Read It And Believe It

“If ye then have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church.” 1 Corinthians 6:4

There is much to be said in favor of a “layman’s understanding” of the Bible. Once a person has been born again, they enjoy the privileges of spiritual discernment: “Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:12. From then on, it is a matter of desiring the sincere milk of the Word that one may grow thereby–reading the Bible, hearing the Word, and trusting it for what it says.

I was saved September 1954, have been in a Bible teaching New Testament Church ever since, and full-time in the ministry since 1968, teaching and preaching God’s Word. Yet I find many articles written about the Bible that contain expositions that I have to say, “Where did that come from–I never saw that in the reading of the scriptures.”

I have always found the truth of God’s Word to be self-evident in the way the Bible reads. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” 2 Peter 1:19-20. We all depend on light to reveal what is, and then we act upon what we see. If you turned your garage light on and there sat a new car, you would not have to call a mechanical engineer to explain to you what you are looking at. So, when you read your Bible, accept and believe what it says. Beware of anyone who discourages you from doing this, and rather leads you to believe that you need someone of “higher understanding” to interpret the scriptures unto you.

Rather than turn to what men have to say about the Bible, we need to look into the Bible to see what it says about what men are saying: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” Acts 17:11.

“To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isaiah 8:20. Faith only exists where God’s Word is being accepted as God delivered it–“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Romans 10:17

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All It Takes Is One Hole

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” James 2:10

Visualize a giant ship with all its strong structure, engineered for efficiency, safety and comfort; with state of the art equipment and extremely sea worthy. It can have the best crew and the most able captain, whose knowledge is unsurpassed. This ship meets or exceeds all maritime regulations. But all it takes is one hole to sink it!

A gigantic tank, that is built to withstand storms and earthquakes; that is constructed out of materials that will last for decades, and is theft proof, all it takes is one hole for it to lose all its contents. Just one hole in a dam can lead to the collapse of the entire dam.

“Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines.” Song of Solomon 2:15

James 2:10 challenges Christians to be sober and vigilant in, and about all things. We can have strong convictions on many things, and we can take confidence that we are strong on many things. We can tout our stand and challenge others with our strong position on many things. But all it takes is negligence in one thing to become the leak that will sink our spiritual ship and drain our tank of spiritual integrity. “A little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump.” Galatians 5:9 “Do not err my beloved brethren.” James 1:16

Whatever it is that we are doing faithfully, will not answer for the things we leave undone. A farmer can build the best fence, but if he fails to shut every gate, the livestock will still escape, the same as if there was no fence at all. It is the thing(s) we leave undone that will be that hole that can sink our spiritual ship. “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matthew 23:23

“Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.” Galatians 3:10 All it takes is one sin to condemn the soul, the same as all it takes is one hole to sink the ship! Thus, a person’s good will not outweigh or redeem them from their bad, any more than the good things of the ship will prevent water from entering into the hole. To be saved, one must have an account for their soul that has no sin whatsoever, and only the righteousness of God. This is impossible for man to achieve. That is why God foreordained the substitutionary offering of Christ to be the account by which the believer’s soul is made acceptable to God.

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Warring A Good Warfare

“This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare.” 1 Timothy 1:18

The battle with Satan and sin in not over! Satan is cranking up the “mystery of iniquity” to neutralize God’s people from fighting a true spiritual warfare, and at the same time to energize the forces of anti-christism.

We must not confuse the spiritual warfare with a political or social warfare. Each have their own battleground. Jesus is our example. He never took up a political warfare in His society. He rather waged His warfare by proclaiming the Word of God, which exposed error on all levels, including the social and political.

The church’s mission is to preach the Word of God without compromise. God’s Word is what does the work of God. Thus, we are to hold it forth to the best of our ability. To deny responsibility to God’s laws is to forfeit the power and benefits of God’s authority in our behalf.

The Apostle Paul’s final instructions for spiritual warfare to the Ephesian elders, Acts 20:27-31, was that they would encounter the enemies to the cause of Christ on two major fronts: 1) infiltrators, who would creep in unawares, v29, and 2) home grown problems, v30. The charge was to combat any and all of Satan’s work by taking heed to feed the church of God with the whole counsel of God.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” Hebrews 4:12. Just as God’s Word manifests itself in a believer’s obedient response, it will also root out and manifest those whose hearts are not right with God — “Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.” Titus 1:15

When the disciples questioned the “negative” impact that Christ’s preaching had on the Pharisees, “But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matthew 15:13. Anything that God’s Word roots out, is God rooting it out, and necessarily so. So be it! God’s Word feeds, sustains and satisfies believers, but it upsets the apple cart of those who are not building on the foundation (Christ) by faith.

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgressions…” Isaiah 58:1. This should be seen as that which uprights God’s people, but also that which uproots that which seeks to devour us. Preach the Word! It is our hope and our defense!

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Going It Alone By One’s Own Faith

As Christian babes, God carries us on “eagles wings”. But there comes a point where he commands us to grow, unto standing on our own two feet by faith. Unless we respond to this need, Satan will sift us as wheat. We will just be easy prey for his wiles. The Devil seeks to make people dependent on things other than personal prayer and faith. Then when he removes these props, the person falls on their face. Faith is all about being made sufficient, by looking unto Jesus, not leaning on other things.

ABEL stood alone, when he offered his sacrifice by faith, even when it provoked his brother to kill him. NOAH had to go it alone. His world ostracized him, completely discrediting his work and ministry. ABRAHAM was called of God to step out on his own by faith, not knowing the details, but leaving his country and his father’s house. JOSEPH had to go it alone, cut off from his father, being sold into slavery by his own brothers. MOSES had to go it alone. The first time he attempted to help his people, he was scorned, “who made you a prince and a judge over us?” When God sent him back to Egypt, the people resented him, accusing him of just making their problems worse. Most of the time, he was murmured against by the very people he served.

ELIJAH had to go it alone. It is true that Obadiah hid 100 prophets in a cave and there were 7,000 in Israel that had not bowed to Baal. But none stood up with Elijah, he stood alone. DAVID had to leave his wife and family behind and flee from Saul, going out on his own. JOB had to go it alone. His wife considered him to be a fool for his steadfastness of faith. His “friends” all were given to fault finding and criticism. But Job faltered not. DANIEL stood up for God in Babylonian captivity. He went to the den of lions all alone, completely resolved to God’s will being done.

JESUS went to Calvary’s cross and died for our sins all alone! His own disciples forsook Him and fled. You and I never helped Him one bit, as it was our sins that nailed Him to the cross.

JESUS IS CALLING, for those whom He has saved, to take up their cross daily and follow Him. In this day of love growing cold and people turning away, the Saviour asks, “Will ye also go away?” John 6:67-69

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What Has Become Of The United States Of America?

Letter written to Delaware County Daily Times by Mr. Charles Martini, Sr.

To the Times:

Has America become the land of the special interest and home of the double standard? For many it has. Here is a review of current events. Make your own decision.

If we lie to the Congress, it’s a felony. If the Congress lies to us it’s just politics. If we dislike a black person, we’re racist. If a black person dislikes whites, it’s their First Amendment right.

The government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims. In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process.

You can kill an unborn child, but it’s wrong to execute a mass murderer. We don’t burn books in America, we now rewrite them. We got rid of the communist and socialist threat by renaming them progressive. We are unable to close our border with Mexico, but we have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea.

If you protest against President Obama’s policies you’re a terrorist or a racist, but if you burned an American flag or George W. Bush’s picture in effigy it was your First Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the Internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas. We have eliminated all criminals in America; they are now called sick people. We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it’s wrong to use an animal for drug research to cure a disease.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don’t want to work. We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology. We still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct.

We can celebrate Cinco De Mayo and Halloween, but we can’t celebrate Christmas, which is a recognized national holiday and a religious holiday for most of Americans.

We can ask law-abiding citizens to present valid I.D. when cashing a check or making a credit card purchase, but we can’t ask suspicious “illegal aliens” to produce a valid I.D. to verify their status or identify themselves.

We explain away individuals who steal classified and secret communications and distribute them to the press, but can’t hold the press or individuals libel for participating in this life-threatening treachery to our country and armed forces personnel.

We applaud confiscatory taxation and regulation on those who work hard, run an enterprise and play by the rules, then reward drug addicts, slackers, welfare cheats and bums with “benefits” they did not earn to continue their corrupt lifestyles…and call this whole process “social justice” or welfare for the so-called disadvantaged and poor of society.

Actor Wesley Snipes goes to jail for tax evasion, while Democratic Congressman Charles Rangel, who was indicted 20 times for fraud and evasion, gets a mild censure and no jail time from Congress. And you wonder why the U.S. Congress is held in deep contempt with a 20 percent approval rating from U.S. taxpayers and voters.

What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?

The answer: America has become a welfare state based on deviant behavior, questionable morals and situation ethics.

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