Scripture

 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

~John 15:5, NKJV

Quote

Salvation in Christ is not assistance, it is rescue; It is not enhancement, it is resurrection; it is not rededication, it is death.

~Dana Ortlund

As I was praying for the REVIVAL at Pleasant Hill that begins Sunday, a thought crossed my feeble mind for the first time. I was asking God to use me and confessing my utter dependance of the Ruach Ha’Kodesh {Spirit of Holiness} and it brought Jesus words from John 15 to mind…“without Me, you can do nothing.” Then I thought about Luke 12…“And when you are brought to trial in the synagogues and before rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how to defend yourself or what to say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said.” Even Jesus said about Himself,The words I speak are not My own, but My Father who lives in Me does His work through Me. Then there are Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back {be reconciled} to God!” One of my seminary friends said, “It is fun to preach when you have a message.” I would say, “It is a blessing to preach when the Holy Spirit overshadows us and He speaks through us.” J.B. Snyder use to say, “When I am under the anointing, I had just as soon hear me preach as anyone.” The problem is: the ‘anointing’ is not automatic. We can never presume on the anointing. The flesh will do everything in its power to weasel in somewhere. I heard {on tape} a famous preacher scold a woman for having a crying baby in the sanctuary. I didn’t hear anything he said after that and neither did those in his congregation.

Anyway, as I was praying for the REVIVAL and my part in it, I thought about what Jesus said in John 15… “Without ME, you can do nothing.” I believe that Jesus is right. I have no doubt that He is right… without HIM, I can do nothing. Then I thought, is it possible to more than nothing? If we are obedient and anointed we can be used on the plus side. Without the anointing the best we can do is nothing or zero, but that is the best. Is it possible that if we get in the flesh we could do worse than nothing? I think the answer is yes. Some sermons may be a plus-5, some may be a zero but I am afraid there are some that are less than nothing. In other words, they do more damage than good. There is a movement today lead by false prophets like Andy Stanley to undermine the authority of scripture. There are passages in the Bible that the world finds offensive. Most of them are in the Old Testament or by Paul. When Stanley and others talk about the Red Letter Bible, they are talking about accepting only Jesus words as inspired and infallible. I am telling you, this is heresy. What they are attempting to do is justify their sin. I heard one of them say recently, “Homosexuality is just another sin; no different from any other sin…sin is sin,” he said “and God forgives one just as He forgives the other.”

As I have already stated and you’re probably getting tired of me restated it; the problem is their defiance. I don’t determine what is sinful and what is not: God does and His laws are stated clearly in the Bible. Maybe you are one of those who believe there are “gay christians.” What about whore mongering christians? Do you believe it them? Really, would you want to worship with people who said, “I am an adulterous Christian.” We all sin. We can’t help it. We are under a curse but we are not all proud of our sin. We don’t try to justify our sin. When it comes to sin, we are repentant. No one’s sins bother me more than my own. Maybe I should start a new church: we will call it ROAD RAGE FELLOWSHIP. After all there is no verse in the Bible that says, “Thou shalt not get angry on the highway.”

If you have one ounce of brains, you will know how ridiculous that sounds. No where in God’s word are we taught to justify our sins. One more question: do you think criminals like drug dealers are going to begin turning themselves in to the authorities and convicting themselves of their crimes? Why don’t they? Because in their depraved mind, they justify what they do. According to the law, are they criminals? Yes. What is going on today is we are changing the law so that sin will not be sin. Good luck with that: God made the law. I am sorry folks but liberals are just not very intelligent.

Extra

Mrs. Edith is at Summerford, room 240. She was still on pain meds yesterday so she was out of it but they are supposed to start therapy today. Lincoln got a good report; he is not in relapse, PTL. If you are a Grace Pointer, we have a business meeting next Wednesday night May 24. I will not be there so Don will moderate. We have one act of business, secure the loan. LORD willing, I will be helping Chris Martin in REVIVAL May 21-24. I covet your prayers.

Have a great day, thanks for reading the blog.