False Theories About God
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Romans 1:21.
The theory that God is an essence pervading all nature, is one of Satan’s most subtle devices. It misrepresents God, and is a dishonor to His greatness and majesty.
Pantheistic theories are not sustained by the Word of God. The light of His truth shows that these theories are soul-destroying agencies. Darkness is their element, sensuality their sphere. They gratify the natural heart, and give license to inclination. Separation from God is the result of accepting them. . . .
There is but one power that can break the hold of evil from the hearts of men, and that is the power of God in Jesus Christ. Only through the blood of the Crucified One is there cleansing from sin. His grace alone can enable us to resist and subdue the tendencies of our fallen nature. This power the spiritualistic theories concerning God make of no effect. If God is an essence pervading all nature, then He dwells in all men; and in order to attain holiness, man has only to develop the power that is within him.
These theories, followed to their logical conclusion, sweep away the whole Christian economy. They do away with the necessity for the atonement, and make man his own savior. These theories regarding God make His Word of no effect, and those who accept them are in great danger of being led finally to look upon the whole Bible as a fiction. They may regard virtue as better than vice; but God being removed from His position of sovereignty, they place their dependence upon human power, which, without God, is worthless. The unaided human will has no real power to resist and overcome evil. The defenses of the soul are broken down. Man has no barrier against sin. When once the restraints of God’s Word and His Spirit are rejected, we know not to what depths one may sink.
Those who continue to hold these spiritualistic theories will surely spoil their Christian experience, sever their connection with God, and lose eternal life.
Maranatha p. 133
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Prayer Requests
—– The missing man has been found! Thanks for praying! Pastor Nathan
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Dear Friends,
My mother had moved to Florida in the late 70’s to be close to her friend Mary Esther and to enjoy the warm climate. In 2004 it became apparent that she could no longer live alone so Ron and I invited her to live near us. We decided that she would be more comfortable riding back in our old, 1977 class C camper than if we were to take our car. Besides we would be able to pull a U-Haul trailer filled with my mother’s stuff.
On the way down to Florida to get my mother, we stopped for gas in a small town in Louisiana. After filling up the tank, Ron tried to start the camper. The engine would not even turn over. With a sinking feeling Ron remembered that he had had trouble with the starter a few times about a month before. Since having some mechanical work done, however, it had not given him any trouble, so he had forgotten all about it. Even the night before, that starter had given us a slight problem, but since it had started when he added the extra power of our coach batteries we didn’t think about it again. Now we were wishing that we had heeded the warning signs.
Ron called the towing company on our membership. They told us that the only place they could tow us was the Chevy dealership which was closed until the following day. They assured us that they would tow us to the nearest campground until the next day. Ron told them that all they needed to do was bring us a starter from the auto parts store which was open. They said that they could not do that. We told them that we could not be delayed that long because we had to get down to Florida, load all my mother’s stuff into a U-Haul trailer, and drive back to Kansas in less than a week. It didn’t matter. They would not budge from their position.
Finally, in desperation, I called the Auto Zone store and asked if they could deliver a new starter to us. The man said that his delivery man was off that day. Then I asked if he would ask any customers who were in the store at that moment if they would like to earn $20 by delivering the part to us. Within moments, the clerk had found a man who would do it. After the transaction was completed over the phone, Ron and I waited and waited. I began to wonder if we had been “taken.” Finally, a middle-aged black man in a late model white car pulled up beside us. He gave the part to Ron. We thanked him and paid him the $20 for his kindness.
The man did not leave. Instead, he took the starter out of the box, crawled under our camper, and put it on for us. Within minutes, the camper’s engine roared to life. Ron tried to pay this good Samaritan extra for fixing it, but he would not take any more. He said that his mother had taught him to be kind to strangers. Again we thanked him profusely. He smiled, got into his car, and drove off. We praised God for sending this man to the parts store just when we needed him.
How good God is to give us warnings in His Holy Word that we may be prepared for the trouble coming upon this world as an overwhelming surprise. Yet how often we ignore those warnings just as surely as Ron had ignored the warning signs that the starter was beginning to fail. Zephaniah describes the end of all things, “The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high towers. And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung. Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the LORD’S wrath.” Zeph 1:14-18 Isaiah describes it thus: “Howl ye; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames.” Isa 13:6-8 Joel adds, “Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision. The sun and the moon shall be darkened, and the stars shall withdraw their shining.” Joel 3:14, 15 John also was given a vision of the end of the world. “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev 6:12-17
Our Dear Saviour outlined warning signs that we might be ready for that solemn day. “And as he sat upon the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. . . . For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.
23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. . . .Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.” Matt 24:3-31
Peter also speaks of the coming of Jesus. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” 2 Peter 3:9-14
May we never ignore the fast-fulfilling signs around us like Ron ignored the warning signs that our starter was failing. May we, instead, heed our Soon-coming Saviour’s warning, “Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” Luke 21:36
Rose