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Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Generously Sharing God’s Freedom - Purity 960


Generously Sharing God’s Freedom - Purity 960

Purity 960 02/07/2023 Purity 960 Podcast

Purity 960 on YouTube:



Good morning,

Today’s photo of the ice pack shoreline of Lake Ontario underneath a sunset painted sky comes to us from Rocco Saya of Celestial Blue Photography (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100069048257152) who shared this photo from his February 4th trip to the Sterling Nature Center on social media commenting that the recent cold temperatures brought with them the first significant icepack and that the  results of the contrast of the ice below and the sunset about was awe inspiring. Rocco also reported that he had the additional pleasure of experiencing this moment in peaceful solitude as the forbidding circumstances of the day provided him with the opportunity to have the Sterling Nature Center all to himself. 

Even though we couldn’t have been there with Rocco in the bitter cold to see this scene in the flesh, we benefit from his boldness to “go there” and his generosity to share with his friends.   Thanks Rocco!

Well, it’s Tuesday, and just like Rocco, who experienced something fantastic and generously shared it with his friends, I am looking forward to the Freedom in Christ course that I will facilitate on Zoom this evening because I experienced something fantastic and seek to be generous by sharing the beauty of what I received by encouraging the participants of the course to embrace the new life that the Lord gives to everyone who puts their faith in Jesus.  

All of the men in the course I lead have received the free gift of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ but they come to the Freedom in Christ course to understand how to appreciate what they have in Christ, to grow and mature in their Christian faith, and to establish or deepen their freedom in Christ.   

These men understand that Christ came to set the captives free and to give them an abundant life and so they come to the course to know the truth that will set them free or that will make them more mature or fruitful in their faith.  

After I spent most of my life living independently from God and seeking meaning and purpose from the things of this world, the Lord graciously pulled me out of the darkness by revealing to me the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ and then showed me the truth of the freedom and new life that we have when we know who we are in Christ and when we make the decision to follow Him with the way we live our lives. 

But this is more than just following rules or just holding some general theological convictions, our Freedom in Christ comes through our relationship with God through His Son and by knowing experientially that we are His adopted children, that we are connected to the Lord relationally, personally, and have been forever changed by our surrender to the Lordship of Jesus. We are spiritually alive in Christ but we need to know it and show we know it by living it.  

The Freedom in Christ Course teaches a lot about God, the spiritual forces of darkness, and Christian Discipleship in general but the power of the course comes from the faith that the participants have and in their application of God’s wisdom to their lives.  

The Freedom Christ Course is not an academic course to learn facts and figures it is a 10 week life changing discipleship course because it directs the participants to “go there” to come boldly before their God honestly to receive what He has for them.  The Freedom to be found in the process of the course doesn’t come from me and unfortunately God does not just “zap” people with a new found freedom for just signing up.  

The freedom comes from the participant learning about the truth of reality – the way things really are, as revealed to us by God in His word,- and choosing to agree with it personally by coming into relationship with the Author of Life through Jesus and by choosing to live for Him and His kingdom.

The course isn’t just about God, it’s about us, and I am excited about tonight’s session because the focus will be on the truth of what God has done to those who put their faith in Jesus.  When the truth of who we are in Christ is understood in our minds and embraced by our hearts, it changes everything.  

So tonight and every day, I will seek to be a generous friend by trying to share all that I know about the beauty of a life that is lived with God, that starts the moment we put our faith in Jesus. 

If your faith hasn’t changed you, something is missing.  Either your understanding, you heart, your seeking, or your surrender isn’t complete and this might sound harsh but that’s on you.   Our part is to seek the Lord and to trust Him enough to give our lives to Him.  If we aren’t experiencing our freedom in Christ, it’s because we have been deceived or because we are holding something back.  

Although God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness to experience the abundant life of freedom that He has for us, we might not be experiencing it because of our ignorance, our rebellion, our fear, or our unwillingness to surrender all to God.  

But don’t worry God is gracious, merciful, loving, and patient,  He is not going to drag you into anything that you won’t freely give. 

But let me encourage you to start the dialog with the Lord where you learn to trust Him and allow Him to help you to receive all that He has for you.  That’s right, start walking and talking with God. Seek His truth and come discover His abundant love and power that will pour into your life when you wholeheartedly accept what He has done for you and who He has made you to be.

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Today’s Bible verse comes to us from “The NLT Bible Promise Book for Men”.

This morning’s meditation verse is:

Ephesians 4:29 (NLT2)
29  Don’t use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.

Today’s Bible verse encourages us to let everything we say to be good and helpful, to be an encouragement to others.  

I point out this part of the verse first to combat the tendency of our faith to be turned into a religion of prohibition – a system that points out the things we can’t, don’t, or shouldn’t do.     

Christians don’t use foul or abusive language!

And no, we shouldn’t use foul or abusive language. We shouldn’t “swear” or “curse”.   

But before I say we should only say good and helpful things and go on to talk about how life and death are in the power of the tongue, let’s pump the brakes and look beyond the tongue or the mouth and let’s discern the heart behind the Apostle Paul’s intent with this advice.  However we speak the Apostle Paul is encouraging us to check our and hearts and minds here more than to worry about the syllables coming our of our mouths.   

Christians are to act in love. Christians are made holy by God and are to represent God.  

Foul or abusive language or actions don’t represent the Lord’s holiness and love. They don’t result in the fruit of the Spirit of peace, love, and joy.  So we should repent and turn from these foul, abusive, and unprofitable ways that we were well versed in before coming to Christ.  

Instead we are to be encouragers. We are to show God’s love by being “good” (a fruit of the spirit) and helpful – to encourage people to know the Lord and His ways of peace.  

So certainly know the content of today’s verse and practice it but don’t fall into the trap of the enemy to reduce your faith to the “do’s and don’t of behavior” that will fill you with conceit when you are successful and that will condemn and shame you when you less than perfect. 

Our actions or speech don’t determine who we are – God defines us. And our performance – good or bad – does not change our relationship to God when we put our faith in Jesus.  

So represent the kingdom of God by trying to show God’s love in the way we speak to and treat one another but never fall into the trap of judging yourself righteous or condemned because of a slip of the tongue.   

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As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we continue sharing from A.W. Pink’s “The Sovereignty of God.”

As always, I share this information for educational purposes and encourage all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own private study and to support his work.  This resource is available on many websites for less than $20.00.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

By  ARTHUR W. PINK

CHAPTER FIVE

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN REPROBATION continues

 

We must now consider a number of passages which are often quoted with the purpose of showing that God has not fitted certain vessels to destruction or ordained certain ones to condemnation. First, we cite Ezekiel 18:31—“Why will ye die, O house of Israel?” On this passage we cannot do better than quote from the comments of Augustus Toplady:—“This is a passage very frequently, but very idly, insisted upon by Arminians, as if it were a hammer which would at one stroke crush the whole fabric to powder. But it so happens that the ‘death’ here alluded to is neither spiritual nor eternal death: as is abundantly evident from the whole tenor of the chapter. The death intended by the prophet is a political death; a death of national prosperity, tranquility, and security. The sense of the question is precisely this: What is it that makes you in love with captivity, banishment, and civil ruin. Abstainance from the worship of images might, as a people, exempt you from these calamities, and once more render you a respectable nation. Are the miseries of public devastation so alluring as to attract your determined pursuit? Why will ye die? die as the house of Israel, and considered as a political body? Thus did the prophet argue the case, at the same time adding—‘For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth saith the Lord God, wherefore, turn yourselves, and live ye.’ This imports: First, the national captivity of the Jews added nothing to the happiness of God. Second, if the Jews turned from idolatry, and flung away their images, they should not die in a foreign, hostile country, but live peaceably in their own land and enjoy their liberties as an independent people.” To the above we may add: political death must be what is in view in Ezekiel 18:31, 32 for the simple but sufficient reason that they were already spiritually dead!

Matthew 25:41 is often quoted to show that God has not fitted certain vessels to destruction—“Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels.” This is, in fact, one of the principal verses relied upon to disprove the doctrine of Reprobation. But we submit that the emphatic word here is not “for” but “Devil.” This verse (see context) sets forth the severity of the judgment which awaits the lost. In other words, the above scripture expresses the awfulness of the everlasting fire rather than the subjects of it—if the fire be “prepared for the Devil and his angels” then how intolerable it will be! If the place of eternal torment into which the damned shall be cast is the same as that in which God’s arch-enemy will suffer, how dreadful must that place be!

Again: if God has chosen only certain ones to salvation, why are we told that God “now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30)? That God commandeth “all men” to repent is but the enforcing of His righteous claims as the moral Governor of the world. How could He do less, seeing that all men everywhere have sinned against Him? Furthermore, that God commandeth all men everywhere to repent argues the universality of creature responsibility. But this scripture does not declare that it is God’s pleasure to “give repentance” (Acts 5:31) to all men everywhere. That the apostle Paul did not believe God gave repentance to every soul is clear from his words in 2 Tim. 2:25—“In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth.”

Again, we are asked, if God has “ordained” only certain ones unto eternal life then why do we read that He “will have all men to be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4)? The reply is, that the words “all” and “all men,” like the term “world,” are often used in a general and relative sense. Let the reader carefully examine the following passages: Mark 1:5; John 6:45; 8:2; Acts 21:28; 22:15; 2 Cor. 3:2, etc., and he will find full proof of our assertion. 1 Tim. 2:4 cannot teach that God wills the salvation of all mankind or otherwise all mankind would be saved—“What His soul desireth even that He doeth” (Job 23:13)!

Again; we are asked, Does not Scripture declare, again and again, that God is no “respecter of persons”? We answer, it certainly does, and God’s electing grace proves it. The seven sons of Jesse, though older and physically superior to David, are passed by, while the young shepherd-boy is exalted to Israel’s throne. The scribes and lawyers pass unnoticed, and ignorant fishermen are chosen to be the apostles of the Lamb. Divine truth is hidden from the wise and prudent and is revealed to babes instead. The great majority of the wise and noble are ignored, while the weak, the base, the despised, are called and saved. Harlots and publicans are sweetly compelled to come in to the gospel feast while self-righteous Pharisees are suffered to perish in their immaculate morality. Truly, God is “no respecter” of persons or He would not have saved me.

That the Doctrine of Reprobation is a “hard saying” to the carnal mind is readily acknowledged—yet, is it any “harder” than that of eternal punishment? That it is clearly taught in Scripture we have sought to demonstrate, and it is not for us to pick and choose from the truths revealed in God’s Word. Let those who are inclined to receive those doctrines which commend themselves to their judgment, and who reject those which they cannot fully understand, remember those scathing words of our Lord’s, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken” (Luke 24:25): fools because slow of heart; slow of heart, not dull of head![1]

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Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage Breaker”, "Freedom in Christ" series of Discipleship Classes via the mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

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My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

“The views, opinions, and commentary of this publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries, or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication, and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of any entities the author may represent.”

Encouragement for the Path of Christian Discipleship

 



[1] Arthur W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God (Swengel, PA: Bible Truth Depot, 1949), 109–112.

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