Sin Is Behind The Destruction OF Marriage

(Matt. 24:12) "And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." In the above verse, Jesus makes this statement concerning the love of people during the 7yr. Trib. period. However, this truth can be applied to any generation where "iniquity abounds." "Iniquity" is lawlessness, and it's a direct disrespect for God & His commandments. When the majority of people in any society decide to live contrary to the commanded moral laws of God, the natural result of their lawlessness will be the loss of love between people and the judgment of God. Marriage is under attack in the day in which we live, not because of some so-called natural evolution of man, but rather because our society as others before us, have decided not to listen to God nor live according to the  moral lifestyle outlined by Him in His Word. As a result we are seeing marriage after marriage falling apart all because many now think that they don't have to listen to God. Lawlessness is causing people today all over the world to believe that God has changed His mind concerning sin. As a result the love between married people is growing cold, and the only way for it to warm back up again is for our society to repent and begin again to submit ourselves back under the authority and principles of God's Word. Faith in, and obedience to God's Word and Will, will restore the love needed to have a strong marriage!

 

 

“Is God For Gay (Homosexual) Marriage”?

(Gen. 18:20-21) "And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; (Gen 19:4-5)  "But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them." (2Pet. 2:6) "And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;" God has not changed his mind over the past 7000 years concerning homosexuality, but unfortunately 30-40% of our nation’s people have, making the sinful and sick practice of homosexuality legal. Today some say that as much as 10% of our American society is gay, but truthfully recent studies show it to be only 1-2%. Gay marriage is now a legal right, and those that oppose it are thrown in jail. So the question remains, is God for or against gay marriage? Well let me answer that question with another question and a couple Bible passages.  If God judged other nations that allowed this sin in the past, what's next for us in America?  (Ps 9:17) "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." (Ps 50:22) "Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver."  Add to that abortion, promiscuity, and perversion, and we are in big trouble with God!

 

Standing Up Against Homosexuality

(Pr 14:34) "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people." Coming up next month our church will be voting on adopting an amendment to our constitution that will state clearly our position against gay marriage and the other immoral practices that our country has now approved of, and supports. We are going to do so because we as a Church must state clearly our position on these issues or the government will be able to come in and force us to. It's unfortunate that we as a nation now stand in opposition to God's Word.  As (Isa 5:20) says "Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" We as a Church more than ever need to rise up and speak against the unrighteousness that has exalted itself against God and His people. We are now on a slippery slope. (Ps 9:17) "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God."    May the Lord grant us boldness in these last days to say so!

The Flesh, Friend or Foe

(Rom. 7:18) "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." Many times when I talk to people about their problems they will blame the devil or someone else for their situation, when in reality the real cause is their own flesh. When the Bible speaks of the flesh, it speaks of the earthly body that houses our spirit and soul. It cannot be saved, nor inherit eternal life, but God does promise to resurrect it and change it later. You see, in order for us to understand this great truth we need to separate our soul and spirit from our bodies. Our soul and spirit is eternal, but our flesh will die, for it is sinful and given over to sinful desires. Adam's sin caused the body's curse, and yet God still chose to use it for His Glory. In the above verse the Apostle Paul wanted us to see that if we are going to be used of God and have victory over sin, we are going to have to first realize that our flesh is our biggest enemy. It needs to be controlled by our spirit, and then surrendered to God's Spirit. (Gal. 5:16) This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. Do you want victory?  Then dethrone your sinful flesh!

 

Living Worldly Always Ends Badly

(Judges 16:28) "And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." In (Heb. 11:32)Samson is immortalized for his faith, but just what type of faith is he immortalized for? All of Sampson's life he was considered under what is called a Nazarite vow. He was to abstain from intoxicating drinks, he was not to cut his hair nor touch anything dead, and he was to be holy and consecrated to the Lord, but as we read about his life in the Word of God, he didn't keep his vows very faithfully. So where was his faithfulness? Well, Samson was honored because he repented of his sin at the end of his life. Sometimes trials in this life are brought by God to bring us back to faith again. Many times we as stubborn Christians continue in our comfort and disobedience until we are woken up by the chastening hand of God upon us, and if we refuse to listen, our disobedience will bring us to the place of God using chastisement to restore our faith. God allowed the Philistines to pluck out his eyes and then place him into captivity to bring Samson to the place of repentance and faith. May we as Christians learn from this story of Samson that it is better to repent and live godly now than to have God bring us face to face with our sin later. Repenting as early as possible in this life is far better than stubbornly waiting till the end. 

God Is After Obedience Not Perfectness

(Judges 13:5 "And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. … (24) And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him."  It's hard to understand but the blessing of God was upon Samson even though Samson himself was not a very godly man. Samson was commanded by God to keep a Nazarite vow, which was a vow of personal separation and consecration, but although Samson kept not the vow perfectly he was still blessed by a Holy God. It's hard to understand sometimes why God uses us even though we are not perfect. Samson was a sinner, he was a known liar, unfaithful to his Nazarite calling, disrespectful to his parents, a womanizer, proud, arrogant, rude, and angry, and yet God still used him to deliver Israel. Brethren, what we need to see from this story is that God never called Samson to perfectness, but he did call him to do His will. Sometimes we as believers think that because we're not perfect, or sinless we cannot be used. Listen, God will always hate our sin, but He will never stop loving  us because of it, for He desires  to share His blessings with us despite us. And there is something else we need to see, Samson was not powerful because of his own righteousness, He was powerful because of God's Spirit was upon Him, and Christian by the way that Holy Spirit is the  same Spirit that dwells in us today!

 

 

 

“Which Gospel Are You Following”

(2Tim. 4:2-4) "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."  Ever since I was newly saved back in the 70's, I have often been reminded of the above verses that warn us of a time that will come when people will no longer desire the sound doctrine of God's Word but will rather seek after speakers who speak fables rather than truth, and who's words are meant to be non-offensive, and entertaining. As the above verse teaches those that seek out these men do so "after their own lusts," seeking  man's wisdom over God's Word. Today, many Christians are getting sucked into the false gospel of motivational and influential speakers, who draw Christians by the thousands away from their true calling and purpose within the Church, leading them into a lustful pursuit of mammonand worldly things, "supposing that gain is godliness,"(1 Tim. 6:5) who teach men to follow men "above that which was written,"(1 Cor.4:6). Oh that we as Christians today would follow the leading  of  “the faithful Baptists of old), and serve again Jesus Christ as our "first Love" (Rev.2:4),  and reject the impulses of this evil  and "lustful" teaching that has invaded our churches.