False Christian teachings, trends….
The sermon of this post is part 4 of Pastor Hines 5-part series on Satan’s Devices. In it, he read Psalm 73 and presented 3 devices of Satan and remedies for those. Remedies seem to amount to biblical perspectives that enable one to avoid Satan’s snares.
In the sermon of this post, MLJ explained what schism is and provided numerous examples of it. He emphasized what the apostle Paul did in the New Testament, that Christians need to find unity via holding biblical doctrines. For example, the ecumenical movement that emphasizes unity at the expense of doctrine is wrong. MLJ provided examples of the opposite extreme too, regarding unity. [I thought I understood what ‘schism’ meant until I heard this sermon.]
The Bible teaches that the whole world is in the kingdom of Satan and under his power. Those who live in the world are blinded by his lies and continually live under his power. …Those who are in the kingdom of God have been rescued from the power of Satan and transferred to the kingdom of God. Those who are of God can never fall again and become subject to the devil’s power. This does not mean that the devil will not try to destroy the faith of Christians. He is a lion seeking to devour, but if Christians resist him, he will flee, for the power of Christ is greater than the devil.
The music video of this post is a great portrayal of the spiritual struggle that the apostle Paul describes in Romans 7. The artist, Ren, portrays the internal spiritual warfare; he even portrays the voice of the Tempter about half way through the video. A couple of reviews of the song are linked. [12-28-24 I edited this post: added a video that edits out the foul language and provides a critique by a pastor; added my own comments at the end.]
If you’re not familiar with Side “B” ministries let me sum them up in a nutshell. Side “B” ministries are deceptive parachurch organizations that purport to help the church minister more effectively to those who identify as LBGTQ+ and provide guidance for Christian families who have kids identifying as such. They claim to do this without ever compromising Christian orthodoxy, but this notion is untenable because these ministries promote the idea that same-sex attraction is not a morally culpable sin. Therefore it is perfectly acceptable to be a Gay-Christian as long as you stay celibate, ostensibly. …Any shepherd of the flock ought to be ready to use the rod and chase off these wolves in sheep’s clothing so that the sheep might be protected and brought to better pastures, where God’s Word is faithfully preached and the sheep faithfully discipled.
In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 1:20 titled “Christmas and the Modern Man,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones preaches that the true meaning of Christmas is something that seems offensive, and even foolish, to the natural person. Today’s culture has missed the reason why God sent His Son to Earth in the first place; that is, to reconcile humanity back to Himself. This is the part of the gospel message that is offensive; the Christmas story makes one realize that they are helpless enough that they need a baby to come save them. Christmas is truly a miraculous story. A virgin gives birth to a boy who will save humanity from their sins. This message sounds like foolishness, yet this is the message that all must come to grips with and in hope believe that Jesus was the promised King who will redeem humanity.
“You can’t be a Christian without being aware of the fact that God is dealing with you, is concerned about you, is doing something to you. God’s got his hands upon you.” ―Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones. …”To be a Christian means that we have had an experience of the grace of God; that is essential Christianity.” Diving into Mary’s Magnificat, we see the recounting of her response to God’s work; in a sense this was the first Christian experience. More than an amazement that she would have a child was the realization of what God was doing on a larger scale. Christianity is, “the life of God in the souls of men.” It is about what God does to us, not what we have done. The mark of a Christian is the experience of God’s grace, but this does not look exactly the same for everyone.
This post contains a video short wherein John MacArthur talks about the restraints the God has given us to restrain evil in society, to restrain the sinner. In MLJ’s sermon, he explained how the Devil works to use people to oppose God. He explained how God permits rulers and nations to rise in power but then ultimately shows them there is only one God, Him; and that they are very little in comparison to Him…. MLJTrust added sermon description and breakdown; I added some points from the sermon that I though emphasized the past decade, regarding the chaos and evil on the world stage.
Is it not madness to spend an entire message devoted to describing the devil? After all, is not Satan merely folklore and myth? Many sophisticated people today would conclude that focus on the spiritual realm at all is a sheer waste of time but Christians cannot shy away from what Scripture teaches. They acknowledge that their authority on spiritual matters is not themselves but the word of God. As Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones reminds, to talk about these things is the most practical thing a Christian can do because they are looking at the real cause of the present state of the world. The Christian has been given the ability to see the true nature of the conflict. …By examining the Scriptures on the topic, Dr. Lloyd-Jones equips Christians to understand the devil’s purpose and his kingdom of darkness.
This post is part 2 of 3 on Syncretism. In case you did not read part 1, syncretism is the blending of another religion or belief system with the religion of the Bible. The God of the Bible forbids syncretism. In looking at Marxism from this perspective, it becomes clear that the trendy contemporary movement to incorporate Cultural Marxism into Christianity is wrong for at least two reasons: Marxism is atheistic and looks to the Devil as its mentor; syncretism is wrong and forbidden by God…. If you belong to a church wherein CM is being integrated with the weekly sermon, best leave for the sake of your soul.