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The Wicked Plots
Psalms 37:12-15 ESV
The Church Asleep
Satan has been lulling the church to sleep for many years now, one small deception after another, and one small compromise after another, and one distraction after another, too, each one introduced slowly, carefully, and subtly so as not to raise suspicion.
He is very clever at what he does, knowing just the right thing to do at just the right time to produce the intended results that he wants. For he knows the mind of humans. He has observed us for many years. He knows our weaknesses and right where to aim his deadly arrows, too.
And he uses other humans, including those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, to do his bidding, too, and to come against those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, to attempt to get us to fail or to compromise with the world or to accept a lower standard than God’s standard.
So, a little bit at a time they have been chopping away at the gospel of Jesus Christ, deleting the parts they don’t like, and replacing them with the parts which appease their sinful flesh. And they have gotten away with it because they are masters at trickery and deception.
They play on people’s emotions and they know how to twist things to make evil sound good and good sound evil. They use subliminal messages, too, inserted in writings or in their speeches. They also guilt-trip people into compromising with them by twisting Scriptures to their advantage.
Cult Leaders
Many pastors of churches today have been trained to be cult leaders, gathering around them a few loyal followers who serve as snitches on those who don’t play by their rules so that they can silence any dissenters or people who are awake spiritually.
For they want sheep they can mold according to their ways, which are human ways and methods for how to build God’s church. So, they do what appeals to the flesh to attract people to their gatherings who are not well grounded in the Scriptures who they can manipulate.
And they stress loyalty to the leadership of the church, and they call out those who they feel are being disloyal. Interestingly enough, they do this while they also exclude loyalty to God and to his Word, and while they dilute to gospel message to appease human flesh.
The Substitute
So, instead of teaching that Jesus’ death on that cross was so that we could die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, they teach it was solely to forgive us our sins and to guarantee us a place in heaven, regardless of how we live our lives on this earth.
We are no longer being urged to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of God. And we are not being instructed to no longer be conformed to the ways of this world but to be transformed in the renewing of our minds, of the Spirit of God, away from sin and to God.
Instead, they are calling that “works-based salvation,” and they are teaching that a mere confession of Christ as Savior is enough to secure them eternal life with God, and that nothing is required of them – no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to Christ as Lord (master).
And this massive shift from the original gospel, as taught by Jesus, to what it is today has taken place over many years through many small subtle lies and twisting of truth and manipulations of people’s emotions, etc. And the people generally adapted to each lie as it came.
And rather than having a gospel which teaches holiness and the fear of God, we have a gospel which promotes wickedness, idolatry, adultery, and immorality. It gives full reign for the lusts of the flesh, for it requires no death to sin, and it even discourages it, in fact.
So, it leaves its adherents still in slavery to sin with no hope of salvation from sin or eternal life with God, while it promises freedom, forgiveness, and eternal life. So, it is a lie, it is of man, not of God, and it is absolutely cruel for it is promising people heaven while knowingly sending them to hell.
So what we ended up with is a large number of people, at least here in America, who are claiming faith in Jesus Christ, but who are not born again of the Spirit of God because they are following the lie instead of the truth. For, sin has not been put to death in their lives, but it is still raging.
And we also have those who are born again, but who were lulled to sleep by these clever enchanters, who need to be awakened and revived.
God Upholds the Righteous
Psalms 37:16-17 ESV
The Lord has been warning his church of divine judgment for many years now through various of his servants and messengers who have seen the direction the church was headed, because the Lord opened their eyes to see it. And he has been calling his church to come out of Babylon (Rev 18:4-5).
I believe this “Babylon” is the institutional (state) church which is the true church in an unholy union with the world, with big business, and with the government. And this union has been the downfall of the church, for it replaced Jesus as the head of the church with man.
And I believe this “Babylon” (the institutional state church) is now under the judgment of God and that is why these “churches” have had to close their doors, or they have had to modify what they do in conformity with the government, which has curtailed much of their activities.
So the encouragement here, I believe, is that it is better to have little in the way of gathering places, programs, and activities, with regard to the gatherings of the true church, rather than to be in connection with this “Babylon,” and have plenty in the way of the way they “do church.”
And we should be thankful to the Lord for this judgment, I believe, for it is bringing people away from these gatherings that were hubs of entertainment, fun, and self-pleasure, and he is bringing some of them back into pure fellowship with him and to a realization of what church is really to be about. For “Babylon” is being destroyed before our eyes, but the Lord will uphold his righteous ones who keep faith.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
Psalms 37:12-15 ESV
“The wicked plots against the righteous
and gnashes his teeth at him,
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
“The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken."
and gnashes his teeth at him,
but the Lord laughs at the wicked,
for he sees that his day is coming.
“The wicked draw the sword and bend their bows
to bring down the poor and needy,
to slay those whose way is upright;
their sword shall enter their own heart,
and their bows shall be broken."
The Church Asleep
Satan has been lulling the church to sleep for many years now, one small deception after another, and one small compromise after another, and one distraction after another, too, each one introduced slowly, carefully, and subtly so as not to raise suspicion.
He is very clever at what he does, knowing just the right thing to do at just the right time to produce the intended results that he wants. For he knows the mind of humans. He has observed us for many years. He knows our weaknesses and right where to aim his deadly arrows, too.
And he uses other humans, including those who profess faith in Jesus Christ, to do his bidding, too, and to come against those who have put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ, to attempt to get us to fail or to compromise with the world or to accept a lower standard than God’s standard.
So, a little bit at a time they have been chopping away at the gospel of Jesus Christ, deleting the parts they don’t like, and replacing them with the parts which appease their sinful flesh. And they have gotten away with it because they are masters at trickery and deception.
They play on people’s emotions and they know how to twist things to make evil sound good and good sound evil. They use subliminal messages, too, inserted in writings or in their speeches. They also guilt-trip people into compromising with them by twisting Scriptures to their advantage.
Cult Leaders
Many pastors of churches today have been trained to be cult leaders, gathering around them a few loyal followers who serve as snitches on those who don’t play by their rules so that they can silence any dissenters or people who are awake spiritually.
For they want sheep they can mold according to their ways, which are human ways and methods for how to build God’s church. So, they do what appeals to the flesh to attract people to their gatherings who are not well grounded in the Scriptures who they can manipulate.
And they stress loyalty to the leadership of the church, and they call out those who they feel are being disloyal. Interestingly enough, they do this while they also exclude loyalty to God and to his Word, and while they dilute to gospel message to appease human flesh.
The Substitute
So, instead of teaching that Jesus’ death on that cross was so that we could die with him to sin and live to him and to his righteousness, they teach it was solely to forgive us our sins and to guarantee us a place in heaven, regardless of how we live our lives on this earth.
We are no longer being urged to present ourselves to God as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of God. And we are not being instructed to no longer be conformed to the ways of this world but to be transformed in the renewing of our minds, of the Spirit of God, away from sin and to God.
Instead, they are calling that “works-based salvation,” and they are teaching that a mere confession of Christ as Savior is enough to secure them eternal life with God, and that nothing is required of them – no repentance, no obedience, and no submission to Christ as Lord (master).
And this massive shift from the original gospel, as taught by Jesus, to what it is today has taken place over many years through many small subtle lies and twisting of truth and manipulations of people’s emotions, etc. And the people generally adapted to each lie as it came.
And rather than having a gospel which teaches holiness and the fear of God, we have a gospel which promotes wickedness, idolatry, adultery, and immorality. It gives full reign for the lusts of the flesh, for it requires no death to sin, and it even discourages it, in fact.
So, it leaves its adherents still in slavery to sin with no hope of salvation from sin or eternal life with God, while it promises freedom, forgiveness, and eternal life. So, it is a lie, it is of man, not of God, and it is absolutely cruel for it is promising people heaven while knowingly sending them to hell.
So what we ended up with is a large number of people, at least here in America, who are claiming faith in Jesus Christ, but who are not born again of the Spirit of God because they are following the lie instead of the truth. For, sin has not been put to death in their lives, but it is still raging.
And we also have those who are born again, but who were lulled to sleep by these clever enchanters, who need to be awakened and revived.
God Upholds the Righteous
Psalms 37:16-17 ESV
“Better is the little that the righteous has
than the abundance of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.”
than the abundance of many wicked.
For the arms of the wicked shall be broken,
but the Lord upholds the righteous.”
The Lord has been warning his church of divine judgment for many years now through various of his servants and messengers who have seen the direction the church was headed, because the Lord opened their eyes to see it. And he has been calling his church to come out of Babylon (Rev 18:4-5).
I believe this “Babylon” is the institutional (state) church which is the true church in an unholy union with the world, with big business, and with the government. And this union has been the downfall of the church, for it replaced Jesus as the head of the church with man.
And I believe this “Babylon” (the institutional state church) is now under the judgment of God and that is why these “churches” have had to close their doors, or they have had to modify what they do in conformity with the government, which has curtailed much of their activities.
So the encouragement here, I believe, is that it is better to have little in the way of gathering places, programs, and activities, with regard to the gatherings of the true church, rather than to be in connection with this “Babylon,” and have plenty in the way of the way they “do church.”
And we should be thankful to the Lord for this judgment, I believe, for it is bringing people away from these gatherings that were hubs of entertainment, fun, and self-pleasure, and he is bringing some of them back into pure fellowship with him and to a realization of what church is really to be about. For “Babylon” is being destroyed before our eyes, but the Lord will uphold his righteous ones who keep faith.
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
