Revive Us Again

Posted on November 8, 2015 by brothershawn

104_6378{This is the introduction to the sermon I preached this morning November 8, 2015}

“Lord, thou hast been favourable unto thy land: thou hast brought back the captivity of Jacob. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people, thou hast covered all their sin. Selah.  Thou hast taken away all thy wrath: thou hast turned thyself from the fierceness of thine anger.  Turn us, O God of our salvation, and cause thine anger toward us to cease. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?  Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? ”  Psalm 85:1-6

We are facing as Christians in this country some unbelievable wickedness.

There is no use hiding our heads in the sand and pretending that everything is okay.

It is not okay.

We are also losing our young people.

One survey said almost 90% of children raised in evangelical homes leave church at the age of [about] 18, never to return.

The older folks are dying off.

In Europe the churches are closing in records numbers and being replaced by mosques.

In 1961 there were seven mosques in England…now there are over 1700.

Overall, at least 10,000 churches have been closed in Britain since 1960, Another 4,000 churches are set to be closed by 2020, according to an organization that tracks religious trends in Britain.

By contrast, there are now more than 1,700 official mosques in Britain.  Many of those mosques are now meeting in abandoned Protestant and Catholic church buildings. Not counting those Muslims meeting in storefronts,warehouses etc. (1)

The churches here in America will soon face the same thing as in England and throughout Europe.

We as believers are also engaged in a battle for right and wrong.

The sodomites have declared war on true Christianity.

Our country, its judges and many of the highest leaders in our land are God-haters.

Even so-called, “church people” seem to have trouble knowing the difference between right and wrong.

They continually vote for baby murderers and those who have made it their goal to destroy this country.

They  {church people} condone all manner of immorality.

They shack up.

They curse and swear like drunken sailors.

They gamble.

They guzzle booze.

They tattoo and pierce themselves up like the heathen our missionaries encountered 100 years ago.

People today frequently watch nudity and all manner of vile TV and movies.

The average person today seems to have no idea what right and wrong is about.

If you stand up and speak out against all this wickedness you are looked upon as some kind of “nut job”.

These things that I am saying today are not new.

They are in all likelihood the things your parents and grandparents believed.

You see, they may not have had a college education but they knew the difference between a boy and a girl.

Even if they weren’t Christians…

They knew a male from a female.

Many of these people who are leaders in this country…judges, lawyers, legislators senators and all the way up to the top would have been placed in jail 60 or 70 years ago for their treasonous activities. {or at least placed in a rubber room.}

We have turned our back on God and He is judging this nation by giving us wicked, ungodly rulers.

What we need is God to revive this nation.

No sense worrying about the lost people when most church people are as wicked as anything coming or going.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?  I Peter 4:17

“Wilt thou be angry with us for ever? wilt thou draw out thine anger to all generations?  Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee? “

(1) Muslims Converting Empty European Churches into Mosques by Soeren Kern January 16, 2012

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That Ye May Know Part Two

Posted on November 7, 2015 by brothershawn

RoyalG_023_Pg51“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” I John 5:13

“…There are also some true believers who reject assurance, or shrink from it as a doctrine fraught with danger. They consider it borders on presumption. They seem to think it a proper humility never to be confident, and to live in a certain degree of doubt. This is to be regretted, and does much harm. I frankly allow there are some presumptuous persons who profess to feel a confidence for which they have no Scriptural warrant. There always are some people who think well of themselves when God thinks ill, just as there are some who think ill of themselves when God thinks well. There always will be such. There never yet was a Scriptural truth without abuses and counterfeits. God’s election,-man’s impotence,-salvation by grace,-all are alike abused. There will be fanatics and enthusiasts as long as the world stands. But, for all this, assurance is a real, sober, and true thing; and God’s children must not let themselves be driven from the use of a truth, merely because it is abused” {J. C. Ryle 1816-1900}

I decided to write my first article on assurance regarding the fruit or the “test” of life. I mentioned these first not because of importance but because in the day in which we live these are the most neglected.

Another way, and surely the most important way, is by accepting and believing the Word of God. Unfortunately, this is the most emphasized teaching today and the others are woefully neglected. I am of the opinion that balance is needed on this matter.

A person who clings to John 10:27-30; {My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one.} But yet lives and acts like the unsaved world has no reason or warrant to declare his or her assurance.

The passage does indeed say that Christ gives His sheep eternal life and it states that His sheep will never perish but it also says His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. There is a balance.

A person who claims assurance but yet has no desire to follow Christ and no change of heart and lifestyle, is leaning on what I believe to be a false assurance.

The Word of God has many passages to comfort and assure His children. I would like to list just a few of them to encourage His sheep.

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6:37 {this verse is often misquoted, notice in the first part of the verse Jesus says, “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me”}

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” John 6:47

“For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:29-39

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” Philippians 1:6

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” II Timothy 1:12

I could list many more scriptures concerning the teaching of assurance but you get the idea. Assurance is an often misused and abused doctrine. But there is nothing like laying your head on your pillow at night and knowing you belong to Him.

Brother Shawn

{These are articles I published several years ago in printed form}

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That Ye May Know Part One

Posted on November 4, 2015 by brothershawn

“These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” I John 5:13

This is probably one of the most misused verses in the Bible today. This verse is often used by “soulwinners” to “give assurance” to someone after “leading them to the Lord”. In another words, a person agrees to a list of facts from the Bible, repeats a prayer and then he or she is “given assurance” with the abovementioned verse.

There are several problems with this flimflam evangelism. As a matter of fact I would say there is not too much of a Biblical element in the whole scheme. I believe the plight of modern day fundamental Christianity can, for the most part, be traced back to our salesman like preaching and soul winning methods. {And we are in a plight in case you didn’t know. One fundamentalist leader said not long ago, “this is Fundamentalism’s finest hour” It may be “fundamentalisms” finest hour but true Biblical Christianity has certainly seen better days. He is just another typical “yes man” doing what yes men do, telling the emperor he is not naked}

We Baptist have been taught how to win “converts” without the Holy Ghost. Many of our churches are filled with people who are religious but lost. Scores of our churches are no different than the cults they rail against. They are made up of deceived people who have accepted another gospel and another Christ. The late missionary James Stewart said, “So great has been the perversion that many congregations are astounded when they hear the true Gospel of the lordship of Christ. They believe that we are preaching a new gospel.” They may have the name Baptist and carry a King James Bible but many of them have never been born again.

They have been “given assurance” by their pastor or their mother or by the date written in the front of their Bible. I fear that many professing Christians have assurance but it is often a false assurance. This is the reason that many of our churches are so worldly. {The reason many churches are going to the world for instructions is that worldlings must be entertained. In the words of Spurgeon you feed sheep but entertain goats} Many CINO’S {Christians In Name Only} do not have the Holy Ghost. Their spouse or parents or their preacher is the one who tries to keep them on the straight and narrow.

Regrettably, it has been found out the hard way that you cannot keep dogs and hogs from reverting back to their old ways. It is because they do not have a new nature. There is no struggle within. There may be a struggle with their preacher or their parents or maybe even their conscience but they only have one nature. They know nothing of the struggle that the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans chapter seven. They do not say with Paul “O wretched man that I am!” They know nothing of putting off the old man and his deeds and putting on the new man. They know nothing of a contrite heart or a repentant spirit.

I read an excellent illustration once. You can take a cat and throw it into a hog pen and that cat will do everything in its power to get out. A cat will not be happy in a hog pen. Its one desire will be to get out as soon as possible and once it is out it will concentrate on getting itself clean again. That is a cat’s nature. By the same token you can take a hog and give it a bath. You can scrub it and spray it with perfume and tie a pink ribbon around its neck. But if it gets near a hog pen its one desire will be to jump back in the mire and wallow in the filth. That is the nature of a hog. That is why God’s Word says; “But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.” II Peter 2:22

Christians may “fall” into sin but like the cat they will not be comfortable there and they will eventually be looking for a way out and they will also be remorseful for the time they wasted there. You can’t make a cat behave like a hog nor can you make a hog behave like a cat. They are two different critters with two different natures and sooner or later their true nature will be revealed.

Many professing Christians are like the washed up hog. If their preacher or their parents or maybe their spouse can keep them in line they, like the hog, can put on a pretty good show for a long time. The reason many Independent Fundamental Baptist pastors are called dictators is because it takes a dictator to keep a pack of hogs from running back to the hog pen. They have to micromanage every area of their people’s lives. Many professing Christians do not have the Holy Ghost to convict them when they watch things they shouldn’t or when they say things that are wrong or are dishonest in their business dealings. But it is sad to say even though they may not have the Holy Spirit …many of them do have “assurance”

I am glad the Bible says we can know. The Apostle John wrote the Epistle of I John that we may know that we have eternal life. If you would like to have true Biblical assurance I suggest you begin by reading John’s epistle and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to your heart if you are truly saved. John’s epistle gives us many “things” or “tests”; I would like to list several of them.

A true Christian will walk in the light not in darkness. {I John1:5-7}

A true Christian will keep His commandments. {I John 2:3-4, 3:24, 5:2-3}

A true Christian will want to walk as Christ walked. {I John 2:6}

A true Christian will love the brethren. {I John 2:9-10, 3:10-16, 4:7, 11, 20-21}

A true Christian will not love the world nor the things in the world. {I John 2:15-17}

A true Christian will do {practice} righteousness. {I John 2:29,  3:7-10}

A true Christian will have a desire to be pure and holy. {I John 3:3}

A true Christian will not practice sin. {I John 3:5-10, 5:18}

A true Christian will confess that Jesus is the Son of God. {I John 4:15}

A true Christian will overcome the world. {I John 5:4-5}

A true Christian will have the witness of the Spirit. {I John 5:10}

 “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.” I John 5:13

A true Christian will have some fruit.

The things listed below are not the fruit of the Spirit. Any unbeliever with some degree of self discipline could perform these things {and many often do}.

Carrying a King James Bible

Dressing a certain way

Not going to movies

Not using tobacco or alcohol

Homeschooling

Praying

Going to church three times a week

Getting rid of the TV

Soul winning

Keeping the Sabbath

Not listening to worldly music

I am certain these may be good standards to live by but they are not the fruit of the Spirit. As one man said many years ago, Trusting in religious duties is a sure way, though a cleaner way to hell.”

But the Word of God says;

“…The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.”

One way assurance can be attained is by examining the fruit or “things” in our lives. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” James called these things or fruit, works. “But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

Do you see this fruit in your life?

Brother Shawn

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How to Avoid the Coming Persecution

Posted on September 7, 2015 by brothershawn

PProg_44_p99_TheyBurnedHimAtTheStakeJohn 15:18-19  “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”

I John 3:13  “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.”

It is fairly obvious that persecution is coming to America. As a Christian perhaps the most disturbing thing is to realize that the persecution is being spearheaded by the sodomites. There is, in my opinion, no one to blame but ourselves. We have allowed several generations of children to be brainwashed by the education system and hollywood.

As Dr James Dobson admitted, we have lost the culture war. It seems as though many people think that right and wrong is just a matter of opinion. We are without a doubt reaping the “if it feels good do it” seeds that were planted in the hippie generation.

In light of that I would like to give you some simple tips to help fellow Christians avoid the coming persecution.

  1. Avoid People Who Have Strong Biblical Convictions.

Steer clear of other Christians who place the Bible above everything else as a rule in their lives.

Nobody likes a religious fanatic.

Remember radicals always draw attention to themselves.

They will be the first to be persecuted.

  1. Try To Fit In With The World. Talk and Act like the World around You.

Use a little off-color language from time to time.

Tell a smutty joke now and again.

This will convince your friends and family and co-workers… “Hey, he’s just a regular guy or gal like we are”

Watch the same movies.

Read the same books.

Listen to the same music.

You don’t want those around you to think you are a “holy Joe”

  1. Do Not Judge Others.

Remember Jesus said, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.”

Who are we to say if something is right or wrong?

Live and let live.

And if you rebuke other people they will just end up hating you.

How can you win people that hate you?

Look at what it got John the Baptist.

So even if the Bible says something is wrong …best keep it to yourself.

  1. Don’t Worry About Holiness.

Avoid churches and people who promote holiness.

These people are usually legalists.

Remember, we are saved by grace not works.

You know the world hates a stick in the mud.

Besides, what you do in your private life is nobodies business.

  1. Don’t be Fanatical.

I know Jesus said, “…Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”

But that’s just for “super Christians”, preachers and missionaries and so forth.

You can be a Christian without being a fanatic!

Trouble starts when people become passionate about religion.

It is okay to be a sports fanatic or a car fanatic or a motorcycle fanatic

You can be a fanatic about any number of hobbies.

You can be passionate about saving the whales and the owls and the circus animals…the world doesn’t mind that.

But everyone knows that religious fanatics are kooks.

6.Find A Church and a Pastor That Doesn’t Rock the Boat.

Try to find a church where the preacher never mentions sin.

Or if he does mention it, he doesn’t actually call it by name.

It is best when trying to avoid persecution to speak only in general terms.

You don’t want to be known as a “Bible-thumper”

I know that the Bible says in Philippians 2:15  “That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world”

But think about it …How much of a light can you be sitting in a jail cell?

Brother Shawn

 

 

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I Don’t Apologize…

Posted on July 4, 2015 by brothershawn

104_6341

As a nation we are “on the rocks”                       I realize the average attention span today is 8.25 seconds but try to stay with me.

I will begin this article with full disclosure.

There is no sense beating around the bush.

I find the sin of the sodomites disgusting.

I find it abhorrent and nauseating.

It is a sexual perversion and I loathe it almost as much as I would the molestation of children.

{Although most do not speak up, I think a lot of people would agree with what I have said thus far}

We have been led down this road by what some have described as the “silent generation”

A generation described as “…people with no emotion – no love or hate, no strongly held opinions or beliefs. {People who were born between 1925 and 1945}…the silent generation, ‘men without chest’ without strong feelings, without a sure knowledge of what is right and wrong.”

I am sure there is truth to that statement.

But where are the younger “Christians”.

Why are they silent?

I believe it is because they have been thoroughly brainwashed by the public schools and the television.

When I look at those promoting the sodomite agenda, I cannot help but feel disgust.

I don’t apologize for that.

By the grace of God I pray that it always be so.

For 239 years this country has recognized marriage to be between a man and a woman.

More importantly since the Creation, God has defined marriage between a man and a woman.

Jesus said in Mark 10:6 -9, “But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.” {emphasis mine}

Sodomy is rebellion.

It is rebellion against Gods order.

Gods Word condemns sodomy from the beginning to the end.

Gods Word is my authority.

If the whole world runs after the sodomites, including my own family and friends that does not change the Word of God.

Now that the United States Government has sanctioned sodomite marriage many Christians {?} will capitulate.

By the grace of God I have no intention of surrendering.

It is time to decide…“Who is on the LORD’S side?”

We who believe the Bible are about to find out if we still have freedom of speech in this country.

Will the First Amendment remain standing for Bible believing Christians?

Will we have the right to the “free exorcise of religion” and the freedom of speech?

Time will tell.

This little dissertation is to openly affirm my commitment to Jesus Christ and His Word and to encourage others to stand with me.

As Erwin Lutzer stated in his book Hitler’s Cross:

“Many of our Christian heroes were lawbreakers. Whether it was John Bunyan, who sat in a Bedford jail for his preaching, Richard Wurmbrand, who was beaten for teaching the Bible in Communist Romania, Christians have always insisted that there is a law higher than that of the state.” …But if we say that we will always obey the state, the state becomes our God.” {page 134 Hitler’s Cross}

As a nation we are heading towards judgment.

God has given us an example:

“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude 1:7

As individuals we also are heading towards judgment.

“…it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment”

The New Testament gives a list of those who will not be in Heaven:

I Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

If words mean anything, practicing sodomites are not going to make it to Heaven.

Also according to this verse you are not born a sodomite, just as you are not born a drunkard or a fornicator or a thief.

But you are born a sinner.

Everyone of us.

…we are all sideways on God.

…We are rebels and a haters of God and His laws.

You are not a sinner because you sin; you sin because you are a sinner.

But according to the next verse in this epistle, there is hope.

Hope for all kinds of sinners.

That includes fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, sodomites, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners.

The Apostle Paul says:

“ And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

Consider the following verses and ask yourself these questions.

Is the Bible right or man?

Is God right or the government?

I say,“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar”

To quote another guy from a long time ago,

“Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”

Psalms 5:4-5  For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness: neither shall evil dwell with thee. The foolish shall not stand in thy sight: thou hatest all workers of iniquity.

Genesis 18:20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous

Hebrews 1:8-9  But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.  Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

II Peter 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;

“I know that when you are dying you will believe in a hell. Conscience makes cowards of us all, and makes us believe, even when we say we do not, that God must punish sin.”– C.H. Spurgeon from the Sermon, Turn or Burn!

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Christ Is The Source.

Posted on May 14, 2015 by brothershawn

10706472_802384529808089_1992077901_nCome unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.   Matthew 11:28-30

 

Christ is the source.

We see in this text that He is the source of rest.

We find He is the source of knowledge.

And He is the source of our strength.

When we were lost and burdened down with the load of guilt and shame He gave us rest for our souls.

Some people have never desired rest because they have never felt the weight or burden of sin.

I am reminded of an old anecdote;

“An open-air preacher was telling out the old, old story when a thoughtless youth rapped out, “You tell us about the burden of sin. I feel none.” Then he added flippantly, “How much does it weigh? Eighty pounds? Ten pounds?”

The preacher answered the fool according to his folly: “Tell me, if you laid a four hundred pound weight on the chest of a dead man, would he feel it?”                                “No, because he is dead,” answered the youth. The preacher responded, “And the man who feels no load of sin is DEAD spiritually.”

The old hymn says;

“Sin and despair, like the sea waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater, yes, grace untold,
Points to the refuge, the mighty cross.”

He is rest for the convicted soul.

He is rest for the sin sick soul.

He is indeed a refuge for the lost soul.

But He is also rest for the Christian.

In a world that is constantly attacking, He is a source of rest.

We can run to Him when we feel there is no one who understands.

We can find rest for our souls in the most tumultuous situations.

He is our peace, our shelter in the time of storm.

He also invites us to learn of Him.

He is Wisdom personified.

In Him “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Remember the Bible says: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.”

He is our source of knowledge and wisdom.

He is our source of strength.

His yoke is easy because He is working in the believer.

His burden is light because we are in His yoke.

When we are weak, He is strong.

Being yoked to Christ is a delight.

There is nothing like being a Christian.

It is really hard to put into words.

I am so thankful for His peace, His joy, His love.

“…He hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”

I can rest on that!

 

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The Snare of the Devil

Posted on March 28, 2015 by brothershawn

2 Timothy 2:22-26

Rattrap_and_mousetrap“Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes. And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.”

 The last day or two our cats had been acting a little peculiar. I noticed they were staying by the basement door as if they were waiting on something. Then the other morning I heard an awful racket as one of the cats went tearing through the house and parked by the closet. I realized then I had an unwanted guest. A mouse had invaded the basement somehow and was looking for a place to settle down. So yesterday I went to the dollar store and bought a pack of mousetraps.  Potentially four dead mice for a dollar…now that’s a bargain I don’t care how you slice it. Last night I put the peanut butter on the trap and set it for the kill. I looked down at the bottom of the basement steps this morning to find that my little intruder had taken the bait and in the process lost his life.

I was reminded that the devil is a skilled trapper. He sets snares all day every day. Many have been taken captive and many have died because they just couldn’t resist the temptation.

Proverbs 6:26 says; “For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adultress will hunt for the precious life.”

A lot of precious families have been destroyed; a lot of marriages and more than a few precious homes have been broken up by the snare of what the Bible calls a “whorish woman”

As my old high school teacher used to say “A word to the wise is sufficient”

Last night a 25 cent trap and a little dab of peanut butter cost a little critter his life. Everyday people throw away their “precious life” for not much more than that.

Dope, pornography, alcohol, gambling, greed and illicit sex…the devil has a trap just for you and it has the potential to ruin your life and even destroy your soul.

“The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from thy precepts.”  Psalm 119:110 

The snares are real and deadly.

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There Is Coming a Day.

Posted on March 12, 2015 by brothershawn

“We are fools for Christ’s sake, but ye are wise in Christ; we are weak, but ye are strong; ye are honourable, but we are despised. Even unto this present hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place; And labour, working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it: Being defamed, we intreat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the offscouring of all things unto this day.” – The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 4:10-13

This is a very sobering and thought provoking passage of scripture.

How many Christians could make such a statement as this?

How many preachers?

I cannot help but hear a tinge of sarcasm in the Apostles renunciation of the Christians at Corinth. They felt {it seems} as though they were top notch believers. They considered themselves wise and honorable and strong. It reminded me of the church of the Laodiceans. Jesus told them a similar truth about their condition;“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”

They evidently felt like the church at Corinth; “We don’t need a thing”

Jesus said, “…be zealous therefore, and repent.”

In John 16:2 Jesus told His disciples …“They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.”

He also warned His followers in Luke 21 “And ye shall be betrayed both by parents, and brethren, and kinsfolks, and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”

Some may be thinking; “well, that’s a tribulation text. I am not worried about that. When tribulation comes…I’m out of here!”

I would like to borrow a thought from the late Leonard Ravenhill about that kind of thinking. God didn’t have a rapture for the millions of Chinese who suffered for their faith. The Christians who suffered under the former Soviet Union didn’t get raptured. The Christians in Muslim countries who are being persecuted and dying for their faith today are not “out of here”

Paul didn’t get raptured and those early Christians who suffered under Nero didn’t get raptured. There are millions who went through terrible persecution down through the ages just for being followers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Read the Foxes Book of Martyrs. You might learn something.

They probably were not too surprised though. They probably had read those passages in Gods Word that warned them to be ready for it.

Verses like;

John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”

Acts 14:22 “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.”

1 Thessalonians 3:3-4 “That no man should be moved by these afflictions: for yourselves know that we are appointed thereunto. For verily, when we were with you, we told you before that we should suffer tribulation; even as it came to pass, and ye know.”

Most Christians have not been told to expect persecution and tribulation. But that is exactly what the Bible tells us to expect. American Christians somehow believe that we will escape persecution. I hope that’s true. But the world is changing quickly. Bible believing Christians are more and more becoming “the problem”.

Jesus said; “…ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake.”

We are heading in that direction.

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The Bible vs. the Sodomites.

Posted on February 15, 2015 by brothershawn

StoryOTB017_p35_LotFleesFromSodomOften times the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are used in both the Old and New Testaments as illustrations or examples of extreme wickedness.

The word sodomite in the Bible depicts what the world calls today a homosexual.

In the New Testament God calls the sin of  homosexuality uncleanness, unnatural, abusers of themselves with mankind and going after strange flesh.

Genesis 13:13 says; “But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.”

Jesus said; “Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-30

Both the Apostle Peter and Jude tell us that Sodom and Gomorrha are an example of what happens to those who live ungodly.

“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…”  II Peter 2:6

“Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” Jude vs.7

Today in the good ol’ US of A we are told that homosexuality is normal.

God says that it is abnormal.

We are told that they are born that way.

God says they became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened and professing themselves to be wise, they became fools

In the United States of America we are being told that we must accept their behavior.

God says that their behavior is unacceptable and will bring judgment upon nations and individuals.

Christians are very close to losing our freedom to preach and believe the Word of God. {at least publicly}

When the Supreme Court declares “same-sex” marriage as legal in all fifty states those who speak out against homosexuality will be considered hate mongers and unsophisticated.

Bible believers will be placed in the same league as the Klan or the Aryan Nation.

Churches may be forced {National Guard?} to perform or allow same sex marriages to be conducted in their churches.

We are now seeing states whose populations rejected same-sex marriage topple like dominoes as the Federal courts push the sodomite agenda in spite of the will of the people.

A very vocal and I believe potentially violent minority {official estimates of the homosexual population range from 2 to 4 percent}  has gained control of our nation’s political machinery. The individual States, it seems, no longer have the right to reject this perversion. {state rights were abolished a long time ago}

I personally do not see any hope for reversal outside of a Heaven sent revival.

Nothing seems to disturb most people these days including those who claim to be Christians. As Vance Havner said, “The tragedy of today is that the situation is desperate but the saints are not.”

I believe that the sodomites will neither slumber nor sleep until true Christians who oppose immorality are destroyed.

The Apostle Paul started churches in parts of the world where homosexuality was accepted…but he preached against it as he did all immorality.

He gave a list of people who would not be going to Heaven to the Church at Corinth. He also said “and such were some of you”.

The Good News is that God can still save and He still changes lives.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.” I Corinthians 6:9-11

 

 

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The Path to Revival

Posted on February 2, 2015 by brothershawn

“Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” Isaiah 1:16-19

The Lord through His prophet Isaiah tells the people that their religion is vain…empty…worthless.

He lays the blame at the feet of the rulers of the people.

People often get the rulers they deserve. One verse in Hosea says “like people, like priest”.

“Hear the word of the Lord” the prophet says.

God compares them to Sodom and Gomorrah.

Isaiah says if it had not have been for a small remnant they would have been destroyed like Sodom and Gomorrah.

This certainly would be a slap in the face to a people who were going through all the motions but who were not genuine in their hearts.

God asks these people some questions;

Why are you sacrificing to Me?

Who told you to come to my house to worship Me?

Why do you even bother praying?

God tells them;

I do not want your sacrifices and your special meetings mean nothing to Me. And there is no use praying because I am ignoring your prayers.

Many of these people had a form of godliness but no power.

God in essence says, “I am weary with your religion” as a matter of fact your religion is sin…it is evil. {iniquity vs.13}

We need to turn back to God.

Revival begins at the House of God.

Christians must lead the way.

The term we use for turning back to God is revival.

In other words there is no use acting pious or religious while you are living in sin.

It is not enough to cease to do evil but we need to learn to do well. {vs.17}

Often times young Christians {and I guess some older ones too} Are proud of the things they have quit doing but forget that there is more to being a Christian than just quitting stuff.

The Christian life is a life of repentance.

It is a life of putting off the old man and putting on the new man.

‘Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

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