Sovereign Mercy (Freewill?)

John 10: 14-16 Sheep not of the sheep pen
I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father
knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have
other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too
will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.

John 10:26-28
but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my
voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall
never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.

Romans 8:7-8
…the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it
do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

2 Kings 7.4
If we say, 'We'll go into the city'-the famine is there, and we will die. And if
we stay here, we will die. So let's go over to the camp of the Arameans and
surrender. If they spare us, we live; if they kill us, then we die."

God is not at the mercy of Man’s decision. But in fact man is always at the
mercy of God’s decisions. Yes God has predestined certain people to glory from
the beginning of time because He does have a master plan and it will be
accomplished. But yes He will have mercy on whom He will have mercy. He is God.

Good News:

John 6:37
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will
never drive away.

Romans 10: 9-10
That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart
that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart
that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess
and are saved.

The above is for those who have come to realize they in no way can save
themselves and are in despair knowing there is no hope. They then will turn to
God and ask for mercy. No not a casual raising of one’s hand or saying a sinners
pray. They will come as the leapers in 2 Kings 7:4 knowing God does not have to
save them but they have come to ask for mercy.

Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Yes, this is referring to the spiritually and Emotionally Bankrupt people that
are without hope (like me). Yes, people in utter despair of not being able to
save themselves.

This should wake people up that have approached Jesus with merely the motivation
that He has a wonderful plan for everyone’s life. Because Jesus says, those that
come to Him only in utter and total surrender will be blessed by grace and
mercy.

This is the biblical grace the bible offers, not the cheap grace the modern day
institutionalized religious machine preaches today.

The bible does not say that God has predestined people to hell. It says He has
predestined people to eternal life, those He has elected. The people that go to
hell are those that have just been left to do as they please. But the good news
is, God will have mercy on those He chooses to have mercy on. So I for one am
face down before the Supreme God of all begging for mercy. That is how one that
does not know if they are one of the elect should go before our Supreme God. Not
the way it is taught today like you can go be saved like going through the drive
through at McDonnell’s. If you have an doubts go to Jesus, repent of your sins
and beg for mercy. He will know if you mean it. Those that love Him do the below
because they KNOW how destitute they were before Jesus came to give them a new
life. People that are saved don’t have to make themselves want to serve our King
Jesus, they are ecstatic about it.

If you go before God and tell Him he must forgive you, then you better rethink
it before you do so. That is taking God grace for granted. God is not at your
mercy, but you at His. God is not a friend to the unrepentive sinner. Actually
God’s wrath is on the unrepentive sinner.

God is truly and supremely sovereign and we better know this as a fact before we
come to the end of our days.

So with this I am saying there is no freewill for you to decide if you want to
be saved or not. It is totally up to God if He will have mercy on your soul. To
presume He has to have mercy on you, especially if you are not will to repent
and turn from your sins. God is God and you are not.

The church need to be more worried about protecting God’s sovereign right then
they are about protecting men’s.

Those who belong to a Sovereign God are the Happiest, most Blessed creatures on
earth!

We know God is sovereign and no one nor nothing can change His mind because He
is the great I Am, the King of Kings.

Praise to our King Jesus!

Some of these notes were taken from the “Sovereignty of God” series from
crosstv.com (Word Pictures)

Feel Good Gospel

"BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED..."
Acts 16:31

Believe :
to have confidence in the truth, the existence, or the reliability of something, although without absolute proof that one is right in doing so: Only if one believes in something can one act purposefully.

My own personal testimony confirms the necessity of true faith for salvation. I have always believed in the existence of God. I have always believed what the Bible says about Jesus Christ,that He is the virgin born Son of God. He died on the cross to pay our sin debt. He was buried and that He rose from the dead. But I was still lost and on the road to hell until I was twenty-three years old.

Why? Because I had never truely repented of my sin and come to actually know Him. I had never seen myself as God saw me,totally depraved and without any good in me. I had always judged myself in the light of the morality of other people. But one night I saw myself in the light of God's righteousness, I cried out for forgiveness and trusted Jesus to save me.

When one truely believes in Jesus Christ they act on it and it changes their lives. Jesus becomes number one in their lives not just something we believe. Even the devils believe but they are not saved.

James 2:19 says, "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."

Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear. 1 Peter 1:17 (NIV)

Our fear is not to be slavish or paranoid. We find the proper balance in the fact that God is both our loving Father and our judge, which inspires a fear motivated by reverence. This kind of fear is not opposed to our assurance of God's care and love, but rather to that false kind of security that causes us to take God for granted, to become sloppy in our Christian life and to offend God's holiness.

Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Luke 13:24

And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 (KJV)

The is no easy feel good gospel like is preached in a lot of todays churches. This is not a game it is real. I do pray everyone will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and not just come to know about Him.

What is a Counterfeit Christian?

A counterfeit Christian is someone who looks saved, talks saved, an act saved, but they are not saved. They usually believe they are saved. Some know they are not saved but want to fit in with those who are.

They often say the right things, hang out with the right people, some even read their bible and pray, but they are still lost and on their way to hell for eternity.

Someone can appear to be a Christian and still be lost. They can think they’re a Christian and still be lost. Many hang around and grow up with Christians but they are still be lost.

Sometimes being around “religious things” most of ones life will cause people to think they are saved.

We must realizes the counterfeit modern gospel produces counterfeit Christians who unknowingly have received a different Jesus and a different god, than those of the true gospel. They have been assured by Preachers that they have been born-again. Teaching a gospel that does not include the requirements of repentance and self-denial, is not complete; and the birth that it produces is not of God. Those who preach and teach without including these requirements are as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, deceiving many.

One of the hindrances people face is illiteracy. Most Christians do not read and study the bible for themselves. We need to realize that elements of true and false Christianity will be intermingled in the same world, in the same church, even in the same person. Any attempt to "weed out" the false runs the risk of uprooting the true as well.

Our goal as Christians should not be to weed out all the "tares" in the church, but to do everything possible to teach the truth to the true "wheat" in the church making so strong and healthy that the "tares" are powerless to against it.

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Matthew 7:21-23

Jesus teaches that there will be false converts that He never knew and they will be going to Hell. In Jesus' own words, there will be MORE on the broad road (which is a RELIGIOUS road) - "many" - than on the NARROW road - "few".

Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and
there are FEW who find it. - Matthew 7:14 (NKJV)

How can counterfeit Christians be identified?

Counterfeit Christians can teach, preach, profess faith, do miracles, and
perform good works (Matthew 7:15, 21-22). In the parable, no one noticed the problem until the wheat began to reproduce, forming heads prior to the harvest (vs. 26). The key difference between wheat and weeds is not in what they do, but in what they are. Wheat reproduces wheat. They are different by nature.

“By their fruit you will recognize them” Jesus compares a fruit-bearing tree to a Christian

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:15-21 (KJV)

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. - 1 John 2:3 through 1 John
2:6 (KJV)

In Mark 3:35, Jesus tells us that "whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother."

Notice that it is not just a Christian profession of faith that counts, it is
not their good works, but whether or not they know Jesus Christ as Savior! Is there a personal relationship? Have they trusted Him in faith for their
salvation? Knowing Him?

There are serious people, preachers, very religious people that know who Jesus Christ is, they recognize that He is the Lord, but they never knew Him. No relationship, they never received Him as Savior. They are not family. They had made a profession of faith, but there is no relationship. Read what Paul told Timothy:

2 Timothy 3:1-9 NIV

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be
lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

Paul is saying they are counterfeit Christians. They have a form of godliness. They may look good on the surface, but that is it. On the outside you can barely tell them apart. But on the inside they don’t know Jesus Christ. They have a divided heart. They have not come to know Jesus Christ, but religion.

Matthew 7:16

By their fruit you will know them.

Also read:

http://e-tacklebox.com/counterfeit.html

Watch:

Counterfeit Christians

http://www.jesusclips.com/view_video.php?viewkey=d81f348082ff6c4b2076


http://www.lostinchurch.com/