Dress like a woman of God!

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The Wrath of God

John MacArthur has been a tremendous blessing to me, his teachings are a source of growth and understanding God has used to 'grow' me in Christ. I praise God for men He's raised up for His glory...John MacArthur is such a man...

Perilous Times

"This know also, that in the last {latter end, farthest, final} days perilous {difficult, dangerous} times {a season, proper time} shall come"-2nd Timothy 3:1

The Apostle Paul warns of a great deterioration of all things right before the return of Jesus Christ. This will gain speed in the latter days, as the end draws near. The term 'last days' in this passage refers to the final, or an end of, an age. Paul wasn't the only Apostle to warn us, Peter warns as well in 2nd Peter 3:3, saying, "Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts". These scoffers are mockers of Christ, false teachers luring people into deception with their twisting of scripture. They deny the second coming of Christ {2nd Peter 3:4}, the need for repentance, the wrath to come, hell, the narrow way... the whole counsel of God. That is what makes these times so perilous and dangerous.The teachings of these apostates is so deceiving and damaging; their gospel, which is contrary to sound doctrine, leads many down the broad road. When you look all around today, you can clearly see the emerging church movement spreading like a cancer, along with the false teachings of the word faith movement, the Roman Catholic deception, Scientology, Wicca, Jehovah Witness, Mormonism, and the ecumenical push by many denominations to unite all religions, regardless of what they believe, with so many saying 'all roads lead to Christ'. Those who are not grounded in the word of God are the ones who succumb to deception. 1st Timothy 4:1 clarifies, "Now the Spirit speaketh expressly {specifically, distinctly}, that in the latter {later} times {a set, or proper time} some shall depart {desert, fall away} from the faith, giving heed {adhering to, paying attention to} to seducing {seduction is both powerful and irresistable} spirits, and doctrines of devils {teachings with demonic influence}". Verse 2, "speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron {their demonic teachings, as well as their rejection of God's truth have led to a conscience that is dead, unable to detect the deadly error of their ways}". The Holy Ghost distinctly speaks here, at the set or proper time some shall fall away from their claim of saving faith. However, their falling away proves they never really belonged to Christ in the first place {John 10:28,29-1st John 5:13}. Instead, they turn towards and apply themselves to misleading, deceptive teachers, pastors, preachers, etc. who are led by evil demonic spirits; their doctrines, or teachings, are empowered by demons. These apostates preach an erroneous doctrine, bringing condemnation on themselves and all who hear. They have corrupted the word of God for their own personal gain, mixing just enough truth with their poison to sound genuine. The Puritan preacher, J.C. Ryle, said it best about these types when he said this, 'poison is always most dangerous when it is given in small doses and mixed with wholesome food'. This is the precise recipe false teachers mix up for their flock to devour. God warns against false prophets in Jeremiah 23:16, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 'hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain, they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the Lord'."

Paul gives more indicators of the last days in 2nd Timothy 3:2, "For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous {greedy, esp. for money}, boasters {braggarts}, proud {appearing above others, haughty}, blasphemers {lacking reverence for God, slandering one another}, disobedient {stubborn resistance to authority} to parents, unthankful {thankless, ungrateful}, unholy {wicked}." Paul is warning of selfish, conceited people who cannot look past their own wants and greed, loving money and all it can buy, boasting about their material 'gods', i.e., possessions, with an ever insatiable appetite for more. They are filled with pride, thinking more highly of themselves than they ought to, lashing out at true biblical Christianity as narrow minded, they have no fear or reverence for God Almighty.

Children of all ages resist any authority weak-willed parents may attempt to enforce; the older the child, the greater the resistance. Mankind in general is ungrateful and unthankful, believing they 'deserve' all the material goods they've lavished themselves with: their hearts are wicked, there is nothing good in them.

Paul goes on in verse 3, "without natural affection {unloving}, trucebreakers {no devotion to God, family, marriage, etc.; no giving of 'self', no sacrifice for others. All this results from self-centeredness and leads to a society filled with the mindset of self as the primary focus; couples living together outside the covenant of marriage, homosexuals demanding to legalize marriage for their perversion}, false accusers, incontinent {lacking self-control, which leads to an increase in crime, drug abuse, alcohol abuse, sexual immorality-overindulgences of every kind}, fierce {savage-like animalistic behavior, a society that is desensitized, uncaring and unfeeling toward their fellow man}, despisers of those that are good". This describes the hearts of wicked men, they have no love for others, they fall back on commitments or fail to make them at all, they falsely accuse the brethren of every kind of hypocritical motive or action, they lack self control over their words, actions and behavior, with savage personalities-ready to lash out and attack true believers, as well as others. They are hostile to the morals and values taught by God's word and upheld by born again believers, rejecting altogether the narrow way. They do not love others and see the 'weak' as not worthy of life. The 'weak' are classified as the elderly, underprivileged...the outcasts of society.

Verse 4 continues on with more characteristics describing the rapid decline of mankind right before the return of Christ, "traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God." False teachers appeal to the flesh with their doctrines of demons because they deliver up exactly what sinful man wants---a message that paints Jesus as a God who accepts all kinds of baggage into His kingdom. There is no demand for repentance, no cry for reconciliation back to a Holy God solely through Christ, no mention of sin, hell, wrath; no emphasis on the true meaning of the cross. They trade the truth of God's word for selfish pleasure, popularity, and sensuality. Jude speaks out against these apostates when he wrote this, 'these be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit'. False teachers have dis-joined themselves from truth, they claim spiritual knowledge but are soulish, not spiritual. They are not filled with nor or they led by God's Holy Spirit. They are dead in sin.

The most deadly characteristic of all about the false teacher[s] is brought out in 2nd Timothy 3:5, 'having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, from such turn away'. They look and sound like the real thing, BUT, they do NOT possess the Spirit of God because they are NOT born again, they remain unregenerate. Their message has no life-changing transforming power, because their message is not of God.

There will be, and already is, a massive increase in the number of these wolves as we draw closer to Christ's return. Keep in mind, this is all part of God's plan. He said He would send a strong delusion, all who refuse to repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ will come under the delusion of the false teachers teachings, thinking they're 'saved', when in fact they are still dead in their sins.

What is next on God's 'prophetic calendar'? Paul tells us in 2nd Thessalonians 2:3, 'let no man deceive you by any means, for that day {judgment/Christ's second coming} shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition'. Paul makes it clear, once the falling away has taken hold {and it has} then the antichrist will rise up, being unveiled at God's appointed time. This demonic-powered person will have no resistance when it comes to the people, they will all fall at his feet. From Revelation 13:3-4, 'all the world wondered {admired, marveled} after the beast. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying 'who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?' From these verses, we see why the falling away is key to the antichrists' rise to power, and why the end times are so dangerous.

This will be a difficult and dangerous time for believers, as Revelation 13:7 warns, 'and it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them; and power was given him over all kindred, and tongues, and nations'. Only true born again believers will persevere under these conditions, and only by the power given by Christ Himself.

The not-too-distant future is one filled with terror and horror; those who belong to Christ have no reason to fear what's about to take place. This should prompt us to increase our prayer life, especially for lost loved ones, and cause us to spend more time in His word. We should be looking forward to the return of our Lord, for it means the end of sin! A new heaven and a new earth await us, with the Great Shepherd Himself as the reward for all God's people.

Even so, come Lord Jesus!

If our lives were as good as our prayers

( from J.R. Miller's, "Living up to our Prayers" 1905)

If we only tried seriously to live up to our praying--it would have a powerful effect upon our character and conduct!There is no prayer that most Christians make oftener--than that they may be made like Christ. It is a most fitting prayer, and one that we should never cease to make. But if we very earnestly wish to be transformed into Christ's likeness--we will find the desire growing into great intensity in our daily lives, and transforming them. It will affect every phase of our behavior and conduct. It will hold before us continually, the image of our Lord, and will keep ever in our vision--a new standard . . . of thought, of feeling, of desire, of act, of speech. It will keep us asking all the while, such questions as these, "How would Jesus feel about this--if He were personally in my circumstances? What would Jesus do--if He were here today where I am?"There is always danger of mockeries and insincerities in our praying for spiritual blessings. The desires are to be commended. God approves of them and will gladly bestow upon us the more grace we ask for: the increase in love, the greater faith, the purer heart, the new advance in holiness. But these are attainments which are not bestowed upon us directly, as gifts from heaven. We have much to do in securing them. When we ask for spiritual blessings or favors, the Master asks, "Are you able to pay the price, to make the self-denial, to give up the things you love--in order to reach these attainments in holiness, in grace, in spiritual beauty?" If our lives were as good as our prayers, we would be saint-like in character.
If we find that our prayers are beyond our living, our duty is not to lower them to suit the tenor of our living--but to bring our lives up to the higher standard of our praying!

HT-GraceGems

The Nature of True Repentance

by Thomas Watson


i shall next show what gospel repentance is. Repentance
is a grace of God's Spirit whereby a sinner is inwardly
humbled and visibly reformed. For a further amplification,
know that repentance is a spiritual medicine made
up of six special ingredients:
1. Sight of sin
2.. Sorrow for sin
3. Confession of sin
4. Shame for sin
5. Hatred for sin
6. Turning from sin If
any one is left out it loses its virtue.
Ingredient 1: Sight of Sin
The first part of Christ's physic is eye-salve (Acts
26.18). It is the great thing noted in the prodigal's
repentance: 'he came to himself (Luke 15.17). He saw
himself a sinner and nothing but a sinner. Before a man
can come to Christ he must first come to himself.
Solomon, in his description of repentance, considers this
as the first ingredient: 'if they shall bethink themselves' (é
Kings 5.47). A man must first recognize and consider
what his sin is, and know the plague of his heart before he
can be duly humbled for it. The first creature God made
was light. So the first thing in a penitent is illumination:
'Now ye are light in the Lord' (Eph. 5.8). The eye is made
both for seeing and weeping. Sin must first be seen before it
can be wept for.
Hence I infer that where there is no sight of sin, there can
be no repentance. Many who can spy faults in others see
none in themselves. They cry that they have good hearts. Is it
not strange that two should live together, and eat and
drink together, yet not know each other? Such is the case of a
sinner. His body and soul live together, work together, yet
he is unacquainted with himself. He knows not his own
heart, nor what a hell he carries about him. Under a veil a
deformed face is hid. Persons are veiled over with
ignorance and self-love; therefore they see not what
deformed souls they have. The devil does with them as the
falconer with the hawk. He blinds them and carries them
hooded to hell: 'the sword shall be upon his right eye'
(Zech. 11.17). Men have insight enough into worldly
matters, but the eye of their mind is smitten. They do not
see any evil in sin; the sword is upon their right eye.

continue here...

Great is the Lord!

I read this at brother Mike Ratliff's blog and knew it must be shared. I know it will bless you as well..

Great is the Lord




We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. (Psalms 78:4 ESV)

God is good. He is beyond our comprehension in His magnificence and the depths of His mercy. He is Holy, Righteous, and Just. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Immutable. Oh, let us praise Him from grateful hearts. I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. (Psalms 145:1 ESV)

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The Marks of Saving Faith

by John MacArthur

Yesterday we looked at seven common conditions or tests that don't necessarily prove or disprove the existence of saving faith. What then are the marks of genuine saving faith? Are there some reliable tests from the Word of God that enable us to know for certain whether one's faith is real? Thankfully there are at least nine biblical criteria for examining the genuineness of saving faith.

Nine conditions that prove genuine saving faith.

1. Love for God

First of all a deep and abiding love for God is one of the supreme evidences of genuine saving faith. This gets to the heart of the issue. Romans 8:7 says "the carnal mind is enmity [hostility, hatred] against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be." Thus, if a man's heart is at enmity with God there is no basis for assuming the presence of saving faith. Those who are truly saved love God, but those who are not truly saved resent God and His sovereignty. Internally they are rebellious toward God and His plan for their life. But the regenerate person is set to love the Lord with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. His delight is in the infinite excellencies of God. God is the first and highest affection of his renewed soul. God has become his chief happiness and source of satisfaction. He seeks after God and thirsts for the living God.

By the way, we must be careful to distinguish the difference between that kind of true love for God that seeks His glory from the kind of self-serving love that sees God primarily as a means of personal fulfillment and gain. True saving faith doesn't believe in Christ so that Christ will make one happy. The heart that truly loves God desires to please God and glorify Him. Jesus taught that if someone loved their father and mother more than they loved Christ, they were not worthy of Him. In Matthew 10:37-39 Jesus put it like this: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37-39)

continue reading here...

How do I know I am saved?

Confessing Our Sins- John MacArthur

The Presence of God and the Power of God

A Young Man's War

Deception in the Last Days

HT-More Books and Things

The Narrow Way

The Narrow Gate