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Let us never underestimate just how merciful God really is, unwilling that “ANY should perish.” (2 Peter 3:9) In fact, all I have to do is look in the mirror to be reminded of the most evil sinner ever born and to realize afresh just how merciful the LORD has been!
 
Read Titus 3:5-7. Have you memorized Ephesians 4:32
 
According to the Son of God, the definition of a hypocrite is one who stands in judgment of others while he himself has sin in his own life he hasn’t dealt with in repentance before a holy God (Matthew 7:1-5). Such a man is heaping undiluted judgment upon his own pate/head (James 2:13).

“When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Mark 2:17

Those who refuse to see their need for the Great Physician cannot possibly see their need to go to Him in repentance.

After all, who would schedule an appointment to see a doctor if they haven’t first realized and admitted they have an ailment?

Ever notice how some seem to preach repentance as if EVERYONE needs to repent except themselves and those in their little self-righteous clique?

The cross reveals your sin, and God’s love, not how wonderful you are! Repent!

By biblical definition, anyone who is self-righteous has less chance than harlots to go to Heaven (Matthew 21:31).

The reason we don’t freely forgive others is because we don’t yet realize just how wicked and depraved we ourselves are and how utterly in need we are of divine mercy.

Self-righteousness was one of the sins of the pharisees and is soul damning (Matthew 23, etc.). Even the publicans and harlots will be in Heaven before the self-righteous religionists (Matthew 21:31).

“For the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7) Men see church-goers, religious people and think they’re saved/going to Heaven. Jesus sees harlots (whores) and sees them as closer to the kingdom (closer to getting saved) than the self-righteous (Matthew 21:31).

“ALL have sinned” against our God and so our own good works do not atone for our sins (Isaiah 64:6; Romans 3:10, 23). ONLY Jesus could and did do that for us.  

Sinful self-righteousness has no place in the life of a disciple of Jesus. Matthew 21:31

When God calls us to repent, it’s because we are sinners. “ALL have sinned and come short of the glory (acceptance) of God” (Romans 3:23). Of this verse of truth, John Wesley wrote:

“I came not to call the righteous – Therefore if these were righteous I should not call them. But now, they are the very persons I came to save.”

When our conscience is convicted, when our hearts weigh heavy under the burden of sin, that is the divine call for us to repent—to turn back to the LORD with sincerity and contrition—confessing our sins.

Those not admitting they are sinners cannot possibly see the need of repentance. This is the sin that blinds the self-righteous and seems to be most egregious to God.

Of this passage, F.B. Meyer writes:

“The sinner’s friend, Mark 2:13-22. They thought to coin a term of reproach, but they added a crown of glory. In eternity the Friend of sinners will surround His table with saved sinners who have become His guests.”

A Verse of Truth to Remember

“Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21:31

Here the Son of God seems to make it clear what infuriates God the most. Jesus is speaking here of the self-righteous religionists who refuse to realize their own sinful state and need for divine forgiveness. He informs us that the fornicators will go to Heaven before the self-righteous. And, we know that no unrepentant fornicator will be in glory (Revelation 21:8, etc.).

The fornicators will go into the eternal kingdom of Christ before those who did not admit their need for divine forgiveness and carry through with repentance that was manifested in a holy life (Matthew 3:7-10).

Jesus came for and saves those who admit they have sinned and are sinners, and their desperate, great need for Him. This is in eternally stark contrast with those who think they are righteous in themselves. Jesus told us that even the prostitutes, the harlots, will be in Heaven before self-righteous religionists! (Matthew 21:31)

“Greater Damnation”

If you still don’t perceive the divine anger against self-righteousness, watch this:

In Christ’s most scathing lambasting on record, He is seen rebuking the self-righteous religionists who used their positions to lord it over and to rob the people. The Son of God foretells their “damnation” which He makes clear will be “greater” than that of others.

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation.” Matthew 23:14

Jesus used this term – “greater damnation” – just one time and He applied it to the self-righteous (this was recorded by all 3 of the synoptic Gospels). “Greater damnation” is coming to the self-righteous religionists of our day.

Of this truth, Debbie Lord writes:

“Jesus clearly spelled out that self-righteousness is the worst sin in that the self-righteous will have to stand in line to enter Heaven behind the very ones they judge and condemn, which we are told will not enter (unrepentant) into the kingdom of Heaven. Our flesh, which rises up in self-righteousness is an adherence to the lie from Satan which blinds us to our own sin — which ultimately denies and takes the place of the work of Christ’s righteousness the Holy Spirit desires to work in us to fruition — being changed into the image of Christ.”

Is self-righteousness not the product of pride and “an evil heart of unbelief”? (Hebrews 3:12-14)

“Without faith it is impossible to please him.” (Hebrews 11:6) Faith in the Redeemer. He is the Savior, not us. Some don’t like it when they can’t feel like they are earning their own way with God, earning their own salvation. Romans 3:21-25; 4:4-5

According to Christ, many today who in their hearts and attitudes judge fornicators, thieves, liars and adulterers, are possessed with a worse sin—self-righteousness.

Self-righteousness is the ultimate sin of rejecting the only saving righteousness God provided through Christ. The self-righteous spit in the face of the Almighty as they call Him a liar! The self-righteous impugn the God they claim to serve by casting doubt and indictment upon Him as a fool who sent His only begotten Son in vain!

“I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.” Galatians 2:21

Whatever you do, if you will be with Christ, you’d better cry out to the LORD today to strip from every whit of your being, any and all traces, all vestiges of self-righteousness!

If you cast judgment on others in your attitudes toward them for their sin, check yourself (James 1:20). Just because the flavor of their sin may be different than yours, in no way makes your sin any less vile in the eyes of a holy God who is the Judge of your eternal soul (James 2:10)! He sees the very intent and thought of your heart (Luke 9:47; Hebrews 4:13).

The sin that should concern us the most, is our own sin!

If we vainly imagine that someone else’s sin is more vile than our own in the eyes of a holy God, we still don’t have a Gospel clue! (Genesis 32:10; Jeremiah 17:9; James 2:10, 13; Titus 3:3-7, etc.)

Of this verse, the words of Christ in Matthew 21:31, Adam Clarke wrote:

“The publicans and the harlots – In all their former conduct they had said No. Now they yield to the voice of truth when they hear it, and enter into the kingdom, embracing the salvation brought to them in the Gospel. The others, who had been always professing the most ready and willing obedience, and who pretended to be waiting for the kingdom of God, did not receive it when it came, but rather chose, while making the best professions, to continue members of the synagogue of Satan.”

F.B. Meyer writes the following of this verse:

“The parable of the two sons teaches that hard hearts may lie under fair words, while those of whom we expect least and whose first greeting is abrupt and disappointing, may later prove to be the most devoted and hopeful disciples. If a man repels the gospel with violence, he is more likely ultimately to be won than he who gives a polite and facile assent.”

Of this passage, John Wesley wrote:

“He answered, I go, sir: but went not – Just so did the scribes and Pharisees: they professed the greatest readiness and zeal in the service of God: but it was bare profession, contradicted by all their actions.”

What righteousness does any person have in and of themselves— without that righteousness that God alone provided?

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” Isaiah 64:6

Christ’s apostle Paul declared this of himself:

“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. … O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Romans 7:18, 24

One disciple writes:
 
“The greatest need for repentance today is among those today represented by the elder son in Luke 15:11-32. ‘Father, I have been always keeping your commandments and working in your fields, and you have never so much as given a kid goat for ME and MY friends to celebrate!’ ‘Whatsoever is not of faith (legalism) is sin’. Rom 14:23. Christ is of no effect to those who think they are justified by law. Gal 5:4. They work as hard as Self-effort can NOT to sin and to do good works for God. Severed from Christ and fall from Grace!”

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:” Philippians 3:9 

No teaching in the Bible more profoundly states the need for contrition and humility when approaching God than does Jesus’ parable of the two men who went up to pray.

It’s either Christ’s righteousness or it’s our own. One is from glory, the other from hell beneath. The harlots will be in Heaven before the self-righteous (Matthew 21:31).

Men successfully approach God only when they do it in the realization of their own sin and need, and on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ!

All who approach God any other way than that plain way in which He prescribed, will be found by Him to be “a thief and a robber.”

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” John 10:1-2

Bible Verses to Get to Know — To Memorize and Meditate Upon

“Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;” Titus 3:5-6

“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant;” Genesis 32:10

Showing God’s mercy as He freely gave it to us in Christ “while we were yet sinners.” (Romans 5:6, 8) Mercy

PRAYER: Precious dear Father in Heaven, I come to You now in the name of Jesus Christ, confessing my utter need for You. As a vile, wretched, rank sinner, I have no righteousness of my own. On Thy mercy, poured out in the Person of Jesus Christ, as He offered His life blood for me on that cross, I now fall. Without You, I can do nothing LORD Jesus. In this very instant, I now turn fully to You and ask You to please take me into Thy kingdom, wash me in the blood of Jesus. Jesus Christ the LORD is from this moment forth the Master of my life. Please cleanse and fill this vessel to love, worship, and serve You Holy Father. In the name of Jesus Christ I pray, amen!

Self-RighteousnessSINLESS PERFECTIONISM: WHOSE Righteousness are You Trusting?

God Aggrandizes How We FINISH

“It is Finished”! 

“Two Men Went Up into the Temple to Pray” [podcast]

Walking with Jesus [podcast]

A Living Sacrifice unto God [podcast]

Your Life Will Never be the Same [podcast]

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Abiding

The Blessing of Being Born of God, Born Again [podcast]


QUESTION:

“What does it mean to be ‘born again’?”

REPLY:

Great question. I am praying for you now. Born again is the same as regeneration we see in Titus 3:5-7. When the sinner (ALL of us) comes to God humbly, in repentance, turning his life to the LORD, and putting all of his faith now in Jesus Christ alone, God does a miracle in the person’s life—a change on the inside that is unmistakable and transforms that persons nature and life forever. From that moment onward, Christ reigns in that person’s life, filling him with love, joy, peace, etc. (Galatians 5:22-23). The LORD works from the inside out. First He saves, washes our sins away, and then dwells in that newly saved, born again temple (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

To be born again you have to go to God directly…. admitting you have sinned against Him, and receive Jesus into your life. It has to be personal. Religions are designed to keep you from God while claiming to be the way to God. Beware.

“Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3

“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again (2nd birth).” John 3:7

“The birth for which Christ contends is from above—by the agency of the Holy Spirit. Every man must have two births, one from heaven, the other from earth—one of his body, the other of his soul: without the first he cannot see nor enjoy this world, without the last he can not see nor enjoy the kingdom of God. As there is an absolute necessity that a child should be born into the world, that he may see its light, contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good, so there is an absolute necessity that the soul should be brought out of its state of darkness and sin, through the light and power of the grace of Christ, that it may be able to see, or to discern, the glories and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared for the enjoyment of the kingdom of glory hereafter. The Jews had some general notion of the new birth; but, like many among Christians, they put the acts of proselytism, baptism, etc., in the place of the Holy Spirit and his influence: they acknowledged that a man must be born again; but they made that new birth to consist in profession, confession, and external washing.

The new birth which is here spoken of comprehends, not only what is termed justification or pardon, but also sanctification or holiness. Sin must be pardoned, and the impurity of the heart washed away before any soul can possibly enter into the kingdom of God. As this new birth implies the renewing of the whole soul in righteousness and true holiness, it is not a matter that may be dispensed with: heaven is a place of holiness, and nothing but what is like itself can ever enter into it.” Adam Clarke

“I can remember after getting saved my friends and my family immediately saying What happened to her?’ There was an immediate and complete change in me. God cleaned me from the inside out. I was made brand new and people noticed. My family asked ‘What has happened to her?’ Does anyone know? Yes! Jesus happened to me! Alleluia!” Karen Cochran

YOUR PRAYER TO GOD TO BE SAVED, TO BE FORGIVEN

Are You Ready to be Saved? Okay here’s a prayer to be God’s child. You have to admit the obvious, that you have sinned against God and turn to Him fully, turn your life over to Him who made you, and confess Jesus Christ as the new LORD and Savior of your life. Pray this …

Your Prayer to God … You must honestly admit your sins and receive Christ… Apply His holy blood to your life so that you may be saved, forgiven, and live eternally with Him. You must completely turn your life over to Him in repentance and faith. Now, pray the following prayer to God with all that is within you, from your heart and out loud:….

Dear heavenly Father, right now, if never before, I come to You as a broken and sinful person. Thank You for sending Your only begotten Son to die in my place for my sins. Thank You Jesus for coming to this earth to die and rise again to rescue me from sin and eternal hell and to save me for Your eternal glory. Right this moment, if never before, I receive You LORD Jesus. Come in and take over my whole life. I am all Yours and You are all mine. I love You Jesus and I will follow You from this moment forward till I am with You in Heaven forever! Please use me to help others know You dear LORD. In Jesus’ Name, amen.


How do we know someone is “born of God”?

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 18  And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; … Now then we are ambassadors for Christ…” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18, 20

First off, if you are born again you are changed from the inside out … you desire to do God’s will now…. and are learning the need for the cross, the daily crucified life (Luke 9:23-25).

Let us remember that the biblical words “born again” (John 3:3, 7),  “born of God” (1 John 4:7), “regeneration,” and being a “new creature” in Christ go hand in hand or we can say, are synonymous.

“Born of God” appears 6 times in God’s Word and are all found in the book of 1 John:

1 John 3:9
Whosoever is BORN OF GOD doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is BORN OF GOD.

Those who are “born of God” do not live in sin. They repent or return (turn back) to the LORD, confessing all sin. If not they will “fall away” and be outside of Christ (Luke 8:13). See Can a Born Again Man be Un-Born Again? [podcast]


1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is BORN OF GOD, and knoweth God.

Those who are “born of God” walk in His love toward others.


1 John 5:1
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is BORN OF GOD: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

Those who repent and believe upon Christ are “born of God” and they love all other of Christ’s saints.


1 John 5:4
For whatsoever is BORN OF GOD overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

Those who are “born of God” overcome this fallen world. By present and perpetual faith, they “overcometh the world.”


1 John 5:18
We know that whosoever is BORN OF GOD sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Those “born of God” do not live in sin. Rather, they “keepeth” themselves from sin and therefore Satan. This is accomplished by what we read in 1 John 1 and 2—which spells out the walk of the true disciple of Jesus.

MAY GOD bless each disciple of Jesus today to abide in Christ by walking crucified and raised up by Him today (2 Corinthians 4:10-12). May “the fruit of the Spirit”—the “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance” be abundantly produced in the life of every saint of Jesus! May it be 100 fold LORD! Read John 15. If you have been drawn in by Christ (John 6:44; 12:32), have repented (Luke 13:3), have received Christ (John 1:12), and are born again (John 3:3), you are bought by the precious blood of the LORD Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:17-18).

YOUR PRAYER: Heavenly Father, You found and saved me into Your eternal kingdom by way of the precious blood of Your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I stop this life here and now, and I give You praise. I love You LORD Jesus. I am no longer my own but Yours. I am crucified with Christ. Please work in me both to will and to do of Your good pleasure. I am all Yours LORD and I know You are all mine! Please fill this vessel with Your Holy Ghost afresh, and please use me. In Jesus’ name, amen Master Jesus!

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Articles

Ministry Today at the Local Market in Mexico [podcast]


From brother Juan:

“Glory to God, brother! We know that the Word of God is not imprisoned. Jeremiah was in the prison courtyard, and God said, ‘Call to me, and I will answer you and tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.’ And we know that the word of God never returns empty; it always fulfills its purpose, brother. So we fully trust that God will do the work to expand His kingdom for His honor and glory. To Him be all the honor, brother. Blessings.” Juan






“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10

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Apostasy

Jesus Calling Devotional Exposed: 10 Things You Might Not Know

“I know so many who are so deceived by this book!! The author is a woman and she makes Jesus sound like your boyfriend who is so in love with you he can’t bare a minute without you! It is sickening! Plus she says the Bible was not enough for her. She needed more. This author died and if she did repent of her blasphemy against a holy God she is burning in hell as we speak. There are not two Jesus’s! This book presents a weak, tolerant of all your sin, pathetic, spineless ‘Jesus.’ This false ‘Jesus’ just sits in heaven google-eyed over you and how much He can’t live one minute without you in His presence! This is opposite of the fierce Christ who calls out sin and hypocrisy, who took a whip to the money changers and flipped over tables in righteous anger! Mathew 23 shows us some of the most severe rebukes in all the New Testament. This is the Jesus true disciples chose to follow! May this new documentary open the eyes of many so-called Christians to how demonic and evil this book is.” Karen Cochran

 

BEWARE of the Jesus Calling devotional book which is written by a full blown heretic, Sarah Young. This book continually assures things to lost souls (catholics, etc.) reserved only for the true Christian. It promises salvation, assurance, grace, mercy, the glory of God, etc to lost hell bound idolatrous sinners. Like antichrist Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life book, Jesus Calling never calls sinners to repent which is a Gospel essential and without which God will never save any soul from sin and hell (Luke 13:3, 5). You will never hear Jesus’ born again commanded or command to repent in this heretical devotional book title Jesus Calling. This monstrosity simply confirms sinners in their sin, sealing their doom in the lake of fire (Jeremiah 23:17; Lamentations 2:14, etc.).

Sarah Young is just another self-willed false prophet who does “ministry” her way, not God’s, in order to sell books and to mislead eternal souls into eternal damnation.

The blessings of God in Christ’s salvation are reserved only for those born again “in Christ,” and never for hell bound religious idolaters (John 15:7; 2 Corinthians 1:20; 2 Peter 1:1-4, etc.). 


Stacy Strother writes:

Her subtly, deceptive, doctrinally corrupt fairy tale version of what she calls bible studies for all the different ages of people, including children’s bible studies, teen and other, are found in the book stores—shelves filled full.

She is deceived, a false witness, False bible teacher, and has not heard from our Jesus—the Christ, Son of the living God, of which, is the very Word of God.

She hears from demons. Period! She needs to REPENT, and be born again! Please Lord Jesus, help her see her own demise!”

About That Jesus Calling – 10 Things You Might Not Know

ARE you seeking to experience God OR to KNOW HIM? (John 17:3)

“People want a word from God instead of the Word OF God.” Warren Smith

by Lighthouse Trails Editors

1. Did you know that Sarah Young says she had been inspired by the “Jesus” of a book called God Calling?

2. Did you know that Christian publisher Harvest House’s book The Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs says that God Calling is an example of a channeled New Age book “replete with denials of biblical teaching”?1

3. Did you know that the “Jesus” of God Calling teaches that God is “in” everyone?

4. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling contradicts the Jesus of the Bible?

5. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling rejects the Jesus of the Bible’s warnings about the future and tells us to “laugh” at the future?

6. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling frequently flatters his followers, which contrasts the way Jesus Christ spoke to people?

7. Did you know that Sarah Young’s “Jesus” revises the night that Jesus Christ was born and calls it a “dark night” in a “filthy stable” in “appalling conditions” even though the Bible says the shepherds rejoiced in all that they had seen that night? 2

8. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling revises the accounts of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph of the Bible?

9. Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling encourages his followers to practice contemplative “listening” prayer and to have a “buffer zone of silence” with no warning about seducing spirits?3

10.  Did you know that the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling emphasizes New Age terms and concepts throughout the book?

Zemanta Related Posts ThumbnailThe 10 points above have been taken from Warren B. Smith’s new book, “Another Jesus” Calling. This book provides valuable information that can help you warn your family and friends how the “Jesus” of Jesus Calling contradicts the biblical Jesus.

 Notes:

1. John Ankerberg & John Weldon, Encyclopedia of New Age Beliefs (Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1996), p. 103.

2. Sarah Young, Jesus Calling, p. 376.

3. Jesus Calling, June 15th entry

FEEDBACK:

“Solid Biblical refutation of the “New Age ” nonsense passing itself off as the latest thing God is doing. In our area a number of Churches have embraced this and other similar material with no discernment to the un-biblical nature of this drivel. Thank God for Warren B. Smith and others who provide an inestimable service to the Body of Christ as “watchmen on the wall.” Pastor Tom, West Harrison NY”

More Wolves Exposed!

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