The Need to Address Alternative and New Religious Movements

 Text: Ezek. 36:26; Luk. 8:15 " A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by perserving produce a crop." I. The Need for a New Heart (Ezek. 36:26)   A. Its necessity (Psa. 51:10)      1. The cleansing of the heart by God. (v. 10)        a. Psa. 24:4: "Clean hands and a pure heart."        b. Matt. 5:8: "The pure in heart."        c. Ac. 15:9: "Purified their hearts by faith."     2. The renewal of the spirit (Jn. 3:6; Tit. 3:5)       a.  For the spirit to be renewed by God is through the washing of water by the Word. (v. 6)       b. The spirit is renewed by the regenerating power and work of the Holy Spirit. (Tit. 3:5)  B. ...

 Text: Jer. 17:9; Mk. 7:21-22; Ecc. 9:3 Preface Acknowledgement Introduction I. The Heart is Full of Wickedness (Ecc. 9:3)   A. Sin resides within people's heart (v. 3a)      1. Every evil though and deeds springs from within out of the sinfulnesss of people's heart. (Jer. 17:9)      2. The deceitfulness of people's heart is to deceive others. (2 Tim. 3:13)   B. The insanity of the sinfulness of people's heart (v. 3b)      1. Treacherous.      2. Murders.      3. Malice. II. The Nature of the Deceitfulness of the Heart (Jer. 17:9)     A. Eph. 4:14.    B. 2 Cor. 4:1-2; 3-4.    C. 2 Cor. 11:3. III. Sin Precedes from Within Out of the Heart (Mk. 7:21a)      A. The expression of the heart (v. 21)        1. That which springs  from the sinful heart of people (v. 21b)          a. Moral vice.     ...

Can you imagine going into a foreign country without knowing the language and culture of the people there!  There are people who think that they can go anywhere throughout the world as if people from other countries speak the same language along with having to be brought up within the same culture. Every culture has its own different language by which culture and language go hand in hand with each other.  There are culture wars among leading evangelicals who are ignorant of the language and culture by which they accuse each other of abandoning the gospel. It depends on their understanding of what the gospel is by which it becomes vague. Are they talking about the gospel of God's grace by which people are saved? Or is it perverted gospel by which it is based upon "mere" human works or accomplishment? The Social Justice and the Gospel advocates have so strongly accused the Woke church movement of deserting the gospel for what is the social gospel. The fact that people who s...

 As I begin to study Ephesians 5:14 where the apostle Pauls says, "Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you." In order to understand the biblical concept of the word "awake" or "wake up" is to look at God's Word to shed light upon its biblical meaning (1 Cor. 2:14). First, there are numerous references to scripture that will allure to its true biblical meanings (Isa. 26:19; Rom. 13:11; 1 Th. 5:5, 6; 1 Cor. 15:34) The Greek Meaning of the Word "Awake" First, the Greek verb meaning of the word "awake" or "wake up" means "to wake" or raised the dead (Isa. 26:19) Also the comparison of the Greek verb (gregoreo) which also means "to keep watch, be on guard. (Eph. 5:14) Therefore the rendering of the word "awake" or "wake up" is that the spiritual slumber must no longer sleep by which it demonstrates sinners dead in sin. (Eph. 5:1, 2)  People who are dead in their tr...

Today, I preach on "What Does Justice Looks Like?" which is a series of messages I will be preaching for the next several weeks. There is a need to address this particular issue about what is true biblical justice. There are some within Reformed evangelicalism that do not have a clear definition nor understanding of what is true justice or else social justice. When it comes to true biblical justice is the church's attitude and responsibility towards those who are less fortunate than others especially the poor marginalized and indigenous minority and people of color. Whenever we speak about biblical justice is God's way of justice by which it is based upon His righteousness. Anything that falls short of the biblical justice of God is nevertheless pretension and hypocritical. (Matt. 23) The religious leaders of Christ's day are that the Pharisees and scribes wanted to be in Moses sit by which it was based upon their own self-authority by which it was not sanctioned ...

  Outline   Text: Micah 6:1-3  I. God's Calling for the People of Israel to Plead Their Case (Mic. 6:1)     A.   God's witnesses         1. The mountains.         2. The hills.     B. God's Indictment (Mal. 3:5)        1. Sorcererers (v. 5a)        2. Adulterers        3. False witnesses     C. Injustice        1. Wage workers (Lev. 19:13)        2. Widows and the fatherless (Deut. 24:17)        3. Immigrants II. God's Indictment Against the People of Israel (Mic. 6:2)     A. God's calling upon the mountains and the enduring foundations of the earth (v. 2)        1. To be God's witness.        2. God's striving with the people of Israel.    B. The cause by which God's striving against the people of Israel (Mal. 3:5) ...

  The apostle Paul to Timothy his son in the faith says, "Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care." (1 Tim. 6:20a)  What were Timothy's duties and responsibilities in preaching the gospel? First, Timothy's duty was to guard to the truth of the gospel because there were those who sought to undermine the true nature and character of Christ's message. We must understand the gravity by which many professing Christians seek to "devalue" the message of Christ's gospel. (Gal. 1:8-9) Throughout this article, I will begin to address what elders duties and responsibility concerning the gospel. There are implications by which apostle Paul warns against godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge. (v. 20b) The emptiness and futility of empty talk and knowledge ("gnosis") of those who debate about the law and Gnosticism denigration of the Person and work of Jesus Christ are very much evident within the professi...