Part 9 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 156-157)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 9)

He's Come to Deliver

WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS

God's rescue is personally intentional and forever influential. James warns us of the danger of just wanting to be a friend with this world. It is important to note James did not say we had to be a friend of the world to be an enemy of God. In fact, all we have to do is desire to be a friend of this world and we make ourselves an enemy of God: "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). Jesus didn't die for our sins so we could be fond of Him and like the world at the same time. Jeroboam may have preached that message, but not Jesus. He rescued us so we could be transformed by the renewing of our mind and not be conformed to this crooked and perverse world. He gave His life to deliver us from such hostility that we could be His servants shedding light upon a dark and depraved world. (John 17, Romans 12:1-2, Eph. 5:9-15)

God intentionally rescued our life so the world would no longer be the means by which we were to receive instruction and influence. The world we're living in is passing away. The people who are living under its influence are passing away with it. God has so precisely and perfectly rescued us so He can make us into rescuers also.

"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?" Proverbs 24:11-12

We have been rescued to ensure we can go forth in the name of the Lord Jesus and rescue the perishing. We have been equipped and called on by God to put our life at risk and even die for His sake to see to it that others may be rescued through the life of His Son: "A true witness delivereth souls: but a deceitful witness speaketh lies" (Proverbs 14:25). Before we can be a rescuer, we have to be rescued by Jesus.

EXAMINE YOURSELF

If you have been marked by America's gospel, you are not a rescuer of the perishing. You are aiding sinners in their rebellion and teaching them how to fear God according to the commandments of men. Have you been rescued from among those who are perishing in the sea of sin? Let God rescue you from yourself and He'll send you on His rescue mission. (2 Cor. 13:5, Heb. 3, 1 Pet. 3:15-17)

Part 8 of Chpater 6 from Magnify the Lord (Pages 153-155)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 8)

He's Come to Deliver

POSSESS THE PROMISES

If you have been born again, you have the nature to agree with God's promises. We are not called to fight for victory, but from victory. Jesus has already won the victory. Fight from His triumph over sin, death, and the grave, and you'll be a vessel God can use to be dangerously strong for His truth on the earth. Personally possess the truth as God reveals it to you. Trust Him with what He reveals and He'll free you to take hold of more truth. We overcome sin when we take ownership of God's truth and His promises of victory in Christ. He's come to deliver us from sin. Possess the truth (substance) surrounding a particular principle of truth and take ownership of it as your very own (evidence), even when it can't be physically seen. (Heb. 11:1) We'll never possess it until we hear it, believe it, and see it is ours. (Rom. 10:17)

C. He's Come to Deliver Us from Society

HEADED FOR DESTRUCTION

"Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father" (Galatians 1:4). We see again in this passage how our sinful nature and our practice of sin had us in bondage with the society in which we lived. Solomon says, "A threefold cord is not easily broken." (Ecc. 4:12) We were very much a part of this age of hostility. It has already been established in this study that we were rebels with a self-centered motives to exalt our rights above the decrees of God. We were in the flow of an eternally worthless system that would one day come to an abrupt end. This age we now live in and the society governed by its flow will be consumed with fervent heat. (2 Pet. 3 ; 2 Thes. 1:8-10) The outcome of this evil age is destruction.

NO LEGITIMATE APOLOGY

Christ came to rescue us from this society and the consequences of its dreadful influence. Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, described in the book of Romans just how the fall of Adam and Eve affected all of humanity. In the first chapter, he explains how we were all without a legitimate apology. We knew what we were doing as a society, and we had no excuse for it. Apologizing for a rebellion that was deliberate and knowing you enjoyed what you were doing and had the very intent to do it again is inexcusable. The result of this behavior is God gave our society over to a way of thinking of which He does not approve. The consequence of God's wrath released man to do those things which are not fitting. (Rom. 1:18-32) Secular society overflows with attitudes of ungodliness and acts of unrighteousness, which is proof of God's wrath upon humanity. When anyone is habitually compelled by anything other than the love of Christ and controlled by the excessive desires of their flesh, they are under the wrath of God. They are still in bondage and trapped in an age that is corrupt and bent on sin. Why? They have never been delivered and rescued by Jesus.

MUST BE INTERRUPTED

He came to interrupt the flow of our rebellious lifestyle and put us on a course that honors His righteousness. Jesus told His disciples they were not of this society any longer and the proof of this would be the society's hatred of them. Jesus rescues those whom He delivers from the course of our society and its condemnation. Amen! His grace will continually teach the saints He has delivered to deny this world and what it values while living for God's glory now. (Titus 2:11-14) Jesus has come to tear us away from the darkness of this world so we might be a light to it. This deliverance is always by force. We were rescued, my friend, from the hand of the enemy and all who hate us. The cross of Christ was a covert invasion of God upon this world. He forcefully defeated the enemy upon the cross and made it possible for us to be rescued from the grip this system had upon His people. We were not looking for the Lord when He interrupted our life. We enjoyed our sin and the lies of sinful people. We were bound together with them in this war. But Jesus broke through our rebellion and rescued us from the grip of sin and this society. Jesus interrupted our agendas and intruded upon our dark hearts when He invaded our lives with His grace. We are rescued sinners who have been freed from this society's influence and instruction. (Col. 1:13)

Part 7 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 151-153)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 7)

He's Come to Deliver

NOT FOR SIN

All believers will give an account of their life at the judgment seat of Christ, but not for a payment for sin because Christ already paid the wages of death for our sin. We can have confidence and boldness before our God because we are free from the penalty of our sin. Because of His grace, we can enter into God's presence through the torn body of our Champion and Deliverer. He is the veil we must go through to enter into the holy of hollies if we're going to have fellowship with the Father. We have peace with God now because our debt has been paid, our sins are forgiven, and we are the righteousness of God through Christ Jesus. Praise Him today because He's come to deliver us from the penalty of our sins.

SIN'S POWER

He's also come to deliver us from sin's power. How did He do this? He did it through the death of the cross. We died to sin upon the cross: "For he that is dead is freed from sin" (Romans 6:7). How have we died? In Christ we died when He died. This is what has been accomplished by God. This is His work, and we are exhorted to believe He put us to death upon the cross and raised us up to newness of life through the resurrection of Jesus.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him,that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." (Romans 6:1-6)

Keep in mind this is what God does in the new birth. You and I are not required to understand all that took place. We are commanded to believe what He said He did and trust the results of this work unto God. We are called to put faith in the fact we died to sin and were raised with newness of life and with victory over the power of sin. Did we die physically? No! We died supernaturally in Christ. How do we die daily? By putting faith in this revealed truth that we are no longer who we used to be. We died with Christ, and the old man inside of us was crucified with Him. We put faith in the truth that our sins are forgiven and we are free from their penalty and power. We put faith in the truth that we're a new creature who has victory in Christ over the power of sin.

"For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him. For in that He died, He died unto sin once: but in that He liveth, He liveth unto God. Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace." (Romans 6:7-14)

The word "reckoning" means to put faith, trust, and confidence in the truth revealed by God. What is the truth revealed by God? We died with Christ and were raised unto life with Him. How can we have victory over sin? Putting faith in the truth is where our victory over sin is lived out daily.

FAITH

Jesus came to deliver us from our enemies, and sin is an enemy to the throne of God. Be persuaded of the facts that support the truth Jesus has come to deliver you from sin's penalty and power. Walk in His victory today by faith. Redemptive faith is a benefit of God's enabling grace that connects and convinces us to personally possess what God promises. Redemptive faith is the product of God's grace that has persuaded us to take personal ownership in trusting God's faithfulness and His delight and duty to fulfill what He's promised. Redemptive faith is also sustained confidence to live for God's glory as we look for His promises with eager anticipation. Redemptive faith is not only the result of being persuaded, but it's also a persuasive witness to believers and unbelievers. Faith in a Deliverer who truly delivers is also a faith that delivers a persuasive testimony.

Part 6 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 149-151)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 6)

He's Come to Deliver

B. He's Come to Deliver Us from Sin

UNTAINTED WORSHIP

What a day it will be when we see Jesus for the first time with eyes that are not tainted by the presence of sin. Can you imagine worshipping the Lord without the presence of sin? This world is defiled and full of death. It is important for us to know we have been delivered from the penalty and power of sin. It is equally important to know we have not been delivered from the presence of sin in this world or the problem of sin's effects. The snow ball effect of sin continues to roll down the mountain of this judged world like an avalanche headed for a valley. Sin has rolled down through the corridors of time and is gaining momentum as it increases in mammoth proportions in these last days. We have all been broadsided at times by this gigantic snowball and will be again and again as long as we're living in this world. We will not be delivered from sin's presence until the new heaven and earth appear and Satan, death, and the grave are made subject to Jesus and cast into the lake of fire and brimstone for eternity. Until then we are called on to endure in the present victory we have over sin's penalty and power.

WE SEE IT

All authentic believers long for that day when mortality will be swallowed up by immortality. The new natures that believers possess are bent on the things of eternal righteousness. There is a craving in the heart of every new creature in Christ to long to be clothed in more of heaven. This is a great indicator of the Spirit of God living within us as new creatures in Christ. It is a birthmark that can be found upon the desire of those who have been persuaded by the grace of God to follow Jesus.

For we (all believers) know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in (knowing) this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. Now He that hath wrought (fully and permanently worked this in us and accomplished this longing effect in the heart of) us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest of the Spirit.Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:1-6

What a change has be wrought in our heart by God. Remember, as a man thinks in his heart, so is he. (Pr. 23:7) The dynamics of the new birth are far reaching within the heart of a believer, and it affects his hands and his feet to reflect the work of God in his heart. One day we will be delivered from sin's presence. Oh, what a day that will be!

WE HATE IT

The problems of sin are also manifested to us daily. Death, disease, destruction, and devastation are a few problems we face daily. All of these are the direct consequences of sin. How many people do we know who have cancer or diabetes? How many people do we know who have experienced a divorce? How many people do we know who have encountered the reality of death in the last month? How many people do we know who knows someone who has been affected by them? Everyone on the planet has felt the impact of this devastating blow in some way or fashion. We will have to face each problem daily for as long as we live. They are the results of the problem with sin. Sin kills! It always has.

PAID IN FULL

One of the greatest blessings for believers is to know we have been delivered from the penalty of sin. We have previously discussed in detail the problem with our nature and God's law condemning us because of our sins. The penalty for sin is death: "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). If anyone is going to have life in Christ, they must first die. This death is accomplished supernaturally by God Himself when we are born again. In Christ we die. We were put to death in Christ, and not only did we die to the law, but we also died to sin. Christ paid the penalty for our sins. This was a debt we could not pay. (Ps. 49:5-15) Our sins were placed upon Christ while He was on the cross, and upon the cross God legally judged our sin. Our sins were paid for by the sacrificial Lamb of God. Christ paid our wages and suffered the death of the cross to free us from a debt that was only payable through death. Jesus was the only One who could satisfy the heart of God's wrath by atoning for our sin. He also supplied the favor needed to reconcile us unto His Father.

Part 5 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 147-148)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 5)

He's Come to Deliver

HIS LAW

His law condemned all sinners to death. God's law is the means by which He reveals we are condemned sinners and deserve to be put to death and separated from God for all eternity. The law of God is designed so it cannot convert or pardon the sinner under any circumstances. God's law is forever impartial to its purpose. Every soul that sins is confined to death under the law. This law applies until the sinner dies. "Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:4). We were bound by the law until death: "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned" (Romans 5:12). (Rom. 7:1-6) We were also promised a just hearing after death: "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27).

JUST AS HE

The only way we could be free from this problem, as a sinner who is bent on sinning, is in the heart and hands of God. How deep the Father's love is for us! How rich is His work of grace! He accomplished more than we will ever know upon the cross. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places through Christ Jesus. It is all just as He planned before time ever began. He made us a new creature in Christ Jesus. He put us to death in Him upon the cross and raised us up with Him to sit in the heavenly places together forever. This is entirely His work and we must praise Him because He has dealt with the problem, US!

IT'S A FACT

We were our biggest problem. But thank God for Jesus, who fulfilled God's law and dealt with it for God's glory on a tree called Calvary. God dealt with the problem when He birthed us into His kingdom, and in His own sovereign way He put us to death in Christ: "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians 3:3). Praise God! He's come to deliver us from our worst enemy: OURSELVES.

Part 4 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 145-147)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 4)

He's Come to Deliver

THE MEDIATOR

Jesus is the only Mediator between God and rebellious man. Jesus gave Himself, as a substitution, to be a specific payment for sin. Through the shedding of His own blood, He forgave hostile sinners of their rebellion and reconciled us to His Father. (1 Tim. 2:5-6) It was through this great work of mediation that the problem with our rebellion could be dealt with. Jesus is the only Mediator (go-between) who could declare to us God's heart and holiness while establishing the fact He loved us even while we were in our sins and hostile to His ways. As a go-between, He is the only way possible we could have access to and fellowship with the Father. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

AN OFFENSE

We were an offense to God while in our sins. Therefore, God delivered up His Son upon the cross to deal with our offenses against Him. God placed upon Jesus our sin, making Him become sin so it could be possible for Him to deal with us: "Who (Jesus) was delivered for (on behalf) our offences, and was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:25). This passage reveals to us the essence of our deliverance in Christ. We were bound to our sinful nature and the offenses that resulted from it until we were born again as a new creature in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus is our life. (Col. 3:3-4) When God made us a new creature, we also died with Jesus. This all takes place in the new birth. This is a complete work of God from start to finish. Jesus, by way of His life, death, and resurrection, made it just and legal for God to deal with the problem, "US." When Paul is explaining to the church at Ephesus about these blessings that surround the new birth, he says, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love" (Ephesians 1:3-4). Paul is glorifying the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has currently blessed us with every supernatural blessing there is as a direct result of His eternal grace. Grace belongs to God, and He can grant it, bestow, it or release it as He desires. Paul reveals to the church that the new birth is a complete work of God and the eternal benefits of this work are in line with His plans or "just as He planned" since before time began. God is the rightful owner of eternal salvation, which is totally through the work of Christ and utterly of His own grace. What are the supernatural blessings? It is the new birth that comes from above and the glories that follow the redeemed.

GOD AT WORK

God, who brings about the new birth, is the One who also puts us to death in Christ. Why are we put to death? Because we were bound by a law we could not fulfill. His law was like a wall that separated us from Him. His law is a manifestation of how holy He is and just how sinful we really are. God's law was given to show us there is a barrier between God and fallen man, the barrier being the corrupt and sinful nature inherited from Adam. God's law was given so that man could see how exceedingly sinful he is. His law was good and right; therefore, it was opposed to our nature as sinners. His laws as they stand are completely contrary to us and what we have become as humans. "And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath He quickened together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,and took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross." Colossians 2:13-14 This was His purpose in giving the law to us. "Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:19-20). By design, the law was given to shut us down and to reveal how messed up we are compared to God.

Part 3 of Chapter 6 from Magnify The Lord (Pages 143-145)

Magnify the Lord

Chapter 6 (Part 3)

He's Come to Deliver

IT'S A PROBLEM

Countless millions have done all they have been told to do. They have been taught to believe more in what they must do than what Christ has already done. Therefore, men have put their faith in their actions, prayers, and more than anything else their own personal faith. They have made every attempt to be "saved" to assure themselves rather than being consumed with the biblical truth that Jesus Christ is God's Deliverer who has come to deliver us from ourselves,sin, society, and Satan. Jesus is God's Deliverer, and He has come to deliver each of us from a carnal way of thinking and to set us free to follow Him. He is our deliverance, and in Him we are eternally safe and secure. What has He come to deliver us from?

1. He's Come to Deliver Us from Something

A. He's Come to Deliver Us from Self

"That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us" (Luke 1:71). Salvation from our enemies speaks of a specific place of refuge and safety we would come to know and embrace after we'd been delivered from their hand into the hands of Jesus Christ. The passage above is a prophetic message that Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, is prophesying in regards to the fact that God has come to visit and redeem His people. In particular, he is prophetically speaking of a promised Deliverer, the Lord Jesus Christ, who at that time was still in the womb of Mary. This prophetic word speaks of a deliverance that would be effectually applied to those whom God would redeem. One aspect of God's promise was the fact they would be delivered from their enemies and the hand of all who hated them. This promise speaks of the faithfulnessof God and the power of His Son to truly deliver us. The significance of this deliverance comes when we see that we ourselves are an enemy of the things of God. There can be no salvation from God (safety, refuge, rest) without first being delivered from that place of hostility and rebellion toward the kingdom of God. God has promised to reconcile His people to Himself; therefore, He rescues them from themselves.

OWN WORST ENEMY

Our worst enemy is our self. The nature we were born with was completely and totally an enemy to anything godly. We have already discussed the nature we inherited from Adam. We were bent on sin. Everything about our life was ungodly and a lie. We were corrupt creatures because of the seed of sin passed down to us through the ages. God describes us as unrighteous enemies with a heart set on rebelling against Him. As products of the fall, He called us children of wrath. We were hostile toward Him, and in no way did we seek after Him. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin; As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Romans 3:9-18

IT IS CRITICAL

The reason men and women do not follow Jesus today is because they have never been delivered from themselves. To follow Jesus, one must first be delivered by Him. As discussed in the previous chapter, one must be born again to escape the blindness of Satan and the power of darkness that all lost men are under. The reason He came to destroy the works of the devil was to ultimately deliver us from his controlling hand. We first had to be delivered from the condition in which we were born. We were born in rebellion. Why were we born this way? We were conceived in iniquity: "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me" (Psalm 51:5). What is the only natural result of this conception? "Yea, in heart ye work wickedness; ye weigh the violence of your hands in the earth. The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies" (Psalm 58:2-3). From the womb, we are sinners, and we live out our days as sinners. We are our worst enemy. We need to be delivered from ourselves. The things we do that are hostile toward God are the result of who we are in our lost condition inherited from our fathers. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9). As a result of this crooked and perverse heart, we "feel" like we're right and just: "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits" (Proverbs 16:2). The way we think and the way we do things will always seem right and good to us because "we" are the most deceptive enemy we have. (Jer. 17:9) "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death" (Proverbs 16:25). God's Word is true, and we are messed up people. Who are we going to believe?(Rom. 3:4)

(Part 2) Chapter 6 of Magnify The Lord (Pages 141-143)

Chapter 6 (Part 2)

Magnify the Lord

He’s Come to Deliver

A CLASSIC EXAMPLE

The northern ten tribes of the divided kingdom of Israel is a perfect example of what has happened in America. For fear of losing their people to the two southern tribes called Judah, they instituted their own way of doing church. They were afraid of preaching and teaching what God required of His people, so they developed a new way to minister to the people and a new message. What they did was incorporate certain elements that identified with God's way of doing things, but for the purpose of comfort and convenience, they altered it in such a way as to appeal to the flesh of all involved. The people bought into it, and for the next two hundred-plus years they taught each new generation how to worship God and live in idolatry. It started with one leader, a king by the name of Jeroboam, whose personal and fleshly fear led generation after generation to transgress against God's original message. From his life we can see where the foundation of all compromise begins in leading others to worship false gods. It starts when someone makes an effort to keep people involved, interested, and invested in their own special interests. The fear of personal loss dictated and directed his mission, ministry, and message. (1 Kings 12:26-33) Jeroboam led Israel away from God for twenty-two years, and most every king that followed after Him for two hundred-plus years is described as doing evil in the sight of the Lord and walking in the way of Jeroboam and his sin (1 Kings 15:26, 34; 1 Kings 16:19, 26, 30-31, 33; 1 Kings 22:52; 2 Kings 3:3; 2 Kings 10:29; 2 Kings 13:2, 11; 2 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 15:9, 18, 24, 28). The sad thing is it worked for them for two centuries with very little resistance to this false system because it became the norm and it was easy.

The results of this delusional way of thinking led to God’s judgment of Israel as a nation. Second Kings 17 reveals the essence of what was being taught and how it affected everything about the nation. God used the Assyrians in 722 B.C. to overthrow Israel and take captive some of her people. The king of Assyria took possession of Samaria and transplanted peoples of other nations there to occupy that territory. They were attacked by lions and felt like the God of the land was angry at them because they did not know His rituals and therefore couldn't practice His ways. What was their answer to this problem? The king of Assyria commanded that a priest be sent to them to teach them the rituals of the God of the land. A priest, a product of Jeroboam's two hundred-plus years of compromise, was sent and he taught them what he knew. He taught the people how to fear God. The problem with his message was that it permitted the nations to do what Israel had done the past two hundred plus years, fear God, and also serve their own personal idols. (2 Kings 17:28-29,32,41) This is why Isaiah the prophet said the people drew near to the Lord with their mouths but their hearts were far from Him. How could they do this travesty? They taught them how to fear God according to the commandments of men, not the truth. "Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour Me, but have removed their heart far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the precept of men" (Isaiah 29:13). (Mat. 15:8) Jeroboam's compromise to the true message of God was still producing false converts and giving men false hope.

STAINED BY OUR GOSPEL

The unscriptural idea of acknowledging Jesus to be a Savior with the option of submitting to His lordship later in life is absolutely demonic and a complete compromise to the truth. This thought process and message has its origin in hell and comes from the father of lies. Those who preach this are preaching another gospel. This would mean that they're preaching a corrupt and cursed message. They are following in the footsteps of Jeroboam. The historical/biblical Jesus is anointed by the Lord. He is the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not the Savior who might be our Lord one day. No! He is the Lord who delivers His people into His service. The purpose of His death is for Him to be Lord over the living and the dead: "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living" (Romans 14:9). The gospel we believe is the gospel we will acknowledge and advocate through our attitudes, actions and affirmations. We are all stained by the message that has consumed and marked our lives. All of us are persuaded about a gospel. We have embraced a message or a culmination of messages as being authentic. Is it God's message or man's mission we have given our lives to? (Heb. 3:6,14 ; 5:9 ; 11:14-16)

(Part 1) Chapter 6 of Magnify The Lord (Pages 139-141)

Chapter 6
Magnify the Lord
He’s Come to Deliver

FROM SOMETHING TO SOMETHING

Isn’t this an awesome thought? He’s come to deliver. This is a
wonderful truth that brings deep comfort to our souls. Knowing
Jesus as the Deliverer helps us to see one of the most significant
reasons for His coming. When we ponder and meditate on the very
idea of a Redeemer who came to save, we can’t get past the fact it
speaks of a Deliverer. Why a deliverer?
When deliverance is needed, isn’t it always from something that
can harm or hurt us? Therefore, deliverance can only take place if
we have been delivered from that which is harmful to that which
is safe and secure. Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has come to
deliver God’s people. He’s come to deliver us from something to
something.
Today, in America, it is common to hear most people make the
claim Jesus is their Savior. We must ask them this simple but most
serious question: Can Jesus be a personal Savior without being a
personal Deliverer? I must say no!

IT’S NOT ABOUT US
On every street corner and in most neighborhoods we often find
people who profess to be saved and acknowledge their connection
with the “church.” The fruit in their life will bear witness against
them and reveal they have actually put their personal faith in a
specific prayer they prayed, an action they did, a preacher, or even
their own faith. The problem with placing faith in these things is
that it won’t deliver anyone from sin. Faith is only worth the object
in which it is put. Faith is valued by God in its origin. If God is not
the origin of grace-given faith, it has no eternal usefulness to Him.
The modern gospel advocated in America today has taught men they
have to do something in order to be saved. The Americanized gospel
(which is a false gospel) has been so effectively preached by the
masses that when the true gospel of the kingdom of God is preached,
it is distinctly rejected by the established church of America. Why
is it rejected? America’s gospel is universally man-centered. God’s
gospel is uniquely Christ-centered. This is one of the reasons why
the established church in America is having very little effect on the
secular culture. There are great claims of salvation everywhere we
turn, yet there is not much biblical evidence of individuals being
called out of this world and set apart by God who are worthy of
the gospel. This is exactly the point. Everyone lives out the gospel
that they’ve heard and believed. If it’s the Americanized gospel, the
marks of it will be upon them. If it’s the gospel of the kingdom of
God, the life of Christ will be manifested in their life. Everyone is
marked by the message they support and promote.

MAN-CENTERED
The American gospel communicates to its converts the need for
only a mental or intellectual acknowledgement that Jesus lived, died
for sin, was buried and rose again, and now lives to make intercession
for the church. He also will come one day and get the church to live
with Him forever. The problem with their message is rooted in their
focal point. They have made the ministry of reconciling sinners into
a global enterprise that promotes the message that sinners are sinners
and they can have both God and all the enticements of this world.
They have taken the message of reconciliation and made it marketable
and profitable to fit what the culture wants, not what they need.
Characteristically, the church of America has settled on gaining claims
of salvation in its pursuit to look successful and has utterly denounced
the power of Jesus Christ to unmistakably deliver a life from the power
of darkness into the unparalleled service of God the Father.