Quotes (#10)

"Without any of their choosing, millions will be branded for the Antichrist one day. Shall we shrink to bear in our spirits, our souls, and our bodies our Owner’s marks -- the marks of Jesus? Branded means pain. Do we want that? Branded means carrying the slur of the servant. Will we choose to be branded -- for Christ?"-Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994)

The Public Rebuke of a False Prophet

Some of my readers may or may not be aware of the past shenanigans of Todd Bentley at his 2008 "Outpouring" in Lakeland, Florida. For those interested, I would strongly advice watching this video in which Ingrid Schlueter discusses the matter with pastors John Sharpe and Ken Silva. They also discuss the occultic influence in 2008 in the "Revival"

Anyway, to give a brief background of the issue raised, was the fact that Bentley had divorced his wife, and married his mistress, his childrens' nanny. Despite the scandal, and his brief embarassment, he was restored.



Now, this second part are interviews with the people who publicly rebuked him, after these people were hustled out. In it, they discuss their concerns regarding Bentley, as well as their motives.

Eternal Security

One dispute that has been going on for a considerable amount of time is on whether a believer can lose their salvation, or, once someone is saved, do they remain saved. One argument that some who argue that one can lose their salvation, is based off the notion that it gives license to sin. Admittedly, there are people who use eternal security, or the notion of being “once-saved, always saved,” to justify their carnality.

But, I firmly believe that when one is truly born-again, they will remain saved. Now, this isn’t an exhaustive study on the subject. However, we read two verses quoting Christ Himself.

“All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day." (John 6:37-40)

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will 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 the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." (John 10:27-30)

The Apostle Paul writes: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?...For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35 & 38-39)

Now, with that being said, I believe we need to address two things. First of all, we need to address God’s role in salvation, as well as the doctrines of election and predestination. Jesus Himself said that true Christians are given to Him by the Father (John 6:37 and John 10:29)

Furthermore, in regards to predestination, we read: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” (Romans 8:29-30)

In Ephesians, we read: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved….In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3-7 & 11-14)

Initially, I said that there are two issues we need to work through, one being the God’s sovereignty in salvation. The second issue I wish to bring up is the necessity of fruit, brought by regeneration and sanctification.

We get a picture of regeneration in the Book of Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.” (Ezekiel 36:25-27)

Famously, Paul wrote: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

We also read, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:16-25)

In Matthew 3, John the Baptist rebuked the Pharisees and the Sadducees, famously calling them a “brood of vipers” (Matt. 3:7) and he admonished them: “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance….Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”(Matthew 3:8 & 10) In similar language, Jesus Himself states:“ every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 7:17-19)

I’m also going to note the writing in 1st John: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world— our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”(1st John 5:1-6)

James writes: “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?... So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead….But someone will say, ‘You have faith and I have works.’ Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” (James 2:18-19)

You may ask: why am I bringing this up? Because, true Christians will show continuous fruit. I base this off of the Jesus’ explanation of the sower and the seed: "Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matthew 13:18-23)

John writes: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.” (1st John 2:19-20)

So, when someone makes a profession of faith, shows some fruit at first, but then goes back to the world, the question shouldn’t be: “can this person lose their salvation,” but rather, “were they truly saved to begin with.?”

I conclude with a quote from the Puritan Thomas Watson (1620-1686): "When God calls a man, He does not repent of it. God does not, as many friends do, love one day, and hate another; or as princes, who make their subjects favourites, and afterwards throw them into prison. This is the blessedness of a saint; his condition admits of no alteration. God's call is founded on His decree, and His decree is immutable. Acts of grace cannot be reversed. God blots out his people's sins, but not their names."

John MacArthur on False Converts

I think that John MacArthur makes some good points in this message. Perhaps it's almost unecessary to quote this passage: "On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'" (Matthew 7:22-23)

A Post on Pastors

It seems that increasingly we have pastors who aren’t doing their duties as pastors. Just this week, it was revealed on a news network that a certain pastor in Texas was living high on the hog. He has a 7,800 square foot house, a $240,0000 a year parsonage allowance, a million dollar a year pastor’s salary, and, unbeknownst to his congregation, he was leasing an private jet. Then of course, we have folks like Rob Bell, who are leading people into Emergent, liberal, post-modernism, post-modernism arguing that we can’t know absolute truth. Then there are folks like Joel Osteen and Robert Schuller who make almost NO mention of sin, nor the necessity to repent and receive the forgiveness of sins won by Jesus Christ on the cross.

I think that the late Leonard Ravenhill (1907-1994) summed up the problem well: “It is because so many untaught men, unregenerate men, now occupy the pulpits that ‘another gospel’ (Gal. 1:6) is being so widely and generally disseminated. Multitudes who have neither ‘tasted that the Lord is gracious’ nor have ‘the fear of the Lord’ in them, have from various motives and considerations invaded the sacred calling of the ministry and out of the abundance of their corrupt hearts they speak. Being blind themselves, they lead the blind into the ditch. Having no love for the Shepherd they have none for the sheep, being but ‘hirelings.’ They are themselves ‘of the world’ and therefore ‘the world heareth them’ (1 John 4:5), for they preach that which is acceptable unto fallen human nature and as like attracts like, they gather around themselves a company of admirers who flatter and support them. They will bring in just enough of God’s Truth to deceive the unwary and give an appearance of orthodoxy to their message, but not sufficient of the Truth, especially the searching portions thereof, to render their hearers uncomfortable by destroying their false peace. They will name Christ but not preach Him, mention the Gospel but not expound it.”

Similarly, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892) observed: “Many preachers are very superior persons; and so, when they get God's message, they correct it, and interpolate their own ideas; they dream that the old gospel cannot be quite suitable to these enlightened days, when ‘everything is done by steam, and men are killed by powder.’ They not only interpolate, but they omit, because they judge that certain truths have become obsolete by the lapse of time. In this way, what with additions and subtractions, little is left of the pure Word of God.”

Yet, the approach taken in Scripture towards pastors, referred to as “overseer” in Scripture, is starkly different than what’s becoming increasingly popular, and I say this as a young layman.

Now, first off, we must look at the qualifications for being a pastor, as laid out by the Apostle Paul in Scripture.
“The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” (1st Timothy 3:1-7)

“For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.” (Titus 1:7-8)

Peter writes
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” (1st Peter 5:1-4)

Now, let us look at the duties of a pastor.
Paul writes to Timothy: “As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith. The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. Certain persons, by swerving from these, have wandered away into vain discussion, desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.” (1st Timothy 1:3-7)


“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you by prophecy when the council of elders laid their hands on you. Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.” (1st Timothy 4:12-16)

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” (2nd Timothy 4:1-5)

“He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9)

“But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned, so that an opponent may be put to shame, having nothing evil to say about us. Slaves are to be submissive to their own masters in everything; they are to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, but showing all good faith, so that in everything they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior….Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.” (Titus 2:1-10 & 15)

Now, I would also like to add this:“Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.’ Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear.” (1st Timothy 5:17-20)

Now, of course, that being said, we as Christians, are to be therefore, respectful to our pastors (Titus 2:15), as they have authority (also in Titus 2:15)


To finish off this post, I would like to quote parts of Charles Spurgeon’s admonition to preachers: “We must, I say, first, make great efforts to acquire information, especially of a Biblical kind. We must not confine ourselves to one topic of study, or we shall not exercise our whole mental manhood…. Study the Bible, dear brethren, through and through, with all helps that you can possibly obtain…. Be well instructed in theology, and do not regard the sneers of those who rail at it because they are ignorant of it. Many preachers are not theologians, and hence the mistakes which they make. It cannot do any hurt to the most lively evangelist to be also a sound theologian, and it may often be the means of saving him from gross blunders… Brethren, we shall not adjust our Bible to the age; but before we have done with it, by God's grace, we shall adjust the age to the Bible….I shall not attempt to teach a tiger the virtues of vegetarianism; but I shall as hopefully attempt that task as I would try to convince an unregenerate man of the truths revealed by God concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgment to come. These spiritual truths are repugnant to carnal men, and the carnal mind cannot receive the things of God. Gospel truth is diametrically opposed to fallen nature; and if I have not a power much stronger than that which lies in moral suasion, or in my own explanations and arguments, I have undertaken a task in which I am sure of defeat…. Except the Lord endow us with power from on high, our labour must be in vain, and our hopes must end in disappointment…. If there is to be a Divine result from God's Word, the Holy Ghost must go forth with it…. In order to have the Holy Spirit with us, there must be a very close adhesion to the truth of God, with clearness, boldness, and fidelity in the utterance of it.”

Quotes (#9)

"As a matter of fact, however, in the modern vituperation of 'doctrine,' it is not merely the great theologians or the great creeds that are being attacked, but the New Testament and our Lord Himself. In rejecting doctrine, the liberal preacher is rejecting the simple words of Paul' 'Who loved me and gave Himself for me,' just as much as the homoousion of the Nicene Creed. For the word 'doctrine' is really used not in its narrowest, but in its broadest sense. The liberal preacher is really rejecting the whole basis of Christianity, which is a religion founded not on aspirations, but on facts. Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity--liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God."- J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937)

Tim Conway on the Will of God

In this Bible study, Tim Conway speaks on how we, as Christians, can know & discern the Will of God.