Caught in the pulpit

Here's an article I thought you mind find very interesting and sobering. This does not happen to people suddenly... it happens slowly, by allowing small errors and negative influences in our lives and church to gently sway us year after year. It happens by allowing the little foxes to bring a little bit of error here and there, and by slowly losing the hunger and thirst of God's Word, preferring to study the words of men (Christian, nonetheless) in the assembly of believers rather than the words of God. A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump —Are we convinced of it? Let us show it by word and action!

Please, click below

Caught in the pulpit - creation.com

A prudent Christian

A sleepy driver is a threat to himself and others. His dulled senses and his weakened reflexes can prevent him from discerning danger on the road, or even notice traffic warnings. A sleepy Christian is not much different. He is a menace to himself and others. His lack of spiritual sobriety undermines his discernment, and prevents him from noticing warning signs along the way. We must be prudent and alert, growing in discernment, and applying the reproof and counsel of others to our own situations in life.

A prudent Christian considers warnings and applies them intelligently to his own life. A warning is a statement or an event that signals possible or impending danger. It can take the form of a traffic sign, a blinking light, or a sticker. Spiritually, it can come to us through a friend, a spouse, a preacher, or even a complete stranger. Warnings may be shared with a single person or with many people through any of the available means of communication. Sometimes they may come directly from a person, and at other times indirectly, such as when an accident stops us in our tracks, or someone else’s choices and consequences speak to our own way of life.

Often, warnings are unpleasant. They come at inconvenient times. They come swinging at us from people we may not know well or even appreciate much. But bitter as they may be, they can save us from even more unpleasant situations. They help us see danger at a distance before we ourselves are forced to feel the searing heat of a hot engine, the hardness of a slippery floor, the whack of a cow’s tail, or much worse. Spiritual awareness and discernment, which we will speak more on later, will keep us from many unpleasant things in life, but warnings can help us become aware of a hazard before we experience it. The Bible says that he who regards reproof is prudent (Proverbs 15:5). But a person who utterly dislikes and constantly resists reproof is in danger of forsaking the way, as Proverbs 15:10 says: “Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way” (Proverbs 15:10).

There are some among us who spend much time studying and examining the work of the enemy on our current paths of life. We must open up our dull ears, and listen to what they have to say. The Bible teaches in many places that listening to reproof is wise. Proverbs constantly speaks of this. It says that those who hate and refuse reproof are erring (10:17), are brutish (12:1), despise their own soul (15:32), and shall die (15:10). In another place it says, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15).

Warnings are as good as we are in interpreting and applying them to our own situations. Speeding through a red light, and hitting the brakes when the light is green doesn’t mean the traffic lights are useless, but that we are reading them wrong, or perhaps we are not paying attention. Running a stop sign has more to do with our own lack of understanding or willingness to make use of an important signal, than with the effectiveness of a red piece of tin. This points to our fundamental need for spiritual awareness, understanding, discernment, and concern, without which we helplessly drift away, “tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive” (Ephesians 4:14). There are those who are more than willing to sit in our driver’s seat if we aren’t.

You will find in life that warnings are very helpful and necessary, but if you want to be prudent, you must invest time into developing your own awareness of right and wrong through your personal study of God’s Word. You need to keep a watchful eye and be concerned about the truth. Many Christians seem to think that they can reach maturity and stay in the truth simply by coasting down the river of life on a boat called “Heavenbound”. But in a time where even Christ wondered whether there would be faith on the earth, we must feed on the strong meat of God’s Word. And for this we must have our senses exercised in order to discern both good and evil (Hebrews 5:14).

A prudent Christian is a discerning person, with keen insight and judgment, concerned about the state of his soul and of others, and with a growing understanding of the dangers of life. This doesn’t mean he has no more need for advice, admonishment, or warning, since someone else may have already traveled the unknown path he may be about to follow, and knows where the dangers lie. A prudent Christian has learned to manage the information he receives. When he is warned about a danger, he does not ignore the warning, but considers it and applies it in the most edifying way. When he is prompted by the Spirit to take another closer look at a matter, he takes his Bible knowledge and compares everything with Scripture. And if he is wise, he will internalize what he has learned, adjusting his life according to Truth, and sharing his conclusions with others who may benefit from it as well.

A prudent Christian will consider reproof and counsel, and will do what it takes to be more discerning of what is right and wrong, correct and incorrect, truth and untruth. Jesus said, “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Almost or Altogether?

One day, an early Christian was arrested, and brought before the king for telling his own people they must repent, turn to God, and live a repentant life. After explaining that the prophets and Moses actually spoke of Christ’s suffering and resurrection, the Christian asked him, “Do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.”

The king replied, “Almost you persuade me to be a Christian”.

Then, with great eloquence, the apostle Paul said to King Agrippa, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds” (Acts 26:29).

This passage helps us realize that we can’t just be almost Christians; almost persuaded, almost converted. We must be altogether Christians. Christ Himself said, “Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:14). A chick half-way out the egg is not a fully-born chick; likewise, a person half-way through the Door is not a born-again Christian.

Good intentions are a good start, but are not enough to bring freedom from sin. Sadly, many in this world follow their own religion with good intentions, but unless they pass through the Strait Gate, and walk the Narrow Road, they will not get to Heaven (John 14:6). You may dress modestly; you may be honest in your business; you may be a good son, daughter, husband, or wife; you may even obey most New Testament commands, but if you have not repented of all your sins, and asked Christ to cleanse and change you, none of your good deeds, though a necessary part of the Christian life, will buy you a ticket to Heaven. “Ye must be born again”, said Jesus. The sinful nature with which we were all born must be rooted out by Christ, and replaced by His new nature: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

A good Christian heritage is a wonderful thing to have, but is not enough to justify us before a holy God. A good heritage is an introduction to the Christian life, but if we do not have a change of heart, the outward appearance only makes us “almost Christians”. We cannot be saved by the faith of our fathers and mothers. Biblical faith must become our own personal faith.

Baptism, though an integral part of the beginning Christian, has no virtue of its own to a person that comes with good intentions only, with a faith other than his own, just because all the friends his age are getting baptized; unchanged, unrepentant, unconverted. Baptism in itself does not make a person an altogether Christian. It is only for those who have sold themselves out to Christ in true repentance, and desire to live a life of obedience to Him.

 However, make no mistake, Jesus Christ Himself said that baptism is the fulfillment of all righteousness (Matthew 3:15). While a person who gets baptized without conversion is an “almost Christian”, the same may apply to those who refuse to be baptized after confessing and repenting from their sins.

The Bible prescribes some general principles concerning our dress. The Christian should be dressed like a Christian, not like the world. However, dressing right does not make you a Christian any more than putting on wings makes you an angel. Dressing right is an expression of a right heart, but does not make your heart right. Scripture doesn’t lay down a certain pattern or style of clothing for the Christian, but has principles for us to follow. But don’t ever think that your outward appearance will clean up the mess you have inside. “Cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also” (Matthew 23:26).

Our heart is like the source of a fountain. When our mouth has said something nasty, we already know that something went nasty in our hearts. For example, James 3:10 says that it is not fitting for our mouths to give forth both blessing and cursing at the same time, because “doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” When our lives are showing rebellion to God through our practices, our dress, our music, etc., the Bible says that something went wrong in our hearts before. “An evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil” (Luke 6:45). Don’t believe the lies that you can be an “altogether Christian,” claiming that your heart is right while doing wrong.

How to become an “altogether Christian”

The Bible says that God loved the world so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to save whoever believes on Him (John 3:16). This means that God “first loved us” (1 John 4:19), and “while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He made the first move. How about you now?

Ephesians 2 says that we are “by nature the children of wrath”. We are born with a sinful nature because the first man took on a sinful nature through disobedience, and that makes us enemies of God, who is holy. Furthermore, because we are born with a sinful nature we are bent on committing sinful acts against God’s laws, no matter if we were born into a Christian family, and were “good” children. Although children are safe from God’s wrath, they do begin to sin very young, and express the impulses of a sinful nature even before the age of accountability. When we arrive at an age where we begin to understand our fearful sinful condition before a holy God, we begin to be accountable, and are not safe from God’s wrath anymore. The time has come to confess that we are natural sinners, and that we have committed sins against God. We need a change of heart, a change of nature. We don’t want to experience God’s wrath in the Lake of Fire some day.

When we come to this understanding we have two choices: reject it, or repent. We may excuse ourselves saying we have good intentions, or that we have been born in a godly home. But we know that this only makes us “almost Christians”. To be “altogether Christians” we must repent “and be converted, that [our] sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). We must enter the Kingdom of God through the Door, lest we are condemned for trying to break and enter some other way. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber” (John 10:1). Repent and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior.

Good works before conversion do not save us; good works after conversion are our duty. The sinner’s prayer, as some call it, is important, but it doesn’t end there. The Bible says that we are saved “not of works”, but “unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:9, 10). First we need to “put off concerning the former conversation (way of life) the old man, which is corrupt”. We are told to be “renewed in the spirit of [our] mind, and that [we must] put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). Good works for the born-again believer are a natural expression of their new life in Jesus Christ. They are an expression of obedience to our Lord and Savior, for He has commanded us to live holy lives (1 Peter 1:15), to depart from sin (2 Timothy 2:19), to help those in need (Galatians 6:10), to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Hebrews 10:25), to cover our heads (for the women; 1 Corinthians 11:6), to not cover our heads (for the men; 1 Corinthians 11:7), to be chaste (Titus 2:5), to use our gifts for the edifying of the church (Ephesians 4:12), and many other things. When we do good works while we are not born again, we do it on our own power, but when we are saved, we do it through the great power of the Holy Spirit.

Being saved is not an end in itself either. God saves us so that He can have a relationship with us, and walk with us, as it were, “in the cool of the day”, as in the Garden of Eden. Take time each day to speak to God in prayer, and to read His Word. An “altogether Christian” develops His relationship with His Saviour, and loves to spend time with Him.

And finally, it is very important for us to find other Christians that share similar convictions to ours, for encouragement and guidance. Look for a church that teaches and lives out the Bible.

When I open a door, and take one step into a house, remaining with one foot outside and one inside, am I in or am I out? I could say I am almost in. But I am also almost out too! The Bible teaches that if you are “almost” a Christian, you are still outside the Door. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24).

-E.S. Gutwein