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Discussion Forum : Revivals And Church History : "The Betrayal Of The Ages", a documentary on the de-emphasis of the 'New Birth'.

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PreachParsly
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 Re:

Quote:
that is a type O!!



Thats what I thought. :-)


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Josh Parsley

 2006/4/12 15:10Profile
RobertW
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 Re:

Quote:
Thats what I thought.



Interested in any freelance editing? I really need one. :-)


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/12 15:17Profile
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 Re:

HAVING BEGUN IN THE SPIRIT (Part 12)

The great summary of the Christian life is simply this; [i]no longer I, but Christ.[/i] That is Christianity in a nutshell. Not, “I quit a few bad habits”. Not, “I turned over a new leaf”. Not, “I started coming to church”. Remember our analogy of the oranges being ‘tied’ to the apple tree? Jesus said it like this;

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. (John 15:5)

If you are born again you don’t have to work at being a branch- you are already a branch wild by nature grafted in to the True Vine (Romans 11:24). What is our role? Look closely at what He is saying here,... [i]He that abideth in me.[/i] The words used in the New Testament concerning our ‘abiding’ in Christ are in forms such as 'constant', 'active', 'imperative', and 'present active'; simply meaning that we have to take up a permanent ongoing residence in Christ.

Christ is as important to our spiritual life as the vine is to a branch. Without the vine- the branch withers and dies. John 15:6 reads;

If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.

The limbs that do not remain in Him die and are of no use but to be burned. The word ‘abide’ also carries the concept of being ‘joined’ unto Christ. This is a vital spiritual union with Christ. We gain additional insight into this in I Corinthians 6:17; [i]but he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.[/i] Barnes comments on this principal, “This is a sense similar to that in which a man and his wife are ‘one body’. It is not to be taken literally; but the sense is, that there is a close and intimate union; they are united in feeling, spirit, intention, disposition.”

This ‘abiding’ can only happen as we continually yield to the will of the Holy Spirit. To ‘resist’ the Holy Ghost is to fight against that union and the vital flow of the Spirit required to bring forth fruit. Putting it simply; as long as the Spirit is flowing, fruit will be growing.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/12 15:31Profile
RobertW
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 Re:

THE END OF THE COMMANDMENT (Part 13)

When Paul wrote Galatians he was confronting a problem in which the people were being told something to the effect that they needed to come under the Old Testament laws- perhaps in order to grow spiritually or come nearer to perfection. This, of course, it utterly impossible. One cannot take up laws and live by them and call it righteousness.

A truly righteous person does not need laws in that sense as the law was not ‘made’ for him (In other words, righteousness has to come from the inner working of the Holy Spirit as we remain filled with Him and submit to Him; i.e. 'abiding' in him). This is Christ living in me- and not me trying to live out Christ. Do you see the difference?

Paul writes to Timothy,

Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm. But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane,… (I Timothy 1:8).

Paul here states, that the law is [i]not[/i] made for a righteous man. This means that the Law was not ‘enacted’ for righteous men. It had to be ‘enacted’ because folk were dominated by their Sin nature and God needed a way to [i]quantify[/i] sins in order to expose the underlying cause of all these sins; i.e. ‘the indwelling presence of Sin itself’.

The Law exposes Sin for what it is. Yet, the Holy Spirit does what the law could not do and writes the laws (nature) of God on our hearts and minds so that they become part of the fabric of our nature rather than an opportunity to arouse lust (Jeremiah 31:33; Romans 7:8).

Notice again, [i]Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned: From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling; Desiring to be teachers of the law.[/i] Paul is here describing the [u]normal[/u] Christian life- walking before God in complete trust with a good conscience in selfless love.

Notice also that Paul states that ‘some’ have [i]swerved[/i] from this simple principal. And as a result fell back into wanting to teach the Law of Moses. Perhaps they realized they were falling into sins and felt like they needed to do 'something' to stop it. And all they did was do what Moses did at Sinai and try to [i]enact[/i] the Law again.

Could this solve their problem? No, the people needed a fresh revelation of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ that they might once again, [i]“know this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.”[/i] The ONLY answer to the Sin problem is the Cross of Christ. The only way to live acceptably before the Lord is to walk in the Spirit.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/12 15:44Profile
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 Re:

'RECKONING' YOURSELF DEAD IN CHRIST (Part 14)

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that [u]are[/u] dead to sin, live any longer therein? [i]Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life[/i] (Romans 6:1-4).

Throughout the scriptures there are many types and shadows of the One baptism that is referred to in Ephesians 4:1-6. This ‘one baptism’ is the supreme baptism that all others point to. Our text reminds us that we are [i]not to continue[/i] in sin so that grace may abound. Why? Because as many as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death. Christ took Sin upon Himself and took it down into death destroying its power over us.

We read in Romans 6:10,11; [i]For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise [u]reckon[/u] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.[/i] The word ‘reckon’ is very important. It is the same Greek word used for ‘imputed’ that describes the way in which we are declared righteous before God. It is an [i]accounting[/i] term. God reckons us righteous by grace through faith and we are to reckon ourselves dead to Sin and alive unto God.

Watchman Nee points out that accounting (mathmatics) is about the only things human beings can do absolutely; 2+2=4 in Heaven, Earth, and Hell. A painter may paint a portrait and not rightly represent the thing he/she is painting; but in accounting precise and exact measures can be made with perfect accuracy. Let's return to our word, 'reckon'.

God is saying that we are to write it down as if we were writing down an absulute number. If I give you $100 and deposit it into the bank you have $100. You have $100 'reckoned' to your account. Whether you know it or not or whether you believe it or not you have $100 in your account. Now, write down [i]Likewise [u]reckon[/u] ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord...[/i] into your ledger. You ARE dead. You ARE alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you are in Christ that reality is as absolute as your imputed righteousness- whether you realize it and walk in it or not.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/13 7:59Profile
RobertW
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 Re:

THE CHANGING OF THE MIND (Part 15)

Before we explore farther what it means to be 'Baptized into Jesus Christ' we need to go backwards to the beginning a moment and discuss how so great a change in our nature comes about. Perhaps some are reading this and desire to truly be Born Again- that is, baptized [i]into[/i] Jesus Christ?

The 'initial' part of the change I am referring to is the change of the mind, or [i]repentance[/i] as it's commonly called. Biblical words don’t have definitions as much as they have [i]histories[/i] (Bailey). The word [i]repent[/i] in the Old Testament is [i]nacham[/i] and it is translated "to repent" about 40 times and "to comfort" about 65 times. Scholars assert several views in trying to ascertain the meaning of [i]nacham[/i] by connecting the word to a change of the heart or disposition, a change of mind, a change of purpose, or an emphasis upon the change of one's conduct (Vine's).

Although it is not fully appreciated that God would ever change His mind or ‘repent’, many uses of the word in the Old Testament are connected with God's [i]repentance[/i]. We first read of this in Genesis 6:6 where we read, [i]“it repented the Lord that he had made man..."[/i]; we also read in Exodus 32:14, [i]"And the Lord repented[/i] [NASB, "changed his mind"] [i]of the evil which he thought to do unto his people".[/i]

Sometimes the Lord "repented" of the discipline He had planned to carry out concerning His people:

"If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them" (Jeremiah 18:8).

The word also can mean to change your mind from doing something good as we read in Jeremiah 18:10;

"If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good wherewith I said I would benefit them.”

Perhaps the great teaching on the issue can be heard in Joel 2:13,

"And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger... and repenteth him of evil"

An example of man’s repentance in the Old Testament is referred to by our Lord through the example of the people of Nineveh. Some consider this the Lord's example of what repentance ought to look like. In Jonah Chapter 3 we read;

So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

The people ‘believed God’ and they changed their minds about what they had been doing. It was a radical 'turn around' from before. Ron Bailey gave the example once that repentance is as simple as basic marching instructions; "Halt! About Face! Forward- MARCH!" But before one will turn their mind has to be changed. They have to have the light of truth poured upon their conscience until their conscience persuades the will. The harder the heart- the more difficult the task.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/13 8:14Profile
RobertW
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 Re:

RISEN WITH CHRIST (Part 16)

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. (Colossians 3:1-3)

We are coming to that aspect of the cross in which we are 'risen with Christ.' If we continue in our analogy we find that our Lord has changed locations (as it were), from the earth to the Heavens. Our passage refers to this as 'things above where Christ sitteth'. This is an interesting passage as it turns our minds from the temporal to the eternal; from the sinfulness of this old world to the Majesty in the Heavens.

You may recall a comment from Barnes notes on our 'one spirit' relationship with Christ? He states that this is an 'intimate union'; wherein we are "united in feeling, spirit, intention, disposition." This is akin to having the 'mind' of Christ. Our minds are to come into harmony with the will of God and contemplate what He wants [i]contemplated[/i].

To set our affections (mind) on the things above is to interest ourselves in God's interests. To entertain thoughts in 'sync' with God's will in the earth. Not my will but thine be done. This is a challenge because the enemy continually seeks to distract us with 'temporal' things. He seeks to lead away our desire into some temporal thing. I have heard it said that we need an 'eternal perspective' before our eyes. As Jonathan Edwards prayed, "Lord, let eternity be in my eyes."


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/13 13:51Profile
RobertW
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 Re:

PRESENTING YOUR BODIES (Part 17)

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. (Romans 12:1)

We are skipping ahead for a moment to draw attention to a fundamental aspect of our walk with Christ and it is that of our [i]service[/i] to Him. 'Reasonable service' could be translated 'logical worship'. At first that sounds strange, but we have to draw attention first to the word 'therefore' in our passage. I've heard it said that when you see a 'therefore' in the scriptures you need to STOP and see what it is [i]there-for[/i].

In this case Paul is drawing attention to 11 chapters worth of explaination and then says as a result of what I have said to this point or 'therefor'. He then makes a statement with the words [i]logikos latreia[/i] (logical worship). What is he saying? In light of all I have told you it is only logical that you would offer your body unto God as a living sacrifice. You don't even need spiritual insight to do the math (as it were) and see that God has purchased you for a tremendous price and it would not be anything by logical or common sense to allow Him to take possession of what is rightly His; i.e. our bodies.

Living sacrifice? What is that? Sacrifices are supposed to be dead and that is the whole point making the sacrifice, right? Yes. This is a profound passage if we really consider the implications. Imagine instead of dying physically, you die to [i]self[/i] or 'self' dies and the body keeps on living. Instead of taking orders from 'self' the body is taking them indirectly from Holy Spirit through our submission as we perpetually [i]present our bodies therefore unto God, holy and acceptable unto Him.[/i].

Say this to yourself, "I am not my own- I am, bought with a price." Better yet, just quote the passage, [i]For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.[/i] (I Corinthians 6:20). You belong to God. You are not your own. You are the property of Jesus Christ. This simple fact reminds me of Military duty.

I found a blog concerning joining the Military. The writer stated, "If you wonder how it’s (the Military's) different, think about this, what job have you ever had that you became the property of the employer when you were hired? When you join the military you become government property. If you go lay out on the beach and get severe sunburn, so that you are unable to do your duty you can get in trouble for damaging government property." I can't vouch for the truth of this, but I am certain that God takes His possion of our bodies VERY seriously.

In closing these thought's I wish to point back to the term 'logical worship' or 'reasonable service'. Your body is God's property and so is your Spirit in Bibles based on Byzantine text forms. This means the whole person is God's. This has some deep ramifications! You belong to God in a special way. You have been purchased by the blood of Christ. Are you presenting your body to God and ascertaining what He desires for YOU, His paid possession, to be doing with your time, talents and resources. Or have you found it 'unreasonable' that God, after all He has done in securing our salvation, would require us to perpetually present ourselves to Him for service?

There is an unspoken 'rule' in churches that 20% of the people do 80% of the service. Despite the fact that God has told us what pure religion is and how we can serve Him as outlined in Matthew 25 and other places. Still yet, there is no abundance of folk 'presenting themselves' to God for service. And before someone says, God has not sent me there and I'm still looking for His will, consider this. How many times do you expect to tell your children to GO before they do it? Do you expect to tell them to clean their room 4 or 5 times and then have them act? Certainly not. God has already told us once at least in several places what to do. How many more times do we need to be told?




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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/14 8:50Profile
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 Re:

SERVANT OR SLAVE (Part 18)
Excerpt from "The Normal Christian Life"
By Watchman Nee


If we give ourselves unreservedly to God, many adjustments may have to be made: in family, or business, or church relationships, or in the matter of our personal views. God will not let anything of ourselves remain. His finger will touch, point by point, everything that is not of Him, and He will say: "?This must go"??.

Are you willing? It is foolish to resist God, and always wise to submit to Him. We admit that many of us still have controversies with the Lord. He wants something, while we want something else. Many things we dare not look into, dare not pray about, dare not even think about, lest we lose our peace. We can evade the issue in that way, but to do so will bring us out of the will of God. It is always an easy matter to get out of His will, but it is a blessed thing just to hand ourselves over to Him and let Him have His way with us.

How good it is to have the consciousness that we belong to the Lord and are not our own! There is nothing more precious in the world. It is that which brings the awareness of His continual presence, and the reason is obvious. I must first have the sense of God's possession of me before I can have the sense of His presence with me. When once His ownership is established, then I dare do nothing in my own interests, for I am His exclusive property. [i]??Know ye not, that to whom ye present yourselves as servants unto obedience, his servants ye are whom ye obey?[/i]?? (Romans 6:16). The word here rendered '??servant'?? really signifies a bondservant, a slave. This word is used several times in the second half of Romans 6.

What is the difference between a servant and a slave? A servant may serve another, but the ownership does not pass to that other. If he likes his master he can serve him, but if he does not like him he can give in his notice and seek another master. Not so is it with the slave. He is not only the servant of another but he is the possession of another. How did I become the slave of the Lord? On His part He bought me, and on my part I presented myself to Him. By right of redemption I am God's property, but if I would be His slave I must willingly give myself to Him, for He will never compel me to do so.

The trouble about many Christians today is that they have an insufficient idea of what God is asking of them. How glibly they say: "??Lord, I am willing for anything."?? Do you know that God is asking of you your very life? There are cherished ideals, strong wills, precious relationships, much-loved work, that will have to go; so do not give yourself to God unless you mean it. God will take you seriously, even if you did not mean it seriously.

When the Galilian boy brought his bread to the Lord, what did the Lord do with it? He broke it. God will always break what is offered to Him. He breaks what He takes, but after breaking it He blesses and uses it to meet the needs of others. After you give yourself to the Lord, He begins to break what was offered to Him. Everything seems to go wrong, and you protest and find fault with the ways of God. But to stay there is to be no more than just a broken vesselâ??no good for the world because you have gone too far for the world to use you, and no good for God either because you have not gone far enough for Him to use you. You are out of gear with the world, and you have a controversy with God. This is the tragedy of many a Christian.


My giving of myself to the Lord must be an initial fundamental act. Then day by day I must go on giving to Him, not finding fault with His use of me but accepting with praise even what the flesh revolts against. I am the Lord'??s and now no longer reckon myself to be my own but acknowledge in everything His ownership and authority. That it the attitude God requires, and to maintain it is true consecration. I do not consecrate myself to be a missionary or a preacher; I consecrate myself to God to do His will where I am, be it in school, office or kitchen, counting whatever He ordains for me to be the very best, for nothing but good can come to those who are wholly His. May we always be possessed by the consciousness that we are not our own.
_________________________________________________________________

Note.Two Greek verbs paristano and paristemi are translated in these verses by '?present'?? in the R.V. where the A.V. has '??yield'??. Paristemi occurs frequently with this meaning, e.g. in Rom. 12:1; 2 Cor. 11:2; Col. 1:22,28, and in Luke 2:22 where it is used of the presenting of the infant Jesus to God in the Temple. Both words have an active sense for which the R.V. translation 'present'?? is greatly to be preferred. '??Yield'?? contains a passive idea of 'surrender'?? that has coloured much evangelical thought, but which is not in keeping with the context here in Romans.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/14 10:05Profile
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 Re:

RENEWING THE MIND (Part 19)

And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. (Romans 12:2)

Many people will likely ask, if we are really dead to Sin, then why do I seem to still struggle with temptation? If I don’t have a ‘sin nature’ any longer, where are these vile temptations coming from? I believe it was John Macarthur that once said, “when we get saved we are regenerated and transformed into a New Creature, but the memories from our past still remain.” (para) When I consider this I realize that these memories can be called up at a moments notice along with the resident feelings associated with those memories. Our mind is a powerful thing. We cannot delete these thoughts, but we can greatly decrease the incidence of their coming up if we follow some basic biblical principals.

Our text says, [i]“Be not conformed to this world…” [/i]That is the main objective in the passage. The measure we have to take is that of our minds being renewed. The word ‘renewed’ means ‘renovation’. This implies that the mind has a tendency to [i]deteriorate[/i] towards conformity to this world. What is the source or ‘means’ of the deterioration? We find the answer to that in another passage:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (II Corinthians 10)

I see here a progression as we read this passage in [i]reverse[/i]:

1) Thoughts (bring into captivity)
2) Imaginations Gk. logismos ‘reasonings’ (casting down)
3) Strongholds (pulling down)

One evil thought added to another becomes a ‘reasoning’. When you add reasonings together you can build an entire mindset or ‘stronghold’ within the thinking process that is [u]false[/u] and even dangerous. This is "the wisdom of this world" picking away at the ‘mind’ of Christ we are supposed to maintain.

This is how the world casts folk into its mold. What’s the measures to take? You have to abstain from all appearance of evil. A steady diet of this world's secular worldview will have devastating and often unnoticed effects on your mind. The first aspect of ‘renewing the mind’ is to put a stop to the flood of sinful thoughts, ideas, and concepts that come in through our senses. It only stands to reason that a person can only cast down so many evil thoughts and imaginations. This is a battle that can be easily lost of we are not diligent to guard our minds and hearts.


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Robert Wurtz II

 2006/4/14 16:04Profile





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