Thursday, November 04, 2010

Does God love everyone?


John MacArthur argues that YES, God's love is universal.

IN WHAT SENSE IS GOD'S LOVE UNIVERSAL?

What aspects of God's love and goodwill are seen even in His dealings with the reprobate? God manifests His love universally to all people in at least four ways:

Common grace. Common grace is a term theologians use to describe the goodness of God to all mankind universally. Common grace restrains sin and the effects of sin on the human race. Common grace is what keeps humanity from descending into the morass of evil that would exist if the full expression of man's fallen nature had free reign.

Compassion. God's love to all humanity is a love of compassion. To say it another way, it is a love of pity.

Admonition. God's universal love is revealed not only in common grace and His great compassion, but also in His admonitions to all sinners. God is constantly warning the reprobate of their impending fate, and pleading with them to repent. Nothing demonstrates God's love more than the various warnings throughout the pages of Scripture, urging sinners to flee from the wrath to come.

The gospel offer. The final proof that God's love extends to all lies in the gospel offer. The gospel invitation is an offer of divine mercy. The breadth of that offer is unlimited. It excludes no one from the gospel invitation. It offers salvation in Christ freely and indiscriminately to all.

http://www.tms.edu/tmsj/tmsj7a.pdf

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Are you a 'Bonsai Christian' or worse?


bon·sai: (tray-plant) dwarfed by pruning roots and pinching, stifling growth, trained to grow in a shallow pot or container to produce desired shape or effect, stunted, miniature

Why are so many in the church stunted in their spiritual growth? Could the process of American churchianity be a contributing factor? Have the conventions of the modern church pruned the roots of faith and pinched the organic energy that should result from saving life in the soul? Is the construct of most religious institutions training people to grow in a shallow pot? Is this being done to produce a desired effect? Do professional pastors and lay leaders want to contain their parishioners to make them into a particular desired shape in order to fit into the agenda of the philosophy of 'success' of the programs of their church?

While I do not doubt that many godly men are shepherding their flock with tender loving care, I believe that the state of the American church deserves prayerful scrutiny.

As a missionary of 18 years I have noticed a disturbing and growing trend. A goodly portion of the people in churches appear to be living spiritually mediocre lives, at best. They are bonsai Christians. Satisfied with traditions of the church (activities), they seem content with very little. They seem pleased with watered down milk. And, tragically, many more professing Christians we meet at the abortuaries and at college campues are openly debauched and hedonistic. I find it extremely disturbing that over 55% of the sexually immoral women who murder their babies by abortion identify themselves as 'Protestant' (and 18% are Catholic) while women with no religious affiliation obtain 23.7% of all abortions. Notorious abortionist Randall Whitney (who has been murdering children since before  was recently arrested for slapping an aborting mom across the face) confidently told me: "Patte, we are both Christians. The only difference between you and me is that you are a pre-modern Christian and I am a post-modern Christian." People like Randy Whitney must be lapping up the proverbial kool-aid of the new 'cult' of Christendumb. Surely they are suckling what amounts to non-dairy creamer from their pulpiteers and only consider themselves 'saved' because of what they have been told makes for a 'Christian' & their church affliliation confirms the lie.  Rather than finding their pleasures in God, these false converts are finding them in their religious tradition and in earthly, sensual devilish pleasures for which they are not experiencing power to overcome nor enough guilt to put them away simply because they are shameful. Truly, "There is no fear of God in their eyes." (Romans 3:18)

Have you noticed this problem too? It's nothing new. It's as old as mankind, but it runs in cycles. We are at a very low ebb here in the visible American church. Bonsai Christians abound. And, quasi and pseudo 'christians' are epidemic.

qua·si: –adjective (as if, as though)  resembling; seeming, having some, but not all of the features of

pseu·do: –adjective
1.not actually but having the appearance of; pretended; false or spurious; sham.
2. almost, approaching, or trying to be.

Related words: fake, faker, fraud, imposter, impostor

George Whitefield, a preacher of righteousness of America's Great Awakening of the 1700's, wrote the following about the 'almost Christian':

"An almost Christian is one of the most hurtful creatures in the world; he is a wolf in sheep's clothing: he is one of those false prophets, our blessed Lord bids us beware of in his sermon on the mount, who would persuade men, that the way to heaven is broader than it really is; and thereby, as it was observed before, "enter not into the kingdom of God themselves, and those that are entering in they hinder." These, these are the men that turn the world into a luke-warm Laodicean spirit; that hang out false lights, and so shipwreck unthinking benighted souls in their voyage to the haven of eternity. These are they who are greater enemies to the cross of Christ, than infidels themselves: for of an unbeliever every one will be aware; but an almost Christian, through his subtle hypocrisy, draws away many after him; and therefore must expect to receive the greater damnation."

I believe that the only remedy for the striking decline in holiness and spiritual authority and power in the church today is bold, expositional, reformational public preaching in the pulpit and in the public square. And I am not alone in my assessment. Are you a bonsai Christian? Won't you seek the Lord to free you from the shackles of worldly American Christianity? If you are in a shallow pot church, break free! Come out from among them and be ye separate! Find a solid, gospel preaching, evangelizing church and a spiritual pastor. And, won't you join us in fasting and praying for and laboring towards another Great Awakening?


Suggested Reading:
The Almost Christian
By George Whitefield (1714-1770)
http://www.biblebb.com/files/whitefield/gw043.htm

The Almost Christian Discovered; Or, The False Professor Tried
By Matthew Mead, 1661
http://www.gracegems.org/28/matthew_mead.htm

Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
By Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) 

http://www.biblebb.com/files/edwards/je-sinners.htm

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

When Trouble Comes... Run to Jesus



A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to Him, crying out,
"Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from demon possession!"
Matthew 15:22

We see here, that affliction sometimes proves a blessing to a person's soul.

This Caananite mother no doubt had been severely tried. She had seen her darling child vexed with a devil, and been unable to relieve her. But yet that trouble brought her to Christ, and taught her to pray. Without it she might have lived and died in careless ignorance, and never seen Jesus at all. Surely it was good for her that she was afflicted. (Psalm 119:71)

Let us mark this well. There is nothing which shows our ignorance so much as our impatience under trouble. We forget that every trial is a message from God—and intended to do us good in the end. Trials are intended to make us think, to wean us from the world, to send us to the Bible, to drive us to our knees.

Health is a good thing. But sickness is far better, if it leads us to God.

Prosperity is a great mercy. But adversity is a greater one, if it brings us to Christ.

Anything, anything is better than living in carelessness, and dying in sin. Better a thousand times be afflicted, like the Canaanite mother, and like her, flee to Christ; than live at ease, like the rich "fool," and die at last without Christ and without hope.

~ by  J. C. Ryle, "The Gospel of Matthew" ~ 1856


What do I say when people ask "What is your purpose in holding that graphic sign?"



Recently we have been taking the CHOICE sign out when we go out to preach. Sometimes I am approached by someone who wants to know what I think is going to be accomplished by holding the sign of a dismembered child. Here is my answer:

My desire us that seeing this poor little baby would elicit or provoke the response of mercy in your soul. Jesus said: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

Did you know that Psalm 127:3 declares: "Children are a gift of the Lord, the fruit of the womb is His reward"? This little baby, whom I have named 'Annie', was a gift to her mother & father.

The Bible tells us that we are created in the image & likeness of God. The value of every human being, including those people who are in the womb, comes from the Lord Himself. Annie had extrinsic value, just like you & me.

Did you know that God said: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you"? (Jeremiah 1:5) The Lord designed you, He created you. The same is true of every child in the womb. No one is a 'mistake'. No baby in the womb is a 'accident'. The timing of Annie's conception, & the timing of every little pre-born infant, is perfect.

The sixth commandment of God is: "You shall not murder". As you can see, abortion is a murderous act of violence against a helpless, innocent person. In His love for children, & for justice, God commands that we not only have nothing to do with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather that we expose evil. This true photo of Annie exposes the wicked reality of child-murder.

Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as we love ourself & to esteem others more highly than yourself. Won't you have mercy on the children & love & esteem them as you love & esteem yourself & those who are precious to you? In Proverbs 24:11 the Holy Spirit admonishes us to "Deliver those who are drawn toward death, & hold back those stumbling to the slaughter." The Savior taught us that it is religious hypocrisy to walk by on the other side of the road when you are aware someone nearby is dying. Won't you rescue the perishing in the Name of Christ?

+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*+*

I am often able to educate people about adoption & transition right to the Law of God & the gospel of grace.

I have utmost confidence in the power of the Law of God & the Word of God to convince & convict both sinner & saint. It is our ablest auxiliary in the pursuit of love & protection of the little ones. There is no need to be defensive or fearful. Speak plainly: "It is written". The truth speaks loud & clear, through both the photograph of what abortion (is & what abortion does) to a dear child & through the scriptures, which reveal the sanctity of human life & the sin of murder & apathy.

It is my sincere hope that many of you would prayerfully consider obtaining a graphic sign & carry it out with you when men preach in the street, at campuses, parks, beaches, festivals, sports events, etc. If you have no one who will preach, simply grab some tracts & stand with the sign & watch God bring opportunities for you to share the gospel of life & eternity!

For abortion signs go to: http://www.abortionno.org/Store/signs.html

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

How does God bring a Christian to maturity?

“I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow”

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?“
’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

~ John Newton

If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you are not READY for sex

baby at six weeks gestation
"Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you." ~ God


 If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you are not READY for sex.

The FACTS of LIFE:

FACT ONE: Where Life Begins: As a Gift from God

1 + 1 = 2

Sex = Conception

Conception = Baby

No sex = No baby

Life comes from God. Every human being is personally created by God, Who places His own likeness & image upon each individual at conception. But God only gives us the gift of conception of a child when the sperm of a man penetrates the egg of a woman. With the exception of special medical methods of fertilizing eggs, this blessing of conception normally happens through sexual intercourse.


To see what a little one in the womb looks like, watch this Stunning Video of Prenatal Development:
http://cbrinfo.org/index.php/blog/ehd_documentary_facts_speak_for_themselves/

FACT TWO: Not everyone loves and values God's gift of children

When sexually immoral teens & adults do not believe they are READY and they are UNWILLING to live in a sacrificial way to love & care for a baby, they will often MURDER their little one(s) by abortion. Jesus has made it abundantly clear that we MUST love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (And, let's be honest, you & I love ourselves A WHOLE LOT.) This mandate to love means that we must do our best to PREVENT ANY HARM from coming to our neighbors, born & pre-born. This means we must LOVE people young & old, them enough to tell them the TRUTH.

FACT THREE: Sexual Intimacy is forbidden (SIN) outside of the marriage relationship

God has made it perfectly clear in His Word that sexual intimacy is reserved for a man & a woman who have covenanted to love one another for a lifetime in marriage. Sex outside marriage is called 'fornication' & the Bible declares that no fornicator (the biblical word for any sexually immoral teen or adult) has any inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Selfishly, teens & adults sin willfully against God & their sexual partner by engaging in fornication, knowing full well that they can conceive a child. Many sexually immoral people have a back-up plan to murder any baby that is conceived from their fornication. This is how the sinful human heart works. Evil thoughts proceed directly from the heart of the person who commits sin of sexual immorality and murder (& all the other ways in which they violate God's Law (His holy commandments).

FACT FOUR: Some sexually immoral teens & adults will MURDER their babies by abortion. But, some MARRIED couples will also MURDER their babies by abortion.

Children are a blessed gift from God. However, even MARRIED couples sometimes eschew having children. If a couple who is married does not desire to lovingly and sacrificially raise a child, the only legitimate way for them to avoid becoming pregnant would be to avoid intercourse. No method of birth control except abstinence is 100% effective.

With this in mind, until a couple is willing to welcome, love and raise a child, they should not marry. And, if they are already married and will murder any infant God allows them to conceive, the should abstain from sexual intercourse.


To see what abortion is and what abortion DOES to a human child go here: www.abortionNO.org

Summation: If you are not READY or WILLING to be a loving mother or father of a dear baby, you should abstain from sex.

If you are sexually immoral (having sex outside of the covenant of marriage) God commands you to REPENT. You are ordered by God to confess & forsake your sin & cast yourself upon the mercy of Jesus Christ. His precious Blood can wash away your sin & make you a new creation. Otherwise, you are doomed.


For a biblical definition of what it means to savingly repent, go to: http://www.cornerstoneorlando.org/docs/tract_TrueRepentance-English.pdf

ADOPTION MAKES ABORTION INDEFENSIBLE!

No teen or adult, single or married, ever has a legitimate reason to murder their baby by abortion.

HEAR THIS: "There is no such thing as an unloved, unwanted CHILD, only unwanting ADULTS."

Whether single or married, no one has the right to premeditatedly and violently murder a little baby. Children in the womb are longed for, hoped for, prayed for by couples on the adoption waiting list. Adoption is FREE for the biological mother. Give the following adoption information to every unrepentant sexually immoral person you know. Also, give it to every married couple who does not want to love and raise a child.

www.birthmother.com
www.parentprofiles.com



You must not have SEX until you are married and are willing to welcome and love any child God gives to you.
If you are unmarried and having sex: REPENT or perish! 

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Holy Biblical Counseling Script to an Abortion-bound woman


Friends,
Today I received a copy of a precious counseling e mail written by one of our Sanctuary counselors to an abortion-minded mother. I tweaked it a bit so that you would all see and 'hear' how you too can speak biblically, lovingly, compassionately, truthfully to a woman who is considering killing her baby by abortion.

God bless you as you commit your life to give glory to Christ and to love and do good to your neighbors.

Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries



i want to speak with you today regarding the precious gift God is knitting together in your womb. Listen to the words of the psalmist as he cries out to God in prayer saying: "For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;  Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You,  when I was made in secret..Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days were fashioned for me,  when as yet there were none of them." (Ps 139:13-16) Even though you may not think the timing of your pregnancy is right, God is the One who has opened your womb. He has created your baby in His image and likeness. Did you know that God knows us even BEFORE He forms us in the womb? It's true! In  Jeremiah 1:5 the Lord speaks these words: "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you". Isn't that amazing? This means that before your father's sperm penetrated your mother's egg, God knew you. And He knew your infant as well. God has said that our children are a gift, a reward, a blessing and an inheritance from Him. I know that it might not 'feel' like it, but feelings can be deceiving. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that it is always a blessing to be pregnant.

I understand you are experiencing fears in your pregnancy and are even having some morning sickness.  I myself have had two precious daughters and understand what feeling sick is like, but that is not an excuse to take the life of your little one. America has made it legal to murder infants in the womb but God has never made it legal. In fact, He has a Law that overrides all other Laws. It's called the Ten Commandments. One of them is "You shall not murder". Abortion is a violent act against your innocent baby and an awful offense to God.  It is a sin.  Realize that suppressing the truth in unrighteousness is what you are doing right now.  Your conscience tells you this is wrong.  You may desire to have support to take the life of your child, but, it would be wrong of me or anyone else to help you do something that is so very, very wrong.  You may be hoping that we would make you feel comforted with the decision you are making. We cannot do that. We are Christians. We know that your baby is a human being. He or she is a person. You know that causing harm to your baby cruel. It is wrong.  You may want to pacify your conscience, but I wouldn't be helping you if I did that. Because I love God and I love you and your baby. I must be honest with you and speak the truth in love.

There is hope for you and for your infant. You can choose not to sin against God and this sweet baby boy or girl.  You can choose to do what is right.  Jesus said to "repent and believe the gospel." (Mark 1:15)  That is our hope.  We must forsake our sins and turn to Him in saving faith.  We must all turn from our lying, covetousness and from sexual sin. Did you know that God calls sex outside marriage 'fornication'? It is a serious sin. The Bible says that no fornicator has any inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. (I Cor 6:9, Eph 5:5) Did you know that God says in Revelation 21:8 that all murderers will be cast into hell at the judgment? I am under the same government of God as you are. I am a sinner, saved by grace. In His great mercy and love God showed me my own state. He used someone to speak to me as I am speaking to you. They helped me to see I was an enemy of God through my wicked works.  In many ways, I was like you. I didn't care what God said.  I wanted to rule my life and not have anyone else to rule over me.  I had to come to the truth about myself and you must as well. You must realize that unless you repent you will perish. (Luke 13:3) Repent is a biblical word. Let me explain what it means. To repent means to confess and forsake your sins, crying out to the Savior to forgive you and make you new.  Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice.  He lived a sinless life which we could never live.  He died on the Cross and rose again on the 3rd day as a payment for our sins. If you repent and put your trust in this great gospel message, He will be faithful to forgive you and to cleanse you from all iniquity. I plead with you not to murder your baby and to put away all thoughts of harming your little one. And I also plead with you, in Christ's Name, to stop living in direct disobedience to God.  He is loving and He is merciful.  He will forgive you if you repent and turn to Him.  Don't harden your heart. Today is the day of salvation.  Turn to people who truly care about you and your baby.  There is true, loving support for doing the right thing and blessings evermore if you run to Jesus Christ for His saving mercies.  There is only sorrow and great punishment for doing what is wrong and sinful. I am here for you and I know of many other godly women who would be there as well.

If you do not desire to raise this child whom God has given you, you may personally choose a loving adoptive family. Come and let's look at profiles of couples on the adoption waiting list together. www.parentprofiles.com Did you know that adoption is FREE for you, the biological mother? Not only that, but if you qualify you may receive financial assistance with your living expenses and your medical expenses during your pregnancy and for 6 weeks after your baby is born. Isn't that wonderful? It truly makes abortion indefensible, doesn't it? Let's look at www.birthmother.com together.

I have been sent by the Lord to help you. To love you. And, to love your baby.  With hope in God, I beseech you, look unto Christ & live.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries


God's Word is a Sword: Unsheath it!


'For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword,
piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow,
and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.'
Hebrews 4:12

As a missionary evangelist outside abortion clinics for 18 years it has been my observation that most pro-life ministries are humanistic. In other words, they are woman-centered rather than God-centered and biblical. While it is an ancient temptation to exchange the commandments of God and His threatenings with humanistic reasoning and appeals to pleasure self-preservation, we have the open declaration of the Bible that it is pride and foolishness to believe that anything we have to say (however compassionate-sounding and compelling) comes near to the power and authority of the Law and Word of God.

Please take time to prayerfully meditate on the scripture above and the commentaries on this verse below. May God help you to be unashamed of Christ and to love and do all good to your neighbors, first and foremost, with a mind for giving glory to Christ.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries



The truth of God is all-penetrating and searching. The real thoughts and intents of the heart will be brought to light. If there is insincerity and self-deception there can be no hope of escape. The "Word of God" is "what God speaks" - whether it be a promise or a threatening; whether it be Law or gospel; whether it be a simple declaration or a statement of a doctrine. The idea here is, that what "God had said" is suited to detect hypocrisy and to lay open the true nature of the feelings of the soul, so that there can be no escape for the guilty. His "truth" is adapted to bring out the real feelings, and to show man exactly what he is. Truth always has this power - whether preached, or read, or communicated by conversation, or impressed upon the memory and conscience by the Holy Spirit. There can be no escape from the penetrating, searching application of the Word of God. That truth has power to show what man is, and is like a penetrating sword that lays open the whole man; compare Isaiah 49:2.

Its power is seen in awakening the conscience; alarming the fears; laying bare the secret feelings of the heart, and causing the sinner to tremble with the apprehension of the coming judgment. All the great changes in the moral world for the better, have been caused by the power of truth. They are such as the truth in its own nature is suited to effect, and if we may judge of its power by the greatness of the revolutions produced, no words can over-estimate the might of the truth which God has revealed.

The comparison of the Word of God to a sword or to an arrow, is designed to show its power of penetrating the heart; Ecclesiastes 12:11, "The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies;" compare Isaiah 49:2. "And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword;" Revelation 1:16, "And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword;" Revelation 2:12, Revelation 2:16; Revelation 19:15. The comparison is common in the classics, and in Arabic poetry; see Gesenius, on Isaiah 49:2. The idea is that of piercing, or penetrating; and the meaning here is, that the Word of God reaches the "heart" - the very center of action, and lays open the motives and feelings of the man. It was common among the ancients to have a sword with two edges. The Roman sword was commonly made in this manner. The fact that it had two edges made it more easy to penetrate, as well as to cut with every way.

Soul and spirit - The animal life from the immortal soul... This distinction occurs in 1 Thessalonians 5:23, "your whole spirit, and soul, and body;" ...  this is the idea here, that the Word of God is like a sharp sword that inflicts deadly wounds. The sinner "dies;" that is, he becomes dead to his former hopes, or is "slain" by the Law; Romans 7:9, "I was alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died." This is the power referred to here - the power of destroying the hopes of the sinner; cutting him down under conviction; and prostrating him as if a sword had pierced his heart.

The thoughts and intents of the heart are brought out to view by the Word of God. And can anyone doubt this? See Romans 7:7. Is it not true that people are made to see their real character under the exhibition of the truth of God? That in the light of the Law they see their past lives to be sinful? That the exhibition of truth calls to their recollection many long-forgotten sins? And that their real feelings are brought out when the truth of God is proclaimed? Men then are made to look upon their motives as they had never done before, and to see in their hearts feelings whose existence they would not have suspected if it had not been for the exhibition of the truth. The exhibition of the truth is like pouring down the beams of the sun at midnight on a dark world; and the truth lays open the real feelings of the sinner as that sun would disclose the clouds of wickedness that are now performed under cover of the night. Many a man has a deep and fixed hostility to God and to his gospel who might never be sensible of it if the truth was not faithfully proclaimed. The particular idea here is, that the truth of God will detect the feelings of the hypocrite and self-deceiver. They cannot always conceal their emotions, and the time will come when truth, like light poured into the soul, will reveal their unbelief and their secret sins. They who are cherishing a hope of salvation, therefore, should be on their guard lest they mistake the name for the reality. Let us learn from this verse:

(1) The power of truth. It is "suited" to lay open the secret feelings of the soul. There is not an effect produced in awakening a sinner; or in his conviction, conversion, and sanctification, which the truth is not "adapted" to produce. The truth of God is not dead... it is in its own nature fitted to produce just the effects which are produced when it awakens, convicts, converts, and sanctifies the soul.

(2) The truth should be preached. Men who preach should endeavor to understand the nature of the mind and of the moral feelings, as really as he who would inflict a deadly wound should endeavor to understand enough about anatomy to know where the heart is...Truth is just as wisely adapted to save the soul as medicine is to heal the sick; and why then should not a preacher be as careful to study the nature of truth and its adaptedness to a particular end, as a student of the healing art is to understand the adaptedness of medicine to cure disease? The true way of preaching is, to feel that truth is adapted to the end in view; to select what is best suited for that end; to preach as if the whole result depended on getting that truth before the mind and into the heart - and then to leave the whole result with God. He will be more likely to praise God intelligently who believes that he has wisely adapted a plan to the end in view, than he who believes that God works only at random.
~ excerpted from Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Piercing even to the dividing asunder soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, He cuts and divides all things, even all sensible things... The apostle's meaning seems to be this, that whereas the soul and spirit are invisible, and the joints and marrow are covered and hid; so sharp and quick sighted, and so penetrating is the divine Word, that it reaches the most secret and hidden things of men. Christ knows what is in man; he is the searcher of the hearts, and the trier of the reins of the children of men; ... He will make manifest the counsels of the heart, and will critically inquire, and accurately judge of them.
~ excerpted from Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

The nature of the Word of God (the doctrine of God which is preached both in the Law and in the Gospel) is so powerful that it enters even to the deepest and most inward and secret parts of the heart, fatally wounding the stubborn, and openly reviving the believers.
~ Geneva Study Bible

For the Word of God preached, (Heb 4:2), and armed with threatenings, (Heb 4:3) is living and powerful. It is attended with the POWER of the living God, and conveying either life or death to the hearers ...and is a discerner - Not only of the THOUGHTS, but also of the INTENTIONS.
~ John Wesley

The Holy Scriptures are the Word of God. When God sets it home by His Spirit, it convinces powerfully, converts powerfully, and comforts powerfully. It makes a soul that has long been proud, to be humble; and a perverse spirit, to be meek and obedient. Sinful habits, that are become as it were natural to the soul, and rooted deeply in it, are separated and cut off by this Sword. It will discover to men their thoughts and purposes, the vileness of many, the bad principles they are moved by, the sinful ends they act to. The Word will show the sinner all that is in his heart. Let us hold fast the doctrines of Christian faith in our heads, its enlivening principles in our hearts, the open profession of it in our lips, and be subject to it in our lives.
~ Matthew Henry

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

When is MERCY a poison?


Take heed of abusing the mercy of God. Suck not poison out of the sweet flower of God's mercy. Think not that because God is merciful, you may go on in sin; this is to make mercy your enemy. To sin because mercy abounds is the devil's logic. He that sins because of God's mercy, shall have judgement without mercy. Mercy abused turns to fury. 'If he bless himself, saying, I shall have peace though I walk after the imaginations of my heart, to add drunkenness to thirst, the Lord will not spare him, but the anger of the Lord, and His jealousy, shall smoke against that man.’ Deut 29: I9, 20.  'The mercy of the Lord is upon them that fear Him.’ Psa 103: I7. Mercy is not for them that sin and fear not, but for them that fear and sin not. God's mercy is a holy mercy; where it pardons it heals.

~ Thomas Watson

The Sin Cycle of the Aborting Woman: A Biblical View of the Cause & Remedy for the sin of Abortion

The Sin Cycle: the human heart is the origin, fount & source of all evil

‎'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Jeremiah 17:9

The origin of sin is the human heart...

 Both the cause and the results of sin is always sin.

"For out of the HEART proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies..." Mark 7:21, Matthew 15:19


"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." Galatians 5:19-21

‎"But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.” Jeremiah 22:17

 ‎'The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?' Jeremiah 17:9

 ‎'For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For His invisible attributes, namely, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.' Romans 1:18-32



Aborting Woman SINdrome

The Sin Cycle of the Aborting Woman


Psalm 111:10 explains that: 'The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do His commandments'. This fear of the LORD is the only foundation of, and introduction to, true wisdom. This fear of the LORD is what will lead to repentance, to faith in Christ & even after conversion, guides the believer to watchfulness and obedience.

"...wisdom giveth LIFE to them that have it" Ecclesiastes 7:12

The fear of the LORD is the way of true wisdom. It is the way of LIFE.

Without this fear of the LORD, women will continue to pamper their idol of self, indulge their lusts for their lover(s) and murder any offspring who get in the way of servicing their idols. They will also help others to murder their children. Our Christian evangelistic duty is to help break the pattern of their sin by inducing the fear of the LORD through the means He has provided; His moral Law (the commandments).

Our desire should be to help sexually immoral & aborting & post-abortive women to see the gravity of their sin & the peril of their soul by bringing them the just demands of God's moral Law. This is given to us by God Himself as a means to elicit fear of the LORD, which is the beginning of the way of WISDOM, which leads to LIFE.

Matthew Henry explains: "This Wisdom is the Lord Jesus Christ and His salvation...Christ is that Wisdom, by whom the worlds [& their babies!] were made..."

In studying Romans 1 it appears that this sin cycle is well-established in the scriptures. (One might call it a SINdrome.) But, of course, a person can, by means of God's common grace & general revelation, have remorse for their sexual sin & stop fornicating outwardly. They can also have remorse for murdering their baby and determine never to murder another baby. Some women would never even think of killing their little one in the first place, which I attribute to a healthy God-given conscience. So, yes, there are exceptions, by the grace of God.


But, while women make excuses for fornicating, committing adultery, murdering their babies, etc, etc, thinking that 'everything happens for a reason', 'God forgives', 'things will work out for the best', etc, sin NEVER works out for the true good. It always corrupts, degrades, defiles, ruins, deceives & brings death.  This is the cycle of sin.



Contrary to much psychological humanistic (woman-centered instead of God-centered) teaching regarding aborting and post-abortive women, the primary reason a woman murders her baby is not much different than the reason she is sexually immoral. The 'cause' or 'reason' TO sin is always OF or FROM sin. While she may 'blame' her circumstances or other people for her sin, the Bible reveals that the guilt and responsibility for her sin remains with her. (God will most certainly hold other parties responsible for their sin, but we are addressing the reality of the girl or woman's sin because we are counseling her.) We must come to terms (and then help the woman come to terms) with the fact that her unregenerate heart is a poisonous black fountain & pool of iniquity.


We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. And, we continue to sin because of original sin AND the willful commission of sin brings MORE sin. In John 8:34 Jesus spoke of this vicious cycle as slavery, saying: “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin."

John Gill explains: "... these, whatever liberty, they promise themselves, are the servants of corruption; they are under the government of sin, that has dominion over them; and they obey it in the lusts thereof, and are drudges and slaves unto it, and will have no other wages at last but death, even eternal death, if grace prevent not".

"Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?" Romans 6:1

Our solemn duty as we speak with, preach to and counsel aborting and post-abortive women is to share the Law & the gospel commanding her in Jesus' Name:

Unless you will perish" (Luke 13:3 & 5)
  " ...they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance." Acts 26:20 
 "Repent, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out" Acts 3:19

For a thorough biblical description & understand of true repentance please go to:
http://www.fivesolas.com/watson/repent1.htm
http://www.cornerstoneorlando.org/docs/tract_TrueRepentance-English.pdf
http://www.repentandtrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=75&Itemid=65

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Is your church a cozy religious cushion?


...religious cushioning may take a number of forms. Its primary concern is to comfort suburbanites with a vision of a God who is too decent to send nice people like them to hell. In its sacerdotal form, its purpose is to tranquilize the guilt-ridden person with the religious warmth of its liturgy. Among conservatives and evangelicals, its primary mission all too often is to function as a ...station where Christians gather.. to be reassured.. about God...and to renew one’s sense of well-being without having a serious encounter with the living God. ~ Jack Miller

In his book 'Outgrowing the Ingrown Church' Miller presents a scathing indictment against the modern church's 'cozy cushioning'. He notes the identifying marks of an 'ingrown church':

1. Lack of zeal for intentional and biblical evangelism (although it may have something called 'outreach' which has little or no gospel proclamation)
2. Immobilization
3. Not turned toward the world and the lost (although it may have 'church growth strategies')
4. Lack of faith that the Lord would use them to bring a harvest of people to Him (unbelief in His empowering & equipping)
5. Appear to have become all-too-familiar and comfortable with a settled and predictable form of 'religious life' and 'church activities'

Jack Miller has a view of the church that is NOT ingrown as exhibiting:
... ongoing repentance based on the intense study of Scripture, continual personal and corporate prayer, daring gospel communication and discipling, mobilizing every member’s gifts for Christ’s mission to the world...
Miller wrote the book to identify & speak to what he calls "... the deadly peril of misdirected faith."

Has our faith become faith in 'church' or faith in 'faith' or faith in 'prayer' or any other thing instead of Christ? In light of the Lord's missional mandate have we settled for a 'cozy cushion' when Jesus has clearly provided the power of His Spirit to fulfill the Great Commission?

...an act of faith lay at the heart of any obedience to the Great Commission. In faith we claim the presence of Christ as the power for fulfilling His missionary will. The promises are the handles that we grab in our weakness in order to secure His presence....Christ not only said, ‘Go with the gospel,’ but also, ‘I will give you the power to bring in an immeasurable harvest’
... As I meditated on... the present significance of the promise became clear. The ‘rivers of living water’ signified life-giving power provided from above to flow in and through the believer—power for holy living and daring witness. But there is a strong now-implication in Jesus’ words. The promise of verse 38 is in the Greek present, which is not quite like our English present; it is linear, ongoing, expressing habitual or continuously present activity. ~ Jack Miller
 I hope that if you have seen yourself sitting on a cozy cushion of an ingrown church that you will repent. You can be certain that Jesus will help you as you pray for the Lord to fill you with HIs power, presence and peace as you pursue a life of habitual and continuous opportunities to be a daring witness for Jesus Christ amongst those who are perishing. I pray that you will seek for ways to avoid the cozy religious cushion and that the Lord would use you to invigorate and encourage your pastor and your church in seeking and saving the lost sheep of Jehovah.

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Five Lessons on Evangelism & Preaching from the Puritans


The Word of God is preached too often today in a way that will not transform listeners because it fails to *discriminate and fails to apply. Such preaching is reduced to... a catering to what people want to hear, or the kind of subjectivism that is divorced from the foundation of scripture...Reformed and Puritan preachers applied their sermons to every part of life, all of Scripture to the entire man. They were unashamedly doctrinal. We can learn much from them on how to evangelize, such as:

1) Speak the truth about God. That seems obvious. But how often do we speak to others about God's majestic being, His Trinitarian personality, and His glorious attributes? How often do we tell others about His holiness, sovereignty, mercy, and love? Do we root our evangelism in a robust biblical theism, or do we take our cues from modern evangelism which approaches God as if He were a next-door neighbor, who adjusts His attributes to our needs and desires? How often do we speak to others about how God and His majestic attributes have become experientially real to us

2) Speak the truth about man. Do you talk to others about our depraved nature and our desperate need for salvation in Jesus Christ? Do you say that.. by nature; that we are all... sinners with a terrible record, which is a legal problem, as well as a bad heart, which is a moral problem? Do you talk to them about the dreadful character of sin; that sin is something that stems back to our tragic fall in Adam and affects every part of us, so dominating our mind, heart, will, and conscience that we are slaves to it? Do you describe sin as moral rebellion against God? Do you say that the wages of sin is death, now and for all eternity?

3) Speak the truth about Christ. Do we present the complete Christ to sinners, not separating His benefits from His person or offering Him as a Savior while ignoring His claims as Lord? Do we offer Christ as the grand remedy for the great malady of sin and repeatedly declare His ability, willingness to save, and preciousness as the exclusive Redeemer of lost sinners? Do you exhibit the way of salvation in Christ in your faith and repentance? Paul said, "I testified to you publicly and from house to house repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:20-21). Do you likewise evangelize your friends and neighbors when God offers that opportunity? Do you explain to them what faith and repentance are in a born-again sinner?

4) Speak the truth about sanctification. Do you tell others how a Christian must walk the King's highway of holiness in gratitude, service, obedience, love, and self-denial? Do you tell how he must learn the art of meditation, of fearing God, and of childlike prayer? How he must press on by God's grace, seeking to make his calling and election sure? Do you disciple your associates in the need for habitual, experiential faith, repentance, and godliness?

5) Speak the truth about eternal consequences. Do not be afraid to speak about the consequences of despising the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not flinch from describing damnation and hell. As one Puritan wrote, "We must go with the stick of divine truth and beat every bush behind which a sinner hides, until like Adam who hid, he stands before God in his nakedness." We must speak urgently to people around us because many are on their way to hell. We must confront sinners with the law and gospel, with death in Adam and life in Christ. Let us use every weapon we can to turn sinners from the road of destruction so they may, through grace, experience a living, experiential relationship with God in Jesus Christ. We know from Scripture and by experience that an omnipotent Christ can bless our efforts and rescue a dead sinner, divorce him from his sinful lusts, and make him willing to forsake his wicked ways and turn to God, fully resolved to make God his goal and his praise. Acts 5:31 says, "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Savior, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Praise God for the experience of His amazing grace toward us in Christ.

~ Joel Beeke Puritan Reformed Spirituality

* discriminate: to make a distinction in favor of or against a person or thing on the basis of the group, class, or category to which the person or thing belongs rather than according to actual merit; show partiality.

We must remember to make the distinction that the blessed promises of God for His tender mercy and the gift of eternal life are to be distinguished as only belonging to the people of God. In other words, the mercy of God is particular. Only those who have repented and trusted in Christ find themselves in His saving grace. The one who is born-again has been covered in the Blood of the Lamb. They are a new creation. The person who is unregenerate is in an entirely different category. They are enemies of God through wicked works. His mercy, forgiveness and favor in the way of salvation have not been granted them. They remain condemned and under the just wrath of Almighty God. Unless they repent, they will perish!

The conversion of sinner is a gracious sovereign work of Divine power. Let us do God's work, God's way. Rather than promising sinners that God's mercy is theirs and that His grace is automatic, we can, and indeed MUST, trust the the process of God's effectual calling to be accomplished in and through the means of faithful gospel proclamation.

Let us avoid any manipulation of the truth as it is in Jesus. Using Rom. 8:30 as its guide the Westminster Confession explains: “All those whom God hath predestinated unto life, and those only, He is pleased, in His appointed and accepted time, effectually to call, by His Word and Spirit, out of that state of sin and death in which they are by nature, to grace and salvation by Jesus Christ.”

The Westminster Shorter Catechism explains: “Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit whereby, convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.” 

The effectual calling of God has three divine components:
1) It is a work of Divine grace
2) It is a work of Divine power.
3) It is a work of Divine sovereignty.

Remember ... "Salvation is of the Lord."—Jonah 2:9

“With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” Mark 10:7

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Christ will never leave His Wife


Christ knew He would have to pay the dowry of His own blood for His redeemed Bride. He called this relationship the new covenant“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in My Blood (Luke 22:20). This is what Paul is referring to when he says that marriage is a great mystery: “I am saying that it refers to Christ and the Church.” Christ obtained the Church by His blood and formed a new covenant with her, an unbreakable “marriage.”


...marriage...exists for God’s glory...The highest meaning and the most ultimate purpose of marriage is to put the covenant relationship of Christ and His church on display...

Christ Will Never Leave His Wife

...“Till death do us part,” or, “As long as we both shall live” is the sacred covenant promise... Jesus made with His Bride when He died for her...Christ will never leave His wife. Ever... Christ keeps His covenant forever.

~ John PIper

My friends, if you have repented of sin and savingly believed upon the person and work of Christ, you are Betrothed to Him. You belong to Him. You are the Father's love-gift to His Son. You are the Beloved Bride of Messiah. He has paid for you with His Lifeblood. Christ has gone ahead to prepare a place for you, together with all of His people, in His Father's house. Be sure of this, Jesus is faithful. Be patient as you wait for your Husband to come for you. Believing that, while the way seems long and you long for His appearing, He will never leave His wife.

Now, beloved, go and live as if this is true.

"It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; He will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” Deuteronomy 31:8

"No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you." Joshua 1:5

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as you have: for He has said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you" Hebrews 13:5

"In My Father's house are many mansions...I go to prepare a place for you."  ~ Jesus in John 14:2

"Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." ~ Jesus in Matthew 28:19

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

I tell you the truth


 “When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.

Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’

Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’

The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.

Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’

They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’

He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’

Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Over a MILLION little children in the visible church will suffer and die a violent death in America this year. How do we know? Because 88% of the sexually immoral and married women who walk into abortuaries identify themselves as 'Christian'. If we do not love these little ones who belong to Him enough to visit them in their affliction, will Jesus say that we neglected to visit Him in over 23,000 human beings a week? When Jesus divides the sheep and the goats, will you and your church friends be on His left or His right?

‎"And so in the Judgment Day, the inquiry will be made, not into our opinions or professions alone, but into our deeds, as proving the correctness of our faith and the sincerity of our professions." ~  George Washington Bethune 


‎"In that day when we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the whole “edifice” of our earthly works will be tested by the fire of God. Some impressive superstructures will be reduced to rubble, because they are built only for show – not out of lasting material. Like sets on a movie lot, these “buildings” may be magnificent and appear genuine even on close inspection, but the fire will test them for what they are really made of, not for what they look like. All the wood, hay and stubble will be burned away." - John MacArthur

And my friends, the only difference between the sheep and the goats, according to the Lord's words in Matthew 25 is what they did, and did't do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Exr3GK_8kbU

Together for Life & Eternity,
Patte Smith
Sanctuary Ministries

Lest we invoke the Wrath of God


The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened..

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions... committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness... evil..murder... inventors of evil..unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
~ Romans 1:18-21,24-32

What we tolerate, we encourage. Tolerating (allowing) sexual immorality and abortion in society and in the church is what God considers tolerating the intolerable. Did you know that 88% of the fornicators who are murdering their children by abortion are professing Christians? If pastors and Christians do not do they can to preach and teach morality and hinder human sacrifice in the shadow of our steeples, we are, in effect, giving our passive permission and providing a sort of 'benediction' over it. In Isaiah 1:15 God declares to His people: "When you spread out your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood." Church, tolerating the systematic shedding of the innocent blood of their neighbors  is the epitome of neglecting the duty implied in the 6th commandment.

It is very likely that the syncretism which brought the fury of God against the Jews is now aimed against the visible church. When we assimilate into a culture and take on its customs and idols, we incur the wrath of God along with them.

Matthew Henry notes: "The Jews persisted in rebellion after they settled in the land of Canaan. And these elders seem to have thought of uniting with the heathen. We make nothing by our profession if it be but a profession."

All human beings know better than to be sexually immoral and slay their offspring. Even heathens have the internal knowledge that murder of babies is wrong. Yet, over 2700 church women are paying to have their children slain every single day in America. The church should know BEST about what is evil and has the responsibility to be salt and light in the culture, educating the conscience with God's moral Law. And yet, the very people IN THE CHURCH are leading the way into abortuaries to offer human sacrifice! Over 19,000 infants IN THE CHURCH are slaughtered every WEEK!

Listen to the God's Word to His people through the prophet Ezekiel:

"And you took your sons and your daughters, whom you had borne to Me, and these you sacrificed to them to be devoured. Were your whorings so small a matter, that you slaughtered My children and delivered them up as an offering by fire to them?.. When you present your gifts and offer up your children in fire, you defile yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord GOD, I will not be inquired of by you." ~ Ezekiel 16:20-21; 20:31

The Lord tells His own people that He will no longer listen to them when they make appeals to Him because they have participated in infant sacrifice, offering the gifts of their children, HIS GIFTS to them, to the idol of Molech. Today, the idol is humanism.

The Geneva Study Bible notes that God "...condemned those things, and counted them as abominable...for that which God required as most excellent they gave to their idols...He shows that the ingratitude of the people deserves that God should cut them off, and that they should not have the comfort of His Word.~ Geneva Study Bible

How interesting that many pulpits are bereft of solid Bible preaching and so many leaders of Christian organizations have nearly abandoned the truth of God and substituted humanistic platitudes and church activities. We are losing the comfort and truth, the salt and light, of His Word!

Even the ungodly have a guilty knowledge of God and His righteous requirements. They KNOW that they deserve the wrath of God. Has the church fooled herself into thinking that in spite of her tolerating the sacrifice of her children, her many traditions and rituals and activities make her heard of the Lord? Will much of Christendom, like the heathen, end up finding God as a powerful Judge, since they were unwilling to know Him as gracious Father who demands honor and obedience? Are we, in the visible church, in the climax of guilt against a holy God along with our godless neighbors?

In the book of proverbs, the discription of the whore is that her ways are the ways of death and her house declines into hell. Has the majority of the modern church become a blood-guilty whore?

Three times in Romans 1 we find the phrase "God gave them over". I've taken the following excerpts from a stunning sermon called "What's Wrong with America" (http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/america.htm) by John MacArthur. (As you read what is happening to American society, please consider how the modern church is committing the sin of turning aside from the revelation of scripture and looking the other way while the infants are being slain in the shadow of their steeples.)

MacArthur says:

Now that word ("God gave them over") can have a judicial sense, that is, making a judgment on a criminal and handing him over for execution or punishment, and I think that is its intention here, because the whole scene here is "Man found guilty before God, and God's wrath released (back in verse 18) against guilty man."

The wrath of God then acts judicially to sentence sinners, and the first phase of that sentence is to just let the restraints go, and let them go the way of their own choices, turning them over to the uninterrupted course and its effect that their sinful choices will produce. To put it another way, they are deprived of "restraining grace."

Sin is so rampant in our country, it is so widespread, it is so tolerated by people in leadership and even people in the church, it is so widely tolerated it is pandemic: it is endemic; that is, it is in the very fabric of our life that I believe God has just taken away the restraining grace that might preserve our nation, and has let our nation run to its own doom.
Sin is both the cause and the effect. Sin and more sin, and more sin, and more sin, results in more sin, and more sin, and more sin. Sin causes it: sin is the result of it. Wrath means that sinning people are allowed the freedom to sin more blatantly as restraining grace is taken away.

"In the end their humanism, or man-centeredness results in dehumanization of each other." ~ Alan Johnson

The epitome in verse 32, "And they know the ordinance of God." They know that. How do they know that? Because, "The law of God is written. . . ." Where? "In their hearts." They know the ordinance of God; they know what's right, "That those who practice such things are worthy of death, but they not only do the same, but they give hearty approval to those who practice them." They have no conscience; they have no fear; they are without reason; they are without understanding; they are like beasts--mindless. There is the lowest point of human descent.

The wrath of God is already at work in our society, and I would suppose that I would have to say that there is no surer, no clearer token of a society under the wrath of God then when that society refuses to define and hate sin, and on the other hand, when it tolerates sin and sinners completely. Listen, when a society reaches the point where it will not define sin, where it will not hate sin, where it will tolerate sin and tolerate sinners, but will not tolerate anger towards sin--that's a society under God's wrath. And that's the society we live in.

Schiller wrote, "The history of the world is the judgment of the world."

Paul says the problem with this is it is a blatant rejection of the law of God given to man. It is not man in his ignorance--it is man in his rejection that brings the wrath of God. Expanding on that reality then in verse 18, Paul lays out four specific reasons for God's wrath:

Four specific reasons for God's wrath:
1. REVELATION


Reason number one is revelation. In verse 19 it says, "That which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them." In other words, God (listen to this) has inlaid the evidence of spiritual and moral truth what is right and what is wrong, in the very nature of man's being. He has inlaid also in the nature of man's being the awareness that there must be a God, and that God must be powerful, and wise, and good, and just. Man is not without the witness of divine reality and divine morality. Men can't plead ignorance because entirely apart from Scripture which is "Special Revelation," God has through "General Revelation" made Himself known. Notice the phrase there in verse 19, "That which may be known of God," that simply means "What is knowable."
What is knowable about God, what we can know about Him is made available to us. Where is this knowledge available? Within them: in the mind; in the soul; in the reason; in the conscience. You see, the very fabric of reasoning and understanding is made from the strands of the revelation of God. That's what Paul means over in chapter two of Romans, in verse 14, when he says, "The Gentiles who don't have the written Law do instinctively the things of the Law, because though they are not having the Law they are a law to themselves." Why? They show (verse 15) "the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness, and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them." Conscience, guilt, reason, a rational mind, those are faculties by which the proper conclusion is: there is right and there is wrong and there is God.

It is not obscure to believe in God, it's innate; it's readily apparent. It's not obscure to believe in right and wrong, it's innate; and just like when you wound your body you feel pain, when you wound that moral, rational soul you feel guilt. It's normal to believe in God; it's common sense. The mind dictates there must be a God and this is what He must be like.

Over in the Book of Acts, and verse 15 of chapter 14, just a very important word there: Acts 14:15, Paul and Barnabas, having an interesting time preaching in Lystra, "Men, why are you doing these things? (they say when these people want to come and grab them and make them gods) We are also men of the same nature as you, and we preach the gospel to you in order that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them." Now listen to this: "And in the generations gone by He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; and yet He did not leave Himself without. . . ." What? "Witness, in that He did good and He gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."

 "Since the creation of the world (since the very beginning when creation was first done, way back then--since the very start) the invisible attributes of God: His eternal power, something about His divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made." Romans 1:20

The very essence of a Creator and something of His character is absolutely everywhere, and for human reason to reject that goes against the grain of everything, and must be the blatant act of willful sin, and because of that God gives them over. The mind they refused to use becomes the mind that is useless--that is judgment. I believe that we are experiencing that kind of movement in our culture. Men have experienced God, they have experienced His wisdom, His power, His goodness in every moment of their existence, and He says they rejected Him. They suppressed the truth.

2. REJECTION
Men had the truth, men turned from the truth: verse 21, "For even though they knew God, they didn't honor Him as God, or give thanks; but they became futile in their speculations and their foolish heart was darkened." There it is again: they didn't use their minds right and instead of thinking wisely, profoundly, sensibly, their thoughts became futile or empty and useless, and their foolish heart became black--the light went out!

Man finds God in creation, he finds God in reason, he suppresses it, he rejects God, he loves darkness, he plunges into darkness and the light goes out. Donald Grey Barnhouse wrote this,


  • Will God give man brains to see these things, and will man then fail to exercise his will towards that God? The sorrowful answer is that both of these things are true. God will give a man brains to smelt iron and to make a hammerhead and nails. And God will grow a tree and give man strength to cut it down and brains to fashion a hammer handle from its wood. And when man has the hammer and the nails, God will put out His hand and let man drive those nails through it and place Him on a cross in the supreme demonstration that men are without excuse



  • "They," Paul says, "did not honor Him as God or give thanks." Man's problem is not that he can't recognize God, it is that he won't recognize God! For all the joy of life and all the beauty of life, and all the life, laughter, all the pain of life, all the tears of life, all the thrills, the pleasures, the talent, sexual fulfillment, all the children, all the families--for all the things that God fills life with He gets no thanks and "they become futile in their speculation." They get nothing but empty human ideas, and they are running wild in our culture. Aren't they? Isaiah said in Isaiah 47:10, "You felt secure in your wickedness and said 'No one sees me.' Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded you, for you have said in your heart, 'I am and there is no one besides me'" (boy, does that sound familiar).

    I am the center of my world, no one sits in judgment on me--that's how stupid men have become. Because they would not allow their rational mind, where God had planted the knowledge of Himself and the knowledge of good and evil in their conscience, they would not allow themselves to follow that path; they rejected that, they have now become foolish in their speculations. They are empty, useless, self-gods, and they have been sucked into the vacuum of their own emptiness and nothing is there but darkness. Their foolish heart was darkened. Now they can't know God because the light went out.

    Wrath, because men received revelation; they had the opportunity. Wrath, because they rejected it. Thirdly,

    3. RATIONALIZATION
    This is the third cause--rationalization: men insist they are doing fine. Verse 22, "They profess to be. . . ." What? "Wise." They don't say, "Oh, woe is me, I'm in a pit. I've become an idiot. I've lost my sense. I can't find my way." No, they have convinced themselves that they are erudite. The major rationalizations today are egalitarianism, freedom, and psychology. You know they think they are wise.

    When he says (verse 22), "Professing to be wise they became fools," he uses the word "moraino" (Greek), moron we get from it. That's what it means, they think they are wise and they are morons.

    There is a fourth cause, in spite of the fact that man rejects revelation, and fully rejects the God and the truth revealed because he wants no compunctions in his life. And in spite of the fact that he rationalizes that he is really very wise and everything is fine, he still will inevitably invent something that becomes the fourth cause:

    4. RELIGION
    He can't exists without some sense of religion. He has got to believe in something or someone. He has got to have some shrine he bows to, so he creates his own God to accommodate his useless mind. Voltaire says, "God made man in His own image and man returned the favor." Verse 23, "They exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for (here's their religion) an image in the form of corruptible man and birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures." Look at verse 25, same statement, "they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is God blessed forever. Amen." Look at verse 28, "And just as they didn't see fit to acknowledge God any longer."

    So, all of those say they wanted to get rid of the true God, the incorruptible God, the real God and the truth of God, and in the place of God they wanted to make their own religion full of lies. They wanted to worship the creature rather than the Creator. They did not see fit to acknowledge God. You see, what you have to understand is, man does not rise, he does not ascend from the muck of paganism and ignorance to the truth of God. He falls from the truth of God into the slime of religion. Religion is not man at his highest; religion is man at his lowest. He is down at the bottom when his willful rejection of the true God is allowed to invent false gods to accommodate his own life.

    In Second Kings 17, verse 14, it says, "The people didn't listen, they stiffened their neck like their fathers, who didn't believe in the Lord their God. And they rejected His statutes and His covenant which He made with their fathers, and His warnings which He warned them. They followed vanity (or emptiness) and became vain and went after the nations which surrounded them, concerning which the Lord commanded them not to do like them. And they forsook all the commandments of the Lord their God and made for themselves molten images."

    That's exactly what happens, you start at the truth of God and you descend into the muck of religion. Religion is man at the pits. It is the ultimate insanity. Religion is the ultimate insanity. It is the wickedness of man rejecting God and creating non-gods. 

    So, is it any wonder that as a society we are struggling with an ethical moral system? How can we have an ethical moral system when there is only one in the universe and we have abandoned it? And when you abandoned it as verse 18 to 23 describe, then verses 24 to 32 tells you. "If you abandon God. . . ." What? "He'll abandon you," and just take off restraining grace.

    You say, "Is there any hope for America?" Well, the hope for America would be the same as the hope for any people. First of all, a return to God as Creator, God as Creator and Law giver. And if this nation does not return to God as Creator and Law giver--the wrath will continue.

    I want to close with a text of Scripture and then an illustration. The text is in Psalm 81, verse 11, "But My people didn't listen to My voice and Israel did not obey Me. So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their heart to walk in their own devices." That's it isn't it? They wanted it and they got it. But then this, verse 13, "Oh that My people would listen to Me, that Israel would walk in My ways! I would quickly subdue their enemies, and turn My hand against their adversaries. Those who hate the Lord would pretend obedience to Him." In other words it would become so popular that people would fake being spiritual. Then verse 16, "But I would feed you with the finest of the wheat; and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you." There's a promise, isn't that? God says, "I let you go, but I could come back if you'll turn to me." The first point of turning is to turn to God as Creator and Law giver, and once you affirm that then His law becomes your standard.

    When man believes there is no God, all sense of orientation is lost and he is in a mad frenzy that ultimately will end in death. There's hope. You have to pray for that. If our nation will turn back to the Creator and the Law giver who is the true God and submit to His Word He will bless us. If not the wrath will continue to unfold.

    Father, we are so grieved as we look around us at this time in our history...and the whole nation is plunging into an abyss of blackness with minds that are absolutely useless, trying to solve massive far reaching problems of iniquity without a standard, and really being given the curse of their own sin: more sin, and more sin, and more sin, unrestrained.

    We see Your wrath and all we can do is plead with You that You would be gracious to Your people and that You would open their hearts to saving truth... And that the Word of God could again become the authority in this land as it reflects the Word of the Creator, for Father, unless that happens many shall continue the plunge into the darkness from which they cannot recover.

    We remember what you said to the society before the flood, "My Spirit will not always strive with man." There comes a time when grace runs out. Lord, before that happens in this land, we can only ask that in Your mercy You would call out a remnant of such proportion and devotion that they might begin to bring a new sense of direction by turning the hearts of this people towards God, towards You...
    That You would turn them; that they would look and see You the Creator, the Law giver, the Redeemer, who in Christ has purchased their life for time and eternity.

     We ask this only that You may be glorified in Your Son's Name. Amen.

    What if .... ? For abortion-vulnerable mothers


    What if sex outside marriage is wrong? What if it is called fornication and is forbidden by God? What if all sexually immoral people are thrown in the lake of fire? What if your baby, like you, was designed and known by God even before conception? What if the infant in your womb is a personal creation and gift from God? What if your infant is made in the image and likeness of God? What if you are carrying twins? What if God forbids the shedding of your child's innocent blood? What if aborting your baby is murder in God's eyes? What if the commandment "You shall not murder" is a warning to your conscience? What if abortion is the most serious kind of sin?  What if you will be held accountable for all of your sins? What if God holds murdering your baby against you on Judgment Day? What if God commanded that you repent and turn from your sin? What if God also required that you put your faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, to take your punishment? What if you are commanded to repent and believe this? What if you were to go to hell because you are a guilty sinner and refused to obey God's command? What if this was the last chance God gave you to turn from your sin?

    What if you were to do the right thing and let your little one live? What if there is a loving, adoptive couple who is willing to call your baby their own? What if it was FREE to place your infant for adoption? What if you cried out to God to forgive you of all of your sin? What if you determined to obey Jesus, and with His help, sin no more? What if you asked God to help you through this pregnancy and through the rest of your life? What if you did this by faith right now?

    What if you went to the Christian who gave you this tract and accepted their offers of help to have this baby?

    What if there were no more questions and God is demanding your immediate obedience?

    Please visit:
    www.abortionNO.org
    www.birthmother.com
    www.parentprofiles.com
    www.WhatIfLife.org

    For this pre-abortion tract please go to: http://www.customtractsource.com/

    Scriptural Proof texts:

    "...no fornicator... has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." Ephesians 5:5
    "Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral..will inherit the kingdom of God." I Corinthians 6:9-10
    Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" God in Jeremiah 1:5
    "For You formed my inward parts; You knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Psalm 139:13-14
    "You gave me life" Job 10:12
    "Behold, children are a gift from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward." Psalm 127:3
    "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness..." Genesis 1:26
    "Do not shed innocent blood in this place" Jeremiah 7:6
    "You shall not murder" Exodus 20:13, Matthew 19:18, Romans 13:9
    "... murderers, the sexually immoral ... their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur" Revelation 21:8
    "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." ~ Jesus in Mark 1:15, Matthew 3:2;4:17
    "I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish." ~ Jesus in Luke 13:3,5
    "Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion..." Hebrews 3:7-8, 15
    "Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation." II Corinthians 6:2
    “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal LIFE. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” ~ Jesus in John 3:16-21
    "If he did not spare the ancient world... when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; what is going to happen to the ungodly" II Peter 2:5,6
    "He will come with His mighty angels, in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus." Thessalonians 1:8
    “Turn to Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." Isaiah 45:22
    "Come unto Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." ~  Jesus in Matthew 11:28-29