Hated for Christ

John 15:18- "If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you".

We are told in verse 19: "If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you."

Here we are told why the world hates us. It is because we are not "of the world" and if we were of the world, the "world would love its own".

Being believers in Christ means that we are united with Him. In fact, we are told in Colossians 3 that we are "raised up" with Christ.

We are told in John 1:10-11: "He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him".

Even though the world, was made by Christ according to Colossians 1:16 and John 1:3, the creation rejected the Creator. The sad fact is that at one point in all of our lives, we all rejected the Creator. This is of course because nobody is "born" a Christian, but a Christian must be "born again" (John 3:3).

So why does the world hate us? Why does the world hate Christ? In John 14:6, Jesus is called "the Truth" and in John 1:5-9, He is called "the Light". Also, John 8:12 says: "Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, 'I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life'".

So who doesn't want truth and who doesn't want to walk in "light"? The answer is found in John 3:19-20: "This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil."

That is why the unregenerate reject Christ and oppose Him and by so doing reject and oppose truth and cling to thier sin. Friends, this is the same reason that kept us from Christ for a time: we too loved our sin and did not want to come into the light.

But why is that? Why do men fear coming into the light? Verse 20 goes on to tell us: "For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed."

This is why the world hates us. This is why before being born of the Spirit, we hated the light also. It is because the light exposes man's wickedness and depravity. But as 1 Peter 2:9-10 says of believers: "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY".

Now, we come to the light because God has placed us in His marvelous light where we are reconciled to God as Colossians 1:21-22 says: "And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach."

So the next time you are hated for righteousness sake, remember Matthew 5:11-12: "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you".

It's not you that they hate, but the light that exposes their sin, which the bright spotlight of Sacred scripture exposes!

Can God Bless America?

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermons/series/312 Click Here

John Macarthur delivers some tremendous insight from the scriptures

The Day after Election

How should Christians respond and how should they pray for our new President-Elect?

The God Who Justifies!

Colossians 3:1: Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

What a marvelously powerful scripture! I would like to take a minute to dissect this scripture and pull some of the riches out in this verse.

In Verse 1 we read that we have been "raised" up in Christ. To be more precise, we see that it is the believer who is raised up- that is the one whom has surrendered to the Lordship of Christ and has embraced Him as Lord and Master. This is the one who is raised up.

I chose my words carefully. Notice that I did not say the person who "makes" Jesus Lord. And that is because Christ IS LORD over all as Philippians 2:9-11 says "For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

We do not "make" Jesus Lord; He is Lord. The question is whether or not on this side of eternity are we willing to bow the knee and embrace Him as Lord.

Colossians 3:1 says that we are "raised" which means we are resurrected with Christ. Because Adam willingly sinned in the garden of Eden, man has been separated or is spiritually dead as Romans 5:12-14 tells us. Because of this, man is sinful and wicked to the core. Romans 8:6-8 states: "For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God".

Sin has affected man in every area of our being. We sin everyday in word, thought and deed. Because of this, man left to himself would never seek for God, as we read in Romans 3:10-12: "As it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE."

However our Great and Glorious Saviour out of His mercy and goodness did something about it. Every other religion entails man "reaching up" to God or man "cooperating" with God with good works- trying to pull himself up by his bootstraps to please God.

Christianity is the only religion where it is said that Jesus paid it all, and all to Him I owe. Scripture is crystal clear, that even though man is made in God's image, man can do nothing to earn God's grace or favor {Ephesians 2:8-9}. Man has nothing to offer God but his sin. But because God is gracious to sinners, He saved us as we read again in Romans 5:6-8: "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us".

In Colossians 1:13, we read: "For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son".

Next were told to "seek the things above, where Christ is seated".

Far from the anti-biblical teachings we hear coming out of todays pulpits by preachers such as Joel Osteen, the Christian life is not about "self esteem" but SELF DENIAL.

We are told in the Sermon on the Mount what kind of people inherit the kingdom of God, where Christ is seated, and what it is that we should be seeking. Some excerpts out of Matthew 5 that we read are: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (verse 3). "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted(verse 4). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (verse 6). "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy (verse 7). "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (verse 8). 9 "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (verse 9). 10 "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (verse 10).

How comforting to know, that among life's troubles and trials, we have been "raised" up with Christ. Unfortunately, our condition as fallen people means that we will still sin, but our position is that we have been justified by the God Who justifies as Romans 4:5 tells us: "But to the one who does not work, but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness,"

Because of this, instead of being consumed with the here and now, we can keep on seeking the things above, where King Jesus is seated!

Where did the "races" come from?

Sadly many have a wrong view of origins, and because of this there is much confusion as to where the " races" came from.

In this video, Ken Ham from "Answers in Genesis" shows why racism at any level, from anybody is a stench to God. I will write more on this in weeks to come!

Merry Christmas!!

Another Christmas is upon us. After doing much study over the past couple of years or so on the Jehovah Witnesses, I have learned a tremendous amount about our Lord and Saviour Christ Jesus.

When people ask questions about Jesus, for instance like the JW's, we must make sure we parse the question. For instance, if Jesus was God, then why did He did not know the hour of His own coming {Matt. 24:35-36}? This and other questions of this type are answered actually very easily and when you understand this concept MUCH confusion disappears!

In John 1:1 we are told: "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word WAS GOD" and then in John 1:14 we read: "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us".

Jesus has 2 natures: one is 100% Human, the other 100% Divine. Many think that Jesus stopped being God when He came to earth, but this is false. Instead of "subtraction", think of it as "addition " Jesus ADDED a human nature to Himself. In fact we are told in

Philippians 2:6-8 "who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 2:7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

The Greek word here for "emptied" means that Christ laid aside His divine attributes and chose not to use them at certain times; however, there are times when He does use them. For instance, in Matthew 12:25 we read: "And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, "Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand." This is a example of Jesus demonstrating His omniscience {All- Knowing }. Another example is when Jesus is in the boat with the disciples. We read in Mark 4:38-40: "But Jesus was in the back of the boat, asleep on a cushion. So they woke him up and asked him, "Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die?" v-39--And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, "Hush, be still." And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. -v--41--They became very much afraid and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?"

This is a great example of Jesus being omnipotent by calming the wind and the waves, yet He is in the boat sleeping. We know that God doesn't sleep, and man can not control nature, so what we see is Christ's dual natures.

This is how you answer the question: did Jesus know all things? In His human nature "no", but in His divine nature "YES"! Consider the following when you are asked a question about Jesus.

JESUS' DIVINE NATURE:

Uncaused

Unchanging

Knowledge is INFINITE

Necessary Being

All-Powerful

Simple Being {Not composed of parts}

INDEPENDENT


JESUS' HUMAN NATURE:

Caused

Changing

Knowledge IS finite

Limited Power

Composed Being

Dependent


This hopefully will help clear up much of the confusion. Let us sit in awe and wonder of our amazing and great God as it was Him and Him ALONE who sacrificed His Son, the Second Person of the Trinity so that we may live!!!

Ravi Zacharias on Life Without God- Part 1

In this series, Dr. Zacharias is demonstrating the absurdity of life without God.

In this first video, Dr. Zacharias really hits the point home, that without God, life itself does not make sense. See if there is no God, then there is no immutable measuring stick- that is a standard that does not change.

If there is no God, then guess who determines right from wrong?? Yep, you guessed it-- MAN does!!

Many today are under the false impression that non-believers would become Christians if we would just be more loving, and caring, and stop being judgmental. However, according to sacred Scripture in Romans 3:10-19: "NOBODY is searching for God, as John 3:18-20 says " Men LOVE darkness rather than light, because there deeds are evil".

If there is no God, then there are no moral absolutes- only subjective opinions; no measuring stick, other than man, and that is why so many are desperate to do away with God.

We as Christians must be able to first demonstrate that God exists to those who are looking for answers.

Many have never heard the faith defended and don't know that there are answers to their questions. The purpose of this blog is to help sharpen me and is a place where Christians can be equipped.

I want to encourage us as believers, to love God not just with our emotions, but with our minds. The more you know, the less error you will hold on to. The more you know, the more freedom you have to engage with the non-Christian cults, such as the JWs. If we are unable to answer their basic questions, then we are not free to engage with them and refute false doctrines. However, if we take the Lord Jesus seriously, and love Him with our heart soul and mind, we can transform the world around us.

Even those who will not believe will know that Christianity stands up to scrutiny and that we as Christians serve a God who is rational, and logical!!

In a few days, I will post the second video in the series with some more comments. Until then, God Bless!!