Articles

Self-Examination in Preparation for the Lord’s Return

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THAT’s My King! Pastor Lockridge [video]

Powerful Prayers from Children-This Will Shake You [video]

The Fear of the LORD is to Hate Evil: Pride, and Arrogancy #shorts [video]

by Paul Roberts

I’ve been doing some self-examination in preparation for the Lord’s return. The Lord is coming back for a glorious church, one without spot or wrinkle (i. e. blemish). Since the Lord’s return is imminent, we should redeem the time left by examining our own hearts before his return to prepare ourselves and be ready at his coming. Since it is easy for us to deceive ourselves into thinking our hearts are clean through our own eyes, I’ve had to go to the Word of God to allow it to discern and reveal to me the thoughts of my heart. I found that Galatians 5:19-21 is a good starting point to begin cleaning up the thoughts of my heart. The sins of the flesh, which are enumerated in these verses, I’ve found to be very revealing and those who are of the OSAS doctrine need to visit and meditate upon these verses and seek God’s mercy to forgive them and to cleanse them from any of these unrighteous “works of the flesh”.

Following are those “works of the flesh” which will, according to Galatians 5:19-21, prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God and the peace of mind which passes all understanding. I used Strong’s Concordance, W. E. Vines Expository Greek Dictionary of New Testament Words, Webster’s Dictionary, and some scripture verses to define, as clearly as possible, these “works of the flesh” . These clearly defined sins of the flesh will allow us to elevate to a conscious level the sinful thoughts that may now reside in our hearts and minds so we can confess them to God before the return of Jesus and consciously begin to replace them with thoughts produced from the truth of the Word of God. We must necessarily go to the Word of God since it is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart(Hebrews 4:12 KJV). For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy, in the Holy Ghost (Romans 14:17 KJV). Those sinful thoughts that will prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God are enumerated in Galatians 5:19-21as follows:

I. Galatians 5:19-21: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which dosuch things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

A. The sin of Adultery (Moicheia – Greek): Unlawful sexual intercourse with the spouse of another. Whoever looks on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:28 KJV). Lust, in this sense, is defined in scripture to mean: “to set the heart upon, i. e. long for (rightfully or otherwise): – covet, desire, would fain, lust (after).

B. The sin of Fornication (Porneia – Greek): Harlotry (incl. adultery and incest): fig. idolatry:—fornication. Illicit sexual intercourse. To act the harlot; indulge in unlawful lust (of either sex), practice idolatry:—-commit fornication. Metaphorically, of the association of pagan acts of idolatry with doctrines of, and professed adherence to, the Christian faith.

C. The sin of Uncleanness: (Akatharsia – Greek): impurity (the quality), physical or moral – uncleanness. Impure [lewd] or specifically [demonic]: – foul, unclean. Morally unclean (suggestive of the fact that sensuality and evil doctrine are frequently associated).

D. The sin of Lasciviousness: (Aselgeia – Greek): Licentious (sometimes including other vices including filthy conversation): – filthy, lasciviousness, wantonness. Denotes excess, licentiousness, absence of restraint, indecency, wantonness; one of the evils that proceed from the heart. The prominent idea is shameless conduct.

E. The sin of Idolatry:(Eidololatreia – Greek): image worship (literally or figuratively); – idolatry. Idolatry is breaking the first and greatest commandment of the blood covenant which prohibits having any other gods before Him (Exodus 20:3-6; KJV). An idolater is a slave to the depraved ideas his secret idols represent in the thoughts of his heart and mind on which he/she obsesses, and thereby, a slave to divers lusts such as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life all of which include, but are not limited to, either food – Philippians 3:19 (KJV); outward appearances – 1^st Samuel 16:7 (KJV); Matthew 6:1-18 (KJV); 1^st Peter 3:1-4 (KJV); alcohol – Proverbs 20:1 (KJV); Isaiah 5:11 (KJV); Joel 1:5 (KJV); drugs or sorceries (i. e. Pharmakon – Greek: – a drug, i. e. a spell giving potion; a druggist [pharmacist] or poisoner) – Revelations 9:21 (KJV); sex – Matthew 5:28 (KJV); money – Ezekiel 7:19 (Amplified version); Matthew 6:19-24 (KJV); 1^st Timothy 6:3-11 (KJV); Revelation 3:17 KJV; or graven images – Deuteronomy 4:15-19 (KJV), etc.)

F. The sin of Witchcraft: (Pharmakeia – Greek) Medication (Pharmacy – English translation), i. e. (by extens.) magic (lit. or fig.): — sorcery, witchcraft; (a drug, i. e. spell giving potion); a druggist (“pharmacist”) or poisoner, i. e. (by extens.) a magician:–sorcerer. Pharmakeia signified the use of medicine, drugs, spells; then, poisoning; then sorcery.

G. The sin of Hatred: (Echthra – Greek) – hostility; by impl. A reason for opposition: — enmity, hatred. (to hate) (pass. Odious, or act. Hostile); usually as a noun, an adversary (espec. Satan):—enemy, foe.

H. The sin of Variance: (Dichazo – Greek) A quarrel, i. e. (by implication) wrangling: – contention, debate, strife, variance. To cut apart, divide in two. Strife in Galatians 5:20 is rendered variance. Variance is both in a “good” sense and a “bad” sense. In Matthew 10:35 variance is used in a good sense as respects the position of a believer being at variance with his non-believing family when Jesus said that he didn’t come to send peace on the earth: but a sword. For he came to set a man at variance against his father——. Contention, or variance, is used in a bad sense when it emanates from pride as shown in Proverbs 13:10.

I. The sin of Emulations: (Zelos- Greek) – Zeal in a favorable sense, ardor; in an unfavorable sense, jealousy, as of a husband [figuratively of God], or an enemy, malice): – emulation, envy (-ing). fervent mind, indignation, jealousy, zeal. Jealousies (incl. jealousies of a husband) are used in an unfavorable sense in Galatians 5:20. Jealously in its word definition means: Intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness. Disposed to suspect rivalry or unfaithfulness. Apprehensive of the loss of another’s exclusive devotion. Hostile toward a rival or one believed to enjoy an advantage. Vigilant in guarding a possession. Distrustfully watchful, suspicious. The spirit of jealousy based on unfounded suspicions is a sin. There is no court of law that would throw out the “rules of admissible evidence” and convict a person based on suspicions alone. Those suspicions arising from probable cause will not suffice to convict. Only upon truth being received by way of either revelation of the Lord according to His prescribed test for infidelity could a person be convicted of infidelity or by the presentation of hard evidence that is admissible in a court of law could a jury truthfully convict another person of infidelity or unfaithfulness (e. g. Numbers 5:14-31; Deuteronomy 17:6; Matthew 18:16 KJV). So, unless a jealous spouse can put forward hard evidence to substantiate their suspicions based on probable cause then they should repent of their sin of “emulation” or jealousy which would, otherwise, prevent them from inheriting the kingdom of God.

J. The sin of Wrath: (Thumos – Greek) – passion (as if breathing hard); – fierceness, indignation, wrath. Hot anger, passion. An agitated condition of the feelings, or an outward burst of wrath arising suddenly from inward indignation. Unlike the Greek word “orge” which suggests a more settled or abiding condition of the mind, frequently with a view to taking revenge.

K: The sin of Strife: (Eritheia – Greek) – to stimulate (espec. To anger): – provoke. Intrigue, i. e. (by impl.) faction: – contention (-ious), strife. Denotes ambition, self-seeking, rivalry, self-will being an underlying idea in the word; hence it denotes party-making (i. e. sectarian or denominationalism). It is derived, not from eris, strife, but from erithos, a hireling; hence the meaning of seeking to win followers, “factions,” so rendered in R. V. or 2^nd Corinthians 12:20, A. V., “strifes;” not improbably the meaning here is rivalries, or base ambitions.

L: The sin of Seditions: (Dichostasia – Greek) – Literally, a “standing apart (dicha, asunder, apart, stasis, a standing). Hence, a dissension, division, is translated seditions. Disunion, i. e. (fig.) dissension: – division, sedition. A derivative of the Greek word “stasis” which means popular uprising; fig. controversy: – dissension, insurrection.

M: The sin of Heresies: (Hairesis – Greek) – denotes (a) a choosing, choice (from haireomai, to choose); then, that which is chosen, and hence, an opinion, especially a self-willed opinion, which is substituted for submission to the power of truth, and leads to division and the formation of sects, Galatians 5:20 (marg., “parties”); such erroneous opinions are frequently the outcome of personal preference or the prospect of advantage. A choice, i. e. (spec.) a party or (abstr.) disunion: – heresy [which is the Greek word itself], sect. An opinion or doctrine contrary to the truth. Adherence to a religious opinion contrary to church dogma established by the inspired scriptures.

N: The sin of Envyings: (Phthonos – Greek) – envy, is the feeling of displeasure produced by witnessing or hearing of the advantage or prosperity of others; this evil sense always attaches to this word. There is a distinction between jealously and envy. Envy desires to deprive another of what he/she has whereas jealously desires to retain possession of that which he/she already has to the exclusion of all others. Envy is a painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another joined with a desire to possess the same advantage.

O. The sin of Murders: (Phonos – Greek) – in the plural of murders. The word “murders” is also rendered slaughter.

P. The sin of Drunkenness: (Methe) – strong drink (akin to methu, wine), denotes drunkenness, habitual intoxication – Galatians 5:21. The fact that habitual intoxication will prevent us from inheriting the kingdom of God in that it is considered a sin or a work of the flesh, should point up the truth that one can only be set free from captivity to that sin by redemption through the redeeming blood of Jesus. Redemption in it’s word definition means: “To pay the price for something with the idea of setting it free,——-live a slave.” Jesus paid the ransom price of His blood to set us free from captivity to sin which includes “drunkenness”.

This definition of drunkenness as a sin and redemption as sin’s cure should scuttle the heresy of the doctrine of Alcoholics Anonymous which puts forth the idea that alcoholism is a sickness, not a sin, and that it can be managed by help from a higher power whatever or whoever that power may be in the eyes of the alcoholic, by attending meetings regularly, and by stating at each meeting that they are alcoholics. First of all, as scripture clearly states, drunkenness is a sin not a sickness (Galatians 5:21 KJV). Secondly, not just any higher power will do the job of delivering us from sin. There is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we must be saved other than the name of Jesus (Acts 4:12 KJV). Finally, someone repetitively stating that they are an alcoholic is contrary to scripture’s instruction to those sinners who are redeemed to say so (Psalms 107:2 KJV). Following is an account of the state of the apostle Paul who described his captivity to sin prior to being redeemed by the blood of Jesus: “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin” – (Romans 7:14-25 & 8:3-4 KJV). Notice, he was delivered from captivity to the law of sin in his members through Jesus Christ, not some organization like AA.

Scripture, contrary to the so-called “BIG BOOK” put out by Alcoholics Anonymous, states the following regarding our former captivity to habitual sin before our redemption by blood through faith in the crucifixion of our flesh with Christ: “For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more: death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield ye yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, be cause we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered unto you. Being made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 6:5-18 KJV).

Read chapters 6, 7, and 8 of Romans to understand that Romans 7:14-24 is not Paul’s condition after his redemption by blood, but before his redemption and, therefore, stop trying to manage the sin of habitual intoxication as though it’s just a sickness or some genetic predisposition. How do I know this to be true? First and foremost, it’s the truth according to scripture. Secondly, I was once alcoholic but was delivered instantly by the power of God. Now, rather than saying my name is Paul Roberts and I’m an alcoholic, I say instead, I am redeemed (i. e. I am delivered and set free from the sin of drunkenness for whoever the Lord sets free is free indeed – John 8:36 KJV). Let the redeemed of the Lord say so (Psalms 107:2 KJV).

Q. The sin of Revellings: (Komos – Greek) – a revel, carousal (as if a letting loose), the concomitant and consequence of drunkenness, is used in the plural in Galatians 5:21.

Thought my examination of the thoughts of my own heart through means of the discerning words of Scripture would be helpful to others as well.

Paul Roberts

Making Peace with God | Fresh Start with God

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The LORD Desires to Completely CLEAR You!

The LORD Desires to Completely CLEAR You!

The reason God gave His only begotten Son was to clear you of all your sin in His regeneration, to bring you into His eternal family for fellowship with Him.

“That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.” John 17:21

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.” 1 John 1:3

When God clears a man at the moment of salvation or thereafter, so should we! When any man truly repents there will be definite fruit to prove it. When one obeys sound biblical doctrine the result will always be that he will bring forth fruit to demonstrate he truly repented, and is cleared by the LORD and must be cleared by us. After the fornicator in the church of Corinth repented, he was cleared and the LORD, through Paul, instructed the believers in that assembly to forgive, clear, and love him.

“So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him.” 2 Corinthians 2:7-8

Remember this from the prodigal son parable our LORD taught us?

“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance … 10 Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.” Luke 15:7, 10

When someone returns to the LORD from sin, regardless of their past, with or without Christ, there is great celebration in Heaven and should be also among the saints of Christ on the earth.

A fresh reading of Luke 15 is highly recommended where Jesus gives us 3 parables to teach the restorative love of God!

WATCH THIS: When we repent we openly renounce and are clear…. God is good.

Godly Sorrow brings the blessings of God and a clearing of past sin.

“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what CLEARING OF YOURSELVES, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be CLEAR in this matter.” 2 Corinthians 7:11

Example: Remember how the fornicator in 1 Corinthians 5 was turned over to Satan and then repented and God cleared Him? Read 2 Corinthians 2 for the “CLEARING.” In this verse above, Paul is addressing this very issue and the sorrow, diligent obedience, and consequent “CLEARING” the Corinthian saints experienced. First they allowed the fornicator to function in their midst whereas Paul had to come in and instruct them to turn the transgressor over to Satan (1 Corinthians 5). Then, as a result, the backslider repented.

“He says, what clearing of yourselves. This does not mean that they tried to justify or excuse themselves, but rather that by taking resolute action, they tried to clear themselves of any further guilt or blame in the matter. Their change in attitude led to this change in action. What indignation may refer to their attitude toward the sinner because of the reproach he brought on the name of Christ. But more probably it refers to their attitude toward themselves for ever having allowed such a thing to go on for so long without taking action on it. Paul then adds: In all things you ‘ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.’ Of course, we are not to understand by this that they were never to blame, but simply that they had done everything they could to take the proper action and to act as they should have acted in the first place.” William MacDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary

“Clearing of yourselves – From either sharing in, or approving of, his sin. Indignation – That ye had not immediately corrected the offender. Fear – Of God’s displeasure, or lest I should come with a rod. Vehement desire – To see me again. Zeal – For the glory of God, and the soul of that sinner. Yea, revenge – Ye took a kind of holy revenge upon yourselves, being scarce able to forgive yourselves. In all things ye – As a church. Have approved yourselves to be pure – That is, free from blame, since ye received my letter.” John Wesley

“In all things, etc. – In the whole of your conduct in this affair since ye have received my letter, ye have approved yourselves to be clear, ἁγνους; not only to be clear of contumacy and obstinate persistence in your former conduct, but to have done all in the compass of your power to rectify the abuses which had crept in among you. The Corinthians were not clear, i.e. innocent or void of blame in the fact, but they were clear of all blame in their endeavors to remove the evil.” Adam Clarke

The Corinthian saints repented, obeyed God by turning the unrepentant sinner in their midst over to Satan, and were then forgiven and cleared of their sin of allowing the un-repentant fornicator to remain in their company (1 Corinthians 5; 2 Corinthians 2 and 7).

Today, is the LORD showing you something in your life that you must turn back over to Satan where it came from – to rid your heart, your life of a sin?

Interestingly, this 2 Corinthians 7 chapter begins with this:

“Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1

When we simply agree with the LORD, His Word, and turn to Him afresh and away from what He calls sin, confessing it to Him for what it is, He will immediately forgive us and promises to grant us a clearing, a clear conscience.

“Now the end (chief purpose) of the commandment (written Word) is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:” 1 Timothy 1:5

The LORD made it clear that He intends for His children to be possessed with a clear conscience which is a gift He alone provided through the perfect sacrifice of His only begotten Son.

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Hebrews 9:14

“A disciplined conscience is a man’s best friend. It may not be his most amiable, but it is his most faithful monitor.” Austin Phelps

Have you ever had a past sin nag you for many years after you committed and even confessed and were forgiven for it?

WHEN we DO what is right, then and only then do we have the bless-ed confirmation of a clear conscience. AND, doing what’s right begins with re-turning, turning afresh to our LORD and confessing all sin.

“God is greater than our heart”

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John 3:18-21

In fellowshipping with other men who serve our LORD, I’ve often heard them say how that sins they committed in the past still bother them in a hindering way. Yet, we know that God knows all these things and “is greater than our heart” and provided a complete salvation through the blood of His only begotten Son!

“WHEN HE HAD BY HIMSELF purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:3

Even though 90% of today’s pastors prove themselves to be false by never mentioning this, we must never ever lose sight of the truth that God is “Holy, holy, holy” and He commands us to “Be ye holy; for I am holy” (Isaiah 6:3; 1 Peter 1:15-16; Revelation 4:8).

“But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16

Are we presently allowing sin in our own lives, including keeping company with someone who claims to be Christ’s and yet is living in sin? Are you in need of doing an inventory check on your current friends – namely those who name Jesus as their Savior? Read this unchanging divine truth and note the many specific sins listed here:

“I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” 1 Corinthians 5:9-13

When we truly repent and obey the counsel, the Word of God, only then will we be cleared in conscience and before God and His people. True repentance always, without exception, brings forth a changed life – a life set apart to the LORD (Matthew 3:7-10; Luke 19:1-10).

The fact that our LORD is correcting us today clearly proves how much He loves us. When the LORD points out our sin, it’s because He loves us, He wants us to repent, to return to Him, agree with Him, and depart from that sin. This is all so He can clear us!

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Revelation 3:19

Refreshing Always Follows Fresh Repentance

“Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;” Acts 3:19

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

Read 1 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 2 and 7.

Yes, we’ve all been hurt by others and we have also hurt others, right? Let’s take accountability for our own evil and watch what God does. Blaming others without taking the blame due to us is a deep, endless ditch.

This morning I prayed “LORD, if I have angered or hurt someone, anyone, please let it be revealed so that amends can be made, in Jesus’ name, amen Father.”

In this passage below, our LORD is addressing being easily angered as well as making amends when we intentionally or unintentionally have harmed another.

“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; 24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. 25 Agree with thine adversary quickly…” Matthew 5:22-25

PRAYER: My Father in Heaven, I come to You now on the sole basis of the holy name and blood of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here and now I ask You LORD to convict, grant repentance, and complete clearing of any and all sin in my life. Please sanctify my life dear LORD. LORD Jesus thank You for dying on that cross, shedding Your precious blood for all my sins. Please bless me with a oneness with You and the Father and a clear conscience. Be glorified in my life dear LORD. I love You LORD Jesus. Amen.

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“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.
3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.
4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
5 Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:
6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
7 In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.” Colossians 3:1-7

Those who teach that unholy people will be in glory are false teachers:

“And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Revelation 21:27

Charles Pray writes: “Father, please help us Lord to turn from our wicked ways and let You come into our hearts so we may have eternal life with You in Your kingdom. Time is running out for the hour is late when soon no one will be able to be saved or able to call upon the name of the Lord. Burden our hearts Lord for all those who still do not know you as Lord and Savior in their lives. Let us become the light we are called to be in this darkened world so others will come to know and receive your Son Jesus as Savior in their life. Amen!”

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Apostasy

Richard Foster Exposed

Wait, WHAT, WHO are Christ’s disciples to celebrate?

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” Galatians 6:14

A Biblically based commentary on current issues that impact you

Richard Foster—Celebration of Deception

by Bob DeWaay

Christianity Today ran a glowing cover story about Evangelicalism’s recent embrace of medieval Roman Catholic mysticism entitled The Future lies in the Past.¹ The article traced the beginning of the movement as follows: “The movement seems to have exploded in a 24-month period in 1977-1978, which saw the publication of Richard Foster’s bestselling Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth and Robert Webber’s Common Roots: A Call to Evangelical Maturity.”²

The article views Foster as one who continues to guide the movement: “From Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, and living practicing monks and nuns, they [those going back to Roman Catholic mysticism] must learn both the strengths and the limits of the historical ascetic disciplines.”³ So Foster was instrumental in starting a movement that is still growing 30-plus years later.

The irony about this particular CIC regarding Foster’s 1978 book is that in 1978 I myself was living in a Christian community committed to practicing much of what he promotes in Celebration of Discipline (even though we had not learned it from him directly). So I am not criticizing a practice about which I know nothing (or one in which I have no experience). I am criticizing a practice I foolishly allowed to deceive me for a significant portion of my early Christian life. When it comes to being deceived by mysticism, I have had abundant involvement. The only way I escaped it was through discovering and adopting the Reformation principle of sola scriptura.

In this article I will show that Foster’s “journey inward” is unbiblical and dangerous. I will show that most of the spiritual disciplines that he calls “means of grace” are no means of grace at all—but a means of putting oneself under spiritual deception.

The Journey Inward

The Bible nowhere describes an inward journey to explore the realm of the spirit. God chose to reveal the truth about spiritual reality through His ordained, Spirit-inspired, biblical writers. What is spiritual and not revealed by God is of the occult and, therefore, forbidden. We have discussed this in many articles and have produced DVD seminars on the topic. But the concept of sola scriptura is totally lost on mystics such as Richard Foster. They, like the enthusiasts that Calvin and Luther warned against, believe they can gain valid and useful knowledge of spiritual things through direct, personal inspiration.

Foster describes the idea of the disciplines that are the topic of his book: “The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm.”⁴ So Foster has conceptually repudiated sola scriptura on page one to replace it with a journey inward to explore the realm of spirits. Something must have been seriously amiss in evangelicalism already in 1978 to render this book a bestseller! It ought to have been repudiated on the spot. In a footnote to that statement Foster writes, “In one form or another all of the devotional masters have affirmed the necessity of the Disciplines” (Foster: 1). The devotional “masters,” by the way, are mostly Roman Catholics who never were committed to the principle of sola scriptura. It is not surprising that they looked for spirituality through experimentation. But as an “inner light” Quaker, Foster never was committed to sola scriptura either.

Forgetting that the Bible forbids divination, Foster explains what he is after:

[W]e must be willing to go down into the recreating silences, into the inner world of contemplation. In their writings, all of the masters of meditation strive to awaken us to the fact that the universe is much larger than we know, that there are vast unexplored inner regions that are just as real as the physical world we know so well. . . . They call us to the adventure, to be pioneers in this frontier of the Spirit. (Foster: 13)

Realizing that his readers would likely take this as an endorsement of Eastern religions, he makes a disclaimer that it is not Transcendental Meditation (TM) or something of that ilk: “Eastern meditation is an attempt to empty the mind; Christian meditation is an attempt to empty the mind in order to fill it” (Foster: 15). But what Foster wishes us to fill our minds with are personal revelations from the spirit realm that we naively are to think are the voice of God. This sort of meditation is not meditating on what God has said, but uses a technique to explore the spirit world. In other words, it is divination.

What we learn about the spirit realm either is revealed by God (once for all in Scripture) or gleaned by man-made techniques. That distinction is the difference between Christianity and paganism. Only Bible believers know what God has said about Himself and what He wishes to reveal about the unseen spirit world. Foster’s material continues to be popular because we live in an age where being spiritual pioneers on a journey into the unseen realm of the spirits is the essence of popular piety. It is the spirituality of secular talk shows.

To fully understand the degree of Foster’s deception, he even calls these techniques to the inner journey “means of grace”: “They [the Disciplines] are God’s means of grace” (Foster: 6). As with all who teach spiritual disciplines, there are no boundaries to these false “means.” For example, consider this recommended practice: “After you have gained some proficiency in centering down, add a five- to ten-minute meditation on some aspect of the creation. Choose something in the created order: tree, plant, bird, leaf, cloud, and each day ponder it carefully and prayerfully” (Foster 25). This after he had just taught breathing exercises (a means of “centering down”). Then he makes a startling claim: “We should not bypass this means of God’s grace” (Foster: 25). And there we have it: meditating of a leaf can be a means of grace!

Foster’s journey inward is to discover a spirit world that is available for any who search for it: “How then do we come to believe in a world of the spirit? Is it by blind faith? Not at all. The inner reality of the spiritual world is available to all who are willing to search for it” (Foster: 18). He claims that this spiritual search is analogous to scientific experimentation. Never mind that every pagan culture that has existed has believed in the “spiritual world.”

Spirituality of the Imagination

The Bible does not have anything good so say about the imagination. For example: “Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own imagination, Not from the mouth of the Lord'” (Jeremiah 23:16). A search of the KJV for “imagination” yields 14 verses, and in each case it is a bad thing. According to the Bible, the imagination is where people go when they do not want to listen to God.

However, for Foster the imagination is central: “The inner world of meditation is most easily entered through the door of the imagination. We fail today to appreciate its tremendous power. The imagination is stronger than conceptual thought and stronger than the will” (Foster: 22). Some of the authorities he cites on this point are C. G. Jung, Ignatius of Loyola, and Morton Kelsey. Jung is famous for his concept of the collective unconscious, and Kelsey was an Episcopal priest committed to Jungian principles. Kelsey wrote many books promoting mysticism. The advice Foster gleans from these teachers is that we must learn to think in images and take our dreams to be a possible doorway into the spirit world. Foster claims that dreams are something we already have and can help us develop the use of the imagination. He says, “Keeping a journal of our dreams is a way of taking them seriously” (Foster: 23).

There is, Foster warns, a danger to this process: “At the same time [that we ask for dreams to be God speaking to us], it is wise to pray a prayer of protection, since to open ourselves to spiritual influence can be dangerous as well as profitable” (Foster: 23). I would say that is asking God to protect us as we use various techniques to go where He does not want us to go (into the world of the spirits to gain information). The danger he warns of is far greater than Foster imagines. Those who take the journey inward will be deceived—every time! We are not equipped to gain spiritual information from that realm. That is why God speaks to us through His ordained mediators (the inspired Biblical writers); otherwise we would be fishing in the dark in a medium we are not suited for.

Foster teaches his readers to use their imaginations to experience Biblical stories with the five physical senses. Here is what he claims will happen:

As you enter the story, not as a passive observer but as an active participant, remember that since Jesus lives in the Eternal Now and is not bound by time, this event in the past is a living present-tense experience for Him. Hence, you can actually encounter the living Christ in the event, be addressed by His voice and be touched by His healing power. It can be more than an exercise of the imagination; it can be a genuine confrontation. Jesus Christ will actually come to you. (Foster: 26)

Showing that Foster’s ideas are still influential in our day, Greg Boyd cites some of Foster’s words here to support what he calls “cataphatic prayer” which uses the imagination and images as a means to contact God and gain spiritual information.⁵ Those who endorse this practice assume they are not being deceived by spirits, but I cannot see on what grounds.

Foster prescribes a practice using one’s imagination that mimics astral projection to the degree that he actually includes a footnote disclaimer stating that it is not astral projection (Foster 28). It begins by telling his readers to imagine themselves going out into nature into a beautiful place (Boyd describes how he practices this, as well as its results⁶). After enjoying the sights and smells (in your imagination) these are the next steps:

In your imagination allow your spiritual body, shining with light, to rise out of your physical body. Look back so that you can see yourself lying in the grass and reassure your body that you will return momentarily. Imagine your spiritual self, alive and vibrant, rising up through the clouds and into the stratosphere. . . Go deeper and deeper into outer space until there is nothing except the warm presence of the eternal Creator. Rest in His presence. Listen quietly, anticipating the unanticipated. Note carefully any instruction given. With time and experience you will be able to distinguish readily between mere human thought that may bubble up to the conscious mind and the True Spirit which inwardly moves upon the heart. (Foster: 27, 28)

I must ask how one knows whether “True Spirit” is not a deceiving one? Mysticism’s fatal flaw is that it naively assumes that Christians having subjective religious experiences must therefore be having Christian experiences that are truly from God—even if the experiences were provoked through unbiblical practices similar to those used by pagans.

Mental Alchemy

Foster’s approach to prayer is laced with mysticism as well. He claims that prayer needs to be learned from people who have the right experiences and are “masters” who know what they are doing. Foster does not teach ordinary prayer, whereby we bring our needs and requests to the Lord and know that He hears us (because He promised that He does). Here is why he thinks such prayer fails:

Often people will pray and pray with all the faith in the world, but nothing happens. Naturally, they were not contacting the channel. We begin praying for others by first centering down and listening to the quiet thunder of the Lord of hosts. Attuning ourselves to divine breathings is spiritual work, but without it our praying is vain repetition (Mt. 6:7). Listening to the Lord is the first thing, the second thing, and the third thing necessary for successful intercession. (Foster: 34)

Of course this means we have to become mystics if we want to pray.

He teaches that we first must hear personal revelations from God, using meditation techniques such as he teaches, before we pray. He says: “The beginning point, then, in learning to pray for others is to listen for guidance . . . This inner “yes” is the divine authorization for you to pray for the person or situation” (Foster: 35). No! Foster is wrong! The only authorization we need to pray is the Biblical command to pray—not personal revelations.

For Foster, meditation (mystical style) is necessary but not sufficient. He also brings the imagination into the process: “As with meditation, the imagination is a powerful tool in the work of prayer” (Foster: 36). He credits Agnes Sanford⁷ for helping him see the value of using the imagination in praying. Foster writes, “Imagination opens the door to faith. If we can ‘see’ in our mind’s eye a shattered marriage whole or a sick person well, it is only a short step to believing it will be so” (Foster: 36). Sanford got her ideas from Theosophy, New Thought, Jung, and Emmet Fox. These ideas, echoed by Foster, come from the unbiblical “mind over matter” thinking of that era. That kind of thinking uses creative visualization to change reality or channel spiritual power. Foster suggests, “Imagine the light of Christ flowing through your hands and healing every emotional trauma and hurt feeling your child experienced that day” (Foster: 39).

In his 1985 book, The Seduction of Christianity, Dave Hunt labeled creative visualization such as what Foster promotes, “mental alchemy.”⁸ Hunt warned the church that Foster promoted such mental alchemy in Celebration of Discipline, and as we have shown, he, in fact, does. So how is it that 24 years after Hunt’s warning Foster is more popular than ever with Evangelicals? The answer is end times deception. Now, a huge movement that claims to be a reformation promoting Foster, Willard and their versions of mysticism does exist (i.e., The Emergent Church). Things have gotten so very much worse.

Spiritual Directors

Once mysticism and the supposed need to gain personal revelations from God are embraced, there arises a need for new “masters” who are better at navigating the spirit world. Pagan societies have always had such persons. They are called “shamans.” Eastern religion calls them “gurus.” Deceived Christians call them “spiritual directors.” Foster explains, “In the Middle Ages not even the greatest saints attempted the depths of the inward journey without the help of a spiritual director” (Foster: 159). The problem, according to Foster, is that the churches (in 1978) lacked “living masters”:

No doubt part of the surge of interest in Eastern meditation is because the churches have abrogated the field. How depressing for a university student, seeking to know the Christian teaching on meditation, to discover that there are so few living masters of contemplative prayer and that nearly all of the serious writings on the subject are seven or more centuries old. No wonder he or she turns to Zen, Yoga, or TM. (Foster: 14)

Foster’s dream has come true. Today people can even practice Yoga in a Christian church. We have Christian TM; it is called contemplative prayer. Yes, Eastern religion has come right into the church, and Foster has helped usher it in.

But what about “living masters” or spiritual directors? In 1972 Morton Kelsey lamented their lack: “Indeed I would suggest that everyone who is serious about relating to the spiritual realm find himself a spiritual director, if there were more men trained and experienced in this way.”⁹ That “problem” has been solved in a huge way. Evangelical theology schools are now offering masters degrees in “spiritual formation” in order to equip people to be “spiritual directors.” Here is what Biola University says about its program: “This degree is designed to equip men and women for the ministry of spiritual direction, discipleship, formation and soul care in the local church and for further academic training in spiritual formation.”¹⁰ Spiritual Directors International will help you find a spiritual director regardless of your religion.¹¹ Richard Foster’s own Renovare, which purports to “encourage renewal in the Christian church,” has a list of spiritual direction programs.¹²

Foster explains the purpose of the spiritual director: “He is the means of God to open the path to the inward teaching of the Holy Spirit” (Foster: 160). Apparently, in a full-blown rejection of sola scriptura where the Holy Spirit’s teaching is mediated to the church through the Biblical writers only, we need mediators for personal revelations beyond scripture.

Foster explains how spiritual directors lead: “He leads only by the force of his own personal holiness” (Foster: 160). In Roman Catholicism the Pope is called “his holiness” and in Tibetan Buddhism the Dalai Lama is called “his holiness” but now evangelicals are developing a class of people who evidently deserve the title. How exactly are we to judge when someone has gained “personal holiness” sufficient to be a spiritual director and mediate spirituality to others? Foster says, “Though the director has obviously advanced further into the inner depths, the two [master and disciple] are together learning and growing in the realm of the Spirit” (Foster: 160). Foster cites Roman Catholic mystic Thomas Merton about how this works: “The spiritual director was something of a ‘spiritual father who begot the perfect life in the soul of his disciple by his instructions first of all, but also by his prayer, his sanctity and his example. He was . . . a kind of ‘sacrament’ of the Lord’s presence in the ecclesiastical community” (Foster: 161).

End Times Delusion

When it comes to end times deception, Foster is on the cutting edge of embracing it. Consider what he wrote: “In our day heaven and earth are on tiptoe waiting for the emerging of a Spirit-led, Spirit-intoxicated, Spirit-empowered people. . . . Individuals can be found here and there whose hearts burn with divine fire” (Foster: 150). Such inclinations have led to massive deception. They smack of the Latter Rain deception, now embodied in such false teachers as Rick Joyner and Mike Bickle. They are elitist. They are in line with the beliefs of the Emergent Church as well. He also says: “Our century has yet to see the breaking forth of the apostolic church of the Spirit” (Foster: 150). Now we have the New Apostolic Reformation claiming to be just that. Foster’s ideas now embody the massive apostasy and end times deception that characterize our age.

Foster’s teachings have taken the church as far away from the Reformation principle of sola scriptura as the Roman Catholic Church ever was. The only thing left is for them to bring us all the way back to Rome. Christianity Today praises Foster for pointing us in that direction.

In early 2008 I wrote a CIC article about how abandoning the principle of sola scriptura would lead evangelicals back to Rome.¹³ It was partly a response to the CT article praising mysticism. The response I received was rather unexpected. I was contacted by former evangelicals who had rejected sola scriptura and had gone back to Rome! They wanted to debate me about sola scriptura. Sadly, my point was proven. As a response to their misguided challenge our church hosted a seminar on sola scriptura, called Faith at Risk 4.¹⁴ In the seminar Gary Gilley and I defended the scriptures as the sole authority for the church.

The aforementioned CT article discusses a new monasticism, former evangelical leaders converting to Roman Catholicism, and mystical practices like lectio divina—and they call all of it a good and hopeful thing. Chris Armstrong, the author of the article, concluded, “That they [evangelicals] are receiving good guidance on this road from wise teachers [Foster and Willard] is reason to believe that Christ is guiding the process. And that they are meeting and learning from fellow Christians in the other two great confessions, Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox, is reason to rejoice in the power of love.”¹⁵

Who is left to defend the principles of the Reformation? One would think Reformed theologians are, but they aren’t doing their job. In the last CIC article we mentioned Reformed theologian Donald Whitney who wrote: “Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline has been the most popular book on the subject of the Spiritual Disciplines in the last half of the twentieth century. The great contribution of this work is the reminder that the Spiritual Disciplines, which many see as restrictive and binding, are actually means to spiritual freedom.”¹⁶ That from a teacher in a Reformed seminary?

If a book that teaches Christian TM, Christian astral projection and mental alchemy by means of the imagination is a “great contribution,” then something is seriously wrong here. The delusion is so widespread that I see no other explanation for it than the end time deception predicted by Paul: “But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,” (1Timothy 4:1). Another passage warns: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths” (2Timothy 4:3, 4).

That time now is here. We are accountable to God for what we believe and practice. Those who wish to persevere in the faith in this age of delusion must base their beliefs and practices only on the truths found in Scripture. Foster’s journey into the world of the spirits will deceive all who enter it.

Issue 112 – May / June 2009

End Notes

1. Chris Armstrong, “The Future lies in the Past” in Christianity Today, February 2008.
2. Ibid. 24.
3. Ibid. 29.
4. Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth (New York: Harper & Row, 1978) 1. All subsequent citations from this book will be bracketed within the text in this fashion: (Foster: 1).
5. Greg Boyd, Seeing is Believing, (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2004). Boyd cites Foster to prove that the Lord will actually come to us through our use of “imaginative meditation.” I deal with this issue more fully in CIC issue 83 July/August, 2003: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE83.HTM
6. Ibid. 111-125.
7. I write about Sanford’s inner healing theories in CIC Issue 96: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE96.HTM
8. Dave Hunt and T. A. McMahon, The Seduction of Christianity (Eugene: Harvest House, 1985) 138.
9. Morton Kelsey, Encounter With God, (Bethany Fellowship: Minneapolis, 1972) 179.
10. http://www.biola.edu/spiritualformation/programs/ SEE PDF
11. HTTP://WWW.SDIWORLD.ORG
12. HTTP://WWW.RENOVARE.ORG/JOURNEY_TRAINING_DIRECTION.HTM
13. CIC Issue 105; March/April 2008: HTTP://CICMINISTRY.ORG/COMMENTARY/ISSUE105.HTM
14. Watch this seminar HERE
15. Armstrong, Future
16. DONALD S. WHITNEY, SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES FOR THE CHRISTIAN LIFE (COLORADO SPRINGS: NAVPRESS, 1991) 23.

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