THE CULT CHRONICLES: ANNIHILATIONISM

There are many cults today that deny the doctrine of the eternality of hell. Some of these groups (such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists) instead claim that God will merely annihilate those have not turned from their sins.

However, the Scriptures describe hell as a place of conscious torment, where sinners will undergo “eternal punishment” (Mat.25:46), being “tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev.20:10). Hell is a place of “eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord” (2 Thes.1:9), “unquenchable fire” (Mat.3:12; Mark 9:43), a place of “utter darkness” (Jude 13) where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:28).

For more information on the biblical evidence of an eternal hell, please see:

Christian Apologetics Research Ministry: Is Hell Eternal?

http://carm.org/hell-eternal

A common objection by those who deny the eternality of hell—or the existence of a place called hell altogether—is that it doesn’t seem logical or fair that God would punish sinners for all eternity for having sinned against Him in time. If we have committed a finite number of sins, they ask, how can we deserve an infinite punishment?

Is Your Preaching Full of Christ?

Sixthly, I believe that: those sermons which are fullest of Christ are the most likely to be blessed to the conversion of the hearers. Let your sermons be full of Christ, from beginning to end crammed full of the gospel. As for myself, brethren, I cannot preach anything else but Christ and His cross, for I know nothing else, and long ago, like the apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything else save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. People have often asked me, "What is the secret of your success?" I always answer that I have no other secret but this, that I have preached the gospel, not about the gospel, but the gospel, the full, free, glorious gospel of the living Christ who is the incarnation of the good news. Preach Jesus Christ, brethren, always and everywhere; and every time you preach be sure to have much of Jesus Christ in the sermon. You remember the story of the old minister who heard a sermon by a young man, and when he was asked by the preacher what he thought of it he was rather slow to answer, but at last he said, "If I must tell you, I did not like it at all; there was no Christ in your sermon." "No," answered the young man, "because I did not see that Christ was in the text." "Oh!" said the old minister, "but do you not know that from every little town and village and tiny hamlet in England there is a road leading to London? Whenever I get hold of a text, I say to myself, 'There is a road from here to Jesus Christ, and I mean to keep on His track till I get to Him.'" "Well," said the young man, "but suppose you are preaching from a text that says nothing about Christ?" "Then I will go over hedge and ditch but what I will get at Him." So must we do, brethren; we must have Christ in all our discourses, whatever else is in or not in them. There ought to be enough of the gospel in every sermon to save a soul. Take care that it is so when you are called to preach before Her Majesty the Queen, and if you have to preach to charwomen or chairmen, still always take care that there is the real gospel in every sermon.

- Charles Spurgeon, Soul Winner

God's Extraordinary Provision for Heartcry

Yet another exhortation from brother Paul to believe the promises of God. Brethren, missionary friends, the Lord will provide for your needs--just trust in Him!

BELIEVE THE PROMISES OF GOD

Jonathan's Battle as a Picture of New Testament Missionaries

This is a VERY ENCOURAGING sermon. May this stir us up to be like Jonathan and his armor-bearer, valiantly charging into the enemy's terrirory, full of faith in the LIVING GOD. If God can use two men to defeat an entire garrison of Philistines, He can use you to further the Gospel and accomplish His purposes. A minority is a majority if the LORD of Hosts is on your side! Trust in Christ, cling to His promises, and charge!

  

"Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God."
-William Carey

Jonathan's Battle as a Picture of New Testament Missionaries by Matt Haney

http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=1411222631

THE CULT CHRONICLES: ONENESS PENTECOSTALS AND THE TRINITY

Oneness Pentecostalism is very prevalent in this city, although here they are known as the Apostolics. The Oneness Pentecostal movement embraces the ancient heresy of Modalism—namely, a denial of the biblical doctrine of the Trinity. Modalism maintains that God is not three distinct Persons in one God, but instead one person manifested in three different modes throughout history. In the Old Testament God manifested Himself as the Father; in the incarnation, God manifested Himself as the Son; and after the ascension of Christ God manifested Himself as the Holy Spirit. But the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never existed simultaneously. In other words, God, being only one person, merely put on different masks throughout history. This heresy originated in the 3^rd Century A.D. and, sadly, continues on to this day.

The Modalist heresy is so preposterous that a simple reading of the New Testament will reveal its error. There are a multitude of passages that easily refute this false teaching, such as:

- John 1:1, which states that the Word was with God and God at the same time.  Some Oneness Pentecostals maintain that this Word was a mere idea or thought that existed in the Father’s mind. However, the Word was with God from the beginning (Jn.1:2), created everything (Jn.1:3), was life and light itself (Jn.1:4-5, 9), and was made flesh and came to its own creation (Jn.1:10-14). Far from being only an “idea”, this passage clearly describes Jesus Christ as a person, existing for all eternity with the Father.  Moreover, you cannot be with another person and be that person at the same time. The clear and logical explanation is that Jesus was with God and was God simultaneously because there are three Persons that make up the Godhead.  

-Colossians 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 8:6, and Hebrews 1:2–10, which also make it clear that Jesus the Son created the universe. These are extremely difficult verses for Oneness Pentecostals. 

-John 17, Matthew 11:25, Luke 5:16, etc. in which Christ prays to the Father. To get around this, Oneness Pentecostals say that Jesus’ humanity was praying to the divine nature of who He was. Though they will deny this, they in essence are saying that Jesus was praying to Himself. However, we see in Scripture that Christ had a will that was distinct from that of the Father. This is especially evident when in Gethsemane He prays, “not as I will, but as You will” (Mat.26:39; see also: Mark 14:36, Luk.22:42). The above passages undoubtedly speak of two persons with two wills. 

Furthermore, if God is only one person and Jesus was praying to the Father, then two modes of God are manifested at the same time, which is impossible according to Modalists. This is a flagrant contradiction in their theology. 

-Matthew 3:16-17, John 12:28-30, Matthew 17:5, etc., which further reinforce the above point, as the Father in these passages speaks to the Son. Again, that there are two Persons here is clear. Matthew 3:16-17 is especially great because it shows all three members of Trinity together at the same time.

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When talking to Apostolics here, they will hardly admit straight away that they are Modalists. If you ask them if they believe in the Trinity they will likely give you an unclear, long-worded reply that will include, “I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit”, or something to that effect. But you really have to press them in order to get them to outright deny that God is a Trinity. Most of those I have talked with have called me brother, and have wanted me to recognize them as brothers in the faith. 

But are they really brethren in the Lord? Can you really deny the essential nature of God and still be saved? The below video answers this very question:

 

Receiving a Copy of the New Testament for the First Time

Christians in Indonesia rejoice and weep as they finally receive a copy of God's Word in their own language. A MUST WATCH!

Kimyal New Testament launch in Indonesia from United Bible Societies on Vimeo.

IS THERE SOMETHING MISSING?

I praise the Lord for His blessings, and His discipline. Lately I have been very blessed to have two brothers, Alex and Giancarlo, accompanying me for evangelism in the city. We have been preaching about three times a week, and by His grace we have been seeing much fruit from our efforts.  Many convicted and interested souls have been approaching us; everything from drug addicts, to alcoholics, to nominal churchgoers, to Catholics, to demoniacs, to a man contemplating adultery.  We’ve witnessed to these people, counseled them, and prayed for many. A number of them have even been attending our Sunday church meetings. God has been faithful to glorify His name through our efforts.

In fact, up until a couple of weeks ago, things had been going so good that brother Alex, who was new at all this, was expecting things to always be this good. He admittedly was growing comfortable and confident with this evangelism thing, thinking it to be a breeze. That was a mistake on his part, but we all made another crucial mistake—and one day the consequences of this mistake came crashing down on us. I had been really busy one week and had not been spending as much time with the Lord as I know I should have. In fact, all of us had been lacking in this area. When we got to Centro and prayed, I felt convicted about this and repented, and my brethren did as well.  And then I got up on the box...

And that’s when I felt it. 

I didn’t preach anything heretical. I didn’t fumble over my words and ruin my Gospel presentation. I didn’t even feel nervous. My message was clear, concise and to the point. In as much detail as I could, given the short amount of time that I had, I described the nature of God’s holiness, justice and omnipotence, man’s radical depravity and total inability to save himself, the reasonableness of an eternal hell, the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance and faith as the means of salvation.  I even drew on the Hebrew to explain the meaning of the word "holy", and in that language pronounced our Lord’s cry on the cross as He was being forsaken by the Father. I would later ask brother Alex for his opinion of how I did, and he would reply that the presentation was really clear and understandable. 

However, getting off the box, I knew something was drastically wrong.

I didn’t get a crowd of people, and only a few stopped to listen for a few minutes—but that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I felt cold, empty, like my mouth had just spewed forth steel bricks. There was little anointing, hardly any power accompanying my words. Alex preached after me, and later that evening so did Giancarlo. And they felt the same way as I did. Something was missing. And it certainly showed: the people, for the most part, were unresponsive, apathetic, merely walking by as they heard the preaching of the Word of God. As if we were merely a trio of lousy, untalented street performers.

We certainly learned our lesson that evening. Afterwards we all agreed that our priority in evangelism needs to be spending time with the Lord in prayer. 

Our greatest need as heralds of the glorious Gospel of our Lord is to be clothed with power from on high. To be men marked with the presence of the living God. Oh, you may feign many things; you can appear before men to have a great intellect, you can feign to possess a vast knowledge of the Word of God, you may even deceive men with an external form of piety. But there’s one thing you absolutely cannot feign: the presence and power of the Holy Spirit upon your life. The more time you spend at the feet of Christ, the more you will be transformed and conformed to is image. The more genuine, Spirit-wrought fruit you will bear, in secret and in public. And the more unction will accompany and clothe your Gospel preaching.

The apostle Paul told the Thessalonian church that his proclamation of the Gospel came to them “not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction” (1 Thes.1:5). We cannot and must not be content to share the most majestic and glorious salvation message of all time with mere words.

Brethren, I am not advocating that you decide whether or not to proclaim the Gospel based on how you “feel”. Neither am I saying that you have to get crowd of people while open air preaching in order to have been “successful”. But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you in power, you do “feel” it, and you do get people to stop and notice. The majority of the time, the power and presence of the God will be evident to the preacher and to those who listen. 

I urge you, brethren, SEEK GOD. Seek Him with all your heart. Run to His feet and stay there as long as you can. Praise Him, walk with Him, talk with Him, intercede for your brethren and for the lost, read your Bible on your knees, praying through His promises. Whatever you do, DO NOT NEGLECT THIS VITAL MEANS OF GRACE. Your spiritual life depends on it. 

Evangelists: powerless preaching can bring death. Christ is the life, and his life is the light of men. Only with His life, His light, and His fire upon your soul can you ever hope to be used of God to win souls for Him. Pray, pray, pray! 

I end with the following quotes from a worthy man of God:

"Oh brother pray; in spite of Satan, pray; spend hours in prayer, rather neglect friends than not pray, rather fast, and lose breakfast, dinner, supper and sleep too - than not pray. And we must not talk about prayer –we must pray in right earnest. The Lord is near. He comes softly while The Virgins Slumber."

"I have learned by experience that it is not much labor but much prayer that is the only means to success."

-Andrew Bonar

Some Pics from Christmas Evangelism

Sorry, I've been so busy lately and haven't been able to post much on here. I've finally made the time to share a little about the ministry. Here are some pictures of our Christmas evangelism campaign in el Centro Historico de Guadalajara (Guadalajara's historic center, aka: Downtown). I and two brothers assaulted the enemy's ranks before, during and after Christmas. And also on New Year's Day.

Christmas decorations in the city:

This is not a statue...it's a wierd looking indigenous guy.

We're not on Hollywood Blvd...but it sure does remind one of it. There are various costumed "statue" people like this all throughout Centro. 

Getting ready to preach by the big Christmas tree. 

One of the various signs we made. Since it's not currently possible to make a cross with the above question on it, I figured the next best thing would be to just print out a picture of one. 

My brothers in arms: Alex and Giancarlo. They've just started open-air preaching.

Johnny Mac on Fantasy Books, Movies, and Entertainment

In a GCC Question and Answer session last year John MacArthur was asked if he thought werewolves and vampires are satanic. His reply:

"So do I think it’s satanic? Sure, absolutely. I wouldn’t allow any child at all to get anywhere near that kind of stuff because what it does...they’ve got enough evil in the real world and what it does is create a horrifying unreal world, a fantasy world where you can get away with even worst things.

You know, there are certain confines in the real world? You know what I mean?

...In the real world, certain behaviors are acceptable and unacceptable. In the real world, there’s a level of outrage. But in the world of vampires and werewolves, from what I understand, you can fly through the air and bite off somebody’s head and spit it out, or you can morph yourself into some kind of a horrible ghastly creature that can wreak havoc and massacre cities and people. That is evil the way Satan would want it to be in an unrestrained world. But he can’t pull it off in this world because he is restrained. But in the fantasy world, Satan is unrestrained. And I think that’s all that is, that is a fantasy world in which Satan runs unrestrained. And I...I mean, this comes down to video games, this comes down to books, this comes down to movies, anything that takes people into a fantasy world takes them to a place of danger because there are no boundaries there are no limits for behavior in the fantasy world. And that is why we have the kind of behavior in the real world that goes beyond these bounds to a degree that we’ve never had in human....in our lifetime in the past because people finally obliterate the line between the fantasy world and the real world and they turn in to monsters that do horrendous things that even appalls the criminal element in society.

So I think everything needs to be done by a parent to keep your children out of the fantasy world, keep them out of the unreal world."

A good New Year's Resolution: WAKE UP!

"And that, knowing the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."
Romans 13:11-14