A Tract on Worship

The behavior required of Christians is no mystery; it is spelled out in scripture, but there is no need to make a list of duties, for there is only one reasonable service that God seeks, and it is worship. The Christian duty of true worship sets all other priorities in due order, for above all else, God is first. 

God has revealed His authority in scripture, and the humble will submit to His word in order to know what is pleasing to Him. Christ told the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well that God seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. The sons of Aaron, the first High Priest, sought to worship God their own way, but they didn’t live to tell about it because God struck them dead. Shall we, the children of no such noble birth, expect a different outcome if we worship God in an idolatrous way? Certainly not, for how shall we who are dead to sin expect to live spiritually while practicing false worship? True worship requires right knowledge of God and right sacrifice of all things that distract us from Him.

The religions of this world give honor to themselves by worshipping their gods with show and pomp. Many claim God as their motivation, but the character of their god reveals that they do not know the true God because they have embraced a lie. They do their religious acts to receive praise for themselves, but the worship of God’s children is the result of their experience of Him and His mercies. Their worship consists of giving themselves unreservedly to God because He is holy, just, and merciful. Those who participate in false worship receive the praise of the world, but those who worship God in spirit and truth are unified in His righteousness and receive the gifts of His Spirit.

Natural man does not have a spirit to worship God in communion with the Holy Spirit because he is unregenerate. The spirit of natural man was killed by the disobedience of father Adam, and as a result, Adam's offspring cannot understand spiritual things; they are foolishness to them, but those who are alive in Christ are described by the Apostle Paul as new creations who are called to continually give themselves over to God as living sacrifices.

If you have been given life by Christ alone, through grace alone, through faith alone, remember these mercies and give yourself, your thoughts, attitudes, intentions, and desires to God as an act of true worship which is reasonable and necessary. Do not be like righteous Lot who had new life but sought contentment from the ungodly world around him. Instead, seek contentment from God who will provide it to those who worship Him in spirit and truth.  

Lastly, in your pursuit of worship do not forget the maxim, "God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." Those who are humble submit themselves to the whole counsel and authority of God as found in the Holy Bible. They worship God in the way He prescribes not according to their prideful feelings. True worship is primarily objective. When we obey truth, right feelings will follow, but when we follow our feelings, truth Is obscured. No man can serve two masterS. You cannot worship God and the objects of your lust.

John 4, Ephesians 2:8-10, 1 Corinthians 2:15, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Numbers 3:4, Romans 12:1-3, 2 Peter 2:7-10, Galatians 5:22-23

A TRACT ON REVIVAL

Revival is an often misunderstood Christian phenomena characterized by the use of new methods, intensified evangelism, emotional rapture and an emphasis on morality. The term revival can be heard behind the doors of most churches in the United States along with the urgent plea that it is sorely needed.

However, true revival is best characterized as an extraordinary outpouring of the ordinary means of God's grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. Any "revival" that falls short of God's work of humbling proud sinners and calling wayward mankind to repentance and dependence on Christ alone for righteousness which cannot be earned, inherited or acquired is simply idolatry in religious clothing. What men and women of this generation need is not modern revival, it is to be humbled with the fear of God by realizing that they will be held accountable for everything they have ever done, thought or failed to do.

Paul's warning at Mar's Hill rings true today, just as it did two two thousand years ago: the sovereign God of our creation has appointed a time when He will judge every person according to His objective, righteous standard which was achieved by Christ alone. Anyone who comes up short of the standard is subject to God's holy wrath. Therefore, our pet and petty sins of dishonesty, self fulfillment and self pleasure will be revealed against us as a testimony of our rebellion against God who created us to glorify Him, find contentment in Him, and participate in the holy task of furthering his kingdom.

Here then is the ancient call of revival: God calls all persons everywhere to repent immediately and believe on Jesus Christ. This Christ, who alone in all mankind was able to achieve God's perfect standard, not only died that rebellious people might be covered in his righteousness, but He also willingly and eagerly gave himself as a sacrifice for the sins of his people. After His death, the Father God revealed his acceptance of His Son's sacrifice by raising Him from the dead three days later, thus authenticating the only hope for wayward mankind who are separated from God by sin. This then is how we know God's love for us: Jesus Christ laid down his life for those who readily and willingly rebel against Him. 

In your quest for revival, seek not heaven or rapturous feelings here on earth; instead, seek righteousness for without it no person can know God. True revival is the gospel and is comprised of knowing ourselves and knowing God. Let no one think more of himself than he ought but in quiet reckoning see himself from God's perspective, repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ alone. Only then will we know true, God ordained revival. (See Acts 17:30-31, 2 Corinthians 5:21 and Titus 3:5) ~ the Forgotten Puritan

Flee From the Wrath to Come

      Someone pulled a thread and we are unraveling. The whole thing is coming apart at the seams while we watch in unbelief. We thought our history would sustain us, our embrace of freedom, our ability to rally together as a family and fight and die if necessary. But now we are left with factions so diverse that each individual is torn in many different affections. We thought our tolerance would uphold us, that very unique way where we turned from our wrongs and embraced those we once enslaved, but our tolerance has become intolerable, for we now call the killing of the innocent good and the death of the evil wrong. We thought our Christian standards would save us, for we delight in kindness, generosity and acceptances, but we abandoned the very Christian morals that gave us Christian standards and now we are left with counterfeit virtues. We thought education would see us through the dark times, but we watered down our education to a self-esteem boosting, permissive, entitlement-driven system that teaches our children they are merely the product of evolution and natural selection while training them how to wear condoms and how to receive benefits that they have not earned.
      So...where do we go from here? If you have reached the end of your line there is only one place to go...to God; not a god of suicide bombs or meditation on self-realization, but the God of Truth, the God of righteousness, the God of our very creation. The God who shows himself to his creation by joining in our miseries, not being born to entitlement, but being born in a manger. The God who not only died for his own, but suffered and died, so that the righteousness he requires can only be found and can only be had in Jesus Christ alone.
     Give thought to your soul, for our days are short, and remember this above all else, "God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble." Humble yourself, and flee from the wrath to come. Look to Jesus and live!