Author Archive: josuecontreras

Psalms 2

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1 Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

3 Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6 Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. (Psalm 2)

For those who would prove that God has a sense of humor, this passage affords the only testimony of God’s laughter. The subject matter, however, precludes there being any humor in this laughter.

Set before us is the arrogant rebellious attitude of the rulers of human governments who own no God but themselves. They rage and fume against the restrictions put upon them, their governments and their behavior by the decrees of the Almighty. They are filled with vain ambitions, pompous illusions of grandeur, exaggerated estimations of their persons and powers. These earthling rulers take counsel among themselves, with the vain hope of breaking the laws and limitations placed upon them by a sovereign God. They disagree, fight and war among themselves until God appears on their horizon; and then they unite and gather themselves together against Him and His Anointed. It is interesting to remember that Pilate and Herod were confirmed enemies until Jesus Christ entered their lives. From that day forward they became friends, united by their common hatred for Christ. This is a common refrain among men who are accustomed to grinding other men under their tyrannic heels. “We will not have this man (Christ) to reign over us.” They are unaccustomed to submitting themselves to men, and they think that they will not submit themselves to God either.

The Lord will have them in derision. He laughs at the foolish attempts of men to overthrow His good purpose. That God is not amused is clear in the next verse. He is angry. “He shall speak to them in His wrath.” When God speaks to wicked men, they hear no voice from heaven. Rather, they experience His displeasure. He “vexes” or troubles them. No nation has flaunted the moral laws of God, defied the divine order of justice, integrity and human relations, and survived to boast of it. All who have are now extinct, with the exception of the newest crop who will also soon follow them to the same inglorious grave.

God has established His own King. Jesus Christ has been crowned King of kings and Lord of lords in the court of heaven. And though earthly rulers will not willingly own His Lordship, He yet rules over them. To Him every knee will ultimately bow and every tongue will confess His Lordship. It would be wise if we did it now while He is yet willing to be our Saviour also.

-C.M.

Psalm 1

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1 Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3 And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4 The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5 Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6 For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalm 1)

In this first psalm, the writer draws upon rich imagery to mark out a sharp contrast between the righteous, the “blessed man,” the man whom the Lord “knows,” and the “ungodly,” those who fear not God. The God-fearing man does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. Their counsel or philosophy does not chart the course. The wisdom or reason of unconverted worldly minded men is set on mischief, avarice, greed, worldly lust, malice, temporal things. The godly man reasons differently. He delights in God’s law, God’s counsel, the inspired scriptures, God’s leadership by the Holy Spirit. He meditates upon them, thinks on them continually. They become a part of his being, and direct his every action and undertaking.

The righteous man does not stand in the way of sinners. His anchor is not theirs. He is not established by what they are. Their hope is in temporal things, wealth, power, the admiration of men, the achievements of men. He is established in Christ. He is like a tree planted. It is fixed forever, never to be moved as long as it lives. Like a tree planted by the rivers of water, the godly man is fixed in Christ Who is the way, the truth, and the life. All that man needs to sustain him and make him fruitful flows from Christ. As the planted tree brings forth fruit, so the righteous brings forth lasting fruit.

The ungodly do not stand. They have no certain fountain of water, so they dry up. They are not fixed, so they drift with the wind. They will not stand in the congregation of the righteous, and cannot stand in the day of judgment which will surely come.

The “blessed” man does not “sit” in the seat of the scornful. The scornful is a fool resting upon a false hope. He is at ease when he derides the righteous and mocks the warnings of a Holy God, but his rest and security are a delusion. It will surely fail. The blessed man rests under the shadow of the wings of the Almighty. The righteousness of Christ is his hope and refuge. Because his “leaf,” the vitality of his life, gathers food from the eternal God, it shall never with, but will prosper in all that he does.

-C.M.

Kiss The Son!

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“Now therefore be wise, O kings. Be instructed you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. And rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry”.

Psalm 2:10-11.

Present day kings of the earth should not be thought to be heads of state. That may have been true in times past, but power is rarely in their hands now. The Hitlers, Stalins, Titos, and Sadam Husseins may have a short day, a passing flash of glory, but they are soon overthrown in today’s world climate. No, the abiding power that holds sway over the minds and souls of today’s populace are those who sit at the heads of colleges and universities, determining what will be taught as truth. They are the popular authors and publishers of books who hold sway over the reading public, actors and producers of movies and television entertainment, who created a fantasy, a false illusion of values and realities of life. They are the news Anchors and talk-show Hosts who frame and color every event and pending consideration with a contempt for anything spiritual or godly. Included, also in today’s despots are Supreme court judges who, appointed for life, are free to frustrate the will and minds of the people and rule them by perverse interpretation and application of sound and wholesome laws.

These are they who rage, fume, and rail against God’s anointed King. They have determined that they will break the decrees of God, despise, slander and trod His blessed Son underfoot. They will change times and seasons, pervert right and wrong, and thumb their noses at every convention among civilized and orderly society that has the slightest connection with the Almighty.

The power of these creators of “political correctness” have succeeded in eliminating the hated three-letter “G” word from polite society and public speech! Profanity, obscenity and cursing is not only permitted, but admired; but let someone suggest that God exists or has anything to do with whatever comes to pass, and he is immediately censored, ridiculed, and silenced.

God’s laughter at this sort of thing must not be construed to be an indication of His sense of humor. It is a laugh of derision. Jesus Christ was not, as is usually portrayed by these “kings”, merely a good man, a social reformer who, unfortunately, ran afoul of the religious and political climate of his day, and had his objectives frustrated. No, the Almighty has set His King on High. All power is in His Hand…right now. All He needs do to ask the Father, and God will put a man, a king, a nation, in His Blessed Had to do with whatever He pleases. They are all His inheritance. Far from being frustrated Jesus accomplished exactly what He came to do…the redemption of His people. If the kings of the earth were wise, and not fools, they would be bowing at His feet, kissing His blessed Hand, and begging Him to be their Savior and King.

– C.M.

God’s Sanctifying Wrath

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“My voice You shall hear in the morning O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You. And I will look up. For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight: You hate all the workers of iniquity….The Lord abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.” (Psalm 5:3-6)

The Bible tells us that God is love. That statement is certainly true. Love is not merely an attribute of God: it is the essence of His Person. Love exists in the universe; men are capable of love and nobility only because they are made in the image of the Creator, and as finite mortals, partake in measure of Infinite Immortality.

God’s love, however, is popularly misrepresented. The enemy of our souls has cleverly twisted this Divine Benevolence to a caricature of a smiling old Grandfather who indulges the meanness and wickedness of people as merely innocent mischievousness. The Bible does not permit this concept, for the God of the Bible is Holy. Holiness is also the essence of His Person. Holiness is not suspended by love during the willful evil acts of men. His anger is ready to burn hot against all who practice wickedness.

Our text tells us that God positively hates all the workers of iniquity, that He abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. It is no small part of our prayers for His protection and deliverance to know that God is no friend of those who devour and persecute the righteous. We are made to understand that God is the Avenger of the downtrodden and abused, and are not moved to strike out against those who oppress us. Our God will do that much better, and far more effectively than we can. We are forbidden to hate them with a bitter carnal hatred, for our God hates them with a perfect and Holy Hatred.

So rather that rise in the morning, trembling and fearful of what may befall us during day, we may come before God with thanksgiving, praise and adoration, laying all our petitions in His Hand. If we are His obedient trusting child, He loves us with a holy and divine love. That means He will put a difference between us and all those who would oppress us. He destroyed the Egyptian army in pursuit of His liberated people. He will do no less for us. He is imminently worthy of our adoration.

– C. M.

A Singular Savior

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“Lord how have they increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me. ‘There is no help for him in God”. (Psalm 3: 1-3)

It is no easy matter to maintain our faith and peace when reversals seem to multiply against us. Our lives are on a fast track downhill. One ill tiding falls close on the heels of another. No small part of these manifold blows is the knowledge that everyone is taking note of them. Everyone who has had any peeve, envy, resentment or ill feeling toward us is taking courage from our miseries, and prophesying total ruin.

David’s son, Absalom has succeeded in mounting a rebellion against his father, and has enlisted much support. He has gathered such a host of the king’s enemies that the man whom the Lord loves is obliged to flee. Political bootlickers and news pundits, sensing David’s job performance approval has sunk to new lows, prophesy his case to be hopeless. “Not even God can help him now”!

Amazing! The arrogance of men! God may be God, and He may be supreme, sovereign and omnipotent; but after all those attributes are merely theological shibboleth. Nobody really counts on them as reality when they must be applied to the hard facts of circumstances. A few people may be over-ruled by God. Even a large number may be set aside by God’s power. But when it comes to a great multitude of people…all of them against us, is it not foolish for us to hope in God putting all those people’s opposition down?

But that is precisely what David did. “I cried unto the Lord with my voice. And He heard me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept: I awoke, for the Lord sustained me.” Nothing yet had changed on the public scene. The gainsayers were still shaking their heads. Enemies were still gloating. The rebellion was still growing, and David was still retreating. But the outcome of the battle was settled, and David was resting peacefully in that. One fact outweighed everything else that was happening: vs.8: “Salvation belongs to the Lord”. There is not enough flesh on earth, nor enough demons and devils in the heavenlies to overthrow God’s salvation. It is exclusive His alone to withhold or grant. Blessed is that man whose hope is in God.

– C. M.

A Majority of One

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“Lord, how are they increased that trouble me! Many are they that rise up against me. Many are they that say of my soul. There is no help for him in God. But thou O Lord art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.

I cried unto the LORD with my voice, and He heard me from His holy hill. I laid me down and slept” (Psalm 3:1-3)

Truth and reality is not discovered by majority vote. It is not created by the sum total of all the wisest and informed of men. All that should ever be that truly is, was before man was formed from the dust of the earth. In fact man came rather late. Although made in God’s image, he was the last on the agenda. His counsel was not taken into account in the ordaining and bringing to pass all of which the universe and its operation consist.

Job’s wisest counselors, his best friends came and sat with him for days before opening their mouths. When they had finished all their counsel, their analysis, and their prophecies, Job was as miserable, as ignorant, as stupid, as bitter and hopeless as before they appeared. He then adds his own ignorance to the sum of his friends. God’s reply comes swiftly and crisply. “Who is this that darkens

counsel by words without knowledge?” The Almighty then pounds them with a series of mouth closing questions: “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” “Where are the foundations fastened?” “Who laid the cornerstones?” “Have you….?” “Can you…?” “Will you…?” “Do you know the time…? “Who put wisdom in the mind?”

Parents certainly know more than children. Young men and women will do well to seek and listen to the counsel of elders. Considerable wisdom has been accumulated and preserved in libraries of good books. Pundits and editors exhort us from the pages of the publications or the venues from which they speak. But when we have heard them all, our questions are merely multiplied

Thousands of years of living in and exploring this planet has only increased its mysteries: and that is to say nothing of the boundless universe of which the earth is no more than a speck of dust.

When we find ourselves in a hopeless situation, and the best and most beloved of our available counselors give us no help, we ought lift our eyes a bit higher than the level of our fellow creatures. There is One Who stands outside all that is created, and Whose treasures of knowledge are unopened by creatures. He has the power, wisdom and compassion to silence our fears, and order our faltering steps. He will speak if we seek Him.

When He does, and we have been properly humbled from our arrogance, we will be enabled to quietly rest in the Voice that spoke when there was no one to hear, and yet abides as the single Source of all wisdom.

– C. M.

Choosing a Church by Conrad Murrell

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This is a privilege (or problem) that Christians of the first century did not have. In fact, there were no Christian “churches,” only heathen ones, since the word translated church, the Greek kuriakon, was an adjective describing a heathen temple. It is regrettable that our Bible translators did not preserve for us the more meaningful “fellowship” or “communion,” or “called” from the Greek ecclesia that is used to designate the body of Christian believers in the Bible.

In the first century, denominational divisions, doctrinal errors, apostasy splits and schisms had not yet taken their toll on the Christian community. When a person believed, he became a part of the only fellowship in the city or area where he lived.

In this country and in others where religion has not been uniformly mandated by the state, and where the gospel has been preached for scores of years, churches of all shades and sorts have sprung up. Not only is there a wide selection of denominations, and more recently, undenominated independent groups, but a considerable variety within one denomination.

This is more of a curse than a blessing, since we are now compelled to choose, not the best of something that is mostly all good, but the lesser of the evil out of what is practically all bad. That is the general case. There are, to be sure, some excellent churches; but every town or city or area in the U.S.A. does not have one. When a person lives in such a place, he must decide if he is going to subject himself and his family to one of the corrupt fountains of lies, or if he will take the responsibility of evangelizing in view of a true church being established. I am more immediately concerned in this paper, however, with those who do not have to make a choice like the one above. These live where, not only is the usual array of sick churches infecting all they contact with their own particular brand of religious disease, but a sound spiritual godly church exists. The question to be addressed is this: Can there be a valid reason to choose the unspiritual church, where there is a mixture of truth and error, and where flesh dominates the spirit, rather than the spiritual fellowship, where flesh is mortified and God is exalted by the Spirit?

I have too long delayed addressing the problem in a definitive dogmatic way, preferring rather to say, “You do what the Lord leads you,” or “Whatever you have liberty to do,” or “Whatever you think best,” feeling I had no right to tell anyone what church they should embrace.

There are certain biblical considerations, however, under which a free choice must be guided, and I do not think I can any longer escape my responsibility to call attention to them.

1 The church of God is declared to be the pillar and ground of truth [I Tim. 3:15].

Therefore a church that does not believe and teach the Holy Scriptures, the whole counsel of God, is not worthy of consideration. (And what one will not teach, he does not believe.) It must not dilute, avoid, diminish, or distort those difficult and humanly distasteful portions of God s word which are so essential to our salvation. It is not enough that it preaches faithfully certain truths, and simply avoids, without attacking, other biblical teachings. A false prophet is marked, not only by the error he teaches, but by the truth he avoids. This usually makes him appear more of a nice fellow, a wolf in sheep s clothing. How can a church profess to be the pillar and ground of truth when it teaches only man s responsibility and avoids divine sovereignty? Or when it teaches only the glories and power of Christ, carefully avoiding any reference to the moral demands of God upon man?

2 The church of the living God is a habitation of God through the Spirit (Eph. 2:22).

A people that is not spiritually alive cannot be a habitation of God. It is altogether possible for one to be orthodox in doctrine, correct in creed, meticulous in the fine points of hair-splitting theology, and be altogether empty of spiritual vitality. True Christianity is warm, vibrant, alive in personal communion with God through the Holy Spirit. It is careful and responsive to the needs of all its members. They are demonstrably loving and affectionate, unafraid of emotional demonstration. It lives, acts, prays, wages warfare by the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.

3 Nothing can be considered the church of Jesus Christ that has not Him as its Head (Eph. 5:23).

Most all churches make this claim for themselves; but even a casual investigation will often prove Him to be only a figurehead. Ask a few reasonable questions: Who really governs it? Who or what is consulted when decisions are to be made? From whence comes its polity and rules of practice, the scriptures, or tradition? To whom do its members look for approval and guidance in their actions? Whom does it strive to please?

A church that has a pope, an imposter professing himself to be the vicar of Christ, is not the Lord s church: it is the pope s church. A non-Catholic one which has a pastor making claims to be God s living word to the membership is not the Lord s church: it is the preacher s. (It is usually actually called his church). Nor can a church be Christian which fears to make any move that is not sanctioned by a denomination s practice, policy or tradition. Call it voluntary cooperation if you wish; the fact remains, that church s life is not ordered by Christ. It is dictated by the denomination, if not by legal coercion, then by popular pressure. Nor can a church ordered by a deacon board or by congregational vote be headed by Christ. If we are to commit ourselves to a body of believers in the way the Bible says members must, then we must be certain that church, to the best of its ability, is headed by Christ alone.

4 Members of a Christian church stand perfectly holy, accepted in the Beloved before God wholly on the basis of the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:4-6), Titus 3:4-5).

It is His death that satisfies God s justice on our behalf, His blood that covers our sins, and His person that presents us perfect in God s presence. Churches which add something to Christ, despise, cheapen and make His perfect work seem inadequate. Whether it be baptisms, sacraments, tongues, penances, external righteousness, catechisms, confessions, or whatever . . . they are all denials of Christ s sacrifice as a full and complete satisfaction to God for His elect for all time and eternity. We who begin in the Spirit must not hope to finish in the flesh. Let us not defile the white garment of Christ with the filthy garments of our own works for any religious affiliation. We must not subject ourselves to a fellowship that hopes in other than Christ Jesus alone.

5 The true people of God are a people who are not only counted holy for Christ s sake, but a people who are holy in their daily walk. They are a separated, peculiar, different people, markedly distinctive from the world and false religion (II Cor. 6:14-7:1).

They do not turn the grace of God into lasciviousness. Freedom in Christ to them means freedom from the penalty and power of sin, not freedom to sin. They hold in great awe God s holy law, and like the Psalmist, consider it a delight, “sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.”

If a little leaven leaveneth a whole lump, how much more will a leavened lump leaven what is added to it. Or how much more must we expect to get polluted if we get in a barrel of apples already rotting with the worldliness of loose lawless living? Especially must we flee from churches where the leadership is allied with lodges, clubs, fraternities and societies. The Bible is explicit on that point: Be ye not unequally yoked with unbelievers. They may protest that these organizations do much human good and that they speak often of God, that they use the Bible for their morals and dogma. This we do not deny. Atheists also quote scriptures when it serves their liking and purpose. Some lodges are, no doubt, religious, and its members required to believe in a “supreme being,” but that is far from Christianity. Be assured that there are no Christian fraternities or societies outside the Christian church. The true believer in Christ neither needs nor desires any. The Lord established one fellowship, the church which He purchased in His blood. He intended His people s community needs be met in it and none other.

6. The church of the Lord Jesus Christ is obedient to His commands, especially those which direct us to evangelize and make disciples.

The immediate consequences of true spiritual worship and communion in Christ is a bold and aggressive witness to the unbelieving world. A church without a mission is a locomotive without a track. It is consuming energy and going nowhere. It is cursed soil drinking in nourishment and rain, bringing no fruit. It is a barren tree destined to wither and die. Avoid those super elite groups, those myopic moles who have no vision, the lazy, self-centered gluttons who produce no more than they can consume. Be sure your church has a concerted outreach with the gospel in which you can share.

Some of you may now be thinking that there are special reasons, extenuating circumstances, special exceptions, which make it advisable for you to choose the less spiritual church. It has, perhaps, a more attractive program of activities for your children. More of your friends or relatives attend there. It is the old established church in the community, and it would be a scandalous break with tradition to leave it. You feel like you can reach more people, have a wider ministry for yourself in a church that has more people, even though it is short on truth and holiness and long on worldliness and unbelief. I beg of you to carefully consider the following and see if the above advantages will outweigh the following damages.

A. In spite of what you may have heard, the first consideration in a church is your own spiritual needs – not your ministry.

If you are not built up in the faith, you will have no worth-while ministry, only a false and self-destructive one. We have too much of that kind already. Consider then, what this polluted fountain will do to your own spiritual life and that of your family. Is it worth defiling your home with the world, the flesh and the devil? And that under the pretense of Christianity? If a man is a fool to gain the whole world at the cost of his soul, are you making any better bargain here? Please do not be so naive as to think it will not so affect you. It will most certainly do so. You cannot take fire to your bosom and not be burned, or touch the filthy without becoming defiled yourself. Is it worth it? The cost may be higher than you think. Wrong spiritual values, false teachings, moral corruptions fomenting broken homes, rebellious children and shipwrecked lives, all flow like a torrent from these worldly churches.

B. Your choice of the worldly church over the admittedly more spiritual one scandalizes the church more true to the Lord Jesus Christ.

You bring a reproach upon the bride of Christ and persecute her for righteousness sake, for you testify to the community by your choice that the worse is the better, and the better to be rejected.

How illogical and unreasonable it is for you to say, “Yes, I admit that church A is made up of holy God-fearing people who hate evil, love righteousness, teach truth, sacrificially give of themselves to glorify God and publish His word. However, in my circumstances, I think it is better for me to participate in church B, which is inferior spiritually, but has other valuable advantages.” What sort of signal are you giving to the world? It is either that carnal considerations are worth more than spiritual ones, that you do not really believe that church A is the more spiritual one, or that you are no true Christian yourself.

C. When you give yourself, time, energy and money to the carnal church, you are, in that measure, aiding an enemy of the Cross and helping build it up.

Surely you do not think your contributions go only into what spiritual values the church sponsors and not into its Christ-denying activities. No, you support the whole thing, that which is devilish as well as that which is divine.

The more you build up the hybrid, the greater image you give it in the community, and the more souls it will attract, entrap, deceive and corrupt. You help promote a false concept of the Christian church and Christianity in general. The greater it waxes, the darker the community becomes, for darkness has insinuated itself as light. When the light of men becomes darkness, the false passed off for the real, how great is that darkness!

D. At the same time you are building up the world’s church, you are weakening the Lord’s church. To the extent it is deprived of the fellowship and support you ought to be giving it, you are starving it of its rightful gifts for the true gospel ministry.

How must the Lord Jesus view this betrayal of the sheep, this shunning of the cross of reproach, this preference of the earthly over the heavenly? Is it enough for us to admire, and laud those who bear the heavy load of sacrificial labors and endure the shame of worldly and religious ostracization while we take the easier route of cheap worldly approved Christendom that requires no more of us than the flesh can deliver without hurting itself? Let Isaac Watt s hymn ask us the question afresh:

Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb?

And shall I fear to own His cause, Or blush to speak His name?

Must I be carried to the skies On flowery beds of ease,

While others fought to win the prize And sailed through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood?

Is this vile world a friend to grace, To help me on to God?

When we choose the fleshy over the spiritual, we rob the true church of our fellowship, deprive ourselves of its benefits, and encourage others to leave it for the “going thing.” Thus we weaken ourselves, the church and Christian witness in general.

But, one will now object that he has a greater audience in the bigger, more worldly church. He has a bigger “ministry” there. He is there to shine light in darkness.

Please hear me carefully on this point, for it is the one that seems most reasonable and noble, and the excuse that is most often invoked for embracing the compromising church. Dear Christian friend, when the Lord spoke of light shining in darkness, He spoke of the church shining in the world, not the Christian shining in a worldly church. If that “church” is darkness, then Ephesians 5:11 certainly applies: “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” We who join them reprove the light and approve the darkness. The church of Christ is light shining in the darkness of this world. We should be a part of the light, not the darkness. The world, not the church, is the mission field; and we evangelize by being different, not part of it.

If we really believe that we effectively evangelize what we join, then let us select the most wicked, worldly ungodly groups in the country, and shed our light in that darkness. At least we would not be giving them our endorsement as a true Christian church by so doing. I suspect we do not really believe that: that we join the worse church because we like it better. It allows our flesh more comfort, and its darkness shields us from the brilliance of God s truth and life in the cross of Christ.

It may be noted that Paul preached in religious darkness when he began in a city s synagogue. He did not join it, and his preaching was of extremely short duration. No sooner did that darkness perceive that the light of the gospel was making their religion worthless than he was thrown out. Today s unbelieving half-apostate church will love the gospel no better. If we apply its truth to the particular lie that they embrace, we will no longer be allowed to minister under its auspices. You cannot make a stand for Christ, truth, and holy living and remain an accepted part of it. You cannot do otherwise and walk in communion with Christ.

The true Christian church has never been, is not now, nor ever will be any more than a small, rejected, despised sect. Therefore, “It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! (Luke 17:1)” Let us joyfully, willingly bear His reproach, not join those who reproach Him.

– Conrad Murrell

Christians, true to the gospel given us by our crucified and risen Lord, were forced to go underground in 300 A.D. when Constantine became emperor of Rome and married the church to the world. They survived until the Protestant Reformation as the hated and bitterly persecuted “heretics.” Their hopes that the Reformers would restore primitive church life and order were quickly disappointed, and Protestants killed and persecuted more Christians than Roman Catholics did.

Those of us, therefore, who wish to follow the Lord Jesus Christ in sound and full Bible truth cannot find our spiritual ancestry in either Roman Catholic or Protestant churches. Nor can it be found in any of the widely proliferated rootless Charismatic sects and cults that about today. Their history is less than a century old, the most modern of all deviations from Christianity.

There is, however, a people, a remnant as there always has been. They will never have an admired name in this world, will always be given the lowest place among religions. They are still the ecclesiastical outcasts, the “heretics.” But it is among these that we who love the rejected Saviour and worship the reigning King Jesus, will find our true spiritual roots.

People who do not go to church go to hell

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Shocking statement? Unquestionably! But can it be proven? Only to those who believe the Bible to be the authoritative Word of God. To those who do not, nothing can be proven, for their own darkened mind is the only absolute they know. Nothing can be proven to them that they do not wish to believe.

Jesus Christ is the only acceptable sacrifice for sins. God has appointed His Son, the Christ, the Savior, the Redeemer, the substitute sin-bearer, to take away the sins of all who trust in Him. But there is a sin for which the blood of Christ will not avail, for which there is no sacrifice.

“For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries” (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Now what is this “willful sin” for which there is no sacrifice? The man does not live who has not sinned since being enlightened with truth. Then are all men doomed? Will they all go to hell because they have sinned after they knew better? Assuredly not! Christ has redeemed and purchased with His blood a people for His glory. They will never perish. Sin, in the general sense, is not in view here. The preceding verse names the sin for which there is no remedy.

“Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is . . .” (Hebrews 10:25).

Jesus Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it (Ephesians 5:25). The word church is translated from a Greek word meaning “called out assembly.” It is the unvarying nature of those who are called by God to salvation to assemble together. Buy nature they are gregarious. They love to congregate. There is no exception to this rule. Governments may pass laws against it; they will break them. Burn their meeting houses; they will meet in barns. Torture them and put them to death; they will meet in holes in the ground under bridges, in the wilderness. You can sooner prevent the rivers from flowing to the seas than stop the redeemed people of God from meeting. If you fancy that you have a salvation, yet no longing to congregate with others who are only pilgrims and travelers through this world, then you have a Christianity that is alien to the Bible and to Christian history. Those who forsake, abandon and utterly leave the company of the just go to hell, because they have no grace of God in them. They do not have the nature of God’s called out assembly.

Please do not think you have satisfied this criteria with the “electronic church.” You cannot assemble, exhort and comfort one another around the image of a “boob on a tube” or a bellow from a box. I will tell you why you prefer the television or the radio to the local church. You have nothing in common with the people of God, so you feel uncomfortable among them. You can salve your conscience with some generous donations to your favorite “electronic pastor” and avoid the costly, soul-searching experience of direct encounter with genuine living saints of God.

I say again, people who do not go to church go to hell. But where is the church? Is it in the “established church”? Is it the building on the corner with the steeple on the roof? Not necessarily. These may not be the church at all. But please be warned. It is most certainly not a casual visit or an occasional meeting with another professor of Christianity when the subject of religion may pop up inadvertently. The church is the deliberate and purposeful meeting of the redeemed around Jesus Christ expressly for worship and instruction in the Word. It is a gathering of those who worship God in Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3). They have a fellowship that cannot be held solitary. It must be shared.

There are, of course, those who are infirm, who cannot go where believers assemble. But if believers are near, and know of such a Christian, then they will surely come to him. Then there are those who live where there are no other Christians. When a true believer finds himself in such a circumstance, he will witness and preach until there is a church with which to worship. Then, of course, there is that slim possibility of “death bed repentance.” But the likelihood that God would then grant you repentance who have all your life rejected the gospel is indeed most precarious.

Then will I go to hell because I do not go to church? Certainly not. You will go to hell because you despise the law of God, you trample under feet the Son of God, you consider His redeeming blood of no more value than slaughter-house sewage, and you despise God’s Holy Spirit of grace (Hebrews 10:28-29).

Will going to church assure me of salvation? Not at all. Only God can save. You must be born from above. Salvation is of the Lord. You must first of all acknowledge that you are a wicked hell-deserving sinner and all you r pretenses of righteousness are useless; your excuses lie and your good works are worthless. Get your mind and heart under the preaching of a man of God who knows God and the gospel and is not afraid to preach it. Trust God to forgive and save you from your sins for Christ’s sake. And when the Lord does save you, I can tell you on the authority of heaven, you will continue to meet with the company of believers.
“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).

Conrad Murrell.