By David J. Stewart | August 2013
Jeremiah 6:16, “Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.”
America is the most Godless nation in history, simply because of the
advent of modern technology. Sodom didn't have the film projectors, internet
or cameras that make smut, lewdness and dirty images possible. Modern
technology has allowed mankind to sin on an unprecedented scale in human
history. Would to God that we could go back to the 1800's.
The Bible teaches for us to ask
for the OLD PATHS. That is, the time-tested paths, the proven paths and the
traveled paths. I'd like to share with you a few of the OLD PATHS...
The King James Bible
The King James Bible is God's fulfillment of His promise to preserve His inspired Words unto every generation (Psalms 12:6-7). Since 1611, we have been blessed with the precious authorized King James Bible. The Georgia Guidestones were mysteriously paid for by a stranger from a secret society who came from out of nowhere. The eight granite pillars where erected in 1980, displaying the goals of the architects of the New World Order. One of the 10 stated goals is to achieve a world language. That language is English, which is fast-becoming the universal language internationally. God knew what He was doing when He gave to us the grandest gift in all of history... the King James Bible for the common man!!! God has preserved His Words for these last days. Psalms 12:6-7, “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.”
All modern Bible versions have been corrupted by Satan. The most popular PERversion has been the New International Version (NIV) since it was first published in 1984. There have been a shocking 400 English translations since 1611 when the King James Bible was finished. The King James Is not a version; but rather, it is the Bible. God's Word hasn't changed that much in 400 years! The great preachers of the past used the King James Bible... Charles Spurgeon, Dwight Moody, Harry Ironside and Billy Sunday!!! Don't believe the Devil's lie that you need a new and improved Bible for this generation. There's nothing wrong with the good old King James Bible! ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS!!!
The Devil knows that by
continually changing your Bible, he can hinder you from memorizing it.
There's something beautiful about using the King James Bible from childhood
throughout one's life. Don't let the Devil steal your double-edged Sword and
give you a plastic knife instead. Cherish, love, memorize, abide and defend
your preserved, inerrant and inspired King James Bible!!! ASK FOR THE OLD
PATHS!!
A New Testament Soul Winning Church Verses An Evangelistic Church
The New Testament Church in the book of Acts was a soul-winning Church. In a soul-winning church, members of the church go out into the local community and witness the Gospel to lost sinners. But in an evangelistic church, sinners are invited into the church to hear the Gospel preached from the pulpit. Certainly, every church should be an evangelistic church, but it should also be a soul-winning church. A church that doesn't go soul-winning is not pleasing to the Lord. Jesus said, Luke 14:23, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
Independent Fundamental Baptist Churches get a lot of criticism, being accused of only going after “numbers” to boost their statistics for bragging rights. Let me tell you something friend, God may not be interested in numbers, but He dead sure ain't interested in empty pews. As you just read in the Lord's parable concerning Heaven, the lord said, “Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.” God wants His house filled with converts!!! Amen!
I love Acts 20:20, which is often referred to as “The Believer's 20/20 Vision.” Acts 20:20, “And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house.” The apostle Paul went out publicly soul-winning from HOUSE-TO-HOUSE, winning souls to Christ. The only churches that are still going door-to-door soul-winning today are a small handful of faithful Independent Fundamental Baptist churches and individual Christian believers who have started their own home churches or ministries. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is dead, a pathetic joke. They published their own corrupt Bible recently titled, The Holman Christian Standard Bible. It's the same old Alexandrian garbage manuscripts.
Today's apostate neo (meaning “new”) evangelical churches are dead, dry and nothing more than glorified social clubs for religious people. There's nothing sadder than visiting the average church these days are see nothing buy grey and bald heads, because the youth aren't there. Young people want to be a part of something that's growing, something alive, something going somewhere! Youth are attracted to the Godless Rock music culture because the bands are zealous of what they believe and are very exciting. That's not to say that we should bring the world into our churches to attract worldly teenagers, which is what many apostate churches are doing these days.
What we need are preaching preachers, men who walk with God, who make the truth exciting. Teenagers can be reached if you want to reach them. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking that today's youth are unreachable. Teenagers today are no different than they were 5,000 years ago. They're more rebellious, wicked and spoiled brats because of television, worldly music and public schools; but they are still God's creation, having souls and are very much impressionable and reachable for God. The problem is that there are not enough laborers to go work in the fields. The fields are ripe unto harvest.
If your church is not a soul-winning church, then make it one. Start going out into the highways and hedges, door-to-door with the Gospel truth. As you lead sinners to Christ, invite them, to church. Tell them that you'll come pick them up if they'll come. You have to compel people, which is exactly what the people says. Do what it takes to convince them to come to church, in a kind but firm way. Sometimes people need tough love. I heard Brother Lester Roloff say in a sermon the other day that he hardly ever won anybody to Christ who didn't get mad at him first.
You see, the truth irritates people, because God's Holy Spirit convicts them. Oftentimes the first step to getting a person saved is to get them lost. You have to strip away their religious cloak of pride, self-righteousness and foolishness before they can see their hopeless and sinful condition. The Holy Spirit will use the truth to work on them. Many people have to be offended with the Gospel, telling them to their face that they are a hell-deserving sinner, a bad person in God's eyes, and in need of the precious Savior.
Apostate churches today have
adopted the satanic philosophy that you can't reach the lost for Christ by
offending them. My friend, that's THE ONLY WAY to reach them for Christ. A
person cannot be saved by reformation, rehabilitation or education; but
rather, regeneration!!! Ye must be born again!!! (John 3:5-7). You
must first be offended by the law of God that says you are a wicked sinner
on your way to Hell in your sins. Then the choice is yours alone as an
individual to make... will you reject Christ and cling to your love for sin
(John 3:20); or will you acknowledge your sinnership and repent toward God
through faith in Christ to be forgiven of your sins (Acts 10:43)?
The Gospel Plan Of Salvation
The Bible teaches in 1st Corinthians 15:1-4 that the Gospel is three things; namely, that Jesus is the Christ Who DIED, was BURIED and RESURRECTED after three days. Christ paid our debt of sin in full. Anyone who receives the Gospel as full-payment for their sins is saved.
There are many false gospels in
our churches today. The lie of Lordship Salvation has crept into many
churches, teaching the Devil's lie that a person cannot be saved unless they
declare “Jesus is Lord,” surrender their life to Christ, forsake sinful bad
habits, intend to reform and turn over a new leaf. None of those things are
the Gospel message. A changed life is the result of genuine repentance, and
not a part of saving-faith. You don't forsake sin to BE saved; but rather,
because you ARE saved. God changes a man's life AFTER Christ's Spirit enters
into Him. Contrary to Pastor Aiden Tozer's heresy that there can be no
regeneration until there has first been reformation, the Bible teaches the
exact OPPOSITE, that is, there can be no reformation until there has first
been regeneration. YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN! (John 3:7).
Beware of Satan's new plans of
salvation which lead to Hell. We read in the book of Acts about a false cult
who were teaching that bodily circumcision was necessary for salvation.
Acts 15:1, “And certain men which came down from Judaea taught the brethren,
and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be
saved.” The apostle Peter rebuked them for teaching a false plan of
salvation. Peter stressed the gift of salvation by grace through faith in
Jesus Christ alone. Acts 15:11, “But we believe that through the grace of
the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Beware of anyone
who tells you that you have to be water baptized to go to Heaven, because
it's a lie of Satan. Beware of anyone who requires keeping sacraments, as do
Roman Catholics and Lutherans to be saved. You don't have to do anything to
be saved except rest in what Christ has already done to pay for our sins
with His precious blood (1st Peter 1:18-19). ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS!!!
The Literal, Physical, Blood Sacrifice Of Jesus For Our Sins
There is a new (neo) ecumenical teaching (doctrine) in our churches today that is bloodless. The very mention of Jesus' precious “blood” offends some people. It sounds cultic to those who are not familiar with the Scriptures and the work of the Old Testament highpriest in the tabernacle. Once a year the Jewish highpriest (of the priestly sons of Levi) would enter into the Holy Place with the blood of a male lamb without spot nor blemish. The lamb symbolized the Lamb of God, Who is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord was sinless and perfect in every way, which is why the lamb had to be chosen without any spots nor blemishes.
Please note that it wasn't enough for the highpriest to kill the lamb. The blood had to be shed and applied to the mercy seat within the Holy of Holies. This was a foreshadow of things to come. Hebrews 10:1, “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.” Notice carefully from Hebrews 10:1 that the Old Testament animal sacrifices could not completely satisfy the demands of a holy and righteous God. “Heb:10:4: For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
The penalty for our sin debt has been paid in full. Eternal life is a gift (Romans 6:23), freely provided and paid for by our dead Savior (Romans 5:15. All you have to do is receive it by faith in Christ's dieth, buried and resurrected from the dead three days later. If you receive the Gospel as full-payment for your sins, then you are saved forever. You can never lose eternal life. It is a free gift. You cannot be saved by good works, and you cannot be lost again by bad works.
You'll rarely hear mention of the sin-cleansing blood of Jesus Christ by today's apostate ministers. However, the Bible does proclaim the blood of Jesus, from the blood of Abel's animal sacrifice to the saints whose robes are washed in the Lamb's blood in Revelation. Beware of false prophets like Pastor Robert Thieme Jr. and Pastor John Macarthur, who both teach that Jesus' physical blood soaked into the ground at Calvary and stayed there. Both men teach that we are saved by Christ's death alone, and that the blood represents the death. Thus, they deceitfully claim that they love the blood, and the blood is important to them, but only in the sense that the blood really means Christ's death. What a play on words and deadly false teaching at its worst.
My friends, Jesus shed His literal, physical, blood for our sins and He ascended into Heaven with that blood to apply to the mercy seat in God the Father's presence. This is plainly stated in Hebrews 10:12 and 9:12, “But this man [Jesus], after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God [the Father] ... Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood [literal, physical, blood] he entered in once into the holy place [in Heaven], having obtained eternal redemption for us.”
Whew! Amen! Jesus paid for our sins with His precious blood!!! 1st Peter 1:18-19, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
Hebrews 9:13-14, “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” Anyone who denies or makes light of the literal, physical, blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ is sinning.
Hebrews 10:29, “Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” The words “unholy thing” here are the Greek word koinos, which means, “common.” Is the blood of Jesus just a common thing to you? Is is lacking the holy reverence that all men should have for the sanctified, holy and precious blood of the dead Lamb of God? R.B. Thieme and John MacArthur teach that Jesus' blood is still in the dirt at the cross where Christ was crucified. Do you believe that? Do you believe that Jesus' blood was no more special than a urinal, fire-hydrant or bag of garbage to be tossed in a landfill?
Take heed to the warning which follows Hebrews 10:29... Hebrews 10:30-31, “For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall file_zilljudge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” God pity the man or women who diminishes and makes light of the literal, physical, precious, blood of Jesus, the Christ. Beware of today's Lordship Salvation heresy that requires a full surrender of one's will to be saved, demands for a sinner to cease from sinful bad habits to have the gift of God's righteousness, and woefully perverts the Gospel message by requiring lost sinners to walk the straight and narrow moral path (good works) to be saved. These are all paths to Hell, fire and damnation.
If you want to go to Heaven, then you need GOD'S RIGHTEOUSNESS. You and I have no self-righteousness to impress God (Isaiah 64:6). Philippians 3:9, “And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” There's nobody in Hell today who doesn't believe the Bible. Where will you spend eternity... smoking or non-smoking?
ASK FOR THE OLD PATHS!!!
Revelation 14:11, “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
