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Sermon 152 – Totem Pole or The Cross

26 Dec

Just about every practicing Christian I’ve interacted with over my 70 years pretends to love God but in reality, secretly lives for the top position of the Totem-pole. The Totem Pole and the Cross are on opposite ends of the spectrum. One is looking good in the eyes of others, the other is looking stupid in the eyes of others. One is God and the other is Mammon … you can’t serve both.

The will of the Father

You don’t get to heaven by being ‘good’ or doing ‘good’ (Ephesians 2:8,9). You can only access heaven by doing His will.

Not everyone that says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that does the will of My Father (Matthew 7:21).

His will is not just hearing or sensing His voice and then following it; that could be a demonic deception. It’s His Holy Word that is His will. The Bible is God’s last will and testament in written form. Both the Old and the New are His will. Each individual is responsible to search the scriptures for God’s truth, and not just rely on what the church is telling you. You can blame the church for its failures and mess, but you are personally responsible to discern the Truth of His will found in his Word.

Why is the Bible, God’s will?

God instructed and inspired men to write it so everyone could know what God wants from us. The Bible is that instruction. It is the Word of God, from God. In fact, it’s not just letters on a page; Jesus, Himself is that Word. Jesus, Himself, is the living breath of God. The words below the surface of the Bible are spiritual, and if you really want heaven, you have to search for the treasure hidden in plain sight in His Word, the Bible.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word became flesh, ie. Jesus, and dwelt amongst us (John 1:1-17). In the beginning God created everything by Jesus, His Word. He spoke it into being (Genesis 1:3). If the Word created everything, then the Word is the answer to everything. To ignore the written Word or interpret it by your feelings and experience, or just do what the church says, will simply end in your demise and ruin.

How do you know what is His will?

The Word of God is the measuring line. Almost all western Christians think they do God’s will, but few have time to, nor are inclined to, even read The Word, so they rely on the church’s teaching, their feelings, and their experience.

They evidence this belief with being good. By this, they mean … cruisey, cool, hard-working, not having any problems with people, empathy, generous, doing what you’re told, not smoking, not going to discos, not committing adultery, not being boastful, going to church, helping people, not getting angry, not swearing, speaking nicely, giving up bad friends, etc.

But they never weigh up their actions with the Spirit of the Word of God. Rather, they weigh up their actions by their own feelings and experience, and what their feelings think the Word is saying. They never judge their actions as to whether they may be contaminated for totem-pole position, and always thinking they are important and expecting others to like them and favour them, and ignoring the fact that they think they are better than their neighbour, yet denying it to themselves.

If you’ve got a problem with me, you’re the problem

I’ve discovered the average Christian believes the lie … if you’ve got a problem with me, you’re the problem; and if I’ve got a problem with you, you’re still the problem. This is not the will of God. This is simply the selfish deduction of hurt feelings. People that believe this are clearly not Christian.

You won’t find this in the Scriptures, and therefore, it’s your will, not His. This is the will of the anti-Christ. This is totem-pole belief masquerading as Christian.

God has made His will plain regarding … divorce (Malachi 2:16), homosexuality (Romans 1), reputation, pride, judging others, loving your neighbour. Most good Christians accept the adultery bit, and the homosexuality bit, but conveniently ignore the secret things that can’t be seen, like the coveting bit, and the totem-pole bit. From God’s perspective, the totem-pole bit is the crunch point of His reality, and retaining it will block His salvation from you.

The Totem-pole is a direct contradiction to the Cross

As quoted by Indigenous Foundations … “Totem poles are monuments created by First Nations of the Pacific Northwest to represent and commemorate ancestry, histories, people, or events. … Most totem poles display beings, or crest animals, marking a family’s lineage and validating the powerful rights and privileges that the family held”. I suggest. it’s all about showing-off family status.

It’s all about showing-off position … being higher than your neighbor

Today we recognize that a “low man on the totem pole” is a person of no status or power, someone at the bottom of a hierarchy. It’s the same as saying someone is “low on the pecking order” or “the lowest rung of the ladder”.

Human nature hates being on the bottom of the pile, so it quickly learns to keep others happy so it’s never put down. In order to keep the church happy, it tries to do good deeds. In order to keep God happy, it tries its best to worship Jesus and follow His teachings. In order to keep parents and authority happy it tries to do what it’s told, and in order to keep others’ happy it tries to show care, empathy, generosity or helps of some kind, but the underlying motive is always totem-pole, not cross, so it never fully satisfies and never fulfils, although it feels good for a season. 

The Cross

The Cross is the place of … no reputation, the place of mocking because you’re a Christian, the place of loneliness, the place of being misjudged, the place of aligning with Jesus, the place of zero importance. It’s the place of sacrificing the favour of parents/ancestors (Luke 14:26), and sacrificing being liked.  It’s the place where you eventually give up your will to do His will (John 4:34, Luke 22:42). It’s different for everyone, but it’s still the same place of pain.

The modern Western church teaches what the world teaches … you are important, you do have a purpose for life, always strive for the best position … you deserve it, and don’t let anyone put you down. The church teaches that Jesus paid the price so you can live without any pain and always under His blessings. But it’s a lie of half-truths. Jesus said … If they called Me ‘Beelzebub’, they’ll call you it, too (Matthew 10:25).

Even though the Cross is painful, and even though it’s the place of death, it’s also the place of resurrection and relationship with the Father. It’s the place where put-down no longer has its power to hurt and manipulate you.

The Western church doesn’t live by His whole will. It lives by selective will. It lives by keeping people happy, and making people happy, and saying it loves God. It likes to look good; it’s fearful of persecution.

It’s pretty obvious why few are willing to go the way of the cross … everyone loves the praises of men more than the praises of God (John 12:42,43), so why do it the hard way; take the easy ‘good’ and ‘be nice’ way. But you’ll be only fooling yourself and competing against everyone else pretending the same.

It’s all about Will

All humanity is born with a strong self-will … I will, I won’t. It’s this will that must be broken for Christ.

Jesus gave up His will to do the Father’s will. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). That’s the secret to salvation. You can’t do it with just your mind-power; it requires a cross. No cross, no death to ‘will’, no faith, no salvation. Until you give up your will to Christ’s will, whatever you do for God is really only for your totem-pole.

Pastor Anthony McNaughton

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Posted by on December 26, 2020 in Uncategorized

 

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Sermon 151 – The Cross or the World

23 Nov

My family was talking about Jesus, when out of the blue, my 10-year-old granddaughter asked me a question … “how come people get sucked into the world?”

I thought for a second and replied … “they don’t. We’re all born into the world and we all love the world. What you have to do is get out of it”.

Why do we struggle to leave the world?

Obviously, the world has a powerful pull or Satan wouldn’t have enticed Christ with it. The world runs in our blood. To be saved, you need a blood transfusion with Christ’s blood. This can only happen with a cross.

The pleasures of the world, the ease of the world, the supply of the world, the striving for people’s value and favour, and the fear of failing or looking bad are too enticing to our pride, and even the hurts of the world tempt us to blame Jesus so we can justify staying in the world and squash the guilt.

How do you know if you’re in the world or out of it?

Perhaps a question that will shed light on the above question is … who do you blame for your cross? For your hassles? For your problems?

Your reaction on the cross will tell you what world you’re in … earthly or Christ’s.

The unrepentant thief blamed Jesus for not fixing his problem. The repentant thief took the blame for his sin. Jesus, Himself, never blamed anyone for his unjustified cross. He held to the Father’s will, not His own, and consequently created a safe pathway for all who will bear His cross.

As soon as you blame someone for your circumstances, you prove you’re just like the unrepentant thief; only interested in getting rid of your cross, and oblivious to your sin.

If you’re stupid enough to blame Jesus for not fixing your cross you don’t deserve to be saved.

If you want to escape the world, it requires a cross

In the modern church, the cross is missing. The world teaches that you can do what you like as long as you don’t hurt anyone. The true reality is that everyone is so desperate for attention and happiness, the world has to set rules so no one gets their feelings hurt. That’s just ‘selfishness’ masquerading as ‘good’.

The church models itself on the same philosophy so it can accommodate the world. But, being good, and caring, and obedient, and nice, and harmonious, is not a cross; it’s actually a graven image of my selfishness. Selfishness just uses ‘good deeds’ to fight for its position above its peers.

Without the cross you won’t recognise your sin; you’ll just talk yourself into your goodness. Without a cross you can’t die and be resurrected to life, and if you’re not dead first, you’re not resurrected. Yes, Jesus paid for our sin and there’s no way we can save ourselves, but without being on a cross you won’t see your sin; you won’t repent; you’ll just blame others for the hassles, and you won’t see the unjust punishment Jesus paid for your salvation. Without a cross you’ll just practice the religious ritual of good works, hoping that God’s looking.

Which cross are you on?

There are four options at calvary. Watching Jesus on the cross, Jesus on the cross and one of 2 thieves on crosses. You can’t be Jesus; you have to be one of the thieves, or someone watching. Most watching, mocked. One thief took responsibility for his sin and was saved. The other said ‘fix it’. Which one are you?

The false church teaches that Jesus died on the cross for your sin. Just repent and believe and you’ll be saved. This is half-true. It doesn’t teach that you are a thief on a cross with an option to choose to see and own your sin, or on the other hand, tell Jesus to fix your hassles.

If the thief had not been on a cross, he would not have seen Jesus nor owned his sin before Christ, and he would not have been saved. As hard as it was, the cross was his salvation.

You may be standing and watching Christ on the cross, even as a disciple, but you are not saved until you own your sin on a cross of humility, embarrassment, put down and sin exposure before Christ (Luke 22:32).

Only one person was saved that day

The only person who got saved that day was the repentant thief. None of the disciples got saved. They didn’t even know what was happening. They argued over who was the most important. They couldn’t even believe Jesus had risen from the dead. They each had to face the cross of their sin before they could truly repent and then serve Christ for Him and not for themselves, even though they had been walking personally with Him (Luke 22:32).

The 1st cross of embarrassment and failure is where you face your sin and look to Christ to save you (without any self-effort), then give up myself and be resurrected to new life. Baptism is the physical expression of this death and resurrection. The 2nd cross is what you carry for Christ as His witness and disciple. No true disciple can avoid this pathway.

After your death through a cross exposure, the pathway of Christ’s persecuted cross is the same pathway for all who will live Godly in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12). No wonder, few want to know the real path to heaven.

If you can’t see yourself as the thief on the cross, then you’re not saved. All your goodness is just filthy rags used to preserve your reputation and worldly position.

The cross is where I see my sin, not others’ sin

None of us are Jesus, we’re all thieves. We don’t bear a cross because we’re good, but rather, like the thief, because we’re sinners. If you think you’re carrying a cross because you are good, you’re not saved. The only way you can be free from bearing your cross is when you die to your pride and own your sin. It’s only after death that you’re free from your cross; but you’ll then have the honour to bear Christ’s cross for Christ; but then, Jesus is bearing it with you.

Everybody is trying to please Jesus without going through the cross

Most Christians think the cross is something you have to wear to prove you’re a good Christian; but it’s not. It’s what you have to bear until you see that you’re the sinner and you deserve your cross, and the only way off the cross is to ask the Lord to ‘remember’ you, not prove you are good or that you shouldn’t be there.

The cross is an embarrassment. Everyone is looking at you and mocking. The cross is a humiliation to our pride. The cross is painful to our hurt feelings. The cross is a loss of status … all opposite the current false prosperity indoctrination. Prosperity is not a cross. If you give to get, if you do good to get, it’s not a cross; it’s gambling.

I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me … Galatians 2:20

Everyone’s doing, not dying

If it is something that you have to do, then you prove you are not on the cross, because you can’t do anything on a cross, except admit that you should be there. If you’re on a cross then God’s trying to save you. If you’re not on the cross, then you can’t get saved. If it’s the pathway for both the Master and the thief, then it’s the pathway for all sinners who will follow the Master (Matthew 10:24,25).

Christ’s cross is a daily exercise

If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me … Luke 9:23

The false church (the tares) teaches that Jesus paid the price for your sin; He shed His blood; just accept this fact, say sorry for your sin, and you’ll be saved.  This is half-true. What’s missing is, a cross. The church promotes penance and good works, but there’s no death-to-self-cross in the churches’ picture, just a looking for God to fix my problems, bless me, and provide all my needs because He already paid the price for you so you can bask in His blessing.

Whoever doesn’t bear his cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple … Luke 14:27

The fake Christian believes they’re free from the world so they can enjoy its offerings without conscience. This modern humanistic church system believes that if you are caring, helpful, and nice to people, then that proves you’re saved, so you can stay in the world and believe you are exempt from its influences and its future punishment, and you’re free from the consequences of the ten commandments, just keep them in your heart. It brands and mocks ten commandment keepers, especially 7th day sabbath-keepers, as legalistic, conveniently ignoring the fact that God Himself established the principle at creation, and Jesus Himself kept the principle during his 33 years on earth, and that it was the Romans, not God, who changed it to Sunday. This false church follows the Roman feasts of Easter and Christmas and looks down on those who honour God’s feasts of Passover and Tabernacles (Zechariah 14:16). It’s the false church that will oppose the faithful (Rev. 12:17, Galatians 4:29), and it already is.

The anti-Christ is coming

This generation is happy to worship Him; they want to feel good; they want to look good; they chase happy feelings; but they don’t want a cross; it’s easy to be in the church. They love the pleasures of the world and the church is not discouraging it, but rather promoting it, and tolerating the sin so it can retain its numbers and money, and calling the tolerance, love. Consequently, the world is gaining ground and the church is losing ground.

You can’t have life without a cross

Cross 1st, Repentance 2nd, Death 3rd, Faith 4th, Life 5th, Christ’s Cross 6th. It’s the cross that separates you from the world (Galatians 6:14).

May God open the eyes of His remnant to be willing and ready to first see their sin and die to themselves, then carry their cross for Christ.

Pastor Anthony McNaughton

 
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Posted by on November 23, 2020 in cross, Death

 

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Sermon 148 -You can’t get NEW Nature by fixing your OLD Nature

20 Jun

Most Christians believe that they’re good with a few character flaws. If these character flaws are ever challenged or exposed, they try their best to fix them.  Most often, the motivation for the fix is so one doesn’t look bad or feel bad. Consequently, old nature isn’t changed, just better camouflaged.

Old nature

Everyone is born with a nature that is prone to sin … all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). The thing that drives this sinful nature is our pride. Our old nature is really just an expression of our pride. Pride wants to be superior and look cool, but pride is also the mood of inferiority or failure. Ultimately, pride doesn’t like being told what to do, or told it’s wrong, but it likes to tell you that you are wrong.

Every time our pride rises up, our old nature will automatically show itself, and we will have a mood, either silently and internally with a smile, or outwardly with a change of facial expression, and quite often, conveniently ignorant that we are even having a mood. Fixing our old nature is simply just another self-tactic for reinforcing our pride and promoting one’s ability. Trying to get ourselves right by our own will power will never produce new nature … it’s just more pride.

The problem of Pride

The reason God hates pride (Proverbs 8:13) is that it gives Satan licence to dictate over your spirit (2 Timothy 2:24-26 KJV). Pride keeps you in old nature and makes you susceptible to operate under Satan’s evil works against the kingdom of God, whilst all the time you believe you are a Christian and a good person. Pride pollutes your heavenly walk and if left to run its course, will block you from heaven.

New Nature

New nature is the nature of God. This nature cannot be produced by our own effort. Rather, it’s a gift from God. The modern church teaches that this gift is free, but that’s not the whole truth. Yes, it cannot be bought with money or earned with effort or good works (Ephesians 2:8,9), but there is a price that you have to pay to receive it.

The price for New nature

The price for new nature is death. The death I’m referring to in this case is … saying NO to yourself. In other words, giving up your want because you trust what God wants is the best. You can’t enter new nature without this trust.

The old nature is quite capable of improving itself and stopping itself from doing wrong. You don’t have to be Christian to achieve that. Old nature can be made to look like new nature, but, it can never become genuine new nature.

The new nature of God is implanted in someone’s spirit when they decide to follow Christ, but this doesn’t mean they are saved for heaven. Judas and King Saul both had the new nature of God but they fell to their old nature, did not repent and return to new nature, and consequently missed out on heaven. You can lose the new nature of God and be cut off the vine, but you can also be grafted back into the nature of God.

How do we make sure we run the race to the end with God’s nature?

Jesus taught that you have to die to yourself, daily. Just about every Christian I’ve counselled believes that if they address a character fault or sin, then they’ve fixed it and it shouldn’t have to be dealt with again. But, that’s just a fallacy of pride. The reality is, that your character fault will live with you forever, and Satan will be forever tempting you to fall to it. Thus, Jesus said it’s a daily battle to say No to yourself, even if the issue is the same as it was yesterday or last month.

Why must I say No to MYSELF?

The only way you can enter new nature and also return to new nature after failing, is, via the cross. The modern church teaches that once you accept Christ as your Saviour, then you are under His grace, you’re a child of God and a son of God and joint heir with Christ, so therefore you should expect His blessing and His favour. This half-truth deceives the average Christian into thinking that Christianity is a casual and comfortable walk to heaven under God’s grace. The modern church doesn’t teach death as the path to heaven, but rather, it promotes only the benefits; namely, the pursuit of happiness and contentment, attached to niceness and helping.

The Cross

The cross is not the path to happy feelings. Rather, it’s a path of pain, and embarrassment, and put down for the name of Christ. It’s the path of being misjudged, of being mocked, of being hated, even by family. It’s having to wait for God’s plan instead of purporting your own. It’s the path of separating from the world even though you live in it. It’s the path of disciplining yourself to say No to yourself, and Yes to Christ. It’s the path of accepting correction, and not necessarily defending your rights.

The cross is serving God, not man, and setting your path to heaven, no matter the cost. The cross is hating your pride (Proverbs 8:13). The cross is trusting God with the unfair deal, and ironically, the peace of God only comes via this pathway of the cross.

The cross is the only way to heaven. You can’t get there by just asking Jesus into your heart. Without the cross, Jesus is just your buddy, but not your Saviour.

The cross is the action of your faith (James 2:17,18), yet, you can’t walk the pathway of the cross by yourself … it requires His faith (Galatians 2:20).

The easy path

Obviously, the false church is not going to promote this path. The easy path of happiness and fun and friends and purpose and wealth through giving, is far more favourable and enticing. The church promotes the broad way to heaven, not the narrow way. But God calls His disciples to be soldiers, not comfortable pew sitters and TV watchers. God calls His people to be separate in spirit from the world; not comfortable to mix and mingle with the world.

God calls his disciples to not expect the fair deal. God calls his disciples to object to the world’s moral decline (Proverbs 8:13), generally silently in our hearts, sometimes publicly, but always on alert, and never complacent and tolerant of sin, especially our own pride.

The reason for the problems we face is so we learn to not look to ourselves but turn to Christ and trust His plan. Problems toughen us against Satanic attack. We’re not fighting flesh and blood but demonic principalities and evil powers (Ephesians 6:12). You can’t fight Satan except through the cross. By saying NO to yourself, and instead, trusting God, you walk the path of the cross and inhibit the evil work of Satan.

The Fear of the Lord is to hate evil (Proverbs 8:13)

Who do you fear the most … God or man? God calls His people to fear Him, not man. The fear of God is the fear of missing out on heaven and ending up in hell. If you love the Lord, you must hate your pride; that’s the fear of God. Disciples must walk in the fear of upsetting God, not man; they must object to giving one’s self the right to have a mood, give up the right to expect fairness, give up the ambition of looking good in the eyes of people, and give up worldly position. This is the cross. The cross is God’s training ground for learning how to fear Him, because you have to face the fear of man. It’s a process of being born again and maturing into His faith. It can take years, but, if you don’t walk the way of the cross, you’re simply stating your lack of fear and love of God.

The primary objective of Christ should be the same for every disciple of Christ

Jesus came to earth. From the moment He arrived, He was targeted. He healed the sick and preached the gospel of good news, but, His primary objective was to die on the cross. If He hadn’t, no one would be saved. Despite all your goodness, is the cross your primary objective?

Friend of the world, enemy of God (James 4:4)

If you’re comfortable with the world, if you like the comforts of the world, the Word of God describes you as an adulterer. That is, a fake Christian who says they’re married to Christ but who is actually intercoursing with Satan.

Thy will be done, not mine

This is the prayer of Christ on the cross, this is the commitment of Jesus on earth (John 4:34), this is the Lord’s prayer, and this is the prayer of every genuine soldier of Christ.

 

May the Lord stir His remnant to look beyond the pain, to look beyond the moral demise of society, to say No to one’s self, and be servants to His will only.

 

Pastor Frederick Jamieson

 

 

 
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Posted by on June 20, 2020 in new nature

 

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Sermon 92 – Witch Christian are you?

28 Nov

The Word of God is Spirit and not just writings in a book. When we read the story of David we need to realise and appreciate that it is not just a record of historical fact but primarily a spiritual expression of the heart of all of mankind.

There’s two types of Christians

There’s two types of Christians; those who are Davids and those who are Sauls. We see this reinforced in the parable of the 10 virgins. They both start-off with Holy Spirit (the oil), but half of them lose Him. If you have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, then you’re a Christian, but that doesn’t mean you’re saved. The same evidence is endorsed in the parable of the sower and the Seed. The Seed (Jesus) falls into 3 types of ground and grows, but only one type of ground produces fruit. Judas had the Holy Spirit and so did Samson; they both lost the Holy Spirit, but the outcome was different for Samson.

The camp of David

Everybody wants to be a David, but they don’t want the hassle pathway that David had to take. The point of the Word of God is that to be a David you have to walk the same path, and to be a saved Christian you have to walk the same path of suffering as Christ; the path of being misjudged for doing the right thing, the path of separation from those who oppose the truth, the path of being hated for doing good, or the path of having to give up your position. If you read the Psalms, they’re all about the worship of God and thankfulness towards Him, or they’re about enemies, both within his camp and without, who are trying to destroy him.

The cross

Jesus is of the lineage of David. This is not just a heritage thing; it’s primarily a spiritual issue. He didn’t choose his lineage just because he was a king, otherwise Jesus would not have been born in a manger. By deliberately choosing to be of the lineage of David, Jesus was signifying that the spiritual path of opposition to David is the same spiritual pathway of opposition to Christ and the same spiritual pathway of opposition for all those who want to follow Christ.

Salvation is only via the cross. The pathway of the master is the pathway of the servant. The servant is not above his master. Every Christian is in the camp of Saul until they come to the cross. You can’t just make up your mind to swap camps; it’s only at the cross; whether it’s the pain of being misjudged for doing the right thing, being blamed for having done nothing wrong, or being held in contempt for following your Christ-like conscience.

You can have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (He’s not restricted by your lack of faith or even your false faith), but you’re not saved until you come to the cross of self-death (just like Christian in Pilgrim’s Progress). You’re not saved by inviting Jesus into your heart; rather you’re saved when you die to what you want and only live for what the Master wants.

Every Christian thinks they’ve done this, but the proof is in the pudding. Only when you’re faced with sacrificing what you truly do want (which generally you don’t know till God brings you face-to-face with it) can you move to the plane of salvation via your cross.

What this means is that your will has to be constantly and unconditionally surrendered to God’s will. Until you bend your will to God’s will, you’re not saved. The opposite of giving up your will is to retain the right to do it your way, and Satan will bombard you with temptations to fear God’s will.

The camp of Saul

Sauls can’t handle David being more popular.

Sauls need compliments and can’t handle contradictions, criticisms or corrections against their opinion. They have to look good in the eyes of the people. They may start off meek but they soon warm to the elevated position and surreptitiously their heart turns to themselves and away from God. They often live by rules and what’s right, even the Ten Commandments, but can’t be told they’re wrong and can’t take correction. Correction is equated as rejection. Consequently, their heart actually deceives itself and becomes stubborn and rebellious, and they come under the spirit of lying and practice subtle deception and ignorantly believe in superstition (if I do this, I will get that) and ultimately, witchcraft (1 Samuel 15:23).

Sauls are stubborn-minded and stubborn-willed. Sauls have to do it their own way; they don’t like to be told; they like to figure it out for themselves. They argue that they have the right to figure it out for themselves; but, really what they’re saying is, don’t tell me what to do; I’ll do it my way.

Sauls are swelled up with the importance of their own position, so when Samuel suggests that they’ve done it the wrong way, Sauls defend themselves by blaming others and by justifying that what they’ve done is right. Instead of respecting the prophet’s authority, Sauls have deduced that if you don’t agree with my thinking then you’re the fool, you’re the one who’s ignorant, you’re the one who’s blind, not me.

Sauls believe that if you hurt me, I have the right to hurt you back; and Sauls believe that if you hurt my feelings then you’re bad, and you’re wrong. Thus, Sauls have moods whenever you upset their feelings; but the real purpose of the mood is to make you feel bad so you will surrender to their demands.

Sauls act by their own judgment; they do not walk by faith, but rather by what they think is right. Even though Sauls may act generous, may appear happy and may enjoy being helpful, the truth is, Sauls are too proud to be corrected, too proud to forgive, bossy, and too stubborn to be told they’re wrong.

The camp of Saul is the camp of self-righteousness, whereas the camp of David is the camp of God’s righteousness. That is, God’s rightness, God’s ability and God’s goodness, not mine. Davids know that it’s nothing to do with me; it’s all Him.

The trigger

The trigger that stirs Saul spirits to change from meekness, is envy. Sauls can’t handle someone else being accoladed more than them.

What’s the problem with being a Saul?

Envy (1 Samuel 18:8) drives a Saul away from God and into the camp of witchcraft and then under the influence and control of a demon, then you’ll lose your right mind, and ultimately find yourself in hell. The stubbornness of Saul separates Saul from God (1 Samuel 16:14). This pattern started in the Garden of Eden, and nothing’s changed. If you allow envy into your heart and refuse to own it with repentance, you will not find heaven; it will take you to hell; and that’s the plan of Satan … self-destruction by self-rightness.

Jonathans

Jonathans agree and even support David but they prefer to stay in the camp of Saul. Saul’s camp is bigger and safer and more acceptable. David’s camp is outside the acceptable religious structure. Jonathans choose to stay with their father’s belief even though they know it’s wrong, because they need their father’s approval.

Why stay in the camp of Saul?

  1. Safety in numbers. The Orthodox churches considered the Pentecostal church, a cult, but when it increased in numbers it became an acceptable religion. Homosexuality was considered illegal, but now that it has publically increased in numbers it’s become an acceptable normal sexuality. People’s judgment is controlled by numbers and money. Where numbers and money dictate people’s decision, they have simply defaulted to the control of the spirit of the anti-christ. “He loved me, but not enough” is the catch-cry in Sense and Sensibility. Willoughby gave up his love for position and money. The comforts of his lifestyle and the temptation to look good in the eyes of others were too appealing, and thus he showed that he really loved himself . Like Willoughby, Sauls say and act loving but when it comes to the crunch they choose position over love for God.
  2. Social interaction. Humans are social beings and the church has been traditionally considered a safe place to interact with other humans; but that’s no longer the case … paedophilia and homosexuality, divorce and fornication are intertwined into the fabric of every religion and every church.
  3. More chance of being elevated to a higher position and recognised by more people.
  4. Scared to change camps. Religion controls people through their fears. People are too lazy to search the Scriptures for themselves. I believe because they don’t really want to find the hard way. They like the status quo; it suits their lifestyle, and any deviation from the status quo would make me look bad in the eyes of others.
  5. Indoctrinated by parents to believe in self-value
  6. Using the church as a hospital for all my hurts and expecting people to listen to me and be understanding of my needs.

Santa Claus

It’s no coincidence that Santa is the most valued figure at Christmas time. He’s the one with the goodies. Most Christians live in the Santa Claus syndrome believing if they’re good then God will give them nice things and remove all the hassles from their path. Most Christians believe that good gets rewarded with good. The whole focus is on what’s the deal for me and every deed is manipulated around that self-focus. They live in the belief that their goodness will save them because God is a nice God and surely He wouldn’t possibly reject ME. These are the Sauls. They’re not focussed on Christ; they’re focussed on what God can do for me. God is worshipped for the feelings, benefits and rewards. Their life is a pretence, full of envy of anyone else’s higher favouritism and anyone else’s happiness.

Can you change camps?

If you want to survive you have to leave the camp of Saul. Even Samuel had to leave Saul. You can’t stay in the camp of Saul and pretend you are a David; it’s a contradiction.

To change camps you have to give up what links you to Saul; what benefits you get by being in Sauls’ camp. They have to be put on the altar. There’s a price to change camps; it’s not for free. You can’t buy your way in with money or good deeds, but you do have to give your whole heart.

To change camps you have to forgive like a child, trust like a child, and be corrected like a child. Like the thief on the cross, you can’t swap camps by being good, but only via the bridge of repentance for your self-righteousness.

Why join the camp of David?

The people who joined themselves to David were the inferior ones … distressed, in debt, and discontent (1 Samuel 22:2). You can join yourself to David’s camp because you’re lost and lonely and David offers stability and responsibility, but if you don’t humble yourself by faith in the Lord Jesus you’re just using David for you and you will still miss out. You have to be a David, not just be in David’s camp, like Judas was in Jesus’ camp.

You can only become a David by giving up the fight to protect and promote you.

Suggestion

Stop worrying about you & think about God instead. If He is the creator of the universe with an earth that spins around the sun at exactly the right angle and speed; the creator of infinitely different-faced persons; and the manufacturer of infinitely different snowflakes, surely it makes sense to trust His plan. Stop operating your own back-up sub-plan in case God doesn’t come through, and commit your will to His; if you don’t it will be fatal.

May God help you take the plunge for your own sake,

Pastor Ray Simmonds

    

 
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Posted by on November 28, 2015 in Fake Christian, Uncategorized

 

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Sermon 57 – DIE TO YOURSELF

10 Aug

‘Whosoever doesn’t bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple’, Luke 14:27

‘If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for My sake, the same shall save it.’  Luke 9:23,24

What’s right?

Most people believe that the definition of ‘right’ is
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Posted by on August 10, 2013 in Death

 

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Sermon 54 – WHY DOESN’T JESUS SHOW HIMSELF?

15 Jun

Jesus came to earth 2000 years ago and showed Himself to the human race. Our international date system confirms it and every religion recognises that He existed. To Christians, He came as God in the form of man to relate to His creation and die for all of mankind. You could feel Him, walk with Him and talk with Him. But why has He left? Why doesn’t He show Himself now? Why can’t you touch Him and speak face to face with Him as the people could then? Read the rest of this entry »

 
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Posted by on June 15, 2013 in Elevation, Faith

 

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