Living in relative freedom has brought about an attitude of carelessness in the Christian community that has allowed wickedness to easily integrate itself into the congregation of believers. Christians in general are not careful to avoid evil. It is taken as ‘just a part of everyday life’, and treated as though it were of no consequence. This is the first step on the path to becoming part of an ungodly society.
The Bible tells us in Ephesians 5:11, ‘have no fellowship with the works of darkness, but rather reprove them’.
I Kings 11:2 warns us, ‘Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods;’.
The teaching of the Lord our God is very clear that we are to not mingle with non-believers. You can classify anyone who does not follow the teachings of the Bible as ‘non-believers’. My dear friend, Evangelist Evan New, (who is now with the Lord) likened determining right from wrong like picking a clean shirt from among the dirty shirts. He said, ‘Smell the shirts. Some are obviously dirty; some are obviously clean. But, some are a little more difficult to decide. They don’t smell clean, but they really don’t’ smell dirty. If it is doubtful that the shirt is clean, it is dirty. End of story.’ (As long as I knew Evan, Judy provided him with very clean shirts, so I suppose he came up with that analogy when he was in college.)
The truth is that in today’s world of ‘everything is gray’, and ‘nothing is black and white’, it is becoming increasingly difficult to clearly see what is right and what is wrong. Yet, rightly dividing the word of truth, and living your life accordingly, has never been more important than it is today. Your future depends on it, as well as the future of your family, your church, and your country.
Psalm 1 gives us a contrast between the way of the blessed man and the ungodly. It says;
(1) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
(2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
(3) And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, That bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
(4) The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
(5) Therefore the ungldly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
(6) For the LORD knoweth of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.
Today is a good day to choose if you are willing to walk the path of the believer who is blessed to the Lord, of if you will walk the path of the ungodly.
The first step onto the path of the godly is through salvation by grace. You must believe on Jesus Christ to be saved. (Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Acts 16:31)
The next step is to decide if you will live a life that ends like Lot’s or like the blessed man in Psalm chapter 1
Verse one tells us that the blessed man separates himself from evil. He is like the man in Psalm 119:115 who says, ‘Depart from me, ye evil doers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.’
The entire congregation of believers should separate themselves from evil according to the example of Nehemiah 9:2 which says, ‘And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.’ But, for an entire Christian congregation to separate themselves, the individual believer must first be willing to separate his or her self from evil.
The man who is blessed delights in the law of the Lord. Jeremiah 15:6 says, ‘Thy words were found, and I did eat them: and thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of mine heart:’.
Every true believer wants to blessed of the Lord. The problem preventing blessings comes by at least two avenues.
First, the believer may have some serious problems in his own life. He may not want to be ‘blessed of the Lord’ enough to surrender sins in his own life. He may find it easier (at least for the moment) to fight his own battles than to surrender to the Lord.
The second avenue is more subtle. It is given to us in detail in verse one. The blessed man:
DOES NOT - walk in the counsel of the ungodly, The blessed man doesn’t even walk near the counsel of the ungodly.
DOES NOT - walk in the way of sinners, The blessed man doesn’t stand still long enough to listen to what the ungodly have to say. He doesn’t go down the road them ‘just a little way’ in order to be sociable. He cannot be beguiled with their fancy words if he refuses to listen to them in the first place. (Think Eve here.)
DOES NOT – sit in the seat of the scornful. The blessed man does not join in with the ungodly for any reason.
ON the other hand, the ungodly:
DOES –listen to the counsel of the ungodly. He is willing to listen to whatever is ‘new’ or ‘exciting’. Honestly, there is nothing new in the realm of religion, or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone faces the same lie today that Eve faced in the garden. You will either listen to the liars who say things like, ‘you can be a god,’ or this path other than the Jesus Christ leads to heaven’, or you will just keep on walking like the blessed man.
DOES – quit walking and stop to listen to what the ungodly have to say. This man walks with the world a ways down the road. He sees the success of the worldly. He notices that he might apply their methods of success to his own life, to his church, to his business, to his family.
DOES - sit down and join the ungodly. Pretty soon, the ungodly have joined in with the world. If they were Christians to begin with, you can not tell them from those who belong to the god of this world. An example is of course Lot. He looked at the prosperity of Sodom. He walked down and considered their way of life and ‘principles’ of prosperity. He joined them. He became just like them.
This is how weak and ineffective preachers of the gospel come about.
They pay attention to what the world says about how to build a successful business and manage that business profitably.
They apply worldly tactics to the church.
They join in with the world, putting money and numbers above the grace and humility of Christ. They measure success by the measuring stick of the world which tells them they are successful if they bring in enough money.
This could not happen unless the leaders and members of the church were ALSO walking with the ungodly, standing still to listen to their ‘siren song’, and some have even joined the ungodly.
The blessed man: (v2)
Enjoys studying and learning the word of God.
He considers God’s law day and night in every thing he does.
Then, the blessed man is blessed even more.
His roots have grown deep into the world of God. He knows right behavior from wrong behavior. He is prosperous and fruitful.
On the other hand – The ungodly do not receive these blessing, but instead are failures;
They are like wheat chaff blown away in the wind. This is a terrible way to live. They have no foundation on which they are able to stand. Political, social, and religious ideologies and changes keep them anxious about everything. They do that which is right in their own eyes.
They do not stand in the judgment, or in the congregation of the righteous. They have not submitted to God, but instead of established their own righteousness.
The LORD knows their ways, and they shall perish. Their end is destruction. If the ungodly are such as Abraham’s nephew Lot, they are saved, but without any good works.
The ungodly face judgment day with fear.
The saved who have lived an ungodly life are spoken of in I Corinthians chapter 3. Verse 13 says, ‘Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire: and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. (v14) If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. (v15) If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.’
Those whom God never knew are those spoken of in Matthew Chapter 25. Verse 46 says, ‘And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into eternal life. Matthew 7:23, also speaking of the judgment, says, ‘And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from, ye that work iniquity.’
What an unspeakably horrible way for a soul to end up. It becomes even worse when you know such an end could have been avoided.
If you think that your life is your business, think again. What you do does matter. How you live your life does count. Again, consider Lot. Just suppose that Lot had gone down to Sodom with a heart set on the Lord like Abraham’s heart. Lot would not have conformed to the behavior in Sodom. He might have been able to change the mind set of some of the people of the city. Perhaps Lot’s influence could have influenced at least ten people in Sodom to turn from their wickedness and turn to the Lord God Almighty. Lot would have been instrumental in saving the city.
So, is this a good time to consider how your life is going at the moment? You are saved or lost. If you are lost – then it is time to get saved. If you are saved, you are either living a life is clearly following the pattern of the blessed man spoken of in Psalm 1:1; or, you are not. If you aren’t sure, here is a good way to decide.
Isaiah 58:1 says, ‘Cry aloud, spare not, lift up they voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.’
The way you live your life is supposed to be so different from the life of the world that you stand out like a clear blast on a loud trumpet.
Unfortunately, many Christians are living such a half-hearted Christian life that the ‘trumpet sound’ of their lives tells the world nothing. I Corinthians 14:8 says, ‘For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”
That is what happened to Lot. He spent his life joined to the people and ways of Sodom. Many Christians today are doing the same thing on different scales. Some live just as worldly as Lot lived. Others are much less openly sold out to the world, but never the less, the sound of the trumpet ‘heralding their Christianity’ is so off key it only causes the people around them to hiss or ridicule Christianity. It does not prepare them to understand that must decide for Christ, or they have decided against Him.
If you put a bunch of Christians living the life of the ungodly together, and they all blew a trumpet with the skill equal to the way they live their Christian life, you would get the whole bunch of trumpets blowing loudly, but without a single pure note in the bunch. Can you imagine what an awful sound that would be?
Is it any wonder that Christians are not transforming the world when our own lives have not been first transformed? Christians should live their lives in a way that stands out like a loud and true trumpet. A figurative question for many Christians is, ‘Is it time for you to learn to play the trumpet?’
The Judge of your heart is God. It is not me, or any other human being. But it appears that at least two things are wrong in the heart of many Christians.
First, Christianity as a whole is lacking in humility and meekness. Moses was a mighty man of God. At some point Moses became humble enough to understand that he could not do anything through his own power. Then he became meek enough to understand that God could do all things through him. Moses still accomplished great things, but he knew by whose power his deeds were really accomplished. By the way, have you noticed that all the great men of the Bible made it clear that it was God who was doing great things through them?
Second, the saving message of the Gospel of Christ is often not presented with humility and grace. Our hearts are supposed to be broken over the lost. We are supposed to love them as Christ loved them. The Gospel message should not be presented in a manner that says, ‘Well, you can just get saved, or you can go to hell.’
The blessed man should never forget Romans 5:8 which says, ‘But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while were yet sinners, Christ died for us.’
The song for this article is ‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’.
A closer walk with Jesus is what is necessary to transform the ungodly man into the blessed man. If you doubt it can be, remember the transformation of Saul, persecutor of Christians, to Paul, the greatest mortal to the Gentiles.
Thank you for reading my article. God bless you.
Barbara Henderson
‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee’
http://cyberhymnal.org/htm/j/u/justaclo.htm
________________________________________
I am weak, but Thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I’ll be satisfied as long
As I walk, let me walk close to Thee.
Refrain
Just a closer walk with Thee,
Grant it, Jesus, is my plea,
Daily walking close to Thee,
Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.
Through this world of toil and snares,
If I falter, Lord, who cares?
Who with me my burden shares?
None but Thee, dear Lord, none but Thee.
Refrain
When my feeble life is o’er,
Time for me will be no more;
Guide me gently, safely o’er
To Thy kingdom shore, to Thy shore.
Refrain
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Who is to blame? God or the Devil?
Christians have a firm foundation on which to stand in every avenue of life. It is the Bible, God's Holy Word. Through God's word we have knowledge and understanding that is not available to unbelivers and scoffers.
We know that we were created by God.
We can know that we have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
We have the stability of knowing the rules by which we are supposed to live in the hear and now. They are written down for us in the Bible.
In the Bible we see examples of caring for the environment. The Jews were instructed by God to let their lands rest every seven years. In the fiftieth year - the Jews were supposed to set their bond servents free and return the land to its origianl owner. We see Noah obeying God and building an ark to save his family AND all the animals. We have the example of the good Samaratin who cared for the wounded man he did not know, and even paid for his care. We have the new commandment - to love one another like Christ loved us.
It is really arrogant for anyone to believe the earth can be destroyed by mankind. The Bible says, 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.' Psalm 24:1
Currently naturalist David Attenborough is preaching that it is the Bible that is responsible for the destruction of the environment.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87651 He tears down the God of creation as a merciful God because of the sorrow and disease in the world.
What Attenborough and others are ignoring is that God created and all its creatures and the two first inhabitants as perfect beings who would never die. THAT was God's plan. Then God's adversary (the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the old dragon, the serpent....) beguiled the woman into eating the fruit and death entered into the world.
The devil is the evil villian in this cosmic drama. What God created as perfect and eternal, the devil has distorted to evil. Attenborough uses the example of a worm that lives in a child's eye - and questions the mercy of God in creating such an evil. He is lacking in understanding. God created perfection. All this was changed when sin entered in. Through the evil of Satan, disease came into the world. Good was tarnished with evil. Disease came in. Death came in. Sorrow, despair, and hopelessness came in. All this and more came through Lucifer. They did not come into the world through God. Like a criminal in a movie drama, the devil is putting the blame for his crimes on the 'Good Guy' - which is God.
When people blame God for their troubles and sorrows, they are turning away from the only help they have in this life. Satan LOVES that. He not only torments them, he places the blame for HIS (Satan's) crimes on God - who is without sin and full of mercy.
Don't let Satan fool you!
And, remember, every life is only temporary. Every one will die and face the judgment. Those who believe on Jesus Christ will be raised to perfection and eternal life. Those who reject Jesus Christ will be raised to spend eternity in their sins,sorrows, dissappointments, and heartaches separated from God in a place called hell.
We know that we were created by God.
We can know that we have eternal life. (1 John 5:13)
We have the stability of knowing the rules by which we are supposed to live in the hear and now. They are written down for us in the Bible.
In the Bible we see examples of caring for the environment. The Jews were instructed by God to let their lands rest every seven years. In the fiftieth year - the Jews were supposed to set their bond servents free and return the land to its origianl owner. We see Noah obeying God and building an ark to save his family AND all the animals. We have the example of the good Samaratin who cared for the wounded man he did not know, and even paid for his care. We have the new commandment - to love one another like Christ loved us.
It is really arrogant for anyone to believe the earth can be destroyed by mankind. The Bible says, 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.' Psalm 24:1
Currently naturalist David Attenborough is preaching that it is the Bible that is responsible for the destruction of the environment.
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=87651 He tears down the God of creation as a merciful God because of the sorrow and disease in the world.
What Attenborough and others are ignoring is that God created and all its creatures and the two first inhabitants as perfect beings who would never die. THAT was God's plan. Then God's adversary (the devil, Satan, Lucifer, the old dragon, the serpent....) beguiled the woman into eating the fruit and death entered into the world.
The devil is the evil villian in this cosmic drama. What God created as perfect and eternal, the devil has distorted to evil. Attenborough uses the example of a worm that lives in a child's eye - and questions the mercy of God in creating such an evil. He is lacking in understanding. God created perfection. All this was changed when sin entered in. Through the evil of Satan, disease came into the world. Good was tarnished with evil. Disease came in. Death came in. Sorrow, despair, and hopelessness came in. All this and more came through Lucifer. They did not come into the world through God. Like a criminal in a movie drama, the devil is putting the blame for his crimes on the 'Good Guy' - which is God.
When people blame God for their troubles and sorrows, they are turning away from the only help they have in this life. Satan LOVES that. He not only torments them, he places the blame for HIS (Satan's) crimes on God - who is without sin and full of mercy.
Don't let Satan fool you!
And, remember, every life is only temporary. Every one will die and face the judgment. Those who believe on Jesus Christ will be raised to perfection and eternal life. Those who reject Jesus Christ will be raised to spend eternity in their sins,sorrows, dissappointments, and heartaches separated from God in a place called hell.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
“The Way of Cain” Versus “The Way of the Cross”
There he was, a man who tilled the ground and grew food. His brother was a shepherd. Both men were good at what they did. Their parents must have been so proud of their boys. Mom and dad probably sat around and wondered if one of the boys was the savior God had promised after their little fiasco when they ate the forbidden fruit, got themselves and all mankind condemned to die, separated from God by sin, and forced to work for their food. Perhaps they had an idea that something was not quite right with their first son. Perhaps they knew Cain was looking for a way into heaven that didn’t require following the instructions given to them by God.
I expect that both Adam and Eve reminded their sons quite often of how disobedience to God had gotten them all into this mess in the first place. They warned against future disobedience. They knew the end of disobedience is disaster. Or put another way, ‘the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Probably Adam and Eve didn’t know the name of the promised savior; but they did know that on the day they ate the forbidden fruit, they had died spiritually. The also began to die physically. They were able to bear their sorrow because of the promise God had given them of a coming savior. They wanted their sons to avoid their mistakes. They wanted them to be obedient to God.
Cain was not ignorant of the events that led to the fall from grace. But apparently he was willing to remain a ‘little confused’ about the remedy for rebellion and disobedience. He was ‘willingly ignorant’. In his rebellion, Cain set out to discover another way into heaven that was ‘reasonable’. Cain probably reasoned, “I surely worked as hard as my brother Able. I am older than Able, which should have made me the leader. Able isn’t a follower of anyone but God. And look where that has gotten him. He is just a sheep herder. Is that the kind of success God gives to those who follow him?” Cain became even more dissatisfied.
Sadly, Cain rejected the way of salvation as ‘too harsh’ or ‘too narrow minded’. Yet, he still wanted to be reconciled to God. He wanted the good things God had to offer; but he didn’t want reconciliation badly enough to seek it on God’s terms. He refused to obey God’s instructions and offer a blood sacrifice as a symbol of atonement for sin. He had to come up with a substitue.
Cain came up with the idea that he would give God the very best of what he had to offer. He would sidestep the time and effort it would take for him to obtain a lamb from his brother. He would also sidestep the messy spectacle of actually sacrificing the lamb. He would go to God by works. And that is what he did. Of course, God refused to even consider the offering. You know, Cain might have offered God enough fruit and vegetables to feed the current population of the entire continent of Asia. I imagine he really put on a good show. It was all in vain because God knew what was in Cain’s heart. It was rebellion. And God says ‘For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft’ (1 Samuel 15:23). God tells us ‘thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’. (Exodus 22:18) The substitute offered by Cain wasn’t even worthy of a glance from God. It was as nothing.
Able on the other hand, went beyond reason and stepped through the door of faith. And his offering God accepted.
Living by faith doesn’t mean you have given up your reason and have gone off chasing illusive and impossible dreams. It means you have found ‘reason’ an empty well or a cloud without water. It means you have sought and found truth. It means you have accepted the mercy of God that allows repentant men and women entrance to heaven. It means you have chosen the narrow way that leads to life everlasting. Within the boundaries of a life lived by faith in the Son of God, the believer is to fear (or have a reverent awe) of God and keep the commandments.
Cain gained condemnation for his offering of human reasoning and works; and Cain died in his sins. Able gained justification by faith; and Able lives in heaven for all eternity. That same door of faith is still open. Sadly, most of humanity has learned nothing from the story of Cain and Able.
The proud walk the earth like giants of old, basking in the glory of their powers of ‘reasoning’ and ‘persuasive abilities’. Measuring their abilities by the abilities of those around them, they think themselves wise. Then belonging to the elite group of wise people, they suddenly believe themselves to be able to contend with the God of creation regarding who shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
How then does ‘reason’ tell us that we may enter the kingdom of heaven?
· ‘Just do more good deeds than bad deeds and you can enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (‘There is non righteous, no, not one;’ Romans 3:10)
· ‘Die in a holy war fighting for Allah and you can enter the kingdom of heaven.’
· ‘Work out your bad karma through endless death and rebirth - don’t worry - you’ll finally get it right.’
· ‘Forget seeking and pursing peace with God, and instead seek to bring about world peace through a social gospel.’
· ‘Forget the God of Bible and BECOME GOD YOURSELF!!!”
· ‘You can’t know God - don’t worry about it.’
Human reason actually can take you to a predetermined destination. However, it is not the same destination to which ‘faith’ will take you.
Let’s consider the place to which a faith like Abel’s will take you. Able lives in the place where the God of creation lives. God owns this place. We call it heaven or paradise. God is there. The light of God is there. Love is there. Peace, harmony, joy, grace, mercy, innocence, trust, and things so wonderful that we can’t even imagine them are in heaven. As the owner of heaven, God certainly has the right to say who can enter into his realm. Actually, He owns everything else as well, but the place of perfection we call heaven is the home of our God. To enter this place only requires faith on our part. To ask us to get to the place God calls heaven by works is like asking a new born baby to build a bridge strong enough to span a treacherous and mighty ocean. It cannot be done. Thankfully, our merciful God did the work for us. He made one way into heaven. It cost a terrible price. It is big enough and strong enough to accommodate every single person who is willing to obediently enter through faith in the promised savior - who we now know to be Jesus Christ. When a ‘religion’ offers salvation by any other name or any other way, they are not speaking of the place Jesus Christ calls home.
There is a place Allah calls ‘Paradise’. Yet the paradise of Allah not only accepts murderers, it rewards them. John 8:44 tells us ‘He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.’ This verse is speaking of Satan - the father of lies. The paradise of Allah is not the Paradise of Jesus Christ.
There is a place called “Nirvana’ where Hindus and Buddhists supposedly go when they achieve enlightenment. Upon arrival they unite with their god - and individualism is lost. This is not the heaven of Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 13:12 tells us, ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.’ We will not only know Jesus Christ, but we will know those around us. Our saved loved ones and friends will not be lost to us, but will fellowship with us for eternity!
The Pantheist likely worships the creation instead of the Creator of all things.
The Humanist sees heaven developing on earth through the works of mankind. The ‘little god’ in all of us will come out if given the chance. This is the socialist gospel now being preached in the place of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many churches and all aspects of society.
All these ideologies are really the same thing. They are following ‘The Way of Cain’.
They have rejected the TRUTH of Jesus Christ. They are apostates from truth.
They have reasoned their way to a ‘substitute’ for the truth. They have changed the truth for a lie. Romans 1:25 says ‘Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.’
Their end is destruction. God will not accept their offering anymore than He would accept Cain’s offering. In seeking a substitute for the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ, they are instead following God’s adversary the devil. What does the devil offer to his followers?
He offers them lies, for he is a liar - and the father of it.
Satan lies when he helps the arrogant and rebellious reason against the truth of God.
Satan lies when he suggests any substitute will work when approaching the Most High God.
Satan lies when he offers a home in ‘paradise’. He owns no place called
Paradise - or any other place for that matter.
Satan lies when he says people will be reborn and have another chance to live a better life. (It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27)
The ‘RELIGION” of the individual is his or her own deeply held belief system. It is not the religion of anyone that will get him or her into the heaven where Jesus lives. It is their “FAITH” that will get them there. Everyone makes a decision. They will live by faith - or they will live by reason.
Romans 1:17 says, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.’
We are justified by faith in God. Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’
Walking any path except the path offered by Jesus Christ is the walking the way of Cain. The end of that path is eternal separation from God in a place called hell.
The song for this article is ‘All Hail the Power of Jesus Name’ because it is only Jesus who can bridge the might gulf between God and man. (actually - I almost chose “At Calvary” as the song because it sings of the ‘mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary - I’ll give you a link to that song as well. Follow the link and the lyrics will be there as well. http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/t/atcalvry.htm )
Thank you so much for reading my article. God bless you.
Barbara Henderson.
-------------------------------
http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/h/ahtpojn.htm
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fallBefore His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, Who fixed this floating ball;Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, Whom David Lord did call,The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.
Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fallAnd shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
[
bio("John Rippon","r/i/rippon_j")
John Rippon added this verse in 1787]
O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!
There he was, a man who tilled the ground and grew food. His brother was a shepherd. Both men were good at what they did. Their parents must have been so proud of their boys. Mom and dad probably sat around and wondered if one of the boys was the savior God had promised after their little fiasco when they ate the forbidden fruit, got themselves and all mankind condemned to die, separated from God by sin, and forced to work for their food. Perhaps they had an idea that something was not quite right with their first son. Perhaps they knew Cain was looking for a way into heaven that didn’t require following the instructions given to them by God.
I expect that both Adam and Eve reminded their sons quite often of how disobedience to God had gotten them all into this mess in the first place. They warned against future disobedience. They knew the end of disobedience is disaster. Or put another way, ‘the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23 Probably Adam and Eve didn’t know the name of the promised savior; but they did know that on the day they ate the forbidden fruit, they had died spiritually. The also began to die physically. They were able to bear their sorrow because of the promise God had given them of a coming savior. They wanted their sons to avoid their mistakes. They wanted them to be obedient to God.
Cain was not ignorant of the events that led to the fall from grace. But apparently he was willing to remain a ‘little confused’ about the remedy for rebellion and disobedience. He was ‘willingly ignorant’. In his rebellion, Cain set out to discover another way into heaven that was ‘reasonable’. Cain probably reasoned, “I surely worked as hard as my brother Able. I am older than Able, which should have made me the leader. Able isn’t a follower of anyone but God. And look where that has gotten him. He is just a sheep herder. Is that the kind of success God gives to those who follow him?” Cain became even more dissatisfied.
Sadly, Cain rejected the way of salvation as ‘too harsh’ or ‘too narrow minded’. Yet, he still wanted to be reconciled to God. He wanted the good things God had to offer; but he didn’t want reconciliation badly enough to seek it on God’s terms. He refused to obey God’s instructions and offer a blood sacrifice as a symbol of atonement for sin. He had to come up with a substitue.
Cain came up with the idea that he would give God the very best of what he had to offer. He would sidestep the time and effort it would take for him to obtain a lamb from his brother. He would also sidestep the messy spectacle of actually sacrificing the lamb. He would go to God by works. And that is what he did. Of course, God refused to even consider the offering. You know, Cain might have offered God enough fruit and vegetables to feed the current population of the entire continent of Asia. I imagine he really put on a good show. It was all in vain because God knew what was in Cain’s heart. It was rebellion. And God says ‘For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft’ (1 Samuel 15:23). God tells us ‘thou shalt not suffer a witch to live’. (Exodus 22:18) The substitute offered by Cain wasn’t even worthy of a glance from God. It was as nothing.
Able on the other hand, went beyond reason and stepped through the door of faith. And his offering God accepted.
Living by faith doesn’t mean you have given up your reason and have gone off chasing illusive and impossible dreams. It means you have found ‘reason’ an empty well or a cloud without water. It means you have sought and found truth. It means you have accepted the mercy of God that allows repentant men and women entrance to heaven. It means you have chosen the narrow way that leads to life everlasting. Within the boundaries of a life lived by faith in the Son of God, the believer is to fear (or have a reverent awe) of God and keep the commandments.
Cain gained condemnation for his offering of human reasoning and works; and Cain died in his sins. Able gained justification by faith; and Able lives in heaven for all eternity. That same door of faith is still open. Sadly, most of humanity has learned nothing from the story of Cain and Able.
The proud walk the earth like giants of old, basking in the glory of their powers of ‘reasoning’ and ‘persuasive abilities’. Measuring their abilities by the abilities of those around them, they think themselves wise. Then belonging to the elite group of wise people, they suddenly believe themselves to be able to contend with the God of creation regarding who shall enter the kingdom of heaven.
How then does ‘reason’ tell us that we may enter the kingdom of heaven?
· ‘Just do more good deeds than bad deeds and you can enter the kingdom of heaven.’ (‘There is non righteous, no, not one;’ Romans 3:10)
· ‘Die in a holy war fighting for Allah and you can enter the kingdom of heaven.’
· ‘Work out your bad karma through endless death and rebirth - don’t worry - you’ll finally get it right.’
· ‘Forget seeking and pursing peace with God, and instead seek to bring about world peace through a social gospel.’
· ‘Forget the God of Bible and BECOME GOD YOURSELF!!!”
· ‘You can’t know God - don’t worry about it.’
Human reason actually can take you to a predetermined destination. However, it is not the same destination to which ‘faith’ will take you.
Let’s consider the place to which a faith like Abel’s will take you. Able lives in the place where the God of creation lives. God owns this place. We call it heaven or paradise. God is there. The light of God is there. Love is there. Peace, harmony, joy, grace, mercy, innocence, trust, and things so wonderful that we can’t even imagine them are in heaven. As the owner of heaven, God certainly has the right to say who can enter into his realm. Actually, He owns everything else as well, but the place of perfection we call heaven is the home of our God. To enter this place only requires faith on our part. To ask us to get to the place God calls heaven by works is like asking a new born baby to build a bridge strong enough to span a treacherous and mighty ocean. It cannot be done. Thankfully, our merciful God did the work for us. He made one way into heaven. It cost a terrible price. It is big enough and strong enough to accommodate every single person who is willing to obediently enter through faith in the promised savior - who we now know to be Jesus Christ. When a ‘religion’ offers salvation by any other name or any other way, they are not speaking of the place Jesus Christ calls home.
There is a place Allah calls ‘Paradise’. Yet the paradise of Allah not only accepts murderers, it rewards them. John 8:44 tells us ‘He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.’ This verse is speaking of Satan - the father of lies. The paradise of Allah is not the Paradise of Jesus Christ.
There is a place called “Nirvana’ where Hindus and Buddhists supposedly go when they achieve enlightenment. Upon arrival they unite with their god - and individualism is lost. This is not the heaven of Jesus Christ. First Corinthians 13:12 tells us, ‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face; now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.’ We will not only know Jesus Christ, but we will know those around us. Our saved loved ones and friends will not be lost to us, but will fellowship with us for eternity!
The Pantheist likely worships the creation instead of the Creator of all things.
The Humanist sees heaven developing on earth through the works of mankind. The ‘little god’ in all of us will come out if given the chance. This is the socialist gospel now being preached in the place of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many churches and all aspects of society.
All these ideologies are really the same thing. They are following ‘The Way of Cain’.
They have rejected the TRUTH of Jesus Christ. They are apostates from truth.
They have reasoned their way to a ‘substitute’ for the truth. They have changed the truth for a lie. Romans 1:25 says ‘Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.’
Their end is destruction. God will not accept their offering anymore than He would accept Cain’s offering. In seeking a substitute for the sacrifice offered by Jesus Christ, they are instead following God’s adversary the devil. What does the devil offer to his followers?
He offers them lies, for he is a liar - and the father of it.
Satan lies when he helps the arrogant and rebellious reason against the truth of God.
Satan lies when he suggests any substitute will work when approaching the Most High God.
Satan lies when he offers a home in ‘paradise’. He owns no place called
Paradise - or any other place for that matter.
Satan lies when he says people will be reborn and have another chance to live a better life. (It is appointed unto man once to die and after this the judgment. Hebrews 9:27)
The ‘RELIGION” of the individual is his or her own deeply held belief system. It is not the religion of anyone that will get him or her into the heaven where Jesus lives. It is their “FAITH” that will get them there. Everyone makes a decision. They will live by faith - or they will live by reason.
Romans 1:17 says, ‘For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.’
We are justified by faith in God. Acts 4:12 says, “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.’
Walking any path except the path offered by Jesus Christ is the walking the way of Cain. The end of that path is eternal separation from God in a place called hell.
The song for this article is ‘All Hail the Power of Jesus Name’ because it is only Jesus who can bridge the might gulf between God and man. (actually - I almost chose “At Calvary” as the song because it sings of the ‘mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary - I’ll give you a link to that song as well. Follow the link and the lyrics will be there as well. http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/t/atcalvry.htm )
Thank you so much for reading my article. God bless you.
Barbara Henderson.
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http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/h/ahtpojn.htm
All hail the power of Jesus’ Name! Let angels prostrate fall;Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.Bring forth the royal diadem, and crown Him Lord of all.
Let highborn seraphs tune the lyre, and as they tune it, fallBefore His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.Before His face Who tunes their choir, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye morning stars of light, Who fixed this floating ball;Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.Now hail the strength of Israel’s might, and crown Him Lord of all.
Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God, who from His altar call;Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.Extol the Stem of Jesse’s Rod, and crown Him Lord of all.
Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race, ye ransomed from the fall,Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.Hail Him Who saves you by His grace, and crown Him Lord of all.
Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line, Whom David Lord did call,The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all,The God incarnate, Man divine, and crown Him Lord of all.
Sinners, whose love can ne’er forget the wormwood and the gall,Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.Go spread your trophies at His feet, and crown Him Lord of all.
Let every tribe and every tongue before Him prostrate fallAnd shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.And shout in universal song the crownèd Lord of all.
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bio("John Rippon","r/i/rippon_j")
John Rippon added this verse in 1787]
O that, with yonder sacred throng, we at His feet may fall,Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all,Join in the everlasting song, and crown Him Lord of all!
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