Come, Ye Thankful People, Come (song)

Forever With The Lord (poem)

Forever with the Lord!
Amen; so let it be,
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality.

Here in the body pent,
Absent from Him I roam,
Yet nightly pitch my moving tent
A day's march nearer home.

My Father's house on high,
Home of my soul, so near,
At times, to faith's far-seeing eye
Thy golden gates appear!

Yet clouds will intervene,
And all my prospect flies,
Like Noah's dove, I flit between
Rough seas and stormy skies.

And the clouds depart,
The winds and waters cease,
While sweetly o'er my gladdend heart
Expands the bow of peace.

In darkness as in light,
Hidden alike from view,
I sleep, I wake, as in His sight,
Who looks all nature through.

Forever with the Lord!
Father, if 'tis Thy will,
The promise of that faithful word
Even here to me fulfil.

Be Thou at my right hand,
Then can I never fail,
Uphold Thou me, and I shall stand,
Fight, and I must prevail.

Knowing as I am known,
How shall I love that word!
And oft repeat before the throne,
Forever with the Lord!

Forever with the Lord!
Amen; so let it be,
Life from the dead is in that word,
'Tis immortality.

—Octavius Winslow

Victorious Christian Living book review

 I highly recommend Victorious Christian Living by James W. Knox. It isn't often that you read a book that will edify and encourage you while also reproving you! This book helps you to view some of the most popular Bible stories in a whole new light.

Below, I have taken just a few excerpts from various chapters in the first part of the book. I believe from just these small snippets that you will get a great blessing!

Each life is one of choices, and the smallest of those may well lead to the largest of circumstances. David, will you fall today? No. David, will you commit great crimes today? No. David, it is time to go to battle, will you go? No. Never did he think that the failure to do his duty would result in so much ruin.

We have a tendency to view sin only in the positive, the overt, the action. It is difficult for us to think of sin in terms of neutrality or idleness. David did not fall because of something he did but because of something he did not do. A failure to be where he should have been when he should have been there set the stage of one of scripture's great tragedies.

Can the man who allows himself a drink of liquor here and there be certain the lust for intoxicants will not consume him? Can the one careless with spending be sure a gambling habit or bankruptcy is not in the future? Can the woman who plays the flirt today rest assured she will not be an adulteress tomorrow? Wrath, bitterness, sloth, a wandering eye, stubbornness, fear... The list could go on and and. Yea, any sin allowed to abide has the potential to eventually grow into something hideous.

Oh that each of us could believe the word of the Lord when it warns of how near we are to ruin and how certainly we must depend upon Him every hour of every day. Let no reader say, "Such a thing could not happen to me." Our victories have not been as great as David's. our highs have not reached such lofty peaks. Our experiences with God have been miniscule compared to his. Yet down he went- so far and so fast.

But the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). If David is to escape death, then someone else must die. He is now so debased that he will carry out a plot to kill the husband of Bathsheba in order to spare himself the shame of exposure.

Uriah is seen in his nobility and his honor, but the Lord does not step in to protect or preserve him, for this was sin's hour, and it pays its wage in death so as to spit in the face of the God of life and love.

I thought I got away with it- BUT.

I thought God did not know or care- BUT.

I thought the way was clear- BUT.

I thought the scripture could be broken- BUT.

I thought God was love and would not judge- BUT.

I thought the Lord just wanted me happy- BUT.

But the thing that David had done displeased the LORD. (II Samuel 11:27)

So, the Lord did not send Nathan when David walked the rooftop. He did not send Nathan to interrupt the men when they were collecting Bathsheba. He did not send Nathan when Uriah slept on the palace steps. He did not send Nathan when David poured the strong drink. He did not send Nathan when the murderous orders were being issued to Joab. David is on trial. His life is not scripted. God sits back, watching to see what the man will do.

Therefore the Lord does not interfere with David's actions but allows them to play out and then rewards or disciplines accordingly.

It will be thus with each of us. We are to be fully conversant with the word of God, completely filled with the Holy Spirit, ever ready to deny the flesh what it craves because our love for Jesus Christ is fervent and genuine. When temptation arises, God will not force us to choose the right, nor can Satan compel us to embrace the wrong. We will manifest our love- for the Savior or for the sin. The triune God will watch us act. Then He will respond accordingly.

Despite all David's efforts to hide his sin from the eyes of man, the Lord beheld it all. Hebrews 4:13 may be a warning or a blessing. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

David unwittingly pronounces his own doom. The law did not demand death for taking a lamb (the story Nathan told to David), but it did for adultery, and it did for murder. Before his days are through, David will bury four loved ones in consequence of the blood he shed. When it is time for him to reap what he has sown, there will be no pity, for David had none for all those victimized by his transgressions.

How often could God say to some deluded man, Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee (Luke 19:22). David knows a price must be paid for sins against God and man.

The New Testament says it this way: Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap (Galatians 6:7).

As referenced previously, Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:15).

Note carefully that in none of these passages or similar ones are we told that God is punishing His people. What we find, rather, is that sin produces that which causes pain, heartache, sorrow, death, etc. God does not have to do anything. He withholds grace, mercy, protection, and blessing in measure and allows the consequences of sin to race into the life and fill the empty place created by the sinner when he chose to exclude the Lord.

Matthew 6:24- No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Here Christ destroys the modern nonsense that one can commit sin and love the Lord. Today's so-called Christian actually believes that living after the flesh and following Jesus are compatible. In reality, it is impossible to embrace both. David could not hold Bathsheba in his arms and hold God in his heart. He had to despise (to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have the lowest opinion of) one or the other, and he chose to despise God. Because thou has despised me (II Samuel 12:10).

Faced with the facts, the king finally tells the truth. And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD (II Samuel 12:13). The reply comes immediately from the throne, And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 

Stunning! This must be understood and embraced. David confesses his sin. David will forsake his sin and not repeat it. The Lord puts it away. Though the king has committed two death-penalty offences, he will not be put to death. He is forgiven.

Thus it is evident that God is not going to punish the man but that things set in motion by his transgression will be allowed to play themselves out. We too often ask in our troubles, "Why is the Lord doing this to me?" He is not. He is merely allowing the master we chose to serve to give us our reward.

We seek to cover the wrongs we have done because we know that other men will despise us if they had known us fully. The One who already knows our every thought and deed has promised if we will just repent, He will not despise us.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD (Psalm 32:5). Then, at last, he chooses to repent. There is no intermediary. He does not go to the high priest. He does not seek out a departed saint. There are no hurdles to climb or hoops through which to jump; no candles to be lit or penance to be paid. He sinned against God, and he will go to God.His transgressions were of the Lord's commands, and to the Lord he will go for pardon.

How happy we are today with these words from Scripture, telling us that if we will confess our sins, He is not only faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse (I John 1:9), but to shelter, to guide, and to instruct us. We may have wasted and ruined many days past, but we may know songs of victory in days ahead. What wondrous love!

Titus 3:3-7 puts it thus: For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

We have taken a dark and painful journey down into the depths of David's transgression. We have known the joy of climbing out of that mire and rejoicing on the mountaintop of God's pardon. We now must leave that mountain to take up residence in the hill country where forgiven farmers patiently reap what they have sown beneath the sunshine of God's tender mercy.

Should the Lord declare that the wages of sin are death and then nullify the consequences of sin, He would both make himself a liar and embolden men to live wanton lives with no fear of judgment.

And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died (II Samuel 12:18) As we mentioned last time, when David prayed a prayer of repentance asking God to forgive his sin, the immediate answer was yes. When David prayed a prayer of supplication asking God to nullify the consequences of his sin, the answer was no.

The result of our repentance is that we are right with God. God's making everything right because we have repented is not part of the package.

There will be deaths and funerals and grief and setbacks and plots and betrayal and tears and sorrow, and the king will wash, dress, eat, worship, and take care of his family. This is the life he has made for himself. It could have been better, but sin... This is the road he must walk. It could have been smoother, but iniquity... This is the harvest he will reap. It could have been more pleasant, but he saw a woman...

Is it possible that God would use him again? Is it possible that there is still a place of service after such disgrace? Is it possible that he could once more know the joy of victory, the warmth of fellowship, and the exhilaration of accomplishment for the Lord? The answer each time is yes. Restoration! How sweet the thought!

He will never be the same, but he is not a castaway. He will ever carry the marks of his fall, but he can and will be used of Jehovah until the day of his death.

This is our God. This is grace, love, forgiveness, renewing, hope, and joy. This is the wonder of the Lord.

I encourage each person to get a copy of this book!

The Four Judgments (video sermon)

Physical Passover and Spiritual Passover

 The passover is a remembrance of the time the Death Angel literally passed over the houses of those who had the blood applied. Everyone will experience a literal passover when their lives end, however, the destination is different depending on whether or not you've experienced a spiritual passover while you lived.

In the Bible, we are told that the literal passover occurred when a family killed a lamb and applied the blood to the doorposts of their house. The Death Angel went through the country looking for the blood, and where he didn't find it, he spilled it.

Exodus 12:3,5,7,11-13- Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt.

The angel of the Lord went through Egypt and only those who were in a house with blood on the doorposts were safe. They lived to see the children of Israel leave Egypt.

This spiritual passover was followed by a physical pass over the Red Sea out of Egypt, and then later over the Jordan River into the promised land of Canaan. 

Exodus 14:13-14, 21-22- And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them again no more for ever.The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.

Joshua 3:14-16- And it came to pass, when the people removed from their tents, to pass over Jordan, and the priests bearing the ark of the covenant before the people; And as they that bare the ark were come unto Jordan, and the feet of the priests that bare the ark were dipped in the brim of the water, (for Jordan overfloweth all his banks all the time of harvest,)That the waters which came down from above stood and rose up upon an heap very far from the city Adam, that is beside Zaretan: and those that came down toward the sea of the plain, even the salt sea, failed, and were cut off: and the people passed over right against Jericho.

The children of Israel passed over into the Promised Land. This is sometimes an analogy that is used during a funeral- they passed over the Jordan River and are in Heaven.

The people who obeyed God's command in Egypt were safe regardless of the type of person they were. The Death Angel was not seeking to find worthy people. God had given specific commands that those who were behind the blood were protected from death.

There is a saying that is sometimes attributed to C. S. Lewis, "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body." I am not going to argue whether he actually said this or not; whoever said it, the sentiment is true. George MacDonald said  in "Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood, And here let me interrupt the conversation to remark upon the great mistake of teaching children that they have souls. The consequence is, that they think of their souls as of something which is not themselves. For what a man HAS cannot be himself. Hence, when they are told that their souls go to heaven, they think of their SELVES as lying in the grave. They ought to be taught that they have bodies; and that their bodies die; while they themselves live on."

Everyone has a body that will die. But the soul will live on in one of two places- heaven or hell. What is the determining factor of where the soul will reside eternally? It is answered by what you did with Jesus Christ's sacrifice?

John 1:29- The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Jesus Christ, as the Lamb of God, shed His blood on the cross of Calvary. And all who believe that He has died for their sins, was buried, and rose again the third day proving that He was God manifest in the flesh, can apply this payment to their sin debt by obeying what God has told them to do.

This "blood on the door" of your life will protect you from the death of the soul in hell. God isn't looking for you to be worthy. Your works will never be enough. God wants you to believe in what He has already accomplished and confess that you are accepting His terms.

What are the terms?

During the church age, it is believing in what He accomplished on the cross of Calvary and confessing this belief to Him and asking Him for the soul's salvation through His sacrifice on Calvary.

I Corinthians 15:1,3-4- Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:

Romans 10:9-10, 13- That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

During the tribulation, it is faith in what He accomplished on Calvary (believing and asking Him to apply it to your sin debt) as well as not denying Him even if it means your death.

Revelation 12:11- And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.

The promise to those who accept the terms is the eternal life of the soul.

 

Revelation 21:3-4- And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

John 3:36- He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

Those who do not accept the terms of this deal will, by default, have to pay their own sin debt. Just as the houses in Egypt had to give blood where no blood was found.

However, this is a debt no human will ever be able to fully pay. There is no timecard in hell. You will never be able to punch out and say, "I'm done".

Revelation 14:11a- And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,

Matthew 25:41,46- Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

Revelation 20:10- And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

The choice is yours: accept Christ's payment or pay for your sin yourself.

Why Shouldn’t You Celebrate Halloween?

 

What Do You Mean By Bible Believer?

 What do you mean by "Bible Believer"? Well, it's a good question since there are more than 300 different English translations of the Bible in circulation since 1901!

That's right, Bible translation and publication is big business. And people are just suckers for anything that claims to be new and updated.

Think about it. Don't you buy the "new" toothbrush, the "new" razorblade, the "new" detergent, the "new potato chip, or the "new" air freshener? Why, if you slapped "new and improved" on turtle food, someone would buy it!

My personal favorite is this one: (You've seen it a million times) "Brand New Look; Same Great Taste". Which in a nutshell means that it is the same old stuff repackaged so that you will buy it.

This has happened with the new Bible translations. And many people are oblivious to the diabolical "new" changes that have taken place.

Acts 17:21- (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)

Let's investigate and see what happened right under the noses of a majority of modern professing Christians.

II Thessalonians 2:2- That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

Satan is an imitator of God and was busy perverting the truth before the New Testament was completed. He has never had a shortage of willing accomplices in unregenerated mankind.

Romans 1:18,25- For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

II Corinthians 2:17- For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.

II Corinthians 11:14-15- And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Jeremiah 23:30- Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, saith the LORD, that steal my words every one from his neighbour.

Proverbs 30:5-6- Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.

Revelation 22:18-19- For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Satan is involved in stealing the pure words of God away from Christians and substituting the language of the New Age Movement in their place.

Consider these examples: Matthew 17:21, Matthew 18:11, Matthew 23:14, Mark 7:16, Mark 11:26, Mark 15:28, Luke 17:36, Luke 23:17, Acts 8:37, Acts 15:34, Acts 15:28-29, and Romans 16:24 are completely missing from the NIV and most "new" Bibles!

This isn't a question of making something easier to understand, but of completely stealing the word of God from people!

This is an incredible indictment against these new versions of the Bible which have done nothing to aid in the furtherance and understanding of the Holy Scriptures, but to the contrary have done untold damage to Christians everywhere. These are only a few samples of more than 35,000 changes that the "new" versions have made.

So is there an English translation of the Bible that doesn't have all of these Satanic omissions and additions? Is there a Bible that I can believe in?

Thank God, yes, there is!

It's your great Grandma's Bible- the King James Authorized Version of  1611! The King James Bible is the preserved word of God in the English language.

Psalms 12:6-7- The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

• The KJV is the seventh English translation of the Bible from Syrian manuscripts, all new versions come from corrupt Egyptian manuscripts.
• The text of the KJV has no copyright, all others do.
• The KJV has been responsible for national revivals, millions saved, and sound doctrine.
• The KJV is the version that every "new" version compares itself to when they come out.
• The KJV gives the Lord Jesus Christ the preeminence that the other versions do not.

It is the Bible that God uses and that Satan hates.

Isaiah 9:3- Thou hast multiplied the nation, and not increased the joy: they joy before thee according to the joy in harvest, and as men rejoice when they divide the spoil.

Every other Bible version says that God has increased the joy! They can't both be right.

Every existing manuscript of Isaiah has the reading of the KJV, even the corrupt ones! You see, there is a worldly joy, and there is "the joy of the Lord" which is our strength. The new bible translators cannot understand how a nation could be multiplied without having the hoy increased. They think that gain is godliness.

Luke 12:15- And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.

The phrase "be fruitful" is found in 9 verses: Genesis 1:22, Genesis 1:28, Genesis 8:17, Genesis 9:1, Genesis 26:22, Genesis 35:11, Genesis 41:52, Jeremiah 23:3, Hosea 13:15.

The word "planted is found 9 times in the New Testament: Matthew 15:13, Matthew 21:33, Mark 12:1, Luke 13:6, Luke 17:6, Luke 17:28, Luke 20:9, Romans 6:5, and I Corinthians 3:6.

John 15:5- I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

This is the 9th verse that has both "vine" and "branches in it: Genesis 40:10, Isaiah 16:8, Ezekiel 17:6-8, Ezekiel 19:10, Joel 1:7, Nahum 2:2, and John 15:5.

Numbers represent things in the Bible, and 9 is the number of fruitfulness.

A Christian cannot bear fruit without using God's methods and truths from the Word of God. This phrase "word of God (having 9 letters) is found 45 times (9 X 5) in the New Testament.

The only verse that uses it twice tells us that the Word of God works effectually in us!

I Thessalonians 2:13- For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

There are 9 fruits of the Spirit in the 9th New Testament book.

Galatians 5:22-23- But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Pentecost has nine letters. Holy Ghost has nine letters. Comforter has nine letters.

The KJV has been responsible for spiritual revivals and conversions, social, cultural, governmental, medicinal, linguistic blessings, and has been quoted on the moon!

Colossians 1:5-6- For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth:

King James = 9 letters

Holy Bible = 9 letters

1+6+1+1 = 9

Matthew 24:35- Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

Now, ask yourself why would anyone want to change a perfect book? Who would want to change a perfect book? You know the answer.

It's not to make it easier to understand. As previously stated, the new versions all have copyrights, and to avoid copyright infringement, you need to make substantial changes to the original work.. If there are 300 different versions and all of them are different enough to be copyrighted, they cannot be saying the same thing!

It's time to ask yourself what you believe, and why.

-Adam Trosclair