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Post by John on Apr 27, 2018 21:05:28 GMT -5
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (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.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with the inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
The reason I chose to bring this up is because I encountered a place much like Paul did. You had a large number of people gathered who loved to discuss philosophy and different doctrines. It was all about curiosity to understand how different people believed and the love of intellectual discussions, not about truly seeking to know who God really is. It is not enough to know there is a god. Only a fool would doubt that there is a divine creator. But it is not enough to simply know that based on the witness of the creation, some supernatural power must have been responsible. You have to know the true and living God. It is not enough to simply look to a higher power, or an "unknown god." I am sure the people of Athens were trying to cover all the bases. They had no idea who the true God was, but they hoped that by showing devotion to whoever it might be, that would be enough. It is not! There is only one mediator between God and man and that is the Lord Jesus Christ.
It is amazing how many people are going around believing that as long as you worship something, you will be alright. They lie to themselves and others and claim that all the gods are the same, but under different names. That is a lie straight from the pits of hell. You can believe in a god, and be devoted to that unknown god and go straight to hell when you die. You can make sacrifices to your unknown god, even to the point of giving up the most precious things to you, and you will die in your sins and go straight to hell when you die. Intellectual discussions about some new doctrine won't save you. Learning to COEXIST with every religion under the sun won't get you anywhere. God won't be impressed because you are tolerant. If you want to escape eternity in hell, there is only one way, and that is through faith in the God of the Bible and his Son Jesus Christ, who died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Still, the blood he shed won't do you any good unless you believe on him and make him your Lord and Savior. Yes, salvation is available to you, but you must lay hold on it.
Sadly, the majority of the people of Athens never got another chance to hear the true gospel and be saved. Paul had enough. He told them the truth, and wasn't going to waste his time on speaking to them again when all they were looking for was endless debates and comparative religious studies. Thankfully, it wasn't a complete waste of his time, because the Bible does say in verse 34 that, "certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." God sent Paul into that mess to pull a handful out of the fire, but sadly, the message of the gospel didn't profit the vast majority of them.
Tolerance sounds wonderful. Why can't we all just learn to get along? The problem is, there is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. There is only one door that leads into the sheep fold, and that door is Jesus Christ. All those that try to enter in any other way are thieves and robbers, and they will have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you don't, today is the day of salvation. Today is the acceptable time. Just as the people of Athens didn't get another sermon from Paul and died in their sins, you may not get another opportunity to know Jesus. I urge you to accept him as your Lord and Savior tonight if you haven't already. If you are lukewarm or a backslider, repent tonight. Don't wait. Time is running out on the world as we know it, and we have no assurance we will live another day. It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment, and we don't know when that day will be. Jesus is the only way. Don't believe anyone that tells you different.
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Post by Sister on Apr 28, 2018 5:20:36 GMT -5
Amen
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
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PG4Him
Senior Member
Essay Moderator
Posts: 3,570
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Post by PG4Him on Apr 28, 2018 7:01:35 GMT -5
I was just thinking about this yesterday. It's amazing enough that God gave us a path to Him at all. How presumptuous are humans to expect easy paths lying all around? Any god I can apprehend with human philosophy is no god worth counting on when the human experience is over.
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Post by 2fw8212a on Apr 28, 2018 7:09:31 GMT -5
Many people refer to God, and many have their own versions of God. But they must know the true living God.
"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." - John 17:3
"Then Jesus cried out and said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me." - John 12:45
"Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." - Hebrews 13:8
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Post by frienduff on Apr 28, 2018 10:05:36 GMT -5
Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (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.) Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with the inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.
The reason I chose to bring this up is because I encountered a place much like Paul did. You had a large number of people gathered who loved to discuss philosophy and different doctrines. It was all about curiosity to understand how different people believed and the love of intellectual discussions, not about truly seeking to know who God really is. It is not enough to know there is a god. Only a fool would doubt that there is a divine creator. But it is not enough to simply know that based on the witness of the creation, some supernatural power must have been responsible. You have to know the true and living God. It is not enough to simply look to a higher power, or an "unknown god." I am sure the people of Athens were trying to cover all the bases. They had no idea who the true God was, but they hoped that by showing devotion to whoever it might be, that would be enough. It is not! There is only one mediator between God and man and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is amazing how many people are going around believing that as long as you worship something, you will be alright. They lie to themselves and others and claim that all the gods are the same, but under different names. That is a lie straight from the pits of hell. You can believe in a god, and be devoted to that unknown god and go straight to hell when you die. You can make sacrifices to your unknown god, even to the point of giving up the most precious things to you, and you will die in your sins and go straight to hell when you die. Intellectual discussions about some new doctrine won't save you. Learning to COEXIST with every religion under the sun won't get you anywhere. God won't be impressed because you are tolerant. If you want to escape eternity in hell, there is only one way, and that is through faith in the God of the Bible and his Son Jesus Christ, who died on a cross to pay the penalty for your sins. Still, the blood he shed won't do you any good unless you believe on him and make him your Lord and Savior. Yes, salvation is available to you, but you must lay hold on it. Sadly, the majority of the people of Athens never got another chance to hear the true gospel and be saved. Paul had enough. He told them the truth, and wasn't going to waste his time on speaking to them again when all they were looking for was endless debates and comparative religious studies. Thankfully, it wasn't a complete waste of his time, because the Bible does say in verse 34 that, "certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." God sent Paul into that mess to pull a handful out of the fire, but sadly, the message of the gospel didn't profit the vast majority of them. Tolerance sounds wonderful. Why can't we all just learn to get along? The problem is, there is only one way to heaven, and that is through faith in Jesus Christ. There is only one door that leads into the sheep fold, and that door is Jesus Christ. All those that try to enter in any other way are thieves and robbers, and they will have no inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you don't, today is the day of salvation. Today is the acceptable time. Just as the people of Athens didn't get another sermon from Paul and died in their sins, you may not get another opportunity to know Jesus. I urge you to accept him as your Lord and Savior tonight if you haven't already. If you are lukewarm or a backslider, repent tonight. Don't wait. Time is running out on the world as we know it, and we have no assurance we will live another day. It is appointed unto man once to die and then the judgment, and we don't know when that day will be. Jesus is the only way. Don't believe anyone that tells you different.
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Post by frienduff on Apr 28, 2018 10:15:19 GMT -5
This has been the goal of the powerful of rome, of emergent of secular . Get the people yoked together with the other religions and mindsets and they fall away . This will only increase magnifold , until in time its really all one religion that is a mindset , a concept that all ways are valid. As they melt these groups into one liquid , they will then reshape the image more and more into a god of humanity, of trust in man , of trust in man. As this grows by the power of satan , satan himself will also be using evil men to do wicked things in the name of Fundamentalism. SO that fundamentalism itself looks dangerous and all the while satans all inclusive message will seem more and more to be the only way for world peace. And the blind know not , that this was the plan all along . Satan, aka the dragon, is making ready a world that will hand all power and worship over to the beast . THAT is what this is all about and whom it will lead the world right too. And yet they do use words that work on the sensual flesh for they say tolerance , we should all get along , we should love , we should etc . But its just cleverly designed is all. This is simply to get the hearts and minds of people to join in common unity for world power and control . Satan allures how , Through the flesh . But if we read the FIRST line of the passage Butero brought , what does it say, pauls spirit was STIRRRED in Him. BY THE HOLY GHOST . SO those who are of the lamb , who have the SPIRIT , they will not be deceived by this move , not matter how good the men try and make this sound. YEAH, JESUS sheep FOLLOW ONLY JESUS , and no lamb is going to be unequally yoked with a concept that at best makes jesus as only A way and not rather THE ONLY WAY. OH its deceptive , its highly deceptive what is going on . THIS is why those who senses have been exercised, who are built up in Christ , have got to expose this lie and the true church has got to keep on exhorting one another daily with sound doctrine and pslams and just pure truth . This thing is a monster and it will only increase .
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Post by John on Jun 17, 2020 9:30:51 GMT -5
I encounter a lot of nice people who believe all sorts of things. Recently, I have come to know people who consider themselves spiritual, people who are good natured and likeable, but there is one problem, they do not know Jesus. It is really sad. From a human perspective, I would love to believe they will all ultimately be given a chance to be saved. I do not want to see anyone wind up in hell, but especially nice people. I can see the pull of religions that promote being inclusive, but there is just one problem, this thing called the truth. There is only way to be saved and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not the other religions. Yes, we can all come together and pretend all is well, but what good is that doing anyone?
Is going along to get along really showing love? I am not suggesting we should be mean and hateful to those who do not believe as we do. That accomplishes nothing, and only hardens hearts, but I am saying that it makes no sense to tell everyone they will ultimately be saved and that all gods are the same when we know that is a lie. We are only making people feel comfortable in their sinful state, and there is the possibility that if we tell them the truth, they may come under conviction and be saved. For our sake and the sake of others, we must continue to stand for the truth, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. Souls are at stake, our soul and others souls.
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Post by 2fw8212a on Jun 17, 2020 10:28:55 GMT -5
I encounter a lot of nice people who believe all sorts of things. Recently, I have come to know people who consider themselves spiritual, people who are good natured and likeable, but there is one problem, they do not know Jesus. It is really sad. From a human perspective, I would love to believe they will all ultimately be given a chance to be saved. I do not want to see anyone wind up in hell, but especially nice people. I can see the pull of religions that promote being inclusive, but there is just one problem, this thing called the truth. There is only way to be saved and that is through faith in Jesus Christ alone, not the other religions. Yes, we can all come together and pretend all is well, but what good is that doing anyone?
Is going along to get along really showing love? I am not suggesting we should be mean and hateful to those who do not believe as we do. That accomplishes nothing, and only hardens hearts, but I am saying that it makes no sense to tell everyone they will ultimately be saved and that all gods are the same when we know that is a lie. We are only making people feel comfortable in their sinful state, and there is the possibility that if we tell them the truth, they may come under conviction and be saved. For our sake and the sake of others, we must continue to stand for the truth, no matter how uncomfortable that may be. Souls are at stake, our soul and others souls. Telling the truth is hard, but it is the only thing that can truly save.
❝...in humility correcting those who are in opposition,
if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth...❞ - 2 Timothy 2:25
Many people will harden their hearts and say you are a hater anyway.
❝Blessed are you when men hate you, And when they exclude you,
And revile you, and cast out your name as evil, For the Son of Man’s sake.❞ - Luke 6:22
Do your part and tell the truth as you are led by God to do.
❝He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.
And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.❞ - Matthew 10:37
❝And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.❞ - Matthew 10:28
Conclusion:
❝that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with
every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ —❞ - Ephesians 4:14-15
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Post by John on Jun 17, 2020 10:36:51 GMT -5
I am reminded of the words of God to the prophet Ezekiel. From Ezekiel 3:17-21
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
Again, When a righteous man doth turn from his righteousness, and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumblingblock before him, he shall die: because thou hast not given him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he hath done shall not be remembered; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul.
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Post by 2fw8212a on Jun 17, 2020 11:05:28 GMT -5
... Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. Today many people are doing the opposite:
❝They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”❞ - Jeremiah 23:17
This is what true prophets look like:
❝...if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.❞ - Jeremiah 23:22
God does not give grace to the proud who sins on purpose:
❝When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own
righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered;
but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.❞ - Ezekiel 33:13
Blessings!
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Post by frienduff on Jun 19, 2020 17:10:46 GMT -5
We must more than ever proclaim that JESUS alone saves . That HE must be confessed by the mouth and beleived that GOD has rose him from the dead , to be saved . And we must teach the biblical JESUS and all that those apostles also wrote . And all the words of our GOD contained in the bible must be at the forefront .
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777
Senior Member
Teacher
Posts: 1,189
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Post by 777 on Jun 22, 2020 8:26:20 GMT -5
... Nevertheless if thou warn the righteous man, that the righteous sin not, and he doth not sin, he shall surely live, because he is warned; also thou hast delivered thy soul. Today many people are doing the opposite:
❝They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”❞ - Jeremiah 23:17
This is what true prophets look like:
❝...if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.❞ - Jeremiah 23:22
God does not give grace to the proud who sins on purpose:
❝When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own
righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered;
but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.❞ - Ezekiel 33:13
Blessings! Most of the preachers seems to be about money and making as much as possible. They will not get many followers if they are giving warnings, so they make them feel good about themselves wherever they are. Ministers are given a serious responsibility, but most have dropped the ball.
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Post by frienduff on Jun 22, 2020 8:51:50 GMT -5
Today many people are doing the opposite:
❝They continually say to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You shall have peace” ’;
And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say,
‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”❞ - Jeremiah 23:17
This is what true prophets look like:
❝...if they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings.❞ - Jeremiah 23:22
God does not give grace to the proud who sins on purpose:
❝When I say to the righteous that he shall surely live, but he trusts in his own
righteousness and commits iniquity, none of his righteous works shall be remembered;
but because of the iniquity that he has committed, he shall die.❞ - Ezekiel 33:13
Blessings! Most of the preachers seems to be about money and making as much as possible. They will not get many followers if they are giving warnings, so they make them feel good about themselves wherever they are. Ministers are given a serious responsibility, but most have dropped the ball. Dropped the ball is rather a light thing to say , You mean more like they handed the ball , did a hand off , RIGHT INTO the Dragons hand , and the team memebers are cheering him as he is running right toward their own goal line . They done handed the ball off , to the WRONG ONE .
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Post by frienduff on Jun 22, 2020 8:53:40 GMT -5
Its like down ............set ....................hut ..................OOPS wrong one got handed the ball . and they cant see it for what it is . cause satan is cloaked in outward appearance just like they appear . Appearing to them as light and his ministirs as men of righteousness . That ball got handed off to the dragon , quite a while back .
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777
Senior Member
Teacher
Posts: 1,189
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Post by 777 on Jun 22, 2020 12:41:22 GMT -5
Most of the preachers seems to be about money and making as much as possible. They will not get many followers if they are giving warnings, so they make them feel good about themselves wherever they are. Ministers are given a serious responsibility, but most have dropped the ball. Dropped the ball is rather a light thing to say , You mean more like they handed the ball , did a hand off , RIGHT INTO the Dragons hand , and the team memebers are cheering him as he is running right toward their own goal line . They done handed the ball off , to the WRONG ONE . They are not doing what God called them to do.
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