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soon2cthekin
Member



Joined: 2008/7/12
Posts: 7


 Re:

Luke 9:49-50
49 And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.
(KJV)

 2008/7/12 12:19Profile









 Re:

Did not Paul rebuke Peter publicly? And no one is suggesting Mr Bentley is Peter :)....Frank

 2008/7/12 12:29
soon2cthekin
Member



Joined: 2008/7/12
Posts: 7


 Re:

Rev 22:6
6 And he said unto me, These sayings are faithful and true: and the Lord God of the holy prophets sent his angel to shew unto his servants the things which must shortly be done. (KJV)

Rev 22:8
8 And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. (KJV)

Rev 22:16
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. (KJV)

John 5:4
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
(KJV)

John 12:29
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
(KJV)

Acts 7:35-36
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
(KJV)

Acts 27:23-25
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
(KJV)

Acts 12:23
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
(KJV)

Acts 11:13-16
13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
(KJV)

Acts 23:9
9 And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
(KJV)

Acts 12:10-11
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
(KJV)

Acts 12:7-11
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
(KJV)




In regard to his "angel" encounters. He is in good company. It is my opinion that





John 5:4
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
(KJV)

John 12:29
29 The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others said, An angel spake to him.
(KJV)

Acts 7:35-36
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
36 He brought them out, after that he had shewed wonders and signs in the land of Egypt, and in the Red sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
(KJV)

Acts 27:23-25
23 For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,
24 Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.
25 Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me.
(KJV)

Acts 12:23
23 And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.
(KJV)

Acts 11:13-16
13 And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;
14 Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.
15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.
16 Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.
(KJV)

Acts 23:9
9 And there arose a great cry: and the scribes that were of the Pharisees' part arose, and strove, saying, We find no evil in this man: but if a spirit or an angel hath spoken to him, let us not fight against God.
(KJV)

Acts 12:10-11
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
(KJV)

Acts 12:7-11
7 And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.
8 And the angel said unto him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he saith unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.
9 And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.
10 When they were past the first and the second ward, they came unto the iron gate that leadeth unto the city; which opened to them of his own accord: and they went out, and passed on through one street; and forthwith the angel departed from him.
11 And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
(KJV)

1411 dunamis (doo'-nam-is);

from 1410; force (literally or figuratively); specially, miraculous power (usually by implication, a miracle itself):

KJV-- ability, abundance, meaning, might (-ily, -y, -y deed), (worker of) miracle (-s), power, strength, violence, mighty (wonderful) work.

2 Tim 3:5
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power (*1411 dunamis* definition above) thereof:

from such turn away. (KJV)


 2008/7/12 12:42Profile
soon2cthekin
Member



Joined: 2008/7/12
Posts: 7


 Re:


2 Tim 3:1-7
CHAPTER 3

1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
6 For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts,
7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
(KJV)

 2008/7/12 12:46Profile
soon2cthekin
Member



Joined: 2008/7/12
Posts: 7


 Re:

SORRY about these printing twice. I didn't realize it had done that. I won't be posting again here as your mind is definitely closed to anything of God that does not line up how you see God working. I feel sorry for you because God has many great things that will be taking place in the future for those who will make themselves available to be used as all of his prophets who were sooooooooooo weird and strange to everyone else. For me....I stand with the Lord of Hosts who gives me dreams, visions and speaks to me. I hear his voice. You offended me by inferring that I should not inquire of the Lord if there is any question .... men's talk regarding this man.


Ps 27:4-8
4 One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple.
5 For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock.
6 And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
7 Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice: have mercy also upon me, and answer me.
8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, LORD, will I seek.
(KJV)

 2008/7/12 13:02Profile
PaulWest
Member



Joined: 2006/6/28
Posts: 3405
Dallas, Texas

 Re:

Quote:
I won't be posting again here as your mind is definitely closed to anything of God that does not line up how you see God working. I feel sorry for you

This is certainly your perogative, and it's unfortunate that you've already made up your mind about [i]my[/i] mind. But please don't feel sorry for me! I am just as stalwart on my position as being from God as you are of yours...
Quote:
because God has many great things that will be taking place in the future for those who will make themselves available to be used as all of his prophets who were sooooooooooo weird and strange to everyone else.


Making oneself available - does this entail condoning falsehood and turning a blind eye to things unscriptural and ungodly when measured against the integrity of what we know God's Word teaches? Let us be deemed then as "unavailable" to error. While it is true that the prophets were "weird" as you say, however they all held this in common despite their weirdness: humility, soundness in the doctrine of repentance and the inexhaustible aim of glorifying God alone and diminshing men as sinners. We see none of this in the videos you so endorse.
Quote:
I hear his voice

This is the [i]coup de grace[/i] to end all discussions. There's nothing anyone can say now, or show you, or rationalize on the side of God's Word to convince a person once he or she believes they've "heard from God".
Quote:
I stand with the Lord of Hosts who gives me dreams, visions and speaks to me...You offended me by inferring that I should not inquire of the Lord if there is any question


I did not say this; what I did imply was that if you know something to be wrong initially in your spirit and then you persist in questioning God on its validity, you can expose yourself to the serious danger of God allowing you to "hear" what you want to hear...and then tell people you've "heard" from Him. Now, if you want to speak about prophets, you should also consider the "lying" prophets whom God also sent a voice to for the purpose of sending to Ahab to die in battle.


_________________
Paul Frederick West

 2008/7/12 14:00Profile
ccchhhrrriiisss
Member



Joined: 2003/11/23
Posts: 4779


 Re:

Hi soon2ctthekin…

Quote:

I hear his voice

Did you? Did you [i]really[/i]? Did you hear the Lord’s “voice” about this matter? Was it in English? Was it a feeling? Was it really a voice? Or did you just figure things out with your own intellect and attribute it as “his voice?”

Why am I asking?

Because oneday, dear brother, we will have to stand before God and give an account for our words. I pray that you didn’t bear false witness against the Creator of all things.

I don’t agree with all of the events surrounding this set of meetings in Lakeland. Why not? It certainly isn’t because I “heard his voice” in an audible manner. However, I believe that the underlying root of these meetings simply do not line up with God’s written Word.

I don’t know what is more dangerous – the fact that a man uses the mass media to showcase such strange events which serve to draw attention to himself or to this particular set of meetings – or the fact that men and women so desperately run after these things.

I urge you, brother, to use caution. The argument that you used in your previous posts could be used to rebuke anyone who questioned the essence of most false movements. We are commanded in the Word to “test everything” (I Thessalonians 5:21). We know that all men fall short of the glory of God…including the most “godly” and “spiritual” of men. The Bereans were considered “more noble” simply because they refused to believe what Paul preached – the apostle and author of 2/3 of the New Testament – until they examined the Word of God for verification.

Why are so many people angry when believers question the validity of someone’s doctrine? I don’t think that anyone here has passed a verdict upon the man (Todd Bentley). Rather, they have examined and weighed the doctrine and output of that man. When I have spoken to congregations, I have encouraged them to NOT BELIEVE ANYTHING that I preach at face value. Rather, I encourage them to search the Scriptures to authenticate my message. It would be an honor if I could persuade individuals to trust the Word of God above my own words or testimonies.

Alas – much of the Charismatic movement is trapped within a prison of ecclesiastic authority. Men claim that they have “heard from God” – thus assuming that anyone who disagrees with them are either “losing faith in God’s truth” or “touching God’s anointed.” However, it is imperative that we trust God far above the words of any man. We owe our allegiance – and even our very lives – to the truth that only comes from God and His Word.

Dear brother, we should run first to God’s Word in order to ascertain truth from deception. Any “Christian” sect or “man of God” who would tell you otherwise is just another example of men like Jim Jones, Joseph Smith or Herbert Armstrong. They demanded unquestionable loyalty to their doctrinal views and practices. They dismissed any sort of Scriptural query as a “lack of faith” or “unbelief.” This is not reflective of the Christian faith – in which our loyalty (and our very faith) is unequivocally given to Christ and the search for Truth from the Word of God.

:-)


_________________
Christopher

 2008/7/12 14:40Profile









 Re: Hearing Voices

If one was to list quotes from individuals who have claimed that God told them this or that, the list would be nearly endless.

"God told me to strike at al Qaeda and I struck them, and then he instructed me to strike at Saddam [Hussein], which I did, and now I am determined to solve the problem in the Middle East. If you help me I will act, and if not, the elections will come and I will have to focus on them." (Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Abu Mazen quoting Bush when they met in Aqaba; reported in The Haaretz Reporter)

In 2007 Pat Robertson said, "God told me that a terrorist attack on the United States would cause a mass killing of millions. The Lord didn't say nuclear. But I do believe it will be something like that." (Just one of many of Pat's false prophecies.)

David Koresh claimed that God spoke to him directly.

Jim Baker said God told him to build a "Christian Disneyland."

Oral Roberts claimed that God told him if he didn't raise several million dollars, God would call him home.

Jimmy Swaggart, after getting caught twice in lewd conduct, swore that God told him not to give up his ministry.

Joseph Smith and Jim Jones(as another poster mentioned)and sooooooo many others have claimed they have done as they have due to the authority of God telling them so.

One I know personally has told me(in my own home)that there will be no election this year. He said there will be a major crisis in the U.S. which will cancel the election, and Bush will remain in office. He said that we will not even be able to travel freely from one anothers homes to visit. I told him he will have to repent come November, and I will expect him to do so or I will have nothing to do with him in regard to fellowship.

"They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying,The LORD saith: and the LORD hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say,The LORD saith it; albeit I have not spoken? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies,therefore, behold,I am against you, saith the Lord GOD.And mine hand shall be upon the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies: they shall not be in the assembly of my people, neither shall they be written in the writing of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the Lord GOD." (Ezekiel 13:6-9).

What if(A BIG IF)I said, "God told me He didn't tell you what you said He told you." Many actually do claim God told them that this is not of God. "Hath God said..."?, was a question asked long ago by the slanderer himself.

We can be sure that God has spoken in the Scripture, and if they speak not according to this Word it is because there is no light in them.

Five Confessions:(from an article by Frank Viola)

1. If I could say that "God told me" to do something, then I didn’t feel responsible for whatever He told me to do. God was responsible.

2. It made me sound more spiritual when I made sure that people knew that it was God who was talking to me.

3. I was afraid that if I didn’t say that "God told me," people wouldn’t accept what I said. Or they would argue with my decision.

4. I had a desire to lead others. If I could convince them that God told me something, I found that they would follow me.

5. I wanted so bad to hear God’s voice that I thought that if I said that He always spoke to me in everything, it would become a reality.

Please reflect on the above. And note that these people were largely unconscious of their motives until later.

If we are sure that God has said something in Scripture, we need to quote Him accurately and with conviction. If we believe we are thinking in a manner that is consistent with His thoughts, then we need to say, “I think,” or “I believe this is a course of action that would please God,” or “I believe this direction is consistent with the teachings of Scripture.”

In most instances error is Truth perverted rather than repudiated.(A.W.P.)

 2008/7/12 16:55
dohzman
Member



Joined: 2004/10/13
Posts: 2132


 Re: Come on guys

soon2cthekin has a conviction that they have heard from the Lord, and no wonder because it was no less than Jesus that said His sheep hear His voice. Now break that one down any way you want, try to say that that was before the written word or what ever, but at the end of the day it means exactly what it says,HIS VOICE, not His written Word but His voice. The trouble comes in when we have desirethat bribe our spiritual ears and try to fool us. I have always like Werisbee's 3 light tower proof for hearing or discerning God's leading, 1)The Word 2) the inter witness of the spirit 3) some outside confirmation, like from a pulpit or of providence or etc...
But here's one for you, Recently I was coming back from Minn.(st. paul) and had drove all night to get home(it's about a 14-16 hr drive). I got into Ohio and was really tired, at the last rest stop in went in to refresh my self and close my eyes for a moment, when I did I saw an old man as clear as if I was looking at him with my eyes open. I was pretty tired and really didn't want to be brothered (strike one for spirituality). On my way out of the building (there were several different exits I could have taken)I walked right by this old man I saw in a vision, I kept walking (strike 2 for human compassion) and after about 40 yards I heard the voice of the Lord ask me a question, "are you going to stop and pray for this man?" My response was "Lord I'm tired, never the less if this is you, realy you, than make this man come to me(strike 3 for great faith), I turned only to see this man come right toward me, coughing and hacking, and not able to breath. So I stpped him and asked him if he was a christian, he was not, I than told him that the Lord Jesus stopped me and wanted me to pray for him, he was agreeable, so I laid hands on him and Jesus healed him right there, we were both surprised! I explained the message of discipleship and salvation and pointed him to a couple of churches. I had found out that he was dieing and in the last stages of a terminal lung ailment. All that said only to illustrate how faithful the Lord is on His part to speak to us. I think that when we get to heaven we will find out that God was speaking to us through our doubts, fears, unbelief, and all those hangups we have about really hearing Him. Some how we want some control over God so we constantly use our sinfulness as a reason why "this can't be the voice of God". Or this has to be the devil because God doesn't do it this way.

You guys may not like it but soon2cthekin may have heard the Lord speak to him and according to the measure of faith he has recieved of God he is simply working out that word in the conscience he has be given of the Lord. You have to give him room to grow and express.


_________________
D.Miller

 2008/7/12 23:41Profile









 Re: EXODUS 32:26,27

"Some things are true and some things are false. I regard that as an axiom; but there are many persons who evidently do not believe it. The current principle of the present age seems to be, "Some things are either true or false, according to the point of view from which you look at them. Black is white, and white is black according to circumstances; and it does not particularly matter which you call it. Truth of course is true, but it would be rude to say that the opposite is a lie; we must not be bigoted, but remember the motto, 'So many men, so many minds.'" Our forefathers were particular about maintaining landmarks; they had strong notions about fixed points of revealed doctrine, and were very tenacious of what they believed to be scriptural; their fields were protected by hedges and ditches, but their sons have grubbed up the hedges, filled up the ditches, laid all level, and played at leap-frog with the boundary stones. The school of modern thought laughs at the ridiculous positiveness of Reformers and Puritans; it is advancing in glorious liberality, and before long will publish a grand alliance between heaven and hell, or, rather, an amalgamation of the two establishments upon terms of mutual concession, allowing falsehood and truth to lie side by side, like the lion with the lamb. Still, for all that, my firm old-fashioned belief is that some doctrines are true, and that statements which are diametrically opposite to them are not true,—that when "No" is the fact, "Yes" is out of court, and that when "Yes" can be justified, "No" must be abandoned."

The words above are from the beginning of a message by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in the March 1874 Sword and Trowel.

The following are some more excerpts from that same message. I believe that such words are applicable to the subject at hand, and therefore I've chosen to post them here for any who care to examine them in light of this present controversy.

May the Light of God examine us and show us if and where we err, and may He grant repentance toward God and faith in Christ alone.

"We have a faith to preach, my brethren, and we are sent forth with a message from God. We are not left to fabricate the message as we go along. We are not sent forth by our Master with this kind of general commission—" As you shall think in your heart and invent in your head as you march on, so preach. Keep abreast of the times. Whatever the people want to hear, tell them that, and they shall be saved." Verily, we read not so. There is something definite in the Bible. It is not quite a lump of wax to be shaped at our will, or a roll of cloth to be cut according to the prevailing fashion...There is something told me in the Bible—told me for certain— not put before me with a "but" and a "perhaps," and an "if," and a "maybe," and fifty thousand suspicions behind it, so that really the long and the short of it is, that it may not be so at all; but revealed to me as infallible fact, which must be believed, the opposite of which is deadly error, and comes from the father of lies.

Believing, therefore, that there is such a thing as truth, and such a thing as falsehood, that there are truths in the Bible, and that the gospel consists in something definite which is to be believed by men, it becomes us to be decided as to what we teach, and to teach it in a decided manner. We have to deal with men who will be either lost or saved, and they certainly will not be saved by erroneous doctrine. We have to deal with God, whose servants we are, and he will not be honored by our delivering falsehoods; neither will he give us a reward, and say," Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast mangled the gospel as judiciously as any man that ever lived before thee." We stand in a very solemn position, and ours should be the spirit of old Micaiah, who said, "As the, Lord my God liveth, before whom I stand, whatsoever the Lord saith unto me that will I speak." Neither less nor more than God's word are we called to state, but that we are bound to declare in a spirit which lets the sons of men know that, whatever they may think of it, we believe God, and are not to be shaken in our confidence in him.

"What would you wish us to say?"..., "Those are my views, but other people's views may be correct." We ought to preach the gospel, not as our views at all, but as the mind of God—the testimony of Jehovah concerning his own Son, and in reference to salvation for lost men. If we had been entrusted with the making of the gospel, we might have altered it to suit the taste of this modest century, but never having been employed to originate the good news, but merely to repeat it, we dare not stir beyond the record. What we have been taught of God we teach. If we do not do this, we are not fit for our position. If I have a servant in my house, and I send a message by her to the door, and she amends it, on her own authority, she may take away the very soul of the message by so doing, and she will be responsible for what she has done. She will not long remain in my employ, for I need a servant who will repeat what I say, as nearly as possible, word for word; and if she does so, I am responsible for the message, she is not. If any one should be angry with her on account of what she said, they would be very unjust; their quarrel lies with me, and not with the person whom I employ to act as mouth for me. He that hath God's Word, let him speak it faithfully, and he will have no need to answer gainsayers, except with a "Thus saith the Lord." This, then, is the matter concerning which we are decided.

If we would show decision for the truth, we must not only do so by our tone and manner, but by our daily actions. A man's life is always more forcible than his speech; when men take stock of him they reckon his deeds as pounds and his words as pence. If his life and his doctrines disagree, the mass of lookers-on accept his practice and reject his preaching. A man may know a great deal about truth, and yet be a very damaging witness on its behalf, because he is no credit to it.

We must show our decision for the truth by the sacrifices we are ready to make. This is, indeed, the most efficient as well as the most trying method. We must be ready to give up anything and everything for the sake of the principles which we have espoused, and must be ready to offend our best supporters, to alienate our warmest friends, sooner than belie our consciences. We must be ready to be beggars in purse, and offscourings in reputation, rather than act treacherously. We can die, but we cannot deny the truth. The cost is already counted, and we are determined to buy the truth at any price, and sell it at no price. Too little of this spirit is abroad now-a-days.

And now, lastly, why should we at this particular age be decided and bold? We should be so because this age is a doubting age. It swarms with doubters as Egypt of old with frogs. You rub against them everywhere. Everybody is doubting everything, not merely in religion but in politics and in social economics, in everything indeed. It is the era of progress, and I suppose it must be the age, therefore, of unloosening, in order that the whole body politic may move on a little further. Well, brethren, as the age is doubting, it is wise for us to put our foot down and stand still where we are sure we have truth beneath us. Perhaps, if it were an age of bigotry, and men would not learn, we might be more inclined to listen to new teachers; but now the Conservative side must be ours, or rather the Radical side, which is the truly Conservative side. We must go back to the radix, or root of truth, and stand sternly by that which God has revealed, and so meet the wavering of the age...The age, therefore, can be impressed; it will receive what is taught by zealous men, whether it be truth or falsehood. It may be objected that falsehood will be received the more readily; that is just possible, but anything will be accepted by men, if you will but preach it with tremendous energy and living earnestness. If they will not receive it into their hearts in a spiritual sense, yet at any rate there will be a mental assent and consent, very much in proportion to the energy with which you proclaim it; ay, and God will bless our decision too, so that when the mind is gained by our earnestness, and the attention is won by our zeal, the heart itself will be opened by the Spirit of God...

God grant us grace to do it. We must have a strong hand, and have our steam well up, and defy the current; and so by God's grace we shall both save this age and the generations yet to come."

 2008/7/13 0:38





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