Soldiers of the Cross

[IamRedeemed]

Is Your Faith Built on The Solid Rock or Sinking Sand?

Matthew 7:13-14, 21-27
“You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it. Not every one that says unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever hears these sayings of mine, and does them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that hears these sayings of mine, and does them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it."


Take stock of your "Christianity". Analyze yourself, test and see if you are indeed of the true faith, as the Word encourages us to do in 2 Corinthians 13:5.

Are you following Jesus Biblically or Culturally?

Look at the chart here and see Biblical Christianity vs Cultural Christianity

If you say you follow the Jesus Christ of the Bible, then you cannot discard the Bible as His Word, from Genesis to Revelation as anyone whose spirit has been made alive by the Holy Spirit, knows when they read the Word of God, that there is only ONE author. Yes, there are many scribes, but the Word is consistent through and through and bears witness that it truly has only ONE author, and the author is The Lord, you know it because if you indeed belong to Him, you recognize His voice when you hear it and the Holy Spirit bears testimony of this in your spirit.

Jesus said, "My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me."

We cannot have Jesus and live lives that we think are "good", if they oppose His Words.

The Words of Jesus only unite those who are His.Otherwise they divide. If you are divided with other Christians over the Word of God because it cramps your lifestyle, you need to listen and pray that the Lord would give you ears to hear.

Jesus isn't some cool guy or a cool set of worthy teaching like the writings of Ghandi that we add to our lives, no. THAT is not salvation. That is nothing more than a fast food religion.

We trade Jesus these bodies of death for the true life that can only come from Him and through Him. There is no happy "comfortable" medium where we can sort of just "hang out" and be loved by everyone. It is not possible if you are truly a child of God. At best you would be lukewarm. Jesus wants all or nothing.

Jesus said in Rev. 3:15-16, "I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth."


Jesus also said in Matthew 10:24-27,
"The disciple is not greater than his teacher, and slaves are not greater than their master. Disciples are to be like their teacher, and slaves are to be like their master. And since I, the master of the household, have been called the prince of demons, the members of my household will be called by even worse names! But don’t be afraid of those who threaten you. For the time is coming when everything that is covered will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all. What I tell you now in the darkness, shout abroad when daybreak comes. What I whisper in your ear, shout from the housetops for all to hear! And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."


If you were going to just be everyone's bud, live and let live and squelch the saving message of Christ and the lifestyle He expects us to uphold as a standard, why then would He tell us not to fear them who are able to kill our bodies? If we never were expected to say things that will offend those who won't turn toChrist and away from their sin, why would Jesus us warn us, not to worry about them, but rather fear the Lord God who has the power to destroy both our body and our soul in hell?

So, I ask you again, look within yourself, take an inventory of what you believe. Is your faith in beliefs that are built on sinking sand, or are they built on the solid rock of our salvation?


Do you have a Biblical relationship with the Living Christ? Or are you practicing a mental exercise and having a fruitless affair with the cultural idol, a humanistic "jesus" whose path leads to the wide entrance of hell that
Jesus spoke of?


God bless

[lincolngreen50]

Good post IAR

[IamRedeemed]

Thank you brother for the support and encouragement. God bless you!

[IamRedeemed]

Jesus is NOT Your "Bud"

2 Peter 2:1-18 (whole chapter)
This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Perdition: 1. a state of final spiritual ruin; loss of the soul; damnation.

The Jesus Christ of the Bible, the Son of the Living God, Yeshua Ha'Mashiach, is not the "CULTURAL" Jesus we hear those who claim to know Him describe. Jesus Christ in their minds is so distorted and has been reduced to that of a "religious guru" of some sort. The picture of Jesus Christ has been distorted in such a disgusting way, that some even believe that A) Jesus had s** and B) that he 'more than likely participated in bisxl s** as well'! (*aka committed the sin of fornication and lasciviousness!)

I have been grieved in my spirit for WEEKS over some of the quotes I have seen. Don't believe me? Well, I don't blame you. Who would even imagine that any such things could be said about the HOLY ONE of ISRAEL? Who is saying such blasphemies? Well for starters, a people who refer to themselves as "G**T Christians" and their supporters. (What a surprise!) And they say it with a straight face! (No pun intended). And you can, if you dare read and confirm that and more here at this forum location on the Web<----Click

But He is coming as JUDGE when He returns. Do not confuse the purpose of His first coming, and the shedding of His blood, with some kind of passive "hippie" nature. Jesus Christ IS NOT passive. He is the Lion of Judah. Do you know any passive Lions? Lions are fierce and powerful. When Jesus returns, He is not returning as the Lamb of God, but the KING of Kings and the LORD of Lords. He is coming to rule with a rod of iron, judging the nations. He is going to break into pieces vessels of the potter. He is coming to judge the world. (See Psalm 110:2 and 6, Isaiah 11:4 and 13:11, Daniel 2:34-35 Rev. 2:27, 12:5 and 19:15, for starters.)

The Lord is not coming as a thief in the night to those who are enduring with hopeful expectation. Jesus said BE READY. Not get ready, but BE ready. Therefore, He may arrive at anytime, and find those that are ready, greeting Him with JOY!
But not so for those who are not ready. For them, the day of the Lord will be DREADED.

Oh but isn't Jesus a melting pot of oozing, lethargic religion and unconditional worldly love?

No. He is not. THAT friends is a FALSE concept of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, but didn't Jesus always hang out with sinners?

Well, YES and NO. When the Pharisees asked Jesus basically, "if you are a holy man, then why do you keep company with sinners?" Jesus replied, "those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have come to call sinners and not the righteous to repentence." (er...that is the self righteous.) You don't have to be or rather, act pious to be self-righteous. You can simply pretend that your sins are not a stench to God's nostrils and viola! You have deceived yourself and have made your need for the great physician NULL and VOID.

Key: "I have come to CALL SINNERS TO (what? remain as they are in their filthy rotten state of wickedness and opposition to God and His will and ways? NO!) REPENTENCE."

Those who think they are "well", do not think they need what Jesus is REALLY offering. Instead, they deny what He is really offering and raise for themselves, teachers who will preach to their itching ears, what it is they WANT TO HEAR.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4) And what they want to hear is that "Jesus loves you and you can remain JUST AS YOU ARE and you will be blessed and enter the Kingdom of God, He is your NEW BUD." You can remain sons of hell, and reside with Jesus in the end!" YAY!

WRONG. That is a LIE from the pit of hell. Jesus does not love the way you are. He HATES sin. He came to destroy the works of the devil, not to become friends with Him and partnership with you as you follow after your father the devil. He came to offer you a NEW FATHER. His FATHER. Those who want to follow after Jesus are called to walk the way He walked and do the deeds that He did. That ALL starts with a change of heart and mind, when we realize the condition we are in and that we will stand before a HOLY GOD and be judged. We then have a change of mind and heart and REPENT, and He will cleanse us from unrighteousness, quicken our spirits and make them alive to the things of God, renew a right heart within us and renew our minds, by washing the filthy philosophies of men out of them with His Word, replacing those abominable cesspools with rivers of living water! Thereby making each of us who responds with repentence and faith in Him, a NEW CREATURE in Christ. (2 Corinthians 5:17).

My prayer is that anyone within the sound of my voice, or is reading this right now will allow these words to penetrate their hearts and take an inventory and judge themselves and their line of thinking and see how, where or even IF it stands in the light of God's Truth. Do not allow the Words of Life from the Lord God harden your heart. Don't be like Pharoah to your own destruction. The Kingdom of Heaven and Burger King are not synonyms. You cannot "have it your way." For all of us, the requirements are the same. Jesus said, those requirements are that YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN. (John 3:3-7)

[IamRedeemed]

This is an on target writing of the late Charles H. Spurgeon. It is hard to believe he wrote it so long ago, as it sounds as though it could have been written yesterday.

Are We Feeding Sheep or Amusing Goats?

An evil is in the professed camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most short-sighted can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years it has developed at an abnormal rate, even for evil. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments. The devil has seldom done a cleverer thing than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out as the Puritans did, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses.

My first contention is that providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. If it is a Christian work why did not Christ speak of it? “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” That is clear enough. So it would have been if he had added, “and provide amusement for those who do not relish the gospel.” No such words, however, are to be found. It did not seem to occur to him . . . .

Again, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all his apostles. What was the attitude of the Church to the world? “Ye are the salt,” not the sugar candy — something the world will spit out, not swallow . . . . I do not hear [Jesus] say, “Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow, something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it.

Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!” Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them. In vain will the Epistles be searched to find any trace of the gospel of amusement . . . .

Lastly, the mission of amusement fails to effect the end desired. It works havoc among young converts. Let the careless and scoffers, who thank God because the Church met them half-way, speak and testify. Let the heavy laden who found peace through the concert not keep silent! Let the drunkard to whom the dramatic entertainment had been God’s link in the chain of their conversion, stand up! There are none to answer. The mission of amusement produces no converts. The need of the hour for today’s ministry is believing scholarship joined with earnest spirituality, the one springing from the other as fruit from the root. The need is biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Charles H. Spurgeon
1834-1892
from http://www.biblebb.com

[Rut]

What a timely post. It goes to show that truth is timeless. Too many church goers want to be entertained instead of hearing the meat of the Word. Many services these days are all fluff.

[IamRedeemed]

Amen Sister. Thanks for your supportive comment. Charles H. Spurgeon's work is still bearing fruit.

[Rut]

My husband and I were happy to leave the American Bapist Church because they mainly preached fluff on Sundays. The interim Pastor was so shaky in his faith that his granddaughter sucked him into the g** is okay doctrine. He started preaching tolerance for the lifestyle from the pulpit. My husband and I just looked at each other oddly.

[IamRedeemed]

Ugh! Yes, that's what can happen when one's faith is built on sinking sand and popular opinion rather than the Word of God! He should have been a godly influence on his granddaughter's life rather than she be an ungodly influence on his. The blind leading the blind into a ditch. Sad.