Yes,
we are saved by grace through faith; but not just any kind of faith or
any right believing only. But what is true faith? True faith must come
by the hearing of God's words, and hearing of God's words is by the
hearing the Word through Jesus Christ. Hearing the Word or hearing Jesus
is not just to believe and do nothing; it is to hear AND do (Mat
13:18-23). If we do it (Mat 7:15-23 and Luk 6:46-47), we are truly saved
by grace through faith. In another words, we are saved by grace and
true faith. Otherwise, we are like that house on the sinking sand,
which is not 'forever saved'. But, if our house is built on the rock or
foundation which is forever, we are truly forever saved.
I have
'touched' briefly on the 'frogs' in my previous post K126. But today I
want to 'chew' a little bit more on it. I must say that I love frogs.
Frogs are cute little creatures which are ecological friendly to our
physical environment. However, the spirit of the frogs is an abomination
to the kingdom of God and churches:
Rev 16:13-15 KJV And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs
come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast,
and out of the mouth of the false prophet. (14) For they are the
spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of
the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that
great day of God Almighty. (15) Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is
he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they
see his shame.
What are those unclean spirits like the frogs?
What
are the 'three unclean spirits like the frogs' in Revelation 16? I may
not have the most accurate theological answer about the spirits, but I
do know that they are the spirits of antiChrist which will rise against
the kingdom of God or the words of God in the last days. They may rise
in the form of lawlessness, blindness, or nakedness. I believe that the
root problem of many churches today is not unrighteousness; but
lawlessness or the lost of their garments in the last days. That problem
will certainly lead to more blindness and nakedness in the churches.
Hence, when the 'frogs' start to 'croak' or appear in our churches, we
can say that we are almost at the final stage of lawlessness where
blindness and nakedness could be most prominent in the past church
history. Many believers may literally think like the 'frogs' or think
that they are GREAT in their own 'wells'. But, they do not know that
that is not well.
Hence, when John saw the 'frogs' coming, he wrote
that Jesus was coming like a thief soon (Rev 16:15); when we see the
'frogs' coming, we should know that Jesus is coming soon too. Why do I
say that our churches could be in the 'wells', in bad shape, or in
blindness? Why didn't I just say that the world OUTSIDE is in bad shape?
It is because I do not want to be a frog under the well, and think that
we are well, and give the false impression that we can never be
affected by what is happening in other 'wells' or other churches. If our
churches would just think like a frog under a 'well' and do nothing,
sooner or later the contamination in other 'wells' will come into our
'wells'. Other believers or 'frogs' will just creep into our churches
secretly, drawing away our members and corrupting our sound doctrine. If
we think like the 'frogs', preach like the 'frogs', or accept the
'frog' mentality, we would soon be taken over by the 'frogs' one day.
What is the 'frog' mentality?
Jud 1:4-5 KJV For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (5) I will
therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the
Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward
destroyed them that believed not.
'Frog' mentality is a philosophy or
thinking of self. It is the selfish thinking of our own self or our own
well being without being aware of the danger and warning of ungodliness
preached or practised by other men or other churches surrounding us.
Many do not have the law of God or keep the law of God. Hence, they will
just define evil or good simply based on the virtue of their own
intellectual understanding or Gnostic belief (The Gnostic people are the
hyper spiritual believers who claim to follow Jesus, but it is known
that they do not teach the truth. They could be so hyper idealistic
about their faith or right believing that they may believe like the
hyper grace people too. You may want to know more about them in this
website: http://www.gotquestions.org/Christian-gnosticism.html)
However,
when we warn the churches about them, we are not trying to be
condemning or critical; instead, we are just doing like Jude who put the
churches in remembrance, that God could save anyone (by grace) and God
can destroy anyone (whom He saved by grace) too. God can destroy anyone,
including the true believers, Gnostic believers, or agnostic believers.
If any of them turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness, they
would have denied Jesus Christ. In another words, if we do not deny our
Lord Jesus Christ, we must keep the grace of our God under self-control,
sound mind (sound doctrine), and godly principle; or else we deny our Lord Jesus Christ too:
Jud
1:4-5 KJV For there are certain men crept in unawares .. .. ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
2Ti 1:7 KJV For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
2Ti 1:7 LITV For God did not give a spirit of cowardice to us, but of power and of love and of self-control.
Now,
we must think again (yes, common sense again), Can any ungodly men from
the outside world force their ways into or storm into our churches and
turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness overnight? No, impossible;
the ungodly men outside the churches can only turn the grace of their gods (outside) into licentiousness, but the ungodly men inside our churches can certainly change the grace of our God
before we can realise it. Sadly, many of us realise it now only after
the ungodly men within us have started to teach or preach in our
churches. The ungodly men in our churches have convinced many that they
are the true believers who know the grace of our God; but unknowingly
they are the 'grace 'corruptors' or the 'frogs'.
Now, common sense
again, What do the ungodly men or the 'frogs' like the most WHEN THEY
ARE IN OUR CHURCHES? Of course, they like it when the Holy Spirit cannot
convict them of their sins ! Does it ring a bell now? Of course, they
LOVE the series of teaching which tells them that "God cannot judge",
"God has no more law for them", "God would never want them to confess
any sin", "God would treat them as the righteous no matter how they sin
in the past, present, and future", "God would only want them to know
repentance as just changing of their minds", "God would only want them
to repent like the sheep and do nothing", "God cannot be angry with
them", and "The Holy Spirit cannot convict them of any sin". Why? It is
because when the Holy Spirit cannot convict them of their sins, none of
God's preachers in the churches can convict them of any sin too, and
this would give them all the confidence, platforms, and supports from
the people in the churches (including the pulpits) to promote all their
lawlessness, blindness, and nakedness within the churches.
Of course,
it is still ridiculous to say that God cannot convict the true
believers too. If Paul or even if a saint could be convicted of his sins
or be convicted of being a sinner after he believed, why can't the Holy
Spirit convict us after we sinned too?
1Ti 1:15-16 KJV This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief. (16) Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering..
Rom 5:8 KJV But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Gal 2:17 KJV But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid.
Who are the ungodly men in Jude's warning?
Please
think again, When Jude said 'certain men or ungodly men crept in
unawares ..', who are the ungodly men? Did he say that they are the
terrorists, the adulterers, the conmen, the thieves, the murderers, or
the wicked men? Of course, we do not deny that they are the ungodly men
or unrighteous men. However, Jude was not talking about them. The
ungodly men could be anyone or any preacher who live a decent life like a
law preacher, a Pharisee, a hypocrite, or a grace preacher too; but God
would still think that he is ungodly. So who are the ungodly men or the
'frogs' who can secretly creep in and turn the grace of our God into
something else? They can never be the people from the world outside;
they can be anyone who preach or teach in our churches. In another
words, they can be anyone inside our churches who do not have the spirit
of godliness and yet they can preach like God's preachers. Hence, we
must know how to identify those who preach godliness and those who do
not, especially in the last days:
1Ti 4:5-8 KJV For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. (6) If thou put the brethren in remembrance
of these things, thou shalt be a good minister of Jesus Christ,
nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine, whereunto thou
hast attained. (7) But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and
exercise thyself rather unto godliness. (8) For bodily exercise
profiteth little: but godliness is profitable unto all things, having
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.
1Ti
6:3-11 KJV If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome
words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine
which is according to godliness; (4) He is proud, knowing
nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh
envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, (5) Perverse disputings of
men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is
godliness: from such withdraw thyself. (6) But godliness with
contentment is great gain .. (10) For the love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. (11) But
thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
2Ti 3:5 KJV Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Tit
1:1 KJV Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ,
according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the
truth which is after godliness;
1Ti 3:16 KJV And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:
God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels,
preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into
glory.
If we know the mystery of godliness, do we know that the
opposite of godliness is lawlessness, and lawlessness is the deceit of
unrighteousness?
2Th 2:7-10 LITV For the mystery of lawlessness
already is working, only he is holding back now, until it comes out of
the midst. (8) And then "the Lawless One" will be revealed, "whom"
"the Lord" "will consume" "by the spirit of His mouth," and will bring
to nought by the brightness of His presence. (9) His coming is according
to the working of Satan in all power and miraculous signs and lying
wonders, (10) and in all deceit of unrighteousness in those being lost, because they did not receive the love of the truth in order for them to be saved.
We
know that Jesus loves the sinners; but do we know that Jesus hates
lawlessness? If we still preach lawlessness or ungodliness, do we think
that He will still love us?
Heb 1:8-10 LITV but as to the Son, "Your
throne, O God, is forever and ever, A scepter of uprightness is the
scepter of Your kingdom; (9) You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness;
because of this God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of
gladness beside Your fellows." (10) And, "You, Lord, at the beginning
founded the earth, and the heavens are works of Your hands.
Hence,
today we do not want to hate the ungodly men; but if the ungodly men
have crept in unawares, we tell them to get out, unless they repent. We
would still tell them what they do not like to hear: repentance, 'sin no
more', and 'there is still grace if they can still humble themselves
before God'. Please think, If ungodly men had crept into the early
churches including Corinthians', Paul's, Jude's, and Jame's churches,
who are we to boast or guarantee that there can never be any ungodly men
in our churches today ???
Jas 4:4-10 KJV Ye adulterers and
adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity
with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy
of God. (5) Do ye think that the scripture saith in vain, The spirit
that dwelleth in us lusteth to envy? (6) But he giveth more grace.
Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the
humble. (7) Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and
he will flee from you. (8) Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to
you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
(9) Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to
mourning, and your joy to heaviness. (10) Humble yourselves in the
sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
We would not tell our
church members that any ungodly men who will just confess or believe is a
true believer too. It is also ridiculous to preach that, since we are
the true believers, and since the warning is not applicable to the true
believers, it is not applicable to us, and therefore, we can just ignore
Jude's warning, Jame's warning, or all God's warnings (and sleep or
live like the frogs?)
The ungodly men would never teach (and judge) godliness according to the words of God
Have
we heard of the ungodly men who keep arguing with God's preachers that
they don't care or think about seeking godliness or holiness; but they
would think about Jesus only or think about Him effortlessly and
radically (without thinking of doing anything)? Yes, I have heard of
them who are teaching all our churches today that ANY effort to repent
and do good is self-effort. Some of them would even preach that ANY
teaching, ANY doctrine, or ANY Bible verses which tell them to repent,
to confess their sins, to turn away from their sins, to sin no more, to
do good, to pursue holiness, to practise righteousness, to be godly, to
be obedient, to keep God's commandments, or to judge, is legalistic
teaching or self-effort teaching too. They argue that, UNLESS we preach
effortlessly, radically, or graciously like them, or UNLESS we preach no
more law or no more effort to obey God, or UNLESS we preach like their
smiling preachers without condemning any sin, we would become
judgemental like the angry preachers and put the people under the law or
condemnation. But, ironically, who is really condemning?
I will tell
them, We would be judgemental only if we do not know how to judge or if
we do not want to judge at all. If we do not judge with the words of
God, we will judge wrongly with our own human wisdom and we may judge
the innocent unjustly. But, if we do not judge at all, the ungodly will
judge with their false accusation and we would still be responsible for
not doing anything. Hence, we must judge. We must not only judge, we
must learn to judge righteously and justly.
I will tell the ungodly,
Do you know that you are more condemning than others when you simply
judge all others as under the law, just because they do not preach like
you? So, if we have to explain to you why we must condemn ungodliness or
ungodly behaviour again, please do not blame our explanation and
complain that we are too judgemental in our reply to you too. Yes, we
will never preach like you because we will always tell the people to
repent, to confess their sins, to turn away from their sins, to sin no
more, to do good, to pursue holiness, to practise righteousness, to be
godly, to be obedient, to keep God's commandments, and to judge. But our
teaching can never be legalistic teaching or self-effort teaching. If
we have to tell the people to be obedient to God, we will simply tell
them to keep the commandments of God. We do not like to twist our words,
beat around the bush, make God's words of none effect, teach vague
instructions, explain different meanings to different people, switch our
doctrine manipulatively, sit on the fence, or preach like the 'frogs'.
But, we love the law or commandment of God not only because it
teaches us the righteous attributes of God; but also because it teaches
the simple to know His instructions, His will, and His nature with the
wisdom or the words that is beyond the wisdom of this world or the words
of men:
Heb 8:10-12 KJV For this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: (11) And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least
to the greatest. (12) For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no
more.
Many may still argue that we do not need the Holy Spirit to
show us or teach us any laws. However, the Bible verses above shows us
clearly that if God Himself would put His laws in us, He Himself or His
Spirit would teach us His laws so well that we do not need anyone to
teach us how to know Him or who He is.
Hence, we will never split
the teaching of Jesus from His teaching of godliness, righteousness,
holiness, and God's commandments too. In another words, when we preach
Jesus, we will never stop preaching His doctrine and commandments to
love, to do good, and to practise godliness, righteousness, and holiness
too. Anything more, or any less, or any 'frog' which tells us do
otherwise, we cast down and bring into captivity to the obedience of
Christ:
2Co 10:5-7 KJV Casting down imaginations, and every high
thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; (6)
And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your
obedience is fulfilled. (7) Do ye look on things after the outward
appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ's, let him of
himself think this again, that, as he is Christ's, even so are we
Christ's.
Do not preach like the 'frogs' or be like 'frogs'
Hence,
'frog' mentality or the spirit of the frogs is the opposite to the
Spirit of God. It is opposite of the spirit of power, love, and
self-control. It may not cause the believers or preachers to live like
the devils or live with the license to sin; but it will certainly cause
them to be blind to lasciviousness and wantonness practice in their
churches and it will cause them to say nothing or do nothing. They will
just want to preach the 'frog' mentality to themselves and others who
are like them. When they choose to say nothing or do nothing about the
ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God in our churches into
lasciviousness and unbridled lust, they are worst than those who
practise it. They are the 'lukewarm frogs'.
Rev 3:15-16 KJV I know
thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or
hot. (16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Many preachers and churches
think that, by sitting on the fence, they can sit on a better position
(or infallible position) to mock at the people from both sides of the
fence including repentance preachers who preach strongly against sins. I
will tell them, It is fine if you think that you are a grace preachers
and would just want to appear gracious to everyone, especially the
sinners. However, if you think that you can sit on the fence (or sit on
the higher ground) to accuse more people, Jesus won't let you sit in
that position and reign for too long with your 'frog' mentality,
'lukewarm' mentality, 'ding dong bell' mentality, or the hot-and-cold
mentality. He will spue you out and you will fall like the humpty
dumpties. Hence, frog mentality is a lukewarm mentality. It is the
humpty dumpty mentality. By the way I will tell those who think that
repentance is just a changing of your mind, a thinking, a philosophy, or
a mentality, No, repentance is more than that. Repentance is not just a thinking, repentance is an attitude.
It is an humble thinking by the sinners who are determined to come down
from their fence and kneel before God to confess their sins. Naturally,
they would stop criticising those who point them to repentance too.
Well, we may not kneel before God and beat our chest physically;
however, we must all (everyone must) have that same thinking or attitude if we will truly repent.
Luk
18:13-14 KJV And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. (14) I tell you, this man went down to his
house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.
That's
why Jesus said it very clearly why a person who has truly repented is a
humble man; not a proud man. This is in line with our understanding of
why John the Baptist would reject the Pharisees who came for the water
baptism, repentance, or confession of sins too. It's because John the
Baptist knew that the Pharisees would just want to treat repentance as a
thinking, a confession, or a change of mind with no conviction or
humility attitude in their hearts. They thought that when they just
believed and confessed like the rest of the Jews, they would have
repented. But, John the Baptist saw their hypocrisy, and hence, demanded
that they should do more than that:
Mat 3:6-8 KJV And were baptized
of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. (7) But when he saw many of
the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O
generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to
come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Hence,
Christians who have the 'frog' mentality will behave like the Pharisees
too. The 'frogs' may argue or show many people that they can just
believe or change their minds, but God's preachers are not convinced
that they will truly repent. The 'frogs' may accuse God's preachers for
preaching too strongly against sins or condemning sins .., but God's
preachers could be doing the right thing !
God can save anyone by grace; God can destroy anyone who are saved by grace too
Now
let's go back to the top when I asked the question, "If we are saved by
grace, are we forever saved or irrevocably saved". Many may still
wonder why do I talk about the frogs or the lukewarm here. I will tell
them, Yes, I talk about the frogs and the lukewarm here because they can
still be saved by grace too, and if they will rebel again, they can
still be destroyed (after they are saved by grace) too:
Jud 1:5 KJV I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Rev
3:15-19 KJV I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I
would thou wert cold or hot .. (19) As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Obviously, Jesus still
loved them and still wanted to give them the grace to repent even though
they might have already received grace before they became the frogs or
the lukewarm believers. We cannot deny that the frogs and the lukewarm
could have received grace and can still be saved by grace (if they
repent) and they can still be destroyed (if they rebel) after they have
received grace too. Hence, if God can still save the frogs and the
lukewarm by grace; God can still destroy them or anyone after they have
received grace too.
Many argue that those who have truly received
grace can never be rejected by God. I will tell them, The frogs and the
lukewarm believers are some of the examples of those who had received
grace and yet they were rejected by God. Do you know that the Bible has
warned us with many examples of those who received grace and yet they
were rejected by God too?
Mat 18:31-34 KJV So when his
fellowservants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and
told unto their lord all that was done. (32) Then his lord, after that
he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt,
because thou desiredst me: (33) Shouldest not thou also have had
compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee? (34) And
his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.
Mat
22:11-13 KJV And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there
a man which had not on a wedding garment: (12) And he saith unto him,
Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he
was speechless. (13) Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand
and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The
wedding guest above received grace to attend the wedding too, but he
was still rejected in the end. Hence, God can save the ungodly or the
stiffnecked people by grace, God can reject them if they turn against
Him again:
Jud 1:4-5 KJV For there are certain men crept in
unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly
men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the
only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (5) I will therefore put you
in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
Do
you notice that God could save the Jews out of the land of Egypt and
destroy them that believed not? Do you know that God could show grace to
anyone and He could still destroy them after that? King Saul was an
example.
God gave grace and commandments to His people under the Old Covenant
I have said (in K126) that eternal life is always given by God with His commandments:
1.
He gave Adam life + a command. Gen 2:15-17 KJV And the LORD God took
the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep
it. (16) And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every
tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: (17) But of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day
that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
2. He gave the
Israelites the promised land + the Ten Commandments. He also gave king
Saul the kingdom + a commandment too: 1Sa 15:24-25 KJV And Saul said
unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment
of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed
their voice. (25) Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn
again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
3. He gave us Jesus + a
command too: Mat 17:5 KJV While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud
overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.
4. Even Jesus give us the Holy Spirit + His commandments: Joh 15:10-26 KJV If ye keep my commandments,
ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's
commandments, and abide in his love... (26) But when the Comforter is
come, whom I will send unto you from the Father ..
Joh 17:7-8 KJV Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee. (8) For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; ..
God will give grace and commandments to the believers under the New Covenant too
Do
you notice that God gave grace to the Jews and everyone including the
Gentile sinners; but He gave His commandments only to His people? Yes,
we have read the Bible verses that Adam, King Saul, the Jews, and many
people may receive grace from God; but if they reject God's
commandments, grace cannot save them.
Yes, we may say that we are
the believers who have received grace. We may even argue that we are
under grace. But, if we reject God's commandments, who can save us? Can
Grace or Jesus still save us? No, no one can save us if we reject God's
commandments.
Hence, we can understand why many lukewarm believers today would love to argue that they have no more law or commandment.
It is because, if they have no more law or commandments, they can argue
that there is nothing else which they must do or obey in their walk
with God, and therefore, there is nothing else which can take away their
eternal security even if they rebel, disobey God, do nothing, or live
with their 'frog' mentality to take care of themselves only.
God's warning or command is mainly for the believers; not the sinners in the world outside
But
many would still argue, "No, no, no, those fallen people who received
grace and still fell were not the true believers. Adam and king Saul
were not under grace. They were not true believers. Hence, they fell.
The seven churches in Revelation 2-3 were not the true believers, hence,
they were the lukewarm believers, including the false prophets in Mat
7:15-23, the tares in Mat 13:24-30, the willful sinners in Heb 10:26-29.
How about Ananias and Sapphira? Oh, we can never be them and they can
never be us too. It's because they were not the true believers. They
were not under grace. That's why they are not saved. Oh, yah, of course,
I can remember Simon the sorcerer who believed and was baptised by
Philip. Simon was not a true believer; he could be an agnostic believer,
and therefore, he would still need to repent and confess his sins
according to 1 John 1:9 .. But, please do not use their examples to tell
us how to confess our sins and keep God's commandments. We are not the
agnostic believers; we are the true believers under grace. We hear only
grace (Jesus); not commandments, warnings and condemnation, and hence,
we do not confess sins according to 1 John 1:9. We can never sin, fall,
or lose our salvation .. we do not need to hear all those warnings (or
condemnations about others) to live our life under grace. If we stay in
grace, hear grace, hear only the goodnews, and hear nothing evil, we are
well."
I will tell them, You are not well; you are under the well.
You are not under grace; you are under hyper grace. You are not just a
believer; you are a hyper spiritual believer. Hence, you hear only
grace; not Jesus. You think that everyone is not true believer; except
you yourselves or your people in your own little 'well'.
King Saul was a believer; if he could fall, he could be a warning to us
Do
you know that king Saul was a believer? He believed God probably more
than some of us. He was anointed. And he prophesied. We may now
criticise him as a total failure or an agnostic believer, but do we know
that he was chosen among the finest men in the whole country? If king
Saul was not a believer who believed God, there was probably no believer
in the whole world or whole Israel to be chosen by God too.
1Sa 9:21
KJV And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest
of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of
the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? .. 1Sa
10:1-24 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and
kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? (6) And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy
with them, and shalt be turned into another man. (7) And let it be,
when these signs are come unto thee, that thou do as occasion serve
thee; for God is with thee .. (9) And it was so, that when he had turned
his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all
those signs came to pass that day. (10) And when they came thither to
the hill, behold, a company of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied
among them .. .. (23) And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he
stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his
shoulders and upward. (24) And Samuel said to all the people, See ye
him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
Whether we are the true believers or not, God's warnings and commandments are still for us
King
Saul fell not because he was not a grace believer or a true believer
but because of something else which I will not want to explore here.
But, it is suffice to say here that his fall should be a good warning or
a valid red alert to all of us who are the believers. Hence, Jude would put us in remembrance of God's warning too (Jud 1:4-5)?
I
will ask the hyper grace people, Do you think that only your churches
have true believers? Are all of you true believers? If we assume that
your churches are mostly true believers or that 99% of you are true
believers, you still have 1% who still need to hear the gospel of
repentance or God's warnings. Will you deny even one lost sheep?
Luk
15:4-10 KJV What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of
them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go
after that which is lost, until he find it? .. .. (10) Likewise, I say
unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner that repenteth.
Please think, If Jesus would go all the way to
save even one lost sheep (and that lost sheep could be you and me), how
much more we should give God's warning or God's command to repent to
those who need to hear it? Have we done it? If we need to give an
account to the Lord 'in that day', would we be shocked to find out that
we had more ungodly men or lost sheep than we thought; but we did
nothing to warn them? We might do many wonderful works for the Lord. We
might argue that we had preached many positive words. We might preach
righteousness marvellously, we might preach peace fantastically, we
might do this and that .. but have we preached any warning, any
commandment, or any confession of sins for those who may need to hear
it? We might preach the name of the Lord beautifully and argue
convincingly that the Lord Himself would bring all the sinners to God
automatically, but have we obeyed His commandment to preach what He
commanded us to preach instead of what we want to preach?
Mat
28:19-20 KJV Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: (20)
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Mar
6:10-12 KJV And he said unto them, .. (11) And whosoever shall not
receive you, nor hear you, when ye depart thence, shake off the dust
under your feet for a testimony against them. Verily I say unto you, It
shall be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment,
than for that city. (12) And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
If
we preach only what we think or what other people like, we preach only
our own words or positive words; not truly the words of God. The words
of God always have the preaching of God's warning, God's commandment,
God's doctrine, and repentance. However, if we always change our
thinking, always metanoia, always change our minds, always reason with
our own thinking, always contradict, always mislead, and rebel, we have
not preached the words of God. If we have not preached the words of God,
we have not done the will of God. If we have not done the will of God,
we have become the false prophets who try to preach like God's
preachers.
Mat 7:15-24 KJV Beware of false prophets, which come to
you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. (16) Ye
shall know them by their fruits .. (21) Not every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will
of my Father which is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name
have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (23)
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye
that work iniquity. (24) Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
If
we are called to preach the word of God and we refuse to preach it
honestly because of our lawless motives later, we can certainly change
from being a God's preacher to a false prophet. King Saul was a clear
example of how a God's anointed man who was one of the best among God's
race (1Sa 10:24) became a wicked men. King Saul might have tried to
prophesy a number of times like before, but after he rebelled against
God's commandment, God's Spirit left him:
1Sa 15:24 KJV And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
1Sa 18:10 KJV And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul's hand.
Of
course, if we really have a King or Prince who feeds us with God's
words today, we do hope that he will never fall. But, if he behaves like
King Saul, no one can help him or save him.
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