Scripture: "For the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved
it is the
power of God." 1Co 1:18 (KJV)
Well friend, the attack begins and we are being seized from
within. All of those who are worried about what
will happen
on the day Barack Obama takes office as the
President of these United States of America
- need not look to
Washington. In fact, you need not look any
further than your district Presbyter's Office or
maybe even your
local Ministerial Alliance. If you are
"full-gospel" or "Pentecostal", LOOK OUT! You
have a big red bulls-eye
painted on your Sunday go-to-meetin' clothes.
Just recently - a well known ministry - at the
behest of other spiritual head-hunters,
believing they are "making
the paths straight for the Lord's return", have
set their sights on ANY ONE who teaches or
practices what they
call "CONTEMPLATIVE MINISTRY"... specifically contemplative
prayer.
Of course The Pentecostals and the "full-gospel"
ministries have been long targeted anyway - because of
their
"unusual" style of worship practices including singing a
particular song over and over several times:
supposedly
"working up"
and altered state of mind so they say, and this
is what they call "contemplative worship".
Along the same lines they have those who are in
an attitude of prayer speaking "gibberish"
(so
the head-hunters call it), saying the WORD, "JESUS... JESUS.. JESUS" or
"HALLELUJAH... HALLELUJAH... HALLELUJAH"
repeated over
and over, or, "OH JESUS, I PLEAD THE BLOOD...OH
JESUS, I PLEAD THE BLOOD...OH JESUS, I
PLEAD THE BLOOD"..., are considered to
be working themselves up into a dangerous
"mind-altered" state, and subject to
demonic
possession. And of course, all God-fearing people are
WARNED to
run to the
nearest exit and not turn back if they find
themselves in one of these kind of meetings.
Well, it never seems to fail that I have this LOOMING
QUESTION come up in my mind when I hear all of
this - asking, "WHAT ABOUT THE
WORD?" "WHAT ABOUT WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES ON THE
SUBJECT?"
The Apostle Paul puts it this way....
"Pray without ceasing. In every thing give
thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you.
Quench not the Spirit. Despise not prophesyings."
1Thessalonians 5:17-20 (KJV)
Well, I guess if I'm
"praying without ceasing",
there's going to be a little repetition in there
somewhere. I
guess if I'm "giving thanks always", there's
going to be a little repetition in there
somewhere. But if you
notice... Paul mentions a couple of other things
that they're singling out for judgment.
"Quenching the
Spirit"; "despising what is called prophesyings";
which is to many Pentecostals is a Word of
Wisdom or a
Word of Knowledge that comes forth for the body
of believers that are assembled there. These
things are all
considered to be unique to the "Pentecostal" or
"full-gospel" realm of believers and are by the
thought of
many in the "church world" today (headed up by
the World Council of Churches) as demonic and
something
all "believers" (again a different
description to them
than what Our Lord gave for believers) should stay away from.
My Friend, they're after the Pentecostal and
"full-gospel" groups because they don't
understand it - and in
many cases have tried to be filled with the
Spirit (with the evidence of speaking in
tongues) and that never
happened for them so they have determined that
it must be a lie. But let me respond to that: I
never saw the
Lord being Crucified, but I believe it! I have
never been resurrected from the grave nor have I
seen anyone
else resurrected from the grave - but I believe
it happened to Jesus and that it will one day
happen to me - if
I'm not taken in the Rapture before I die.
There is
this systematic push by "people of the faith"(so-called) to remove those who believe in such
things. But let me
ask you - how can someone believe in the death
and resurrection of The SON of God and not
believe in the
ministry of the Holy Spirit - especially in
these last days. What did the Prophet Joel
say?
"And it shall come to pass afterward(in the last
days), that I will pour out my spirit upon all
flesh; and your
sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old
men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see
visions: And also upon the servants and upon the
handmaids in those days will I pour out my
spirit". Joel
2:28,29 (KJV)
Altered state of Mind? Because I teach an
alcoholic or a drug addict to pray in the Name
of Jesus,
"I
PLEAD THE BLOOD OF JESUS OVER MY LIFE AND OVER
MY ADDICTION TODAY FATHER..."
... and I
tell them to repeat it over and over again going to certain passages of the WORD and reading
them daily
and memorizing them so that they can apply them
to their lives when they need strength in the
weak
times... from that you are implying that I am teaching them
"contemplative
prayer"? In the words of the church of the
"Status quo" religionists
you are saying that I am teaching them to place their mind
in an altered
state - and that's supposedly to you... demonic?
Again... WHAT
ABOUT THE
WORD???
"Thy word have I hid in mine heart,
that I might not sin against thee." Psalms 119:11 (KJV)
How do you memorize verses of scripture? By
repetition? When you need strength from that verse
will you not quote it aloud and apply the WORD of
the Lord to your Life situation?
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a
living sacrifice,
holy, acceptable unto God, which is your
reasonable service. And be not conformed to this
world: but be ye 'transformed by the renewing of your mind', that
ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable,
and
perfect, will of God." Romans 12:1,2 (KJV
Sounds like an
altered state of mind to me...
but isn't that what the verse is all about. Changing the way we
once thought which was filled with that of
the sin-nature... to
think thoughts of Christ. To be "RENEWED" in our
minds? An altered state?
But Pastor Wayne - we're talking about those who
teach meditation and continually dwell on
certain
readings of the WORD repeating them over and
over. Well, so am I. Again, what does the WORD say?
"I will meditate in thy precepts, and have
respect unto thy ways. I will delight myself in
thy statutes: I will not
forget thy word." Psalms 119:15,16 (KJV)
"Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors." Psalms 119:24 (KJV)
MAN THAT'S POWERFUL STUFF!!! They testimonies or
recitations of the goodness of God in my life,
"...are my delight and my counselors". AWESOME STUFF
- YET I'M SUPPOSED TO GIVE UP THAT KIND OF STRENGTH
IN MY LIFE BECAUSE IT'S NOT "STATUS QUO RELIGION"?
AGAIN I HAVE TO ASK... WHAT ABOUT THE WORD?
"O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee:
my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for
thee in a dry
and thirsty land, where no water is; To see thy
power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in
the sanctuary.
Because thy loving kindness is better than life,
my lips shall praise thee. Thus will I bless
thee while I live: I
will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall
be satisfied as with marrow and fatness;and my
mouth
shall praise thee with joyful lips: When I
remember thee upon my bed, and
meditate on thee
in the night
watches. Because thou hast been my help,
therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I
rejoice. My soul
followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me." Psalm 63:1-8 (KJV)
In closing this morning I want to remind you who
you are in Christ. You are an Ambassador for
Christ - not
for the WORLD COUNCIL OF CHURCHES or your local
MINISTERIAL ALLIANCE or any other "faith based
group" whose precepts and ordinances - yes, I
said ordinances, run contrary to the WORD of
God.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus,
stand in his strength alone;
the arm of flesh will fail you,
ye dare not trust your own.
Put on the gospel armor,
each piece put on with prayer;
where duty calls or danger,
be never wanting there.
-- words to verse--
George Duffield, Jr., 1818-1888
Let's pray:
Father, we need some WARRIORS in these end times
who will not shirk or not become weary in
well-doing but
will step up to the very pit of the LION'S DEN
and ROAR RIGHT BACK AT THEM!
In The Name of
Jesus,
give us boldness today! In The Name of Jesus, give us Wisdom today! In The Name of Jesus,
give
us Souls
today! In the Name of Jesus, WE MARCH ON!
HALLELUJAH TO THE LAMB! WE MARCH ON! Amen.
