This is a new age of cursed spirits. A mans
general disposition is a kind of virus that creates a paradigm of
reality. Mens hearts fail them because there is a new opposition that
extinguishes grace so that men are confused about people and things.
Along with the tendencies to avoid certain paradigms of anxiety and fear
...men are given over to finding comfort in the culture of ideas in
which there is connection to other men. Society has become a place where
the defined authority and respect of the different authority structures
is given over to the ideas of profit. People are now commodities and
this is what makes men live in this disposition of unrest. When
relationships are defined as strictly a business model and people are
looked on as a way to profit then the bottom line controls the heart
issues. Instead of being motivated by love... people are motivated by
fear...worry... and hard words. This becomes a cycle of determinism that
drives success. There is a tendency on the other hand to react to
this kind of graceless paradigm out of a romantic love. Its like a
universal christian love that defines defending downward. It creates the
allusion that the problems stem from a laziness and unthankfulness. But
any realistic look at oppression is a teaching that keeps men in this
repetitious bottom line mentality. All problems start from the top and
then they infect the process all the way to the bottom. The real problem
solving must be motivated by a sense of personal attention to setting
the example in speech conduct and concern ... above profit. This is a
loving model from the top down. It is an effort to bring in social
principles as the hall mark of a supply and demand paradigm.
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Forums / Key Life Forum / Re: 6/8 Whoppers/Is steve nuts?
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on: June 12, 2010, 09:47:46 AM
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Sometimes
Stevie B. is being so "tongue in cheek" that you would expect to see
his tongue peeking out of his cheek. He is being humorous more than we
might catch. I'm pretty sure he likes more kinds of music than just
classical. But as far as the "lie of the motivation movement" i
see it as this. The usual teaching is that we have god-like powers that
we need to learn to harness. If we just use our powers of
visualization and believing, we can have any thing we can dream of. One
of the classic sayings (i think by Napoleon Hill) is "Whatever a man
can conceive and believe, he can achieve." There is a little
truth in this basic lie, enough to make it dangerous. Where it falls
apart is that it ignores God, His plan, and will. And He may let us
play the "think and grow rich" game for a while, but it will often come
crashing down as He shows us we are not really in ultimate control. I
have some first hand experience with this "new age metaphysical mental
magical stuff". Got into it on my way to Christ. Became convinced that
if i focused my mind strongly enough on believing that i had a new
Jaguar (12 cylinder X12, of course), that i could easily get one. So i
cut out pictures of Jags and put them on my refrigerator and mirrors,
came up with some mind-control mantras, visualized myself driving a Jag,
tried to imagine the smell of the leather, and the feel of the wheel,
etc. At that time i was working at a low-income job, so even if
i had "forced the universe" to honor my passion for a new Jaguar, i
couldn't have afforded the gasoline, the maintenance, or the insurance
for one. Instead, i ended up with an old Chevy. But maybe i just
didn't believe enough....  Or maybe God had other plans. I forgot to ask Him. I
like the promise seek first His kingdom and all of these things will be
added unto you. All of life is an indirect meta physical universe
paradigm. We look at things that do not have sensations to our physical
bodies... we view things that are invisible. How foolish would it be to
think there is no danger in this world and walk as if there is not
offered to us a freedom to chose what we want with a price that will
lead us to destruction. This is why our purpose in this world is to be
delivered as a way of life. I call this seeking new conversions to more
truth as it is applied to our personal powers. Because we know that
the mustered seed faith can move mountains. We long to have a new
deliverance in our ongoing growth in faith. But this deliverance is not
shared power with us. This deliverance is in God alone. So we believe
that what we desire is terribly important to our God centered world
view. This is why we have so much of a struggle with a purely
mechanical religion . Because it becomes a system of man and we live
according to a philosophy of change rather than seeing the need for
ongoing deliverance. Do you ever say to your soul?....i long for
deliverance... speak salvation to me. Oh Lord there is nothing on this
earth than can deliver me.. You alone have the power. I long for the day
when i meet you at the gate of the daughter of Jerusalem... or that
time when we have come back from the battle and there is peace at the
gate... in the quiet you will speak to me your salvation! Yes... and i
will rejoice to see that day! We long and we find Him. We long and we
get real deliverance.... no one else knows... no one else can speak that
powerful message to our inner man. Fix your eyes on the prize of the
high calling of God in Christ Jesus. It is seeking God alone ...who is
the Most High over all the universe. You will have your deliverance. Faith
is that by which we hope in the future. Without faith it is impossible
to please God. All things are possible through faith. But the faith is
determined by the object and not the subject. What that means is that
unless God moves then we are unable. Have you looked into the meta
physical realm and actually seen the hand of God move? Its like having
this huge rock and there you are pushing but the weight is too great to
move it even so that it rocks. You cant budge that big rock. And then
God comes and He looks at the rock and moves it ever so slightly. But
you cannot percieve it because you lack the eyes of faith. But if you
are looking to see if the rock is going to move. If you are seeking Him
nite and day... and then one day that rock moves... and new
circumstances are applied which you could not do on your own...then you
know God alone has the power!Philosophy and psychology promise change in
one meeting... faith promises real change and real salvation in very
small and slow movements. This is why faith and hope can only grow when
it is mixed with the word and the Spirit alone.
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3321
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Why Hell should be eternal.
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on: June 10, 2010, 11:09:30 AM
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Tom,
it is not a matter of personal attack. You have taken the position
(rather sarcastically, I might add) that the lost will be tortured
forever. I have taken the position that the Bible says the lost will
eventually be destroyed. Unless you believe God will save all, then
surely you must realize that the probabilities are that someone you know
will be lost, whether you can guess who it is or not. So I bring you
face to face with the logical consequences of your position.
Joker
i did not use the aggressive words in the text. If you want to blame
me.. take it up with Jesus. I encourage you to go to the whole bible and
do not go in with pre conceived ideas. You will find if not that you go
on my side that it is more of a mystery than you seem to be confident
about. If someone came to me and warned me what they would do to
me if you did not leave everything for them... i mean.... in their
time...and then i tell you what they say and you turn around and accuse
me of being mean and unbending then dont you think you need to go talk
to Him about it? If i threaten someone ... my threats are minuscule to
what His threats are. I just hate being in the middle. But He said i
would.
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Why Hell should be eternal.
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on: June 10, 2010, 09:59:04 AM
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Matthew 13 40"As the weeds are pulled up and
burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. 41The Son of
Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom
everything that causes sin and all who do evil. 42They will throw them
into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Comparison of the eternal bliss of the righteous to the eternal suffering of the wicked.Do not add or take away from this book
Matthew 8:12
But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Again the two eternal places.
Matthew 22:13
"Then
the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him
outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth.' Eternal bliss ... eternal punishment
Luke 13
22Then
Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way
to Jerusalem. 23Someone asked him, "Lord, are only a few people going to
be saved?"
He said to them, 24"Make every effort to enter
through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and
will not be able to. 25Once the owner of the house gets up and closes
the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'
"But he will answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
Wow ongoing knocking and pleading
26"Then you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.'
27"But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!'
28"There
will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you
yourselves thrown out. 29People will come from east and west and north
and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of
God. 30Indeed there are those who are last who will be first, and first
who will be last."
Matthew 3:12
His winnowing fork is in his hand,
and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the
barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
You left out this last verse in your above support of your position.
unquenchable...
# Matthew 18:8
If
your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away.
It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two
hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.
# Mark 9:48
where " 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' The
smallest life form in comparison to Christ becoming a worm for our
substitution. In other words you can identify with this Worm or you can
be the worm...
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3326
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: LOOK TO THE CREATOR
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on: June 10, 2010, 07:42:48 AM
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This was Truth For Life
Mr John Walters signed me up many revolutions of the Earth ago-----
I am Eternally thankful for that simple act----in it, I grew so much....
Thanks John.
Also whoever can help plz do----My Word--I want to learn not fight---Promise.
Double Thanks
Pete...
so glad to see you posting again. I hope you bring more of these
devotionals. This is exactly what we needed today with the circumstances
the way they are. I apologize for being so negative... because of your
example through these yrs of being able to endure pain and being a
witness to Gods grace! Pete on the other side your going to be so
blessed for going through this for His glory. Your encouragement to me
is of great value. (((((Pete))))
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3327
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Forums / Key Life Forum / Re: 6/8 Whoppers/Is steve nuts?
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on: June 10, 2010, 06:32:44 AM
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Any kind of philosophy that puts God in a
secondary position will destroy a persons life. Because God is not a tag
along that responds to success or effort. God leads and we either
follow or we end up destroying our own lives. Because Gods ways are not
our ways. God will give a foolish man what he wants in order to further
harden the man. God takes away things from people and gives them to
other people. God is not tied down to any economical scheme. If
a person did good in every decision in a financial way in this
world...then he would not have enough time to seek the things that do
not profit. So people say that all of our lives are to be lived to
glorify God. So they say that our work is like worship. And in some ways
it is so...but there are other ways that we replace what we value as a
god. If reformation was just about God then we would not need to look at
our own longings and desires in order to understand what God was doing.
Its not wrong to desire success... but its wrong to desire success
above God. Its not wrong to desire money...but its wrong to love money
as a god. So we need to have a proper understanding of Gods ways and we
need to understand our own propensities to seek after other gods. We do
this by asking... what is my chief desire? Is it for success or is it
for the glory of God? Could i lose everything and still be content
because God is all i need? There are very dangerous philosophies out
there. Not only in the business world but in the so called christian
world. There is only 70 or so yrs on this earth. There is not enough
time to do everything we want to do in one day. Theres not enough time
to do everything everybody else wants you to do. If your philosophy is
to follow the next step... you could wear yourself out in your work
whatever that is... relationships or business etc. Ive owned more
clunkers in my life time(progressive theology)...hehe You cant go on
producing bigger and bigger barns... eventually you get old. You cant go
on seeking every fat reduction program after you discard your former
marriage partner cause they have some kind of addiction.hehe... cause
you only have 15 yrs of attractiveness from one generation to another.
The majority of older people practice sloppy seconds as an ingrained
habit. The eyes of man are sinful...not because of the beauty of this
world...but because the lust for power... things... and even appearing
to be humble...are 24 hr problems and they are the worse when a person
is alone. People are carrying around a hidden problem in their system of
checks and balances. In some ways the program exposes the show of their
love for rite living before men. Now if youve read me for any
time you would think that i was weak in describing the struggle in my
application here. I really believe in Gods absolute sovereignty. Thats
why i hope to write this as a loser.
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: What is legalism?
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on: June 08, 2010, 01:58:59 PM
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True Christian theology does not inquire into
the nature of God, but into God's purpose and will in Christ, whom God
incorporated in our flesh to live and to die for our sins. There is
nothing more dangerous than to speculate about the incomprehensible
power, wisdom, and majesty of God when the conscience is in turmoil over
sin. To do so is to lose God altogether because God becomes intolerable
when we seek to measure and to comprehend His infinite majesty. We
are to seek God as Paul tells us in I Corinthians 1:23, 24: "We preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks
foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,
Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God." Begin with Christ. He
came down to earth, lived among men, suffered, was crucified, and then
He died, standing clearly before us, so that our hearts and eyes may
fasten upon Him. Thus we shall be kept from climbing into heaven in a
curious and futile search after the nature of God. If you ask how
God may be found, who justifies sinners, know that there is no other
God besides this man Christ Jesus. Embrace Him, and forget about the
nature of God. But these fanatics who exclude our Mediator in their
dealings with God, do not believe me. Did not Christ Himself say: "I am
the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me"? Without Christ there is no access to the Father, but futile
rambling; no truth, but hypocrisy; no life, but eternal death. When you
argue about the nature of God apart from the question of justification,
you may be as profound as you like. But when you deal with conscience
and with righteousness over against the law, sin, death, and the devil,
you must close your mind to all inquiries into the nature of God, and
concentrate upon Jesus Christ, who says, "Come unto me, all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Doing this, you
will recognize the power, and majesty condescending to your condition
according to Paul's statement to the Colossians, "In Christ are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," and, "In him dwelleth all the
fulness of the Godhead bodily." Paul in wishing grace and peace not
alone from God the Father, but also from Jesus Christ, wants to warn us
against the curious incursions into the nature of God. We are to hear
Christ, who has been appointed by the Father as our divine Teacher.
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Why Hell should be eternal.
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on: June 04, 2010, 08:23:13 PM
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I
honestly think people believe in the souls of the lost being wiped from
existence because its just easier too. I really dont see a basis for
that in scripture.
I agree, it is never easy to tell bad
news. I wonder though if people don't need to be told the bad news but
that it is ingrained in them/us. I know for me when I was a kid I didn't
need to be told that there was some sort of justice going on. I did
need to be told that the God of that justice loved me and I needed to be
told how to be fully included in that love and justified. I do
think that what "compels" me to tell people about the Gospel is my love
for them because I don't want them to suffer as the Bible says,
"Eternally". What compels me isn't that I just want to be the bearer of
bad news. To disregard the bad news as if it doesn't exist is
complacency and I don't think it does anything to move the good news
forward. It may in fact make the good news, neutral.
Yes i
agree thankful but there are more dangerous teachings in my
understanding. And it is this area of covenant faithful God. I think a
person can hear a religious message over and over again so that the
person begins to replace all of these personal communications out of a
specific love of our Father as a disposition ... to trust in a teaching
that is a little off and then to develop a self determination to some
kind of principle or moral effort. This is why the apostle was very
stern about toying with the gospel of grace. Not only as a message but
in a way of applying these things to the heart. That being the practical
outworking of all of these dangers. Gods covenant love was applied
out of His own desire apart from any thing in man. But at the same time
there is a kind of struggle in all of us to battle with ourselves in
light of our humanness and weakness... along with our propensity to fall
into a pattern of sin that we thought we had dealt with in the past. So
that our incorporating these moral principles along with thinking that
His love is not big enough this time. Im to old in the faith to be
constantly being reminded of His love for me and now i need a little of
the fear of God to get me to fall in line. And yet because we are
promised grace upon grace we tend to think that it is not tied as an
absolute necessity to hear our Father speak His love to us. And this is
why He gave His church reminders of their deepest sorrows and His
deliverance of them as the basis for His ongoing love. And at the same
time His judgment upon their enemies was a reminder that He alone is our
defense and our ongoing Savior. This is where we tend to fudge with the
grace mixture. We need to start with Gods covenant love. Or i really
believe we will add to our own sorrows. http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=526101028101
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Cursing Legalism
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on: June 03, 2010, 12:25:06 PM
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"But his (the righteous man's) delight is in the law of YHWH (the LORD), and on His law he meditates day and night." Psalm 1:2
K_k:
David might not agree with Christians who say the law is obsolete and
done away with. He sees the Lawgiver in the laws He has given.
"The
law of the LORD (YHWH) is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony
of the LORD (YHWH) is sure, making wise the simple;" Psalm 19:7
"I
will praise You with an upright heart as I learn Your righteous
laws....Praise be to You, O LORD (YHWH); teach me Your decrees. With my
lips I recount all the laws that come from Your mouth....Open my eyes
that I may see wonderful things in Your law. I am a stranger on earth;
do not hide Your commands from me. My soul is consumed with longing for
Your laws at all times....Your statutes are my delight; they are my
counselors....I have chosen the way of Truth; I have set my heart on
Your laws....Give me understanding, and I will keep Your law and obey it
with all my heart." Excerpts from Psalm 119
The
law is made up of statutes, commands, the eternal decrees of God and
precepts,,ordinances of the Lord. All of these paradigms of the law are
called to light of the countenance of the Lord. The law of God is our
greatest protection. Because we have been forgiven of all of our
offenses that the law condemns ... past, present and future. But the law
also is the paradigm of the reason that His promises.. decreeing
irresistible grace and these personal convictions of the real
substitution as the steady hand that keeps us in His eternal love and
faithfulness. The more the Psalmist was exposed to Gods revelation of
Himself the more He was caused to find his security in the refuge of
God. In other words Gods goodness was displayed in His personal effects
as He displays all of His attitudes to us as the law giver and faithful
God. Our Father deals with us in His eternal love through His never
changing character that He teaches us is the real security of this
earth. Our Father is the only one on this earth who leads by example and
tells it like it is in the succession of real powers! And at the
same time He deals with us as weak sinful and corrupted children. So
that in our weakness He is the strength of character as the whole
disposition of His holiness displayed in His attributes ... who does not
hold our sin against us. Because there are purposes beyond our view of
personal recompenses of our wrongs that He has displayed in going beyond
our understanding of His love for us as sinners. It is His character
that produces our believing. We are not dealing with a Father who repays
us according to our sins because He not only designs the process by
which we are forgiven but He holds us by His eternal decreeing laws.He
keeps us from temptation... does not give us desires to fall... and
teaches us to love by not giving us according to our sins. He can do
only do this by His greater love in placing His Son as the object of our
deserving just recompense. So that He teaches us through the gospel
that He upholds us when we sin and He forgets our sins as a way to love
us and encourage us. This is why the Psalmist delighted in Gods law. A
few applications here. First we americans think that we deserve things
because on the one hand there was a different message in our affluence.
There was an abundance of things... abundance of opportunities... and
abundance of support. But this return on our labors is just a dream
paradigm. First because God is God of the causes as well as the means.
You see every thing that we were fortunate to enjoy as a kind of
automatic return of the fruits of a democracy were cause by an arbitrary
choice. Ok... then if you thought it was a universe where God left us
to do our own rewards then now it seems that it was not that way because
the opportunities are not there now. This is expressed in our own
frustration because we did not consider that all the things in the good
times were directly from the hand of God. We always live by faith and
not by site even if it is American checks and balances paradigms. So
that now we are convinced that if God does not save us from our
personal situations then we are going to be most miserable. Well God has
designed our lives to be completely dependent on Him. That means
because we were lazy in thinking that we obtained these things in a self
confident American independence then we are going to struggle . Because
life is about God not about our personal things. So that we receive
because we ask. And we are given to be thankful because we do not feel
that American independent past. Another thing is this doctrine
that some men constantly harp on as i see the context of their teaching.
"You reap what you sow." The apostle would use these contrast in order
to show an eternal consequence. The one who sows to please the flesh
will reap corruption but the one who sows to please the Spirit will reap
eternal life. Now these reaping verses are in line with the ot concept
of the chaff and the wheat. This is not talking about being punished by
God for individual sins. For who could stand? If God holds our sins
against us then no one could stand? If you live by making these things
of choice individual in its application then you will live by that law
you propose. And who would want to live with the law as a schoolmaster
in this way? If you live by the law you will die by the law. Cursed is everyone who does not keep all that is written in the law. Reaping
punishment is an eternal consequence of sin. God is an eternal God who
will hold men accountable for their sins who have not placed their sins
on the substitution of Christ. The doctrine of reaping and sowing is not
suppose to be used to bring people into a man made system of paying for
your sins.( indulgences or earning forgiveness) It is not about men
being in the place of Christ as a spiritual high priest. But the apostle
says that if any man preach another gospel other than the gospel of
Christ let them be accursed or condemned.
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3345
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Forums / Theology Forum / Re: Why Hell should be eternal.
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on: June 03, 2010, 10:32:41 AM
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It is almost impossible for us to grasp this
eternal punishment reality. Because it equals our own propensity to feel
a sense of entitlement in exercising our own powers over others and the
use of things. We are given over to a kind of irrational ism because we
do not see things as God sees them and as they are intricately woven
outside of our own little view of this world. But there is a real King
and a real kingdom. And yet we who have been saved unto this invisible
kingdom have been given a sense of real royalty! We do not entertain
imaginations that we are able to rule with an eye to our own designs in
this life. Because there is no one in the whole human race who is not
subject to the loss of his personal influence and power. Death is a
reminder that our lives are like a vapor and when we are gone we leave
behind some of these impersonal reminders. So that men look at the value
of things and discard our own influence as it fades into a ceremony
mentality.
Because in the end we have no lasting power. Only God
as He exist goes on from one generation to another and enforces His
kingdom in His secret providence over all the earth! This is why we are
led to say Not unto us oh Lord not unto us ...but to your Name be the
glory. It is not in our own horses that we win the battle but it is the
Name of the Lord! If we take these verses in lite of the reality of Gods
purpose for our lives it is to express His power by the true nature of
our own resistance to His secret providence. Because every man if given
to his natural longings and desires would dethrone God. The wisest man
who understand the true nature of Kingship ...understands who has all
the power! The truth is that man resist Gods power at every turn and
event! And yet Gods power is never thwarted as He is designed the
providence of the earth from the beginning of time. Who are you oh man
to talk back to God? Where you there when the seas were created? Where
you there when God flooded the earth and killed every living thing
except the individual species and 8 people? Where you there when God
parted the red sea and led in a unified way a people who had been taught
the doctrines of men? And then He destroyed the armies of Pharaoh by
one word to let the sea return upon them? Why would God love such a
small unable race of people who only throw up their fist in His face and
question His designs in their lives? A people whos lives depend upon
God for every breath! A people who do not even have a minute perspective
of the existence in time and yet if you listen to them they know better
than God! Oh man is such a worm! Every choice of man is through forced
consent. Because it is in divine knowledge along with saving faith that
we are enabled! Not from the power of religious pharisee ism.
The
truth is that men design there neighbors destruction in the exercise of
their own power. God in His grace gives men a little power on this
earth .. He puts them on a short leash and they spread death to innocent
creatures. Men look to themselves and cause great pain for their fellow
men! Most of the people who suffer great distress ...suffer because men
exercise their own power over them. Men in their own power would
destroy the disabled because their needs are greater than the returns!
That is mans power!
If God just overlooked all the private
suffering of the innocent and helpless then He would not be a just God!
God sees how men use their own power to destroy. Because men are brute
beast if not for the grace of God! So God must be all glorious in His
majestic providence or men would think that they could get away with
their destruction. God must come to the aid of those who cannot get out
of the schemes of men. If God is blamed for the eternal punishment of
men then there is no hope on this earth of true justice..of true
loyalty...of true majesty...of true love . God must be God in His just
recompense or there would be no true defense.
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