"You’ll produce righteous fruit when you let the Lord prune your life" by Dr. Charles Stanley

 I used to live in the mountains of North Carolina in a town called Fruitland. The name was fitting because it was apple country, and still is. As the pastor of a church there, I made it my practice to visit the members.

I remember arriving at one gentleman’s house, but discovered that he was out in the orchard. So I went in search of him and found him pruning the trees.

The tree he was working on looked pathetically bare. I told him, “Man, you’re going to kill that tree if you don’t stop cutting.”

He replied, “You stick to preaching, and I’ll take care of the pruning.”

He was right. I didn’t know anything about pruning, but he obviously did.

Eventually we became friends, and he explained to me the value of pruning. He said, “If you’re going to get good fruit, and a lot of it, you’ve got to cut back the branches. It may look like you’re killing the tree, but if you let all those branches stay, the sap will be wasted on new growth instead of producing fruit.”

I never forgot that lesson because Jesus taught the same thing to His disciples. He used a vineyard as a picture of their relationship with Him and the Father. He described the Father as the vinedresser, Himself as the vine, and the disciples as the branches (John 15:1-5).

In order to produce more spiritual fruit in our lives, our heavenly Father gets out His pruning knife and goes to work on us.

We may think, “God, if You loved me, You wouldn’t let these things happen.” But oftentimes, He’s taking away things that hinder your spiritual growth so you can bear more fruit, because that’s what brings Him glory (v. 8).

Now you may be wondering, “What is the fruit that God is after in my life, and what are the things He’s cutting away?”

Before I tackle these questions, I want you to understand the relationship between Jesus Christ as the vine and you as the branch.

When you were saved, you were joined to Christ and indwelt with His Spirit. Like the sap in a branch, His life now flows through you, producing righteous fruit.

That’s why Jesus said, “The one who remains (or abides) in Me, and I in him bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (v. 5).

A branch doesn’t strain to produce fruit; it simply remains attached to the vine as the sap flows through it. We’re not the ones who produce spiritual fruit; we simply bear the fruit that results from obedience and faith. That’s how we’re transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.

The fruit the Spirit is producing in us comes in two forms—our character and our works.

In other words, He’s enabling us to become the person God wants us to be and to accomplish the work He’s given us to do. Both are essential in the Christian life and cannot be produced apart from the work of the Spirit. In this way we glorify God and prove to be Christ’s disciples (v. 8).

You’re probably familiar with the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”

Now we don’t bear all this fruit to the same degree or as consistently as we’d like, but it should be increasing and visible in our interactions with others.

The other fruit is displayed in our works or service to the Lord. In ourselves, we’re totally incapable of obeying the Lord, living righteously, or serving Him with any eternal effectiveness.

We may look impressive on the outside, but if the Spirit isn’t accomplishing God’s will through us, the results are short-lived and produce no genuine fruit.

To help us become more fruitful, God cuts away whatever is hindering the bearing of that fruit (John 15:2).

This includes sin in all its forms, as well as anything that distracts us from the Lord or draws us away from Him. The cutting tools He uses are varied and specifically designed for each person.

Many times His pruning knife comes in the form of trials. Problems and suffering have a way of bringing our eyes back to the Lord and returning us to complete dependence on Him.

And that is exactly how it should be.

Instead of resisting the pruning process, yield to the Spirit by confessing and repenting of any sin in your life. Then consider whether anything is distracting you from focus on the Lord.

Sometimes even something good can occupy too much of your time, attention, or affection. You don’t have to live in complete self-denial of all earthly joys. The goal is to keep them in the proper place so that the Lord is your priority.

If you’re currently feeling the sharpness of God’s pruning knife, I hope you’ll realize that He’s doing a good work in you. 

His goal isn’t to hurt you unnecessarily, but to benefit you eternally. The Lord is much more interested in your spiritual fruit-bearing than in your temporal comfort and ease. 

Right now, you may feel like that apple tree my friend was pruning, but come harvest time, you’ll have great joy in glorifying God with fruit that lasts forever.

How to Follow the Spirit Like An Apostle by J.D. Greear

One of the things I love most in reading Paul’s letters is the little biographical bits he throws in every now and then. These usually come at the end of a letter, logistical odds and ends that reveal Paul’s upcoming travel plans. 

I love these sections not just because it helps me imagine Paul’s journeys. I love them because in these seemingly mundane passages, we actually get to see a person actively (and humbly) following God’s leading. Consider 1 Corinthians 16, where Paul says (this is my generous paraphrase), “I’m headed your way after I go to Macedonia. At least, I’m planning to go to Macedonia. Then I’ll stay with y’all for a little bit. Maybe I’ll stay for the whole winter? You never know. For now, though, I’m going to stick around Ephesus for a while: God’s given me a lot to do here” (16:5–9).

Here is Paul, the most famous Apostle of all time, candidly admitting that even he isn’t sure of what God is calling him to do next. He’s got a plan. But it’s pretty obviously in pencil.

Some Christians want God to spell out every decision they should make. They want a map. I will tell you from experience that God rarely does that. He doesn’t offer a map, but he usually provides a compass. With a map, I can be in total control. With a compass, I have only the right direction. But along the way, I still need God to open and close doors for me. And sometimes he changes the trajectory altogether. 

God doesn’t offer a map, but he usually provides a compass. With a map, I can be in total control. With a compass, I have only the right direction. But along the way, I still need God to open and close doors for me.

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So if you’re following God and then have to change course, don’t panic. That kind of flexibility and adjustment doesn’t mean you are out of touch with the Spirit. It’s how Paul followed God.

Following the Spirit is a nuanced business. But I don’t think it needs to be completely mystical. In fact, in the New Testament, I see four primary ways God’s Spirit leads his people. Check it out: 

1. The Word

This is the easiest, clearest, and most definitive way God leads his people. God provides clear instructions and wisdom in his Word. If the Word says it, that should settle it. Full stop. 

2. The Church

God also gives guidance through members in the church. Sometimes, he uses others to give general, wise counsel. Other times, he empowers people with words of wisdom and insight specifically for you. Proverbs even says there’s wisdom in a multitude of counselors. So why would we overlook that? It amazes me how many people either don’t do this or resist the counsel of what everyone is telling them (usually because they don’t want to hear something different from what they already think). This is an arrogant recipe for disaster. 

God gave you people because he wants to guide you by his Spirit. Open your ears and listen.

3. Your Spirit (Through Prayer)

If you’re walking with the Spirit, as you pray, he’ll often enlarge things in your heart, growing burdens, giving vision. Now, don’t get too carried away here. This kind of guidance must be held in balance with the other ways God leads you. You’d be naive to use your internal impulses without checking them against Scripture and what your godly counselors are saying. 

4. Your Circumstances

As you go through life, God opens and closes doors in front of you. If you’re like me, you won’t like this part. But it’s part of the dance of following the Spirit. Don’t assume that just because it was in your spirit that God intends for it to happen. After all, Paul felt that God was leading him to Spain—and he never got there. Follow the Spirit’s lead, trusting him to show you the way as you go.

Anytime you have to make a decision, ask God how he might be leading you using these four markers—the Word of God, the counsel of the church, prayer, and the open and closed doors around you. Then, go forth and do what he calls you to do.

The post How to Follow the Spirit Like an Apostle first appeared on JD Greear Ministries.

Letter to a Young Man Desiring to Follow Jesus by Randy Alcorn

 I received this letter from a reader:

Dear Mr. Randy Alcorn,

My name is Aidan. I am a senior in high school. I am a student, a fellow writer, and a follower of God. For a religion assignment, I had to find a Christian online who practices the four non-negotiables of our faith: have private morality, practice social justice, have mellowness of heart and spirit, and attend church with vigor and a desire to learn from it.

The second part of our assignment was to write a letter to you asking how to be an exemplary Christian like you, preferably through living the four non-negotiables. If you could take time out of your life to give some advice to someone just starting on their path to God, I would deeply appreciate it.

Here was my response:

Dear Aidan,

Great to hear from you as a fellow writer, and most importantly, as a fellow follower of Jesus.

My best writing advice to you is to immerse yourself in God’s Word, and study sound doctrine and good theology. (One great book, for reference or to read all the way through, is Wayne Grudem’s Systematic Theology, or his abridged version, called Bible Doctrine.)

If God’s Word is daily at home in your heart and mind, your writing will take on a perspective, and an air of solidity and permanence it won’t have otherwise. God promises His Word won’t return to Him empty, without accomplishing the purpose for which He sent it (Isaiah 55:11). He does not promise that about our words, but His. If we want our words to have lasting value and impact, they need to be touched and shaped by His words—and that won’t happen without a daily choice to expose our minds to Scripture.

You mentioned four nonnegotiables of the faith, and asked how to live those out. Here are my thoughts:

1. Have private morality.

I would rename this category as “character.” Image is how we look on the outside to people who don’t know us. Character is what we are in the dark when no one but God sees us. Character is what we really are.

Who you become will be the result of the daily choices you make. The key to spirituality is the development of little habits—Bible reading and memorization and prayer—which will develop into life disciplines. Through God’s Word, the Holy Spirit transforms our hearts and minds. However, don’t just read your Bible out of guilt; do it to find great joy in Jesus! David said of God’s words, “More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).  

God also chooses to use His people in each other’s lives as instruments of grace and truth.  We need each other! I came to Jesus in high school, and I had close friends who studied the Bible together, prayed together, and read great books together. We stayed away from the things that tempted us toward evil. We asked each other how we were doing in our walk with God. Find friends like that. They might not just naturally come your way. Look for them. Seek them. Hang on to them. 

Of course, it’s not just accountability to people that keeps us from sin. Our primary accountability is to the Lord whose judgment seat is the only one we will stand before. God that says “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). He has given us in Christ all the resources we need to live lives of character, which includes moral purity. God alone can mold your character to the image of Christ, yet you yourself must make the choice to submit to His transforming work. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Romans 12:2).

2.  Practice social justice.

There are many definitions of “social justice” in the world today. We need to define this term according to what God says, understanding that when we follow Jesus, we will sometimes look like conservatives, sometimes liberals. But what we look like to people shouldn’t matter. What we look like to God, the Audience of One, should.

Micah 6:8 says, “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?” This verse lays out three requirements which our King will hold us accountable for: justice, mercy, and humility. The more we walk with God, the more we will be characterized by these attributes.

We should ask ourselves: are we dealing honestly and fairly with others, and caring and intervening for the weak, vulnerable and oppressed? (Or are we compromising in matters of morals and integrity, and passively accepting society’s mistreatment of those for whom God says we should speak up?)

One caution: if your life is centered on being against evils as abortion, pornography, sex trafficking, and racial injustice, that single issue isn’t enough. To endure in a cause, make sure it’s really about Jesus. And then keep reminding yourself it’s about Him, lest you end up really making it about you and your feelings of self-righteousness as you congratulate yourself for being spiritually impressive and better than those smug conservatives or foolish liberals:  “The King will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, as you did it for one of the least of these brothers, you did it to me’” (Matthew 25:40).

My family and I have stood against abortionists, and I have confronted adulterers, not because we hate them, but because we love God and the people He has created. Certainly, we should hate abuse in all its forms—God calls upon us to defend the poor and needy. But some people hate evil more than they love good. While love strengthens you for the long haul, hatred has a way of embittering you and burning you out.  

3. Have mellowness of heart and spirit.

I’m guessing that you might have meant “meekness,” which is another word for “gentleness”? Either way, God is clear how He wants His children to act: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:21-22). Our need today is for Christ-followers who bear the fruit of the Spirit and love our neighbors in doing so. 

In his marvelous book Gentle and Lowly, Dane Ortland says,

In the one place in the Bible (Matthew 11:28-30) where the Son of God pulls back the veil and lets us peer way down into the core of who he is, we are not told that he is “austere and demanding in heart.” We are not told that he is “exalted and dignified in heart.” We are not even told that he is “joyful and generous in heart.” Letting Jesus set the terms, his surprising claim is that he is “gentle and lowly in heart.”

Jesus came full of grace and truth (John 1:14). Not either instead of the other, but both together. We need to be bold enough to speak up and tell the truth even when it’s unpopular. But that doesn’t mean we have to be mean-spirited and graceless when we do it! Jesus told the truth, but He wasn’t malicious or ill-tempered, the way many professing Christians behave online and sometimes in real life as well. 

David Powlison writes, “Jesus dealt gently with the ignorant and misguided, even when he suffered at their hands. Such meekness is incalculably powerful. …It’s unfortunate that ‘gentle Jesus, meek and mild’ has become a picture of someone weak and ineffectual, a sentimental, pablum savior, good for children, but not good enough for grown-ups. May the God of the Lord Jesus Christ give us his true gentleness. Such strength is a royal attribute.”

People are attracted to Jesus when they see His attributes in others’ lives. They observe kindness, graciousness, and happiness, and as a result, they want to know the source of those qualities.

J. C. Ryle said something as true today as when he wrote it in the 1800s: “A cheerful, kindly spirit is a great recommendation to a believer. It is a positive misfortune to Christianity when a Christian cannot smile. A merry heart, and a readiness to take part in all innocent mirth, are gifts of inestimable value. They go far to soften prejudices, to take stumbling-blocks out of the way, and to make way for Christ and the Gospel.”

4. Attend church, embrace it despite its flaws, and seek to learn from it.

The local church is a key component of God’s eternal plan. Jesus calls the church His bride. He died for her and says that ultimately the gates of hell won’t prevail against her (Matthew 16:18). Yes, local churches can fail to honor Jesus. But knowing that full well, Jesus made churches a major part of His plan. I believe that more than ever, God’s people must prioritize being part of a local church, even though the best one they can find will be imperfect, and once they join it, they will be part of its imperfection.

Our church, which I been part of since it began in 1977 as one of the two original pastors, is very imperfect. In other words, it’s like us. But there is a sincere desire in the leaders to follow Jesus, obey Him, share the gospel, support missions, and help the needy locally and around the world. There really ARE churches like that, all over the country. Some people look for a church, maybe give two or three a try, and then conclude, “Church is shallow and insincere and hypocritical.” And they wash their hands of the church, passing on to their children at worst a legacy of disdain and bitterness toward churches, or at best indifference and disinterest.

Since the church is Jesus’s beloved bride, when we disparage the church, we insult Jesus. He doesn’t give us the option of hating her and loving him. If you wanted to be close to me but said you didn’t want anything to do with my wife, I would have said, “No, that’s not an option. My bride and I are one. We come as a package deal.” I encourage you to get deeply involved in your church, serving and praying and giving and believing the best of imperfect people even as you would want them to believe the best of you.

Ray Ortlund offers this advice: “…be the kind of person who can be counted on in your own church. Join your church, pray for your church, tithe to your church, throw yourself into the life of your church with wholehearted passion.”

May you follow Jesus with all your heart, Aidan.

"Revival of the Remnant" - A Study in the Book of Ezra begins this Sunday, May 15, 2022 at Rainsville First Baptist Church

 

It was 538 B.C. when God, fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah (25:12; 29:10) that the Babylonian captivity would last only seventy years, “stirred up” the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia (Ezra 1:1) and “all those whose spirits God had moved” (Ezra 1:5) to begin to bring revival and restoration of His true remnant people back to Jerusalem. Under Ezra, the priest and the scribe, and Nehemiah, the layman, God revived the faith of His true people by restoring worship and holiness and then rebuilding the walls.

It was 2020 when God begin to “stir up” my heart again on the theme of revival and spiritual awakening. You see, there have been seasons, though brief, of my life when I forsook the possibility of God sending revival and spiritual awakening. I looked at the condition of the church and our nation thinking we had gone too far. But then I was reminded America has experienced worse moral decline in its early years than even where we are today. Then I remembered, like with Ezra, revival comes after a time of judgment. God used men of God like Don Graham to “stir my heart” again that God could bring revival and renewal. So in repentance, I begin to believe and pray for revival and spiritual awakening.

Due to my own experience with COVID in 2020, I did not complete the preaching and writing project I wanted to concerning revival. But the fires did not quench. In 2021, I wrote “Fan the Flame” for our church’s devotional guide for January 2022. But I did not get to preach Ezra and the theme of revival.

Once again, God has not let the fire go out. I took all of my written material to Africa with me knowing God was stirring this again in my heart. I am glad to announce this Sunday I begin a series “Revival of the Remnant” from the book of Ezra.

The theme of the remnant is an interesting one in Scripture. We will deal with it for God seems to focus on the remnant when He is moving His agenda. Who are the remnant? What does the Bible say about them?

Using Ezra, I will declare its time for the modern-day remnant to return to God, prayer, holiness, dedication, His Word, obedience, His Spirit, and His church. After the dark, cold, isolated days of COVID, it’s time for the REMNANT TO RETURN. And only through a revival of the remnant can we hope to see a lasting, sweeping revival of His church reaching into our communities and nation for a spiritual awakening.

This is difficult on several fronts. First and foremost, this is spiritual warfare. The “prince of the power of the air” hates the remnant and is doing everything to discourage them. Second, our generation has never seen a revival or spiritual awakening. In American history, there have been four major moves of God: the first and second Great Awakenings, The Great Layman’s Prayer Revival, and the Jesus Movement in the 70’s. In our generation, only the Jesus Movement would qualify, and it was rejected by most in the church, thus never able to get the spiritual momentum and footing it needed for a sweeping awakening.

My prayer is through examining Ezra, God will “stir the spirits” of the remnant to seek God for revival, prepare for revival and constantly pray for God to “rend the Heavens and come down.” (Isaiah 64:1).

Join us Sunday as we look at “Who Are the Remnant?” from Ezra 1:1.

"Go to Funerals" by Michael Lyons

 Years ago, I attended a funeral of an older man from my church. This church was in the heart of an urban city and was surrounded by drugs and poverty. But the church had a thriving ministry and more than 300 people regularly attended. The funeral that day was packed out. But the man, Robert, was little known. I knew him from our men’s lunches. I often ate lunch with him after a worship service. He was kind, caring, and invited me into his life while I was living in the area. But he and his wife did not have a wide circle of friends. Nevertheless, everyone came to the funeral. I mean everyone. The entire church came out for it.

Why?

Because year after year, we heard our pastor say, “When one member grieves, we all grieve. That’s what family does.”

I remember talking to the funeral director afterward. He was stunned by how many came to this funeral for a man whom the world did not know. He asked me, “What is it about this church that people would give up their day for a funeral like this?” Robert had no impressive career. He had no impressive influence. His resume was unremarkable. He was older and had many physical problems, so he was not as involved in the church as he used to be. Most of the congregation did not know him as a result (to their loss!).

But Robert was a brother in our church. We all were in covenant membership with him and his wife. That mattered more than anything else. He was closer than a blood relative; he was united to us through Another’s blood.

My pastor happened to be standing beside me and answered the director, “This is what it means to be a follower of Jesus. We are family.”

And so, we went to funerals of people we hardly knew in our church. Often the funerals propelled us to make sure we were getting to know others in our church before it was too late.

Let me encourage you to something: consider attending every funeral that occurs in your church’s life. And if you are a pastor, disciple your members to attend funerals.

The Christian community can be distinct by going to funerals of everyone in your church. At funerals, we display to the world what the body of Christ is like. At funerals, we display what commitment looks like in a covenant body. When we take our membership vows, we are not joining a hobby or a club. We join a body. A body needs all its members—especially at a funeral.

Who hasn’t been to a funeral where only a few showed up? Didn’t you feel sorry for the grieving family member? Now imagine that family member watching as an entire church arrives at the funeral, proclaiming not with words but in actions, “You are part of our family, the family of God.”

Funerals interrupt our lives. They are unplanned. They disrupt your schedule. That’s often why we don’t go to them unless we have a personal connection. But the very fact that they are disruptive to our lives is a grace of God. They invite us into a different liturgy, a different rhythm of life, one that our busy world tries to push to the sides. When we break free of our personal calendars and embrace the disruption of a funeral, we walk according to the life of Christ, not the life of the world. Christians are distinct.

And the world takes notice. In such a funeral, the church puts on display the beauty and the glory of the body of Christ. It shows the world what true community looks like. It invites others to join and participate in this kind of true humanity found only in the body of Jesus.

But not only you should come. Bring the children.

All my children come to funerals with me. It’s not an option in the Lyons household, and it’s not because I’m a pastor. A century ago, children were regularly exposed to scenes of the dying. They often had an elderly grandparent in their own home who was dying. But nowadays, our culture has done everything it can to sanitize death and remove it from the minds of children. We remove the dying to nursing homes and hospitals. Few funerals have children unless they are directly related to the one who died.

O Church, we are missing out on one of the most important discipling moments for children.

When you bring your children to a funeral you are teaching them about community in the church. Especially if they don’t know the person, they see a vision of what it means to live life together in the body of Christ. It helps shift their minds toward serving others who are in need, rather than thinking about themselves.

You are also teaching your children about death and what matters most in life. Unless the Lord returns, your children are going to die one day, and those whom they love most are going to die. The liturgy of funerals reaches down into children and helps disciple them on how the gospel relates to death and dying.

In our ambitious culture, we spend enormous amounts of time trying to give our kids success: we drive all over the country for sports games; we push our kids to master school subjects; we join with the hurried world in trying to stuff our children with as many ‘success-factors’ as possible. All the while, we ignore helping them face what everyone will face: death.

Funerals disciple children. Don’t miss out on this most important Christian shaping that your children need. Don’t miss out on what you need too. Go to funerals.

Ways to Understand the Bible Better from Dr. Adrian Rogers

 Several weeks ago I was cleaning out some files and found this article of "Pastor's Paragraphs" written by Dr. Adrian Rogers as he was Pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, TN.  This is the article he wrote:

When we were talking about ways to better understand the Bible Sunday morning, I mentioned to you some things I had written in the flyleaf of my Bible when I was a young preacher.  Many of you desired a copy of these.  Here they are:

Six questions to ask:

* Is there a promise to claim?

*Is there a lesson to learn?

* Is there a blessing to enjoy?

* Is there a command to obey?

* Is there a sin to avoid?

* Is there a new thought to carry with me?

Six commands to obey:

* Read it through

*Think it clear

* Write it down

* Pray it in

* Live it out

* Pass it on.

If you will ask these questions and obey these commands, I believe that the Bible will burst aflame in your heart and will be lived out in your lives.

Universal Reconciliation by Wade Trimmer

A blog post by David Shibley this morning, stated, “Today, we’re battling a surge of teaching espousing universalism. This is the belief that all people will eventually be saved. And this teaching is never a friend to evangelism or missions. Instead of a loving yet firm rebuttal (which, I pray, this post will be), there is an eerie silence, even among many staunchly evangelical preachers. “It is a time to speak truth, as God gives us to see the truth. Universalism is an ancient heresy.”

Although this has been my observation for several years as well, I must confess that I have been in the “eerie silent group of evangelical preachers.” I want to repent and begin, as the opportunity arises, to “admonish” brothers and sisters in the Household of Faith about the dangers of this heretical teaching. And I want to do this by the empowering of the Holy Spirit so that I comply with every facet of the meaning of the word “admonish”, which in the Greek is to, “confront with truth in love for the purpose of change.”

The teaching that all will eventually be reconciled to God and saved eternally regardless of life lived or faith professed during this lifetime caters to the sentimentalities of people who are troubled by the idea of eternal torment in hell. Without question, there is nothing pleasant or happy about the destruction of the wicked. On the other hand, from God’s perspective as revealed in Scripture, there is nothing pleasant or happy about the treasonous and destructive nature of sin and rebellion either. Such bad news is what makes the good news of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ so amazing. As professor James De Young asserts, “Universal Reconciliation is biblically groundless and is untethered from the historic teaching of the church. Further, it offers false hope to the lost and, in turn, undercuts the church’s commitment to missions.”

Australian Gary de Vries lists several varieties of universalism:

1. Universal Reconciliation: This view maintains that Christ’s death accomplished its purpose of reconciling all mankind to God. Whatever separation exists between man and the benefits of God’s grace is subjective in nature, existing only in man’s mind. Reconciliation is an accomplished fact.
2. Universal Pardon: This view maintains that God, being loving, will not hold unswervingly to the conditions he has laid down. Though threatening eternal punishment, he will in the end relent and forgive everyone. God will treat all persons as if they believed.
3. Universal Restoration: At some point in the future all things will be restored to their original and intended state. Full salvation may be preceded by cycles of re-incarnation or by some purgatorial period at the beginning of the life hereafter.
4. The Doctrine of a Second Chance: Maintains that the work of Christ is sufficient to secure the salvation of the elect, but salvation is effectually secured by the means of faith (Romans 10:10–13). All people, even those who have heard and rejected, will be confronted with the claims of Christ in the life to come. Everyone given such an opportunity will of course accept it.

Many adherents prefer different names for universalism such as the gospel of inclusion, the greater faith, the larger hope, the victorious gospel, etc.

The late Gary Amirault, on the opening page of his website – The Tentmakers – says, “The Bible, correctly translated teaches Jesus Christ, the Chosen One of our heavenly Father will save the whole world. Hell will be empty when Jesus and His believers (His called out ones) are finished. That is the growing view of Bible scholars, translators, Bible publishers and ministers of grace. Hell is leaving the pages of many Bible translations. Jesus Christ is becoming “Lord of all. Experience your heavenly Father’s and Son’s unfailing love for you. Be set free from the fear that you or a loved one may be eternally damned to Hell. Beloved, because you ARE loved, now you can BE LOVE.”

In this age of “tolerance,” diversity, relativism, and creature comforts, the idea that ultimately everyone will be forgiven fits right in. Universalism is a theology of tolerance, of ease, and comfort.  It feels good.

Daniel Strange observes, “Doctrinally, issues surrounding the love of God are central in this debate. The type of universalism being described here claims that if God is love, and if the Christian hope is one where God is to be ultimately triumphant and victorious, then all his actions must be compatible with his love—including his holiness, wrath, and justice. As a result, any account of hell must be a manifestation of divine love and mercy. A fundamental assertion here is that the purpose of all divine judgment and punishment is never exclusively retributive, legitimizing hell being populated; rather, it is ultimately always concerned with correction, purification, and rehabilitation. Not only every individual passage of Scripture, but the entirety of the plotline of the Bible, must be read through this lens.”

But in reality universalism disparages the love of God by rejecting, in the end, the value of the greatest act of God’s loving, namely the redemption secured by the sacrificial, substitutionary, atoning death of Jesus Christ. Ultimately the person of Jesus Christ is disparaged. His death and resurrection do not make a difference in the end.

Universalism distorts evangelism by diminishing the urgency of the proclamation because all people will ultimately be saved anyway.

Universalism taints society’s own sense of justice and retribution. Universalism teaches that even the most incorrigible of persons like Hitler, Pol Pot of Cambodia, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, etc., who were wicked till the moment of death, still will be accepted one day into God’s heaven.

Paul Young, author of “The Shack” from which the movie by the same name was made, wrote another book, published in 2018 titled, “Lies We Believe About God”. There are 28 chapters in the book citing the 28 so-called lies we believe about God. In this book he comes out of the closet and reveals himself as a full-blown believer in universalism.

I have read the book twice and here’s some of the assertions Young makes: “all people are good and no one has ever been separated from God (ch 27, p. 232); Not everything is in God’s plan, that he is not in control of everything (ch 3, p 38-39); every human being is a child of God already saved and reconciled to God (ch 5, p. 55; ch 13, p. 118; ch 24, p. 204-206); the God of the evangelical Christian faith is a “torture-devising God” (ch 15, p. 132); Hell does not separate anyone from God (ch 15); the death of Christ was not in God’s plan but was man’s idea (ch 17, p. 149); he claims that if God originated the cross then the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was “cosmic abuse”; that God is “cruel” and “monstrous” for creating the cross to “torture human beings” in an “abhorrent manner” (ch 17, p. 149; ch 19, p. 169-171); he believes that God will save people after death (ch 21, p. 186); that death is not a barrier to make a postmortem choice to accept the love of God and relationship with him (ch 21, pp 183, 184, 186).

Universalism is a false and dangerous, unbiblical doctrine.  Nevertheless, many find it comforting to think that no one will go to hell forever– especially ourselves. It means that we will escape the judgment of damnation.  It means we are safe even in our imperfections, our sins, our rebellion, and our blasphemies.  It means we can offend God outright, reject Him boldly, and not worry about our salvation – because we’ll all be saved no matter what they do in this life.

Yes, that the gospel of God is lavishly and wonderfully universal in its scope is a truth in which we rejoice and proclaim. Such a breadth is attested by the apostle John, who sees “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev 7:9).

But ultimately God’s love is not inconsistent with hell being populated for eternity by those creatures who habitually rebel and assert “not Your will, but mine be done!” Given the sinfulness of sin, the fact God saves one of his creatures – let alone that great multitude no one can count – is an act of sheer mercy and grace. The cross of Christ is where is we see God’s retributive wrath and mercy meet such that God’s justice is satisfied. This is the heart of the gospel we are to proclaim to all and for all who will come.

 

Sunday School Leadership Conference with Allan Taylor Monday, January 31, 2022

 

The premier leader of Sunday School in the Southern Baptist Convention is coming to Rainsville First Baptist Church Monday, January 31 for our annual Sunday School Leadership Conference.  Allan Taylor, for over 20 years the Minister of Education for First Baptist Church, Woodstock, GA, and once the Director of SS for Lifeway will be our speaker.

 

He will be conducting two sessions beginning at 6:00 and ending at 8:15 and one of them is a MUST for every Sunday School leader (adult, youth, children, preschool, care group leader, outreach leader, secretary) and for every church member – “Sunday School as a Strategy.”  He will give us the basic tools for why SS is the most important ministry in our church and how to see it become that.  It was this session that he gave here three years ago that several pastors said afterward, “I wish every member of my church could hear that.”  Well, we are providing that opportunity again for us to hear that.

 

This conference is free and open to anyone.  Would love to have you, your leaders, and anyone else you want to invite.

The Power and Joy of Biblical Fasting by Bill Elliff

 

Bill Elliff is the founding and national engage pastor at The Summit Church in North Little Rock. He also serves on the Prayer Task Force at the Arkansas Baptist State Convention. His passion is to see genuine revival.

If you are a follower of Christ, you carry a deep longing for MORE. More of Christ—more of His presence, His will, His voice, His direction. More fruit and effectiveness; more life change for you and those around you. More revival and spiritual awakening.  

Christ understands this desire because He placed it there! The Holy Spirit is in you if you are a believer, convincing and convicting, drawing you towards God. He does this because He knows your greatest life is found when you are walking in deepest intimacy with Him.  

It delights His heart when you are experiencing Him. He “has no greater joy than this that to see [His] children walking in the truth” (3 John 4). He knows that your soul’s only true satisfaction comes when you are experiencing His presence. “In Your presence is fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures forevermore,” David said (Psalm 16:11).  

But there’s more…God wants your life to reach its highest effectiveness for His kingdom. He has plans to reach people that no one else can reach except you. He wants you to bear much, remaining fruit for your good, others’ good and God’s glory! This can only happen when you are walking deeply with Him.  

His tools and His means 

Since God has designed you with such longing and purpose, there is a Divine design to make this happen! He has created tools and means by which you can “draw near to God” with the promise that when you do, He will “draw near to you” (James 4:8). Bible study, prayer, worship, preaching, community with other believers, communion, and ministry are all tools God has given you to draw near to Him. But one of the important tools that is often overlooked is the biblical practice of fasting.  

The purpose 

There are multiple biblical examples, exhortations and reasons to fast. It’s important as you approach a fast to determine why God is calling you to fast and what He is wanting to accomplish. Fasting is seen in Scripture . . . 

• As an aid to prayer (Ezra 8:21-23) 

• As a sign of and aid to repentance (1 Samuel 7:6) 
• To beseech God for revival and spiritual awakening (Joel 2:12) 
• To overcome sin and temptation (Matthew 4:1-11) 
• To hear God more clearly or discover His will (Acts 14:23) 
• To humble and quiet one’s soul (Psalm 35:13) 

• To prepare for ministry (Acts 13:1-3) 
• As an expression of deep sorrow (2 Samuel 1:11-12) 
• As an expression of mourning over sin — both personal and corporate (Nehemiah 1:3-4) 
• As an act of pure worship and devotion to God (Luke2:37) 

Read this list again carefully. What are you anxious for God to do in your life and through your life through a season of fasting? Something that couldn’t be accomplished any other way?  

Jesus assumes that fasting will be a regular part of your spiritual life. “WHEN you fast,” Jesus said, not “IF you fast” (Matthew 6:16, emphasis mine). Perhaps a better posture for believers would be that we are to assume (like Jesus) that fasting should be a regular exercise and not a rare experience.  

God wants you to live and minister in spiritual power! But the secret of such power is to walk with God — to lay aside all that is aborting His presence and power. There’s more for you with God if you will humbly, faithfully pursue Him with all your heart through Word-filled prayer and fasting.  

Join other Arkansas Baptists who are uniting in 21 Days of Prayer and Fasting right now. Click here to sign up to receive a daily email reminder.  

For more information, read “The Power and Joy of Biblical Fasting” by Bill Elliff. Copies can be ordered at www.billelliff.org