FireStorm's Points to Ponder on...
A PREVENTATIVE FOR FALLING AWAY
or the Anti-Apostasy Solution from Jude
All through the small, but powerful book of Jude, we are warned of false teachers who are reprobate trying to lead the church into following their own lusts and falling into apostasy rejecting the true faith. There is a strong and very detailed viewpoint of these false teachers and the Last Days spirit of this world that would try to pull the church away from the faith of Jesus Christ into a lie.
There is toward the end, some very practical instruction give to the church on how to keep ourselves from deception and falling away. It is here.
What can we do to protect ourselves from falling and error? What can we do to be strong enough in God in order to stand no matter what is pulling at us or what deception is flying about us? How about when others in church fall to error around us, what do we do?
#1 First - we build ourselves up on our holy faith. The simple faith of Jesus Christ is HOLY or totally natured of GOD! It is pure and of God and from God and empowered by God. It builds us up in strength, and gives us the power to overcome. We overcome through our faith in Jesus Christ and His Word! True faith from God is based on His Own Word that He gave to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1 John 5:4-5 (KJV) " 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? "
Faith is built up by getting full of the WORD and Hearing that Word preached and taught under the anointing. There is power in the spoken Word of God to build faith, and God moves when we have faith in His Word. That faith is holy because it comes from God... its origin and nature is of God, and when we get full of faith in God then His presence which brings holiness fills our lives. The truth of the Word and us walking in that truth becomes the center of our walk of life.
From examples like the three Hebrew Children in the Fiery Furnace to Stephen, the first martyr for Jesus, that faith that comes from God gives us power to overcome great fear and stress and persecution to be able to stand for God no matter the cost knowing that what we gain is greater than anything in this short physical part of our lives. What God has for us is greater when we are made overcomers! The faith that comes from God is based on God's Word and is holy and fills us with His power to overcome.
#2 Praying in the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary. There will be some debate between Pentecostal/Charismatic and non-Pentecostal groups on what this means exactly. I have no desire to inspire some kind of debate or tension by trying to push something that this is not saying.
To be very transparent here, there are those who practice the spiritual gift of "tongues" (which is biblical by the way and should also be done biblically - balance) who really do not have the prayer walk of some who do not speak in tongues. This is more than just speaking in another language by the power of the Holy Spirit, though it can biblically include that also. But that is not the point at all.
The POINT IS THIS - we need to pray until we "pray through" to the point where the Holy Spirit anoints our prayers and starts to guide and direct them. We need to pray until we enter into the actual presence of God and get beyond "a little dry prayer" that does not mean too much. We need to be fervent in our prayers and pray according to scriptures and submit to God so that the Holy Spirit seasons our prayer time and the "PRESENCE OF GOD" manifests in our prayer time. Prayer should be an intimate time with God, and the Holy Spirit can reveal the presence of Jesus Christ right in the middle of our lives when we PRAY IN THE SPIRIT.
I won't stress this, but 1 Corinthians 12 lets us know that not everyone operating in spiritual gifts operates in the same ones and that the Holy Spirit manifests them as He wills, and not us. Some do "speak in tongues", but Paul said in that chapter, "Do all speak with tongues? Do all prophesy?" We are different members of the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit operates different gifts and ministries in different people as He wills that all might be edified. BUT ALL CAN WALK DAILY FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WE CAN ALL PRAY IN THE SPIRIT AND BE LED OF GOD daily in our prayer lives. This builds us up as we pray in faith as the Holy Spirit ignites the Word of God in our lives into the pure power of God as we pray in the Spirit.
Romans 8:26-27 (KJV) " 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. "
James 5:16 (KJV) " Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. "
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) " Pray without ceasing. "
#3 We are told to KEEP OURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD. Now, God is love and God loves us even when we don't love Him like we should. God loved us when we were still his enemy through our sin. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... John 3:16 (KJV) " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "
But the sad truth is that though God loves us before we are His and still yet sinners, that He will not force Himself upon us and we must choose to turn to Jesus and believe upon Him (repent) and turn from our sin in order to have the benefits of that love of God. God is balanced and holy and there is this thing called the judgment and wrath of God that is poured out on sin. And if we choose sin over God, then we are literally keeping ourselves from that love of God and are already condemned. John 3:18 (KJV) " He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "
We are told by Jesus that we can keep ourselves in God's love by keeping His commandments.
John 15:10 (KJV) " If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. "
Jude tells us that we can keep ourselves from falling to apostasy by keeping ourselves in the LOVE OF GOD. How did Jesus say to do that? BY keeping JESUS' COMMANDMENTS! That keeps us in Jesus' love and that in turn keeps us in God the Father's love. IF WE TRULY LOVE GOD, THEN WE WILL WANT TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
1 John 5:2-3 (KJV) " 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. "
John 14:15 (KJV) " If ye love me, keep my commandments. '
IN ROMANS chapter 1, the process of how someone falls into apostasy who once was in covenant with God is given. The wrath of God, it tells us, is given to those who "hold the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18). What that means is this... they know the truth, but want to believe a lie in order to please their own flesh in some area and that leads them to decide to twist the Truth of God's Word into a lie to suit them... which leads eventually to total destruction.
SO, WE WALK IN GOD'S WORD AND TRUTH KEEPING OURSELVES IN GOD'S LOVE and then we have hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is an eternal hope for eternal life.
#4 - WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT ETERNAL HOPE THAT COMES FROM WALKING IN THAT FAITH. That hope will keep us from falling into lies that reject Jesus and His truth.
In these last days, things have become very perilous indeed. But God is greater. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. God is making us overcomers every day, and will continue to do so as long as we keep ourselves built up in the faith, and pray in the Spirit, and walk in that Word daily! Then we have hope for our lives and eternity in Jesus Christ... and His Truth will keep us from falling to any lie.
WE GET FULL OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORD, AND THE "TRUTH" OF GOD KEEPS US FREE FROM LIES. We will be able to spot a deceiver a mile away when we are walking in the Spirit and filled with His Word. That truth will send out WARNING KLAXONS when the deception of Satan shows up no matter the form. The Truth of God will overcome the deception!
Let's take God's Preventative for Falling Away and continue to walk that way until Jesus calls us home!
Jim Coldiron
aka FireStorm
Warriors of God Christian Forums
November 1, 2009
A PREVENTATIVE FOR FALLING AWAY
or the Anti-Apostasy Solution from Jude
All through the small, but powerful book of Jude, we are warned of false teachers who are reprobate trying to lead the church into following their own lusts and falling into apostasy rejecting the true faith. There is a strong and very detailed viewpoint of these false teachers and the Last Days spirit of this world that would try to pull the church away from the faith of Jesus Christ into a lie.
There is toward the end, some very practical instruction give to the church on how to keep ourselves from deception and falling away. It is here.
Jude 1:20-21 (KJV) " 20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
Jude 1:20-21 (AMP) " But you, beloved, build yourselves up [founded] on your most holy faith [make progress, rise like an edifice higher and higher], praying in the Holy Spirit; 21 Guard and keep yourselves in the love of God; expect and patiently wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)--[which will bring you] unto life eternal."
What can we do to protect ourselves from falling and error? What can we do to be strong enough in God in order to stand no matter what is pulling at us or what deception is flying about us? How about when others in church fall to error around us, what do we do?
#1 First - we build ourselves up on our holy faith. The simple faith of Jesus Christ is HOLY or totally natured of GOD! It is pure and of God and from God and empowered by God. It builds us up in strength, and gives us the power to overcome. We overcome through our faith in Jesus Christ and His Word! True faith from God is based on His Own Word that He gave to us by inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 10:17 (KJV) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
1 John 5:4-5 (KJV) " 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? "
Faith is built up by getting full of the WORD and Hearing that Word preached and taught under the anointing. There is power in the spoken Word of God to build faith, and God moves when we have faith in His Word. That faith is holy because it comes from God... its origin and nature is of God, and when we get full of faith in God then His presence which brings holiness fills our lives. The truth of the Word and us walking in that truth becomes the center of our walk of life.
From examples like the three Hebrew Children in the Fiery Furnace to Stephen, the first martyr for Jesus, that faith that comes from God gives us power to overcome great fear and stress and persecution to be able to stand for God no matter the cost knowing that what we gain is greater than anything in this short physical part of our lives. What God has for us is greater when we are made overcomers! The faith that comes from God is based on God's Word and is holy and fills us with His power to overcome.
#2 Praying in the Holy Spirit is absolutely necessary. There will be some debate between Pentecostal/Charismatic and non-Pentecostal groups on what this means exactly. I have no desire to inspire some kind of debate or tension by trying to push something that this is not saying.
To be very transparent here, there are those who practice the spiritual gift of "tongues" (which is biblical by the way and should also be done biblically - balance) who really do not have the prayer walk of some who do not speak in tongues. This is more than just speaking in another language by the power of the Holy Spirit, though it can biblically include that also. But that is not the point at all.
The POINT IS THIS - we need to pray until we "pray through" to the point where the Holy Spirit anoints our prayers and starts to guide and direct them. We need to pray until we enter into the actual presence of God and get beyond "a little dry prayer" that does not mean too much. We need to be fervent in our prayers and pray according to scriptures and submit to God so that the Holy Spirit seasons our prayer time and the "PRESENCE OF GOD" manifests in our prayer time. Prayer should be an intimate time with God, and the Holy Spirit can reveal the presence of Jesus Christ right in the middle of our lives when we PRAY IN THE SPIRIT.
I won't stress this, but 1 Corinthians 12 lets us know that not everyone operating in spiritual gifts operates in the same ones and that the Holy Spirit manifests them as He wills, and not us. Some do "speak in tongues", but Paul said in that chapter, "Do all speak with tongues? Do all prophesy?" We are different members of the Body of Christ and the Holy Spirit operates different gifts and ministries in different people as He wills that all might be edified. BUT ALL CAN WALK DAILY FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT AND WE CAN ALL PRAY IN THE SPIRIT AND BE LED OF GOD daily in our prayer lives. This builds us up as we pray in faith as the Holy Spirit ignites the Word of God in our lives into the pure power of God as we pray in the Spirit.
Ephesians 6:18 (KJV) " Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; "
IF WE ARE PRAYING IN THE SPIRIT, THEN GOD IS MOVING IN OUR LIVES. IF WE ARE BUILT UP IN THE HOLY FAITH THEN WE ARE FULL OF THE TRUTH OF GOD'S WORD AND GOD IS MOVING IN OUR LIVES AND THAT SPIRIT OF ANTICHRIST CANNOT LEAD US INTO APOSTASY. WE ARE ALREADY FULL OF GOD AND HAVE NO ROOM FOR ERROR. BUT WE MUST DAILY PRAY TO KEEP FULL OF GOD... THAT IS THE EXHORTATION HERE.
Romans 8:26-27 (KJV) " 26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. "
James 5:16 (KJV) " Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. "
1 Thessalonians 5:17 (KJV) " Pray without ceasing. "
#3 We are told to KEEP OURSELVES IN THE LOVE OF GOD. Now, God is love and God loves us even when we don't love Him like we should. God loved us when we were still his enemy through our sin. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son... John 3:16 (KJV) " For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. "
But the sad truth is that though God loves us before we are His and still yet sinners, that He will not force Himself upon us and we must choose to turn to Jesus and believe upon Him (repent) and turn from our sin in order to have the benefits of that love of God. God is balanced and holy and there is this thing called the judgment and wrath of God that is poured out on sin. And if we choose sin over God, then we are literally keeping ourselves from that love of God and are already condemned. John 3:18 (KJV) " He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. "
We are told by Jesus that we can keep ourselves in God's love by keeping His commandments.
John 15:10 (KJV) " If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. "
Jude tells us that we can keep ourselves from falling to apostasy by keeping ourselves in the LOVE OF GOD. How did Jesus say to do that? BY keeping JESUS' COMMANDMENTS! That keeps us in Jesus' love and that in turn keeps us in God the Father's love. IF WE TRULY LOVE GOD, THEN WE WILL WANT TO KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS.
1 John 5:2-3 (KJV) " 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. "
John 14:15 (KJV) " If ye love me, keep my commandments. '
IN ROMANS chapter 1, the process of how someone falls into apostasy who once was in covenant with God is given. The wrath of God, it tells us, is given to those who "hold the truth in unrighteousness" (Rom. 1:18). What that means is this... they know the truth, but want to believe a lie in order to please their own flesh in some area and that leads them to decide to twist the Truth of God's Word into a lie to suit them... which leads eventually to total destruction.
SO, WE WALK IN GOD'S WORD AND TRUTH KEEPING OURSELVES IN GOD'S LOVE and then we have hope of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is an eternal hope for eternal life.
#4 - WE LOOK FORWARD TO THAT ETERNAL HOPE THAT COMES FROM WALKING IN THAT FAITH. That hope will keep us from falling into lies that reject Jesus and His truth.
In these last days, things have become very perilous indeed. But God is greater. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world. God is making us overcomers every day, and will continue to do so as long as we keep ourselves built up in the faith, and pray in the Spirit, and walk in that Word daily! Then we have hope for our lives and eternity in Jesus Christ... and His Truth will keep us from falling to any lie.
WE GET FULL OF JESUS CHRIST AND HIS WORD, AND THE "TRUTH" OF GOD KEEPS US FREE FROM LIES. We will be able to spot a deceiver a mile away when we are walking in the Spirit and filled with His Word. That truth will send out WARNING KLAXONS when the deception of Satan shows up no matter the form. The Truth of God will overcome the deception!
Let's take God's Preventative for Falling Away and continue to walk that way until Jesus calls us home!
Jim Coldiron
aka FireStorm
Warriors of God Christian Forums
November 1, 2009
