NOT your calling or duties, not your gifts He gave you, but rather FERVENTLY, RELENTLESSLY SEEKING AND WORSHIPPING THE LORD IN YOUR PERSONAL LIFE must become and be established as the first and foremost priority of your personal life. THEN, His divine power will be resident in your life and ALL that He is leading you to do. Memorize Matthew 6:33 today. The devil does not want you to come to this simple Gospel realization. Lay it all down afresh, now precious saint. The LORD is going to blow your doors off, as the saying goes.
False Gifts and False Prophets are Nothing New
“The prophetic”??? The written Word is the WORD of God, not some clown using fake prophecy to tickle the ears of the un-grounded flakes among us.
Any person calling themself “apostle” or “prophet” is not. These are functions to serve, not titles to tout in an attempt to lift up self.
To hear the voice of God, simply read HIS Word – the Bible (KJB). So many today in the false flake “prophetic” movement talk about “hearing the voice of God” repeatedly and yet the WORD is never mentioned! Delusion! Run! Prophetic or Pathetic?
“But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water (empty, no substance), clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.” 2 Peter 2:16-18
Jude wrote:
“These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;” Jude 12
To know your gifts is one thing. To focus on and to proclaim your supposed gift and calling to bring attention to yourself is deceitful and evil.
Those who fake gifts do so to be seen of men and for whatever other false motive they may have. They are not in God’s Word and therefore have no substance (Jeremiah 23:18). They do not edify others in any way. Jude wrote that these “clouds” (ministers-posers) are “without water” and “whose fruit withereth.” Isn’t this exactly how it is when clouds pass over dry, parched ground and do not drop any water to bring refreshment, healing, and wholeness to that dry ground?
The Future for all Actors who are Not Rooted in Christ
In the divine economy fruit is more important than gifts. Authentic fruit can only be produced from a born again, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ. Gifts can be faked. Gifts do not prove that one is saved. In fact, Jesus told us that “MANY” would brag about their gifts just before being terminated into hell. Fruit is the clear that one has a saving relationship with Jesus Christ! (Matthew 7:13-29) Nearly anyone can feign to have spiritual gifts. The Buddhists priests, Shamans, and occultic gurus do that and so do all false religious leaders.
Those rooted in intimate relationship with Christ are few among the many who claim to be saved (John 15:1-16). Many who jump and holler in praise, acting like they have the gifts of the Spirit and are loyal church goers, have no fruit to prove that they genuinely know Jesus Christ. They do not possess the “fruit of the Spirit.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” Galatians 5:22-24
- “love”
- “joy”
- “peace”
- “longsuffering”
- “gentleness”
- “goodness”
- “faith”
- “Meekness”
- “temperance”
If a person is not dying to self daily, they do not have these tell tale evidences of knowing Christ as listed above. If one is truly putting Jesus first and seeking His holy face perpetually, he or she will demonstrate these fruits in his or her life, as well as a deep love for God’s written Word and sound doctrine. If not, this person is not being used of God in the gifts they may be feigning.
Let’s peer into what Jesus foretold would be fate of these wolves and their gullible dupes who through their own unrepentant, self-serving and covetous hearts would use religion and their places of leadership to beguile many, leading them to eternal damnation in the lake of fire.
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Matthew 7:21-23
They refuse to die to self or preach the cross but instead revel in gifts or supposed gifts of the Spirit, doctrines that enthrone self (self-love), and greedy lies of covetous proportions. These wolves are fulfilling Bible prophecy (2 Peter 2:1-3).
The fruit of the Holy Spirit is what is to be judged, not the gifts of the Spirit. While we do not discount the authentic gifts God gave to His body, we are also well aware by Scripture that gifts (or supposed gifts) are no proof of salvation. In the scenario revealed in the passage above (Matthew 7:22-23), Christ makes it clear that “Many” will say on the Day of Judgment that they “prophesied” and even “cast out devils” in His holy name and yet, these same people died not knowing Him. They will hear from the Son of God “depart from me, ye that work iniquity” which means lawlessness. Notice the absence of any of these people saying “But LORD, we walked in your love.” Why won’t those who walked in love be going to hell? It’s because God’s love in us is “the fruit (evidence) of the Spirit” which can only be born/produced by an authentic relationship with Christ; a relationship which assures eternal life (Galatians 5:22-23).
Gifts vs Fruit
Doctrine is More Important than Gifts
Note here that receiving and obeying sound doctrine is essential to being made free from sin.
“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 you. 18 (as a result) Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18
Remember that Jesus says that His sheep hear His voice (John 10:16). The point of this message is in no way to limit God or foolishly claim He no longer speaks to people in dreams, visions, or the vocal gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-10; Hebrews 13:8). Yet, today, most of those claiming to be getting words, visions, dreams, and prophecies, are not grounded in Christ and most of them make it abundantly obvious by their lack of preaching the essential doctrines of the original Gospel such as Christ’s cross, judgment, hell, repentance, the necessity for personal holiness, the return of Christ, and the crucified life – the cross life.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:” Acts 2:17
Do we not take the name of the LORD in vain and give Him a bad name when we put His name on supposed words from Him that do not come to pass? Beware of the false prophetic movements and the flakes they are producing who go around giving out “words” or having supposed dreams from God that contradict Scripture. These same people who dish out words to bring glory to themselves, have no desire to be sound in doctrinal truth. 1 Corinthians 14:29 and 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 tell us that prophecy is to be judged – against God’s written Word (Acts 17:11). Beware!
You see, those who are truly walking with Christ, love and diligently seek Him in His Word daily (2 Timothy 2:15). They therefore honor HIS Word and so they feel no need to contrive “a word” for people. The self righteousness who run to and fro throwing “words” around like they are going out of style are not honoring God by simply putting forth HIS Word. Why? It’s simple – they wish to bring glory to themselves and not Jesus. Those who authentically honor God put forth His Word – just as it’s written.
Those who go about with their false giftings refuse to spend time learning, memorizing, and getting grounded in God’s written Word and yet, they use the same energy to go about spewing “words” out that they feign are from God. This is the definition of using His holy name in vain.
The following is an essential, landmark Bible passage that will significantly elevate your ability to discern who is true and who is false. A close look at Deuteronomy 13:1-11 makes it more than obvious that God elevates His Word/doctrine above gifts. In fact, the LORD told us that He has elevated His written Word even above His holy name!
“For thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” Psalms 138:2
UNTIL you have the revelation given us in 2 Peter 1:12-21, you are vulnerable to be deceived and ultimately “fall away” from the LORD – to apostatize (Luke 8:13; 1 Timothy 4:1, etc.). WHAT is the LORD conveying to us, His people, in 2 Peter 1:12-21?
False Prophets Present Us with a Test to See Who We Truly Love
According to the following passage of divine Writ, even if someone has an accurate, proven gift, that fact does not authenticate them as a true prophet. Read this closely:
“If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; 3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him. 5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the Lord thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee. 6 If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers; 7 Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth; 8 Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:9 But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people. 10 And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 11 And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.” Deuteronomy 13:1-11
Deuteronomy 13 is a strong passage we must acknowledge where the LORD says to not spare in stoning and ridding yourselves of false prophets. Specifically, these are people who actually give a prophecy that comes to pass and then, that same person misleads by teaching false doctrine. They must be marked, especially if they are shown their error and refuse to repent and change their doctrine to God’s Word (Romans 16:17-18).
A people who do not police themselves will soon cease to be a people. Meditate upon this. Think about the God-ordained civil system which includes police to punish evildoers, right? (Romans 13) Would you respect this country, even as a citizen, if we didn’t punish evil doers? No. You see how the lost are being turned away from the LORD due to the lack of expose’ and policing of those in leadership? It’s a fiasco of wolves at this point as the Word foretold in many places, including Amos 8:11 and 2 Timothy 3:13.
Do the lost and young Christians not discern when someone is faking the gifts? Does falsifying gifts glorify or defame Christ?
Know the Truth and Do Not Conceal Lies or Liars
“Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him.” Deuteronomy 13:8
In Deuteronomy 13, we are instructed not to “conceal” a false prophet. In this specific case the LORD tells His people not to “conceal” any prophet who accurately foretells the future (prophesies), which actually does come to pass, yet seeks to lead God’s people astray through false teaching.
The LORD is calling us to maturity in His holy fear. We are to come to the place where we refuse to conceal or hide any person operating as a Christian leader who is leading God’s people astray through his false doctrine.
This Deuteronomy 13 text holds an extremely important discernment key that will surely help save people from the deceptions that abound in today’s church world. So many Christians today believe that, where there are miracles or accurate prophecies, it has to be of God. They do not consider though that the devil has always had power to unleash miracles.
“Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders.” 2 Thessalonians 2:9
A plethora of “strange fire” experiences and phenomena are being pawned off as being from God (Lev. 10:1-2). One of the biggest errors believers make is thinking that any miracle automatically validates that phenomenon as proceeding from divine origin. This is simply not true. All miracles, signs, and wonders are not from God. “Satan” works in our midst “with all power and signs and lying wonders.”
Deuteronomy 13:8 tells us not to “conceal” those who work against the LORD by leading people away from Him while claiming to be one of His leaders. God instructs us NOT to hide, make excuse for, or in any way cover for deceitful workers, and if we do, we become enemies of the Almighty.
The exposing of those who have determined to undermine the doctrines of the LORD is a matter of walking in obedience and truthfulness.
“Lie not against the truth.” James 3:14
Fake Gifts
Let me say here that faking the gifts of the Spirit is very common today. Anyone can do that, especially today with so many false apostles and false prophet ministries like IHOP and the likes of which are totally false. They are teaching many to just fake the gifts of the Spirit – to just go about acting like you have them, laying hands on and praying for people and just saying whatever comes to your mind. They say that it is God working. Baloney! Let’s look at what’s glaringly missing:
These false ministries almost never even touch on, much less preach and teach the daily cross. This alone makes them false (Philippians 3:18-19; Luke 9:23-24, etc.). Here’s what a real apostle of Jesus Christ taught:
“Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11 For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death worketh in us, but life in you.” 2 Corinthians 4:10-12
It’s only as death works in us (the daily cross-crucifixion of self) that God can bring His life through us – manifest the life of Jesus “in our mortal flesh.”
The daily cross Jesus commanded to be taken up in order to follow Him is completely ignored in all of these counterfeit “ministries”. This is certainly a fulfillment of prophecy. These false churches who do not hold to sound biblical truth are sweeping millions of self-loving, Christ-denying, willingly ignorant dupes down the wide road that leads to eternal destruction (Matthew 7:13-14). They glory in self and therefore walk in a mere “form(ula) of godliness”, yet are “denying the power (Christ’s reign of authority) thereof.” (2 Timothy 3:5)
The absence of the “daily” – yes Jesus said “DAILY” – cross is clear evidence that they are preaching and living “another gospel” and not the original Gospel of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2-5; Galatians 1:6-9). Their false gospel caters to mere sinful, unrepentant men who want to glory in themselves instead of the one, nail-scarred, risen Savior who alone is worthy of our praise.
If someone is walking with Jesus, they are setting self aside and crying “He must increase but I must decrease!” (John 3:30) All true followers of Christ also teach the life of a true disciple exactly how Jesus gave it to us in His Word.The true disciple is sound in the faith, possesses sound doctrine, and is sound in heart and mind (Proverbs 14:30; 2 Timothy 1:7; 4:3; Titus 2:1, etc.).
Jesus and His apostles weren’t spiritual con-men who went around trying to show everyone how wonderful they were by prophesying over everyone and getting a “word” for them. They gave people God’s Word!
These same gift-fakers are simply following the wolves they have learned under and are never – I mean NEVER – heard speaking the words of Christ and His holy apostles seen throughout Scripture concerning crucifying the self-life. On this basis alone, we know they are utterly false and in need of repentance before it’s too late.
Speaking God’s Word and letting Him bring His authentic gifts through us are fore HIS glory and not ours.
“If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:11
These people wear titles and falsify gifts in order to bring attention to themSELVES, which means they are robbing that glory from Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul was just the opposite. We know this because he was always announcing his own utter poverty of spirit, nothingness, and pointing to the One who alone is the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ!
“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:9
ANY person who is truly following Jesus is, putting self aside daily, in God’s Word daily, and can see these false apostles and counterfeit prophets from a long way off. Paul repeatedly warns us of these “enemies of the cross of Christ.”
“(For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: 19 Whose end is destruction (hell bound), whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)” Philippians 3:18-19
Be not led astray by the error of the wicked who pose as ministers in this late hour. They allure and bait you to worship at the altar of self.
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. … 17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.” 2 Peter 2:1-3; 3:17
Instead of taking Satan’s bait through His false ministers who pose as Christian leaders today, obey Christ who died and rose again for you. He told us exactly how to follow Him and any and every other way is a “false way” to be hated by all who truly love Jesus (Psalms 119:104, 128).
You best life will not be in this fleeting life but rather in the next life – when you are with Christ in eternal glory! Endure to the end. Do not look to the left hand to the right. Satan has many snares to grab your feet and move them off the narrow road that leads to life and onto the wide road that leads to eternal damnation (Matthew 7:13-14). Obey Jesus’ command to die to self, allowing Him to raise you up to a fruitful that brings Him glory and not yourself (Matthew 16:24-25).
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. 25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Matthew 16:24-25
“ Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. 25 He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.” John 12:24-25
Memorize Colossians 3:3 (KJV). Begin learning to die to self – today.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are to be desired and yet, the fruit or evidence of the Holy Spirit are more important so monitor and test yourself (2 Corinthians 13:4-5). See whether or not Christ’s fruit is truly in you (Galatians 5:22-23). Refuse to go along with those who fake the gifts of the Spirit and honor their own supposed words, visions, and dreams above God’s written Word.
Jeremiah 23
“And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria; they prophesied in Baal, and caused my people Israel to err. 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness; they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall: for from the prophets of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord. 17 They say still unto them that despise me, The Lord hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. 18 For who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it?19 Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. 20 The anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. 21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22 But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” Jeremiah 23:13-22
THE NEW “APOSTOLIC REFORMATION” DECEPTION | Prophetic or Pathetic?
Abiding
It’s not all Going to be Pretty [podcast]
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.” 2 Timothy 2:3
One of Paul’s resumes of the sufferings he endured as an apostle of Jesus Christ.
2 Corinthians 6:3-10
“3 Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed:
4 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,
5 In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
6 By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned,
7 By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,
8 By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report: as deceivers, and yet true;
9 As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed;
10 As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things.”
You are His. Cling to Him. The LORD Jesus is going to bring you through, not matter what you face (Deuteronomy 13:4).
“But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. 2 When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Isaiah 43:1-2
“Hated”
“And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 10:22
“Ye shall Laugh”
“And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are ye that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed are ye that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22 Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man’s sake.” Luke 6:20-22
“Through much Tribulation”
“Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.” Acts 14:22
Eternity with Christ, “with Joy”
“For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Isaiah 55:12
“To Make them White”
“And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. 33 And they that understand among the people shall instruct many: yet they shall fall by the sword, and by flame, by captivity, and by spoil, many days. 34 Now when they shall fall, they shall be holpen with a little help: but many shall cleave to them with flatteries. 35 And some of them of understanding shall fall, to try them, and to purge, and to make them white, even to the time of the end: because it is yet for a time appointed.” Daniel 11:32-35
“Made white … the wise shall understand”
“Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10
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Articles
7 Sayings of Jesus on the Cross [podcast]
What Final Statements Did Jesus Make on the Cross and What Did They Mean?
Our LORD Jesus Christ said 7 things while as He was offering His body and precious, sinless blood to buy us back to God. He was suffering for the sins of mankind and for no sin of His own (2 Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 3:18). He was shedding His blood to Re-deem (buy us back) and that’s what Jesus did for “the whole world” when He died on the cross, was buried, and raised again from the dead (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 1 John 2:2). Do you know Him?
1. “My God, My God, Why hast thou forsaken me” (Matt. 27:46; Mk. 15:34; Ps. 22:1).
This concerned those who hung Him on the cross and how He became the sin bearer, the sin sacrifice and how the Father could not look on sin, so temporarily turned His head. Jesus was forsaken so that we might be forgiven (Isaiah 53).
Application to us: Job 19:6-10; Psalms 139:8; 2 Corinthians 12:7-12; Hebrews 13:5-6
2. “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Lk. 23:34).
He asked the Father to forgive them – a token of what His shed blood would pay for and facilitate – forgiveness of sin for all who come to Him on His terms to be saved. The sacrificial death of the Son of God satisfied the claims of the Father’s justice to justify mankind (Isaiah 53:11).
Application to us: As God forgave us due to Christ’s perfect sacrifice, He mandates, without exception, that we freely forgive all others, from our hearts. Matthew 5:44; 18:21-35; Mark 11:25-26; Ezekiel 36:24-26; Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:12-14
3. “Verily, I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise” (Lk. 23:43).
This promise of forgiveness and eternal comfort given to the thief who believed on Christ in his final moments is the same promise for all who come to Him and are saved (John 6:47).
Application to us: Immediate glory, comfort, and bliss with our LORD at the moment of death. Luke 16:19-31; 2 Corinthians 5:6-8; Philippians 1:21-23; 1 Corinthians 2:9; Revelation 21:4; Luke 21:28
4. “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Lk. 23:46).
Jesus closes with the prophetic words of Psalm 31:5, speaking to the Father. We see His complete trust in the Father (John 5:30, etc.). Jesus entered death in the same way He lived each day of His life on earth, offering up His life as the perfect sacrifice and placing Himself into the Father’s hands (Luke 22:42).
Application to us: This is a great prayer! Stephen emulated his Savior when being stoned to death for Christ (Acts 7:51-60). “Commend” means to submit. Personally I find these words, while in prayer, rolling off my lips – submitting afresh, daily, and asking the LORD to take full control.
5. “Woman, behold thy son … Behold thy mother” (Jn. 19:26-27).
Jesus, looking down from the cross, was still filled with the concerns of a son for the earthly needs of his mother. None of his half brothers or sisters were there to care for her, so He gave this task to the apostle John (Mark 6:3). Here we see Christ’s humanity.
Application to us: We must take care of earthly responsibilities according to the counsel of the written Word of our God (Psalms 119; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).
6. “I thirst” (Jn. 19:28)
Jesus refused the initial drink of vinegar, gall, and myrrh offered to alleviate his suffering (Matthew 27:34 and Mark 15:23). But here, several hours later, we see Jesus fulfilling the messianic prophecy found in Psalm 69:21. By saying He was thirsty, Jesus prompted the Roman guards to give Him vinegar, which was customary at a crucifixion, thereby fulfilling the prophecy which showed that everything was happening according to God’s plan.
Application to us: We must endure hardness, bitter sufferings and seasons (Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 2:3; James 1:2-4, 12, etc.).
7. “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30).
This means “paid in full.” The sin debt for all was fully satisfied in the sacrifice of our LORD Jesus Christ, the ultimate price was paid to satisfy the claims of the Father’s justice to redeem fallen mankind (Isaiah 53:11). He is “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Application to us: Jesus accomplished our salvation single handedly, satisfying the claims of divine justice to redeem fallen mankind. He died to abolish law-keeping for righteousness and so we must “walk by faith and not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7; Romans 10:4; Colossians 2:14-19; Hebrews, etc.) Read Romans 3-5; Galatians.
Making Peace with God | It is Finished! | Discipleship | The Gospel Centers Upon Christ’s Blood | Christology | The Gospel: What is It?
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Abiding
Counting the Cost – Following Jesus to the End of Your Life [podcast]
The Cost of Discipleship
“But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24
Those who count the cost refuse to count their own life dear to themselves and this is the only way not to be derailed, to finish our course, enduring to the end.
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.” Revelation 12:11
Those who balk at and ignore that Jesus says you MUST “endure to the end” to be “saved” into eternal glory, simply do not love Him (Matthew 10:22; 24:13, etc.). Jesus is not worth their life. They were worth His life which He gave for them on the cross, yet the Son of God is not worth giving up their own life in this fleeting world. Counterfeits. These are the frauds who hide behind the eternal security sham.
“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:33
EARTHLY FAMILY DOES NOT COME FIRST – THE LORD DOES
By divine design, there’s an order of priority in the Ten Commandments. Here’s the first of the ten:
And the fifth:
“Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.” Exodus 20:12
Honoring God supersedes even the love we have for our husband/wife.
“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. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” Matthew 22:37-39
Jesus knew that if we don’t love Him supremely, we will allow other relationships to interfere and circumvent our relationship with Him.
If we don’t hate those other relationships compared to our love for Him, our decisions will be affected, will be to please them and not Him. When we love the LORD supremely, His will takes precedence, priority over all others.
“If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:26
We must love the LORD so much that our love for others is near to being hate in comparison. If we don’t love God supremely, others will without exception, drag us downward and away from Him.
Of this passage in Luke 14, FB Meyer wrote:
“Our love must be greater than the ties of family affection, Luk_14:26; must be greater than our love for our own way, which must be nailed to the Cross, Luk_14:27; must be greater than our love of possessions and property, Luk_14:33. Christ has done more than any other teacher to cement the relationships of human love, but He always asks that they should be subordinated to the claims of God. Oh, for the love that Paul had! See Php_3:8.”
“What a comfort it is to realize that God counted the cost before He set about the task of redemption, whether of a world or of us as individuals. He knew all that it would cost, and surely He did not begin what He cannot complete!”
In Matthew 10, after speaking of the essential of enduring to the end (v22), Jesus gives warning concerning those things most likely to derail and prohibit our enduring to the end in His will.
“And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. 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.” Matthew 10:36-37
Of this Adam Clarke wrote:
“He that loveth father or mother more than me – He whom we love the most is he whom we study most to please, and whose will and interests we prefer in all cases. If, in order to please a father or mother who are opposed to vital godliness, we abandon God’s ordinances and followers, we are unworthy of any thing but hell.”
Of Matthew 10:34-42, FB Meyer writes profoundly:
“RECEIVING CHRIST’S REPRESENTATIVES
In Jesus Christ we acquire a new affinity, stronger than that of family ties. When we enter into the family of God we belong to all His children. They are our brethren and sisters in the most intimate sense. See Mat_12:48-50. The new love that floods our nature does not make us less but more tender and sympathetic toward our own kith and kin; but if we are compelled to choose, then we must stand with the children of God, though it should rend us from the old happy family life in which we were nurtured.
As to the closing paragraph, may we not illustrate it thus? When the widow who sustained Elijah at Zarephath entered Paradise, she found herself standing amid the great prophets of Israel. When she asked the attendant angel whether there was not some mistake, he replied, ‘Certainly not. In treating the prophet as you did, you proved yourself to be of the same spirit and temper as he; and it is but right that you should share in the prophet’s reward.’”
To those who are entangled with earthly family, namely unbelievers who are not repenting, it would be spiritually beneficial to get free, to cease your dependence on them and to sever the soul ties and cease basing your emotional well-being on them and how they view you and your decisions. Lay the axe to the root as you denounce false obligation to them. “Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:60). Read Matthew 10.
“For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 Of whom the whole FAMILY in heaven and earth is named,” Ephesians 3:14-15
Jesus Addressed the Excuses
Jesus addresses excuses, diversions concerning obeying Him, asserting our highest priority – the LORD, not family. The point becomes even clearer – that we are to be captive to the LORD, our “first love,” supremely, and not family (Revelation 2:4-5).
“And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father (wait till parents die). 60 Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. 61 And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. 62 And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:59-62
Jesus further establishes that He is to be supreme in our lives and those who are His – not natural familial bonds. The body of Christ, its members, are our eternal family.
“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.” Luke 11:27-28
The harshest of biblical truth is the delicacy, the delight of the true disciple of Jesus. He runs to all of it and never from any of it. He embraces the cross, never evading it. He delights in the sword of the Spirit that cuts to the core and carves the image of Christ into his life – into the fabric, the innermost core of who he is in Christ! Christ and Christ alone is his sole identity and he counts not his own life in this world dear unto himself so that he is able to finish his course with great joy – hearing from His Savior the sweetest of all words “Well done, thou good and faithful servant … enter thou into the joy of thy lord” (Matthew 25:21; Acts 20:24; Romans 8:29; Galatians 2:20; 6:14; 2 Timothy 2:3).
Militancy is essential in our abiding relationship with Christ (Matthew 11:12). Heartfelt love also.
So many today who claim Christ view salvation as something they did in the past and not a present relationship with Christ on His stated terms (John 15; Titus 1:16).
Jesus commands His very own to “endure unto the end” to be “saved,” and unless one becomes deliberate, absolute, militant, he will not make it “unto the end” with Christ (Matthew 10:22; 24:13; Mark 9:43-49; 2 Timothy 2:3, etc.). 
“And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto them, 26 If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27 And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? 29 Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, 30 Saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sendeth an ambassage (a messenger to negotiate peace), and desireth conditions of peace. 33 So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple.” Luke 14:25-33
“Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Timothy 3:5-7
Striving Lawfully – That is, According to the Rules, the Terms
Denouncing the crippling, corrupting comforts of Laodicea. Grasping for the obedient love of Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-22).
“Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” 2 Timothy 2:3-5
May God bless each of His people to “endure hardness” as good soldiers of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). Take note that “there is no respect of persons with God” (Romans 2:11). The LORD made His servant Jeremiah obey Him on His terms. God never bends or modifies, bends the rules (2 Timothy 2:5). We must not deceive ourselves and must “strive lawfully” which means according to HIS terms, not our own or any other.
“And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.” 2 Timothy 2:5
“Be Not Weary in Well Doing”
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” Galatians 6:9
SATAN tempting you to give up? Who wins if you do? Where shall you turn? Turning away from God means we are without Him in our life and trials, right? The LORD, who is your Potter, has a plan. He will absolutely bring you through the floods of water and fire! (Isaiah 43:1-2; Jeremiah 18:1-6) After saving us, God has to bring us to an end of ourselves and that happens through “much tribulation” (Acts 14:22; 2 Corinthians 4; 12:7-12, etc.). Read 2 Corinthians 4. When Jesus had fed the flesh of the multitudes, they turned and walked away from the Savior. But…
“Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” John 6:67-68
Discipleship | Enduring to the End | Abiding | The Blessing of Suffering
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