"LIVE NOT ONLY FOR NOW BUT FOR ETERNITY"

Friday, December 24, 2010

To The reader:

Today is the eve of Christmas. True Biblical Christianity celebrates and remembers the coming of the promised Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour of the world!
Luke 2:11 (King James Version)
11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

His name is JESUS, meaning Jehovah/God the Saviour.
Matthew 1:21
21And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.

His other name is Emmanuel
Matthew 1:23
23Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

God Almighty the Creator of the heavens and the earth and every living thing came to be “God with us”, that is, to those who would submit and surrender to Him alone as Saviour and LORD.

The God of Holy Scriptures as revealed in the person of the Creator (John 1:1-5) the LORD Jesus Christ, came that first Christmas day, to be the Saviour of the world. He was condemned to die on The Cross of Calvary for the sins of the world as full payment for the just demands of the Law of God (Romans 6:23) for sin has wages EVEN Hell itself, the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:10; 21:8).

He shed His precious BLOOD (Hebrews 9:22) which alone can atone, pay for the sins of men, no not the good works or any so-called righteous or good deeds
Isaiah 64:6
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

(The above filthy rags were the cloth used by women during their monthly menstrual cycle which nowadays are known as “sanitary napkins”. The best that man can do is unacceptable before a holy, just, and righteous God).

of sinful depraved men (Romans 3:9-10; 23; Ephesians 2:8-10), not even the faithful and sincere observation of any and all religious observances taught and demanded by any and all religious sect (notably that of Roman Catholicism) can avail.
Titus 3:5
5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his (Jesus) mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

He died, was buried but rose again from the dead
1 Corinthians 15
1Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand;
2By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
3For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

This alone is the basis whereby any sinful (deceitful , depraved, evil, filthy, rotten, wicked and unrighteous), man can be accepted by the God of Holy Scriptures, and not be condemned to hell, nothing more nothing less.
Acts 4:12
12Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name (Only Jesus) under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 16:30-31
30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Trusts and Believe on the LORD Jesus Christ Alone! (John 3:16-18).

The person who will Authentically, Genuinely and Truly Believe on the LORD Jesus will and must become a Disciple and Follower of Christ and will evidenced a truly changed and transformed life (2 Corinthians 5:17), the fruit of genuine Biblical Repentance. Nothing less than these will suffice!

If you are a True Bible Believer, saved by grace and redeemed by the BLOOD of the Lamb, therefore, a disciple and follower of the LORD Jesus Christ: let your heart be filled with praise and thanksgiving, with gratitude to HIM who saved you to the uttermost (Hebrews 7:25) and for all eternity.

By His grace seek to live a life of holiness and righteousness in this sinful and wicked world for the praise of His honor and glory (Ephesians 1:6, 12&14; Isaiah 42:8) alone in the coming New Year 2011.

A BLESSED MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A FRUITFUL AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Because of the Love of Christ my LORD,

EVANGELIST EMMANUEL P. SALVADOR
JOHN 3:1-7 “Man Must be Born Again!”

DEFECTIVE EVANGELISM
Evangelist Emmanuel P. Salvador

I believe that most people frown at being gypped or conned into buying defective articles of whatever sort or kind. It is not a good feeling to become a victim of the fraud schemings of men. Yet, this type does not only happen in matters of temporal things but more so in matters of eternal consequence. This is so and is being done, consciously or unconsciously, intentionally or unintentionally by many who desires to reach people with the saving knowledge of the LORD Jesus Christ!

What then is the Will of God concerning Evangelism?

The will of our God and Saviour the LORD Jesus Christ is very plainly taught in the Bible and that is: "that all men come to repentance"!

This is clearly taught by the Apostle Peter in

2 Peter 3:9 (King James Version)
9The 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.

The question must be asked: "Why does the LORD demand repentance? The answer is because man is a sinner and his sin(s) must be repented of
(Romans 3:9-10; 23; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Revelations 21:8)
as taught very plainly in the Bible.

The LORD at the start of His public ministry two thousand years ago taught in
Mark 1:15
15And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

The fact of the matter as taught by the LORD is: that Repentance and Believing the Gospel goes hand in hand.

One should not and must not be detached from the other. Meaning that these two are like "siamese twins", that is, inseparable. The implications of the teaching of the LORD in the matter of Repentance and Believing the Gospel, is that "the person who truly repents truly believes the Gospel and vice versa".

And yet in spite of the clear teaching on the subject of repentance by the LORD in His Precious Pure Word, the Holy Scriptures, many so-called
pastors, evangelists and disciples & followers of such men, have consistently ignored and neglected this very important aspect of evangelism.

Thus, thousands upon thousands of professions all over the world to being saved, born again, is "suspect" to say the least. This is the result of a "Defective Evangelism". It is the type of evangelism practiced by churches and fellowships of so-called born again Christians that has produced countless of professing men and women whose lives does not evidenced a changed, transformed life as demanded by

2 Corinthians 5:17
17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

This is what the LORD in effect promises to do and will accomplish in the life of an authentic, genuine & true saved, born again Christian. This change and transformation is brought about by the power of the Holy Spirit who is the "seal"

Ephesians 1:13 (King James Version)
13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

of one's salvation wrought in the life of one who truly repents and believes the Gospel of the LORD Jesus Christ.

There are thousands upon thousands of false professions made in the name of the LORD Jesus Christ. And yet the LORD Himself gives this warning in

Matthew 7:21-23
21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22Many 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?
23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

BEWARE OF DEFECTIVE EVANGELISM! DON'T BE A PARTY TO SUCH SCHEME FOR THE LORD WILL NOT HOLD YOU GUILTLESS. SUCH DEFECTIVE EVANGELISM GIVES "FALSE HOPE" TO PEOPLE! INSTEAD OF HEAVEN, IT WILL BE HELL FOR MANY!

Suggest that you read and study the following for you to be guided accordingly.

Evangelist Emmanuel P. Salvador
Email: ministerjhn33@hotmail.com

__________________________________

What's Wrong With Most Soul Winning Courses?
December 15, 2010 (David Cloud, FBIS, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, fbns@wayoflife.org;)

Since attending in Bible School in the 1970s, I have gone through several evangelistic courses and they contain many helpful things.

But something is wrong with the standard technique taught in these courses, because all too often they produce a host of empty professions, and surely we all know that an empty profession of faith that doesn’t change the life is not biblical salvation.

“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).

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him” (1 John 2:4).

I read about a pastor who reported 4,000 professions in five years of ministry, but the church only grew from 98 to 100. Those are interesting “professions,” to say the least.

I read about a first-year missionary who reported over 700 professions of faith and 25 baptisms.
One evangelist comments: “How could you even pen those words without asking yourself if there isn’t something wrong with that picture? I seem to remember 3,000 saved at Pentecost, and 3,000 baptized! The most refreshing missionary that I have heard in a long time gave his update to our church recently. He has been in Poland for 14 years and to date knows of only five people who have been saved under his ministry. Just like at Pentecost, he only counts the ones who have been saved, baptized, and are in the church. Most of our ‘one, two, three, pray after me’ fellows would have dropped his support a long time ago! Myself, I would drop the guy with 738 saved and 25 baptized and shift the support to the fellow from Poland!”

After I graduated from school and moved back to my home town before we started missionary deputation, my pastor asked us (my wife and me) to follow-up on the church’s Foster Club outreach. Each week the ladies would report a good number of salvations, but no one was following up the “decisions.” We were given a stack of cards and began our follow up, but we quickly found that these “saved people” wanted nothing to do with us and had no interest in the church in particular or the things of Christ in general. Most wouldn’t even let us into the home. I thought to myself, that is not the type of salvation I got.

While visiting a large fundamental Baptist church in California, a friend went on visitation with the most notable soul winner in the church. A lady answered the bell at one house and stood impatiently behind the screen door while the soul winner went hastily through the plan of salvation. She wanted to attend to her child, who was fussing in the background, but he begged her to listen to the presentation. During the entire time, she was looking back into the house, severely distracted. At the end of his presentation, he boldly demanded that she open the door partially and take his hand. She seemed shocked by this request, but she cautiously did as he said. He then asked her if she wanted to go to Heaven when she died. When she answered in the affirmative, he asked her to pray after him the sinner’s prayer, which she did. He announced her gloriously saved, and she immediately closed the door and went about her business.

This lady, and millions like her, have prayed the sinner’s prayer without Holy Spirit conviction of sin, clear understanding of the gospel, or repentance toward God. Such empty “decisions” are the sad products of a faulty soul-winning technique.
The churches that have adopted this method of evangelism have produced millions of false professions. There are many churches that can show only a handful of new creatures in Christ for every hundred converts they claim. There is something extremely wrong about that picture. It is a great confusion.

For nearly 40 years I have observed the sad fruit of this technique: multitudes of false professions, confusion about salvation, indifference to biblical truth, agnosticism, reprobate living, and blasphemy against God. In many communities across the land a large percentage of the population has prayed a sinner’s prayer under the ministry of churches practicing quick prayerism. Vast numbers of these have never been born again and they are now almost inoculated to biblical salvation. When challenged about their lifeless spiritual condition, they commonly reply, “I have done that,” meaning they have prayed a prayer and have been given assurance of eternal life. They are assured that they have a ticket to Heaven. Those who observe these things are made to think that salvation means little or nothing in relation to one’s manner of life, and Christianity appears foolish and powerless. This technique also tends to populate churches with unregenerate people who are trying to act right without having experienced genuine spiritual conversion.

There are many helpful things in the standard soul-winning programs, but they are missing some things and they are wrong about some things, and I believe that if the following changes were made we would see fewer empty professions and far less confusion.

The following points would add scriptural correction and balance to the typical soul winning program.

1. The typical soul-winning program neglects repentance (Acts 20:21).

Repentance was preached by John, by Jesus, and by Peter. It appears 68 times in New Testament, 10 times in the book of Acts alone.

Repentance was a major part of Paul’s message (Acts 17:30; 20:21; 26:19-20).

The Bible teaches that repentance is not same as believing (Acts 20:21). Sometimes repentance is emphasized (Luke 5:32; 13:3,5; 24:47; Acts 3:19; 5:31; 17:11; 26:20; 2 Peter 3:9); sometimes faith is emphasized (John 3:16; Acts 16:30-31; etc.); and sometimes both are mentioned together (Acts 20:21; Hebrews 6:1).

Repentance is not a change of life; it is a change of mind that results in a change of life (Acts 26:20). It is a surrender (1 Thess. 1:9). “Believing” without surrender is not salvation.

Repentance is an assassin laying down the knife. Evangelist James Stewart wrote: “The hand that clutches the assassin’s knife must open ‘ere it can grasp the gift its intended victim proffers; and opening that hand, though a single act, has a double aspect and purpose. Accepting the gift implies a turning from the crime the heart was bent on, and it was the gift itself that worked the change. Faith is the open hand, relatively to the gift; repentance is the same hand, relatively, not only to the gift but more especially to the dagger that is flung from it” (Stewart, Evangelism, pp. 48, 49).

Repentance is the thief returning the stolen property. The late Lester Roloff said: “I believe we ought to make right what we can make right. What if I was staying with a group of preachers and one of them stole my wallet while I was sleeping? The next day he comes up to me and tells me he is terribly sorry and asks me to forgive him. I would be glad to hear that he is sorry for stealing my wallet, but I would certainly want and expect more than that from a repentant thief. I would want my wallet back! I don’t believe he has really repented unless he brings my billfold back. I DON'T BELIEVE YOU HAVE REPENTED UNTIL YOU GET RIGHT AND SAY, ‘LORD, I’M GOING TO LIVE DIFFERENT FROM NOW ON,’ AND BY THE GRACE OF GOD YOU WILL LIVE DIFFERENT” (Roloff, Repent or Perish).

The question is how do we use repentance in soul winning?

First, we must not skip over it. We should explain that the individual must be ready to surrender to God, and not give him the idea that it is possible to be saved without this (Lk. 13:3; Acts 17:30). Of course, we explain that God will do the changing, but the sinner must be ready to accept God’s working. If the individual is not ready to do this, he is not ready to be saved. I have dealt with many people who understood and believed that Christ died for their sins and that faith in Christ is the only way of salvation, but they simply were not ready to surrender to God. They refuse to repent.

This is often the case with people who grow up in Christian homes. Repentance was the thing that was missing in my life when as I grew up in a Baptist church. I don’t recall a time when I did not believe in Christ. I had no doubt that He died on the cross for my sin. I made a public profession of faith at about age 10, but it was empty because I had no intention of surrendering my life to Christ. Bowing before Him as Lord was the farthest thing from my mind. The course of my life did not change one iota.

When my wife and I first began our missionary work in South Asia in 1979, our landlord began coming to our house to have Bible studies. He was a wealthy middle-aged Hindu and had a concubine with whom he spent most of his time, though he was married and had grown children. After we went through the gospel a few times, he told me he felt that he understood what I was teaching and that he was interested in receiving Christ, but he wanted to know what he would have to do about two specific things in his life--his shady business practices and his illicit relationship with the concubine. I could have said, “Don’t worry about those things. Just pray to receive Christ and those things will work themselves out later”; but I don’t believe that would have been scriptural counsel. I don’t believe he could receive Christ and be saved unless he repented of his immorality and his dishonesty. Salvation requires surrendering. I explained to him that if he would turn to Christ, God would change his life and he would have different desires, but he didn’t want that. The power to change one’s life is from God but the sinner must surrender to God’s working.

Dealing with sinners according to repentance is often neglected today. There was an Independent Baptist church campaign in Maine a few years ago in which the people were taught to go house to house and say, “If I were to tell you today that you can be saved and go to heaven and you won’t have to change anything, would you be interested?”

That is not biblical soul winning or biblical gospel preaching. That is cheap religious salesmanship.

Consider Christ’s dealings with the woman at the well in John 4. He faced her squarely with the immorality that had controlled her life. He also faced the Rich Young Ruler with his sin of self-righteousness and covetousness (Luke 18).

This is the way God always deals with people, and this is the way we must deal with them, too, if we want to follow the Bible in our gospel work. To preach repentance means to deal with glaring sins that people are holding onto and to tell them plainly that they must repent of sinning against God; they must yield their lives to Him; they must change directions; they must surrender. God will do a new work in their lives but they must be ready for that to happen. They must have a change of mind about God and sin that will result in a change of life.

It appears that many soul-winning programs try to “slip the gospel by the sinner” and get him saved before he really knows what is happening! That is not possible. The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). There is no salvation without repentance, and it is a Holy Spirit-wrought change of mind that results in a change of life.

To tell sinners that God demands that they repent might cut down on the “decision” statistics, but it is the only honest and scriptural path. God has commanded that they repent and Jesus said they can’t be saved without it, so how can we fail to tell them this?

One afternoon I accompanied a pastor to knock doors in a part of a city that was populated with university students. A few times in one afternoon he shared a five-minute Romans Road plan (i.e., all have sinned against God, the wages of sin is death, and Jesus died for our sin and those who believe can be saved) and then immediately asked the people three questions: “Does that make sense to you?” (All of them said it made sense.) “Do you have any questions?” (None of them did.) And “Would you pray to receive Christ right now?” (None of them did.) The pastor didn’t even hint to the people that there would need to be a change in the direction of their life, a turning, a surrender.

This is not a pastor who is into the numbers racket or who is trying to impress some preacher’s fellowship or perhaps get his name in a national magazine. He is a man that I respect, a mature Christian leader who has been in the ministry for many years and who has taken a bold scriptural stand on some unpopular issues. I believe the problem is that he is simply following a program of soul-winning that he has been taught and that is standard fare for a large percentage of fundamental Baptists. The program simply isn’t questioned.

Second, it is not necessarily the word “repentance” that always has to be used; it is the concept and meaning that the soul winner must get across. We must make the individual understand that God requires surrender.

Third, we need to deal with each case individually. Paul preached repentance directly and forcefully to the Athenians because they needed to be confronted with God’s requirement (Acts 17:30). On the other hand, he didn’t have to preach repentance to the Philippian jailer, because the Spirit of God had already done a great work in his heart and he was ready to be saved (Acts 16:30-31).

2. The typical soul-winning program doesn’t emphasize the importance of patience and thoroughness.

The typical soul-winning plan is far too hasty and shallow. We need to deal with people more carefully, more thoroughly, and more patiently so that they understand the gospel and are able to make a proper Spirit-led decision.

Consider the previous example of giving a quick Romans Road presentation to a stranger at the door and then actually expecting him to be ready to be saved and encouraging him to pray a sinner’s prayer.

On one visitation outing in Oklahoma City, my soul-winning partner knocked on a door and it was answered by a woman from South America who could only speak a few words of English. She invited us into the house (her teenage children were there) and told us that she was Roman Catholic. Though it was obvious that she couldn’t understand English, my partner went quickly through the Roman’s Road and then asked her if she wanted to pray. At that point I intervened and suggested that we find someone from the church who spoke her language and send them by to visit with her and also that we try to get her a Bible in her own language. How could an individual possibly understand the gospel and be saved when they are being dealt with in a language they don’t understand? Further, as a Roman Catholic, it appeared to me that what little she did understand she was re-interpreting in light of her false religion.

This is a gross example of failing to deal with an individual properly.

My partner that day was a humble, sincere man of God. He was not trying to make a name for himself or have some cause for bragging; he simply wanted to win people to Christ, but he had been influenced by the standard soul-winning program and had not thought beyond it.

Many people in America today are as Bible ignorant as the Hindus in South Asia. Many believe in evolution, and evolution is as far-fetched as any Hindu myth. If we tried to use the aforementioned soul-winning technique in South Asia, we could get half the people to pray a sinner’s prayer “so they could go to Heaven one day.” But in the vast majority of cases, what they would be doing would be adding Jesus to their other gods, which, typically, is the first thing a Hindu tries to do. It is quite another thing for the Hindu to turn to Jesus Christ ALONE as Lord and Savior and to turn FROM all of his other gods, as we see in 1 Thessalonians 1:9: “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” But this, and this alone, is biblical salvation.

I have never met a Hindu who understood the gospel the first time he heard it. There probably has been some, but in the 20 years I have been a missionary among them I have not heard of it.

We have found that in the vast majority of cases, the Hindu has to hear the gospel over a period of time. He must be dealt with very carefully and very patiently.

Someone might argue that people in the Bible got saved the first time they heard. Yes, some did. The Philippian jailer is an example, but he had also been listening to Paul and Barnabas’ preaching and we don’t know what other preparation he had received before that night.

Some Important Scriptures about Being Careful in Gospel Presentation

In light of dealing with sinners in a patient and thorough manner, consider the following Scriptures:

“And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation” (Acts 2:40).

Though we know that 3,000 were saved on the day of Pentecost, it is also important to observe that they weren’t saved on the basis of a five-minute gospel presentation. Further, these were Jews that were already steeped in Scripture and had a foundation of spiritual and religious knowledge that most people don’t have today. They knew about the true God. They understood the concept of the fall of man and sin. They had the testimony of the sacrificial system. They had the Messianic prophecies. And many of them had heard the preaching of Christ Himself.

Consider another passage:

“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. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few” (Acts 17:11-12).

The conversion of the Bereans did not involve a five-minute Romans Road presentation. It occurred over a period of time during which they heard Paul’s teaching and searched the Scriptures.

Consider two more Scriptures:

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

“But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you” (Romans 6:17).

In these passages Paul describes salvation as coming to the knowledge of the truth and as believing a form of doctrine. Salvation requires knowledge. This does not mean that the sinner must learn systematic theology. It means that he must know and understand the content of the gospel. He must know what it means when the Bible says that Jesus died for our sins according to the Scripture, that he died, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:1-4). He must know what sin is and recognize himself as the type of sinner that the Bible says he is. He must understand who Jesus is and the significance of His death. He must understand what saving faith is.

In light of this, it is obvious that the soul winner must patiently teach sinners these things and try to make sure that they understand.

Don’t Forget the Law of Sowing and Reaping

Consider the fact that soul-winning is likened to sowing and reaping. Typically, these two aspects of farming don’t happen at the same time. There is sowing, following by watering, fertilizing, weeding, etc., then there is reaping.

Soul-winning programs too often create the expectation that the sowing and reaping will occur at the same time. But when this does seem to happen, it is usually because the sowing had already been done, perhaps by godly parents, perhaps by a co-worker or friend, perhaps by personal Bible reading.

The Preparatory Work of the Law

In light of dealing with sinners properly, consider the make up of the Bible. The reason why such a large percentage of Scripture is devoted to presenting the Law is to prepare the way for the gospel. The Law is the schoolmaster that leads sinners to Christ (Gal. 3:24). The Law shows man how holy God is and how sinful man is. Until a person understands his great guilt before God, he will not flee to Christ in a scriptural sense (Heb. 6:18).

Preachers used to understand that the ground of the human heart must be plowed up with the Law before it can bear the sweet fruit of the gospel. Some of the old evangelists would hold meetings and not even preach the gospel for the first few days, preparing the way by preaching hard on sin and judgment. In the 1960s Oliver B. Greene preached 25 radio messages in a row on the wrath of God. I doubt he could even get away with that on any of the national Christian radio stations today.

Everything is quick and shallow today, and we have all been affected by the spirit of the times.

The Sinner Typically Reinterprets the Gospel according to His Religious Background

Furthermore, it is important to be careful and thorough in presenting the gospel because people tend to interpret it in light of their religious background. When a Roman Catholic first hears about being born again, for example, he naturally thinks about baptism. When he hears about “receiving Christ,” he thinks that it is something that is done repeatedly through the sacraments. When he hears about sin, he thinks that there are different categories of sin and that only certain types of sin have eternal consequences. He might tell the soul winner that he understands these things and he might say that he has no questions about what has been presented, but in reality he doesn’t understand at all because of his previous false training.

This is why ecumenical evangelistic crusades are so insufficient. When Billy Graham or Luis Palau preach to Roman Catholics, they might preach a sound gospel message, but that message is interpreted wrongly by their Catholic hearers, and the ecumenical evangelists refuse to make things plain by preaching AGAINST false doctrine. To be understood, the truth must often be contrasted plainly with error.

A course that carefully presents the gospel is called SALVATION BIBLE BASICS by Doug Hammett, Lehigh Valley Baptist Church, Emmaus, Pennsylvania. It consists of four lessons on salvation. A strong foundation is laid by defining sin from God’s perspective and helping the sinner to see his lost condition before God. In Lesson Four, Repentance and Faith are carefully explained. It is very unusual for an evangelistic Bible study course to go into repentance as thoroughly as this one does. A simple chart helps to illustrate the Bible truths.

In no wise am I saying that confrontational evangelism is wrong or that we should not seek to win people to Christ right where we find them, if possible. If God is convicting the individual and if he understands the gospel and is ready to repent and believe, then nothing else is necessary.

I am simply saying that one of the best ways to avoid false professions is to avoid shallow, insufficient presentations of the gospel. Even the most careful presentation of the gospel will not avoid all false professions, but it will greatly cut down on them in contrast to a shallow presentation.

Someone might protest, “But time is short and you never know if you will see that person again.” That is so very true, and oftentimes we only have one opportunity to give the gospel to any certain individual. In such a case we must do the best we can and leave them a gospel tract. But it is one thing to give a quick word of testimony or even a quick Romans Road plan of salvation, while it is quite another thing to use that hasty presentation as the basis for manipulating someone into praying a sinner’s prayer.

Someone might protest that it is not possible to be thorough when people won’t even open the door and let the soul winner in the house. That is true, but if a person is not willing to listen to what God has to say, there is no hope for him beyond praying that God will give him an interest. The gospel cannot be forced upon the heart and it cannot be snuck in some side door.

We must ask God to lead us to people who will listen, who will let us into their homes to have a series of gospel Bible studies, who will attend classes at church, etc.

Whatever the problem might be and whatever protests might be offered, being too hurried and plucking the fruit before it is ripe is not the solution!

3. The typical soul-winning program doesn’t emphasize the importance of answering sincere questions

This could go under the previous point of taking the time to be thorough and to deal with the sinner carefully, but I want to cover it under a separate point because of its importance.

At Bible College I was taught NOT to answer most questions during soul-winning situations. I was taught to stay with the verses of the “Romans Road” plan and to say, “That is a good question and we will get back to it later, but right now I would like to show you…”

I believe there is a time for that approach, if the question would truly sidetrack the issue and if it is not necessary to answer it, but I also believe that there are many questions that need to be answered before the person can properly understand the gospel and before he is ready to be saved.

The man that led me to Jesus Christ spent three or four entire days with me, patiently teaching me the Scriptures and answering the myriad of questions and arguments that I had, such as whether reincarnation is true or why a man can’t simply follow his heart or why God would send people to Hell who have never heard the gospel or how Hinduism is different than the Bible way. If he had put off my questions in the manner in which I was taught at Bible College, he would not have gotten very far with me. My questions reflected what I believed at the time, and they needed to be answered. The fact that he could give me Bible answers for questions I considered unanswerable impressed me greatly. And the fact that he could turn right to the relevant Bible passages was doubly impressive. I realized that this was a man who took his religious faith seriously and had made the effort to educate himself in it, and it was one of the main reasons why I was willing to listen to him.

In this context, it is important to understand the difference between a question that should be answered and a “foolish question” (2 Tim. 2:23; Titus 3:9-10). A foolish question is one that is asked insincerely with the objective of confusing the truth rather than finding it. It is something that is practiced by hardened rebels and heretics. Jehovah’s Witnesses, for example, are often trained to ask foolish questions about such things as the Deity of Christ, death, heaven, and the bodily resurrection. They aren’t interested in your answer; they only want to push their own heresies, which are twisted out of context.

4. The typical soul-winning program is too formulaic.

From my experience with soul-winning courses, they are typically too formulaic. The soul winner is taught a simple, pat plan that he uses in every case.

While it is good to have a plan and to know how to present the gospel, there is no soul-winning formula taught in Scripture.

Christ is the pre-eminent Soul Winner and His dealings with people followed no set pattern. His dealing with the Woman at the Well (John 2) was dramatically different from His dealings with Nicodemus (John 3) or the Rich Young Ruler (Luke 19) or Zacchaeus (Luke 19) or the Pharisees (Matthew 23).

The same thing can be seen in Paul’s ministry. Consider his dealings with Lydia (Acts 16:14), the Philippian Jailer (Acts 16:25-32), and the philosophers on Mars Hill (Acts 17).

The soul winner must be in fellowship with the Lord so that he has God’s wisdom to discern people’s spiritual conditions and needs. Some questions should be answered and some ignored. Sometimes we must deal tenderly and sometimes sharply. Sometimes we must hammer the need to repent and sometimes this is unnecessary, as in the case of the Philippian Jailer. Sometimes we must spend a lot of time showing the person that he is a sinner and making him understand what sin is and removing his self-righteousness, while sometimes God has already shown him this.

5. The typical soul-winning program promotes the error of giving assurance.

I have often cringed as I have observed a soul winner giving assurance to someone who has just prayed a sinner’s prayer, even when there was no evidence that the person was truly saved or that he was more than vaguely interested in what the soul winner was talking about.

What is wrong with assurance, you ask? Nothing is wrong with it, but it is only for those who are saved.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:27, 28).

God promises eternal life to those who are born again, but He certainly does not promise eternal life to those who merely pray a sinner’s prayer. Verses 27 and 28 in John 10 are connected. Verse 28 says Christ gives eternal life to His sheep, but verse 27 says His sheep follow Him. Verse 27 is the evidence of salvation, while verse 28 is the eternal blessing of salvation. You cannot take the promise of verse 28 unless you display the evidence of verse 27.

Consider also the following passage:

“And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled, In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister” (Colossians 1:21-23).

Those who are reconciled to Christ and who therefore have eternal life are those who continue in the faith and are not moved from the gospel. Those who merely pray a sinner’s prayer and do not continue in the faith demonstrate that they have never been born again.

Consider Hebrews 6:9-11:

“But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have showed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end” (Hebrews 6:9-11).

Note that there are “things that accompany salvation.” An empty profession is not biblical salvation, and those who have an empty profession, who do not care about the things of God, do not have eternal life no matter how many prayers they have prayed or how many times they have been baptized and no matter who has given them assurance. True salvation is accompanied by works and labours of love, which are the products of the indwelling Spirit. Hebrews 6:11 reminds us that full assurance is only for those who give evidence that they have been born again.

Consider 1 John 3:2-3:

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:2,3).

Verse 1 tells us that those who are born of God have eternal life and will be like Christ in Glory. Verse 2 goes on to warn that those who are truly born of God purify their lives. The purifying is not the means of their salvation; it is the evidence of their salvation.

All of these passages teach that we must be careful about giving assurance of salvation to those who have merely prayed a prayer.

We can tell them that IF they have repented toward God and exercised faith toward Christ they have eternal life, but if they have merely prayed a prayer, they are still lost in their sins. To tell a person dogmatically that he has been saved and now has eternal life when we do not know if he has been saved is unscriptural and harmful.

The Bible gives us many examples of those who were interested in the things of God and were even zealous for God and who appeared to be saved but were not. Judas is a prime example. Those in Matthew 7:21-23 who prayed “lord lord” and who did many wonderful works were not saved. The Jews mentioned in Romans 10 had a great zeal for God but they were not saved. The false teachers of 2 Peter chapter 2 professed Christ but were not saved. Those mentioned in Titus 1:16 professed that they knew God but they were not saved.

A sinner can have many false motives for calling upon the Lord other than for salvation from his sin. He can call upon the Lord because He wants help with some immediate problem in his life, or to get rid of the soul winner, or because he wants a ticket to Heaven when he dies (though he has no intent to know or serve God in this life), or because he thinks that the sinner’s prayer is another of the many religious things he must accomplish in order to be saved eventually, etc.

It is one thing to tell a person that he can have assurance from God and from the Scriptures if he is truly saved; it is quite another thing for the soul winner to give a stranger assurance and promise him a home in Heaven simply because he has prayed a sinner’s prayer.

Yes, Romans 10:13 says, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved,” but that verse cannot be isolated from the rest of the passage and from the rest of the book of Romans and from the rest of the Bible. It must be a certain kind of calling upon the Lord, a calling from the heart, a calling that is based in sound repentance toward God and proper faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the final analysis, giving assurance to a sinner is not the soul winner’s job; it is the job of the Holy Spirit and He accomplishes this through God’s Word. “For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom. 8:15-16).

We conclude with the testimony of an evangelist about the danger of multiplying false professions through faulty soul winning techniques:

“Many years ago, in order to answer the criticism of the mounting number of false professions, I heard a brother say, ‘I would rather lead 100 souls to Christ, knowing that 95 of them were false professions, and see five of them go to heaven, than to not attempt to be a soul-winner.’ The first tragedy of that statement is assuming that those are the only two options: either to rack up false professions while winning a few, or to not witness at all. How about the option of being a witness within the guidelines of scriptural teaching, which produces very few false professions! The second tragedy is the flippant attitude about the 95 people to whom you gave assurance of salvation that will one day wake up in hell! Most of them will not allow a genuine witness to approach them about their souls, because they’re banking on that false assurance that you gave them.”

CHRISTMAS GREETINGS!

One of the best loved Christmas carols is "Oh Holy Night". I believe that anyone who knows this carol is easily touched when they hear this played. It was to me this sunday afternoon. While choosing from a list of ecards from this particular website, I chose this ecard and listened to this carol and my heart was lifted up being filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to our God and Saviour the LORD Jesus Christ. He is the true Spirit of Christmas. Jesus Christ our LORD is and must be the central figure in the celebration of Christmas.

And so, let this carol remind you of the 1st Christmas when our LORD became flesh two thousand years ago. Like you and I, our Saviour took upon Himself a human body so that He can fulfill and did fulfill the prophecy of the coming Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Let this Christmas season be different from all the other Christmases we have had. Let it be a season of Authentic, Genuine and True rejoicing because we have truly experienced the saving power and knowledge of the Christ of Christmas.

Let the coming New Year 2011 be a year of making the LORD Jesus Christ known to all and everyone within our CONCENTRIC CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE that "Jesus Alone Saves".

A Blessed Merry Christmas to all.

Pastor Manny & Sister Dell

The Reality Of Hell

THE SIN OF UNBELIEF

TO THE READER:

The following article is a sad and tragic story of one who professed but never was in possession of genuine salvation through faith in the LORD Jesus Christ alone. Let the story of this man be a WARNING to those who are just professing Christians. Let everyone: BEWARE of FALSE PROPHETS AND TEACHERS.

Ultimately, one will make a choice: BELIEVE MAN'S WORD OR BELIEVE GOD'S PRECIOUS PURE WORD, THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. YOUR CHOICE HAS ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES AND RAMIFICATIONS!

Statements in [ ] bracket are the blogger’s in light of Holy Scriptures.
Be guided accordingly!
______________________


The slippery slide to unbelief
A famous evangelist goes from hope to hopelessness

First published:
Creation ex nihilo 22(3):8–13
June 2000
by Ken Ham and Stacia Byers

During a speaking trip to England, Professor John Rendle-Short (Chairman emeritus, Answers in Genesis Australia) told a group of pastors that if they rejected a literal Genesis in favour of evolutionary ideas (or even just millions of years), this would put them on a slippery slide of unbelief. If we re-interpret God’s Word in Genesis to fit man’s fallible opinion, then ultimately, it would only be consistent to apply this same hermeneutic (method of interpretation) elsewhere — even to Christ’s Resurrection.

After he had spoken, one pastor, who had been defending compromise positions in regard to Genesis, said to him, ‘I think I’m a long way down that slippery slide already.’

We see that ‘slippery slide’ illustrated more and more in Western culture. For instance, a 1999 newspaper report stated:

‘A growing number of liberal [Apostate] Christians and scholars do not believe that Jesus rose bodily from the dead.’1

But what could be the cause of such a slide into unbelief in a matter so vital and central to the Gospel, as the Resurrection? We suggest that one of the major reasons is that as people have compromised the book of Genesis with the idea of millions of years, and/or evolutionary concepts, increasing numbers have eventually consistently applied the same hermeneutic to the rest of the Bible.

[I say the main reason is rejection of God’s Precious Pure Word, the Holy Bible and instead acceptance of finite, puny man’s words which are merely “man’s fallible opinion”. What folly and stupidity to believe man’s word instead of God’s Word. Beware Jeremiah 17:5 KJV applies]!

This has led to a mythologizing of the Word of God, an undermining of its absolute authority, and eventually often leads to a rejection of the orthodox Christian message.

[Therefore, rejection of Holy Scriptures. Note John 12:48].

‘Progressive creationists’ like Dr Hugh Ross,2 who insist on interpreting Genesis in the light of man’s theories like the ‘big bang’, and the supposed ‘proof’ of an old earth (billions of years), insist that those who teach a young earth and literal Genesis 1–11 are the ones putting a stumbling block in the way of scientists and others accepting the Gospel message. However, time and time again, we have found that the opposite is true. Compromising Genesis with man’s ideas from outside of Scripture opens the door to this ‘slippery slide of unbelief’. It becomes a major stumbling block to people being receptive to God’s Word and the Gospel. Unbelievers are generally unimpressed when they see Christians

[such people are just professing Christians not necessarily authentic, genuine, true born again Christians who are Bible Believers]!

clearly evading the obvious meaning of the beginning of their own book.

Following is the sad account of the life of a once prominent and successful evangelist, his slide into unbelief and his rejection of Christianity. In 1996, the book Farewell to God was published for all the world to see the author, Charles Templeton, claim:

‘I oppose the Christian Church because, for all the good it sometimes does, it presumes to speak in the name of God and to propound and advocate beliefs that are outdated, demonstrably untrue, and often, in their various manifestations, deleterious to individuals and to society.’3

As this story unfolds, you will see the devastating results of compromising man’s theories with God’s Word, beginning in Genesis.

[The choice is: Man’s word or God’s Word. Man will make a choice. Beware though of the choice you make for there are eternal consequences: heaven or hell. This is the truth whether man believes it or not. Biblical Truth is Absolute Truth despite puny man’s fallible opinion.]

Who is Charles Templeton? Fuelled by concern about the spiritual state of post-Depression youth, mass evangelism exploded onto the American scene in the 1940s. Thousands of young servicemen and civilians streamed to arenas to see the programs, which included preaching, music, and various acts.

One of the leaders in this movement was a young man from Canada, Charles Templeton, born in 1915. He was generally acknowledged to be the most versatile of the new young evangelists. Templeton soon rose to prominence, even surpassing another dynamic young preacher, Billy Graham. In 1946, he was listed among those best used of God by the National Association of Evangelicals.4

As the pastor of the rapidly growing Avenue Road Church in Toronto, which he had started with only his family and a few friends, Templeton also became one of three vice-presidents of the newly-formed Youth For Christ International organization in 1945. He then nominated his good friend, Billy Graham, to be field evangelist for the new ministry. Templeton, Graham, and a few others regularly spoke to thousands, winning many to Christ both in America and in Europe.

[God’s Precious Pure Word is alive, powerful, like a two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12 KJV) even in the lips of professing, apostate so-called pastors and evangelists like Templeton and Graham. Billy Graham today is like his friend, an apostate. And so, inspite of these two men, it is God’s Word that converts (Psalm 19:7 KJV) not man. Praise the LORD for those who got converted and saved in the “ministry” of these men. It is so because of the grace of God! Beware of making friends with “pretenders to the Christian faith”. The old saying is true: “tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”].

Newspapers and magazines carried reports of his meetings informing readers he was winning 150 converts a night. In Evansville, Indiana, the total attendance over the two week campaign was 91,000 out of a population of 128,000. Church attendance went up 17%.

However, despite his popularity and seeming success as an evangelist, all was not well with Charles Templeton. The more he read, the more he found he was beginning to question the essentials of the Christian faith, because he could no longer believe God’s Word beginning with Genesis.

In a conversation with Billy Graham concerning Templeton’s desire to attend Princeton Theological Seminary, Templeton stated:
‘But, Billy, it’s simply not possible any longer to believe, for instance, the biblical account of creation. The world wasn’t created over a period of days a few thousand years ago; it has evolved over millions of years. It’s not a matter of speculation; it’s demonstrable fact.’5

Templeton warned Graham that it was ‘intellectual suicide’ to not question the Bible and to go on preaching God’s Word as authoritative.

With this background of doubt [UNBELIEF] about God’s Word welling up inside, and lacking any type of formal education, he decided to pursue a degree in theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Resigning from the church he had pastored for several years, Templeton began, with special permission, his coursework at Princeton in 1948.

[Princeton Theological Seminary is a breeding place for unbelievers not Bible believers. It has long become a liberal and Bible rejecting seminary. Billy Graham must have encouraged his friend Charles Templeton to pursue his theological education in Princeton].

Rather than assuage his doubts by providing sound theological answers for the questions he had concerning the authority of the Bible, the historical veracity of Genesis and the deity of Christ, Princeton only served to increase his qualms. This is not surprising, considering the influences that had infiltrated Princeton through people like Charles Hodge and B.B. Warfield concerning one’s approach to the Scripture in Genesis. For instance, Hodge, who accepted the millions of years and rejected literal creation-days, taught:

‘It is of course admitted that, taking this account [Genesis] by itself, it would be most natural to understand the word [day] in its ordinary sense; but if that sense brings the Mosaic account into conflict with facts, [millions of years] and another sense avoids such conflict, then it is obligatory on us to adopt that other.’6
Warfield (1851–1921) went further and, unlike Hodge, even accepted Darwinism.*

Templeton, like generations of others, was taught at Princeton to reject parts of Genesis in favour of man’s beliefs concerning such things as billions of years.7
After graduating from Princeton, Templeton accepted a position with the National Council of Churches, conducting preaching missions across the United States and Canada.

However, he faced increasing health problems, specifically frequent chest pains. He visited a specialist in Pennsylvania who encouraged him, after finding nothing wrong with his heart, to clear up the conflict in his life — namely the doubts he harboured about the authority of the Bible from which he so fervently preached to thousands each night.8

This reminds of another who suffered illness because of a great conflict in his life regarding teaching that undermined God’s Word. Charles Darwin, who started out in training to be an Anglican minister, ended up rejecting Christianity the more he believed in evolution. It has been said that inner conflict, because of knowing that evolution would wipe the idea of God from the minds of millions, contributed greatly to Darwin’s psychosomatic illness.9

Templeton’s struggles affected others, too. As Templeton wrestled with the ‘demonstrable fact’ of evolution which made it impossible for him to believe ‘the biblical account of creation’,10 he sought out his close friend, Billy Graham. This caused Graham as well to grapple with tough questions that shook the very roots of the faith he professed and preached daily — namely, ‘was the Bible completely true?’11

[Today, Billy Graham is an apostate. He believes now that one can be saved without knowing and putting one’s trust in the LORD Jesus Christ. He believes that there are many ways to the One True God, no longer through Jesus Christ alone].

With ‘science’ pulling Templeton one way and the Bible seemingly pulling him in an altogether different direction, he resigned from his position with the National Council of Churches and took over the Department of Evangelism of the Presbyterian Church USA. At the same time, he hosted a CBS TV series, called Look Up and Live.
Finally, however, the doubts about everything he stood for became too great and he decided to leave the ministry.

[All the while that he was in the ministry, he was “The Great Pretender”. He must have been a fan of “The Platters”. What folly!]

In his autobiography, Farewell to God, Charles Templeton lists his ‘reasons for rejecting the Christian faith’. Most of these relate to the origins issue and thus the accuracy of the book of beginnings — Genesis [this Internet version of the Creation magazine article has hyperlinks in angle brackets <> to answers on this website to his ‘reasons’ — Ed.]:
• Physicists who say ‘it took billions of years for the universe, our galaxy, our solar system, and our world to evolve to its present … form.’12

• Anthropologists who say that ‘our earlier ancestors did not suddenly appear fully formed, but were anthropoid creatures who lived on the earth millions of years ago.’13

• Geneticists who say it is ‘nonsense’ to believe that the ‘reason for all the crime, poverty, suffering, and general wickedness in the world’ is sin.13

• Geologists who say ‘there is no evidence whatsoever of a worldwide flood’ as told in Genesis.13

• The ‘fables’ (in Genesis 1 and 2) which have ‘remained the grounds of Christian theology across the centuries.’15

• Noah and his family were too primitive to have built the Ark.16

• All the animals could not possibly have fitted on the Ark.16

• Where did the water come from for the Flood?17

• Those Christians who ‘reject any advance in science or learning that contradicts the Genesis account of the creation of the world, the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and God’s curse on the world and humankind … and who believe that the only deliverance from this curse and eventual banishment to an eternal hell is to be “born again”.’18
• The ‘grim and inescapable reality’ that ‘all life is predicated on death. Every carnivorous creature must kill and devour another creature. It has no option.’19

Two notable observations on these ‘reasons’ for rejecting the Christian faith20 are:
1. Most of these supposed ‘facts of science’, and the questions concerning Genesis, are issues that have been around for a long time, and are questions that are still asked by many today. It’s obvious that much of the Church has not adequately addressed these issues. This means there are many more ‘Templetons’ out there at various stages on the slippery slide of unbelief, because the Church is not doing what it should have done for Templeton — ‘… be ready always to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason of the hope in you, with meekness and fear’ (1 Peter 3:15).

It’s also interesting to note that Answers in Genesis has answers to all of these matters in its (recently updated) The Answers Book,21 [as well as on this Web site, as shown — Ed.]. Answers are readily available — if only the Church would accept them and disseminate the information to their congregations.

2. Templeton, like Charles Darwin,22 had a big problem understanding how one could reconcile an earth full of death, disease, and suffering with the God of the Bible.

Templeton states:
‘Why does God’s grand design require creatures with teeth designed to crush spines or rend flesh, claws fashioned to seize and tear, venom to paralyze, mouths to suck blood, coils to constrict and smother — even expandable jaws so that prey may be swallowed whole and alive? … Nature is in Tennyson’s vivid phrase, “red in tooth and claw,” and life is a carnival of blood.’23

Templeton then concludes:
‘How could a loving and omnipotent God create such horrors as we have been contemplating?’24

One can fully understand his dilemma, considering he was indoctrinated to believe the earth was billions of years old. Since the fossil record would therefore represent billions of years of earth history, he would have to believe that the same death, disease and suffering in the world around us has been going on for millions and millions of years, and cannot be the result of sin, the Fall and the Curse.
One wonders whether Templeton would ever have written his Farewell to God, had the Church in his day rejected the billions of years, shown the fallible nature of the dating methods, and taught clearly that there could be no death, disease and bloodshed before sin. What a difference there might have been in his life if he had understood that the world he was observing was not the world as God originally made it, but one which was now suffering the effects of sin, the Curse and the Flood.
Had the Church (and colleges like Princeton) not compromised the Word of God with man’s fallible teachings — one could only wonder about what such a powerful evangelist might have accomplished under the hand of the Almighty God.
Those in the Church who compromise with the idea of an old earth (billions of years) cause those they come in contact with to stumble as Templeton did. If the earth is billions of years old — there is no loving God as the Bible portrays! Templeton completed his slide to unbelief by stating that the ‘entire resurrection story is not credible.’25

It’s even sad to see Templeton’s old friend Billy Graham in essence spreading doubt concerning Genesis when he answers questions about dinosaurs by claiming:
‘… the Bible does not specifically mention dinosaurs. The book of Job … does mention large creatures of Job’s time such as “the behemoth … whose tail sways like a cedar …”… This probably refers to the elephant or hippopotamus, however, since dinosaurs apparently died out long before God placed humans on the earth [emphasis ours].’26

So what is Charles Templeton doing today? Since leaving the ministry in 1957, Templeton has taken a prominent place in journalism. Among other things, he has been the executive managing editor of the Toronto Star, editor-in-chief of Maclean’s magazine, director of News and Public Affairs for the CTV television network, and is the author of twelve books.

He is using his influence in the secular media to spread his destructive message, attacking the infallible Word of God.
{Ed. note (added August 2001): Templeton died on 7 June 2001 aged 85, and sadly had suffered from Alzheimer’s towards the end.}

But we do believe he also has a message of truth for the Church today. He states:
‘A major factor in the dramatic decrease in attendance at church services around the world is undoubtedly the irrelevance of contemporary preaching.’27

Templeton is quite right — much of the teaching of the Church is irrelevant, as God’s Word has been relegated to merely a ‘religious’ book — a book of ‘stories’. Genesis is by and large not taught as history. The Church does not ‘connect’ the Bible to the real world, as scientists have supposedly shown it can’t be trusted in areas of biology, geology and astronomy. So when the Church tries to preach morality, the world (like Templeton) responds in a similar way to actor Bruce Willis from the Die Hard series:
‘… with what we know about science, anyone who thinks at all probably doesn’t believe in fire and brimstone anymore. So organized religion has lost that voice to hold up their moral hand.’28

Templeton (unlike many Christian leaders in the Church today) is consistent. He recognizes that if you can’t trust the Bible in areas of science (geology, biology, astronomy, etc.), then you can’t trust it in areas of morality and salvation either. As Jesus said: ‘If I have told you earthly things, and you believe not, how shall you believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?’ (John 3:12).

As more and more people in the compromising churches become consistent in how they approach the Bible, having accepted man’s teachings concerning millions of years, more will wake up one day and say with Charles Templeton:
‘Is it not foolish to close one’s eyes to the reality that much of the Christian faith is simply impossible to accept as fact?’29
‘[S]hould one continue to base one’s life on a system of belief that — for all its occasional wisdom and frequent beauty — is demonstrably untrue?’30
And the end result, the anti-gospel — the message of hopelessness for a dying world — the bottom of the ‘slippery slide’?

Templeton concludes:
a. ‘I believe that there is no supreme being with human attributes — no God in the biblical sense — but that all life is the result of timeless evolutionary forces … over millions of years.’31
b. ‘I believe that, in common with all living creatures, we die and cease to exist as an entity.’32

{Ed. note: see also this review of Farewell To God on the Tekton Apologetics site, pointing out a number of other fallacies, for example: hand-wringing ‘arguments from outrage’, emotional appeals that amount to ‘no intelligent person would believe …’, the genetic fallacy, chronological snobbery, etc. Templeton also ignores the answers evangelicals have already provided to many of the other ‘problems’ with the Christian faith, just as he did with the creation-related topics we answered above. One must wonder whether he truly wanted answers.}

[I say this man Charles Templeton never truly was saved in the first place. Yes, he became a well-known evangelist but all the while remained unregenerated, unsaved and therefore his end was a foregone conclusion. Without God the Holy Spirit in his heart, his destination was assured. UNBELIEF that leads without a doubt to the Lake that burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death (Rev. 20:10; 21;8). Man is without excused! (Matthew 7:21-23; Romans 1:21 KJV)].

What a contrast this is to the truth all people need to hear and believe:

a. Isaiah 40:28: ‘Have you not known? Have you not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, does not grow weak nor weary? There is no searching of His understanding.’

b. 1 Peter 1:3–4: ‘Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has regenerated us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in Heaven for you.’

"MAN CENTERED VS CHRIST CENTERED MESSAGE"

Recently, I had to endure a morning worship message that was so disappointing and left so much to be desired, to say the least. Why? Most of what was said in the message were in fact the words of the speaker. Yes, a scripture text was read at the start and also ended with a scripture or two. But all throughout the message done in PowerPoint, the message was replete with men’s sayings, words and quotations and given much emphasis by the speaker. Man’s words had the preeminence in that speaker’s message.

This kind of preaching is so rampant nowadays in many churches and fellowships. The result is so glaring. So many professing Christians know more of man’s words than God’s Precious Pure Words. Therefore these so-called Christians are scripturally ignorant, for the simple reason that they are uneducated in the Holy Scriptures. Most professing Christians are so naïve, so simple, so open to receiving almost anything without hesitation thereby easily deceived. They think that everyone who happens to have the title Pastor or Reverend is someone called of the LORD. Not necessarily so. These professing Christians lack spiritual discernment simply because they lack knowledge in the Word, that is, the Bible.

God’s Precious Pure Word gives a warning in
Hosea 4:6 (King James Version)
6My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

Lack of knowledge of what? The law of God, that is, God’s Precious Pure Word, the Holy Bible. When a Christian lacks knowledge in the law of God which is God’s Word, it is tantamount to rejecting knowledge thus rejecting God Himself. God says: I will also reject thee.

I say that the main culprit are preachers of the sort like that recent sunday morning. Truly OT Scripture is true: “like people like priest” and vice versa. Yes, in our present times, we can say: “like people like pastor”, “like pastor like people” or “like leader like people”!

Preachers and pastors reproduce their kind.
Hosea 4:9
9And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings.

It becomes imperative that Authentic, Genuine, True Born Again Christians who are Bible Believers, are to be like the Berean Christians of
Acts 17:11
11These (Bereans) 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.

The Greek word for readiness of mind is prothumia: predisposition, willingness, eagerness, alacrity of mind .

They are men and women predisposed to God’s Word, because they are unashamed Bible Believers. They are eager and willing students of God’s Word. Therefore, they have a “teachable spirit” because they have an alacrity of mind, that is, they are prompt, having a cheerful readiness to listen and learn from God’s Precious Pure Word. Their attitude is that of a strong desire to continually add to their knowledge of God’s Word. They recognize that they are “students” (2 Timothy 2:15) of the Bible. Thus, they have a proving spirit. They test everything that they hear preached or taught with the Word of God.

They heed the Scriptural injunction in
1 John 4
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

The Greek word for try is dokimazō: prove -ed, -est, -ing
to assay, to make trial of, put to the proof, examine; hence, to examine and judge of; prove by test; approve on trial .

This is the kind of attitude that we must encourage God’s people to cultivate. Gold is to be assayed, examined as to its content and whether it is genuine or not, more so, when it comes to God’s Word. One cannot tell whether something is counterfeit gold without the knowledge of what is true and genuine gold. It is so in the matter of God’s Word. A proving testing Christian outlook is desirable in these days of apostasy. If God’s people are to be like the Berean Christians in the Book of Acts, they must prove every message and preaching by the Word of God.

What then is a Christ centered message?

1) A Christ centered message is one where Jesus Christ the Living Word is preeminent, that is, central and foremost in the message!

Colossians 1:18
18And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he (Christ) might have the preeminence.

The Greek word is prōteuō: to be first, hold the first place, or highest dignity .

The word preeminent is an adjective which means: having paramount rank, dignity, or importance (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary).

Therefore, pastors must make sure that their message is deeply rooted, of paramount rank or importance in the LORD Jesus Christ. The LORD Jesus Christ is to be first, and given the highest dignity and therefore central in any and all preaching.

2) A Christ centered message is Bible centered!
It is God’s Precious Pure Word that produces faith (Romans 10:17) in the hearts of God’s people. God’s Word being alive and powerful (Hebrews 4:12) will evidence in changed, transformed lives resulting in the Christian’s growth and maturity.

Mark 16:20
20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

The LORD confirms the Word (His Word) faithfully preached by faithful preachers of the Word of God.

1 Timothy 4:6
6If thou put the brethren in remembrance of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou hast attained.

The word nourish is a transitive verb: to nurture, rear, to promote the growth of .

The Greek word en-trephō: to educate, form the mind .

Who is considered a good minister of Jesus Christ? The one who is himself nourished up, educated in the Words of faith and good doctrine. In other words, has been nurtured, reared in God’s Precious Pure Word. Thus, have an much bible knowledge as to good doctrine derived from biblical scriptural teachings and these doctrines/teachings have been experienced as true in the life of the messenger, the pastor or preacher.

3) A Christ centered message is a warning giving message!
2 Timothy 4:2
2Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.

This kind of message gives warning to God’s people. It also reproves, rebuke and exhort at all times through the proclamation of Biblical teachings.
Many pastors and preachers are afraid to obey this scriptural injunction. They are fearful of offending people even God’s children. Thus, their fear of men bring a snare. Such pastors are ineffective and will not become useful in the LORD’s vineyard.

The faithful ministers will and must only have “the fear of the LORD (Proverbs 1:7) in their hearts.

4) A Christ centered message which is Bible centered will Result in the salvation of people!
Romans 10:8-10
8But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
9That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
10For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

17So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2 Timothy 3:15-17
15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

5) A Christ centered message will bring Growth and Maturity to Bible Believing Christians!
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Why? Because they will learn, profit from right doctrines, that is, bible teachings;
God’s Word when preached uncompromisingly will reprove anyone who is convicted of any sin or malice in ones life;
Will correct anything that is wrong; and give right instructions for right living, that is, right training.

Correction in Greek epanorthōsis: restoration to an upright or a right state .

Instruction in Greek paideia: the training of a child, including discipline and instruction, admonition, rewards and punishments.

The end result is verse 17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

This is the goal in preaching – Maturity of the Christian resulting in Ministry/Service!

THE LORD WILL ONLY HONOR A CHRIST CENTERED MESSAGE!

Evangelist Emmanuel Salvador
11 November 2010

ARE THESE MEN RELIABLE?

Dear Pastors and Brethren:

Do you know the two men that have greatly influenced innumerable numbers of seminary professors and students including pastors and teachers of Holy Scriptures, the Bible for more than a hundred years? Thus, influenced too, millions of people all over the world who has read and studied from the Bibles that are based on the false, heretical, apostate New Testament Greek Text that these two men have written!

To many pastors now a days, these two men are unknown. Yet, their influence is felt and experienced in almost every area of the life of multitudes of people. Why? Because most of the New Versions of Bibles available in the market today, were based on the heretical Greek text written by these two men and these includes the number one selling bible NIV, used by major denominations for the past 30 years or so and most of the new bible versions.

Common sense would tell me, as an authentic, genuine and true born again Christian and a Bible believer, that if there is a revision to be made on God’s Precious Pure Word, the Holy Bible, then the men involved in such an endeavor OUGHT and MUST BE A BIBLE BELIEVER, SAVED BY GRACE AND REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Now, these two men where the principal exponent of the New Greek text started in 1881.
These men were: Brooke Foss Westcott (1825-1903) and Fenton John Anthony Hort (1828-1892). They set out to upstage, revised, replace the Received or Textus Receptus Greek New Testament, then and now the basis of the Greek New testament of the AV 1611 King James Bible.

My suggestion to those in the pastoral and teaching ministry, examine the lives of these two men by reading and learning much about them. Then, you can intelligently conclude and decide for yourself whether you can, with all of your heart and with conviction, endorsed their Greek text and their theory of textual criticism of the New Testament which is the basis of most of the New versions of the Bible available in the market today.

This writer does not and cannot believe that a serious bible student, authentically and genuinely saved by the Blood of the Lamb, a Bible Believer, led by the Holy Spirit, who is the Spirit of Truth, can remain blinded to this very important, yes, controversial issue of New Bible Versions.

Hebrews 4:12-13 (King James Version)
12For 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.

Only God’s Precious Pure Word will do this kind of work. That it is “quick meaning alive and powerful is and can only be true to a Bible that is unadulterated, uncorrupted, and untainted.

When the men and even the women involved in Bible translations are suspect as to whether they are authentic, genuine and true Bible believers, and the basis of their work of Bible translation is the very works of these two above mentioned men, then the “product” (New Bible versions) of such people are suspect and therefore questionable, to say the least.

Quote “8 "They’re Taught No Disrespect for the Textus Receptus"? To teach that the Westcott and Hort Greek text is to be respected and is true is by this very fact to teach "disrespect for the Textus Receptus." There can be no middle ground in the battle between these two Greek New Testament texts. Either the Textus Receptus is correct, or the Westcott and Hort kind of text is correct. These two texts, according to Dr. Frederick Scrivener’s Annotated Greek New Testament (published in both hardback and leather by the Dean Burgon Society, Box 354, Collingswood, New Jersey 08108), differ one from the other in 5,604 places (by my actual count). Dr. Jack Moorman counted 2,886 Greek words that the Westcott and Hort kind of Greek text has completely eliminated from the Textus Receptus text that underlies the King James Bible. Dr. Moorman, in a book of 100 pages, has also enumerated 356 doctrinal passages where the Westcott and Hort Greek text differs from the Textus Receptus text. In each of these 356 passages, the Westcott and Hort text is in doctrinal error and the Textus Receptus text represents doctrinal orthodoxy. Do you really care about these facts? Your faculty cannot logically continue teaching the Westcott and Hort text without at the same time "disrespecting" the Textus Receptus. If one is true, the other is false. If the other is false, the other is true. You cannot respect and disrespect something at the same time. Your Westcott and Hort text throws out Mark 16:9-20 as spurious, for example, yet the King James Bible and its Textus Receptus honors and believes this passage to be genuine.” End of quote.
(An open public letter to Dr. Bob Jones III President Bob Jones University of Pastor D. A. Waite, Th. D.; Ph. D., The Bible for Today Press)

Therefore, it is this writer’s prayer that the recipients of this email, especially those in the pastoral and teaching ministry in many evangelical churches, will read and study the attached, not only for their information but more so to produce in their hearts a conviction and a love for God’s Precious Pure Word, the Holy Scriptures in its purity.

Either way, one will make a choice as to which Bible one will use for one’s reading, studying, meditation and reflection.

I end this blog with a quote:

"If, therefore, any do complain that I have sometimes hit my opponents rather hard, I take leave to point out that ‘to every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the sun’ : ‘a time to embrace, and a time to be far from embracing’: a time for speaking smoothly, and a time for speaking sharply. And that when the words of Inspiration are seriously imperilled, as now they are, it is scarcely possible for one who is determined effectively to preserve the Deposit in its integrity, to hit either too straight or too hard." [Dean John William Burgon, The Revision Revised, pp. vii-viii]

Evangelist Emmanuel P. Salvador

HYMN: WHAT A FRIEND WE HAVE IN JESUS

The Witnesses: Joseph Scriven
(1819-1886)

Joseph Medlicott Scriven was born in Dublin, Ireland, in 1819. After receiving his degree at Trinity College in Dublin, Joseph fell in love with a girl from Banbridge County, Ireland in 1842. Two years later, they were engaged. On their wedding day, as his bride-to-be crossed a bridge over the River Bann, the horse bucked, throwing her into the river. Joseph watched helplessly from the other side of the river as his beloved drowned. Unable to recover, the Irishman became a wanderer, hoping to forget his sorrow and at age 25, he finally settled in Canada.

Scriven first came to Rice Lake in Ontario, and later to Port Hope, Ontario. There, he worked as a private tutor to several local families. In 1854 he was engaged to Miss Eliza Roche, but Miss Roche caught a chill after swimming in Rice Lake and three years later, she died of severe pneumonia.

On the streets of Port Hope, Ontario, a man walked carrying a saw and a sawhorse. One day, a rich man from across the street noticed him and said to a friend, "He looks like a sober man. I think I'll hire him to cut wood for me." The friend swiftly replied, "That's Joseph Scriven. He wouldn't cut wood for you. He only cuts wood for those who don't have enough to pay." That sums up Joseph Scriven’s philosophy.

This devoted member of the Plymouth Brethren Church took the Sermon on the Mount literally. His faith led him to perform menial tasks for poor widows and the sick. He often worked for no wages and was regarded as a kind man in his community, albeit a bit odd.

In 1885, a friend visited the desperately ill Scriven and he discovered a poem that Scriven had written for his ailing mother in faraway Ireland. Scriven didn't have the money to visit her, but he sent her the poem as an encouragement. He called it, "Pray Without Ceasing."

When the friend inquired about the poem's origin, Scriven reportedly answered, "The Lord and I did it between us." This poem was eventually put to music entitled, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."

What a friend we have in Jesus,
all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry
Every thing to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,
O what needless pain we bear,
all because we do not carry
every thing to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?
Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful
who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,
cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?
Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In his arms he'll take and shield thee;
thou wilt find a solace there.

This hymn has brought, and continues to bring, comfort and peace to thousands of people around the world.

What can we learn?
1. Prayer is a privilege. We get to converse with the Creator!
2. Pray and never give up.
3. We will all have trials and temptations but prayer unleashes the peace of God.
4. Even after tragedy, God proves Himself strong on our behalf.
5. Take what you have and give generously to the needy.

WHAT BIBLE ARE YOU USING?

If a person is to derive benefit from one's reading and studying of Scriptures,
such a person must be confident and therefore assured, that the copy of Scriptures he or she is using is God's Precious Pure Words.

The question though that one must ask is: Are all Bibles the same? That is: every one of the more than 100 plus Bible versions that are available in the market today?

Many more questions must be asked by a serious student of Holy Scriptures specially those in the preaching, teaching ministry. Many though are not willing to investigate, scrutinize and make sure for their own benefit that what they are using is truly God's Precious Pure word.

One of the things that this blogger could not understand is how is it that many so-called educated and seminary graduates (M. Div and Ph.D holders)seemingly have been blinded and deceived that every Bible is the same.

Plain lay people that this blogger have shared about this controversial topic, in such a short period of time, their spiritual eyes are opened and they clearly see, crystal clear, the deceptions of most of the so-called New Version Bibles.

Unfortunately also, many pastors of many different denominational persuasions, are indifferent or simply ignorant of this most important issue. Many are hesitant even afraid to tackle this issue headlong.

To those who read this blog, I would like for you to answer the following questions that I believe with all my heart, must be answered to the satisfaction of those that are Authentic, Genuine, True Bible Believers like me. These are the following:

What is Dynamic Equivalency?

What is the Theory of Textual Criticism? And who are the men behind this theory?

Who is Brook Foss Westcott and Fenton John Anthony Hort? Are these two men Bible Believers? Born again & saved?

What was their role in the raging controversy about Bible Translations?

Did you know that Bible Printing & Publishing is a multi-billion dollar business?

Did you know that the major publishers and printers of these new bible versions are also the publishers of books like: The Satanic Bible and many books about homosexual
and feminists books and pornographic materials?

Who is Dr. Marten H. Woudstra and Dr. Virginia Mollenkott?

What was their role in the translation of the NIV in the 1970's?

Do you believe with all your heart that the Bible you are personally using for your reading, study and preparation for your so-called preaching & teaching ministry is without a doubt God's Precious Pure Word? Therefore, you have the conviction that the God of Holy Scriptures will and must bless such? Hebrews 4:12 KJBible describes God's Precious Pure Word as: alive and powerful. Is it so in the Bible you are using?

These and many more questions begs to be answered.

I encourage and challenge serious bible students (every authentic believer in the LORD Jesus Christ is and must be a student of the Bible)to answer the above questions to their own satisfaction. More so, for those in the preaching and teaching ministry simply because not to is irresponsible to say the least. Why? because many are dependent on your declarations concerning Scriptures.

I will say the following: If there is the true, there must be the false!
Genuine or Counterfeit! It is kind of naive to believe that every Bible is the same.

B E W A R E! DO NOT BE DECEIVED! FOR YOUR OWN SAKE AND THE SAKE OF MULTITUDES OF PEOPLE WHO ARE DEPENDENT ON PREACHERS AND TEACHERS OF SCRIPTURES LIKE YOU AND I. REMEMBER WE ARE ACCOUNTABLE LIKE THE PROPHET EZEKIEL.
__________________________________________________________________________________

VATICAN LIBRARY REOPENS
(Friday Church News Notes, September 17, 2010, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org,)

- The Vatican Library has reopened after a major three-year renovation costing $11.5 million. The bunker where the 150,000 ancient manuscripts are kept was made fireproof and dust-proof and the library’s 70,000 books were fitted with computer chips to prevent loss and theft, among other things.

- The Vatican Library houses the Vaticanus codex which is dated to about 325 A.D. and is the oldest extant copy of the New Testament (though large portions are missing, such as the Pastoral Epistles and all of Revelation). It represents the corrupt Egyptian text upon which the modern Bible versions are based. It omits many entire passages such as Mark 16:9-20 and in John 1:18 it changes “only begotten Son” to “only begotten God,” thus perpetuating the ancient Arian heresy that disassociates the Son of God Jesus Christ from God Himself by claiming that the Word was not the same as the Son. John’s Gospel identifies the Son directly with the Word (John 1:1, 18), but by changing “Son” to “God” in verse 18, this direct association is broken in the Vaticanus.

- Erasmus, the first editor of the printed Greek Received Text, was familiar with the Vaticanus through more than 300 readings that were sent to him by a correspondent in Rome, but he and the other editors of the Greek New Testament of that day rejected it. It was not until the end of the 19th century that its readings appeared in a standard English Bible (the English Revised Version of 1881).

- Westcott and Hort, who published the Greek New Testament upon which the ERV was founded, considered the Vaticanus to be superior to all other manuscripts. It was “their touchstone” (Kurt Aland, The Text of the New Testament, p. 14). The ERV and its U.S. counterpart, the American Standard Version, were not popular, though. It was not until the publication of the New International Version in the 1970s that the Vaticanus readings became widely accepted.

The home of the Vaticanus is unholy and is certainly not the place one would expect to find the preserved Word of God. I toured the Vatican in 1992, 2003, and 2005, and was astounded at how pagan the place is. Fitting to the home of the man who claims the titles and position of Jesus Christ and who accepts adulation, the Vatican is a monument to idolatry and blasphemy and man’s shameless rebellion to God’s Word. The columns of the Vatican Library feature paintings of pagan gods and goddesses, such as Mercury and Isis.

CH SPURGEON'S MAGNUM OPUS - PSALM 1

Psalm 1
This Psalm consists of two parts: in the first (from verse 1 to the end of the 3rd) David sets out wherein the felicity and blessedness of a godly man consisteth, what his exercises are, and what blessings he shall receive from the Lord. In the second part (from verse 4 to the end) he contrasts the state and character of the ungodly, reveals the future, and describes, in telling language, his ultimate doom.
________________________________________
EXPOSITION
Verse 1. "BLESSED"—see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us!

Here the gracious man is described both negatively (verse 1) and positively (verse 2). He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He takes wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To him the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. Note next, he standeth not in the way of sinners. His company is of a choicer sort than it was. Although a sinner himself, he is now a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, and renewed in heart. Standing by the rich grace of God in the congregation of the righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. Again it is said, "nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffings. Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the Eternal God; this man has learned better philosophy than that of the infidel, and has too much sense of God's presence to endure to hear His name blasphemed. The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall swallow up the man who sits therein.

Mark the gradation in the first verse:
He walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
Nor standeth in the way of sinners,
Nor SITTETH in the SEAT of SCORNFUL.

When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God—the evil is rather practical than habitual—but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who wilfully violate God's commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed, and are looked up to by others as Masters in Belial.

But the blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong, can hold no communion with such characters as these. He keeps himself pure from these lepers; he puts away evil things from him as garments spotted by the flesh; he comes out from among the wicked, and goes without the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ. O for grace to be thus separate from sinners.

And now mark his positive character. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book.

"The law of the Lord" is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses!

But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you—

Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand—your best companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.

Verse 3. "And he shall be like a tree planted"—not a wild tree, but "a tree planted," chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last terrible uprooting, for "every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up:" Matthew 15:13.

"By the rivers of water;" so that even if one river should fail, he hath another. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are never-failing sources of supply. He is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;" not unseasonable graces, like untimely figs, which are never full-flavored. But the man who delights in God's Word, being taught by it, bringeth forth patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity.

Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable. "His leaf also shall not wither;" his faintest word shall be everlasting; his little deeds of love shall be had in remembrance. Not simply shall his fruit be preserved, but his leaf also. He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness. "And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper."

Blessed is the man who hath such a promise as this. But we must not always estimate the fulfillment of a promise by our own eye-sight. How often, my brethren, if we judge by feeble sense, may we come to the mournful conclusion of Jacob, "All these things are against me!" For though we know our interest in the promise, yet we are so tried and troubled, that sight sees the very reverse of what that promise foretells. But to the eye of faith this word is sure, and by it we perceive that our works are prospered, even when everything seems to go against us. It is not outward prosperity which the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity which he longs for.

We often, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish for gold, but they are broken at Ezion-geber; but even here there is a true prospering, for it is often for the soul's health that we would be poor, bereaved, and persecuted. Our worst things are often our best things. As there is a curse wrapped up in the wicked man's mercies, so there is a blessing concealed in the righteous man's crosses, losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a divine husbandry, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit.

Verse 4. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the contrast of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the coloring of that fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of the Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is— "Not so the ungodly, not so." And we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly.

Oh! how terrible is it to have a double negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the ungodly. Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive of sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their morality, and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and shameless infidels?

The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly, and the second is the positive picture. Here is their character — "they are like chaff," intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away. Here, also, mark their doom, — "the wind driveth away;" death shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be utterly consumed.

Verse 5. They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall lay hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee away; they shall not stand in their own defence; for they shall blush and be covered with eternal contempt.

Well may the saints long for heaven, for no evil men shall dwell there, "nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth are mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same furrows as the wheat. There is no floor which is as yet thoroughly purged from chaff. Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold.

God's precious diamonds still lie in the same field with pebbles. Righteous Lots are this side heaven continually vexed by the men of Sodom. Let us rejoice then, that in "the general assembly and church of the firstborn" above, there shall by no means be admitted a single unrenewed soul.

Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in Paradise. Heaven would be an intolerable hell to an impenitent man, even if he could be allowed to enter; but such a privilege shall never be granted to the man who perseveres in his iniquities. May God grant that we may have a name and a place in his courts above!

Verse 6. Or, as the Hebrew hath it yet more fully, "The Lord is knowing the way of the righteous." He is constantly looking on their way, and though it may be often in mist and darkness, yet the Lord knoweth it. If it be in the clouds and tempest of affliction, he understandeth it.

He numbereth the hairs of our head; he will not suffer any evil to befall us. "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10.)

"But the way of the ungodly shall perish." Not only shall they perish themselves, but their way shall perish too. The righteous carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes his remembrance in the sand. The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever.

The very "way" of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the remembrance of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot, to become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the wicked themselves by its putridity.

May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!

From the “MAGNUM OPUS” by Charles Haddon Spurgeon