As I was reading a very familiar passage in the Bible, this morning, I was reminded of another facet of salvation and sharing the Light that Christ wants to fill our lives. This evil generation of which Christ Jesus speaks (and out of which He calls each of us sinners) began when He began His earthly ministry and shall not end until He sits as King in Jerusalem for His thousand year reign on Earth, before God's Final Judgment.
Luke 11:29-36
29 And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to
say, This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and
there shall no sign be given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.
30 For as Jonas was a sign unto the
Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.
31 The queen of the south shall rise up in the
judgment with the men of this generation, and condemn them: for she came from
the utmost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a
greater than Solomon is here.
32
The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas;
and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.
33 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth
it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that
they which come in may see the light.
34
The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is
single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil,
thy body also is full of darkness.
35
Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not
darkness.
36 If thy whole body
therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full
of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.
As I read that passage, I was struck by the degree of the effects of my sin from day to day; that each of my sins directly obstructs the Light of Christ from wholly filling my life and shining out to reach others. It is each and every one of my sin's shadows that obscure the message of God's salvation in Christ when I try to convey it to others who need Him. I may not realize the effect at that time, but as the Bible says, in Numbers 32:23, "...be sure your sin will find you out." Thus it is with the shadows of our sins that obstruct the Light of God that He wants filling our lives and enlightening the lives of those around us. As He says in, Matthew 7 and Luke 6, about the mote and the beam (a wooden splinter versus a large beam), we cannot judge righteously nor see correctly to help others if we are bearing greater sin in our own lives than what error there is in another person's life. It is the same principle of learning to get our own lives right with God by way of His only plan of salvation and through His only Savior; learning to clean up our own house sufficiently before we go forth to try to assist others to remove the same sins as ours from their lives. May we closely attend to the counsel of the LORD GOD Almighty in this and all matters.
Friday, September 22, 2017
Thursday, September 21, 2017
Be Careful What & Whom You Worship
If, in our earthly lives, we choose to accept nothing from the Word of God (the Bible), or whether we have placed our faith in many other people, things, or ideas, yet, at God's Final Judgment, we all shall confess that only Jesus Christ is Lord of all and Creator of all that has been created, for God assures us that we shall each confess God's truth about Christ Jesus at the Final Judgment.
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 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:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Luke 11:27-2827 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
If you have not yet made peace with God according to HIS plan of salvation, then I beg of you to do so without wasting another moment. Look here for the beginning of the road of faith, repentance, salvation, and sanctification.
John 1:1-18
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 The same was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5 And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 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:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Luke 11:27-2827 And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.
28 But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
If you have not yet made peace with God according to HIS plan of salvation, then I beg of you to do so without wasting another moment. Look here for the beginning of the road of faith, repentance, salvation, and sanctification.
Friday, September 8, 2017
Helping Hurricane Survivors WITHOUT Government Red Tape
Do
you want to help hurricane survivors, but you don’t want to have your money or
goods donations bogged down in governmental red tape or stolen by fly-by-night organizations?
You CAN help via Oath Keepers, one of the constitutionally-minded organizations to which I belong.
When Ferguson was being consumed by
riots, and the government refused to step in immediately to stop the mayhem, Oath
Keepers put their lives and fortunes on the line to help to protect many people
and businesses. I trust them to do what is right for law abiding citizens.
I’ve
already made a donation, via PayPal, to help the Oath Keeper drivers pay for
their gas as they put their own vehicles on the road to deliver goods to the
hurricane stricken areas. Here is their website in case you’d like to get
involved: https://www.oathkeepers.org/
Friday, August 4, 2017
God's Call To Us & Our Varied Responses
Please consider Jesus Christ's following message, in the Book of Luke, about each of the ways that people respond to the Word of God. God is and always has been calling each and every one of us to, "...repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ".
Luke 8:4-21 4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.
20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Luke 8:4-21 4 And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:
5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.
7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.
11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.
16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which enter in may see the light.
17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.
18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.
19 Then came to him his mother and his brethren, and could not come at him for the press.
20 And it was told him by certain which said, Thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to see thee.
21 And he answered and said unto them, My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God, and do it.
Friday, July 7, 2017
Devils & Evil Spirits Acknowledge Jesus Christ! Why Don't People Accept Him?
In many places throughout the Bible, Jesus Christ is clearly declared to be God in the flesh and our eternal Creator.
Satan and the devils recognize Jesus Christ as the One True God that Jesus is, but most people fail to recognize or accept this eternal truth.
Here are five links to help us see God's truth about this, for our acceptance or rejection of God's Christ, Jesus, will not only be our choice to make, but by our choice we shall also determine where we will have chosen to spend our lives in eternity.
Luke 4
Luke 16
Who is Jesus, really?
What does God expect of us?
What do I choose to do with this information?
Satan and the devils recognize Jesus Christ as the One True God that Jesus is, but most people fail to recognize or accept this eternal truth.
Here are five links to help us see God's truth about this, for our acceptance or rejection of God's Christ, Jesus, will not only be our choice to make, but by our choice we shall also determine where we will have chosen to spend our lives in eternity.
Luke 4
Luke 16
Who is Jesus, really?
What does God expect of us?
What do I choose to do with this information?
Tuesday, July 4, 2017
What Is Independence? How Can We Be Really Free?
Today is the 4th of July, 2017, Independence Day for citizens of these United States of America; our 241st celebration of breaking away from English rule, in our attempt to rule ourselves better than they were doing. In other parts of the world other people may or may not be celebrating a similar festivity. Canada, for instance, just celebrated its 150th anniversary of confederation, in their own establishment of independence from English rule. Yet, around the globe, numerous dictators terrorize their own subjects, while we gripe about the quirks of our own government or our leadership.
Worldly freedom is nice, affording us an attempt to try to do better in this life than our forebears did, when under the thumb of some other form of human government that they did not like. But, then, humans being are not really all that enthusiastic about being governed by anyone. Are we? Unless the system that we are in is immediately advantageous to us, it seems that no matter where people are, and no matter how well off we are, we always seem to find something about which to complain about our form of government, or the leaders who are in power at any given time in history. THAT is our true natural side showing its ugly head.
Our dissatisfaction with those in authority over us is rooted in our lack of surrender to God, to His Christ, and to His Word, for a sinful lack of gratitude toward God lies at the root of all our rebellion against those whom God has allowed to rise to power. That does NOT mean that those in authority have free rein to abuse the power and responsibility that has been handed to them. We must remember that God holds them accountable for all their actions, even as He holds us accountable. They may seem to get away with all sorts of vile things, but read Psalm 37 and Psalm 73, as well as Romans 1 and James 4, to begin to understand how we get ourselves into trouble with God and each other, and know that neither the victim nor the violator shall escape God's righteous judgment. In the end of all things, for righteous victims, God's judgment shall be a salve, while for those who violate others in any way, God's judgment shall be a scourge. We must first judge ourselves by God's Word, the Bible, and repent of our own sin, lest we must try to act as if we were sinless as we start throwing stones at other people.
In order to understand and live in true godly independence we must make our peace with God's Christ, even as the Bible says. Repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ are the simultaneous first real steps toward independence that we must take. If we reject God's call to repentance and faith in His Solution, we may live comfortably in this life, but we shall surely perish eternally tormented in the next. For those who surrender to God's government of their lives, though we may suffer all sorts of things in this life, yet, our sufferings end with physical death as we are translated into His presence to live forever in His blessings.
Worldly freedom is nice, affording us an attempt to try to do better in this life than our forebears did, when under the thumb of some other form of human government that they did not like. But, then, humans being are not really all that enthusiastic about being governed by anyone. Are we? Unless the system that we are in is immediately advantageous to us, it seems that no matter where people are, and no matter how well off we are, we always seem to find something about which to complain about our form of government, or the leaders who are in power at any given time in history. THAT is our true natural side showing its ugly head.
Our dissatisfaction with those in authority over us is rooted in our lack of surrender to God, to His Christ, and to His Word, for a sinful lack of gratitude toward God lies at the root of all our rebellion against those whom God has allowed to rise to power. That does NOT mean that those in authority have free rein to abuse the power and responsibility that has been handed to them. We must remember that God holds them accountable for all their actions, even as He holds us accountable. They may seem to get away with all sorts of vile things, but read Psalm 37 and Psalm 73, as well as Romans 1 and James 4, to begin to understand how we get ourselves into trouble with God and each other, and know that neither the victim nor the violator shall escape God's righteous judgment. In the end of all things, for righteous victims, God's judgment shall be a salve, while for those who violate others in any way, God's judgment shall be a scourge. We must first judge ourselves by God's Word, the Bible, and repent of our own sin, lest we must try to act as if we were sinless as we start throwing stones at other people.
In order to understand and live in true godly independence we must make our peace with God's Christ, even as the Bible says. Repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ are the simultaneous first real steps toward independence that we must take. If we reject God's call to repentance and faith in His Solution, we may live comfortably in this life, but we shall surely perish eternally tormented in the next. For those who surrender to God's government of their lives, though we may suffer all sorts of things in this life, yet, our sufferings end with physical death as we are translated into His presence to live forever in His blessings.
Monday, July 3, 2017
The Longest War In History
The false god of technology is NOT saving us from ourselves. Neither are we evolving, biologically, morally, socially, or spiritually, into anything better than what humanity has been since our fall into sin, when Eve and Adam chose to follow the tempter, by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden.
We are in troubling times, for sure, as we near the "last days" of which the Bible speaks. God and his Bible have forewarned us that human kindness and self-sacrificing love would grow increasingly cold as we approach the end of the era of human government.
In our present day, and historically, for many decades, we have seen rapidly increasing terrorism, substance and interpersonal abuse, murder, robbery, assault, flagrant exhibitionism of our bodies in the name of personal choice, whoredom and other immoral solicitation, self-willed verbal vomit posing as free speech, rampant self-justifying male and female homosexuality, financial manipulations that steal people's life savings, self-indulgent behaviors that trammel the natural rights of other people, road rage, interpersonal bitterness and hatred, people abandoning their families for personal pleasures, wars scattered all over the globe, and reporting media that favors "political correctness" over godly truth. We have seen sin become categorized into numerous levels of 'badness'. We have seen criminalized sins even categorized into whether they are 'hate crimes' or 'only' illegal crimes.
How stupid are we? Really!! ALL crimes are hateful against the human victims! ALL sin is hateful against God. AND, that includes crimes and sins against ourselves because we damage ourselves EVERY time that we sin. It is NOT a human right to choose to sin. But, it is definitely a human free will choice whenever we choose to sin and thereby damage this special creation that God has made us to be.
God's Bible talks about the last days, and the signs of those times, and yet, the Bible also talks about the longest running war in history that has brought us to the 'last times'. How did we get here, into this present maelstrom of sin, in spite of all the spiritualism, ecumenicism, and evolutionism that, lying, tell us that we are getting better than our ancestors?
God's Bible says that Lucifer asserted himself against God, and delusionally thought he'd become like God. For that arrogance and rebellion, Lucifer was cast down to the Earth and renamed Satan, taking 1/3 of the angels with him when they rebelled with him. Having been exposed as the troublemaker that he is, Satan went on to instigate humanity to sin against God... and Eve and Adam went along with Satan's suggestion to sin, even as we do, now! So, now, whether in quiet or open rebellion against God, there are Satan, the fallen angels (demons), and humanity, with all of us exercising our free will to sin against the one true righteous and holy God who created us all. THIS is the longest running war, the war of sin.
The ONLY real question and objective in life that will matter for all eternity is whether we shall have chosen to believe and act upon God's ONLY plan for saving us for eternity, in the manner that God says we need to act. It is NOT about how tolerant we are. It is NOT about how nice we are. It is NOT about whether we feed the poor, or go to "the right church", or belong to the "right religion", or live in poverty and suffering our whole lives, or vote for the 'right' person for an elected office, or whether we feel good or not. God sees who we really are and what we really think and do. He knows our motivations better than we do. We MUST deal with our sin that we choose to commit against Him, and we must deal with sin the way that God says. If we fail to choose and obey His way then we condemn ourselves to a conscious eternity outside the fellowship of God, and shall suffer, consciously, in eternal damnation. Remember, we are the ones who choose that lonely, dark, hot, miserable, thirsty existence in hell and then the lake of fire. We cannot blame God. We cannot blame those who tried to lead us into sin. It will have been our own choice to disregard God's warnings about eternal death, and for disregarding His invitation to eternal life.
I have said all that to bring up the increasingly popular ecumenical movement that is creeping about our world, as it tries to deceive the whole world into abiding in lies and doctrines that will undermine the spiritually ignorant and weak, and lead them all, like sheep, into the fires of hell. There are a few verses in Scripture in which God uses the phrase "whole world", and we need to study those for ourselves to see their meaning and importance, to fully understand what is God's truth and what are the lies of the world and false religions, no matter what those promulgators of lies may call themselves. Let us not forget that even at the beginning of the church the Apostles warned that there were false doctrine, false prophets, and false believers among them. That was an urgent call to compare everything that they had heard, from anyone, by the truth of the Scripture that God gave them.
Over and over, the Bible warns us that we CANNOT join lies to truth and end up with anything other than lies that seek to corrupt the truth. Trying to join unbiblical ideologies and practices to biblical Christianity yields nothing more than false religion. The Old Testament prophets warned against ecumenicism. Jesus Christ warned against ecumenicism. The Apostles warned against ecumenicism. Those who are fooled into joining with ecumenicism shall earn what they deserve, even as Revelation points out. I've listed the only places in the Bible where the phrase "whole world" is used. Sometimes God uses "whole world" in positive ways, BUT, in referring to ecumenicism, God's Revelation shows that that is NOT something He wants. As the Romans used to say, "Caveat emptor."... that is, 'Buyer beware.' When lies are joined to truth it only corrupts the truth; it does NOT improve the lies.
Job 34:13 (KJV)
We are in troubling times, for sure, as we near the "last days" of which the Bible speaks. God and his Bible have forewarned us that human kindness and self-sacrificing love would grow increasingly cold as we approach the end of the era of human government.
In our present day, and historically, for many decades, we have seen rapidly increasing terrorism, substance and interpersonal abuse, murder, robbery, assault, flagrant exhibitionism of our bodies in the name of personal choice, whoredom and other immoral solicitation, self-willed verbal vomit posing as free speech, rampant self-justifying male and female homosexuality, financial manipulations that steal people's life savings, self-indulgent behaviors that trammel the natural rights of other people, road rage, interpersonal bitterness and hatred, people abandoning their families for personal pleasures, wars scattered all over the globe, and reporting media that favors "political correctness" over godly truth. We have seen sin become categorized into numerous levels of 'badness'. We have seen criminalized sins even categorized into whether they are 'hate crimes' or 'only' illegal crimes.
How stupid are we? Really!! ALL crimes are hateful against the human victims! ALL sin is hateful against God. AND, that includes crimes and sins against ourselves because we damage ourselves EVERY time that we sin. It is NOT a human right to choose to sin. But, it is definitely a human free will choice whenever we choose to sin and thereby damage this special creation that God has made us to be.
God's Bible talks about the last days, and the signs of those times, and yet, the Bible also talks about the longest running war in history that has brought us to the 'last times'. How did we get here, into this present maelstrom of sin, in spite of all the spiritualism, ecumenicism, and evolutionism that, lying, tell us that we are getting better than our ancestors?
God's Bible says that Lucifer asserted himself against God, and delusionally thought he'd become like God. For that arrogance and rebellion, Lucifer was cast down to the Earth and renamed Satan, taking 1/3 of the angels with him when they rebelled with him. Having been exposed as the troublemaker that he is, Satan went on to instigate humanity to sin against God... and Eve and Adam went along with Satan's suggestion to sin, even as we do, now! So, now, whether in quiet or open rebellion against God, there are Satan, the fallen angels (demons), and humanity, with all of us exercising our free will to sin against the one true righteous and holy God who created us all. THIS is the longest running war, the war of sin.
The ONLY real question and objective in life that will matter for all eternity is whether we shall have chosen to believe and act upon God's ONLY plan for saving us for eternity, in the manner that God says we need to act. It is NOT about how tolerant we are. It is NOT about how nice we are. It is NOT about whether we feed the poor, or go to "the right church", or belong to the "right religion", or live in poverty and suffering our whole lives, or vote for the 'right' person for an elected office, or whether we feel good or not. God sees who we really are and what we really think and do. He knows our motivations better than we do. We MUST deal with our sin that we choose to commit against Him, and we must deal with sin the way that God says. If we fail to choose and obey His way then we condemn ourselves to a conscious eternity outside the fellowship of God, and shall suffer, consciously, in eternal damnation. Remember, we are the ones who choose that lonely, dark, hot, miserable, thirsty existence in hell and then the lake of fire. We cannot blame God. We cannot blame those who tried to lead us into sin. It will have been our own choice to disregard God's warnings about eternal death, and for disregarding His invitation to eternal life.
I have said all that to bring up the increasingly popular ecumenical movement that is creeping about our world, as it tries to deceive the whole world into abiding in lies and doctrines that will undermine the spiritually ignorant and weak, and lead them all, like sheep, into the fires of hell. There are a few verses in Scripture in which God uses the phrase "whole world", and we need to study those for ourselves to see their meaning and importance, to fully understand what is God's truth and what are the lies of the world and false religions, no matter what those promulgators of lies may call themselves. Let us not forget that even at the beginning of the church the Apostles warned that there were false doctrine, false prophets, and false believers among them. That was an urgent call to compare everything that they had heard, from anyone, by the truth of the Scripture that God gave them.
Over and over, the Bible warns us that we CANNOT join lies to truth and end up with anything other than lies that seek to corrupt the truth. Trying to join unbiblical ideologies and practices to biblical Christianity yields nothing more than false religion. The Old Testament prophets warned against ecumenicism. Jesus Christ warned against ecumenicism. The Apostles warned against ecumenicism. Those who are fooled into joining with ecumenicism shall earn what they deserve, even as Revelation points out. I've listed the only places in the Bible where the phrase "whole world" is used. Sometimes God uses "whole world" in positive ways, BUT, in referring to ecumenicism, God's Revelation shows that that is NOT something He wants. As the Romans used to say, "Caveat emptor."... that is, 'Buyer beware.' When lies are joined to truth it only corrupts the truth; it does NOT improve the lies.
Job 34:13 (KJV)
13 Who hath given him a
charge over the earth? or who hath disposed the whole world?
Matthew 16:26 (KJV)
Matthew 16:26 (KJV)
26 For what is a man
profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what
shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
Matthew 26:13 (KJV)
Matthew 26:13 (KJV)
13 Verily I say unto you,
Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there
shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.
Mark 8:36 (KJV)
Mark 8:36 (KJV)
36 For what shall it profit a
man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mark 14:9 (KJV)
Mark 14:9 (KJV)
9 Verily I say unto you,
Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached throughout the whole world, this
also that she hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her.
Luke 9:25 (KJV)
Luke 9:25 (KJV)
25 For what is a man
advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away?
Romans 1:8 (KJV)
Romans 1:8 (KJV)
8 First, I thank my God
through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the
whole world.
1 John 2:2 (KJV)
1 John 2:2 (KJV)
2 And he is the propitiation
for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole
world.
1 John 5:19 (KJV)
1 John 5:19 (KJV)
19 And we know that we
are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
Revelation 12:9 (KJV)
Revelation 12:9 (KJV)
9 And the great dragon was
cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the
whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with
him.
Revelation 16:14 (KJV)
Revelation 16:14 (KJV)
14 For they are the spirits
of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth
and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God
Almighty.
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