Lecture 4: Glorious spiritual step called ‘Believing’

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek”, Rom 1: 16.

Let us go through this verse and consider carefully the meaning and implications of the step called “believing” in the life of a believer, and how the under-noted expressions in the same verse garnish it.

• the power of God
• not ashamed of
• the Gospel of Christ
• every one
• the Jew and the Greek.

The power of God
What does an average man understand by this expression “the power of God”? He does not even know what ‘God’ means and so there is no chance of his knowing anything about matters pertaining to God. Even to understand the meaning of the word “power” a man does not have sufficient knowledge.

There was a time when man worshipped the sun, moon, stars, lightning, rivers, mountain, mud, stone, animals, and birds. Things have not changed much since those days. Man is still ignorant, and his ignorance of the fact that he is ignorant leads to more transgression. This ignorance coupled with his sky-high pride are his greatest handicaps in understanding God.

Only after a person becomes spiritual does he begin to understand how ignorant he is and how great God is. A secular scientist may understand what power is only from his observation of nature. But he does not realise that everything visible and invisible is all the creation of Almighty God and that there is no power whatsoever without Him.

So the wise King David declared, “Thine O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is Thine; Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, ….” 1 Chr 29: 11. The Gospel of Christ, according to apostle Paul, is the power of God; it is our experience too, praise be unto God.

Not ashamed of
There are many so called Christians in the world who are inwardly quite ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is possible that many could be ‘Christians’ not by deliberate choice but by a spate of unexpected circumstances or even ignorantly. Search your heart and see if you are truly proud of being a Christian. Are you more proud of this fact than you are about your status or about the achievements of members of your family, or about your wealth? You do not need to tell me the answer, and the Holy Spirit knows it already. If you are more proud of anything else above the fact that you are a Christian, you are no better than a nominal Christian.

On the other hand, if you are truly proud of the Gospel of Christ, others will see you as a person with a poor and contrite spirit, who denies himself and bears his cross daily. They will see you thus following the Lord Jesus, not sorrowfully but enthusiastically. If this describes your case, you are indeed a much wanted person in the kingdom of God and an outstanding example in the church to many members. You will then be a person eagerly looking for occasions to be a witness unto Lord Jesus about His Gospel, the power of God.

Paul was a wealthy man, a Roman citizen and a Rabbi by his education and status. But after He discovered the Gospel of Christ he considered all his wealth, education, and status as rubbish, worthless and good for nothing. By the same token, whenever he came across another human being he did not care for his status either. It mattered little whether he was a sweeper, a labourer, or a district collector; what mattered to him was whether he was a deliberate Christian, whether in fact the call of God to him through the gospel had been followed by the convicting work of God in his heart and willing obedience.

We read in the following verse, “For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen…. that no flesh should glory in His presence”, 1 Cor 1: 26 – 29.

If we pose as a somebody important in the world, let us beware lest God reduce us to a nobody in His kingdom. To many, to be a Christian is stylish, something that gives one dignity and respectability in the eyes of the world. This is not the Christianity that Bible speaks of. No true saint ever enjoyed such a status in this world. They were often treated like beggars, as aliens, peculiar, and strange, but they were proud of such treatment for the sake of the Christ and His gospel. If there is one thing I can be proud of, it is the chance of my being in His kingdom. I too consider everything else as rubbish, my qualifications, status, family background, and anything for that matter.

The gospel of Christ
The text states that it is the power of God to salvation. A man who does not know who God is, cannot possibly understand even an iota of what the Gospel is, not to speak of availing its power. Do you understand what it is. If you do, praise the Lord and preach the Gospel to others more through your life than your sermons. If you do not know, praise the Lord again for the humility He has given you to own the fact, which is not very palatable or stylish in these days, and learn it, “For what are men better than sheep or goats” as Tennyson wrote, “that nourish a blind life within the brain?” We are better because we have the potential of getting immortal life through the Gospel of Christ, if only we approach it with faith and humility.

For every person who understands the Gospel and accepts the condition stipulated therein, God promises to grant him immortal life; and every such person who is in God’s list for immortal life possess an I.D. That I.D. is the gift of the Holy Spirit. All those who have this I.D. are a new creation in Jesus Christ. Such a man is humble and growing into one who is poor, broken, and contrite in spirit. He is deeply interested in the reading and meditation of the word of God along with the messages heard in the church. He gives very careful attention to what he hears in the church whether it is joyful and encouraging or not, and is anxiously eager to implement the instructions in his life.

Such a person would have come to this state by a process that is very much like the following:

• He heard the Gospel of Christ and believed. By the power inherent in it he was saved by grace on account of the atoning sacrifice of Lord Jesus.
• Summing up all that he did by way of obedient action:
  • He entered into a covenant with God the Father under the mediation of Lord Jesus by which God promised to grant him eternal life and a place in His kingdom and on his part he made a total commitment to God to abide by the word of Christ till the end.
  • He developed a deep commitment to church discipline and took all that he heard in the church very seriously.
  • So impressed was he by the warnings he heard that he shared it with as many as he could.
  • He began to understand that what he needed was to grow more and more in humility, with a broken and contrite heart, listening with childlike faith and eagerness and being obedient to what he hears in the church, supplementing it by what he reads privately from the word of God
  • Thus he continues in the path of sanctification.

Everyone
The afore-stated experience is free for everyone who believes. This blessing is granted by the power of the Holy Spirit to all those who go through the process explained above. God does not show partiality. However, everyone does not evince the same interest. Some may even wish to achieve it cheaply like bargaining for the pearl of great price at a 50% discount or some such perversion. Salvation is by grace and free but not obtainable cheaply by any stretch of imagination.

The Jew and the Greek
This is a phrase we come across frequently in the scriptures (1 Cor 1: 24; Rom 10: 12; Gal 3: 25; Col 3: 11). They are used in two senses: (1) equivalent to stating every one in the world and (2) God has not abandoned the Jewish nation raised from Abraham. Though the Jews were dispersed, having been cursed by God because of their disobedience, there is always a remnant of Jews beloved of God, by whom the epistles and the gospels were written and the first church of the Bible planted; after, all is said and done they are the original olive tree, into which we the wild branches of the Gentiles were grafted in. Let us never lose sight of the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself was born a Jew, according to prophetic fulfillment. There is also a prophecy that the two shall ultimately become one to the glory of God Almighty.

The glorious step called “believing”
This is, as indicated in the title, the unique and the most vital spiritual step. At the same time, it is the most misunderstood term in Christendom. I would not be exaggerating if I said that Satan has perhaps invested a great deal of his efforts in causing people to misunderstand this particular step as it happens to be most crucial one in salvation.

This step of Believing is as explained in the 3rd part of this series. I cannot say for certain how many went through that write up in all sincerity with the vigilance needed to understand a term grossly corrupted by the evil forces. Our lives should reflect the fact that we have indeed understood the crucial message.

The part Satan plays at this stage includes (1) causing a pseudo faith in otherwise innocent believers (2) giving them pseudo signs and a false sense of satisfaction about their salvation.

Those without the genuine saving faith can also remember a lot of verses and pray cogently and confidently. Yes, nominal Christians, because of their upbringing and training can often be very eloquent in praying and quoting scripture. It is difficult for unspiritual persons to diagnose this tragic situation. This is one of the reasons for the series of special retreats that I am conducting.

Conclusions
The five expressions mentioned in our text, Romans 1:16, are embellishments for the step “Believing”. They are closely interrelated and make the glorious step of “believing” shining bright and beautiful, and we praise the Lord for this beautiful verse which highlights so many facts.

Lecture 2: The magnificient grace of God

Before we begin the lesson:
Some may think that they are hearing the same old message repeatedly. Thinking in this way indicates that the message does not penetrate into your mind. It could be a warning that ‘sin lies at the door’. For the past 2000 years God is preaching the same old message. Though it is the same old message of God spoken to millions of people for two millennia, it penetrates into the mind of only a few. People would rather hear new messages, interesting stories, strange presentations, attractive T.V. style preachers and so on.

There are many attractive fancy churches in nooks and corners of every city: handclapping churches, drum-beating churches, Amen-shouting churches, slaying-of-the-Spirit churches, prosperity-gospel churches, not to speak of hundreds of varieties of traditional churches. There are churches where one can hear long sermons and churches where one can hear a neat twenty-minute message. Apart from these churches there are also, all night prayer meetings, fasting and prayer groups, miracles meetings and so on so forth.

Let us choose our church carefully because the Lord Jesus Christ Himself has foretold “Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”, Mt 7: 22, 23.

This church is meant exclusively for a limited number of people who earnestly wish to be ready to meet the Lord in the air, or be added to the chosen few to be in heaven. You must not expect to hear fancy sermons here. Some, even without knowing that this is the case, are godly only outwardly. They only know in theory about the inner man, soul, spirit, and the like. They even think they are practising the Christian life. But in fact they are functioning only in the outer man. To see this is something that discourages me at times. But this is not an earthly institution for me run away from unfortunate situations.

That is why I have taken the responsibility of beginning a new kind of spiritual lesson that I call micro teaching. In this, I teach the fundamentals descriptively, systematically and step by step. This may be boring to some because they think they have heard of it a few times earlier. I don’t mind such remarks. I am addressing this talk to all those who wish sincerely and intensely to be in the kingdom of heaven. I am one with such people. Let us all join together and make a sincere effort to be in the kingdom of heaven. This is not a time for drama acting. Everyone must learn systematically, earnestly, and enthusiastically and also with great humility and love for one another.

One of the serious drawbacks I noticed of late is that Satan has successfully made some of the believers here to bypass using the notes they have taken; they take the notes perhaps to answer the questions that I ask you, forgetting that what we hear are messages that are given us by the Holy Spirit to bring about change and growth in our lives. They hear the message carefully, and take notes, and then do not ever read the notes again. Individual Bible reading has a place in every Christian’s life; so must going through the notes that you take of the messages that God gives to us in the church.

The Grace of God
Grace is the extraordinary favour of God imparted to anyone for His own will and pleasure. It is the greatest single blessing of God next only to salvation that any one could aspire for. Paradoxically, although God’s grace is the easiest to receive, yet it is the most difficult to get. It is easy because Lord Jesus is ever ready to impart it to all those who genuinely ask for it, but difficult because the recipient, more often than not, lacks the honesty in his approach and does not have that certain attitude of mind expected by the Lord. It will never be difficult for any genuine believer to receive His grace. Whether he needs the grace of God to have the right attitude, or the right attitude to receive His grace is worth pondering over. Though it may sound paradoxical, on closer consideration we find that it is not so.

As in some spiritual steps it is likely that there is a seeming ambiguity about it. But the loving Lord has always an answer or word of clarification in any such situation, to all those who approach Him genuinely. The Lord’s word of assurance sounds clearly and unambiguously when approached with the help of the Holy Spirit, “…. It has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given”, Mt 13: 11.

To begin with, the Lord always allows the benefit of doubt to a believer/truth seeker, and straightaway imparts His grace with the clear instruction through the word of God as to the kind of mental attitude he should have. It is the duty of the believer to find out what these conditions are.

The much needed grace, according to apostle Peter, is readily available from God but we learn that He grants it only to the humble. We also learn at the same time that He is opposed to the proud, (1 Pet 5; 5, James 4: 6). This kind of humility, however, is only to begin with. God expects the believer to improve on it more and more.

The goal should be to develop this humility at the level of one’s spirit, in his heart, as different from superficially in the outer man. But we cannot achieve such a level without the help of the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit does not help a superficial, proud, and hypocritical man. This true humility is called ‘poverty of spirit.’ That is the goal Lord Jesus has set up for His disciples because that is the nature everyone in heaven is going to have. That is why the word of God confirms “…. for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, Mt 5: 3.

Therefore it should be the aim of every disciple of Lord Jesus to sincerely aspire for it and endeavour to reach that goal with the help of the Holy Spirit. We have already learnt that we must cease to worship or pray to God through the outer man like the dead churches and other worldly religious communities do. As Lord Jesus announced, God has stopped dealing with all those who do not seek to communicate with Him through their spirit. Just as He desires His worshippers to worship Him in spirit and truth, correspondingly, humility is to be developed at the level of the spirit.

The poverty in spirit means humility at rock-bottom level. It may also mean realizing one’s utter bankruptcy in spiritual matters apart from God; in other words, arriving at the realization of the hopelessness of their spiritual condition but at the same time hoping and depending entirely upon the grace of God for their survival. Only to such people does Lord Jesus offer the heavenly abode. It is good to remember how we were saved by the grace of God, “By grace you have been saved”, Eph 2: 5; 8: 2, Tim 1: 9 etc. That is why the message of salvation is known as ‘the Gospel of grace’ Acts 20: 24. Apostle Paul was proud to announce that he had received the stewardship of the grace of God, Eph 3: 2 (as one who teaches others the Gospel of grace).

In order to avail this magnificent gift of God’s grace or the grace of Lord Jesus Christ, we ought to attain the poverty of spirit, a deep down humility at the level of one’s own spirit. In order to reach that state, it is necessary that we develop two other spiritual qualities: They are

• A broken and contrite heart, which means a heart ready to be moulded at any time according to the word of God as and when confronted by it, besides developing a child-like heart.
• Having a hunger and thirst after the righteousness. Depending upon the intensity of one’s hunger, God is willing to fill his heart with this precious righteousness. That means all the heavenly qualities put together including the poverty of spirit.

Lecture 1: Three perilous forces faced by a spiritual man

We use the word ‘spiritual’ to distinguish those things that are not earthly but pertain to divine matters. For us, these terms are special terms used exclusively in connection with God. To be spiritual minded is not an ability that can be acquired by human beings on their own. Rather the ability is only imparted by God through the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness to him (simply because they are beyond the capacity of the earthly mind); nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual (having the help of the Holy Spirit) judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one”, 1 Cor 2: 14, 15.

Such a mental attitude as referred to in the quotation cited above cannot be attained unless God grants it. To begin with, the person must have been born of water and the Spirit. The other two qualifications are (a) being a healthy member of an anointed church (b) being one who walks seriously in the path of sanctification observing all the discipline found therein. Thereafter, knowledge improves as his experience in the path of sanctification progresses.

The antithesis of spirituality is mere intellectual capacity, prestige consciousness, and a lack of the poverty of spirit referred to in Mt 5:3. God is indeed only too willing to grant it to all those who are genuinely eager to receive it with a real hunger and thirst, because it is a part of the righteousness referred to in Mt 5:6.

The purpose of this study, about the three perilous forces, is not to engage in something intellectual but spiritual, and for every spiritual favour, we need the power of the Holy Spirit. Every progress in our spiritual life is by His grace only. But it is also equally important to understanding that we should never take such favours from God for granted. We need at this time His special favour for our further growth, and so we must implore God humbly for such a favour. May God grant us to grow spiritually, with more spiritual knowledge and clarity. May He also enable us to correct ourselves whenever necessary. We need this growth not only for our own healthy progress, but also in order to be effective witnesses in a spiritually sinking world.

The next preparation is to equip ourselves to deal effectively against the following three perilous forces faced especially whenever we are involved in any serious, spiritual endeavour.

• The environment around us
• One’s own carnal mind
• Satan and his agents

The environment around us
Spiritual people face many obstacles from the environment around them, whether it is an electricity failure, an unexpected visitor, a transport problem, an unusual problem to do with the servant maid, or some other emergency. It is by the grace of God that a believer never finds these problems totally overwhelming.

If the environmental hazards are solved, let us not think that it is automatic but rather let us acknowledge that the problem was solved by divine intervention even if we had failed to pray. God understands our anxiety and our deep desire for whatever spiritual endeavour we are engaged in. As an example, I can speak of one member who could not get leave to attend this church retreat, but found himself able to attend, by God’s providence working through mysterious circumstances. In my own case, a school function across the road from us with the blaring loudspeakers came to an abrupt end just before the noise could affect our retreat.

Strangely such problems are experienced by living churches, whereas the activities organized by dead churches often seem to go on with ease. The lesson we learn from these things at this point is, that in spite of adverse circumstances, believers must be able to circumvent them, if not change them when we plead for God’s help.

So far we dealt with the environment as a distraction. We should not forget that it could be an attraction as well a distraction. That is why the warning, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him”, 1 Jn 2: 15. That could be a serious peril though its sting may not be so apparent to many. If God’s love is not in a person he cannot be a Christian.

Every non-Christian is knowingly or unknowingly in rebellion against the God of the Bible because he is enslaved by the satanically-controlled world system. The love of the Father cannot be in such people. This is not a reference to the physical, material world as such, but the invisible spiritual system of evil dominated by Satan and all that it offers in opposition to God, His word, and His people. “Adulterers and Adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God”, James 4: 4.

One’s own carnal mind
Even after our spiritual re-generation, our carnal mind is not closed for good, but it is being crucified. It is a day-to-day task of a believer who takes up his cross daily.

This situation is like an object in unstable equilibrium. That is the struggle pictured in Rom 7: 23. That is also why we are reminded: “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit”, Rom 8: 9. Having stated this reminder, a conditional clause is added as, “…. if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you”. Between vs. 8 and 11 this conditional “if” is repeated four times reminding us about the unequal-equilibrium state in every spiritual person.

In 1 Cor 3: 1, there is a disappointment expressed, because of believers giving in and stumbling because of the unstable equilibrium (And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ.); so also in Heb 5: 12. Let us always bear in mind that “a carnal mind is enmity against God, (the reason being that) it is not subject to the law of God….”, Rom 8: 7. We are strictly commanded to “walk in the Spirit”, Gal 5: 16. It is a condition to escape falling into the traps set by the flesh to sin against God and so the command “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh”, vs. 16.

In order to control our carnal mind which is not yet dead we ought to strictly fulfill the condition highlighted above. It is going to be uncomfortable to many, though not for all, reminiscent of the key words “many” and “few”.

Spiritual life is functioning in a war front. In this warfare the carnal mind plays the worst havoc compared with the first and the third ones. It won’t be an exaggeration if it is stated that a large percentage of people in hell would concede that this hazard had been the main cause for their dreadful fate. If that be so, we could very well imagine how important it should be to deal with it and to plan systematically for an effective answer to this peril.

Satan and his agents
Satan and his agents harbour bitter hatred towards spiritual persons. It is not clearly explained in the word of God as to how exactly they harm spiritual people. But we have the following warning:
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. (Eph 6: 10-11)

All we know from these two verses is that the devil is a formidable foe to deal with. Comparing scripture with scripture we learn that the devil has two categories of agencies, one comprising the inner circle with his own deputies, the False Prophet and the Antichrist, and the other comprising ‘principalities, powers, the rulers of the darkness of this age and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ (Eph 6: 12) as his agents. The latter include demonic spirits also.

Like flies and mosquitoes, these evil forces work on human beings to cause spiritual disease. They are in charge of most of the churches and Theological institutes, serving under the guidance of Satan their boss.

Because of Christ’s victory over these forces by His atoning sacrifice and resurrection from the dead (Eph 1: 18 – 21; Col 1: 13), Christ can shield His true believers against these forces. Those who do not believe are firmly under the control of these evil agents. Even in the case of unbelievers, God keeps these evil forces from totally destroying them (Eph 2: 2). But He may give them up sooner or later. We need the protection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in order to avail His protecting shield, we should be His true disciples.

Prayer for God’s help
Towards managing all these three perils, praying is very important. Prayer cannot be used like an Aladdin’s lamp. For effective prayer, the person’s consistent relationship with God is important. That is one of the reasons why I endeavour to din into the ears of every member the need to improve our relationship with God during normal times as different from trying times.

Secondly, prayer is meant for the disciples of the Lord. Ironically, in Christendom, the word ‘prayer’ is so casually used, especially in dead churches. When we were nominal Christians in dead churches we also engaged in such meaningless activities. In our context today, we are talking of prayer in the sense it is used in the Bible. Thirdly, with prayer, it is the bounden duty of the praying person to do everything humanly possible for the person for whom he prays.

Along with prayer we shall do well to ensure the following three things:
(1) that we are spiritual persons, (2) that the matter for which we pray is spiritual in nature and not as the miracle workers we hear so much in these days do and (3) that we examine ourselves and makes sure that we abide in Him, and His words abide in us. If that be so, … ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. (Jn 15: 7).

Need For Taking Up The Cross Daily

“And He was saying to them all, If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and loses or forfeits himself?”, Luke 9:23-25 (NASB).

Taking up one’s cross daily indicates the believer’s responsibility to make spiritual discipline a daily routine. Satan and the carnality in us cunningly make us overlook this aspect and instead imparts to our minds the ‘Discipline yes but daily no’ rule. We have to devise ways and means of bringing it into our daily routine in spite of the counter suggestion of evil forces. Here, the God-given mind can come to our rescue in devising the ways and means of accomplishing this aim.

When God gives us the command, it is our duty to fulfill it. It is very wrong to assume that we can fulfill His command only to the extent ‘possible’. According to this logic, no one can be in hell.

There is nothing reclusive or remote about taking up one’s cross. It does not refer to a hermitic existence. Instead, it requires that we be very much ‘in the world but not of the world’. It requires that we be ‘not conformed to this world, but transformed by the renewing of ones mind.’ The question may arise as to how exactly this is accomplished. The clue here is in the word ‘daily’. Unless one makes it a routine habit, it will not be possible to fulfill His commandments.

Tragedy of “. . . but few are chosen”

When those originally invited by the king refused to come to the wedding feast, the king’s servants went into the streets and invited all the people they could find to come to the wedding feast. Many of this second group of invitees came, but even in that group, we are told about one man who did not come appropriately. Jesus concludes this parable by saying, “For many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matt 22:14). We know that we have been invited to the kingdom of heaven. But are we among the few who are chosen?

We see the earliest group of godless people in the book of Genesis, at the time of Noah.

• 6:3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.”
• 6:5 Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
• 7:4 For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and I will destroy from the face of the earth all living things that I have made.”

Yes, the flood did come and except for eight souls no one survived. This was not because of God’s discrimination against some or reluctance to include all but rather, it was because a segment of people from the bulk of mankind had become totally hardened on account of the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3: 13). As is the story of Ananias & Sapphira who fell down dead, the story of Noah and the flood is a powerfully illustrated warning for all of us. Jesus Himself referred to Noah’s times. He said, “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah?”, Mt 24: 37. The Lord added, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”, Mt 24: 44.

We are fortunate to be among a group of people who have not only been extended the invitation to be in heaven but who also know a great deal about the kingdom of heaven. The crucial question is: Are we among the few who are chosen? Satan will do everything in his power to prevent us from being in the band of the chosen ones. Only by being vigilant and careful, can we escape Satan’s snares.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, were created without sin. But they were drawn into a snare carefully laid by Satan. Eve was careless and allowed herself to be deceived by Satan. It proved to be her fatal blunder. Her sin of disobedience was so grievous and costly that nothing less than the blood of the Son of God was needed to wipe it away. Satan is still using such snares as his trump card for making innumerable people offend God. We who are saved from sin by the precious blood of Lord Jesus stand sinless before God, and in a sense we are like our first parents before their fall. Satan is even more dangerous today than he was then, having gained much experience in leading people into many a fatal blunder. Believers who are not very careful will become victims. That is why we have Peter’s warning, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”, 1 Pet 5: 8.

Being careless with how we handle the word is a sure way to walk into Satan’s snares.

When I was younger and in a dead traditional church, I heard preaching to this effect: “Never give heed to anyone if they warn you with regard to your salvation. You must believe that you are saved. Martin Luther discovered the fact that the righteous shall live by faith. Anyone who sows doubt is of the devil and is a false prophet in sheep’s clothing. Beware of such people.”

This kind of careless, one-sided way of applying biblical truths by people can sometimes be a snare. Here are some examples of scriptures that can give a false sense of security to people who need to be warned instead:

• My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. John 10:27-29.
• No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. 1 Cor 10:13
• “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory. Eph 1:13,14.

People who do not show the necessary signs of spiritual health are told: “By faith we must believe that we are the true sheep of His flock and it is impossible for us to get lost. You must resist all pessimism and believe you are saved. Be happy and confident and sing “I am H-A-P-P-Y / I am H-A-P-P-Y.” Such people are assured that they are elect persons, and as elect people can never be lost. They are informed that they have the Holy Spirit who is a guarantee of their inheritance and that to doubt this is to doubt the very power of Lord Jesus, and so is Satanic.”

The fact that the elect cannot be lost, or that no one can take God’s sheep out of His hands is true and Biblical. Yet it must be preached with such clarity so as to give no false assurances to people who ought instead to spend more effort in introspection and setting matters aright with God.

The above quotations are no doubt based on the word of God and serve to comfort and encourage children of God. The same scriptures that are sweeter than honey to the faithful become venom when Satan causes them to be used and applied wrongly. We know that the devil also can quote the Bible for his own purposes. The Lord Jesus could recognize Satan working because of His divine powers. Neither should true believers walking carefully in the path of sanctification find recognizing and escaping Satan’s snares beyond their ability.

As a teacher guiding this church I have to warn you about possible snares when quoting the word of God partially or out of context.

Just as the scriptures just quoted can mislead careless Christians to let their guard down and become ensnared, some other scriptures, like the ones mentioned below, may make the Christian feel that it is beyond his strength to cope with commands that seem so impossible to manage. This too can be a snare. God will never give a command that is beyond one’s strength to carry out.

• “But, I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified”, 1 Cor 9: 27.
• “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it”, Mt 7: 13.
• “Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”, Lk 9: 23.
• “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it’ ”, Mt 13: 45, 46.
• “Then Jesus said to His disciple, Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven”, Mt 19: 23.
• “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect”, Mt 5: 48.
• “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour”, 1 Pet 5: 8.

Conclusions:
We must learn to look at this matter in a perfectly balanced manner as “led by the Spirit of God” (Rom 8: 14) and bearing the following principles in mind:

• Living a disciplined life day by day under the light of the word of God.
• Practicing righteousness consistently by regulating our spiritual life according to what we understand from Bible meditation, with the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
• Developing the habit of daily introspection, prayer, and meditation upon the word of God
• Never tiring to be warned from the word of God and not hesitating to change whenever the word of God demands it.

(Note: Please read my article “Nature of the path of Sanctification” which lists a set of spiritual principles for the guidance of sincere believers.

I was delighted to go through the under noted comments of Dr. Matthew Henry about the implication of “… but few are chosen”, Mt 22: 14.
“Of the many that are called to the Wedding Feast, if you set aside all those as unchosen that make light of it, and avowedly prefer other things before it; if then you set aside all that make a profession of religion, but the temper of whose spirits and the tenor of whose conduct are a constant contradiction to it; if you set aside all the profane, and all the hypocritical, you will find that they are few, very few that are chosen… that is, to salvation, by sanctification of the Spirit. This is the straight gate and narrow way which few find it”.

Those who bend God’s rules to suit their convenience will not be in this group but only those who bend themselves to be in tune with God’s rules.

Nature of the path of sanctification

(GB Message)

Satan constantly attempts to prevent believers from reaching the heavenly kingdom offered by Lord Jesus Christ. The magnitude of his venomous mischief in this matter is unimaginable. That is why the word of God has warned believers time again about this danger. The enemy’s various attributes described in scripture such as “murderer” (Jn 8: 44), “liar” (Jn 8: 44), “enemy” (Mt 13: 25, 39), “devourer” and “adversary of the believer” (1 Pet 5: 8), an “accuser” (Rev 12: 1o), and many more are sufficient evidence to understand how venomous he is.

What a calling!

(Murali’s notes about GB’s message)

God has chosen each one of us in the church for a very special purpose and then for the glorious eternal life. Are we walking in a manner worthy of our calling? Let us examine our situation with an illustration from a story.

Once a rich doctor wanted to experiment on a project of adopting a slum girl, bringing her up in a high society, and providing her with a good education and support. He selected one of the dirtiest and ugliest little girl from a slum. The girl was so filthy that he didn’t even want to allow her in his car, but had someone bring her to his house by auto.

You are responsible for your choice

(Murali’s notes about GB’s message)

Each of us came into this world alone, will leave this world alone, and will one day stand alone before God and give an account of ourselves. In Genesis 3, though God knew who first ate the fruit, he questions Adam first because he was given the charge, and he is responsible for his family. When God questioned Adam about his sin, Adam put the blame on “the woman whom Thou gavest me.” When Eve was questioned, she put the blame on the serpent. Both of them didn’t own up to their own responsibilities for their fallen state. Similarly, on the Judgment Day, millions will blame their circumstances, families, relatives, friends, church, pastors, and others for losing salvation instead of owning individual responsibility.

Reality of heaven and the hazardous path to it Part 15

(GB message)

Click for Tamil translation

In the previous study we learned about New Jerusalem. The old earthly Jerusalem is going to be the capital city of the earthly millennial kingdom of Lord Jesus, This was the place where Lord Jesus, the Saviour of the world was crucified. This was the place where King Solomon built the magnificent Temple of God. This was also the place where Abraham, the father of living faith was ready to sacrifice his son in implicit obedience to God’s command, and where our loving God spared him of the agony of killing his son. Even as I mention this incident, I remember also that this same God did not spare His only begotten Son from death and that too death on a cruel Roman cross. That is the love with which He loved the world.

Being sure of going to heaven

(Murali’s notes about GB’s message)

Every growing church should have intelligent questions about the topics they study and should provide regular feedback to the preacher.

Every heaven-going believer will have great grief for people whom he knows will go to hell.  What is our feeling towards people whom we know for sure will go to hell if they do not change their course?  Do we really grasp the implications?  What have we done for them?  Have we done everything short of falling at their feet and pleading that they accept Jesus?