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Psalms 119:134-136 ESV
This is a prayer to be released (liberated, delivered) from man’s oppression, i.e. from his persecution, abuse, cruelty and mistreatment, i.e. from those who are at war with God and who are against his Word and who are against the saints of God who are the Lord’s messengers. Paul often prayed such a prayer when he was being persecuted for his walk of faith in Jesus Christ and when he was suffering much mistreatment for the teachings of God which he then taught to others under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
But this oppression is not singled out only to the persecution of God’s saints, for these oppressors are at war with God and with his Word and with his moral standards and with his commandments, so they are at war with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But rather than just attack it, they are altering it and they are using it as a front for lying to the people. And they are twisting God’s words in order to give themselves pardon and/or excuses for their sinful practices, and then they are teaching what is false to the people.
So, what they are doing is teaching a diluted and an altered gospel message which makes no requirements for dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness. Their “gospel” does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to the Lord in holy living. Under their “gospel” people can “get saved” once in their lives and now they are promised God’s forgiveness of all their sins (past, present, and future) and heaven as guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live their lives on this earth.
But Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, we then have the hope of eternal life with God. For Jesus also said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father.
[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14]
So, what these oppressors are doing is they are manipulating people’s minds and hearts to accept the lies as truth and the truth as lies, and they are also strongly opposing those who are teaching the truth of the gospel and they are making attempts at trying to discredit them or to bring false charges against them of teaching “works salvation,” so that the people will not listen to them. For their goal is to convince the people to accept the lies so that they will continue living in sin without conscience and without remorse.
For these oppressors are the self-indulgent, the addicted, i.e. those whose lives are out-of-control, who are the vain and worthless, who are living immoral lives, unrestricted, in non-conformity to God’s moral standards. And they are those who are making allowances for what is unnatural, perverted, deviant, and twisted, and they are calling it “normal.” And they steal from God’s words what is not theirs and what is taken out of context, and they alter it to excuse away all behaviors which are sinful.
Therefore, we who are servants of the Lord, who are walking in his ways and in his truth, need to reject the lies, and we need to expose them for what they are, and then we need to proclaim the truth of God’s Word in opposition to the lies in the power of God and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. And we must do this even if we are being attacked, and even if we are being falsely accused, and even if we are hated and rejected and thought badly of and if no one wants to be our friend.
For human lives are at stake here. For the lies, although they may make people feel good about themselves, if believed, are going to send their adherents straight to hell on the false promise of heaven as their eternal destiny. So we need to be telling people the truth that can save their souls from hell. And that truth is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And the truth is that if we continue in deliberate and in habitual sin we will not inherit eternal life with God; all lip service denied.
So, if we are true servants of the Lord, it should break our hearts that so many people calling themselves “Christians,” at least here in America, are still living in sin, and they are not walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant, for they have convinced themselves that they don’t have to. We should weep over that situation, and it should motivate us strongly to reject and to expose the lies and to get the truth of the gospel out to as many people as possible before the end of all things.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
My Heart’s Desire
An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24
Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire
Is that you might come to Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to the One
Who saved them from their sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their King.
The word of the Lord is near you:
The word of faith we’re proclaiming:
That you must confess your faith
In Jesus as your Lord and King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He leads.
Share the gospel; be a witness,
And meet others’ needs.
Beautiful are the feet of those
Who bring the good news of Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you in heart;
Put on your new self in Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.
“Redeem me from man's oppression,
that I may keep your precepts.
Make your face shine upon your servant,
and teach me your statutes.
My eyes shed streams of tears,
because people do not keep your law.”
This is a prayer to be released (liberated, delivered) from man’s oppression, i.e. from his persecution, abuse, cruelty and mistreatment, i.e. from those who are at war with God and who are against his Word and who are against the saints of God who are the Lord’s messengers. Paul often prayed such a prayer when he was being persecuted for his walk of faith in Jesus Christ and when he was suffering much mistreatment for the teachings of God which he then taught to others under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
But this oppression is not singled out only to the persecution of God’s saints, for these oppressors are at war with God and with his Word and with his moral standards and with his commandments, so they are at war with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But rather than just attack it, they are altering it and they are using it as a front for lying to the people. And they are twisting God’s words in order to give themselves pardon and/or excuses for their sinful practices, and then they are teaching what is false to the people.
So, what they are doing is teaching a diluted and an altered gospel message which makes no requirements for dying with Christ to sin and living to Christ and to his righteousness. Their “gospel” does not require death to sin and walks of obedience to the Lord in holy living. Under their “gospel” people can “get saved” once in their lives and now they are promised God’s forgiveness of all their sins (past, present, and future) and heaven as guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live their lives on this earth.
But Jesus Christ taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we die with him to sin and live to his righteousness, we then have the hope of eternal life with God. For Jesus also said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father.
[Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14]
So, what these oppressors are doing is they are manipulating people’s minds and hearts to accept the lies as truth and the truth as lies, and they are also strongly opposing those who are teaching the truth of the gospel and they are making attempts at trying to discredit them or to bring false charges against them of teaching “works salvation,” so that the people will not listen to them. For their goal is to convince the people to accept the lies so that they will continue living in sin without conscience and without remorse.
For these oppressors are the self-indulgent, the addicted, i.e. those whose lives are out-of-control, who are the vain and worthless, who are living immoral lives, unrestricted, in non-conformity to God’s moral standards. And they are those who are making allowances for what is unnatural, perverted, deviant, and twisted, and they are calling it “normal.” And they steal from God’s words what is not theirs and what is taken out of context, and they alter it to excuse away all behaviors which are sinful.
Therefore, we who are servants of the Lord, who are walking in his ways and in his truth, need to reject the lies, and we need to expose them for what they are, and then we need to proclaim the truth of God’s Word in opposition to the lies in the power of God and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. And we must do this even if we are being attacked, and even if we are being falsely accused, and even if we are hated and rejected and thought badly of and if no one wants to be our friend.
For human lives are at stake here. For the lies, although they may make people feel good about themselves, if believed, are going to send their adherents straight to hell on the false promise of heaven as their eternal destiny. So we need to be telling people the truth that can save their souls from hell. And that truth is that Jesus died that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And the truth is that if we continue in deliberate and in habitual sin we will not inherit eternal life with God; all lip service denied.
So, if we are true servants of the Lord, it should break our hearts that so many people calling themselves “Christians,” at least here in America, are still living in sin, and they are not walking in obedience to the Lord and to his commands under the New Covenant, for they have convinced themselves that they don’t have to. We should weep over that situation, and it should motivate us strongly to reject and to expose the lies and to get the truth of the gospel out to as many people as possible before the end of all things.
[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
My Heart’s Desire
An Original Work / June 29, 2013
Based off Rm. 10; Lu. 9:23-26; Ep. 4:20-24
Loved Ones, Oh, my heart’s desire
Is that you might come to Jesus.
Many appear zealous for God,
But they do not trust in Him.
They have not submitted to the One
Who saved them from their sins;
Not forsaken their sins,
Nor have they obeyed their King.
The word of the Lord is near you:
The word of faith we’re proclaiming:
That you must confess your faith
In Jesus as your Lord and King:
Believe in Him as your Lord,
And follow Him where’er He leads.
Share the gospel; be a witness,
And meet others’ needs.
Beautiful are the feet of those
Who bring the good news of Jesus:
Anyone who would come to Him
Must deny himself today;
Die to sin and self, and
Let the Spirit transform you in heart;
Put on your new self in Jesus,
Yielding to the cross.
