False Christian teachings, trends….
The sermon of this post is an introduction to Ephesians 6:10 and the passage about the armor of God. This is foundational stuff for the Christian because it is about the daily warfare that automatically becomes a major part of the born-again Christian’s experience.
The apostle Paul recognized the fact there is an internal battle within each one of us; every believer has an “enemy within” that we must fight. This lifelong battle between the flesh and the Spirit will rage until our death. Romans 7:21–23 addresses the enemy within: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me.” Paul understood that his fleshly nature would never conform to God’s will. No matter how much he might want to obey God in every way, he was fighting the “evil . . . right there with me,” the enemy within.
…“It is impossible for a Christian to remain in continual sin due to sanctification.” This is a freeing truth. From the moment of conversion, the Spirit of Life dwells in the believer, and they cannot be subject to the carnal. Moreover, this is a promise for all Christians, not just a blessing that some receive and others don’t. And yet, the struggle against sin is still a daily battle for followers of Christ. To help the listener better understand, Dr. Lloyd-Jones explains that from the moment of salvation, Christians are dead to sin since they have been united with Christ and His life. The Christian spirit is alive to Christ, yet their bodies are still under the bondage and dominion of sin…. [From MLJTrust’s explanation of this sermon. They also provided sermon highlight points.]
There are two videos in this post, the first cites the words of Phil Johnson, of GTY, on the Lawson incident, also an older article written by John MacArthur on the topic of fallen pastors. The second video is by Pastor Matthew Everhard that deals with the topic of fallen pastors.
The video of this post provides great insight into the biggest problem a Christian has, the sin problem. It is stated from the perspective of the biblical Christian, one who is working to understand scripture and to follow Christ. It provides useful insight into resting in Christ. Those words are easy to say but very difficult to comprehend in an experiential manner. [A list of bullet point highlights has been written for those who would rather read than spend 5 minutes listening]
Parts 1 and 2 of this three-part series treated the deceitful imaginations of the heart; this part consists of the ‘Reflections’ of Alexander as he closed the chapter. The text from his book is directly under the video so that readers might follow along with the video reader if they desire to do so. I think that is a good way to consider the weighty material Alexander covers in his study of Jeremiah 17:9.
The topic of this post is part 2 of chapter 12 from Archibald Alexander’s book: Practical Sermons to be read in Families and Social Meetings. His topic derives from, Jermiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I think is it important to understand this foundational biblical concept from Jeremiah’s writings because it is how the whole of scripture speaks of mankind. But you may not realize that if you attend a mainline Christian church, unless, of course, you are a student of the Bible.
This post contains a video reading of chapter 12 of Archibald Alexander’s book; it also contains a portion of the book which covers and introductory discussion of the deceitfulness of the heart and two DECEPTIONS OF THE IMAGINATION that occur in the deceitful heart. You will certainly recognize them both and might also gain some useful insight to help you undermine such operations via journaling, strategizing, prayer….
“What is the Jezebel Spirit? We hear the Jezebel Spirit blamed for infidelity and spiritual warfare. But what does the Bible say?” Pastors Jim Osman and Jacob Tanner along with Doreen Virtue and Dawn Hill discuss the unbiblical nature of “Deliverance Ministries.” “Jezebel Spirit” is the concept they unpack as they show that those who claim to be ministers of deliverance are not speaking as representatives of God and His word. In the process, some valuable information for daily Christian life in this world are communicated. This 18-minute excerpt was posted by Doreen Virtue from a 90-minute interview.
This post contains 3 videos: a video short, a 17-minute excerpt of the full sermon from which the short came; and the full-length sermon. The Puritan Christopher Love addressed the matter of the Holy Spirit’s work in sanctifying the believer. He focused on two aspects: what the Spirit does to dissuade a believer from sinning; and what the Spirit does to sanctify the believer after he has sinned. Every Christian needs to understand this matter as well as possible such that he/she is receptive to the Spirit’s workings. Highlights are provided for the 17-minute excerpt; a link to some posts in this blog about Jonathan Edwards addressing these matters, but Edwards was not as thorough as Love.