Spiritual Vigilance

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

The emphasis today seems to be for a “motivational evangelism” rather than teaching to overcome the world through the vigilance of faith. The idea is, as long as you believe that God is for you, you don’t have to worry about the devil, because God is bigger than the devil, right? But is this the vigilance and sobriety that God says one needs to prevent being devoured by our adversary, the devil?

Where in God’s Word does God tell us that as long as we believe that God is a power greater than the devil, that this will prevent the devil from broad siding us? The devil knows God’s power is greater than his, but that doesn’t slow him any. It just inspires him to be more deceitful in beguiling with his wiles.

In the Garden of Eden, it wasn’t a matter of whether Eve or Adam believed that God was greater than the devil. Nor was it a matter of believing that God could do great things for them. But what happened was, they were too self-confident to be spiritually vigilant against Satan.

The Bible doesn’t say if we develop a victory mentality of thinking, we will win because God is for us, that we will be safe from the devil. Rather, God warns, “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Corinthians 10:12 Positive psychology is no substitute for real spiritual vigilance.

God being for us is not going to keep Satan away. Jesus was for Peter; and Peter had a victory mentality: “Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.” Matthew 26:33 Yet neither Christ being for Peter, nor Peter’s victorious complex, prevented Satan from sifting him as wheat.

Satan doesn’t have to go through God to get to a Christian. The fact that our soul is saved by God’s power, that we have a new nature within, doesn’t seal us off from Satan’s access. Satan’s access is through sin that dwelleth in the fleshly nature, Romans 7:20,23. We can have God for us, and believe that God will do great things for us, but that victory mentality does not eliminate the “…law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.” Romans 7:23

Only after we are glorified with Christ will we be out of Satan’s reach (or absent from the body, to be with the Lord in physical death.) Until then, “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:13 While God will not permit us to be tempted above that which we are able, Satan can and will defeat us if we drop our guard.

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It Must Be A Heart Matter

THE PROBLEM: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven… Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord… And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you.” Matthew 7:21-23

THE SOLUTION: “Repent ye therefore and be converted” Acts 3:19a “…repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” Acts 20:21.

THE DIFFERENCE: Through intellectual learning and persuasion, a person can be led to make a profession of faith in any god. But it takes the work of the Holy Spirit to convict a sinner’s heart, unto genuine repentance and receiving Christ into their heart, with a willing heart upon hearing the truth.

THE DELUSION: The quick and easy method of pronouncing someone to be saved (which bypasses the matter of real repentance and personal acceptance), much like salesmanship, begins by asking a series of questions where a person must answer yes. Then, after repeatedly answering yes, they are much more likely to answer yes when asked if they are willing to trust Christ as their Saviour. With the correct answer, they are pronounced “saved”. Another example: an assistant pastor of one of the largest churches in America at the time, told the people to which he was teaching soul winning, to get a profession from the sinner, because any profession was better than no profession. Multitudes have been led in false professions and many end up going to hell depending on their false profession.

One college president warned his students not to stay more than five minutes in any home while soul-winning, because the sinner should always be won to Christ within that brief period, and if not, move on. (From the Plains Baptist Challenger)

THE NEEDED DEPTH: “Ye must be born again” John 3:3. A person can believe in the historical record of Christ and intellectually claim Him as their God and Saviour without ever being born again. I did, and I could also tell you how to be saved, even knowing it was the right way before I was saved! But it wasn’t until I repented and personally received Christ into my heart of my own volition, that Jesus saved me.

The example Christ used to show how to be born again (in John 3:14-15) was Numbers 21:4-9. In this example, the people repented of their sin, due to their own conviction and guilt, and called upon God to deliver them, putting their faith and trust in God’s provision for their deliverance. They were not just accosted by someone who was seeking to get people to make professions of faith through a scripted question and answer session. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” John 1:12 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness” Romans 10:10.

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What Time Is It?

“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

THERE IS A TIME FOR JUDGMENT. But that time will be when man stands before God, who alone is worthy to judge. Our time is to labor to be found faithful, at our judgment time.

THERE IS A TIME FOR VENGEANCE. That time belongs to God, for He will repay. Our time is to seek freedom from resentment toward those who misuse us, so as to “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

THERE IS A TIME FOR REPROOF. But that time must not be with anger and hostility, but rather with all longsuffering and consideration. In many cases, people’s positions are what they are, because that is all they have to be from their own perspective or needs. Usually when one’s perspective falls short of another’s expectation, it is because they never really thought about the situation any further than they had to. Thus, rather than take offense towards things that others have never really thought about, we need to inform each other so as to round out our perspectives to include one another. A person may have no need to think of things from your point of view, and maybe have reasons not to, unless they are intreated with reason to do so. The best way to assure that people will be open to see and accept what we have to say, is to avoid affronting them without indignation, but rather gain their respectful attention through a fervent appeal. “By long forbearing is a prince persuaded.” Proverbs 25:15

The more we come to know of each other, the more things we see that need improving. Rather than reap negative results through putting one another down, strive for the blessed results of cultivating one another in knowledge and wisdom. It is surprising how resourceful people can become when they respect each other to the degree of wanting to lift up one another. “Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another.” Romans 12:10

THIS IS THE TIME FOR MUCH NEEDED GRACE. May we take to God’s position for our example: “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.” 2 Peter 3:9 According to God’s Word, some men count longsuffering to be slackness. Some feel that unless you threaten or intimidate sinners, that you are not standing for the truth.

But by longsuffering after we have tried, let’s try again. Let’s look beyond the fault and concentrate on the need. How long did you go on in life before you finally repented and accepted Christ? We all owe our salvation to God’s longsuffering and grace.

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The Earth Is The Lord’s

–By Thomas Smith

“The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1

What a fabulous verse this is! It resounds majestically with the glory of God. What a powerful and mighty God we serve! Everything about the earth and all those who occupy it belong to Him.

This Bible text declares many wonderful truths about God. For instance, it proclaims the total and complete sovereignty of God. The earth is His creation. The earth did not just occur, and it did not evolve. God made everything that is made. He is the great Architect of the universe, and He created it from nothing with magnificent design and purpose.

He sustains His creation with the power of His might. He is the ruler of the entire world. There is no power of any kind, in any place, that is above Him. He rules over nations, leaders, individuals, and circumstances as well. Everything belongs to Him. The earth and all that it contains is His. Because this is true, He deserves all the glory and praise for the work of His hands.

Man is not to worship the creation, only the Creator. There are so many deceived people who worship the environment, or the things God has made, and do not give glory to the only deserving One. To refer to “Mother Earth” in a worshipful way and disregard the ruler of the earth is a form of idolatry. God has given us His earth to enjoy. What a gift this great creation is! As Christians, we should have a special appreciation for the earth that we live in. The beautiful birds, the animals, plant life, stars, mountains and rivers are sources of great pleasure in our lives. As the song goes, “This is my Father’s world, And to my list’ning ears, All nature sings, and round me rings The music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world, The birds their carols raise; The morning light, the lily white Declare their Maker’s praise.”

Our responsibility is to be faithful stewards of the part of God’s world for which He has made us responsible. He owns the world and all that it contains. That includes the things we sometimes consider our “own”. The house we live in, the cars we drive, the money we earn and spend, and the family we love, all belong to the Lord. In fact, our very lives only exist because of Him. We are not owners, only stewards. God has allowed us to use and manage these things that belong to Him, and one day we will be required to give an account of our stewardship.

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The Baptist Identity

“In those days came John the Baptist…” Matthew 3:1

The proper noun “Baptist” is an identity. An identity is not, nor does not, contain authority in or of itself. But those who are of and who have what the identity identifies, are legitimate in their claim of that identity.

A person can pin a sheriff’s badge on their chest, without being a sheriff. But a true sheriff will want to wear the badge that identifies him as sheriff. Does the badge make him a sheriff? No. But it is proper for one who is sheriff to wear the sheriff’s badge.

Baptist is the God given identity (thus precious) of the first New Testament preacher, whom God sent from heaven with New Testament baptism, with the mission of making ready a people prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17), from which Lord and which people the first New Testament Church was made. Since baptism is the New Testament covenant seal, and that New Testament baptism was Baptist, it was Baptist baptism that sealed the membership of the first New Testament Church together.

The first local New Testament Church and all local New Testament churches mentioned in the New Testament are simply referred to as church or churches. Each and every one only had the New Testament baptism that God sent from heaven by John, that God identified as Baptist.

Neither baptism, not its God given identity, were ever an issue of controversy in the New Testament. All churches in the New Testament were true churches, with pristine baptism that all stemmed from the church which Jesus built, which had only the Baptist baptism which God had sent by John. They all knew the Lord, and their origin as a church, and the baptism it embraced, and they all knew it was Baptist.

At that time, there simply did not exist other man-made churches from which they needed to distinguish themselves. There was no other baptism they needed to distinguish themselves from. But just because there was nothing that required them to identify themselves with the name Baptist to distinguish themselves amongst other man originated churches or baptisms, did not mean they did not have Baptist baptism, nor did it mean they refused Baptist as a New Testament identity.

Should this question have been raised in their midst, and they would have given the true answer to what the name Baptist meant to them, they would have replied the same as you and I read in our Bibles as to the origin, the authority, and the identity that God gave John who was the heaven sent agent of New Testament baptism.

There should not be given more to the proper noun “Baptist” than what was given it in the New Testament. It was a God given identity. I never read where anyone in or of the New Testament sought to attack or belittle Baptist as an identity. It stands alone, sanctified and unchallenged in the sacredness of God’s Word.

Those who attack Baptist today as a New Testament identity, do so by trying to cast it into a role of something other than an identity. For instance, those who give the name Baptist prominence as a New Testament identity that is inseparable from the ordinance of New Testament baptism administered by the authority of the local New Testament church, are accused of using the identity of Baptist as being their authority, their power, and their assurance (pride) of being saved and right with God. But the Biblical name Baptist is an identification, NOT the authority, nor the power, nor the propitiation for God’s people.

Pinning the name Baptist on a religion does not give it the authority or power or sanction of God, any more than pinning a sheriff’s badge on a scarecrow would make it sheriff. However, I don’t know of a real sheriff who has a problem wearing the sheriff’s badge. Nor can I conceive how that a true New Testament church would have a problem with the God given, Holy Spirit inspired, and scripture sanctified identity Baptist.

Could it be that those who accuse the use of the identity “Baptist” to be a matter of pride, or accuse it of being used as one’s authority, power, or what makes one right with God…could it be because they have had their hearts and minds closed to what God really did when He sent John from heaven with New Testament baptism as the New Testament covenant seal and identified him as a Baptist?

Rather, to me, the reality of Baptist as the true New Testament identity that distinguishes true New Testament baptism, by which the obedient believer is joined in local New Testament church membership, is a glorious fact found in the wonderful counsel of God. SELAH. AMEN.

“And all the people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.” Luke 7:29-30

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