Grace to Help in Time of Need

Berean Baptist on April 21, 2015

As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness. (Psalms 17:15)

Most of us are very well acquainted with King David who is one of the Bible’s most prominent characters. Throughout the Old Testament, there are multiple prophecies that speak of a coming kingdom in which the great Messiah will sit on the throne of David to rule in perfect righteousness. The New Testament reveals Jesus as this great king who came from the household and lineage of David. We are well familiar with these prophecies as we have spoken of them often while studying the Gospel of Matthew.

Perhaps we may be somewhat perplexed by David because we also know of David’s great struggles with sin. In many sermons I mention the terrible sin that David committed with Bathsheba and then the subsequent cover-up in which David had her husband Uriah murdered. How is it possible these terrible sins could mesh with the promise that God would establish David’s throne forever? The answer lies in God’s grace. God graciously forgives the repentant sinner. No matter what you have done, if you humbly kneel before God and confess your sins and repent of them, God will forgive you.

In Psalm 17, we do not see David’s sins. Instead, we see David maintaining his integrity before God, insisting he loved the Lord and depended upon Him for protection. Even though David knew he was often guilty of sin, this was a time when he was aware of forgiveness and could claim the comfort of renewed fellowship. Psalm 17 is just a remarkable piece of poetry that shows David’s complete confidence in God and his hope that when this life is over he would meet the Lord face to face.

There are several verses in this Psalm that are particularly impressive. Among these are verses 3, 8, and 15. David said in verse 3: “Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress.” This was a time that David was determined that sin should not reign in him. He invited the Lord to examine him and search for any fault that could be found. He was confident there was no sin that could be discovered. This makes me wonder how many of us would do the same. Many of us have open sins and many more have secret sins. Could we make the same claim as David with confidence and be sure the Lord would find nothing but righteousness?

In verse 8, he said: “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings.”  This shows David knew his relationship with the Lord. God’s love for him surpassed all human love. Describing it required the sweetest prose that could be written.

Verse 15 says: “As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness: I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with thy likeness.” How often this theme is repeated in scripture. The hope of the Christian is that one day we shall see God. From Job, one of the most ancient of Bible characters who said, “And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” to John the last living apostle who wrote, “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is,” this has been the hope of all believers that fully trust in Jehovah God. Notice the correlation of David’s words with John’s. David: “I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.” John: “We shall be like him; for we shall see him as is.”

I encourage you to read the 17th Psalm carefully with serious contemplation. When you are faced with trying circumstances, pray that you will see God as David saw Him. Whenever your heart is right as David’s was, you can come boldly to the throne of grace and find grace to help in time of need (Heb. 4:16).

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Practical Atheism

Berean Baptist on April 6, 2015

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalms 14:1)

In commenting on this text, Matthew Henry wrote: “There is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin.” The first verse of Psalm 14 is the creed of the fool. He says, “There is no God.” As Christians, we read this thinking there is nothing more disgusting than the atheist that boldly and defiantly shakes his finger in the face of God and says, “You do not exist.” J. Vernon McGee stated that atheism is the worst of man’s depravity. In other words, a person can sink no lower in sin than to become an atheist. No wonder we are disgusted when confronted with the pseudo intelligence of our public school teachers and the professors in our colleges and universities that foist their depraved philosophies on our children. They deny the existence of God and give blanket approval to the worst social degradation our country has ever experienced.

Yet, while we are so angry at the blatant atheist, we must remember what Matthew Henry said: “There is something of practical atheism at the bottom of all sin.” These are sobering words to the Christian that harbors sin in his life and refuses to be yielded to the power of the Holy Spirit. Each time we sin, we become the practical atheist that refuses to obey God. If we truly do believe He is supreme and worthy of worship and is due all honor—if we truly believe He is offended by our unrighteousness—would we dare continue in our sins? If we really believe there are consequences to sin, would we shake our fingers in God’s face and say, “We will defy you?” Whoever stood in the physical presence of Jesus Christ truly believing He was God and then turned his back and walked away? Yet this is what we do when we let sin rule us and take no thought to confess our crimes. Practically, we do not believe in God.

I remember years ago my father preached on this text. He would always say when reading Psalm 14:1, “The fool also says, ‘No! God.” The fool defies God. He says no to His face which is what we do when we continue to live in the vileness of the flesh. It is far more understandable for the atheist to say there is no God than for the Christian that has tasted His divine grace to say no to Him.

We understand why God says the wicked will be cast into hell, and we certainly understand that atheists are deserving of the wrath of God. What we fail to understand is that Christians having been shown God’s favor and yet still continuing in sin are more deserving of hell than the spiritually blinded. As I see it, the grace of God is multiplied ten thousand times over in our preservation to eternal life than in the initial granting of repentance and faith. Paul said, “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?” (Rom. 6:1). Apparently we think so. No wonder scripture says God’s people are kept by His power. Without His mercy and grace salvation would be lost in a heartbeat.

Thank God for persevering and preserving grace. All of us have a touch of atheism in us, so don’t be so unsympathetic to the souls of avowed atheists. We are being saved daily from our own practical atheism.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Why Are You Here?

Berean Baptist on March 31, 2015

When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained;  [4]  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him? (Psalms 8:3-4)

When I read the 8th Psalm, I am always struck by David’s humility as he observed the handiwork of God in the creation of the universe. This Psalm was written nearly 3000 years ago when there were no devices to explore the far reaches of the universe. There was no such thing as purchasing a small telescope from a local hobby store much less to think of the Hubble Telescope that was launched into space on top of a giant rocket.

As David looked at the stars, he observed with what we would call a primitive mind unable to fathom how vast the size of the universe. With his limited ability, what he could see was so overwhelming that he sunk at his puny insignificance. He regarded the intricate work of creation as the skillful activity of the finger of God. Like a fine craftsman that pays attention to the smallest detail, David saw God as the master architect of all things animate and inanimate. In his insignificance, David asked, “What is man that thou art mindful of him?” With what he could see he was overwhelmed and felt as lowly as a speck of dust.

We would think with David’s reaction that further revelation and exploration of the vastness of the universe would only lead us to greater amazement at what God has done. How much more our insignificance is intensified when we know the distance between stars and galaxies must be measured in light years which is impossible for us to comprehend. David did not know that each of the stars is comparable to the sun in size with many being much larger. He did not know the observable portion of the universe with the stars he could see was only a minute fraction of the entire creation.

Now these thousands of years later, we know these things but instead of being overwhelmed at the magnitude of it all and reaching superlative levels of amazement at the power of God, scientists tell us there was no intelligent design. Stephen Hawking the brilliant (?) theoretical physicist proposed the universe actually was self-created. Was David really the one with the primitive mind? With what little he knew, he was wise enough to understand the universe could not just simply happen. The puzzle of the moon and the stars was just a beginning point for him. What about the intricacies of the human body (Psalm 139:14)? A self-created universe means all living things are also self-created. Is it possible intelligence could lead to such conclusions?

God has given us the ability to see more and know more. We would think the increase of knowledge would lead to one conclusion—God did more far more than first imagined. How foolish we must be to ever have discounted His sovereign control over all affairs in the creation. David correctly assessed his self-worth with his limited knowledge. But the knowledge he had of the true living God was not innate. God revealed Himself to David as his Saviour and Redeemer. This is the great missing link to the universe the scientists do not have. They miss the handiwork of God because they have not been given special revelation of the redeeming work of Christ. These scriptures present not only the greatness of God, but also the powerful deceptive abilities of Satan. When scientists also miss the natural revelation of God, it only further accentuates the helplessness of man. We are utterly incapable of finding God on our own.

Take a moment to consider the divine providence of God in your life. Why are you here today while there are hundreds that pass this church without thinking of the majesty of God? Why did God allow you to receive the special revelation of His marvelous grace? Are you wiser than others? Do you possess intelligence beyond that of Stephen Hawking and were able to figure it out? You know better. His intelligence led him to deeper darkness and so would yours. Utter foolishness says we hear and believe because we have greater insight. We hear and believe because God made it so. His sovereign plan is His choice of you not your choice of Him. Why are you here? Only because of the grace of God and don’t ever forget it.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Church Discipline

Berean Baptist on March 16, 2015

Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. [2] Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:1-2)

 

The subject of church discipline is so foreign to many Christians that they do not recognize the terminology and have no understanding of what we mean by it. The reason for this is the utter neglect of churches to practice one of the beginning principles Jesus taught the early church. I find it remarkable that in Matthew’s Gospel there are only three direct references to the church. Two of these are in Matthew 18:17 which deal with the subject of church discipline. I do not think we can escape the conclusion of the importance of the topic.

If you do not know what is meant by church discipline, the easiest definition I can give relates to the holiness of the Lord’s church. The church of Christ is a group of baptized believers that are bound by the commandments of Christ and have covenanted together to do God’s work. Primarily, this work is to uphold the truth of God’s word and to evangelize the world for Christ. Included in this commitment to do the Lord’s work, is the agreement for each member to be held accountable to the standard of righteousness set by the Lord Himself. Anything that has God’s sanction must reflect the character of our holy and righteous God. Therefore, God expects His people to live lives of purity and holiness.

Scripture refers to the church as the body of Christ. The metaphor of a human body is used to show how closely connected we are to each other in that every action we perform has an effect on the entire body. Once we become members of the body, we are not free to act independently of each other. The sin of any member of the church is a reflection on all the other members and is a reproach upon the name of Christ. In order to protect the reputation of the church and the name of Christ, we are commanded to carefully watch the activities of each member to be sure they promote rather than retard God’s work. While church discipline is good for the entire body, we must also understand it is best for the individual. The goal is that every member would enjoy the blessings of obedience. We never discipline to harm but to enhance the fellowship each member can have with the body and with Christ. In short, discipline preserves the purity of the body.

Despite the obvious critical mandate for discipline, the numbers of churches that practice any kind of discipline are very few and far between. It is supposed that church members will not tolerate the intrusion of scrutiny in their lives. I find this to be a completely bogus claim, for if a person is yielded to the Holy Spirit, he desires intimacy with the Lord that can only be achieved by obedience. Nothing could be desired more than to have fellow believers in Christ faithfully warn when they see them going astray. The Holy Spirit led person wants all gracious influences to be employed to keep them in the fellowship of the Spirit. If this is not the desire of the church member, do we or Christ desire them to be a part of the body? The Matthew passage clearly says those that walk disorderly and refuse the correction of the church are to be treated as unbelievers. This is critical because only truly regenerated believers are eligible for church membership.

There is much to be said on this subject and it is not something we can choose to ignore. To do so is to defile the body of Christ with sin. Please carefully consider the responsibility placed on every member. We are to guard against sin in our lives and to lovingly guard against it in the lives of others (Gal 6:1-2).

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Judgment Is Coming

Berean Baptist on March 2, 2015

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works… [15] And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:12, 15) 

 We are now approaching the end of our congregational readings in the book of Revelation. This is the end of the Bible, the last of the sixty-six books that were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The last themes of Revelation are the final states of the righteous and the wicked. After thousands of years of man’s existence, there will come a time when his eternal future will be unalterably fixed. The 20th chapter concerns the final state of the wicked and since this is our reading for today we will focus our attention on the scene described in verses 11-15. This is known as the Great White Throne Judgment. This judgment is for people that have never trusted Jesus Christ as Saviour and received His perfect righteousness for their justification with God.

This judgment takes place in God’s courtroom, but the operations of God’s court are somewhat different from ours. In our courts, the outcome is at first undetermined because the accused is presumed innocent until he can be proven guilty. At this judgment bar, every person is guilty. There is no presumption of innocence; there is no evidence presented for acquittal because none exists. God’s judgment is based on perfect righteousness. However, when the books are opened there are no records of righteousness. This is beyond argument because God’s word has already declared, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Psalm 14:2-3).

Wouldn’t it be to your great advantage if you could see the books ahead of time and learn what they contain? The entries are your sins, which are transgressions of God’s law. There are many things in the books that you might not be aware of, but there are plenty that you do know if you will just think about them and be honest with yourself. Actually, honesty is one of your greatest problems. The Bible says that all people are liars. You know there are multiple instances of lies on your account. Have you ever used God’s name as a curse word or were you in any way irreverent with the use of His name? No doubt that list is quite long as well. Did you ever miss a day at church because your priorities were higher than God’s? There are a lot of Sundays in your life. How many of those did you use for self instead of Him? The list of occasions of idolatry are too numerous to count. What about lust? Jesus said if a man only looks at a woman to lust after her, he has already committed adultery with her in his heart (the reverse is also true for women). God has a record of all those times. Do we need to go on and cover all the commandments to show you are guilty of breaking them all and breaking them multiple times? Now you know what God will check when He pulls up your account.

Since I don’t have much space and this is a huge topic, let me just mention the gravest sin of all. Did you notice in both Revelation 20:12 and 20:15 the mention of the book of life? Every person judged at the Great White Throne is missing from the book of life. The book of life is a book of righteousness. It is a book that contains the names of all that have been given the righteousness God requires. This is the righteousness of faith which is transferred directly to you from the merits of the perfect life of Christ. This is given to those that repent of their sins and trust Jesus as Lord and Saviour. Those that do not are guilty of the gravest sin of all—the rejection of the perfect sacrifice for sin. The gravest sin of all is to trample the precious blood of Christ under your feet and despise the grace of God.

Are you in the book of life? I have some good news for you—you can know this ahead of time. Have you repented of your sins and do you trust Jesus Christ and only Him as your perfect righteousness? If so, your name is there. You do not need to fear the Great White Throne Judgment because you will not be there. All others—beware!

                                                                                    Pastor V. Mark Smith

You and the Pastor

Berean Baptist on February 16, 2015

And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)

One of the difficulties of pastoral leadership is handling disappointments without discouragement. A pastor is expected to be exuberant, cheerful, and positive at every service no matter what may be going on in the church or in his personal life. Another pastor once advised me to never let the people know when you are sick, never ask specifically for personal prayer, never show any vulnerability because each of these will be seen as weakness and will make you an ineffective leader. I am not sure if there was ever a worse piece of advice given because pastors are vulnerable, do get sick, and need personal prayer just like any other member of the church. It is a great myth fostered by many independent Baptist pastors that they are demigods and should be treated as such. This only fuels the unbiblical teaching of separation between clergy and laity.

For the most part, I handle the sicknesses and the occasional personal problems without much difficulty. The most trying times for me are when I see church members that help foster separation between the pastor and the people by acting as if the requirements of their Christianity are different from those of the pastor. It might be helpful to understand that in the first century pastors were not appointed by denominations; they were not graduates of seminaries that waited with diploma in hand to be picked over by leaderless congregations. Pastors were chosen from among the people and most of them spent their lives with that one group of people. Working consistently and faithfully in the church was a common enterprise for all the members, not just a special few.

I am never disappointed in the Lord because I know He does all things well. I have a much harder time not being disappointed with people. Our Sunday School Superintendent, Taber Jarrell, sent an email reminding teachers about faithfulness in teaching and also commitment to church attendance. Taber said it well: “The children, as well as adults in our church family and especially our class, are watching and learning from our testimony—let them find us most faithful.  I would ask that you carefully consider before being absent from your class, or service of the church, is there any way I can find a way to be present and in my place of service?”

Our church needs a revival of commitment from all members. It is understandable to miss for vacations and when work or other situations are unavoidable. I am concerned, however, that most absences are avoidable. Much of it is plain indifference rather than necessity. Including WEDNESDAY evening, we have four hours of worship each week which hardly seems too much for the Lord to ask. Corporate worship is not a suggestion from the Lord; it is commanded. As church attendance dwindles, separation, consecration, and holiness follow suit. Consider your children. Are they better off for your example or worse?

You are no different than the pastor. The Lord requires the same from you as He does from me. Could you tolerate me as pastor if I approached church responsibilities as you do? Think about it and get back to me. If you love Christ, your truthful evaluation will fix you and encourage me greatly.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

 

Earthly Instructions for Heaven’s Citizens

Berean Baptist on February 4, 2015

For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: (Philippians 3:20)

In the morning preaching service, I am starting a four part sermon series on Christian citizenship. The basis for our study is Matthew 17:22-27 in which Jesus taught the disciples their responsibility to the Roman and Jewish authorities. The issue is raised in the matter of taxation, in this case a temple tax, and Jesus used this incident to show the disciples how we are to be good citizens of our country in order that we might not hinder the preaching of the gospel.

When we become Christians, we are born into the family of God and become heirs of the riches of Christ. We are in the world but no longer of this world. We are citizens of the new heavenly country and we are to reflect the worthiness and character of people that are privileged to be granted citizenship. In Philippians 3:20, our King James Version uses the word conversation which had much more depth of meaning in past centuries than it does today. The word means “the conduct of our lives” or “the manner in which we live our lives.” This usage is reflected in our modern word “citizenship.”

Christians are to be good citizens even when we do not agree with everything our government does. As we shall see in the next few weeks, human government was ordained for our good and where it does not conflict with our obedience to Christ we are to defer to it. In today’s text, Jesus made the point that He was not subject to the Jews’ taxation, but rather than create a needless controversy over something they did not yet understand, it was better to accede to their demands. If Jesus had been insistent that He should not pay the tax, He would have been considered an anarchist and troublemaker which would have given the Romans and Jews a viable cause to crucify Him.

We must keep the same things in mind as we live in this world while being citizens of another world. We must always reflect well on the Saviour. If we are persecuted, it should be for our well-doing not because we have offended others needlessly. Matthew Henry wrote: “Christian prudence and humility teach us, in many cases, to recede from our right, rather than give offence by insisting upon it. We must never decline our duty for fear of giving offence…; but we must sometimes deny ourselves in that which is our secular interest, rather than give offence.”

We often encounter laws enacted by Congress and our local governments that we do not agree with (especially taxes!). Sometimes our lawmakers pass nonsensical laws and many we think are surely more harmful to our country than helpful. While our government allows peaceful protest of these laws, we must be very cautious in our exercise of the right to protest. When Christians picket and make a ruckus over issues that do not affect the heavenly kingdom, they can inadvertently bring the heavenly kingdom into the controversy. It is better that we bear the inequities of bad legislation rather than reproach the Kingdom of God.

These are some of the things we will discuss over the next few weeks. At times you may think you are back in middle school civics class. This is fine because we need to look at secular citizenship through the lens of heavenly citizenship. Someone said Bible stands for “Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth.” The Bible instructs Christians on living in this perverse world. You cannot be a good citizen of heaven if you are not a good citizen here.

 

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Mystery Babylon the Great

Berean Baptist on January 19, 2015

Today’s congregational reading is from the 17th chapter of Revelation which is one of the most fascinating, intriguing portions of the book. This chapter gives a glimpse of the future of religion in the time of the Tribulation, and in many ways it mirrors the current religious climate of our world today. Described in these verses is the religion system of the Antichrist that is an integral part of his government. This religious system is a mixture of all the great religions of the world headed up by apostate Christianity.

In has never been Satan’s main tactic to convince people to be atheists. He knows that man was created with the innate knowledge of God and rather than fight against human nature he chooses to exploit to his best advantage man’s ignorance of the true God. Since the beginning of the church two thousand years ago, Satan’s greatest weapon has been to pervert the gospel by corrupting the church and creating a confusing counterfeit. Today, Christianity claims two billion adherents most of which have some affiliation with the Roman Catholic Church. Through the centuries, Roman Catholicism has proved to be a great compromiser and thus Satan’s most effective counterfeit. During the Reformation, it was common for the reformers to equate Mystery Babylon the Great (17:5) with the Roman Catholic Church. Having been part of the Catholic system themselves, they were very familiar with the rife corruption within.

It has always been the method of Catholicism to increase her numbers by compromise. In the fourth century, Constantine saw the advantages of joining Christianity with his secular government but it was difficult to convince pagans to give up their mythological gods. To diffuse the opposition, the gods of the pagans were given new names and incorporated into the worship of Catholicism. Although known by different names, their practice of worshipping Mary, the saints, and angels predates Christianity by thousands of years going all the way back to the construction of Babel in Genesis 11. In its missionary efforts through the centuries, when Catholicism wanted to embrace a different culture it was never a problem for them to incorporate the superstitions of their converts.

In the Tribulation, history will repeat itself as Roman Catholicism will be the head of the Antichrist’s apostate religion. Compromises will be abundant in order to mix all of the world’s religions into one satanic concoction that will help the Antichrist rise to power and control the world. Today, we see the movement has already begun. When the ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together) was signed in 1994, many big name Protestant and Catholic leaders agreed to cooperate in their efforts to propagate the gospel. This was done notwithstanding Rome’s gross perversion of the doctrine of justification. The chief battle in the Reformation was the correction of Rome’s false gospel which doomed the souls of its adherents to hell. This was laid aside in the ECT as being inconsequential, which makes the ecumenicism of the agreement nothing less than the affirmation of the Antichrist’s agenda.

In 2015, it is hard to find a religious leader that still identifies the Great Whore of Revelation with the Roman Catholic Church. Satan’s deception goes on as one world church and religion become more of a reality every day. When the leaders of our country, which claim to be Christians, cover up the atrocities of Islam and approve them as seekers finding their own path to God they are setting us up for the convergence of all religions. As the president and congress give up national sovereignty, they pave the way for the one world government of the Antichrist. Mix these two together, apostate Christianity and one world government, and the result is Mystery Babylon the Great, the wickedest vilest enemy of God that ever inhabited earth.

Revelation 17 is the worst of the world’s history looking backwards or forwards. Thank God for chapters 18 and 19! Mystery Babylon will fall and the King of kings will rule supreme! We pray daily for God’s Kingdom to come to earth. Until it comes, we oppose religious dualism. We cannot and will not join any ecumenical efforts that promote unity by compromise. We are not ashamed to name names and warn everyone against current and coming apostasy. There is still a church and pastor that sees Roman Catholicism painted all over Revelation 17.

 

Pastor V. Mark Smith

What Did Jesus Really Say?

Berean Baptist on July 19, 2013

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: (Revelation 14:10)

Recently, I was visiting with a lady in a nearby neighborhood discussing salvation and what it means to know Jesus Christ personally as Saviour. At the beginning of the conversation, this lady freely admitted that she had not read much of the Bible because it was too hard to understand. And yet, she had opinions about Christ and what He taught.

I find in my discussions with many people there is a great deal of misunderstanding about who they think Jesus is and what He said and did as opposed to the Bible’s record of His words and deeds. It is very rare to meet people that are adverse to Jesus Christ since He is universally recognized for His kindness, care and compassion for those that are downcast and hurting. Without having read the Bible, many assume they know exactly who Jesus is and most of the time He thinks and acts just like they do. If their politics are liberal and they support such things as gay rights and gay marriages, they will appeal to Jesus and say it is unchristian not to fight for the equality of all people. On the other hand, if the person is very conservative and does not favor things such as gun control, the argument is that Jesus and the Bible favor strong protection of families and these types of personal individual rights. Whatever our politics or religion may be, no one wants to think their position is opposed to Jesus Christ. You will never hear a churchman or a politician say, “I don’t care what Jesus taught or did, He was wrong!” So, they just pretend Jesus thinks the same as they do.

In my conversation with this neighbor, the statement was made, “I think we are all God’s children and all will eventually find our way to God and everybody will be in heaven.” When I asked, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?” the answer was affirmative. “Do you believe He is God?” The answer again was “Yes.” “Do you believe if Jesus is God that He must always tell the truth?” Again, the answer was “Yes.” I then asked, “Did you know Jesus said there are some people that are not the children of God? Did you know He said some have Satan as their father and they do the works of Satan? Did you know Jesus said that all people are not going to heaven?” At this point, I gave the scripture references where these statements of Jesus are found.

As I said, this is not really uncommon. Perhaps we should not be too surprised that the average person really doesn’t know much about Jesus and the Bible. We should be surprised, however, when we find the same abject ignorance among those that stand in pulpits and preach from the Bible! We could go down a long list of Bible doctrines and show how convoluted the teachings of pastors and teachers are that claim to believe what the Bible says. None of them will happily admit they are opposed to Jesus and the teachings of scripture.

This thought comes to my mind when reading Revelation 14:10-11. There are those that deny the eternity of hell, and either believe hell does not exist, or is a place of annihilation. This is an opinion unsupported by the word of God. Those that refuse the gospel of Christ and will not submit to His authority, “…shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever…” These words were written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and agree with Jesus’ words in Mark 9:42-48.

If Jesus is God, then knowing exactly what He said and meant is the most critical information you could ever know. You may think you know Him and you may think He thinks like you. Don’t make the mistake of finding out otherwise when it is too late. Hear Him now and believe Him now. Tomorrow may be too late.

Pastor V. Mark Smith

Counterfeit Christs

Berean Baptist on June 29, 2013

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)

In the sixth chapter of Ephesians, the apostle Paul warned Christians to beware of the wiles of the devil. This advice is given because Satan is a counterfeiter and a master of deceit that has myriads of devices to trick believers. When you become a Christian, you are not immune to the devil’s schemes and you must be vigilant to check everything you hear no matter how much you may trust those who would teach you the word of God. Even though Satan is adept at planting false doctrines in our minds, there is really nothing he can do to take away the salvation we have in Christ. It is a better tactic for him to snatch the seed of the word of God away before it ever takes root in our heart.

We would think the best tactic Satan could use to keep people away from God and salvation is to convince them God does not really exist; therefore, he would spend most of his time trying to make atheists of people. Actually, Satan doesn’t really concentrate a lot of his efforts in making atheists because atheism is educated ignorance. Satan is far too smart to make pure ignorance his best friends (sorry atheists, but even Satan doesn’t like you!). Since God has put it into the heart of man to know He exists, and since our hearts are naturally religious, Satan knows he must concentrate his efforts in perverting knowledge of the true God. He seeks to make a substitute for God, a counterfeit god that people will believe and be none the wiser.

In Matthew chapter 24, Jesus describes the activity of Satan in trying to counterfeit God when he says, “there shall arise false Christs.” A false Christ is a good imitation but is not the real thing. A false Christ can make you satisfied you have found truth when in reality you are more blinded to truth than ever before. A parallel passage to Matthew 24:24 is found in the book of Revelation (Rev. 13:13-15) where a false prophet arises during the Tribulation that is able to perform many miracles that mimic the power of God. We can see by this that when Satan empowers the nations of the world to rise up against the one true God, they do not do so because of atheism. They fight against God because they believe they have the real god on their side. They do not know their god is the counterfeit and is leading them to their ultimate destruction.

There is a very important point we must remember about Satan’s activity. He is not waiting for the Tribulation to come before he begins his great deception. He is busy right now in 2012 counterfeiting the work of God. The apostle John wrote “even now there are many antichrists” (1 John 2:18c). Atheism is not our greatest concern. We are far more concerned with preachers in pulpits proclaiming their false Christs. We are more concerned with those that claim signs and wonders in the name of Christ when they have nothing to do with Him. Jesus said, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven” (Mat. 7:21).

Religious chicanery is the devil’s method and it comes in a variety of forms. One of the fastest growing of these is the charismatic movement. Whenever I read Matthew 7, Matthew 24, and Revelation 13, my mind is always immediately drawn towards the charlatans of this movement. They have also spawned the equally perverted doctrines of the Word of Faith teachers. Huge auditoriums across this country like the former Compaq Center in Houston are not filled with atheists; they are filled with gullible “seekers” that have been sucked in with Satan’s religion.

Yes, Satan is alive and well in 2012. He is not waiting for anything to happen before he takes his best shot at God and His people. Atheists are the tag-alongs; they are the devil’s step children. The real danger is in the pulpit; the real danger will smile at you while he pushes you into the abyss. Beware of the devil’s counterfeits; there is one in a church near you.

Pastor V. Mark Smith