Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: For it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 1Ti 4:1-5 This post is going to be clear and give ample scripture to present the case for freedom in the foods we choose to eat in our diets, with moderation, and using wisdom and prayer with thanksgiving in what we eat, and drink. This debate will go on until Jesus returns, but I've studied this subject enough to be convinced in my own conscience, that we are not under the Law of Moses any longer, when it comes to the foods we choose to eat. Of course we want the most well cared for animals, and poultry, and want cleanliness in caring for them. But the verses 1Timothy 4:4-5 will be focused on answering the questions as to whether a Christian should eat pork or not. Verses 4 and 5 tells us that every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving. For, it is sanctified by the word of God, and prayer. Is God a liar? Did He really mean EVERY creature? Yes. Now in Acts, this debate was brought to the Apostles in Jerusalem, and when they came together they had a council on these matters. This is the beginning of the New Covenant being instituted, the believing Gentiles being received and presenting what God had given them on the changes in the Jewish laws. Regarding eating meats, they presented this: Act 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: Act 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood. Act 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. And again, Act 15:25 It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, Act 15:26 Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Act 15:27 We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. Act 15:28 For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; Act 15:29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well. I strongly advise reading the entire chapter of Acts 15, and cross references are: Act_21:20, Act_26:5-6; Php_3:5-8; Act_15:1, Act_15:24; Gal_5:1-3 For the believer's-both Jew and Gentile alike, I direct you to the verses above, to make my case, as to whether we are under the bondage of Old Testament sacraments and laws. But, if we are attending a gathering, and the people putting on the celebration are Jewish, and still believe they are under the law, and won't eat pork or shell fish, what are we to do? If I attend such a gathering, I eat what they eat, and do not make a big issue of it. If I ever have someone come to my house who doesn't eat pork, or shell fish, I cook something I know they allow in their diet, and persue peace with them. I refer to the verses that tell us to avoid offenses among those who are weak in faith: Rom 14:19 Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another. Rom 14:20 For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. Rom 14:21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak. Rom 14:22 Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. Rom 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin. Also see: ye abstain: Act_15:20, Act_21:25; Lev_17:14; Rom_14:14-15, Rom_14:20-21; 1Co_10:18-20; Rev_2:14, Rev_2:20 This issue could branch off into many directions and take hours to go further into. If you have a desire to know the deeper aspects of this subject, do some cross-referencing with the book of Galatians, and pray about it as you go, asking the Lord to open your eyes to the meaning of the Holy Spirit on this subject. It will set you free, in many ways. In posting this, I already know there's some Jewish and legalistic believer's who will pick this apart, and dissect it to prove me wrong-this debating was never-ending for Paul, and the Apostle's, and I don't believe it will be any different for me. My only response is these scriptures, and will stand on them. I am convinced in my own mind, conscience and spirit-that I've been set free from the bondage of the Jewish Pharisees', and won't debate any further. Many of these believer's have twisted the scriptures, and mingled again the Old Testament Laws, with grace and made their own gospel, which is not the gospel of Christ. If they won't read and believe the scriptures given here, there's not point in arguing with them. Rom 14:2 For one believeth that he may eat all things: another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Rom 14:3 Let not him that eateth despise him that eateth not; and let not him which eateth not judge him that eateth: for God hath received him. Gal 4:9 But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Gal 4:10 Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. Ye observe days. These are specifications of how they were "turning back" to the Jewish law. Compare Col_2:16. The days are the Jewish Sabbaths. The months are the new moons; the times are the Jewish festivals; the years are the Sabbatical years. In observing these there was legal bondage to an obsolete system. [B.W. Johnson] Col 2:16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: Col 2:17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. My stand in this issue is in Galatians: The Righteous Shall Live by Faith Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Gal 3:13 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: Gal 3:14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Finally, as Paul emphasized many times, the important thing in this is to peruse peace. We are all at different places in our walk with God, and we have to give people space, and patience. It's not always easy, but, it's God's way. Let's walk as much as we can, in that direction, and defeat the devil as we do. 1Pe 3:11 Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. 1Pe 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. Rom 12:18 If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Lorna Couillard .........😊 For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power: Col 2:9-10 All the attributes of Christ, as God and man, are at our disposal. All the fulness of the Godhead, whatever that marvelous term may comprehend, is ours to make us complete. He cannot endow us with the attributes of Deity; but he has done all that can be done, for he has made even his divine power and Godhead subservient to our salvation. His omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and infallibility, are all combined for our defense. Arise, believer, and behold the Lord Jesus yoking the whole of his divine Godhead to the chariot of salvation! How vast his grace, how firm his faithfulness, how unswerving his immutability, how infinite his power, how limitless his knowledge! All these are by the Lord Jesus made the pillars of the temple of salvation; and all, without diminution of their infinity, are covenanted to us as our perpetual inheritance. The fathomless love of the Savior's heart is every drop of it ours; every sinew in the arm of might, every jewel in the crown of majesty, the immensity of divine knowledge, and the sternness of divine justice, all are ours, and shall be employed for us. The whole of Christ, in his adorable character as the Son of God, is by himself made over to us most richly to enjoy. His wisdom is our direction, his knowledge our instruction, his power our protection, his justice our surety, his love our comfort, his mercy our solace, and his immutability our trust. He makes no reserve, but opens the recesses of the Mount of God and bids us dig in its mines for the hidden treasures. "All, all, all are yours," saith he, "be ye satisfied with favor and full of the goodness of the Lord." Oh! how sweet thus to behold Jesus, and to call upon him with the certain confidence that in seeking the interposition of his love or power, we are but asking for that which he has already faithfully promised. [Charles Spurgeon] ESTABLISHED IN THEIR FAITH If you know Christ, you can lay your hand on the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. They are matters of daily experience. The Apostle’s aim in this chapter is to put his converts on their guard against those who might divert them from their simple faith in Jesus, and their sufficiency in Him. The keynotes are Take heed and Let no one.
The first act of the Christian life is to receive Christ, and every moment afterward we must continue receiving Him. The act must become an attitude. Breathe in the love and power of Jesus. Take deep breaths. Then we shall be rooted in Him in secret, and built up in Him in our outward walk and behavior. If we have Christ, we have all God’s fullness, and this is easily accessible. Like Jacob’s ladder, He links us with God. What need have we for celestial beings, like those invented by the Gnostics, or for the rite of circumcision, as insisted on by the Jews? We have everything in Jesus. He has fulfilled the Law in all respects on our behalf. Let us put the waters of entire surrender and consecration between our past, our sins, and the world, and rise into His life, the life of resurrection glory and power. [F.B. Meyer] 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. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Psa 1:1-2 The Way of the Righteous and the Wicked THE BLESSED, or Happy, man is described negatively (Psa_1:1). There is a gradation in the attitude, the sphere of influence, and the condition of his companions. In attitude, we may begin by walking, advance to standing, and end by sitting. If we would avoid the sitting, let us guard against walking or standing. In the sphere of influence, the beginning of backsliding is when a man listens to counsel; he then drifts into the path trodden by sinners, and finally is hardened enough to sit where scornful talk surrounds him on every hand. The condition of evil companions. We should be repelled if we were to be plunged suddenly into contact with the scornful, but our moral interests may not be specially outraged by the counsel of the wicked. Indeed, the advice which wicked men give sometimes resembles closely what our heart suggests and our taste prefers. It is so specious, so apparently sensible and natural, that we are captivated by it. Only gradually do we slide from those who forget God to those who set His law at defiance or openly blaspheme Him. Our motive in going amongst ungodly men must be carefully considered. If it is to help and save them, as our Lord did, no harm will come to us. But if we go into the way of sinners for our own amusement, need we be surprised if the bloom pass off the fruit, and the fine edge from the tool? Let us examine ourselves. Are we startled and shocked now, as we used to be, by an indecent illusion or a blasphemous word? Is there a coarsening process at work? Even where we are not injured by worldliness, we may suffer by contact with the low ideals of our fellow-Christians. Let us watch and pray; let us consider one another and exhort one another day by day, lest any be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb_3:13). Heb 3:13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. The Blessed, or Happy, man is also described positively (Psa_1:2). This delight comes as naturally as appetite for food, when the soul is in a healthy condition. Under the inspiration of that delight, we shall meditate on God's Word continually, storing it in the heart, and reciting it when travelling, or in darkness. Remember that the Lord knows the way you take. He is sensitive to every jolt and lurch, to the stony hills and the easy valley, to the foes that lie in wait. In His keeping you will never become as the light chaff, or the perishing way of the wicked written in the dust. [Our Daily Walk] Treasury of David Charles Haddon Spurgeon “Blessed” - see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated “blessed” is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, “Oh, the blessedness!” and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us! Here the gracious man is described both negatively (Psa_1:1) and positively (Psa_1:2); He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He takes wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To him the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. Note next, he standeth not in the way of sinners. His company is of a choicer sort than it was. Although a sinner himself, he is now a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, and renewed in heart. Standing by the rich grace of God in the congregation of the righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. Again it is said, “nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffing's. Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the Eternal God; this man has learned better philosophy than that of the infidel, and has too much sense of God's presence to endure to hear his name blasphemed, The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall swallow up the man who sits therein. Mark the gradation in the first verse: "He walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God - the evil is rather practical than habitual - but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who willfully violate God's commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed, and are looked up to by others as Masters in Belial. But the blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong, can hold no communion with such characters as these. He keeps himself pure from these lepers; he puts away evil things from him as garments spotted by the flesh; he comes out from among the wicked, and goes without the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ. O for grace to be thus separate from sinners. And now mark his positive character. “His delight is in the law of the Lord.” He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book. “The law of the Lord” is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you - Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand - your best companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you. The Dividing Line Pro 1:10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
Pro 1:11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: Pro 1:12 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit: Pro 1:13 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil: Pro 1:14 Cast in thy lot among us; let us all have one purse: Pro 1:15 My son, walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path: Pro 1:16 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. Pro 1:17 Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. Pro 1:18 And they lay wait for their own blood; they lurk privily for their own lives. Pro 1:19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof. O LORD, my strength, and my fortress, and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Jer 16:19 The Lord is His People's Fortress The man whose strength is the Lord is able to bear what would crush other men. He who gave Samson strength to bear and carry away massive gates, gives to His servants strength to bear weightiest troubles and heaviest sufferings. See Paul’s recital of his sufferings; yet he afterwards talks of “these light afflictions,” Yet the Lord gives to His people protection. He is their “fortress.” This Divine fortress is impregnable. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Yet it may be asked, Have not thousands of God’s saints been slaughtered by persecutors? What is the Book of Martyrs out a record of God’s slain ones! True; but the Divine fortress is for the protection of souls, not of bodies. The exposure of the body to peril on the one hand, and the safety of the soul on the other, are clearly indicated by our Lord’s words, “Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul.” Further, He is “their Refuge in the day of affliction” In the evil day we hasten to Him as soldiers to a fortress when hotly pursued, or as vessels to a harbour when the wind blows a gale. When “tossed with tempest and not comforted,” we have found the Lord “a refuge from the storm and a covert from the tempest.” And this refuge is open still to every troubled saint and every penitent sinner. [Rev. D. Pledge: “Walks with the Prophet Jeremiah.”] “The Gentiles shall come unto Thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?” The result of God’s judgments on the Jews will be that both the Jews when restored, and the Gentiles who have witnessed those judgments, shall renounce idolatry for the worship of Jehovah (Fausset). Their repentance. “Shall come.” They had followed the devices of their own hearts—its failure “profited them nothing.” Trusting in gods made by their own hands could not profit them; for, “Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?” a contradiction in terms. They repent of their folly, and come to Jehovah—the only true God. (a.) Repentance is necessary to our acceptance by God. A man must realise the folly of his sin, and, turning from it with his face toward God, must make confession of his transgressions in order to their remittance. “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Act_2:38). (b.) Must be with the heart. Sincere. “Our real existence in the sight of God consists in the inner and not in the outer life” (Farrar). Their confession. “Our fathers have inherited lies and things wherein there is no profit.” Idolatry in all its forms; not only gods of wood and stone, but all the idols of our own heart, our own imagination—e.g., the love of riches. All idolatry must be renounced, and a confession made unto God that we have abandoned them. The essential element of confession is that it be spiritual and true. To a right confession we must have-- (a.) A knowledge of our own hearts. If this is possessed, the heart will be laid open to God for its purification. There is only one way of getting a heart and mind pure, and that is by confessing to God its present impurities—imploring Him to create in us a clean heart. (b.) Faith in God. In His willingness to hear, in His power to do. Their faith was strong; they acknowledge that, apart from God, all is vanity and lies. The world promises much, but when those promises are chased and caught, you have in your hand nothing better than “vanity and lies.” Their acceptance. This we infer, because “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (Joh_1:9). Wherever the contrite heart is, there is the forgiving God. The Gentiles shall come—they are coming, and by the power and attraction of the Cross. The Gospel has many victories yet to achieve. The Saviour said, “And I, if I be lifted up, shall draw all men unto Me.” [Achilles Taylor] Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods? Jer 16:20 Idolatry God-Making One great besetting sin of ancient Israel was idolatry, and the spiritual Israel are vexed with a tendency to the same folly. Remphan's star shines no longer, and the women weep no more for Tammuz, but Mammon still intrudes his golden calf, and the shrines of pride are not forsaken. Self in various forms struggles to subdue the chosen ones under its dominion, and the flesh sets up its altars wherever it can find space for them. Favorite children are often the cause of much sin in believers; the Lord is grieved when he sees us doting upon them above measure; they will live to be as great a curse to us as Absalom was to David, or they will be taken from us to leave our homes desolate. If Christians desire to grow thorns to stuff their sleepless pillows, let them dote on their dear ones. It is truly said that "they are no gods," for the objects of our foolish love are very doubtful blessings, the solace which they yield us now is dangerous, and the help which they can give us in the hour of trouble is little indeed. Why, then, are we so bewitched with vanities? We pity the poor heathen who adore a god of stone, and yet worship a god of gold. Where is the vast superiority between a god of flesh and one of wood? The principle, the sin, the folly is the same in either case, only that in ours the crime is more aggravated because we have more light, and sin in the face of it. The heathen bows to a false deity, but the true God he has never known; we commit two evils, inasmuch as we forsake the living God and turn unto idols. May the Lord purge us all from this grievous iniquity! "The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be; Help me to tear it from thy throne, And worship only thee." Charles Spurgeon |
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In this page there will be devotions/poems music and inspirational material The Lord Will Pour Out His Spirit
And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out my spirit. And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the LORD come. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call. Joel 2:28-32 But this is that which was spoken by the
prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: Act 2:16-18 Resources
Madame Guyon - A Short and Easy Method of Prayer / Christian Audio Book (1 / 2) https://youtu.be/eihZWpAk7y4?si=PQ-_J3Y6i8u-N2Ac Union With God By Jeanne Guyon Chapter 1 Of 7 https://youtu.be/d5AfKS2dFLg?si=VtWAeEurkAddTDpL The Practice of the Presence of God - audiobook Brother LAWRENCE (1614 - 1691)- https://youtu.be/rRAs_BK1NR8?si=hGAL4C829aH7 DKMn Gander Story Poems
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November 2024
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