Philippians 1:9-11 ESV
Standing on the Truth
As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be people of discernment so that we are not taken in by clever enchanters and winsome personalities who would try to influence us and to persuade us to put our confidence in man over God, or in teachings of man over the teachings of Jesus Christ and his word.
We need to be those who are grounded in the word of God, who know what the Scriptures teach, especially regarding our salvation and eternal life with God, and who will stand on the truth of God’s word no matter what opposition is thrown our way.
But, we aren’t going to know the truth if what we are trusting in is what someone else has taught us who has pulled Scriptures out of context to make them say what they want them to say, but who has ignored many of the key Scriptures on what it means to be saved from our sins.
We must be those who will test everything we hear, who will examine the Scriptures, in context, who will compare Scripture with Scripture, and who will seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us to all truth. And we can’t be afraid to unlearn some things we may have learned wrong.
And, this discernment doesn’t just apply to the study of the Scriptures, but to the discerning of all that is false, and all that is misleading, and all that is hypnotic and mind-controlling and manipulative which might be leading us in the wrong direction instead of the right direction.
Much Needed Discernment
For example, we need the discernment of the Spirit of God regarding what is going on in the world, and in our individual nations and with our governments and their leaders so that we don’t fall into any cleverly devised traps that would lead us to putting our confidence in those of the antichrist.
So, before we just jump on the bandwagons of particular political platforms and their leaders, we need to pray much for the Holy Spirit’s discernment to know what truth is, and to discern truth from lies.
As we listen to the speeches of these leaders, we need to pray for Holy Spirit discernment to know who is of God and who is of the antichrist. For, we live in an age of great deception, and not everything is as it appears on stage.
A lot of what we are seeing on the political stage is a diversion, it is a game, it is amusement, and entertainment, but with an evil and sinister plot for taking down our nation and our present form of government in order to bring us all into submission to a one world order.
So much of what is passed off as news or as legitimate conversations or debates among political candidates is pure garbage, lacking any real substance. Like the presidential debate in the USA last night. Did you learn anything from it other than the insults the candidates made to each other?
Who is behind all of this junk? Do you realize that the US government is not the true government of the USA? There is a group of elitists, who are the wealthy and powerful of the world, who are the de facto government of the US, who have been busy conquering the world one nation at a time, and now they are conquering the USA, too.
And, all this chaos in our government and with the racial troubles and the fires and the floods and the demonstrations and riots and destruction of property and the virus and the masks and social distancing, et al, is all part of the plot to overthrow the USA. Do we want to be party to that?
Persuasion to Believe False Gospel
And, it isn’t just on a political level that we are being overthrown, but it is on a religious level, too, for they have been working within the church for a long time to bring her down and to get her to depart from the ways of God to follow the ways of man.
And, they have convinced many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ that our Lord requires no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to him as Lord of our lives. And this is all leading to a one world religion, which the adulterous American church can easily move into because of all the compromises she has already made.
Thus, they have won over the hearts of many professing Christians to a false christ and to a false faith and a false gospel. For, they don’t teach the Jesus of the Scriptures, but a man-made Jesus who suits the flesh of man. And they don’t teach the gospel of Christ, but a man-made gospel.
So, just like our politicians are selling us junk, these false teachers within the church are also selling pure garbage to the people disguised as truth, which is a mixture of truth and lies, but with Scriptures removed from their context and given the wrong interpretation or a twisted meaning. And, the masses are following them, because it comforts them in their sin.
Approve What is Excellent
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be those who approve of what is excellent (in God’s sight), so what is pure, upright, godly, moral, and honest. We are not to give our vote of confidence and approval to those who are immoral, wicked, evil, liars, thieves, deceivers, and manipulators.
So, this is why we must pray for much discernment of the Spirit of God, for so much of what we see and hear is not really what is going on. But we are not going to know if we will not be willing to ask the Lord and to let him show us what is true and what is false.
The Lord does not want us accepting and approving of a false gospel and a false christ, either. So, we have to be willing here to examine what we have always been taught against the whole of the New Testament in context, for we will find out that it says over again what Jesus taught.
And that is that we must die to sin and live to righteousness. It is that we must forsake our sins and follow Jesus in obedience. And it is that we are going to be judged by what we do. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10, etc.).
Your Servant
An Original Work / September 21, 2011
Lord, I love to have You near me
As I go throughout my day,
Walking daily in Your footsteps,
As I humbly pray.
List’ning to You, hear You teaching
Me to live and work for You,
Lord, I pray You lead and guide me
Daily in Your truth.
Lord, I want to be Your witness,
Telling others of Your grace;
Telling how they can be set free
Of their sins today;
Share with them the love of Jesus,
He died on a cruel tree,
So that we’d be forgiven
For all eternity.
Lord, I want to serve You only,
As I bow on bended knee,
Making You my Lord and master,
And Your servant be.
Humbly walking in obedience,
Doing what You say to me,
Lord, may I be an example
Of one who’s set free.
“And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.”
Standing on the Truth
As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be people of discernment so that we are not taken in by clever enchanters and winsome personalities who would try to influence us and to persuade us to put our confidence in man over God, or in teachings of man over the teachings of Jesus Christ and his word.
We need to be those who are grounded in the word of God, who know what the Scriptures teach, especially regarding our salvation and eternal life with God, and who will stand on the truth of God’s word no matter what opposition is thrown our way.
But, we aren’t going to know the truth if what we are trusting in is what someone else has taught us who has pulled Scriptures out of context to make them say what they want them to say, but who has ignored many of the key Scriptures on what it means to be saved from our sins.
We must be those who will test everything we hear, who will examine the Scriptures, in context, who will compare Scripture with Scripture, and who will seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us to all truth. And we can’t be afraid to unlearn some things we may have learned wrong.
And, this discernment doesn’t just apply to the study of the Scriptures, but to the discerning of all that is false, and all that is misleading, and all that is hypnotic and mind-controlling and manipulative which might be leading us in the wrong direction instead of the right direction.
Much Needed Discernment
For example, we need the discernment of the Spirit of God regarding what is going on in the world, and in our individual nations and with our governments and their leaders so that we don’t fall into any cleverly devised traps that would lead us to putting our confidence in those of the antichrist.
So, before we just jump on the bandwagons of particular political platforms and their leaders, we need to pray much for the Holy Spirit’s discernment to know what truth is, and to discern truth from lies.
As we listen to the speeches of these leaders, we need to pray for Holy Spirit discernment to know who is of God and who is of the antichrist. For, we live in an age of great deception, and not everything is as it appears on stage.
A lot of what we are seeing on the political stage is a diversion, it is a game, it is amusement, and entertainment, but with an evil and sinister plot for taking down our nation and our present form of government in order to bring us all into submission to a one world order.
So much of what is passed off as news or as legitimate conversations or debates among political candidates is pure garbage, lacking any real substance. Like the presidential debate in the USA last night. Did you learn anything from it other than the insults the candidates made to each other?
Who is behind all of this junk? Do you realize that the US government is not the true government of the USA? There is a group of elitists, who are the wealthy and powerful of the world, who are the de facto government of the US, who have been busy conquering the world one nation at a time, and now they are conquering the USA, too.
And, all this chaos in our government and with the racial troubles and the fires and the floods and the demonstrations and riots and destruction of property and the virus and the masks and social distancing, et al, is all part of the plot to overthrow the USA. Do we want to be party to that?
Persuasion to Believe False Gospel
And, it isn’t just on a political level that we are being overthrown, but it is on a religious level, too, for they have been working within the church for a long time to bring her down and to get her to depart from the ways of God to follow the ways of man.
And, they have convinced many people who profess faith in Jesus Christ that our Lord requires no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to him as Lord of our lives. And this is all leading to a one world religion, which the adulterous American church can easily move into because of all the compromises she has already made.
Thus, they have won over the hearts of many professing Christians to a false christ and to a false faith and a false gospel. For, they don’t teach the Jesus of the Scriptures, but a man-made Jesus who suits the flesh of man. And they don’t teach the gospel of Christ, but a man-made gospel.
So, just like our politicians are selling us junk, these false teachers within the church are also selling pure garbage to the people disguised as truth, which is a mixture of truth and lies, but with Scriptures removed from their context and given the wrong interpretation or a twisted meaning. And, the masses are following them, because it comforts them in their sin.
Approve What is Excellent
As followers of Jesus Christ, we are to be those who approve of what is excellent (in God’s sight), so what is pure, upright, godly, moral, and honest. We are not to give our vote of confidence and approval to those who are immoral, wicked, evil, liars, thieves, deceivers, and manipulators.
So, this is why we must pray for much discernment of the Spirit of God, for so much of what we see and hear is not really what is going on. But we are not going to know if we will not be willing to ask the Lord and to let him show us what is true and what is false.
The Lord does not want us accepting and approving of a false gospel and a false christ, either. So, we have to be willing here to examine what we have always been taught against the whole of the New Testament in context, for we will find out that it says over again what Jesus taught.
And that is that we must die to sin and live to righteousness. It is that we must forsake our sins and follow Jesus in obedience. And it is that we are going to be judged by what we do. If we sow to please the flesh, from the flesh we will reap destruction, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap eternal life (1 Pet 2:24; Rom 6:1-23; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Rom 2:6-8; 2 Co 5:10, etc.).
Your Servant
An Original Work / September 21, 2011
Lord, I love to have You near me
As I go throughout my day,
Walking daily in Your footsteps,
As I humbly pray.
List’ning to You, hear You teaching
Me to live and work for You,
Lord, I pray You lead and guide me
Daily in Your truth.
Lord, I want to be Your witness,
Telling others of Your grace;
Telling how they can be set free
Of their sins today;
Share with them the love of Jesus,
He died on a cruel tree,
So that we’d be forgiven
For all eternity.
Lord, I want to serve You only,
As I bow on bended knee,
Making You my Lord and master,
And Your servant be.
Humbly walking in obedience,
Doing what You say to me,
Lord, may I be an example
Of one who’s set free.
