| God's Evacuation Plan? |
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Matthew 24:37?41 is a key passage some Christians use to justify an escapist theology, approaching this world with a “Why shine the brass on a sinking ship?” attitude. But a closer look at the context reveals a few flaws in this kind of thinking. |
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| Add Your Voice to Creation Conversations |
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I want the ministry of Answers in Genesis to inspire meaningful, life-altering conversations about creation and our Creator. Many of those conversations are happening right now at www.CreationConversations.com—a special website owned and operated by the leading creation book publisher in the world, Master Books. These creation conversations involve forums, groups, expert Q&As, videos, blogs, and more.
For instance, I am encouraged [...] |
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| America And The Judgment Of God |
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Temple Baptist Church - 8-22-2010Jonah 3:1-10; Nahum 1:1-3; 3:1-19Introduction: A. Nineveh was an exceedingly wicked city of great proportions. It was a three day journey from one side of it to the other. In the Book of Jonah, Jonah was called by God to go and cry against the wickedness of the city. He refused and later went under duress. He preached the impending destruction of the city and the city got right with the Lord from the king to the pauper. God graciously spared Nineveh though the prophet Jonah grieved.B. Nineveh was an idolatrous city. Nineveh was known for the goddess Ishtar (goddess of war, fertility, love, and sex). Her “temple” was noted for its courtesans and “sacred prostitutes.” In Ishtar’s youth, she was noted for her relationship with Tammuz (the savior-fertility sun god who annually resurrected). In Ezekiel 8:14, the Bible says that “He brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which was toward the north; and, behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.”C. The Book of Nahum was written some 150 years later. In the space of that 150 years, Nineveh had corrupted itself to the point of no return in chapter 3:19D. Her numerous sins were identified to show the holiness and justice of God. Full of lies and robbery, whoredoms, witchcrafts, her people were like women.” In 150 years, they went from great revival to total apostasy. God said that there was no longer a remedy for their sin and that judgment was imminent.E. Sounds like America does it not? A nation founded under “In God We Trust” to a nation that our president said was no longer a “Christian nation!” From great revivals (The Great Awakening, the Westley Brothers, George Whitfield, Dwight Moody, Billy Sunday, and etc.) to almost total apostasy. Sinfulness permeates our nation, apostasy permeates “Christendom,” and apathy has filled our churches. Good is evil spoken of and evil is called good. Our nation is in a mess and if she does not repent and turn to God, God will turn her into Hell! He has so promised!F. I am not saying that it is too late for America but I am saying that God will judge America for her sins!WHY GOD WILL JUDGE AMERICA!1. God Will Judge America For Her Rejection Of Biblical Law. (Our courts have ruled against the God of Heaven time and time again with their wicked decisions!)2. God Will Judge America For Their Ungodly Life Style. (A Hollywood style of lasciviousness and plural marriages has permeated and destroyed our moral structure.)3. God Will Judge America For Her Slaughter Of The Innocents. (Reprobate doctors have ruthlessly slaughtered Millions of innocents with both the sanction of our judicial system and pro-choice proponents!)4. God Will Judge America For Her Acceptance Of Sodomy. (Sodomites have not only become socially acceptable but, also God has been blamed for their debauchery and reprobate lifestyle!)5. God Will Judge America For Her Conspiracy To Give Away Israel’s Homeland. (America has tried to use their economic influence to bring about an unbiblical peace in Israel by giving away the land that God gave to them in Genesis 13:15! Nations will be judged according to their relationship with Israel and agreement with God’s will regarding the Jew.)6. God Will Judge America For Her Squandering Of His National Blessings. (The Lord raised up America and has made it the most wonderful land on earth, truly a land flowing with mild and honey, and has been rewarded with unthankfulness and ungodliness!)7. God Will Judge America For Her Spiritual Lukewarmness. (God’s people are worldly and Laodicean to the hilt! They have no love for either the Lord or the lost!)8. God Will Judge America For Her Liberal Compromised Churches. (The local church has become more like the world than the world more like the church! Compromised pulpits and dead, ritualistic liturgies! GOD IS NOT THE LEAST BIT IMPRESSED!) Complete article |
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| The Christian Warfare |
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Temple Baptist Church - 8-22-2010Matthew 10:32-40Introduction:A. Many who come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour have a misconception concerning the Christian life. The true Christian life is one of constant battles.1. It is one of self-crucifixion and cross bearing.2. It is a life of reproach and persecution.B. No one with good sense likes to have problems, especially in the spiritual realm, but the Christian life is one of wars. There is a song that says, “It’s a battlefield, Brother, not a recreation room; it’s a fight and not a game.”1. We fight battles WITHOUT! Battles with the enemies of our Lord Jesus Christ and the gospel. He was hated; the gospel was hated; we are hated! 2. We fight battles WITHIN! Some of the greatest battles that we face are the wars from within. We fight a battle with our flesh; we fight battles with our minds!C. Our Lord said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)1. There Is A Possibility Of Fainting – 2 Corinthians 4:1, 16 Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; … 16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.2. There Is A Possibility Of Failing – 2 Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:3. There Is A Possibility Of Fruit – 2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;D. This war is:1. An Intense One - Jude 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. (It is life of death!)2. An Intentional One - 1 Corinthians 9:26 I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air.2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. (Fight the enemy, not everything that moves!)3. An Involved One - 2 Corinthians 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears. (You are in it, like it or not!)Hebrews 10:32 But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions.4. An Important One - 1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. (Our faith, family, and friends are at stake!)5. An Intrepid One - Hebrews 11:34 Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight. Turned to flight the armies of the aliens. (It takes intestinal fortitude to win!)1. THE OUTWARD BATTLE - 2 Corinthians 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.a. There Is A Battle With Satanic Powers - Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Identify your target – we do not want anyone killed by “friendly fire!” Satan is the enemy!)b. There Is A Battle With Scriptural Perversion – 2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (The enemy is both real and here!)2 Peter 2:1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.c. There Is A Battle With Slipping Positions - Ezekiel 22:23-31 And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, say unto her, Thou art the land that is not cleansed, nor rained upon in the day of indignation. There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them. Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain. And her prophets have daubed them with untempered morter, seeing vanity, and divining lies unto them, saying, Thus saith the Lord GOD, when the LORD hath not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none. Therefore have I poured out mine indignation upon them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath: their own way have I recompensed upon their heads, saith the Lord GOD. (I looked in the world and found the church. I looked in the church and found the world.)Isaiah 30:8-11 Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD: Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits: Get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us.Jeremiah 5:30-31 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?d. There Is A Battle With Sadistic Persecution – 2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.Luke 6:22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.2. THE INWARD BATTLE - 2 Corinthians 7:5 For, when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears.a. There Is A Battle With Our Flesh - 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. (Your own worst enemy!)1) The Heart - Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?2) The Flesh - Romans 7:18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,)dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.3) The Mind - 2 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;b. There Is A Battle With Our Fatness - Revelation 3:16-18 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. (Take your spiritual temperature! Lukewarmness is a creeping enemy that affects all of us at one time or another.)c. There Is A Battle With Our Failures - 1 John 1:8-10 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (Like falling off a bicycle, you just get back on and keep trying. Eventually, you will fall less!) Complete article |
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| Vexed Then Hexed! |
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Temple Baptist Church - 8-29-20102 Peter 2:1-9Introduction: A. The book of 2 Peter deals with the problems associated with the end-times and the second coming of Christ. The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah is a type of the impending doom of those who have rejected the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our Lord may come today and, if He does, those who have rejected Christ are eternally damned. Biblical examples show for God’s holiness and justice:1. False Teachers judged in verse 1, 3 – “swift destruction … damnation slumbereth not”2. Fallen Angels judged in verse 4 – “chains of darkness … reserved unto judgment”3. The Old World judged in verse 5 – “spared not … flood upon the world”4. Sodom and Gomorrah judged in verse 6 – “ashes … overthrow”b. In every case, God judged the wicked but God spared Noah (verse 6) and had to “deliver” Lot (verse 7)! Lot is a type of both the backslidden, sinful believer as well as the end time church corporately with its association and consequent defilement just prior to the Rapture. c. These Old Testament examples are written for our admonition and need to be carefully scrutinized in light of the times in which we live. The last mention of Lot finds him living in a cave, getting drunk, committing incest with his two daughters, with no mention of him ever getting right with the Lord. d. Is he a lost man? Has he lost his salvation? There is no place in Scripture where a saved man was ever lost again. You will be seeing a “lot” of Lot in eternity! God did judge Lot’s sin but in a way that was different from the unsaved of Sodom.e. I want to look at several things of interest in these verses that we have read this morning.1) Lot vexed his righteous soul2) Lot hexed his familyLOT VEXED HIS RIGHTEOUS SOUL1. Let’s take a look at the marvelous grace of God manifested the eternal salvation of an Old Testament saint. Just Who And What Was Lot?a. Lot was a man of great heritage - Genesis 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.b. Lot was a man of great wealth - Genesis 13:5 And Lot also, which went with Abram, had flocks, and herds, and tents.c. Lot was a man of great rebellion - Genesis 13:8, 10-11 Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered every where, before the LORD destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the LORD, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. d. Lot was a man of great compromise - Genesis 13:12-13 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the LORD exceedingly.e. BUT, Lot was a man of great salvation - 2 Peter 2:7-9 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked: (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with [their] unlawful deeds;) The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:1) He was declared Just in verse 7 - a judicial term meaning “just as if he had never sinned”2) He was declared Righteous in verse 8 – imputation of Christ’s righteousness3) He was declared Godly in verse 9 – meaning pious or devout (like it or not, Lot was eternally saved!)2. Let’s take a look at some of the reasons that Lot made “unhonorable mention” in 2 Peter instead of “honorable mention” in Hebrews chapter 11! a. He dwelt among – verse 8 “dwelling among them” 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 1) Lot “pitched his tent” toward Sodom at first. He realized their wickedness but the land was a place that was good for raising cattle. 2) He later is found living in the city and sitting in the gate which is a place of authority. 3) He possibly took a wife from Sodom as there no mention of either a wife or children previous to Genesis 19. 4) He chose to raise his children in that wicked city because he made it well financially. b. He vexed his righteous soul – verses 7-8 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from all appearance of evil.1) He was continually bombarded with their wickedness (seeing) but evidently got used to it. Everywhere we look, there is sexual perversion in our day just as there was in the days of Lot. Sodomites permeated his society. We see more pornography in Wal*Mart than men once saw in the “men’s magazines.”Psalms 101:3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.2) He was continually bombarded with their conversation (hearing) but got used to that also. Dirty jokes, filthy language, worldly music (just listen to what they play in most restaurants), etc. How many times do the lyrics of a worldly song from our past cause us to whistle or hum to its beat?Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.3. He “ vexed” his own soul! The world did not vex it, it did it himself. VEX - to torture: - annoy, cause perplexity, to puzzle, to distress, to plague, to afflict, to shake up, to cause pain, toil, torment, or to toss about. He saw, heard, and understood (because he was a righteous, just, godly man according to the Bible) but continued on anyway ignoring the conviction of his soul and the clear warning of God’s Word.c. He understood their wickedness and continued anyway. Romans 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.Psalms 1:1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.1) “From day to day” and the word “dwelling” say it all. He had opportunities every day to pack up and leave but the draw of prosperity chained his soul to the wickedness of the city.2) He eventually called them “brethren” in Genesis 19. “Getting used to the dark” is a dangerous thing because, eventually, your eyes get adjusted to the dimness of light.3) Before I was saved, I went into bars that were so dark that—after I entered and closed the door—I remained still until my eyes became adjusted in fear of stumbling over a table or chair.LOT HEXED HIS FAMILY1. Let us look at Lot’s “deliverance” in 2 Peter.a. Because of God’s eternal life - John 5:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life. (Salvation is not merit based! It is anchored in the finished work of Christ on Calvary.)John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.1 Thessalonians 5:9 For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,b. Because of God’s eternal love - Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.Romans 8:34-39 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. (35) Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? (36) As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. (37) Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. (38) For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (39) Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.2. Let us look at Lot’s judgment in Genesis 19.a. He lost his testimony and usefulness for God:1) Before the lost - Genesis 19:7 And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.2) Before his family - Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.b. He lost his children and their spouses - Genesis 19:14 And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.c. He lost his wealth and possessions - Genesis 19:16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.d. He lost his wife - Genesis 19:26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.e. He ended up living in a cave - Genesis 19:30 And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.f. He brought some liquor - Genesis 19:32 Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.g. His daughters committed incest with him - Genesis 19:33-35 And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. (34) And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. (35) And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose.h. His children by incest grew up to be “thorns” in the side of the people of God - Genesis 19:36-38 Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. (37) And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. (38) And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.Conclusion: We had better think about this “eternal life” that we have and consequences of sin that go along with it. We are saved eternally; therefore, our judgment is in this world. Complete article |
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