Faith is that element in abiding that I think is most dominant. Also, it is that element that ties all the other parts of abiding together, for we cannot meditate on the Word, bear fruit, obey God’s commandments, or please Him without faith.
Here are eight things that the abiding Christian does to build his faith in order to keep him abiding:
1. He makes it his habit to meditate on the Word every day. This daily meditation time helps him to see things from God’s perspective, gives him a desire for God, and helps him to adjust his desires to God’s desires.
2. He obeys God and keeps himself busy with His work. The abiding believer knows that faith isn’t really faith without obedience and work. In fact, he is convinced that his faith is perfected by obedience (Ja. 2:22). Therefore, he is always diligent to listen to…
We have been studying Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and following D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones teaching from his Studies in the Sermon on the Mount. We have now come to the section following the Disciples Prayer outline, verses 19 -20, where Jesus tells us,
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 “But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal.
So here, we come to the problem of living the Christian life in the world and therefore how to overcome to world while living in it. Jesus gives us two points to follow: 1) we are not to store up for ourselves treasures upon earth, but 2) we are to store up treasures in heaven.
We Are Not to Store Up for Ourselves Treasures Upon Earth
Here are a few notes from my reading:
Jesus wants us to be concerned not so much with having wealth and possessions, but with our attitude toward them.
We are to be concerned with our whole attitude toward life in this world. That is, we ought not to get our total satisfaction in life from things in this world.
A person’s treasures are the things that mean everything to him—what he is living for.
Here are some things in this world that can become our treasures: love of money, of honor, of position, of status. We are not to be so concerned with these things that they take up our entire life. These things will all pass away in the end.
We Are to Store Up Treasures in Heaven
Use your riches to prophet you for the next life.
Do not labor for what will perish but for what will endure to everlasting life.
Have a right view of life. In this world we are pilgrims. We walk under the eye of God, toward our everlasting hope.
Our attitude must be that I am not the possessor of my things. They really do not belong to me. I am but a custodian of them.
I should always be using my things for the glory of God.
I am a child of God placed here for His purpose.
I must hold my things loosely; I am to be in a state of blessed detachment from them; and I should always be considering how I can use the things that God has entrusted to me for His kingdom.
We have been showing the distinctiveness of each group—Israel and the church, and why they cannot be merged. In my last post we viewed the distinctive of Israel: Jewish people who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now we will look at the distinctive of the church.
The first thing I will point out regarding the church is that it has a distinct time period—from Pentecost to the rapture. Only God knows the length of this period, but it will be the exact time needed to prepare us, His bride, for our union with Him.
Secondly, unlike Israel, the church has a mysterious character. Whereas Israel was always well known throughout the Old Testament, the church sort of popped out of nowhere. That is, it was unheard of in the Old Testament, and wasn’t really revealed until Christ came. But even then, the concept of the church was…
Pleasing God is the element in abiding that we will consider here. I have called it holiness because that is exactly how we please Him—by our holiness.
In 1 John 3:22 we find that the promise of answered prayer comes to us when we keep His commandments and do those things that please Him: “And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” Notice that the requirement of pleasing God is not by itself; it is coupled with the requirement of keeping His commandments—the chief of which is to love God and others. This tells us that the two go together and that they cannot be separated. We cannot please God without obeying Him and we cannot truly obey Him without pleasing Him.
But the fact that the two requirements are separated tells us also that…
In this post and the next one, I will attempt to show why replacement theology is in error by showing the distinctiveness of each group—Israel and the church, and why they cannot be merged.
To begin our discussion, let me assert this: the name Israel, as it is referred to in scripture, always means the Jewish people—those who are the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; and the church always means those people who are believers in Christ and the Bride of Christ. Therefore, what we are affirming is that after the birth of the church at Pentecost, the distinction between these two groups remains intact. In fact, in the book of Acts, both Israel and the church exist simultaneously. The term Israel is used twelve times and ekklesia (church) nineteen times, yet the two groups are always kept distinct.”
ISRAEL
Israel is not only distinguished because of their race—a…
8 Fire and hail, snow and clouds; story wind, fulfilling His word…13 Let them praise the name of the Lord. (Ps. 148:8, 13)
I pondered this morning how God’s creation praises the name of the Lord (in Psalms 148). Much of the creation, like the snow and the cold winds have no will of their own. So how does it praise Him? I think the answer is in verse 8. It obeys His word. It fulfills the Lord’s will.
In the last couple days ice, wind and snow froze up Texas windmills, shutting down much of Texas.
Nearly half of Texas’ installed wind power generation capacity has been offline because of frozen wind turbines in West Texas, according to Texas grid operators. Wind farms across the state generate up to a combined 25,100 megawatts of energy. But unusually moist winter conditions in West Texas brought on by the weekend’s freezing rain and historically low temperatures have iced many of those wind turbines to a halt.
I have a feeling that God is displeased with the Green new deal and with Biden and Kerry. I think He is telling us, “Look, I gave you oil and you shut it off. The oil is good. Use it. Use what I give you. Stop with the windmills. It’s a bad idea.”
Abiding is not just meditating on His Word and delighting in Him, and not just focusing on trying to bear fruit. It involves the action of complete obedience. The whole reason why we meditate on His Word is so that we can do everything He wants us to do.
The abiding, obedient Christian embraces the following ideas:
That obedience must include Bible study. If we want to obey God we must know what He wants us to do. Therefore, obedience must include Bible study to find out what His will is. Then the next step of course is to obey that will.
That obedience must be your lifestyle. Real obedience, that is, real abiding obedience is not just a once in a while thing. It must be your lifestyle—a continual obedience.
If you put these two ideas together it will keep you abiding in Him and you will…
I have gotten in the habit reading a newspaper in the morning. I mainly enjoy reading the comics (I have my favorite ones) and maybe an article in the sports section. I always try to glean some bit of truth from the front-page news articles, but I most always go away with nothing. And I am more and more convinced that whatever they declare is true is a lie. Yes, that is the formula: whatever they say is true is a lie; and whatever they say is a lie is true. If we stick to that rule we can’t go wrong. That is the rule for these last days. Isaiah 5:20-21 and 23, says it this way:
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil;
Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness;
Who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes,
And clever in their own sight! …
23 Who justify the wicked for a bribe,
And take away the rights of the ones who are in the right! (bold for emphasis)
Thank God what is coming in the future; the 144,000 Jewish witnesses, who will be declaring the truth during the Tribulation. In the midst of a world that is filled with lies and deception—coming from the teaching of the Antichrist, will be these truth-tellers who will provide a way for millions to hear the truth of the gospel to be saved. Revelation 14:4-5 describes them.
These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they have kept themselves chaste. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And no lie was found in their mouth; they are blameless.
Today I think that many hardly recognize truth from what is false. The two are somewhat blended together, especially for those who don’t read their bible. But soon, after the church is raptured and after the 144,00 witnesses appear, the contrast will be remarkable. You will hear both the truth and a lie very clearly. And you will be able to choose which side you want to take. If you (who have been left behind—not raptured) choose the way of truth declared by the witnesses, you will most assuredly suffer and die (under the government of the Antichrist). But if you choose the way of lies and deception, which will allow you to be clothed and fed (because you chose to receive the mark of the beast), then you will live—at least for a few years. But in the end, you will be judged by God and cast into hell. It will be your choice.
But keep in mind that if you choose the way of truth, though you will die as a martyr, you will be resurrected in glory to live eternally with God. The way of truth, though painful at first, will reap eternal life.
Has the church really replaced Israel or have they remained two distinct groups?
In previous posts we have brought to light in Daniel 9:24, that the seventy weeks have been decreed “for your people.” We have said that “your people” means Daniel’s people, the Jews. Therefore, this firmly establishes the fact that the Tribulation period, which is the seventieth week, is meant only for Israel.
But some have insisted that the church has now become Israel; and so, for them, this changes everything.
Well, this is just not true! In this post we will bring to light this error of reasoning that the church has now replaced Israel.
THE ERROR OF REPLACEMENT THEOLOGY
The definition of replacement theology. Kenneth Gentry, one of its leaders, defines it this way: “We believe that the international church has superseded for all times national Israel as the institution for the administration of divine blessing to the…
The focus of the abiding Christian is to bear fruit—that is, to bring forth in his life all the good things of God. Thus, when he abides, in his spirit (or in his attitude) he is filled with the fruit of the Spirit, which is “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Gal. 5:22). Likewise, when he abides, in his behavior he does what is righteous to the praise of God (Phil. 1:11; Heb. 13:15).
Fruit is also new converts. Therefore, the abiding Christian will naturally share his faith with others, and those whom he leads to faith in God will be the evident fruit (Rom. 1:13).
The reason why the abiding Christian focuses on bearing fruit, and why we all should focus on bearing fruit is because that is what God has appointed us for. He has said to us in John 15:16, “You did…
Stephen Nielsen 