Sunday 30 December 2018

Share the Gospel? A few thoughts...

Share the Gospel?

I received an e-mail from the ecumenical Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) on 28th December with the heading saying "Help Share The Gospel All Donations Matched-Now Through December 31st!"

Yes - today it is all about donations and financial chicanery!

But, is such phraseology as "share the Gospel" even biblical? Search for this phrase in the King James Version, and you will not find it written once. The closest perhaps is 1 Thess.2:8, where it reads So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the Gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. Some lesser, much later English versions have "share the Gospel" rather than having it imparted unto you. And this but once in the entire New Testament! But, surely, to have imparted unto you, means to have first had it preached unto you?

When this hitherto once great nation of ours was more biblically literate in the dim and distant past (i.e the post Reformation period of the puritans), Christians would not have talked about "sharing the Gospel", the clarion call would have been to PREACH THE GOSPEL! declare it LOUDLY and PROCLAIM it! this very phrase is used, (plus its various derivative forms such as preaching the Gospel, preached the Gospel, etc) some 41 times in the King James Version of the New Testament. Furthermore, it is written that God now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. There is an urgency in all of this, for a man's life is even a vapour, Jam.4:14. The Lord said compel them to come in, Luk.14:23, and behold, now is the day of salvation, 2 Cor.6:2. Hell has enlarged herself and opened her mouth without measure, Is.5:14, hell fire is increasing in intensity, the flames are being fanned, yet people in this day and age talk of "sharing the Gospel!" as if they were sharing a bag of sweets! The sense of urgency in our gratuitous age of plenty has been all but silenced and stifled. Even the poorest among us seem to have everything; so why do we need God; and if we do become Christians, don't we have to give, donate, tithe and the like to the charlatans such as CBN and the rest?


Friday 28 December 2018

The Pleiades

According to accepted secular astronomy the Pleiades are the "seven sisters". The "seven sisters" are reckoned to be "an open star cluster containing middle aged, hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth, and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky. (source Wikipedia).

What are we to make of this? The Bible says that the Pleiades (Job 38:31) are the The seven stars (RV, margin), and as noted above, secular science/astronomy based on heliocentricism, use this term to describe an entirely different group of celestial bodies. They impose the view that the Pleiades are altogether a different group of heavenly bodies to what the Bible teaches them to be.

There are seven stars orbiting above the Earth, however, according to Wikipedia and accepted secular astronomy there are eight planets, including 'planet' Earth! (which is not a planet). Left to Scripture alone, we know the Earth is stationary, that is it doesn't move (geocentric). But, are the seven planets, as we have hitherto understood them to be, actually planets at all? What exactly is a planet? It is said in the margin of 2 Kings 23:5 (the only mention of "planets" in the entire Bible) that the planets are indeed the twelve signs, that is what most know to be the zodiac, of which the monthly prognosticators give forth their predictions! It would seem that confusion prevails if the Christian tries to understand biblical cosmology through secular astronomical wisdom, it cannot be done. The Pleiades, then as the Bible speaks, would have us know that what the secular astronomers consider to be the eight (seven) planets are in reality seven stars that orbit above the earth under the roof of the firmament. As for the other stars, that is the Comets, meteors, and asteroids, I believe that, these also, come under the category of stars. Smaller and less frequently sighted stars, such as Halley's 'comet' for example, come into view every seventy or so years; such is their elongated orbit.

So the celestial bodies given the names of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, are according to God's word, stars that are in constant motion, perhaps there may be a case for categorizing them under the heading of wandering stars, Jude 1:13? But, I understand they have a fixed orbit. The other stars known as comets, meteors, and asteroids, would certainly come under this heading because they have a more 'random' celestial path.

Man ever tries to reverse God's order and change what is written in His word, but a day is fast approaching when a greater than king Ahusuerus is coming, when what is written in the King's name, and sealed with the King's ring, may no man reverse. Esther 8:8.

Monday 17 December 2018

Hyper-spiritually sensitive?

This very morning my wife brought back this photo of Mitre Peak, Milford Sound, NZ, which belonged to her late parents, they did visit the place. It had a prominent position on their living room wall. I must have seen it many times, and to me it just looked like a nice landscape portrait. When she brought the picture in from the car, she inadvertently left it the 'wrong' way round on the hall floor, and intended to have it hung up somewhere. I came down the corridor and exclaimed "that's Baphomet!!!". She wondered what on earth I was on about at first, then she could clearly see it. Needless to say, we will get rid of it!

My late father in law was a Freemason, and I do wonder if he knew there was more to this image?






Do you see Baphomet?





Thursday 13 December 2018

Radical Islam.

Driving my car today on my little journey into Stornoway I 'chanced' upon a BBC news report on the recent shooting in Strasbourg that has left four dead and many others injured; one apparently brain dead, and six others more than seriously injured.
The reporter, whose name was a certain Hugh Scofield, kept referring to "radical Islam"; he was insistent upon emphasizing throughout his short narrative, that this latest terror attack of whom its instigator shouted "Allah Akbar" whilst he was perpetrating his wicked act, that the perpetrator thereof had been radicalized: The inference being that Islam is absolutely fine, just as long as you don't obey the more radical precepts of its doctrine!  However, the grand question is; what is it in Islam that gives rise to said radicalization ? Why is it that men like scofield and the wider media aren't prepared to dig a little beneath the surface and find the truth? Those that perpetrate such wicked acts as the one just described are being absolutely faithful to the Koran; otherwise, why would they carry out such atrocities in the name of their god?

We all well know by now, that after such terror attacks, the standard practice for the imams, Muslim councils, and other so-called 'non-radicalized' Muslims is to publicly condemn these attacks, but, do they privately? Taqiya permits Muslims to lie through their teeth! so how can you trust what any of them say? I do not say that there aren't nominal Muslims out there, who call themselves such, because they were born to Muslim parents, that would do such things, but, what of those who take their 'faith' seriously?

Because of the sixth Commandment; Thou shalt not kill, Ex.20:13, many Christians will not take up arms, and does the Bible anywhere, in any place, permit any to tell lies? Absolutely not! Thou shalt not bear false witness, Ex.20:16, all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. Rev.21:8. And remember, of the holy city, new Jerusalem, Rev.21:2, it is written that there shall in no wise enter into it, anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie. Rev.21:27a.


Friday 30 November 2018

Thoughts on the locality of Hades and related subjects.

Revelation 6:9-10: And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

Luke 16:23-24: And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments,  and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

Now, in the above Scriptures we read of dis-embodied souls that have not yet received their resurrection bodies, yet they have tongues; can speak, hear, touch, feel, have memories, thoughts, and therefore are still in full possession of all their previously held bodily functions before their bodies gave up the ghost, Gen.25:8. It is said in Luke 16:26 that there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot: neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. This great gulf is what separated the righteous and unrighteous dead in Hades*; is not a similar great gulf presently in place between the departed and the living?  With this being the case, it is not too difficult to understand the truth of the unseen angels, as real as they are, there is a great gulf betwixt us and them; we cannot interact with that realm, and, of those angels which kept ...their proper habitation (Jude 1:6 RV) they will not step aside from God's decrees, as opposed to those that did, in order to wreak havoc, for all those fallen angels are now currently incarcerated, unable to cause any further harm until the appointed time when God releases them as described in Rev.9, to perform His future judgments on the inhabited earth. Angels are spirits, they too, have bodies, but are ethereal, not subject to the physical world as we are. So, the dis-embodied human souls now seem to share some of the characteristics of  angels as described throughout Scripture, but are unable to manifest themselves to us here on earth, as depicted by Eccl. 9:5-6; for neither have they (the deceased) any more a portion for ever in anything that is done under the sun. thereby proving that the departed are not able to come back as entities known as ghosts.
Many believers struggle to take on board the fact that the Bible clearly teaches that the dis-embodied soul still retains all its faculties at death (the physical body apart), they are also not able to communicate with those living on earth in any form or fashion. As Abraham said to Dives when he asked if Lazarus could be sent back to his surviving brethren, that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment, to which Abraham said unto him. If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead. Luke 16:27-30. The same it is today, One has risen from the dead, and the Gospel proclaiming the truth as it is in Christ has been preached far and wide, and yet what unbelief persists! It is only the body that dies at death, not the soul, that never dies, the body is effectively dust, for dust thou art, Gen. 3:19, is what God said to Adam. Eccl. 12:7 says Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it. We are but dust! and how many times throughout the ages has this been confirmed? for every time a body dies, that is what it eventually becomes. The spirit returns to God, for He says; behold, all souls are mine, Ezek. 18:4. Many struggle to be dogmatic on the tripartite nature of man, clearly we have a body, a soul that lives forever, but what of our spirit? I don't pretend this to be an easy subject, A.W. Pink remarked with words to the effect that it is not easy to distinguish between the soul and spirit. If we are tripartite beings as 1 Thess.5:23 and Heb.4:12 strongly suggest, then we have a spirit and soul and body, the body we know, and the soul is the life in the body, that living ethereal part of us that is immortal in the elect and the non-elect alike, then what of the spirit that is in us? The apostle says of the natural man that they are spiritually discerned. 1 Cor. 2:14. We must remember that the people he was addressing in 1 Thess.5:23 were his brethren, they were spiritually awake, they had the Spirit of God in them. The awakened spirit in a regenerate soul is something that obviously does not exist in an unregenerate person. In Heb.4:12, the dividing of soul and spirit (RV) strongly suggests that the two, though being separate entities are inextricably united, and only God alone can separate them. It is said in Rom.8:16 that The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, so the spirit in the regenerate person has an inherent consciousness of God's Holy Spirit in them as opposed to the unregenerate who whilst also being a living soul, has not a spirit that has been enlivened from above.
Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. Rom.8:9. There is that spirit of antichrist, 1 Jn. 4:3, but can the unregenerate realize he has this spirit? Is it not true that practically the whole world has heard of the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. Rev.12:9, yet what multitudes think that he doesn't exist? truly a masterstroke of deception!

The death of the believer, despite all appearances to the contrary, does not not come about by accident, nor by consequence of any 'mistake' made by a doctor. The ultimate cause thereof proceeds from God in Christ Himself, promoting, or permitting certain things to terminate the life of a saint. As Bishop Thompson rightly remarks; "The literal translation of 1 Thess. 4:14, 'them...which sleep in Jesus' is 'them...which are laid to sleep by Jesus.' Here is a beautiful illustration and consoling fact." Death, therefore is analogous to sleep, or vice versa, and this doesn't warrant the awful (and unbiblical) soul-sleep theory, as the case of the Rich man and Lazarus clearly demonstrates, since both are in their disembodied state before the resurrection.
Many Christians are troubled by the fact that certain close relatives and friends who profess no faith in Christ (and may never do so), will be eternally separated from them, and even worse, that their destiny will be one of everlasting ruin where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. Mk.9:48. So, how can one of God's elect having an eternally conscious soul be eternally in bliss, whilst mourning over the never ending ruin of a loved one? How do we reconcile this dilemma?
I don't know, but it may be that Paul had some very close family members in mind when he exclaimed I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Rom.9:1-3. Scripture, as ever, should guide all truth seekers, and the apostle in 1 Cor.13:12 said; For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known. Are these inspired words telling us that when all is revealed to us, that we will then see clearly, that is that those whom we hitherto had loved, we will now see them as they really are - children of Satan? Now, I am bordering somewhat into speculation here, but going as far as I perceive is allowable from what I believe is taught in Scripture. At this juncture we may take a lesson or two from the Redeemer Himself; I have heard it said more than once that He was more than a tad too harsh with His earthly family in Matt.12:46-50, where He said Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. (emphasis's all mine). Is this not a hard pill to swallow? What did the Saviour mean by these (very hard?) words? If we are not brutally honest with ourselves; is He not telling us in very plain English, so to speak, that we should love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. The second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matt. 22:37-39? How can we claim to belong to Him if we reject these plain words of His? In other words, He is telling us in no uncertain terms that we should obey (or at least make every effort to try to!) the Ten Commandments that were thundered down from Sinai in Exodus 20! But, how is it possible for one to even attempt to do this if he, or she doesn't believe? All prejudices aside, any sane thinking individual would surely agree?
If we can glean anything from this, one thing is for sure, God will not countenance any god before Him; Exodus 20.3.

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*Those that have died in Christ since the crucifixion, do not now enter into Hades, which the righteous OT saints entered. When Christ led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men...He also descended first into the lower parts of the earth. (Eph. 4:8-9). What was Christ doing down there in the depths? or rather as the Scripture says; He was three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Matt. 12:40. Truly He led captivity captive, for has He not the keys of hell and of death? (Hades and death RV). Some errantly think it to be a "Popish notion" (John Gill on Eph.4:9-10) that Christ descended down into hell (Gk. Hades), yet "the Scripture plainly declares that the soul of our Lord was in Hades during the time that His body was in the grave, it is equally evident that that part of Hades in which His blessed and holy soul was, was not a place of torment, or of suffering." (B.W. Newton). Would our Lord have used words such as so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth if He only meant that His blessed body was going to rest in a ground level tomb for that duration of time? No! the heart of the earth is a subterranean place far deeper below than man is capable of digging. The Patriarchs fully expected to go to Sheol upon death as depicted in Gen. 37:35, 42:38, 44:29, Job 14:13 etc. In Luke 16:26 the great gulf fixed was evidently an impassable barrier between the righteous and unrighteous dead in the subterranean regions known as Hades or Sheol. So, the dis-embodied saints that were in Hades/Sheol at the time of the cross ascended with the Saviour When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, And gave gifts unto men, Eph.4:8, Ps.68:8. Subsequently, after the cross all the righteous who die thereafter also ascend upwards to heaven; their bodies are left in the grave awaiting bodily resurrection, and their dis-embodied souls are now present with the Lord, 2 Cor.5:8, awaiting union with the new spiritual body, 1 Cor.15:42-44. 1 Thess.4.16 says; the dead in Christ shall rise first, this obviously means those decomposed dust particles, or even ashes, shall miraculously formulate into a glorified spiritual body which will house the soul that descends from heaven to meet it, for there is nothing dead in heaven! Some may think that 'poor' old righteous Abel (being the first man to die) has had a rather long wait! some near 6000 years, awaiting the resurrection, as maybe suggested from Rev.6:10; How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? But, as Abel is now with Christ (and has always been in His keeping), is it not true that a thousand years is as one day with the Lord? (2 Pet.3:8) Then, now being in eternity as it were, that long passage of time may seem to him as only six days!

"There was in Hades a division prepared for the souls of the blessed, and another division called the lowest Sheol (Hades) RV Deut.32:22 assigned to the souls of the lost; and that the souls of those who died in the faith of a promised Saviour, did until the resurrection and ascension of that Saviour, remain in that division of Hades that was allotted to the souls of the blessed, being there sustained and comforted by the power of God, and proving the words of the Psalmist, if I make my bed in Sheol, behold, thou [Jehovah] art there. Ps.139:8." (B.W. Newton).


A work in progress; to be continued and edited.








Sunday 25 November 2018

How To Go To Heaven....according to David J. Stewart

Recently I had reason to visit David J. Stewart's www.jesus-is-saviour.com website. It is a site that I visited on and off until about ten years ago, hoping to glean truths from God's written word. The site, according to its counter has now had over one hundred million hits (100,100,736) at my last visit! a quite staggering number, I am sure you will agree?

His site reminds me of Monty Pythons Flying Circus, very comical in its structure; confusing and full of half truths, a veritable jumble of everything thrown into the mix as it were!

One thing caught my eye on my latest visit, Stewart says;

"It is very simple to be saved and takes only a minute to explain. Please let me show you how to get to heaven from the Bible, God's Word...."

and then he proceeds with his formula.

But, is it really "very simple to be saved" as he so confidently asserts? I can only speak from my own personal experience, and I can tell you that it was anything but "simple", in fact, I did all that I possibly could to resist the truth as it is in Christ with every bent of my body! I fought and struggled against Christ with all my heart and soul, as His citizens did; to not have this Man reign over us, Luke 19:14. But, praise God, I lost! so what is it that finally bends a man to submit to His Lordship? Can a man simply say to himself; "I think it a pretty darned smart idea to be saved, after all it really does make so much sense, doesn't it, for why would one want to be forever burning in hell?" Scripture says; For who maketh thee to differ from another? 1 Cor.4:7, indeed, Who? 
I was having a conversation with a believer in Stornoway who had an Arminian mindset some weeks ago on the subject of salvation, and he appealed to the words in Acts 7:51; ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye, as to mean that a man can resist God's Holy Spirit! But, what does this verse really teach? if you read the first part of the aforesaid verse, you will see that Stephen was addressing the stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, that is those that had not been born again of God's Holy Spirit, that is His indwelling presence was not in these people. They were resisting (as the natural man ever does!) the Spirit's words that were spoken through the prophets, and more latterly the apostles and  disciples of the Lord. They were resisting the external work of God's Holy Spirit, not the internal, for it is impossible to do the latter.

It was well said by William Secker of Tewkesbury (around 1622):

"Repentance, though it be the act of man, is but the gift of God".

The whole testimony of Scripture bears record to this veritable fact, and I think only a couple of consecutive verses will suffice here, though a great many more can be adduced.

But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:
Which were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:12-13.





Thursday 15 November 2018

Westminster Confession of Faith ch. xxxiii v.2.

The Last Judgment.

The end of God's appointing this day is for the manifestation of the glory of His mercy, in the eternal salvation of the elect; and of His justice, in the damnation of the reprobate, who are wicked and disobedient. For then shall the righteous go into everlasting life, and receive that fullness of joy and refreshing, which shall come from the presence of the Lord; but the wicked who know not God, and obey not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, shall be cast into eternal torments, and be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.

The supporting Scriptures that underpin the truth of this statement are; Matt. 25:31-46, Rom. 2:5-6, 9:22-23, Matt. 5:21, Acts 3:19, 2 Thess. 1:7-10.


Wednesday 14 November 2018

Do nice people go to hell?

There is this really strange notion that exists in Christendom that God in Christ will somehow accept nice people into His heavenly mansions, even though they don't profess any saving faith in Christ's atoning blood! As C.H. Spurgeon used to preach; "The one great sin is unbelief, they are condemned already, because they have not believed in the sacrifice of God's only begotten Son."
It is written;
The times of this ignorance God winked at, but now He commandeth all men everywhere to repent: Because He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead. Acts 17:30-31.
God has emphasized that He is talking about every man, woman and child alive (all men, everywhere), now as to those without the intellectual capacity to understand the Gospel message, we leave them entirely to His jurisdiction, for it is vain to speculate; Shall not the judge of all the earth do right? Gen. 18:25. Recently, a friend of my wife's was very upset because her minister preached on hell one Sunday morning, to the point that the preacher's wife apologized to her afterwards for upsetting her! Now, this begs the question; why would the minister's wife apologize for him preaching the truth? Sadly, I can only believe it is because he doesn't believe what he is preaching! I think there are a lot of what we may call "clockwork preachers", that is, they preach on topics in God's written word, because they are in there, and of course it is right to do so. Sometimes in a congregation very few hearts are pricked (Acts 2:37), if any at all, they just sit there and it all just goes over their heads, as it were. Now, this is where it all starts, folk need to be pricked in their hearts on the question of repentance. The narrative reads; Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, men and brethren, what shall we do? (my emphasis) what did they hear? they heard that they had crucified the Son of God! and of course, Peter duly commanded them to repent! Granted, these men were those that the Saviour asked the Father to forgive; for they know not what they do. Luke 23:34, nevertheless, the siren call of repentance goes out to every person; For the promise is unto you , and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. Acts 2:39. However, it is written that many are called, but few are chosen. Matt. 22:14, and to those who respond, let us give dilligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fail. 2 Pet. 1:10.

Although the lady in question who was upset regarding the biblical truth of eternal damnation, is a professing Christian, it is my belief that because she has an unbelieving daughter, and dotes on her, she is troubled that such a one's eternal destiny will be in hell. But, of course, there is still time for her to be pricked in her heart and repent. Now, it is only natural for a parent to love their child, but as believers we should take especial notice of our Saviour's words in Matt. 10:37; He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. This admonition is brought out more fully by our Lord in His discourse with a lawyer; Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thy shalt love thy neigbour as thyself. Matt. 22:36-39. We cannot give God what He requires of us, unless we love Him more than our fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters. For, to do so is idolatry; it is written in the Decalogue that Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Ex. 20:3; therefore to love any person more than God, is a flagrant denial of this  first Commandment!

Now, I for one don't like the fact that hell is a real place where unrepentant sinners will spend eternity, nevertheless, it matters not what I like, or dislike, but what saith the Scriptures? I find it simply incredulous that many deny the reality of the existence of hell (Heb; Sheol, Gk; Hades), yet such they do. The Saviour spoke more on eternal damnation than eternal bliss, and to quote all the Scriptures here would double the size of this posting! What is this but a severe case of myopia? Some say that hell has an end, that it is not eternal, if this be so, then what of eternal bliss?
Our Lord mentions the fire that shall never be quenched five times in Mark 9.43-48! Now if God tells us something once, we should sit up and take notice, but, five times?

It is impossible to placate people regarding the Scriptural teaching of the permanent abode of the lost, nor should we attempt to, if I were to say to one such; "Have no fear! no! Jesus didn't really mean what He was saying, those words were really only directed to those nasty Jewish Pharisee types!" I should be none other than a hell deserving liar myself.

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (Gk. unto the ages of the ages) Rev. 20:10.

Sunday 11 November 2018

Remembrance day...for what?

This very day is "Remembrance Day", it is in honour of those that fell in the two great wars; it is yet another man-made celebration that takes one away from Christ; look at all the preparations, pageantry, ritualism, and formalism that goes into this event!

We are supposed to be thankful to those that have died in the two great wars for giving us the peace, prosperity, freedom etc, that we are now supposed to enjoy today.

Truly, if I were a born-again soldier that fell in the first world war, and I could be shown today's 'Great' Britain  and what I had died for, I should now be well and truly grieved!

Lets have a look at some of these things...abolishing the death penalty,legalizing sodomy, abortion, same-sex marriage, no fault divorce/adultery, LGBT rights and 'freedom' to assign to yourself your own sex, and making nearly everything under the sun to be a 'hate crime'! (and much of this has been signed onto the statute book by our so-called 'Christian' monarch, the defender of the Faith!). Is this freedom as Emma Silk so proudly says? I quote her from BBC online:

"I want to honour the memory of my grandfather - what he did for our freedom," says Emma Silk, grand daughter of Harold Victor Silk, who lost his left arm in battle the day before Armistice Day.

Now, I have read of other accounts, that I am sure could be multiplied without number on this vein; that speak of men dying, and fighting for our 'freedom', yet, where are we today? Those who would preach God's word in the open places and streets can now be prosecuted under the name of "hate speech"! What freedom is this? I see Islamism and secularism expanding in the 'market place' as it were, and Christianity being marginalized at an ever increasing rate!

Did not our Saviour say, the truth shall make you free. John 8:32? Is this not the full Gospel?

It should make any true believer in Christ think on these things, especially when practically ALL the nations are celebrating this 'peace' event? That is all who are part of the 'globalist' agenda, bringing the nations under Antichrist! The BBC posted this headline today; "Armistice Day: Macron (president of France) urges world leaders to reject nationalism." In other words, reject God in Christ, for was it not He Who gave us the nations?! Read Genesis 10!

Lets not remember the dead, leave them to God, for it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27.

However, let us remember, and never forget the One who was dead: and behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen: and I have the keys of hell and of death. Revelation 1:18. 

Amen.

Thursday 8 November 2018

Christian witness...

From my own personal standpoint, being brutally honest, (would I be otherwise?) I must confess that my own witnessing for Jesus and His Gospel has had the effect of hardening hearts; certainly not softening them! Now, I take absolutely zero delight in this, furthermore, if I could save everyone on the face of the earth, I would do so! Now, I would never think to compare myself with those great OT and NT saints; Moses and Paul, yet, what was their mindset, what did they say on this?

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin -; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. Ex. 32:32.

For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh. Rom. 9:3.

It is clear (to me at any rate!) that these saints were expressing their desire to save their own brethren, even to the point of having their own names thrust out of God's book of life! Would we be so bold as to speak thus? Yet these words are inspired!

The true Gospel is offensive! it makes us realize exactly what we are..sinners in the hands of an angry God! without exception, apart from God's free sovereign electing grace alone, we are all worthy of eternal, never ending damnation - burning forever in the lake of fire, Rev. 19:20.

A few thoughts on 'Christian Voice'.

On 7th November 2018, Christian Voice's national director Stephen Green writes under the heading; "Transgender Conference". He says:

"I have been praying about this transgenderism nonsense, and I asked the Lord to show me if any of their conferences were coming up where we could go and witness. Well, three have turned up this month. The first is in London's Holloway Road on Saturday 10th. I want to have a witness there from 9 am to say 11 am, giving out leaflets - street evangelists and prayer partners will be welcome. I'll let you know more details tomorrow, but you can start praying into it now."

What are we to make of all this? Don't get me wrong, Green is quite correct on transgenderism, it is utter "nonsense". I am all for witnessing to the lost as per the great commission as stated in Matt. 28:18-20, But, these people running these conferences must have hearts as hard as an adamant stone (Zech. 7:12), for the prophet says Yea, they made their hearts as hard as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law. Truly, for any to 'change' one's sex and thenceforth to start running conferences on such wickedness, it is obvious that God must have given such over to a reprobate mind, in order to mutilate their bodies as they do, (Rom. 1:24-25). 

The Bible is explicit on the fact that wickedness must increase in order for the Lord Jesus to return and destroy the Antichrist with the brightness of His coming, 2 Thess. 2:8. It is evident to any with a little discernment that wickedness is increasing at an ever alarming rate. Briefly, in these last days in which we live, I believe it was the abolishing of Capital Punishment in our land in 1965 which started the rot. Abortion (child sacrifice) is now accepted by most, adultery is now not considered an offence, same sex marriage has not only been passed into law, the so-called state Churches in the UK will bless such 'unions' by marrying them! All this has been brought about by democracy, and the help of an ungodly monarch. Most think democracy to be a wonderful thing, but when people increase in wickedness, it is only natural that they will vote for wicked policies, for the government of the day will "listen to the people"! There is a verse in the very last book of God's word that had troubled me prior to seeing premillennial truth; He that is unrighteous, let him do unrighteousness yet more: and he that is filthy, let him be made filthy yet more. Rev. 22:11 a (RV). In other words; leave them to it.

Now, I am not saying there is absolutely no hope for certain individuals that have become entrapped into transgenderism, and therefore any witness is better than no witness, but Mr Green and Christian Voice are not premillennial, they actually believe that God is speaking directly to them, and that it is their mandate to claim the kingdom for Christ! 
Yea, making it my aim so to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named, that I might not build on another man's foundation. Rom. 15:20. The 'silent' witness in Holloway Road is staggering! the LGBT community will have to pass significant church buildings with towers and spires; St. John's Church dominates the northern end of that road!


Sunday 4 November 2018

More on predestination and prophecy...

"His not choosing them (the reprobate) was the fruit of His sovereign will; but His condemning them after death and in the last day is the fruit (not of their non-election, which was no fault of theirs, but) of their own positive transgressions." (Augustus Toplady).

In my last post I mention the strife that David brought upon his house through his sin. No doubt (some will say) "if David didn't sin, then this bloodshed would never have happened." and true this may be, but, it was predestined to happen, otherwise it wouldn't have taken place!

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? Isaiah 53:1.

That the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed? For this cause they could not believe, for that Isaiah said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and He hardened their heart; lest they should see with their eyes, and perceive with their heart, And should turn, And I should heal them. John 12:38-40 (RV).
It is said in no uncertain language that God chose to harden Jewish hearts (among others), and blind their eyes from seeing the truth as it is written in Scripture, truths, that had they been revealed to all prior to the cross, then the crucifixion would never have taken place, for it is written that had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 1 Cor. 2:8. But! what then of salvation? for, apart from shedding of blood there is no remission. Heb. 9:22(RV). The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Rev.13:8) would never have been slain! and Satan would have defeated the eternal purposes of God, and none, bar none of the human race would be saved! The mind boggles! the mere thought of all of this is utterly preposterous!

On John 12:37-40, Augustus Toplady writes:

"Without certain prescience there could be no prophecy; and without predestination no certain prescience. Therefore, in order to the accomplishment of prophecy, prescience, and predestination, we are expressly told that these persons 'could not believe', they were not able; it was out of their power. In short, there is hardly a page in St. John's Gospel which does not, either expressly, or implicitly, make mention of election and reprobation."

I find it simply incredulous that many mature and intelligent (Bible believing?) Christians in our day will deny the Bible's clear teaching of predestination, and election. Man is a 'free' agent to do what he will, but 'free-will' as we are asked to believe it, is contrary to the plain teaching of Scripture. If man truly had 'free-will' (as they aver) how would any prophesied event in Scripture come to pass? Could there be a more sure word of prophecy (2 Pet. 1:19) if God left everything to the vagaries of man? 

It matters not what I believe on all of this, it is not that I want the Bible to teach this, or that, per se. I only want to know the truth as it is taught in God's Book! And by reading through its pages; election and predestination (the causation of prophecy)  leaps out of its sacred pages like a cat might jump off a hot tin roof!

Think on these things!

Thursday 1 November 2018

A little study in how predestination and prophecy (fulfilled & unfulfilled) are inextricably linked.

And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and He doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay His hand, or say unto Him, what doest thou? Dan.4.35.

The words of Nebuchadnezzar! yet seven years earlier before being abased by the Almighty;

The king spake, and said, is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honour of my majesty? Dan. 4.30.

Can you imagine being in the king's immediate presence and saying to him, "er, no, actually, my lord, the king, for you are nothing but a puppet in the LORD God of the Hebrews hands, bringing His purposes to pass!" He would put such a one in the same furnace that he tried to annihilate Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego with; but only ten times hotter! In Acts 12:23, we read of a similar situation with Herod when he gave God not the glory: and he was eaten up of worms, and gave up the ghost. Is not the world presently brimming to overflowing with would be Nebuchadnezzar's at this present moment? The so-called "great and the good" of the world, the kings, presidents, prime-ministers, businessmen, entrepreneurs/inventors, and such like (whom we may call the wise, mighty, and noble of 1 Cor. 26), they would quite naturally ascribe their greatness to themselves, they would never think of thanking the Great Arbiter Himself for their present portion! But, in a soon coming day, they will know the truth and unless God should grant them repentance unto life, their lot will be as the rich man in Luke 16, who was told, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things! Oh eternity! how long it is! endless! yet men cling to this short parenthesis of time as if it will never end!
And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh. Jer. 45:5a. Worldly ambition is what then? utter folly! to embark on any venture without uttering words akin to Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? (Acts 9:6) as Paul asked, is then to tread the path of uncertainty! But, how can one ask God to be a light unto my path (Ps.119:105b) if he doesn't believe? He cannot! Yet, of the times of this ignorance ,God winked at, but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30. The paradox is; that repentance unto life (Acts 11:18) is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8), it is a gift, yet it is also the act of man! 
Every thought and action of the small and great alike comes from where, but the Master Puppeteer! a quite humbling thought is this! for how can predestination work apart from the Almighty ordering our steps? Can action flow, without the thought being first implanted in a man's mind? It is said that The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, Ps. 37.23 a. The translators have inserted good in italics for the word good is not in the Hebrew, although in the context of this verse, we can clearly see why they have done so. The RV reads; A man's goings are established of the LORD, which is the correct reading. The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it withersoever He will. Prov. 21.1. Of the Assyrian, who was (and will yet be, in the coming Antichrist) the rod of mine anger, used by God to bring His purposes to pass, the Almighty said Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so. Is. 10:7!
Throughout Scripture we read of adversaries being raised up (by God!) to afflict God's people, a notable example being David, who was told by God through Nathan the prophet, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house (2 Sam. 12:11a). Was it ever right that Amnon, Absalom, and Adonijah, went awry, only on account of the sin of their father, David? Absalom assassinated Amnon, Joab killed Absalom, and Solomon slew Adonijah. How can these things be? The "what iffers" (or free-willers) would say; "If David didn't sin then this bloodshed within his own household would never have taken place." But, clearly it was God's plan for these events to take place, otherwise they wouldn't have come to pass! Did not these sons of David die for the sins of their father? Clearly, God's written word says that they did (nevertheless they still died for their own sins!). A few hundred years hence God reveals to the prophet Ezekiel that The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father. Ez. 18:20a. (my emphasis). The sons of David that perished as a direct result of his sins were what? unlucky? Most assuredly God doesn't play dice! John Wesley in his notes on 2 Sam. 13:39 writes; "He can almost find in his heart to receive into favour the murderer of his brother. How can we excuse David for the sin of Eli, who honoured his sons more than God?" I find this a strange thing to say as Eli's sons hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them, and David knew the whole sorry saga (for want of a better description!) was entirely due to his sin, he brought this bloodshed about in his house. Granted, there is no forgiveness without repentance, and we see none of that coming from Absalom. nevertheless, I would have no doubt that David yearned for this, considering his words in 2 Sam. 18:33; Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son! 

We cannot go beyond what is written, for who can say unto Him, What doest thou? Dan. 4:35b. Nebuchadnezzar (at that time) had the understanding that all His works are truth, and His ways judgment, and those that walk in pride He is able to abase. Dan. 4:37b.

Many today (even among professing Christians) still harbour the notion that the generational curse syndrome, as it were, is still in force. And no doubt, to those names not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Rev. 13:8, this is true? yet, sons and daughters of believers, and unbelievers, alike, will, and will not, have their names written in the book of life. In our own day, circumcision and baptism alike are steeped in superstition of a kind; for those who put their trust alone in these fleshly rites will indeed reap what they sow. Unless God has put one's name into His book of life, then, none will be there. A "hard pill to swallow" this? What, unless God has put the names of the "saved" (the elect) into His book of life, none will be there? But! some will exclaim, what of all those who "accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour" those who "invited Jesus into their hearts" through the so-called "sinners prayer"? Well, this is where the "rubber hits the road" so to speak. I have absolutely no doubt, that since the sinners prayer has been utilized in these latter days, that those who have prayed it sincerely will no doubt be saved, but only with the proviso that their names were written in God's book of life! Is not this junction the very point where man's 'free-will' and  God's predestination meet? Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Cor 2:16).

Can a prophetic word come to pass in all its fullness, unless it wasn't predestined by God to do so? Many today, (believers and unbelievers alike) talk of "cause and effect", those who do so, know that absolutely nothing can happen unless there be a causative force behind it; how much more so from the Creator God in whom we live, and move, and have our being, Acts 17.28? The Old Testament abounds with prophesied events which came to pass in that dispensation, being fulfilled to the last jot and tittle, and if we believe the sixty-six books of the entire Bible to be God breathed in the original tongues, then the unfulfilled prophecies in the Old Testament and New Testament alike, will also come to pass in like manner.

'Divina predestinatio' says he, (Melanchthon)  'libertatem homini adimit: Divine predestination quite strips man of his boasted liberty; for all things come to pass according to God's fore-appointment, even the internal thoughts of all creatures, no less than their external works. Therefore, Eph. i. the apostle gives us to understand that God performeth all things according to the counsel of His own will. 






Wednesday 17 October 2018

That 'little' word "ALL".

Those of the Arminian persuasion persist that "all" means every man in 1 Tim. 2:4: who will have all men to be saved, and come unto the knowledge of the truth. It is quite staggering that many educated believers will persist in this folly! Doubtless, as Christians, it is our will that every person who we would share the gospel with, will be saved, we would like to think that God would be pleased to use us weak instruments for His purposes, or no?
God's will be done, and if it isn't, then how can an Arminian proclaim God to be all powerful and omnipotent? The Saviour said; Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, in earth, as it is in heaven. Matt. 6:10 (my emphasis). The plain testimony of Scripture is that not every person is saved, and I hardly need to list the names in the roll call of 'honour' thereof. But, not only that, our daily existences bear witness to the veritable fact that many die without saving faith in the Lord Jesus. If it is God's will that every man should be saved, and we know that they are clearly not, then what of His omnipotence?

This very morning going through my yearly Bible reading plan, I read the following:

And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet;  and all the people said , God save king Solomon. And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. 1 Kings 1. 39-40 (my emphasis).

I don't think for a moment, that anyone would venture to say that every person in the inhabited earth was joining in the aforementioned joyous celebrations? Not even in Jerusalem! for a few verses later, after Adonijah's failed plot to become king, we read;

And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid , and rose up, and went every man his way. 1 Kings 1.49 (my emphasis).

The above narrative clearly teaches that we must qualify that 'little' word "all" by it's context, and use our God given intelligence, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Tim. 2:15, otherwise we might just believe anything!

Friday 28 September 2018

Westcott, Hort, and a few thoughts.....

At the age of 23, in late 1851, Fenton John Anthony Hort wrote to a friend:

I had no idea till the last few weeks of the importance of texts, having read so little Greek Testament, and dragged on with the villainous Textus Receptus....Think of that vile Textus Receptus leaning entirely on late MSS.; it is a blessing there are such early ones.

Scarcely more than a year later, "the plan of a joint [with Brooke Foss Westcott] revision of the Greek Testament was first definitely agreed upon." And within that year (1853) Hort wrote to a friend that he hoped to have the new text out "in little more than a year." That it actually took twenty-eight years does not obscure the circumstance that though uninformed, by his own admission, Hort conceived a personal animosity for the Textus Receptus, and only because it was based entirely, as he thought on late manuscripts. It appears Hort did not arrive at his theory through unprejudiced intercourse with the facts. Rather, he deliberately set out to construct a theory that would vindicate his preconceived animosity for the Received Text. 
Colwell has made the same observation: "Hort organized his entire argument to depose the Textus Receptus." And again, 

Westcott and Hort wrote with two things constantly in mind; that Textus Receptus and the Codex Vaticanus. But they did not hold them in mind with that passive objectivity which romanticists ascribe to the scientific mind.

As the years went by, Hort must have seen that to achieve his end he had to have a convincing history of the text - he had to be able to explain why essentially only one type of text was to be found in the mass of later manuscripts and show how this explanation justified the rejection of this type of text.

The above is copied verbatim from pages 31-32; The Identity of the New Testament Text by Wilbur N. Pickering, with a foreword by Zane C. Hodges.
In the above short extract there are 8 source footnotes.

What are we to make of all this? that an educated man such as Hort could say such about my beloved 1611 KJV! Textus Receptus is just the Latin for Received Text. Now, I had come to learn, and believe the notion (and rightly so!) that God had faithfully, through human instrumentation preserved His word down through the ages, and this in spite of the Roman Church! Forever O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven. Ps. 119. 89. What spirit could empower such an one to say "that vile Textus Receptus"? Even as an unbeliever, I don't believe I ever thought of, or uttered any such thing about God's written word, let alone the majestic KJV! I was given an RSV version in 1971,when I was 11 at secondary modern, it was a practice the state education authorities adhered to from days of old in this ere once great Christian nation, sadly not any more! Apart from looking at the images in this version when first given it, (I still have it today!) I never once read it. It was but a "sealed Book" to me, it looked too hard, and it seemed everyone around me, at school and home, never took a blind bit of notice of it, so why should I? It was deemed irrelevant in the so-called modern world I was now part of, and I knew that this Book was ancient, so what good was it to me? It was only the so-called religious types that read it, a Sunday thing, that these folk took into a church building with a spire protruding up to the clouds, in their "Sunday best"; so, no I didn't want to be part of that set! I do remember harbouring resentment of the fact that nothing was open on a Sunday, only one newsagent in the whole town for an hour in the morning for the Sunday papers; how times have changed! 
Time passes by, and to cut a long story short, after becoming awoken by the Spirit of God, I started to read my Bible, and buy expository books, showing me how to understand what God was saying. This was circa 2002, for until then I had never read a book before of any type, not even a novel, only Penguin Books, short stories and car magazines. It was hard work, and it still is!

As I was attending churches back then, I had an NIV Bible, because, apparently it was 'easier' to understand, and didn't have all that unnecessary archaic English as in the AV 1611! I remember reading online on a site somewhere, about the "Westcott & Hort Controversy", and as a result, got hold of a AV 1611 KJV, which was based on the Received Text. It was a real struggle, initially, but eventually the olde worlde English became part of me! All the modern English versions are based on the Revised Version, on principles developed by W & H, and these are erroneous on many counts. What really put the matter to bed for me, was about 2009, when having a conversation with a Jehovah's Witness on my doorstep, for he was extolling the Bible scholarship of Westcott and Hort! Simply put, they have a corrupt bible that denies the Deity of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

The 1611 KJV is the best English translation, it has the "longer version" of Mark's Gospel, with verses 9-20 included. The modern versions omit these because the two oldest Greek manuscripts and some other authorities don't include them. Verse 9 starts with; Now when Jesus was risen.... are we to doubt this veritable fact? Most modern Bibles will have a small footnote denoting that that there is a longer version, but, the prominence is given to the misleading so-called "Majority Text" principle of the revisers. 
How different it would have been, if only the Received Text was behind our Bibles? No doubt these many and varied newer versions have been instrumental in the great apostasy. 

Wednesday 26 September 2018

An exposition of 1 Samuel 28.15. The seance.

1 Samuel 28.15; The seance - The Mother of All seances.

And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up? And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest make known unto me what I shall do.

Saul knew that consulting the woman that hath a familiar spirit at En-dor. 1 Sam. 28.7, was expressly forbidden by God, for he even cut off those that hath familiar spirits, and the wizards, out of the land, as the woman so reminded him! (1 Sam. 28.8). There shall not be found among you any one...that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination unto the LORD. Dt. 18.10-12. Regardless of the clear testimony of Scripture, consult her, he did. The woman brought Samuel up, and upon doing so, suddenly *realized that it was Saul who was consulting her! saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. The proceedings caused her **to cry out with a loud voice. 1 Sam 28.11-12.

What has baffled theologians over the years with this incident, is whether it was actually Samuel, or a demon masquerading as Samuel. But, really, why is this so? The Bible says in no uncertain terms that Samuel said, 1 Sam. 28.15, and Saul was sore afraid, because of the words of Samuel, 1 Sam. 28.20 (my emphasis). If it were a demon speaking in this seance, then surely the narrative would have said, "the demon said" and "Saul was sore afraid, because of the words of the demon." Interestingly, Samuel's mother, Hannah prophesied of this event (which seems to have escaped the radar of Christian theologians) in her great prayer; The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: He bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up. (My emphasis) 1 Sam. 2.6. I realize that this verse has a far wider application! nevertheless? We should also remember that demons did not exist in the OT dispensation as us moderns are wont to think. In the OT scriptures, the word "demon" is nothing more than a pejorative term referring to the idols of Baal worship. They were offering sacrifices to the "he-goats" in the same vein as apostate Israel did to the physical  molten calf. Demons didn't come into existence until just prior to the First Advent of Christ (Rev. 12.4) unless, of course, we believe the ancient Jewish fable of the Nephilim (giants), of which Augustine firmly repudiated. This is the theory that the sons of God in Gen. 6.2 were fallen angels which impregnated human women. However, chapters 4 and 5 of Genesis describe the ungodly lineage of Cain, and the godly lineage of Seth, and what happened in Gen. 6.2 is the result of these two lineages coming together.
The apostates of old were literally worshipping idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk. Rev. 9.20, Ps. 115.4-7, Dan. 5.23 etc. So how could a 'demon' of a literal physical constitution, thus described in God's written word be capable of masquerading as Samuel?

*But, how come this sudden revelation? Who but the Almighty God can reveal such things? One moment, the woman was absolutely clueless as to whom sought her services, the next not! Think on these things!
**This sudden exclamation is particularly noteworthy, and not inserted to make the 'story' more interesting, as some think. No! the Bible is concise, sharp, and to the point, there is no "fat on the bones" as it were (Reminds me of Heb. 4.12!). The woman was genuinely shocked, and no doubt, when seances became common place in the Victorian times, this type of 'performance' became the blueprint to all subsequent seances.

Sunday 23 September 2018

BBC: Scammers targeting more elderly people. 23rd Sept.

According to the BBC, the "reports of frauds on the elderly are 'tip of an iceberg'". They go on to say, "Fraudsters scammed nearly 49,000 older people across the UK in the past year, equivalent to almost six reports every hour, a BBC investigation has found. The total number of reports has nearly doubled in the past three years, 5 live investigates has learned. But one expert said the true number of elderly victims was likely to be in the millions. Police said more victims were coming forward but admitted they were the 'tip of the iceberg'".

How do we define an "elderly victim" today? as a youngster I thought anyone who was over the age of 60 was ancient, now I am less than two years from that milestone! It seemed to me to be a great privilege or rather 'lucky' to reach 65 and draw your state pension! Not having a Christian education, I didn't realize that God was in control of all events. The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD. Prov. 16.33 (a little believed verse!). Now, computers as we know them today didn't exist when I was a teenager in the seventies, they were nearly the size of Africa! In 1986 I paid just under £3000 for a 'mobile' phone, and all it could do was make phone calls! the batteries would last only about an hour or two, and you had to go about with a spare, and the charger! Mobile phones (effectively mini computers), lap tops, tablets, and hand held devices of all sorts are now available at literally a fraction of the cost of that first mobile of mine. And how technology has advanced since that time! In the western world, at least, it seems everyone young and old has one of the aforementioned devices. Today's youngsters seem to be on their gadgets 24/7, walking into lamp posts, for they are glued to their screens! and behind closed doors, even the elderly are perhaps not lonely anymore, getting up to all sorts on-line? We have been led to believe that getting "connected" is the "best thing since sliced bread", but is this so? The government, HMRC, DVLA, the Banks, and the rest are encouraging everyone to go "paperless", yet, in reality, we do the printing at the other end! I get letters and e-mails from my bank all the time encouraging me to go paperless, so they can close even more high street branches! It seems that we are being pushed into this cyber-world, and will be powerless to do anything about it, for most want to participate in it.

Going back to BBC article above;

"Among those to have been repeatedly scammed is a farmer in his 80s from Norfolk who has lost £450,000 over six years after fraudsters convinced him he had won £1.5m in a lottery. His daughter in law who asked not to be named, said: 'They said all he had to do was send them an administration fee, it started small about £300 and then he should receive the money. But they didn't stop at that, obviously he didn't get his money and they kept ringing. Its gone out of all proportion since that initial contact.' Police and trading standard officers in Norfolk have been involved in his case but his family believes he is now "addicted" to his pursuit of a big-money payout and is still trying to send money. 'I think the scammers are absolutely evil,' she said. 'But they are also very clever in how they do it and they make it sound very plausible, so much so that it sucked him in and probably hundreds of other people.'"

I agree, "the scammers are absolutely evil", but what of her father in law? is not the love of money the root of all evil. 1 Tim. 6.10 as well?
The article, which is well worth reading, goes on to say last year alone, 1140 victims of cyber crime were aged over 90, and 13 over 100! Professor Keith Brown from Bournemouth University, an 'expert' studying all of this, said "these reports represented as few as 5% of the true total. Its hugely under reported, we're talking about millions of victims," he said. "If this were burglary or street crime there would be a huge outcry, but its hidden behind closed doors. Over the next few years this will become the next big scandal like the dawning realisation of the scale of child abuse." I think he may be right.

I myself must get dozens of scam e-mails from many and various sources, some are blatantly obvious, you really do wonder how folk could fall for them! others not so. I get sent e-mails from scammers representing organisations saying they will close my account if I don't respond, and this from organisations that I don't even have accounts with! - so they are easy to bin!
I fear a lot of people won't come forward because of the shame factor, it is embarrassing for many to admit they are 'stupid'.

All of this is taking place in "cyber space" this is the realm of darkness, where the prince of the power of the air, Eph. 2.2, rules supremely. This virtual reality or cyber-world, where these on-line acts of evil are taking place, are in actual fact only extensions of the world that the 'victims' want to partake in. Take for example the aged Norfolk farmer, he would, if he could, pull down my barns, and build greater, Lk. 12.18, he is obviously not content with such things as ye have, Heb. 13.5.
To a certain extent, I have no sympathy with this man, for he doesn't sound like he was penniless, and no doubt the daughter in law is trying to protect the family inheritance! don't get me wrong, I would rather these internet gangsters did not exist, but, sadly they do. Internet/cyber crime is doubtless vastly under reported and will increase, the 'clever' crooks don't need to rob banks and jewelry shops anymore, it is so much more 'clean' and 'bloodless' to do it on-line. But, is it really bloodless? how many suicides, or premature stress related deaths have been caused by these criminals? at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man. Gen. 9.5. The wicked, *evil spirit of the devil that worketh in the children of disobediece (Eph. 2.2) in this cyberspace crime will in my opinion, bring in more on-line control, regulation, and censorship, all in the name of security! In the history of man, has man ever made one good law? Is our wicked ungodly government (and police force) capable of doing anything for our good in this regard? And lets not forget, the next government is going to be even more wicked! It is strange, this paradox; wicked laws will be drawn up for our 'benefit', no doubt in the name of bringing wicked people to justice! The Professor in the above article said "fraud is costing UK consumers £10bn  a year in losses, up from an estimated £4-6bn annually in 2016." I believe, in the name of security, the internet cyber-world will be a completely different place in 5-10 years time, judging by all the updates I presently get, how long will it be before you try to enter certain sites, or type in certain words, and names when a RED FLAG gets thrown up? who knows, the internet thought police may come knocking on our doors.

*When I say the "evil spirit" I mean that the children of disobedience are not possessed, literally, with a demon as in the NT; only that by the act of disobeying God's commandments, are they disobedient! Disobedience, in and of itself is an "evil spirit", rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft 1 Sam. 15.23!

Friday 21 September 2018

Silly question; Is the sun a planet or a star?

One of the silliest things I have done recently is comment on Quora (can't remember how I started-perhaps someone sent me a link), and as a consequence, I get sent the most inane questions one can think of! For example I was asked "Is the sun a planet or a star?" to which I replied "it is neither; it is what the Bible says it is - the sun!"
I do realise that I once thought the sun may have been a star when an unbeliever, but having said that, I don't really think I ever cared one whit what it was! But, some of the questions people ask! If only they would read the Bible! On Quora, whenever I quote from Scripture, I very, very, rarely get an "up vote", but I am not doing this to win a popularity contest - only to preach the truth in Christ!
I quote from the creation narrative in Gen. 1.14-19:

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Subsequently, in God's Book, the greater light, and the lesser light, came to be known as the sun and the moon. The first mention of the sun being in Gen. 15.12, and the moon in Gen. 37.9. As can be seen from the above creation account, the sun is mentioned as a separate entity to a star, which rules it out from being one, for there is but one sun, and many stars (whom I believe to be the angelic host, not giant balls of gas). Can the sun be a planet? again the Bible makes a clear distinction, for in the KJV 1611, the word planet is mentioned once, and that in 2 Ki. 23.5, and it is plural, I quote the verse in full:

And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the host of heaven.

We also see that the sun, moon, and the *stars, (host of heaven) became objects of worship to those who apostatized from the God who created them. In the 1884 Revised Version (RV) of the 1611 Authorized Version (AV), in the marginal notes, the word planets is also rendered the twelve signs, and/or, the constellations. It is therefore easy to infer that the planets in the aforementioned verse must be a special group of stars. Job 38.32 shines some light here, I quote:

Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons?

In the RV margin of this verse, Mazzaroth is rendered the signs of the Zodiac  or the twelve signs.

It is not too difficult to see why we should not consult the stars, most especially Christians; for the 'science' of astrology assumes and attempts to interpret the influence of the heavenly bodies on human affairs, and will no doubt lead us astray from God, who is upholding all things by the word of His power, Heb. 1.3 (my emphasis). He says of His glory; will I not give to another, Is. 42.8, 48.11. It was only the heathen nations that practiced such prognostications; Then the king commanded to call the magicians, and the astrologers, and the sorcerers, and the Chaldeans, for to shew the king his dreams. Dan. 2.2. (my emphasis). Of course, only Daniel as God's true servant, could tell Nebuchadnezzar the dream, because it was God who put it there in the first place, and who subsequently revealed to Daniel the interpretation thereof; Dan. 2.26-30! The earthly king of all the world at that time (Nebuchadnezzar) was but a puppet in God's hands! (see Prov. 21.1). It was true then, and it is as true today. The present kings (for we have now descended to the feet of Nebuchadnezzar's great image, see Dan. 2. 31-35) are fulfilling to the exact minutia, what God has predetermined, though they know it not! Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither doth his heart think so, Is. 10.7 (a). Isaiah was speaking of  the Assyrian, who foreshadows the coming Antichrist, who will also be fulfilling God's predetermined decrees, yet, likewise, he meaneth not so.

Hath God said (the words of Satan Gen. 3.1!) the sun is the sun, the moon the moon, the stars the stars? We would end up believing anything left to the wiles of men!
Should not a people seek unto their God? Is. 8.19. To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Is. 8.20. Sadly many Christians are deceived by what passes for science falsely so called. 1 Tim. 6.20.

*As the observable stars are not gigantic balls of gas, thousands or millions of miles across, and I believe them to be the angelic host; this being the case, those who worship them (knowingly, or indeed, unknowingly), do so through prognostication. They would 'advise' the gullible through their monthly horoscopes, and charts, thus leading them away from God and His written word, by causing them to put their faith in their 'wisdom' as Nebuchadnezzar did in his astrologers. Truly, My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge, Hos. 4.6, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? Lk. 6.39.


Wednesday 19 September 2018

Statements of Faith and Soteriological Theology.

When you visit Christian website ministries, you will notice that their "Statement Of Faith", or "What We Believe" is often prefixed by the words "We believe that the Bible is the inspired Word of God, that it is inerrant and infallible". This particular aforesaid quote was lifted from the PWMI (Prophetic Witness Ministries International) website, a ministry which is heavily focused on unfulfilled prophecy. They are pre-millennial; teach and promote the pre-tribulational return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But, how helpful is such a claim? would not the arch deceiver himself also agree with the aforementioned prefix? Many of these ministries (I would term as biblicists) are at war with one another, claiming that their particular interpretation of Scripture is in fact truth. However, It is written that God is not the author of confusion, 1 Cor. 14.33, so the confusion must originate from those who nave not been rightly dividing the word of truth, 2 Tim. 2.15. In the case of pre-tribulationism, it is noteworthy that the professing Christian Church knew absolutely nothing of such a doctrine until circa 1830, aside from the fact that there is no exegetical scriptural support for a rapture heavenwards, seven or so years before the Lord's Second Coming in glory, which the PWMI believe and teach.

Since the Reformation, which began in earnest through the actions of the great reformer Martin Luther, the controversy of predestination/election vs free-will, in the course of time came to be known as Calvinism vs Arminianism, which has raged some three hundred years longer than the aforementioned rapture controversy. Many will declare opposing views on whether it was they who chose the path to salvation, or whether it was God who predestined it. The rapture controversy and the Calvinism/Arminianism debate is inextricably linked to what every (I hope!) Christian would consider to be the most important of doctrines in the Bible, that is Soteriology (the scriptural teaching of salvation).  But, which is true, post-tribulationism or pre-tribulationism? predestination/election or free-will? But, more than all of this, does it matter what we believe in this theme? Regardless of whether a  Christian believes in pre-destination/election or free-will, the most important thing is to believe in the precious atoning blood of Jesus Christ, the Saviour who said I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. Jn. 14.6. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.  Acts 4.12. The Saviour said, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. Jn. 6.44(a). You would think just that one verse uttered by the incarnate Deity Himself would settle the matter for once and for all! but no, not even the most careful and systematic theological dissertations by men far more capable than the present writer will persuade the Arminian mindset! I see the doctrine of predestination/election stamped on practically every page of Holy Writ. It is suggested by some, that the theology I hold to, makes me to be a blasphemer; that what I believe Scripture plainly teaches makes God out to be the author of sin. The plain fact of the matter is that God is in control, nothing can, or has happened that God hasn't permitted, 'good' or 'bad', to say otherwise would be to deny the thrice Holy One's omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence. The Lord Jesus plainly said that even a sparrow shall not fall on the ground without your Father, Matt. 10.29! Our attitude as believers, should be to bow down to His awesome majesty in obedient subjection and not say unto Him, what doest thou? Dan. 4.35. Regardless of  the Arminian protestations to His absolute sovereignty, He will do His work, His strange work: and bring to pass His act, His strange act. Isa. 28.21. To any that may 'chance' upon this ere post, that would desire to understand more on this deep subject, I can do no better than recommend Zanchius's Absolute Predestination. J.C. Ryle said of this work, over 120 years ago, that it cannot be disproved, and I believe it never will.  So, this is as far as I will go on election/predestination in today's post, but one last thing on this! Most assuredly, a believer has far more assurance of his eternal bliss in Christ if he believes in the biblical doctrine of predestination/election (that it was God who chose him or her)  as opposed to it being the individual's choice to be saved! Nevertheless, whatever we believe  in regards to predestinaion/election/free-will and post-tribulationism/pre-tribulationalism, we must believe in the blood of Christ alone for our eternal salvation, and walk according to His commandments, see Luke 6.46. We are not robots, we can make 'choices' with our 'free-will', but ever remember that if we decide to walk contrary to God's word and presume on election, not only may we lose blessings this side of eternity, we may be found not to be one of His children! a sobering thought? Holiness, and obedience is the key! Walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel Gal. 2.14! Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, Heb. 12.14! For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. Eph. 2. 8-9. How some hate "Lordship Salvation"! Luther struggled with James's letter, and his treatise on works, but the apostle was only teaching that once we are saved, we walk according to the royal law, see Jam. 2.8. Luther believed that James was somehow teaching "works salvation" which was contrary to "justification by faith", ever remember that he came out of great darkness and popish superstition and no doubt must have held to what his Romish tutors taught him in respect to the epistle of James, for I believe he questioned whether this book should have been in the Bible!

Coming back to the rapture question, PWMI's principal founder Dr. F.B. Meyer, also a proponent of the "Higher Life Movement" who preached regularly at Keswick, would not have been Calvinistic in his theology, nevertheless, he was a good man preaching salvation by Christ's blood alone. At the end of the day, be we skewed on our understanding of unfulfilled prophecy and the biblical doctrine of predestination/election, we must believe with all our heart, soul and minds that Christ is our only hope, through His precious atoning blood, that He is God, very God, and walk according to His commandments, and more importantly, don' t plead our own righteousness to Him on the last Day, for He will have absolutely none of it! Matt. 7.22-23, 25.44, Lk. 13.26-27.

Wednesday 12 September 2018

Was Zacchaeus there by chance? Luke 19. 1-10.

Was it by random chance that Zacchaeus met Jesus as He entered and passed through Jericho. Luke 19.1? The narrative goes on to say behold (we should take extra note when this word is prefixed!), there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. Now, when the Bible says he was rich, it doesn't just mean he had a nice detached house in Judaean suburbia! no, he would have had wealth, beyond the "dreams of avarice" as the saying goes! He was chief among the publicans! Now, he was little of stature, in other words, he was much shorter in height than the average man, for he climbed up into a sycomore tree to see Him, for He was to pass that way. Certainly, Zacchaeus must have heard of the fame of our Lord, to find out what He was all about, for the Scripture says he sought to see Jesus who He was. And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down; for I must abide at thy house. Now when the crowd saw it, they all murmured, saying, That He was gone to be guest with a man that is a sinner. Then Zacchaeus made a pretty amazing statement, he said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have wrongfully exacted aught of any man (RV), I restore him fourfold. On this most heartwarming of statements, the Saviour said unto him, This day is salvation come into this house, for as much as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost. 

Philanthropy is no new thing! certainly modern philanthropy is, where exceedingly rich men and women give away vast amounts of money out of their even vaster fortunes, no-doubt securing taxation advantages, recognition, and favour with the government of the day, for the various awards on offer; O what a cynical man I am! There may be another reason! for the above inspired narrative says nothing about Zacchaeus's repentance and faith, per se, so, perhaps the thinking may be that if Jesus and the Bible is true, these folk may have it in mind to remind the Lord of their wonderful acts of human kindness, pleading one's own acts of righteousness on judgment Day! How they would do well to heed the Lord's words; Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thine doest thine alms do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you they have received (RV) their reward. Matt. 6. 1-2.

The Scripture says that whomever Zacchaeus wronged (and no doubt there were a great many!) that he would restore him fourfold, this being the Scriptural requirement as written in Ex. 22.1 and 2 Sam. 12.6, but he went further than this, for he gave away half of everything he owned to the poor. It may be that he ended up himself among the poorer folk of Judea! A much 'poorer' man but rich in faith, for it is written, Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which He hath promised to them that love Him? Jam. 2.5. (my emphasis).

No, it was not by random 'chance' as some venture to think; that Zacchaeus underwent this miraculous change of heart! this is the hand of God, and nothing less! It was ordained in eternity past that God would place Zacchaeus in that place at that time to fulfill His purposes, yet it was Zacchaeus's own 'free-will' which led him to do the things he did! In the very same way that the dying Saviour saved the repentant thief on the cross in Luke 23. 39-43, for moments earlier, the repentant thief that was *crucified with Him, cast upon Him the same reproach (Matt. 27.44 RV) as  that of the chief priests, scribes, and the elders! What of the large upper room furnished (Lk. 22.12)? and the ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any man say ought unto you, ye shall say, The Lord hath need of them; and straight away he will send them. Matt. 21. 2-3? I would like to see some presumptuous Pentecostal Churchman to try a similar 'stunt' in our day, he might like to try walking up to a man as he is entering his car with its contents, and say The Lord hath need of them

Many other incidents might be multiplied countless times throughout the Bible, yet many cannot see ELECTION and PRE-DESTINATION taught throughout God's word.

*The language of the 1611 AV really does present this scene in a more vivid and graphical way;
The thieves also, which were crucified with Him, cast the same in His teeth. We can but imagine the insults, and blasphemous words he must have uttered! But, how remarkable the transformation! How, how, can this malefactor be railing on Him one minute, and in the next say to his partner in crime, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. Upon this repentance the Lord said Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. Luke 23. 39-43. Knowing what I know about the hardness of the human heart, I believe such a transformation in so short a time is impossible from human reasoning! As if the thief could reason and rationalize the whole situation, and then think to himself, "It seemeth a good idea to me to acknowledge this man hung up like myself, as the Son of God, and repent forthwith!" Lets not forget, that the thief hadn't witnessed the earth shattering events that happened shortly afterwards to enable the centurion and those with him to say Truly this was the Son of God. Matt. 27.54! Truly, The wind bloweth where it listeth, Jn. 3.8!





Tuesday 11 September 2018

Will Turkeys vote for Christmas?

Further to the posting I put up on 2nd Sept. re. THE CLERGY; the unnatural distinction that has evolved over the years between the clergy and the laity really has elevated certain Pastors, Reverends, Bishops and the like to a kind of worldly celebrity status, most especially in the US mega churches. The lions share of this unbiblical "them and us" system is most predominant in the US, but even here in the UK, we have our fair share of celebrity pastors, and no doubt there are many wannabes, if they could a be's!

There, is however, a tension that exists between the biblical exhortations in the Pauline writings to the brethren (1 Tim. 5.18, 1 Cor. 9.4, 7-14) that flow from the Lord's words in Matt. 10.10; the workman is worthy of his meat, (the context being payment for preaching the coming kingdom of heaven), and those paid hirelings who exist within organised Christendom. Hebrews 8.11 sheds much needed light here, as it says in no uncertain terms that; they shall not teach every man his neighbour,  and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. Also the parallel OT verse in Jeremiah 31.34, And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, Jer. 31.34. Strictly speaking, I believe these Scriptures will not have their ultimate fulfillment until the return of the Lord Jesus when He will convert the remnant of Israel as depicted in Zech. 12.10, I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, on this Day, Christ's millennial reign will be inaugurated. And His grace will no doubt be the reason to preserve those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life (Rev. 13.8) from Satan's last great deception on the nations when he shall be loosed out of his prison, see Rev. 20. 1-10. It is my understanding from God's word that this'tension' exists because we are taught by the Master Himself that the Gospel must have free course (unhindered), for when the disciples questioned Him regarding one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us, they forbad him, because he followeth not us. Mk. 9.38 (my emphasis). His reply was, Forbid him not: for there is no man that shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part. Paul exhorted the Thessalonian believers (and us today!) to pray that the word of the Lord may have free course, 2 Thess. 3.1. We might see what we consider heretics quoting Scripture verses, but it is written, My sheep hear my voice, Jn. 10.27, and faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Rom. 10.17. If a heretic were to quote Scripture verbatim (as they do) God's Holy Spirit will convict His chosen ones if they are within earshot. Even the 'best' of us are but dust! of Paul it is written, his bodily presence is weak, and his speech contemptible, 2 Cor. 10.10! How could this great preacher have done what he did without the power and the grace of God in Christ? The Lord said, without me ye can do nothing, Jn. 15.5!

The clergy, even those who faithfully preach the way of salvation, Acts 16.17, (wherever they are?) are hardly likely to "vote for Christmas" by telling the truth to the 'laity', are they? They have a vested interest to keep the wheels of motion on the bus as it were - for their livelihoods sake "the coin in the coffer" must keep ringing! But, why the need for organised religion/churchianity today? The predicted apostasy is well and truly upon us (2 Thess. 2.3), nevertheless those lovely old church buildings and chapels (the ones not yet converted to mosques!) still stand as a visible testimony, I think! But, what exactly is going on in these church buildings today? are not 'preachers' preaching to the converted (if indeed they are converted at all, and that goes for the 'preachers' as well!), it would seem impossible for any to hear the true gospel in today's 'cafe culture' church where a synthetic gospel (which is no gospel) is now the order of the day! So-called reformed Christian churches on this island have been infiltrated by the false neo Calvinists preaching a gospel without sin, faith and repentance! How bad things are? much to Satan's joy!

A friend e-mailed me an excellent YouTube video entitled The False "Church System" Deception, it "hits the nail on the head" on what the visible Church has degenerated into, will you pay into their coffers, or sign a direct debit to keep the show going?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EiZVY1Cgsk

Now, where is that concordance; are the words "Order of Service" to be found anywhere in my Bible?...