There is a clear teaching in Scripture that the message of the Gospel is to be preached. What is often overlooked is that this Gospel is the message of the cross of Christ. The Gospel is the message that Jesus suffered and died so we can have eternal life. Jesus defined eternal life for us in John 17:3. Eternal life is not eternal existence as many today preach it to be. Everyone has eternal existence. Some will exist in hell and others will exist in heaven. Eternal life is to know God and to know Christ. That is the Gospel of the cross of Christ. To know God requires that we become disciples of Christ. We must deny ourselves, take up our cross, and follow Him. The "gospel" of eternal life being to live forever is a false Gospel.
The Gospel of the cross of Christ is one of walking in an obedient and abiding relationship with God through Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit. So how do we recognize when a false Gospel is being preached? Paul says that there is one sure way to void the cross of Christ. it is found in 1 Corinthians 1:17. When you see the Gospel being preached with cleverness of speech you are watching the cross of Christ being voided.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The Sacred Assembly Part 6
Separating the holy from the profane.
Looking at the very nature of God we can see God’s desire for a sacred assembly. From the beginning of man’s corruption God has been separating the holy from the profane and the clean from the unclean. This started before the giving of the Law.
Abel’s sacrifice was accepted while Cain’s was not.
Noah was set apart from the corrupt world and placed in the Ark.
Abram was set apart so that God could make him into a holy nation, a people set apart for God.
Israel was separated from Egypt so God’s people could go and worship Him and He could dwell among them.
From the time God promised the land to Israel He began warning them of corruption that would come by mixing with the inhabitants of the land. Time and time again God sent judgement upon the people for letting the profane idols and practices of those around them creep into the sacred assembly. God cursed an entire priestly line in Ezekiel 44 for allowing the uncircumcised in heart or flesh to take part in the assembly. The tribe of Benjamin was nearly wiped out for taking wives from among those outside the covenant.
Between Leviticus 18 – 22 the word profane appears 15 times in the KJV. The Law defined and separated the holy from the profane, not to make anything holy but rather to help the godless see the difference according to 1 Timothy. It is Christ that makes holy and calls us to be holy. God has never stopped separating the holy from the profane and He will continue to do so until the judgement. At the judgement, all that are found holy will enter into the presence of God and all that are found profane will not.
See what God says about the profane - "Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Today we see a corrupted gathering where a sacred assembly is desired by God. We see this passage play out before our eyes. The line between holy and profane is being blurred in the church. Those who are to be His holy nation, the called out ones, are profaning God’s name.
God has been separating the holy from the profane for centuries. Man has been corrupting the holy with the profane for centuries. The nature of God is holiness. The people of God should do all they can to reflect the holy nature of God. 1 Peter 1:15-16 and Ephesians 5:27.
The church that will be the bride of Christ will be a holy people set apart from the world. The separating of the holy from the profane is how God is preparing His bride.
Looking at the very nature of God we can see God’s desire for a sacred assembly. From the beginning of man’s corruption God has been separating the holy from the profane and the clean from the unclean. This started before the giving of the Law.
Abel’s sacrifice was accepted while Cain’s was not.
Noah was set apart from the corrupt world and placed in the Ark.
Abram was set apart so that God could make him into a holy nation, a people set apart for God.
Israel was separated from Egypt so God’s people could go and worship Him and He could dwell among them.
From the time God promised the land to Israel He began warning them of corruption that would come by mixing with the inhabitants of the land. Time and time again God sent judgement upon the people for letting the profane idols and practices of those around them creep into the sacred assembly. God cursed an entire priestly line in Ezekiel 44 for allowing the uncircumcised in heart or flesh to take part in the assembly. The tribe of Benjamin was nearly wiped out for taking wives from among those outside the covenant.
Between Leviticus 18 – 22 the word profane appears 15 times in the KJV. The Law defined and separated the holy from the profane, not to make anything holy but rather to help the godless see the difference according to 1 Timothy. It is Christ that makes holy and calls us to be holy. God has never stopped separating the holy from the profane and He will continue to do so until the judgement. At the judgement, all that are found holy will enter into the presence of God and all that are found profane will not.
See what God says about the profane - "Her priests have done violence to My law and have profaned My holy things; they have made no distinction between the holy and the profane, and they have not taught the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they hide their eyes from My sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Today we see a corrupted gathering where a sacred assembly is desired by God. We see this passage play out before our eyes. The line between holy and profane is being blurred in the church. Those who are to be His holy nation, the called out ones, are profaning God’s name.
God has been separating the holy from the profane for centuries. Man has been corrupting the holy with the profane for centuries. The nature of God is holiness. The people of God should do all they can to reflect the holy nature of God. 1 Peter 1:15-16 and Ephesians 5:27.
The church that will be the bride of Christ will be a holy people set apart from the world. The separating of the holy from the profane is how God is preparing His bride.
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