False Prophets

Just as a butterfly can be attracted to a thistle,people can be attracted to false prophets and teachers.
The Bible is full of warnings to beware of false teachers. In the verse above, from the sermon on the mount, Jesus warns of false prophets and compares them to thornbushes and thistles. There are many Old Testament passages that warn of false prophets, and in the New Testament warnings come from Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Jude, James and, of course, Paul. Paul very clearly, in the book of Galatians, confronts false teaching and very emphatically states that any gospel, other than what he and the other apostles taught, is false teaching. Today, even in major denominations, false teaching is so rampant that churches and denominations that remain true to Biblical teachings are labeled as the ‘religious right, fundamentalist,’ etc. Members of these Bible believing churches are said to interpret the Bible too literally and are even called dangerous. For believing John 14:6 and other Biblical teaching, Bible believing Christians are accused of being narrow minded, exclusive, hateful, arrogant, and intolerant just to mention a few adjectives. Some political leaders suggest that certain Biblical teachings are hate speech and should be banned. This has already happened in Canada. Groups such as the Jesus Seminar (liberal Christian scholars) routinely deny or revise core Biblical teachings, including the resurrection and deity of Jesus Christ. Their views are presented on major network television specials as the authoritative last word on Christian theology with little mention, if any, of orthodox Christianity. The Presbyterian Church in America denomination separated from the larger USA Presbyterian Church about 30 years ago, and other denominations are now in turmoil over the same kind of issues. The following verses warn of false teaching: Jeremiah 5:31, Matthew 24:11, Acts 20:29-30, Romans 16:17-19, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Galatians 1:6-9, Colossians 2:8, 2 Timothy 4:3, 2 Peter 2:1-3, 1 John 4:1-3, Jude 1:3-4, Rev 2:2

Are there false prophets today? Part 3

Justification is by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. In the reformed view, the Holy Spirit initiates this process by regenerating a sinner that is dead in sin. Being born again is the term used for regeneration and it comes from God with power and enables a person to willingly come to Christ and salvation through faith. This saved sinner has been so transformed and changed by God that he will now, through the power of this continuing grace, lead a life that has a new direction and focus. He will still sin and be far from perfect, but fruit will result. This is the message of Eph. 2:8-10 and verse 10 is called sanctification. Literally hundreds of other verses teach about sanctification.

Yet, when orthodox Christianity affirms this doctrine of sanctification, some modern day false teachers accuse them of teaching a works salvation. However, by denying sanctification always happens, they are denying the power of regeneration by God. Therefore, this theology holds that while fruit should and may result from a salvation of faith alone, it may never happen and a person may not be changed at all. The so-called carnal Christian is the result. You can be truly saved, but have no desire to follow or be a disciple of Christ.

Jude warns about these false teachers.

The following quotes are from a sermon by Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi on the text of Jude 5-16 titled The Contradiction of Unrighteousness:

We’ve said several times now that Jude is writing this letter out of a concern about the influence of certain false teachers. These false teachers, he tells us in verses 3 and 4, are on the one hand teaching cheap grace. They’re teaching that a person can be a Christian and live in immorality. The two are perfectly compatible……..

But the fact that they are teaching a grace that does not lead to a changed life and that they are denigrating Jesus, our Master and Lord, lets us know how incredibly timely this letter is for today. Jude is writing to problems 2,000 years ago which are still rife around us…….

There are many people today who are very happy to convince you of the safety and security of your spiritual condition and yet encourage you in immorality and loose living. We live in a day and age of license and antinomianism. People want God without rules, without responsibilities, without obligations. They want Christianity without commitment. They want the benefits of Christ and salvation without the cost of discipleship…….

Are there false prophets today? Part 2

No repentance required. No discipleship needed. No life changes necessary. Sound familiar. The theology of the Free Grace movement is to advocate the very things that Jude warns about in verse 4. The faith they believe in is man generated and seals one's ticket to eternal life. The regeneration they believe in has no power and thus no change in a persons life is a possibility that is acceptable. In fact it is held that no fruit may never occur over a long life, but a profession of faith (lip service) is all that it takes to secure eternal life.

Yes regeneration is required, comes after faith, and comes from God, but oh by the way it may be ineffective and accomplish nothing. It is required, but it does not have to accomplish anything. When a theology is built on nonsense rather than a systematic foundation, then such nonsense as this results. Repentance would be a work, but somehow faith is not a work. Just as Jazzy fits in the shoe above, this theology is what Jude 4 is warning believers to avoid.

More from Dr. Ligon Duncan's sermon on Jude 3-4.......
Jude is saying, ‘Here’s why I’m writing to you. There are people in your own congregation,’ he says, ‘who have the name Christian, who say that their teaching is Christian, but they’re leading you astray. They’re teaching you false things. They’re teaching cheap grace. They’re denying Jesus Christ.’ And, of course, that fulfills what Jesus Himself said to His disciples. When you look around and see false teachers in the church today, rejoice! Cheer up! It’s a proof that Jesus is divine. Jesus told His disciples that there would be false prophets in their own midst. Paul told the elders in Ephesus that wolves, ravenous wolves would come up even from their own number who would hairy the people of God. And so Jude reminds us of this. He says, ‘Look, there are godless persons already among you. They’re subtle, so be on the lookout. And these godless persons,’ he says, ‘they’re pre-condemned. God’s already passed His verdict on them long ago. So you look at them from God’s perspective. Yes, they’ll say that what they’re teaching is true and good and helpful, but it’s not in accord with the apostles’ teaching. It’s not in accord with Scripture, so you be on the watch. And you assign God’s verdict to them, not their own verdict to themselves.’

Are there false prophets today?

Are there false prophets today and what do they teach? The answers are yes and they teach unbiblical doctrine which is another way of saying false doctrine. false prophets teach false doctrine. False doctrine is taught by false prophets. Jude 4 gives a specific kind of false doctrine. It is being taught today. With just a little bit of discernment one can see that the same thing Jude was warning about is being taught today.

The following is from a sermon by Dr. J. Ligon Duncan III of First Presbyterian Church in Jackson, Mississippi on the text of Jude 3-4:
And notice two things that he says that they’re teaching. “[They] turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord.” They do two things: they use grace as an excuse to live a life of indifference and sin, and they deny Christ, what the Bible teaches about His person and work. They say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter how you live as long as you’re sincere. It doesn’t matter what your life is like. You’ve signed a card, prayed a prayer, made a decision. It doesn’t matter what you believe about Jesus as long as you’re sincere.’ That’s what they say. And Jude says, ‘Both of those are practical denials of Jesus Christ.’ One denies the result of His grace; one denies His person which is absolutely essential for grace. And Jude urges us here to contend for the faith and to beware of false teachers who make grace into licentiousness and who deny the Lord Jesus Christ, and he’s just reminding us that there are always false teachers amongst the church.
A false teacher this morning is a flip of the channel away, the opening of a book away, the turning of a radio dial or the punching of a radio pre-programmed button away from your ears. They’re everywhere. You need to be discerning because truth matters. What you don’t know can hurt you, and what you know that is false can hurt you. Theology matters and false teaching can destroy souls and lives.

For the entire sermon.........
http://www.fpcjackson.org/resources/sermons/Jude/jude%203.4.htm

Jazzy defends Lewis the Cat

I could not help but hear during my nap on D.H.'s lap while she was watching Fox News that there is a feline brother in Connecticut by the name of Lewis that is in a bit of legal trouble because he allegedly attacks humans. To my knowledge there is no DNA evidence linked to his paws. I think this may be a case of an over zealous D.A. pandering to the canine vote with a total disregard for the evidence. The accessor's scratch marks could certainly have come from sources other than Lewis. Stay tuned as the feline community attempts to get a high profile protest march organized complete with a professional activist such as Jesse Jackson.

Sanctification

Reflecting the glory of the Lord
The process of sanctification in a believer is a work of the Holy Spirit that gradually transforms a sinner to increasingly mortify sin and live unto righteousness. It enables the person to participate in and perform good works. While it is primarily a work from God, a believer can and should co-operate in this process. Living the Christian life by obeying the teachings of Jesus Christ is a way that a believer can do this….“If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15 ). Certainly no person can be perfectly sanctified in this life, but progress toward the goal will be evident in a believer’s life. The Bible is full of warnings of things to avoid (Rom 12) and things to do such as love, forgive, serve, give, etc. These Biblical exhortations to good works are sometimes mistakenly thought to be the means to be justified by God. In reality, good works are the fruit of the justification by God that comes from faith in Jesus Christ. This fruit of obedience and good works always flows from faith in Christ. Quite simply, if there is no sanctification in a person’s life, there has been no justification. James explains this very thoroughly in his epistle. In America today there is a concept that is referred to as ‘carnal Christian.’ It refers to a person that claims to be a Christian but has no inclination or desire to be obedient to Christ. This carnal Christian concept is a myth because, while such a person may profess Christianity, he does not possess Christianity…..

Jazzy reports on a successful intruder intervention

At around 5 a.m. this morning I was on mouse patrol when I spotted an illegal alien mouse in our bedroom. W.H., D.H., and of course my lazy sister Cuffy were sound asleep. I immediately called Cuffy with a special feline alert call that I later found out woke up W.H. and D.H. Cuffy responded dutifully and after about an hour of cat and mouse the intruder expired from our constant barrage of feline brutality. I do not wish to get letters from PETA or other left wing kooks, so I would appreciate a little discretion on the part of everyone that reads this post. I would add that D.H. has a soft spot in her heart for critters including illegal intruders, and has on occasion had W.H. grab them in a towel and release them back outside in the woods. However, it is even more painfully obvious now that we have a problem with illegal intruders crossing our border and that something must be done. Any house or country for that matter that cannot or will not keep illegal intruders out is headed for some serious problems.

Jazzy and Cuffy discover illegal aliens near home turf

Cuffy and I were outside our home yesterday when we ran across a young mouse near our deck area. This probably was a mouse from the same extended family of mice that have been entering our home illegally during the past few months. Guard dog Chief sleeps so much these days and probably does not care that these illegal intruders are entering our home. I know they just want a better life for themselves, but Cuffy and I are not willing to share our food with what could become an enormous number of mouths to feed and a total disruption to our whole way of life. I think we need to beef up our perimeter so that illegal mice cannot cross uninvited into our home. I know that PETA will probably object to this plan, but I believe that feline security depends on our household getting a firm handle on this problem and doing it immediately.

Justification

The only access to the cat room for Duffy is through the cat opening, and the only access to justification from God is by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.
Thus we simply interpret justification, as the acceptance with which God receives us into his favor as if we were righteous; and we say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of the righteousness of Christ. (from John Calvin’s “Institutes of the Christian Religion”) Since a sinner must be justified by God to enter into heaven, the key question is how does a sinner become justified by God? One of the wrong answers to this question involves a person citing his record of good works and deeds as the basis. “I have tried to obey God’s law and the ten commandments” or “I try to love and help my fellow man” are examples of this type of answer. Good works do not earn God’s justification, ….“Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20). The correct answer involves the person receiving the gift of justification by trusting in the crucifixion of Jesus Christ alone as payment for his sins…. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10). Also incorrect would be the belief that God’s acceptance is based on a faith in the atonement of Jesus plus the addition of good deeds or works. Such a view seriously devalues the atonement to the point of making it ineffective to save sinners…. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:21). Paul here makes the valid point that if obeying the law of God were possible for mankind, then Christ would not have needed to die for sins. The prophet Isaiah describes the value of works by pointing out that…. “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64-6)” The meaning here is that man’s best deeds are tainted with sin, worthless for justification and that man cannot save himself by his good deeds. Paul says….Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith (Galatians 3:11).” Justification requires that man’s sins be punished and that he receive the imputed perfect righteousness of Christ (Rom 5:17-19). Christ accomplished both of these requirements for sinners by his perfect life of righteousness and his atoning death. Justification is a free gift of God’s grace received by faith and not good works (Eph 2:8-9).

Comparing a true saving faith with a false, dead faith that does not save.

From James 2:14-26 We see James explain two different kinds of faith: James asks what good is it if a man claims to have faith but has no works and then asks can such a faith save him? Here there is no doubt that he is talking about “a saving faith” verses one that does not save. He compares a faith that inspires and results in deeds verses a faith that has no deeds. He even compares a fruitless faith with the belief in God that demons have. I am quite certain that demons do not have a saving faith. He then calls them foolish and gives them more evidence of a true faith having deeds that flow from the faith. He closes in verse 26 by repeating that faith without deeds are dead. If a faith is dead, it certainly is not a saving faith and will not produce any spiritual benefit any more than a dead kidney will have any physical benefit for the body.

I would also add that there may be dead works. Deeds that are done willingly and naturally out of a grateful Christian heart due to love for Christ and appreciation for the eternal life that faith alone secures are fruitful works. However, deeds that are done in an attempt to earn merit with God are dead works. Eph. 2:8-10 sums the whole process up and James is just saying the same thing as verse 10 in Ephesians 2.

From Matthew 7:21-27: Jesus in verse 21 finishes up the Sermon on the Mount to his disciples by warning that not everyone will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven who just merely professes faith by saying Lord, Lord, but that only he who does the will of the Father will enter. Doing the will of the Father means not only talking the talk of faith, but also following that up with action and deeds. Therefore, the ones who say Lord, Lord have a false profession and Jesus tells them in verse 23 to ‘depart from me, I never knew you’ and turns them away from heaven. In verses 24-27 he says that he who hears these words and puts them into practice is like one who builds his foundation on the rock (the rock being faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ) is wise. He hears the words and puts them into practice. The phrase, ‘puts them into practice’ would not be needed if the foundation were no more that a claim of faith. He thus acts on his faith by being obedient to the Word of God. He goes on to say in verses 26-27 that everyone who hears these words (Word of God) and does not put them into practice is like a man that built his house on sand…….. These are false professors as they hear the words (i.e. claim faith) but do not put them into practice. They simply claim to have faith, but their heart has not been changed so as to live what they claim.

Jesus is telling us that our faith will not be judged by our words (rhetoric), but by our actions. Just as you would expect that someone who claimed to be a believer in and supporter of the Boy Scouts to either give of their time or money, you would also expect that someone who claims to have faith and love for Jesus Christ would produce some kind of fruit (especially with the added power of the Holy Spirit). Jesus says elsewhere, if you love me, you will obey my commands (though not perfectly of course). Jesus is speaking to his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount, and there is no wiggle room to claim that these false professors will enter the Kingdom of Heaven as Jesus says point blank that they will not. There is also no doubt that Jesus is also talking about people who claim to be Christians. This passage in Matthew 7:21-27 gives the same message from Jesus that James gives in Chapter 2 of his Epistle.

Were believers regenerated before Pentecost

I your humble Jazzycat have gotten myself in a bit of a pickle over the Cuffy in the drawer incident. Therefore, in an attempt to insure my happiness and continued enjoyment of my 401K I am going to let W.H. post on my blog from time to time.

Were believers before Pentecost regenerated........
By W.H.
The answer to this depends on what the Bible teaches concerning the need, power, and source of regeneration. The view by non-Calvinists and Arminians is that faith in Christ can be achieved by man before being regenerated. This view would mean that regeneration is not needed to come to faith and that the source of regeneration is ultimately from man’s decision, since he must first come to faith before God grants regeneration. Regeneration does not have power for salvation if one has already been saved before regeneration occurs. Therefore, this view holds that man must do something before regeneration occurs, that regeneration is not necessary for salvation, and thus has no power in salvation. I do not understand exactly what regeneration accomplishes in this view. It seems that it would be like taking medicine for an illness after one had been cured.

The reformed view, that I believe the Bible teaches, holds that God through the Holy Spirit regenerates a sinner with power before he has any faith whatsoever and in fact this regeneration is necessary before faith can occur. Therefore, regeneration is needed, comes with power, and God is the only source.

I believe the Bible teaches that man’s condition changed one time at the fall, and that O.T. people were no different than N.T. people. Therefore, men in O.T. times needed the same regeneration that is needed today. Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about this necessity. The encounter that Jesus had with Nicodemus in John 3 happened well before Pentecost and Jesus does not speak of it like a future event. In fact, it sounds like it not only includes the present but the past well…. YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN! There is no qualification such as ‘starting now’, ‘in a short while’, ‘the day is coming when’. No Jesus says, “You must be born again to see the kingdom of God” period. In the O.T. God many times said, “I will reserve a remnant.” (example:1 Kings 19:18) This obviously meant that most of Israel was not saved as the remnant was small. If God were relying on the free will of the creature to come to faith without divine intervention, then how could he be sure there would be a remnant? The answer of course is that without divine intervention he would not know for sure and the passage would have said, “I hope there will be a remnant.” The book of Ester shows how God providentially preserved Israel from physical destruction. In this same way he intervened in spiritual matters to ensure a spiritual remnant. This was done through quickening by the Holy Spirit.

Jazzy reveals more about Cuffy being trapped

I cannot believe that W.H. and D.H. were still talking about Cuffy getting trapped inside of that drawer this morning. They kept looking at me and asking, “Jazzy, do you know how that drawer that Cuffy was in got shut?” I put on my best sweet adorable innocent look and pretended not to understand. Then D.H. mentioned the possibility of getting a paw print from the drawer and comparing it to mind. The loss of my 401K immediately flashed through my mind and fear began to creep through my very being. But then I remembered that my tail and hip was what sent the drawer sliding in and I knew that my secret was safe. Due to my spat with Cuffy, I have no regrets for closing the drawer, but I do feel a little remorse for pretending I did not know where she was when they were frantically looking and asking me for assistance. I am so glad my guilty conscience resets to blank every day.

Jazzy tells about Cuffy being trapped

I cannot believe what my sister Cuffy got herself into last night. After W.H. and D.H. got in from church, they acknowledged me as they usually do by saying, “Jazzycat how you doing. Have you been taking a little nap.” Well after a little while they noticed that Cuffy wasn’t asleep on the bed where she spends about 80 % of her time. They started looking for her everywhere. They looked under the bed, in all of the rooms and even went outside and looked, but to no avail. Well D.H. decided to go straight to the ole ace in the hole gambit and started hollering, “Cuffy, treat turkey lurkey." Still there was no sign of Cuffy anywhere. They then remembered that she sometimes liked to pull bathroom cabinet drawers open and get in them for a different place to nap. Cuffy is a equal opportunity napper. Sure enough they found her in a bathroom cabinet drawer. They thought it was amazing how she was trapped and yet remained silent and made no effort to alert someone to help her out. Then they started to speculate on how the drawer got shut. I very slowly and nonchalantly eased out of the room as I knew where logic would lead that line of thinking.
See March 18 post for photo of Cuffy in a cabinet drawer.

Internal Call

(Click on photo if scripture cannot be read)

When God spiritually calls a sinner out of darkness into his wonderful light, it is like coming out of a dark tunnel into God’s glorious creation.
The Holy Spirit makes the external call effective by reviving the spiritually dead, enabling them to see the light! This is the effectual or internal call that the Apostle Peter tells us about in the verse above. Just as a person born blind is not able to visualize the beauty that sun light reveals, a spiritually dead person cannot understand the grace that spiritual light reveals…. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Cor. 2:14). The Bible in many places speaks of people being blind and captive to darkness. But there are also many Bible passages where God promises that he will intervene and make the blind see and free people from their darkness through his grace…. But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth (2 Thess 2:13). Man is not capable on his own to respond, but God makes it happen through this effectual call of the Holy Spirit…. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified (Romans 8:30). Salvation is the free gift of God that he applies, through his initiative, using this effectual call. It does not depend on man at all….It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy (Romans 9:16). This is the amazing grace that we sing about, when we sing, ‘I once was blind, but now I see.’ The external call goes forth and many do not respond because they cannot (Romans 8:7). The internal call makes the external call effective to some, and all of these respond…. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away (John 6:37). Grace is from God and applied by God.

Jazzy does some research on 'Big Gambling'

As I your humble Jazzycat was looking around the web today, I checked out how much money is lost in Mississippi casinos. Mississippi has casinos along the Mississippi River and the gulf coast. It was interesting to note that the coastal casinos, which were wiped out by hurricane Katrina, had 106 million dollars in August revenues. This figure fell to zero for Sep, Oct, and Nov. They started back in December and had 11 million in revenues.
In the last complete year before the hurricane, Mississippi’s casinos had 2.7 billion in revenues. This comes to over seven million dollars per day in lost money by our citizens. I wonder what the totals must be for the entire country. Why do we never hear the term ‘big gambling’ when we hear of businesses that make huge profits.

As the former basketball player mentioned on my last post has found out, it is very misleading to call this activity gaming or even gambling. There is no chance involved in gambling for the ‘big gambling’ operators. They are going to win billions this year. They have always won and will always win. As long as gravity will cause an apple to fall from a tree, so to will mathematical advantage insure without question that ‘big gambling’ will win. The proverbs tell us:
As a dog returns to its vomit,
so a fool repeats his folly.
Now this is the advice that this former basketball player should have gotten from his agent instead of foolishness. This is the advice that people should be getting in general and especially from the clergy. There is sadly too much silence from pulpits on this subject.

Jazzy on how to have fun while losing millions gambling

While I was checking out the latest sports I ran across an amazing story about gambling. A former NBA player admitted to losing 10 million dollars and said in an ESPN interview, "Yeah, I do have a gambling problem. But I don't consider it a problem because I can afford to gamble.'' If that wasn't incoherent enough he also said, "My agent has really worked with me to try to get it where I can go and gamble and have fun." The death of logic in human beings in our post modern society continues to amaze this humble and focused cat. Let me explain this lunacy. He is saying that his gambling problem is not a problem since he can afford it and his agent wants him to have fun while he is losing millions of dollars. There we have explained the problem which is not losing millions of dollars. The problem is that he does not have fun doing it. Maybe he could achieve his fun by being happy about how much fun the casino owners are having due to his losing...... Maybe a how to book would help. How about, "How to be a gambling loser while having loads of fun."

External Call of God

In Christian Churches around the world, God calls sinners to eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.
The call to salvation through Jesus Christ comes with the preaching and reading of the Word of God. This is a good faith offer that is sincerely extended by God to all that will accept in faith. This is the external call and God would like that all men accept this invitation. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” is the way that John 3:16 states the offer. However, Jesus tells us…. “For many are invited, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14). This certainly indicates that men, on their own, do not accept this invitation. But God, who is rich in mercy, provides an internal or effectual call that makes the external call effective. Through the Holy Spirit, a person is enabled to respond to the call and accept the offer of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him.” (John 6:65). When a person comes to Jesus, he has been enabled through the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. This effectual (internal) call is covered on the next page (page 14).

Jazzy admonishes Cuffy for calling Miss. State University an Ivy League college

Cuffy said to Jazzy, “Jazzy today’s photo reminds me of what a Chapel at an Ivy League college must look like. You know W.H. went to an Ivy League college.” I responded to Cuffy with compassion and said, “Cuffy, you fool, Mississippi State University is not an Ivy League college and I think W.H. would consider it an insult to call MSU an Ivy League college.” Cuffy asked me why and I explained to her that most of the Ivy League schools had become politically correct left-wing propaganda institutions where free speech that does not fit their agenda is discouraged. Faculty members and even college presidents that do not conform to accepted thought are fired. No Cuffy, Miss. State is no Ivy League college.