Tell Me What I Don’t Have to Do! – Walking the Thin Line Between Heaven and Hell – Purity 1192

Tell Me What I Don’t Have to Do! – Walking the Thin
Line Between Heaven and Hell – Purity 1192

Purity 1192 11/07/2023 Purity 1192 Podcast

Purity 1192 on YouTube:

Good morning,

Today’s photo of the love of my life, TammyLyn Clark,
looking into the distance while traversing the rocky creek bed that comes down
from the Lye Brook Falls Trail comes to us from yours truly as I captured this
near the end of our 5-mile trek in and out of one of  Green Mountain National Forest’’ more popular
destinations.  The creek bed was
impressive and if you are no fan of mountain hikes, there’s good news, this
scene was about 5 minutes down from the parking lot. So technically, you could
say that you went to the Lye Brook Falls TRAIL, snap some photos of the mountain
stream, and even stage yourself along some of the rock outcroppings at the
early stages of the trail near the creek, and really look like you had “been
there and done that”. 

Of course, those of us who had actually hiked the 2.3-mile
trail and had seen the actual falls for ourselves would know that you “missed
something” and some of us may call you out for not being a “true Lye Brook
Falls hiker”.  But in our age of selfies
and, if it’s possible, increased self-interest, there are those who would
vehemently argue how they didn’t have to actually hike all the way up to the
falls to say they had “an experience” of the falls. I bet you even know people like
that – the ones who will argue points and not waver from their position, even
when they are shown to be wrong, as long as they have some fact or version of “their
truth” to back it up.

Well, it’s Tuesday, and election day, and because I
belong to a labor union that chose to bargain to have this day off, I get to
declare today as a “holiday” because I have the day off.  Now I understand that the vast majority of
people out there don’t have it off and instead of going around today telling everyone
to enjoy “the holiday”, I’ll stay content and just enjoy the fact that I get to
experience it and possibly encourage others to “join the union” if they want to
experience the benefit of having election day off.  But it is a labor union, and unlike the
gospel of grace, you do have to work and continue to work to enjoy the benefits
of union membership, and then one day enjoy the benefits of retirement.  

When it comes to our Christian faith, there are many
who want to claim the benefits of “retirement” – eternal life in God’s kingdom –
but who seem content in doing as little as possible as a “supposed member” of
God’s family and can seem virtually the same as their unsaved neighbors.  While these “nominal” Christians are quick
with a confession of faith there is little or no evidence of the fruits of the Spirits
or the good works and spiritual disciplines of Christian discipleship.   Bonhoeffer called such “believers” to be
consumers of “cheap grace” – those who believe in salvation by association and who
expressed through their lukewarm faith or red-hot lives of sinful passions that
discipleship and repentance of sin were difficult and unnecessary.  In spiritual matters, they would claim their
liberty and rather than being considered what they could do for God’s kingdom,
they were more interested in what THEY DIDN’T have to do for their golden
ticket to heaven.  

If I seem harsh, please realize that I’m very
familiar with this type of “little faith of the ultra-grace variety” – because that
was ME!!!!

As a Catholic, as an Episcopalian, and yes even as a
“Born Again” Pentecostal Bible Believing Christian, I have had what you can
call apprehension if not full blown resistance to the things of God and as a
skeptic I feared going off “the deep end” of religious extremism and often
would stand on – well let’s see – my infant baptism, my confirmations (one as a
Catholic in my youth, and one “surprise” confirmation as an Episcopalian as an
adult (we’re doing what?), or my sinner’s prayers – as the proof of my faith,
the minimal qualifications for salvation, and “ALL I HAD TO DO” to be a
Christian.  

While I understand that all of us want to be sure we
are “right with God” – that mentality of “checking theological boxes” to be
assured of our salvation both forgets something and indicates something.  That mentality forgets God, and what He has
to say about you and your relationship with Him.  That mentality indicates you don’t know the
word of God and you may not have a relationship with Him.  

We can have assurance of salvation. An examination of
God’s word and our confession of faith in Jesus Christ should be enough to tell
you, in your heart and mind, whether or not you actually put your faith in Jesus
as LORD and Savior. 

If you have doubts and question your hesitancy to believe
and follow, I recommend Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s advice to believe and to obey
that he goes to great lengths to encourage in “Discipleship”. If you doubt,
just obey, and it will confirm your belief and faith in Christ. I believe in God’s
word, so I am going to obey it. I will do God’s will for my life.  As Bonhoeffer writes:  

Those
who do the will of God are called and forgiven by grace; they obey and follow. ^[1]

And that’s the proper order, we are not forgiven by grace because
we “obey and follow” – we are forgiven by grace and made alive in Christ
through faith in Him, SO we obey and follow. 

And if we believe and obey, we won’t be asking – What  DO I DON’T have to do to be a Christian – or What
can I NOT Do and still be a Christian.  

That’s possibly a long list: 
Technically, I suppose – it’s possible that you could choose to:

·       not be baptized.

·       not give tithes or offerings to the church.

·       Not go to church.

·       Not pray.

·       Not sing worship songs.

·       Not read the Bible.

·       Not evangelize.

While those things are not required for salvation, we are saved by
faith in Christ alone, they are good indicators (although not proofs) of a
relationship with God.   I myself,
because of my sinful past and sinful bondages after becoming a Christian – didn’t
feel able, willing, or worthy of doing many things on that list.  In my spiritual infancy, I thought it was
best to not draw attention to myself in case God wanted to change His mind –
which proved I didn’t know His word which tells us that nothing can separate us
from His love. 

But God calls us to follow and live with Him forever and hiding
from Him and the church and Christian discipleship practices isn’t the way to have
a relationship with God.  While we can
know the facts of the gospel, our assurance and growth as a Christian come from
seeking the Lord and spending time in His presence – through His word and in
His church. 

So don’t ask what you DON’T Have to do to be a Christian, instead
ask the Lord how you can know Him more and obey His will for your life. 

We don’t want to walk that thin line between heaven and hell and
not be sure of our place in God’s kingdom. We want to take progressive steps of
faith that will draw us closer to the Lord and assure us that we are free
indeed and secure in His love and kingdom forever.

——————————————————————————————–

Today’s
Bible verse comes to us from “The Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling” By
John G. Kruis.

(
While Bible verses on various topics of Counseling can be found with a quick Google
search, we encourage you to purchase this resource to support the late author’s
work. (https://www.amazon.com/Quick-Scripture-Reference-Counseling-Kruis-ebook/dp/B00CIUJZT2?ref_=ast_author_dp )

This
morning’s meditation verses come from the section on Children.

Psalm 8:2 (ESV)
²  Out of the mouth of babies
and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the
enemy and the avenger.

Today’s
verse falls under the third point of our counseling reference guide resource’s
section on Children.

 3. God delights in the praise and worship
of children.

Today’s verses are
admittedly somewhat mysterious to me, but I think that the Psalmist, because
this is a hymn of praise, is stating that even children can declare the glory
of the Lord in the awe and wonder they express when experiencing God’s
creation. Luckily the context of the psalm draws this out as most of Psalm 8 is
about God’s creation. 

The foes of God would say
there is no God, I guess – hello atheists and Satan – but the heavens declare
the is a Creator God – the fact and design of creation scream it – and any
rational person should be stilled by it.    

And as for our resource
author’s point – God does delight in the praise and worship of all His
children, young and old. He sent Christ so we can have peace with Him and
Revelation indicates that those who enter into His kingdom by faith in Jesus will
praise and worship him forever and ever.

So Praise Him!

——————————————————————–

As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I
always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to
assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk.

Today we are sharing from A. W. Pink’s – The Arthur
Pink Anthology  – a collection of A.W.
Pink’s tracts brought together in one book and dispersed here on the blog for
your encouragement.

As always, I share this information for educational
purposes and encourage you all to purchase A.W. Pink’s books for your own
private study and to support his work.  This resource is available online
for free as a PDF at many sites, but printed copies of collections of A.W.
Pink’s books are available for purchase wherever Christian books are sold. 

The Arthur Pink Anthology – 2

Another Gospel – Part
5 of 5

A yet more specious
form of Satan’s gospel is to move preachers to present the atoning sacrifice of
Christ and then tell their hearers that all God requires from them is to
“believe” in His Son. Thereby thousands of impenitent souls are deluded into
thinking they have been saved. But Christ said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all
likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). To “repent” is to hate sin, to sorrow over it, to
turn from it. It is the result of the Spirits making the heart contrite before
God. None except a broken heart can savingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, thousands are
deceived into supposing that they have “accepted Christ” as their “personal
Saviour,” who have not first received Him as their LORD. The Son of God did not
come here to save His people in their sin, but “from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
To be saved from sins, is to be saved from ignoring and despising the authority
of God, it is to abandon the course of self-will and self-pleasing, it is to
“forsake our way” (Isa. 55:7). It is to surrender to God’s authority, to yield
to His dominion, to give ourselves over to be ruled by Him. The one who has
never taken Christ’s “yoke” upon him, who is not truly and diligently seeking
to please Him in all the details of life, and yet supposes that he is “resting
on the Finished Work of Christ” is deluded by the Devil.

In the seventh
chapter of Matthew there are two scriptures which give us approximate results
of Christ’s Gospel and Satan’s counterfeit. First, in verses 13–14, “Enter ye
in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the
gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that
find it.” Second; in verses 22–23, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out
demons, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Yes, my reader,
it is possible to work in the name of Christ, and even to preach in his name,
and though the world knows us, the Church knows us, yet to be unknown to the
Lord! How necessary is it then to find out where we really are; to examine
ourselves and see whether we be in the faith; to measure ourselves by the Word of
God and see if we are being deceived by our subtle Enemy; to find out whether
we are building our house upon the sand, or whether it is erected on the Rock
which is Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit search our hearts, break our wills,
slay our enmity against God, work in us a deep and true repentance, and direct
our gaze to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.^[2]

—————————more tomorrow————————

Join our “Victory over the Darkness”, “The Bondage
Breaker”, “Freedom in Christ” series of Discipleship Classes via the
mt4christ247 podcast!

at https://mt4christ247.podbean.com, You can also find it on Apple podcasts

(https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-mt4christ247s-podcast/id1551615154). The mt4christ247 podcast is also available
on Google Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartradio, and
Audible.com. 

These teachings are also available on the
MT4Christ247 YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@MT4Christ247

Email me at mt4christ247@gmail.com to receive the class materials, share your progress, and
to be encouraged.

My wife, TammyLyn, also offers Christian encouragement
via her Ask Seek Knock blog (https://tammylynask.blogspot.com/ ),  her
Facebook Group: Ask, Seek, Knock (https://www.facebook.com/groups/529047851449098 ) and her podcast Ask, Seek, and Knock on
Podbean (https://feed.podbean.com/tammalyn78/feed.xml)

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publication are those of the author, M.T. Clark, only, and do not purport to
reflect the opinions or views of any of the photographers, artists, ministries,
or other authors of the other works that may be included in this publication,
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Encouragement
for the Path of Christian Discipleship