying up. It is of great import that a leading Christian preacher of renown John MacArthur, is currently over the age of 80, is emphatically preaching that judgement is upon us — on the church inclusive.

You can read a detailed “up the creek without a paddle” summary by reading the recently published article: The very present danger is upon us, NOW

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The vile practice of the ungodly

“In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

During the time of the judges, the tribe of Benjamin had scoundrels that raped an Israelite woman who later died. They surround the house where the travelling couple were staying with the intent to have gang sex with her husband! However, the choice was made to toss the girl out the door to the dogs, so to speak.

Sound noble leadership in the current world is negligible. The Christian church is dwindling as the bible is not a standard-bearer for the majority. The gospel is not preached by leaders as it was in the days of Acts. It is often predominately promoting singular differences of doctrine in one church denomination over another. Christ is not heralded with vigour. The result: gender liberality, pornography, and disgusting misogyny abound.

The other tribes got together and attacked and decimated the tribe of Benjamin. The Israelites had sworn thereafter: “Cursed is he who gives a wife to a Benjamite.”

How low can a leadership stoop?

When there are no leaders who are walking in the covenant of  the Lord, chaos ensues: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 21:25).

Disdain for the honour of women continues

The Israelites later came up with a game plan that would sidestep the vow. Their gambit would eliminate any loving romantic relationship for many of the father’s unfortunate daughters.

The Benjamite men would be allowed to randomly sneak up and kidnap the Israelite daughters during the girls’ happy dancing at a festival. Why? So the Benjamite tribe would not shrink into oblivion, as there were few if any Benjamin women left after the war with the rest of Israel who attacked them for the sordid rape by the Benjamite gang. Here is their backsliding disrespect for the women:

“But look,” they said, “there is a yearly feast to the LORD in Shiloh, which is north of Bethel east of the road that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” So they [the Israelites] commanded the Benjamites: “Go, hide in the vineyards and watch. When you see the daughters of Shiloh come out to perform their dances, each of you is to come out of the vineyards, catch for himself a wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. When their fathers or brothers come to us to complain, we will tell them, ‘Do us a favour by helping them, since we did not get wives for each of them in the war. You have no guilt since you did not actually give them your daughters. ” (Judges 21: 19-22)

Sad calculation by the leaders of Israel of their daughters’ value as children of the Lord: Since you did not actually give them your daughters, you have no guilt.

The Benjamites did as instructed and carried away the number of women they needed from the dancers they caught. They went back to their own inheritance, rebuilt their cities, and settled in them. Judges 21: 23