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Nuwe Boek: Jesus Christus en ons lewe in Hom

Written by Prof. Johan Malan

’n Nuwe boek deur Johan Malan, getiteld Jesus Christus en ons lewe in Hom, is in April 2012 deur Lux Verbi uitgegee. Dit bevat ’n sistematiese, evangeliese leerstelling oor die Persoon en werke van die Here Jesus. Die boek word landswyd deur Christelike en ander boekhandelaars versprei, maar kan ook per pos bekom word by On the Dot (Lux Verbi se verspreider), Kalahari.net en Leserskring. Volg die skakel hier onder vir die bekendstelling op Lux Verbi se webblad:

http://www.luxverbi.co.za/content/jesus-christus-en-ons-lewe-hom

Dit sal baie waardeer word indien u hierdie inligting aan vriende en kennisse op u adreslys sal stuur.

Christ as our Saviour and Advocate

Written by Prof. Johan Malan

Two of the most important offices in which the Lord Jesus reveals Himself to us are those of Saviour and Advocate. These relate to our initial salvation as well as our subsequent cleansing from sin, which is an ongoing process. The following are the most significant aspects connected to these two offices:

International Intervention in Libya, and the NWO

The UN supported military action against Libya is typical of the emerging New World Order (NWO). A very conspicuous aspect of the present situation is that the joint action against Libya has been requested by a combination of Western and Arab countries – a first of its kind. A news reader of the Qatar based Aljazeera even rudely corrected one of their reporters when she said that the military action was a Western response to Gaddafi’s violence against his own people. He reminded her that the Arab nations as represented by the Arab League have fully endorsed the UN resolution against Gaddafi, regardless of who physically executes the decision.

Read more...

Verse of the Day

Biblical Warnings

I just did a search on the internet for the phrase “experience God” and came up with over 51 million references! Wow, that must be an important idea! “Well off course it is”, I hear you say. “We must experience God” has become such a common idea amongst Christians today that we all accept, without question, that this is God’s will for us. And of course none of us want to be so unspiritual that we don’t want to have an experience with God and so many who have not “experienced God” silently sneak away feeling embarrassed, cheated, and inferior. Then there are those special, highly spiritual ones who have experienced God and walk around feeling superior to the rest of those who have never experienced this level of spirituality.

Great changes as well as wide-ranging decline and apostatising are occurring in the world, and many of these phenomena are the fulfilment of signs of the times which are prophesied in the Bible. However, in many churches not a word is said about these signs, since end-time prophecies in the Bible are hardly ever studied and proclaimed. A closer examination of the problem reveals that this shortcoming is not only the result of ignorance but of an erroneous theological orientation which prevails particularly in Calvinistic (reformed) churches. This problem is deeply-rooted and cannot be solved by merely giving a pastor a good book on the end-times in the hope that he will start preaching on the subject.

The kingdom of darkness infiltrated the Christian church with a view to adulterating it by proclaiming a counterfeit Jesus, a counterfeit spirit and a counterfeit gospel.

We are living in a time of unprecedented technological achievements, in which handy aids and instant solutions are offered for virtually all problems.

Biblical faith refers to the essential spiritual bond or relationship between a saved person and God: “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). If we truly believe in God we should recognise and accept Him for who He is, i.e. the Almighty, Triune God who created everything and in His omnipotence sustains His creation. We should also accept the fact that we are sinful beings who can only be forgiven and renewed by His grace through faith. We must have a saving faith in God as eternal life is only imparted to us through His Son, Jesus Christ, who atoned for our sins. Having accepted Christ as Saviour our faith in the Lord must be strengthened by daily abiding in Him, walking in the Spirit and prayerfully studying His Word.

Full Video Series at the Bottom of this Articles

Genesis 22:8
The counterfeits change ". . . My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:. . ." to distort the prophesy that God would become the Lamb. The counterfeits read as, "God will provide for Himself the lamb. . ." or "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering". The fulfillment of Genesis 22:8 is found in John 1:29. Isaiah 14:12
Most counterfeits confuse the Lord Jesus Christ with Lucifer. They replace the word "Lucifer" with "morning star, day star, star of the morning". Morning star is a title reserved for the Lord Jesus in Revelation 22:16.This is also the only time the word "Lucifer" is found in the Word of God. In Isaiah 14:15 the counterfeits do not send Lucifer to "hell" but only to the confusing "Sheol", or the "grave".

A vigilant Christian is someone who is fully conscious of the spiritual realities of his life in Christ, and derives the motivation and strength for his life from this divine source. He is also conscious of the spiritual dangers posed by the opposing kingdom of Satan and actively resists them.

This week the Virginia Tech called a convocation in the aftermath of the massacre in which 32 were killed. Four speakers represented the religious community. The first was a Muslim, the second a Buddhist, the third a Jewess and the third a Lutheran. (I refer to him as a Lutheran and not a Christian on purpose). The selection of the speakers must have taken considerable thought in the light of the fact that their messages could make a huge difference to still the anger, sorrow and confusion of those assembled, but also because the convocation would be broadcast across the world and be seen by millions. Read more...

We often get questions relating to some new teaching that a pastor or author is promoting. Sometimes the subject is a really complex one which flows from different interpretations of various Scriptures. But many times the answers are very easy and very simple.

Among Christians in various parts of the world an extremely dangerous spiritual movement is under way, where people in many respects revert back to the Old Testament law. They do so under the deceptive supposition that the outward observance of the law would add to the grace of Christ to make them better Christians.

There is a growing movement among certain Christians, even evangelicals, to revert to the Old Testament law, including the law on Sabbath-keeping. This movement is prompting many questions on the so-called ‘universal applicability’ of the Sabbath.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. (1 Thes. 5:1-3)

The one time when people are sure to be talking about peace and safety is just after they’ve experienced the horrible effects of war. For example, I remember as a kid seeing movies of people dancing in the streets of New York when they learned that World War 2 had finally ended. Soon the military was all but dismantled and people everywhere expressed a joyous expectation of peace.

Spiritually, the world population is divided into two groups only, i.e. the children of God and the children of the devil. This division relates to the two big kingdoms that are in competition for control over humanity. They are God’s kingdom of truth, righteousness and eternal life, and Satan’s kingdom of lies, sin and eternal death.

There are many views about Jesus among the millions of His followers. These diverging opinions form the basis of a wide range of relationships with Him. Included among those who regard themselves as Christians, is a large group of deceived ‘believers’ who are convinced that they follow and serve Jesus.

It is important that one understands the phenomenon of apostatising, or backsliding, as every believer should be able to identify and counter this backward course in his or her spiritual life whenever it occurs.

In the preface of his book, Voices from the Edge of Eternity, John Meyers says, “Death is a subject no one can treat lightly. It is too final for that. Beauty, honour, wealth, earthly power, hopes, and dreams – all are swallowed up in that finality. Man was born with his hands clenched; he dies with them wide open.

It is of the greatest importance that Christians should expect a future kingdom – not a kingdom now, during the church dispensation. One of the very serious forms of deception, which the Christian church worldwide is exposed to, emanates from wrongly interpreted promises and commands that we should establish a visible kingdom here and now. An orientation of this nature is the breeding-ground for spiritual deception since it offers Satan’s alternate kingdom the opportunity of holding out to believers something else than that which the Bible promises us for the present dispensation: a different faith, a different way of life, a different status, a different world, and ultimately a different Christ and a different kingdom.

“And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places” (Mt. 24:6-7). Read more...

Rob Edwards, environmental editor of the Sunday Herald, reports that, as a result of global warming, the Antarctic ice sheet is melting faster than we thought. The consequences could be catastrophic and beyond anything scientists have so far predicted. The Antarctic ice sheet contains 30 million billion tonnes of ice, four times more than all the fresh water in the rest of the world. Only a small part of it has to melt to trigger a cataclysm.

A house built on sand is a house without a proper foundation – it is bound to collapse when it is battered by heavy storms, despite its solid appearance above the ground. The same principle applies to individuals and nations: without a sound spiritual and moral foundation they are heading for disaster when afflicted by the storms of life (cf. Matt. 7:24-27). Jesus Christ is the only true foundation that offers lasting stability against all the storms which are incessantly unleashed from an evil world: “For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Cor. 3:11).

Spiritual slavery is a reality with which all people on earth are faced, since all of humanity are slaves of sin because of the depraved nature which they inherited from Adam. Sin is the consequence of alienation from God, and that accounts for their condition of spiritual and moral depravity. The Fall has rendered humanity despicable in the eyes of God (Gen. 6:5-6). Paul says: “... through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned” (Rom. 5:12).

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).

Galatians. 5:16-17 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lustof the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.”
There is a serious obstacle in the spiritual lives of many Christians, and that is the uncrucified flesh. The flesh refers to the old, sinful nature of believers (the old manor the old self) and therefore represents worldliness emanating from a carnal mind. The flesh is only crucified in principle when one is saved, and this offers you the possibility of prevailing over it through the cross of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. The command in Gal. 5:16 is very clear: “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.” But the next verse (Gal. 5:17) describes the obstacle of the old self that must first be overcome before you will be able to live unrestrained and victoriously in the Spirit. Read more...

A toddler will eat anything. It does not matter if it is nutritious or poison, it has no ability to discern between food and poison.

“As Christians we should not be friends with unbelievers while remaining loyal to our “brothers” no matter what they do”. That is the view of many Christians. But is that correct?

Christians are called upon to fight the good fight of faith by resisting the devil’s deception, temptations, accusations, and attacks. We should use all the spiritual weapons at our disposal – especially faith in the crucified and risen Christ, prayer, and the sword of the Spirit (1 John 5:4-5; Rev. 12:11; Jas. 5:16; Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12). Sadly, many believers disregard these methods of spiritual self-defence, and resort to unbiblical forms of deliverance like, among others, exorcism. They argue that compulsive bad habits in a Christian’s life are caused by demons, and that these habits can only be eliminated by the binding or casting out of the demons that are allegedly at the root of sinful behaviour.

1. Satan’s Fall

The kingdom of darkness is a reality which everybody should be well aware of. Satan and his demons – which are the fallen angels who were cast out of heaven because of their complicity in his rebellion – are engaged in a fierce battle against God and His kingdom. They strive to be worshipped and for power. Satan is an imitator of God who is intent on replacing God as ruler of the universe. His aim is also to be worshipped as God. In his imitation of the Triune God, Satan’s kingdom is also ruled by a triumvirate – the devil, the Antichrist and the false prophet. The devil pretends to be God and his future world leader, the Antichrist, will be offered to the world as the Christ, while the false prophet will imitate the ministry of the Holy Spirit by doing great signs and wonders.

When we compare biblical Christianity with the religions of the world, using the Scriptures to guide us, we see that the gap between them is unbridgeable. In fact, one is forced to the conclusion that there are really only two religions in the world: biblical Christianity--and all other religions. (Note: I refer to biblical Christianity as a "religion" only for comparative purposes: a religion is a man-made belief system, whereas biblical Christianity is what God has revealed to mankind.)

The knowledge of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Contrary to this, the beginning of foolishness is to deny God and think and live according to one’s own, limited understanding. The natural knowledge and desires of human beings are perverted because of the Fall.

The two great spiritual realities which face all of us are God’s kingdom and Satan’s kingdom. The Triune God has supreme authority over the universe, and He is served by a large number of angels and humans. The devil’s counterfeit kingdom arose from a prehistoric rebellion against God’s kingdom, and in its composition it shows clear signs of imitating the kingdom of God. The following is a comparative table of the two kingdoms:

Paul’s letters to Timothy are the instructions from a mentor to a young pastor, one of the first ever, and contain advice on what to do and how to do it, as well as what not to do. It’s the kind of thing you’d expect given the relationship.

God wants you to be rich, healthy and happy. If you have financial problems just become a Christian and all your problems will go away. Believers can get anything they wish from God by planting seeds in the form of cash. Every dollar you give God, He repays ten or a hundred fold.”

The Lord says that His wayward people, Israel, will only seek Him and be spiritually restored during perilous times when their enemies threaten to destroy them. In Hosea 5:15 He says, “In their affliction they will diligently seek Me.” Jeremiah also refers to Israel’s end-time distress: “It is the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it” (Jer. 30:7). Daniel says, “There shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation [of Israel], even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered” (Dan. 12:1). He links this time to the actions of the false messiah, who will desecrate the temple and set up an image of himself in God’s sanctuary: “And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defile the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation” (Dan. 11:31).

There will be a time of extensive rebellion against God and His kingdom on earth in the last days, shortly before the Lord pours out His judgements upon the wicked. Governments will all be deceived to pursue a humanistic and antichristian new world order. The Bible warns us against this time:

The recent collapse of giant financial institutions in the US (banks, building societies, and a multinational insurance company with assets in excess of one trillion dollars), gave rise to an unprecedented level of government support so save these institutions from closing their doors.

Many Christians have been deceived into believing that they can somehow “convert” the kingdoms of this world to become the Kingdom of God. In the process they have put their energy and hopes into bringing about the Kingdom of God by working towards getting more influence with government in order to transform government. Some even believe that Jesus will return once we have transformed the world and created the millennial Kingdom.

Physical slavery is as real today as in the past, and according to Wikipedia an estimated 25 million people worldwide are involved with this practice. Most of them are poor people in Asia who render slave labour to rich people because of not being able to settle their family debt. Members of such families are forced to work a few days per week as slaves for money-lenders – often in the fields of land owners. Furthermore, forced child labour is also encountered in certain poor countries, while an increasing number of children and women are abducted by crime syndicates and used as slaves in the sex trade.

Doesn't the Bible refer in a number of places to wine and strong drink? Don't we quite often find people drinking alcohol in the Bible? Can't we assume, then, that Scripture generally does not condemn drinking alcoholic beverages?

Most people feel that being comfortable is the least they can expect. Others want to be rich and enjoy the excesses of wealth. But Christians understand that the love of money and greed are not good things and so they feel that just being comfortable and settled is not unreasonable and unscriptural. (This discussion obviously excludes those who have believed the lie of the prosperity preachers that greed is good).

In many Western societies, institutions are adopted from pagan cultures by isolating them from their original cultural context and practising them as social amusement or even to promote a mystical experience. The recipient community regards such institutions, e.g. African drumming, as a form of cultural enrichment without considering the religious compromise that is inevitably involved in the process.

A dangerous practise occurring in most Christian churches, even among those who profess to be evangelical, is the lowering of spiritual standards in an effort to bypass the biblical demand of complete repentance. Faith in Christ is proclaimed in such a way as to suggest that the righteousness of God is imputed to all believers without demanding a reciprocal reaction of the forsaking of all known sins. In terms of this erroneous understanding of justification, sins should be confessed but not necessarily forsaken.

What is more important? To have a good start to life or a good ending? Obviously the end is more important than the beginning. Jesus told a parable about two young men. One had a bad attitude at the beginning but he changed. The other began with a good attitude but turned bad in the end (Matthew 21:28ff). The point of the parable is that many sinners end being more righteous than the religious people and that it does not matter what our start is, but rather what our ending will be.
That all seems so obvious to most people. Why is it then that so many who have every potential for success fail? Even the Bible is filled with stories of men who began well and messed up in the end. The most tragic of all is Solomon who had everything going for him but ended making a total mess of his life. Read more...

The road system in the Roman empire was quite remarkable. Roads ran from throughout Britain in the west, to the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers (today Iraq) in the east, and from the Danube River in central Europe to as far south as North Africa. The total length of hard-surfaced highways constructed by the Romans has been estimated to be well over 50,000 miles / 80,000 kilometers, much of which is still visible today after so many centuries. All these roads are said to have radiated out from the capital – Rome and so no matter which road you took, it would ultimately end in Rome. Today this proverb takes on a wider meaning: no matter which road you take, it will accomplish the same result in the end.

"Is America in a 'Nebuchadnezzar moment' (where we still have an opportunity to repent and be restored), or a 'Belshazzar moment' (where God removes His favor from us and turns out the lights)?"

"The Pastor and the Future" -- that's what I've been asked to speak about tonight, and I cannot think of a more important subject to close this conference. You and I are living in one of the most dangerous moments in the history of the United States….in the history of Israel and the Middle East….in the history of the Church. Yet at this very moment when so many people are so anxious about the future, too many pastors are shying away from teaching Bible prophecy.

When considering the phenomenon of backsliding to the point of falling from grace, we should keep in mind that every person has a free will which believers can also use to their own detriment under the influence of spiritual deception – to such an extent that they can completely apostatise. The Holy Spirit never intimidates us to do things which are contrary to our will. He leads and convicts us to bring our will in agreement with the Lord’s will and to live accordingly. If we do that and take care to maintain the right relationship with the Lord by abiding in the atonement (cf. 1 John 2:1-2) we will never backslide.

If there is a place of eternal torment where damned souls cry in vain for water amid the flames they cannot escape forever, it is the most terrible and alarming fact in this universe! The very possibility that such a doom may await the sinner is so shocking that no other question can compare with it in importance. How can today’s feasting or hunger, clothing or nakedness, honour or infamy, pleasure or pain compare in importance with a million years of pain, torment of body, mind, and conscience? I beg the sinner to consider how worth while it is to know what God says about Hell.

This is one of the shortest verses in the Bible: Luke 17:32 “Remember Lot’s wife”.

It is also a very strange verse in that we would normally be encouraged to remember people who achieved greatness or did great exploits for God. But Lot’s wife never did anything great. In fact, we know nothing about her and do not read anything about her until she turned around to look at Sodom burning. We don’t even know her name – she is just “Lot’s wife”.

The Lord Jesus referred to the long period of Jerusalem’s domination by Gentile nations when, shortly before His rejection and crucifixion by Israel, He said that the Jewish people would “fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24). It is important to correctly understand the expression “the times of the Gentiles”, as the end of this period will be brought about by a dramatic intervention by Christ, inclusive of the restoration of David’s throne and the kingdom of Israel.

The deceived church of the end-time is not merely the product of human errors of judgement caused by poor spiritual insight, but it clearly also shows signs of a satanic spirit of error.

Christians should be able to test all doctrine in creeds, sermons, books, articles, as well as statements made during discussions, to determine if they are a true reflection of Scriptural truth: “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). Every religious message has a spiritual dimension to it – either the Spirit of truth who wants to guide us into all truth (John 16:13), or Satan’s spirit of error who is intent on deceiving as many people as possible, also within churches (1 John 4:6; 2 Pet. 2:1-2).

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