41
on: December 18, 2020, 07:58:26 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Fringe Issues
“And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient.” (2 Timothy 2:24)
One of the plagues of modern-day Christendom is that many take up side issues and deem them all-important— a point of separation between them and other Christians. Health foods, dress codes, and church constitutions are not unimportant, but Christians can hold different opinions and still be walking with God. Note the scriptural admonitions: “Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace [i.e., primary issues]; not with meats [i.e., fringe issues], which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (Hebrews 13:9); “foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes” (2 Timothy 2:23).
On the other hand, there are many scriptural commands to hold “fast the faithful word” (Titus 1:9); to “keep that which is committed to thy trust” (1 Timothy 6:20). Many of these points of “sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9) are absolutely essential, such as the deity of Christ, the authority of Scripture, salvation by grace, the resurrection of Christ, and many others clearly and specifically taught in Scripture. Perhaps the rule might be, if it’s an essential doctrine, teach and defend it at all costs; if it’s a secondary doctrine, teach it in “meekness” and love (2 Timothy 2:25). But if it’s a fringe issue, avoid strife over it, allowing brothers to exercise their freedom.
Is creationism a fringe issue? No! Few doctrines are so clearly taught in Scripture. Is it crucial to salvation? No! But it is essential to adequately understand the great primary doctrines for it is foundational to them all. Furthermore, it is the subject of origins, which the enemy has identified as a major battleground, vowing to destroy Christianity over this issue. Here we must stand if we are to guard our faith. JDM
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42
on: December 17, 2020, 08:07:36 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Cursed or Blessed
“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” (Jeremiah 17:5)
Jeremiah provides for us a striking contrast between the self-assured humanist and the one who has placed his trust in God. The man who looks to his own abilities or those of others to save him in time of trouble is “cursed.” His existence will be one of futility, just as is that of a parched desert plant (v. 6). Why? Because his “heart departeth from the LORD” (v. 5), the source of strength and salvation.
Jeremiah uses a play on words here. The words for “man” in our text are different: the first means “warrior” or “strong man,” and the second a “normal man.” The warrior who should be strong is cursed because he is trusting in one who is weak; in this case, any other man’s wisdom or might, or even his own strength, when overestimated. What sense is there in that?
In contrast, “blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD” (v. 7). “He shall be as a tree planted by the waters,...and shall not be careful [i.e., anxious] in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit” (v. 8). Why? Because his “hope the LORD is” (v. 7). We see the warrior—one who might be considered strong—trusting solely in the true “strong man,” the Lord.
It is a tragic fact that even many Christians fall into the mindset of the autonomous humanist and attempt to live their lives (even “the Christian life”) under their own power. Do we trust in our own feeble power or in the Lord? Every heart, whether humanist or Christian, “is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (v. 9). Make no mistake! “I the LORD search the heart” (v. 10); He knows our inner motives. Let us recommit ourselves to trust in the Lord and make Him our hope. JDM
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43
on: December 16, 2020, 08:23:26 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Shielded by the Word
“I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love. Thou art my hiding place and my shield: I hope in thy word.” (Psalm 119:113-114)
The Bible is replete with military imagery. We are told to “wrestle” against the “spiritual wickedness in high places” and to be sure that we put on “the whole armour of God” (Ephesians 6:12-13). As the good soldiers of the King, we are told to “endure hardness” (2 Timothy 2:3) and expected, as His army, to be about the “pulling down of strong holds” (2 Corinthians 10:4).
David was a warrior king, and many of his psalms contain battle terms used both literally and figuratively to show the way God protects and provides for us in spiritual warfare. The “hiding place” David often mentioned was a secret retreat that provided shelter from the enemy (Psalm 32:7). The “shield” can refer to the same sort of retreat but is most often used to describe a soldier’s defensive buckler. Faith is our shield in spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:16).
Thus, in this stanza (Psalm 119:113-120), the psalmist visualized God in the role of Protector and Captain. He looked to God for his life while being upheld “according unto thy word” (v. 116). Safety was no doubt prominent in his thoughts while affirming that he had continual respect for God’s statutes (v. 117).
The psalmist was also fearfully aware of God’s take-no-prisoners attitude toward those who are against Him (vv. 118-119). While our gracious Lord and King is patient toward all sinners, His ultimate plan is to “put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Corinthians 15:24). Knowing this, the psalmist concluded: “My flesh trembleth for fear of thee; and I am afraid of thy judgments” (Psalm 119:120). Only a fool refuses to fear the Creator’s wrath. HMM III
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44
on: December 15, 2020, 07:50:42 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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The Urgency of Salvation
“For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:2)
Perhaps the most deadly sin of the unbeliever is that of procrastination. Satisfied with his current life, he neglects his spiritual need. Even if he understands the gospel and realizes his need of salvation, he still puts off a decision.
But it is always dangerous to count too strongly on tomorrow. “Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away” (James 4:14). The sin of procrastination may easily become the sin of negligence, then of indifference, and finally the unforgivable sin of irrevocable rejection and unbelief. “My spirit shall not always strive with man” (Genesis 6:3). This warning was true in the antediluvian world and it is certainly as true today, when we have far more knowledge and evidence of God’s truth and His will than people did in the days of Noah.
“To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your heart” (Psalm 95:7-8). This warning of the psalmist was considered so important that the writer of Hebrews quoted it three times (Hebrews 3:7-8, 15; 4:7). Such an emphasis suggests there is indeed great danger in resisting God’s call to salvation. There may be another opportunity, but it is presumptuous and dangerous to impose too long on God’s patient mercy.
Today is the day of salvation. The accepted time is now! “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?...It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:29, 31). HMM
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45
on: December 14, 2020, 08:26:54 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Light from the Word
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
One of the more beautiful metaphors in the Bible, “light” is used either metaphorically or literally to stress understanding, knowledge, or truth. When inaccurate interpretations of God’s Word are taught, Isaiah said it is “because there is no light in them” (Isaiah 8:20). Peter noted that prophetic insight is like “light that shineth in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19).
One of the Lord’s most memorable statements was “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12). Little wonder, then, that in this majestic psalm centering on the Word of God, this stanza (Psalm 119:105-112) acknowledges the role executed by the Scriptures “as the light that goeth forth” (Hosea 6:5).
The psalmist again mentioned his affliction (v. 107) and that his soul was constantly “in my hand” (Psalm 119:107, a Hebrew idiom for constant danger; see 1 Samuel 28:21). But nonetheless, his instant reaction was to focus on the “righteous judgments” of God and a promise to “not forget thy law” (Psalm 119:109). He begged for the Lord to teach him God’s “judgments” (v. 108) and promised not to err “from thy precepts” (v. 110).
Thus, woven throughout the stanza are the constant paradoxical tensions of supplication for relief from the wicked efforts to “snare” him (see 2 Timothy 2:26) and the confidence that whatever conditions may develop, the written Word of God would provide answers. Those words are “the rejoicing” of his heart (119:111), much like when David sang, “Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the LORD” (Psalm 105:3).
Finally, in the last line of this stanza, the psalmist challenged us to embrace his own commitment to the Word of God as he wrote, “I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end” (Psalm 119:112). HMM III
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46
on: December 13, 2020, 08:35:29 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Life in the Blood
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” (Leviticus 17:11)
This great verse contains a wealth of scientific and spiritual truth. It was not realized until the discovery of the circulation of the blood by the creation scientist William Harvey, in about 1620, that biological “life” really is maintained by the blood, which both brings nourishment to all parts of the body and also carries away its wastes.
Its spiritual truth is even more significant. The blood, when shed on the altar, would serve as an “atonement” (literally “covering”) for the soul of the guilty sinner making the offering. In fact, the “life” of the flesh is actually its “soul,” for “life” and “soul” both translate the same Hebrew word (nephesh) in this text. When the blood was offered, it was thus an offering of life itself in substitution for the life of the sinner who deserved to die.
Human sacrifices, of course, were prohibited. No man could die for another man, for his blood would inevitably be contaminated by his own sin. Therefore, the blood of a “clean animal” was required. Animals do not possess the “image of God” (Genesis 1:27), including the ability to reason about right and wrong, and therefore cannot sin. Even such clean blood could only serve as a temporary covering, and it could not really “take away” sin. For a permanent solution to the sin problem, nothing less was required than that of the sinless “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us” (Hebrews 9:12). Since His life was in His blood, He has “made peace through the blood of his cross” (Colossians 1:20). HMM
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47
on: December 13, 2020, 08:30:05 AM
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Started by Shammu - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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Steel Knight/Dawn Blitz 21 ( a normal training exercise) is occurring off the coast of California at this time. Although I don't yet know the name of it there is a similar training exercise getting underway on the east coast. Nothing new about this as our military are always going through training exercises in order to maintain operational readiness.
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48
on: December 12, 2020, 10:31:32 AM
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Started by Shammu - Last post by Shammu
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I'm not sure what's going on, America is not in prophecy but is covered in general prophecy
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50
on: December 12, 2020, 08:28:24 AM
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Started by Soldier4Christ - Last post by Soldier4Christ
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How to Keep from Falling
“For thou hast delivered my soul from death: wilt not thou deliver my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?” (Psalm 56:13)
Once a person receives Christ as Savior, he must begin, then continue, in the Christian life. There will be many temptations along the way, however, as well as many pressures to recant, many sorrows, many difficulties. How is the “babe” in Christ to keep from stumbling and falling?
The answer, of course, is that we are kept by the same grace that saved us in the first place! The Lord Jesus died to save us from eternal death in hell; surely we can “be saved by his life” from falling while living (Romans 5:10). Our beautiful text verse anticipates this great New Testament truth. If the Lord can deliver my soul from death, surely He can keep my feet from falling! Other wonderful verses in the Psalms give the same assurance. For example: “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).
It is important, of course, that each person professing faith in Christ be sure that his faith is real, founded on the true Jesus Christ as Creator, Redeemer, and Lord, not a sentimental faith in “another Jesus,...or another gospel” (2 Corinthians 11:4). As Peter urges: “Give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall” (2 Peter 1:10).
And then, in the last words of the New Testament before the book of Revelation, we are directed again to Christ. “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen” (Jude 1:24- 25). What a blessed assurance is this! HMM
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