If somebody come along, and Pentecostals get ya, or the Jehovah Witnesses get ya, or Bob Feene at Houston’ll get ya, or Herbert Armstrong, somebody leads you off, you just half baked, you don’t know anything much about the Bible unless you read it. –43:48–
As in his 1970 book False Doctrines, Dr. Rice used to put Pentecostals in the cult category, right along with Jehovah’s Witnesses. John MacArthur expressed the same view in The Charismatics, by comparing Assembly of God to the Mormons, because they both believe in continuing revelation from the Holy Spirit. The big difference is of course, that AG believes the sixty-six books of the Bible are the final authority and completed canon of Scripture; they filter through a fundamental Baptist and Wesleyan theological system; and believe that prophetic words need to be tested by Scripture to be useful (1 Cor. 14:29; 1 Thess. 5:20-21). I think that Dr. Rice’s big problem with Pentecostals was their doctrine of initial evidence. I’m a Pentecostal, and agree with Assembly of God in theology and experience; and I think it was an error for Dr. Rice to place all Pentecostals in the cult category. Especially since he used to hold evangelistic campaigns with some AG preachers. However, him stating his age as 77, this dates this sermon at 1972; and might suggest a drift towards a more negative attitude about Pentecostals that he developed over time. Dr. Rice started his evangelistic ministry right around the time Assembly of God was just getting started as a denomination; and it was probably more fundamental from the 1920s through the 1950s. Not the Purpose Driven seeker sensitive thing that it is today. The Full Gospel Business Men’s Fellowship International (FGBMFI) was founded in 1952 and was the true starting point of the prosperity gospel mentality within Pentecostalism. By 1972 it had 300,000 members. As Pentecostals entered the 1970s, Oral Roberts, Kenneth Hagin, and other televangelists had turned away from the fundamentals and mainly preached the prosperity gospel. So when Dr. Rice talks about reading your Bible so you won’t let the “Pentecostals get ya,” he’s probably thinking about the Word of Faith prosperity gospel types, which had clearly become the most popular expression of Pentecostalism through TV in the 1970s. The whole concept of TV evangelism should have been a red flag for fundamental Pentecostals, since TV was generally condemned by Baptists and Pentecostals alike. It should have been seen as a liberalizing trend toward antinomianism. It was in the early ’70s that Jim Bakker’s PTL Club also took off; and he was unfortunately a great pervert. The fundamentalist type of Assembly of God expression continued in the ministry of David Wilkerson at Times Square Church until his death in 2011; but his was considered a minority view compared with the prosperity preachers on TBN. –J.B.
FlexJobs, “80 Low-Stress Jobs That Can Be Done Remotely.” FlexJobs has lots of remote jobs; and they now have the ExpertApply feature: a bot that enables you apply to what used to be a 45 minute job application–with the click of a button, it will now complete the job application in about 5 minutes!
Richard Steele, The Religious Tradesman (Sprinkle Publications, 1989).
Larry Burkett, The Word on Finances (Moody, 1994).
John Wesley, “The Use of Money,” 1.1. The first of these is (he that heareth, let him understand!) “Gain all you can.” Here we may speak like the children of the world: we meet them on their own ground. And it is our bounden duty to do this: we ought to gain all we can gain, without buying gold too dear, without paying more for it than it is worth. But this it is certain we ought not to do; we ought not to gain money at the expense of life, nor (which is in effect the same thing) at the expense of our health. Therefore, no gain whatsoever should induce us to enter into, or to continue in, any employ, which is of such a kind, or is attended with so hard or so long labour, as to impair our constitution. Neither should we begin or continue in any business which necessarily deprives us of proper seasons for food and sleep, in such a proportion as our nature requires. Indeed, there is a great difference here. Some employments are absolutely and totally unhealthy; as those which imply the dealing much with arsenic, or other equally hurtful minerals, or the breathing an air tainted with steams of melting lead, which must at length destroy the firmest constitution. Others may not be absolutely unhealthy, but only to persons of a weak constitution. Such are those which require many hours to be spent in writing; especially if a person write sitting, and lean upon his stomach, or remain long in an uneasy posture. But whatever it is which reason or experience shows to be destructive of health or strength, that we may not submit to; seeing “the life is more” valuable “than meat, and the body than raiment.”And if we are already engaged in such an employ, we should exchange it as soon as possible for some which, if it lessen our gain, will, however not lessen our health.
There seems to be more than one Jesus to choose from these days. Which one is the true Jesus and who am I following?
FALSE JESUS:
· There’s a ‘seeker friendly’ Jesus, he’s the one who will not offend anyone in anyway. He loves everyone no matter what they do.
· There’s a ‘sow and reap’ Jesus, he made a covenant with man so that man could sow his seed and reap wealth and happiness on earth and then go to heaven when he dies.
· There’s a ‘blend in with the world’ Jesus, he wants us to look like, act like, and be like the world in order to reach the lost.
· There’s a ‘neverending grace’ Jesus, his ‘grace’ covers us no matter what we do or how we live.
· There’s a ‘just believe’ Jesus. As long as you truly believe in your heart, you’re saved.
· There’s a ‘name it claim it’ Jesus. You name it; anything and it’s yours! If you don’t get it, it’s because you lack faith. It’s your fault.
· There’s a ‘carnal’ Jesus. He doesn’t expect you to overcome sin, he understands you’re just carnal.
· There’s a ‘heart dwelling’ Jesus. All you have to do is ask him into your heart and voilà, he’s there. You’re going to heaven!
BIBLICAL JESUS:
· There’s the Jesus who said ‘Repent and believe the gospel, the kingdom of God is at hand.’ -Mark 1:15
He said, ‘Deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him.’ -Lk 9:23-25
He said without Him you are already condemned. -John 3:18
He said He came to save the world -John 3:16
He said unless you forsake all you have, you cannot be His disciple. -Luke 14:33
He said if we love anyone more than Him we are not worthy of Him. -Matt 10:37-39
He said if you love this life you’ll lose it. -John 12:25-26
He said you cannot serve God and money. -Matt 6:24
He said fear God who can destroy both body and soul in hell. -Mt 10:28
He said be extreme in your war against sin. -Matt 18:8-9
He said love God with all your heart, soul and mind and your neighbour as yourself. -Matt 22:37-39
He said He is the light of the world. -John 8:12
He said the gate is narrow and the way is difficult and few find it. -Matt 7:13-14
He said those who believe in Him but work iniquity will be cast out. -Matt 7:21-23
He said you’ll be hated for His name’s sake, but if you endure to the end, you’ll be saved. -Matt 10:22
He said I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. -John 14:6
25 I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God’s name and said: “You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. 26 Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women. 27 Must we hear now that you too are doing all this terrible wickedness and are being unfaithful to our God by marrying foreign women?” –Nehemiah 13:25-27 (NIV)–
When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?” –John the Baptist in Matthew 3:7 (NIV)–
13 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are. 16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. 23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. 25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. 27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. 29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started! 33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to Hell?34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation. 37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate.39 For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” –Jesus Christ in Matthew 23:13-39 (NIV)–
You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! –Stephen in Acts 7:51 (NIV)–
May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! –Peter in Acts 8:20 (NIV)–
You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? –Paul in Acts 13:10 (NIV)–
Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. –Rich Laodicea Pastor in Revelation 3:16 (NKJV)–
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Dr. John R. Rice, Why Preach Against Sin? (Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1985). An Independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) evangelist.
Leonard Ravenhill, “Be Ye Angry And Sin Not” (Last Days Ministries, 1985). An independent Wesleyan holiness evangelist. He’d probably affiliate with the InterChurch Holiness Convention (IHC) if he were around today.
John Gill, Commentary on Ephesians 4:26: “Be ye angry, and sin not.” There is anger which is not sinful; for anger is found in God himself, in Jesus Christ, in the holy angels, and in God’s people; and a man may be said to be angry and not sin, when his anger arises from a true zeal for God and religion; when it is kindled not against persons, but sins; when a man is displeased with his own sins, and with the sins of others: with vice and immorality of every kind; with idolatry and idolatrous worship, and with all false doctrine; and also when it is carried on to answer good ends, as the good of those with whom we are angry, the glory of God, and the promoting of the interest of Christ: and there is an anger which is sinful; as when it is without a cause; when it exceeds due bounds; when it is not directed to a good end; when it is productive of bad effects, either in words or actions; and when it is soon raised, or long continues: the Jews have a like distinction of anger.
Adam Clarke, Commentary on Ephesians 4:26: “Be ye angry, and sin not.” We can never suppose that the apostle delivers this as a precept, if we take the words as they stand in our version. Perhaps the sense is, Take heed that ye be not angry, lest ye sin; for it would be very difficult, even for an apostle himself, to be angry and not sin. If we consider anger as implying displeasure simply, then there are a multitude of cases in which a man may be innocently, yea, laudably angry; for he should be displeased with every thing which is not for the glory of God, and the good of mankind. But, in any other sense, I do not see how the words can be safely taken.
Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. –Hebrews 1:9 (KJV)–
3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5 For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. –Ephesians 5:3-7 (NKJV)–
5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. 8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. –Colossians 3:5-11 (NKJV)–
Where will I return my misgiven motions Quell and subside the quivering vigour The inevitable thrust That swells inside And drives me off the edge The bleeding ill that breeds me on mercy Ruthless and sinister Obsessive beyond my reach
Metamorphosis Release me from fury Metamorphosis Transforming energy
Will I tread on broken glass And undisguised Set atrocities aside Scrape the surface Clean from abominations With a single word Conquer wrath
Disposed to the evils that haunt me in sleep They shake the break of dawn Careless and free And spear me down Relentlessly Smitten with burns They pierce my mind They all own their own place in darkness Light as they may seem as day
Scrape the surface Clean from abominations Let go the calamities And respond to the streams of emotion
–Extol, “Scrape the Surface”–
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The men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. –Romans 1:27 (NKJV)–
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