REAL REPENTANCE

REAL REPENTANCE Part 1 Robert Wurtz IIDwight L. Moody is quoted as having said that, "Man is born with his back toward God." When he truly repents, he turns around and faces God. Isaiah 53:6 reads; All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. One writer writes, "In his own natural, unregenerate, sinful condition, every man and woman that has ever been born has turned their backs on God. In this condition each step he/she takes is one step father from God and one step nearer the end, one step nearer the grave, and one step nearer to the unending flames of the darknesses of hell. With the light at his back the shadow cast before him grows increasingly dark and long. The farther he goes the longer the shadow becomes. For every man or woman on this course there is but one thing they must do. They must change their mind about the direction they are heading- STOP- turn around and head back the opposite direction towards God. He must face the light that he has been called to walk in- and walk in it. This is repentance. This is turning your back to the darkness of sin and walking in the glorious light of the revelation of God by the Spirit." (Paraphrased) So we see then, that repentance involves a change of the mind. This, in the New Testament, comes from the Greek word metanoeo. This is not an emotional act, but a rational one. It may involve emotions and sorrow; but the sorrow expressed is a godly sorrow that leads to a change of mind (II Corinthians 7). This is a inward change of the mind that results in the outward change of direction. A man may say he is going fishing, change his mind and not go. The change of mind governs the direction of the person. Yet we are commanded in scripture to change our minds towards our direction. To change our minds about how we are viewing sin. This is a work of the Holy Spirit as we respond rightly to Him. God strives with man to turn him to Himself, but men do always resist the Holy Ghost. God's goodness seeks to lead men to repentance (Romans 2:4). Acts 5:30, 31 teaches us that God desires to give us repentance and that He is not willing that any perish, but that all would come to repentance (II Peter 3:9). God made a way to grant the Gentiles repentance also as we read in Acts 11:18). But men are at war with themselves. The psalmist cries out for God to turn us again that we shall be saved (Psalm 80:19) John 6:44 tells us that none can come to the Father unless He draw them. And again we read, And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;... (II Timothy 2:24,25). We see in this and other passage that repentance is something that God grants to us if we respond to His Spirit rightly.When a preacher preaches the word of God we can be certain that the Holy Spirit will do His work to lead them in Holy Ghost conviction (John 16:8). God will show the sinner His controversy with them. The Holy Spirit takes on the role of Jesus Christ at this time. When the person submits to God at the point of conviction, coming into agreement with God concerning sin, changes their mind about their direction, God will turn the person towards Himself. If you resist the Holy Ghost you will continue in your sin. If you submit to the Lordship of Christ you are halfway to conversion. Faith- The other Side of the CoinThe other side of this coin is the exercise of faith. This is again, our right response to revelation. What is that revelation? it is the reality of your lost estate. It is the conviction that you see leveled on your case as the result of the mass of charges brought against you. This is not a 'feeling' it is an inrought knowledge. Your guilt is an utter reality to you as sure as your own existence. You know that you have transgressed against God and there is no hope of you ever paying the debt. At that moment you reach out in faith to receive the free pardon of your sins by trusting in the Christ of the finished work of the Cross. You exchange your slavery to sin- for slavery to Christ. He becomes you Lord and Savior as the result of an inner consciousness of your reliance on Him for salvation. You stick to Christ like glue, knowing He is the source of all your grace.If we fast forward for a moment through the process of the new birth to the 'new born babe' state of the true believer, we understand from that point that the person will undergo a process of progressive glorification in which we are changed into the image of Christ from glory to glory and that by the Spirit of God (II Corinthians 2;18). A miracle of tranformation has taken place and the process of growth begins. A radical change of mind and a new heart come together with the assistance of the Holy Spirit to bring the person into conformity with the person of Jesus Christ. Sanctification is instant- we are immediately set apart to God. But, we are not immediately transformed into the glorious personality of God. That is a progressive work. this is what is meant by "glory to glory." It is His glory shining upon us until His radiance shines forth from us from the inside out. As we behold His presence we are made like Him. This work is God's and will continue until our ultimate glorification at the resurrection. Yet remember, this is the perogative of the Holy Ghost alone. But why you might ask? Why can't we condemn people for their behavior when we see them out of line? At times the Lord may use us to bring correction or help- but the work of glorification is that of God. There are times in a persons life when they will feel the Holy Ghost put His finger on something and convict you to deal with it. At that point- you stand there again, at the beginning of it all. Will I submit or will I resist? Will I allow the Holy Ghost to work that thing out or will I harden myself? This, again, is the perogative of the Holy Spirit. We dare not touch the Ark of God or intrude into His business. You do so at your own peril. And why? Because human beings are notorious for wanting to pull the speck out of their brothers eye when they have a beam in their own. I have had metal extracted from my eyeballs on 3 different occasions. If the Dr. who was working on me had had a 2X4 (beam) protruding from his face I would not have laid down in the chair. He could not see to do such delicate work. Working on lives is like working on an eyeball it is utterly painful and could lead to blindness. We do not have the skill to work on 'spiritual eyeballs'- that is God's working. He can spit in the ground and make a new one from dirt if need be. Some of our lives are just like that- they don't need repaired, they needed a creative miracle. And such as it is. many who do these things do so out of good intentions; but they are blind to their own condition. C.S. Lewis once said that the enemy has mastered the ability to get a person to be able to look in the mirror for hours at a time and not see faults that are perfectly obvious to anyone that has spent over 15 minutes with the person. This is good wisdom. We should always remember this.Remember that you were once purged. Do be to swift to deal out judgment. Galatians 6:1 tells us that the spiritual consider themselves. They are nigh unto their firstlove and do not boast because they have been relatively clean for a few months or years. Remember that you were once purged- consider yourself. realizing how wicked you were when you were saved will leave the reality of God's grace in your eyes. You may need to stand again at the "beginning of it all" and see yourself apart from grace. When you realize what he has done for you- you will love Him much and when you love Him much that horizontal love will turn verticle. You will love others with the love you were shown. You will forgive others with the forgiveness you were shown. You will restore others as you would want to be restored if you were in their state.God Bless,-Robert

REAL REPENTANCE Part 2 Robert Wurtz IIIn our first lesson we looked at the Holy Spirit's role in showing us the controversy that God has with us that we must submit to find repentance. This is God's perogative and not man's. When the Holy Spirit came, He took on the role of Jesus Christ in the earth. Just as the rich young ruler came to Christ wanting to know what he must do to inherit eternal life, so to when we come to that place of conviction, when we are convicted sinners, the Holy Spirit will show you what thing we 'lack'. If men try to assume this role disaster will follow and souls will be lost. No man knows save God and the individual in question what is in their heart. Sinners must be exhorted to do what God is telling them to do. In Matthew 5 we read Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee, Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. This is not a lot different that the conversion experience in that God may bring something to your 'remembrance' that you need to do. This is the job of the Holy Ghost. (Compare John 14:26 & 16:13). Preach the Gospel and let God deal with the sinner. Their life may be in an absulute mess and you may see a 'most glaring thing' that you think they need to repent of and point at it; when the Holy Ghost has something He wants to deal with first. The 'old timers' of Missouri in their Oberlin Holiness zeal used to tell people that if they would give up 'thus and such' they could come to Church and be saved. It was usually smoking or wearing high heel shoes or something frivolous. Others went to such extremes as to make coffee a sin that needed to be forsaken. They greatly erred in trying to be the Holy Ghost. Until the Spirit of God comes upon a person they will be unable to comprehend that they can be set free. They have tried everything and nothing has worked. Do not tell them that they must set themselves free from bondage in order to be saved. That is the job of the Son to set loose, and when He has set them free they shall be free indeed. You are the ambassador for Christ, not Christ. I want to look at perhaps what appears on the surface to be the most radical passage of scripture in all of the Bible- Luke 14:26; If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. The Greek word here for ‘hate’ is miseo and it carries a meaning that spans from the deepest “detestation” to a simple “loved less.” Now, as a point of reference Jesus also told us to to love our enemies (Matthew 5:43). John the Revelator told us that a person who hates his brother is in darkness (I John 2:9) a murderer (v.11a) and we know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him (II John 2:11b). It would make no sense for our Lord to tell us to ‘detest’ our family and love our enemies. This is proven in the fact that the Prodigal Son has not repented until he came to himself and reunited with his family. So we see right off, that repentance for some will mean reconciliation with father, mother, sister, brother, etc. While others whose family would force them to choose between Christ and the family- they would have to choose Christ. This was the case with many families in the first century as hostilities grew against Christians until they were even being cursed by fellow Jews in the synagogues (birkat ha minim). This is not a matter of leaving home because of a conflict in personality or even a basic disagreement in religion. Jews who turn to Christ to this day often do it knowing their family will render them dead and perform a funeral for them. We see then that the context determines whether our Lord means to “detest” or to “love less.” Let me give you two basic hermeneutical rules to always go by before we move on: 1) allow scripture to interpret scripture 2) a text without a context is a pretext. Vines dictionary of New Testament Greek words gives us some insight into the full gamut of the meaning of ‘hate’. He also speaks specifically to its meaning in Luke 14:26. He writes that miseo is used to indicate a relative preference for one thing over another, by way of expressing either aversion from, or disregard for, the claims of one person or thing relatively to those of another. In Matthew 6:24, and Luke 16:13 it demonstrates the impossibility of serving two masters. In Luke 14:26, as to the claims of parents relatively to those of Christ. In John 12:25 it speaks of disregard for one's life relatively to the claims of Christ. We can simplify this by comparing two passages: He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37) If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26)Notice Matthew 10:37 is saying essentially the same thing as Luke 14:26. In one passage we are told if we “love family more” we cannot be a disciple and in the other passage we are told if we don’t “love family less” we cannot be a disciple. This essentially means that you love everything less than Christ. It does not mean you ‘detest’ your family. An example of this is seen by comparing two more passages:Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? (Matthew 19:27) ‘Forsaken’ here is the Greek word afieemi and it essentially means “to let go.” It is translated as ‘forgive’ in some passages to indicate that the transgression was allowed ‘to drop.’ If we interpret the passage as thus it is seen how the next passage can be equally true without contradiction:Have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas? (I Corinthians 9:5) We see here that the same Peter (Cephas) had a wife that he ‘lead about.’ The Greek word for ‘lead about’ meant that he took her with him whereever he went. This is not forsaken in the sense of leaving behind, but is afieemi or ‘letting go’ in the sense that he did not consider her a possession to be grasped (Philippians 2:6). He lived his life as though he had no wife, etc. (I Corinthians 7:29). To have forsaken his family in the sense of abandonment would have meant he denied the faith and become worse than an infidel. (I Timothy 5:8) Moreover we are told to Honor our father and mother which is the first commandment with promise, that it may be well with thee and thou may live long upon the earth (Ephesians 5:29). If any curse his father or mother let them die the death. (Matthew 15:4; Mark 7:10) Detesting the family also does not square with Paul telling the men to love their wives as Christ loved the Church. (Ephesians 5:25)So what did our Lord mean in these passages on hating family? He meant that we must love them less than we love Him and if it comes down to following Him or them- we follow Him. This does not mean we seek an occasion to be rude to our parents or leave our wives, but are to win them over as they behold our chaste conduct coupled with reverence (I Peter 3:2). We are to serve and provide for them as much as is possible to fill their needs. Submission would be the most likely way to win those disobedient and unbelieving parents and family members who had rejected the word, or who attended to no other evidence of the truth of it than what they saw in the prudent, peaceable, and exemplary conversation of the child. Preach not so much with the precept of the mouth, but with the practice of reverential servanthood. Use not your liberty in Christ as a cloak of maliciousness. As it is written; As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king. Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:. (I Peter 3:16-23) You, as a believer, have an obligation to your family to provide for their needs as much as is possible when they are unable and respect them all their days. Do I have to sell all to be saved?If the Holy Ghost puts His finger on it- forsake it; if not, as the blood bought Child of God you are His possession and now all your possessions are now His possession and you have become the steward of them. Use them for His glory as the Lord hath need of them. There are at least a few specific cases where we know that there were Christians that were 'rich' in this world's goods. Enjoin on those rich in the present age not to be high-minded, nor to trust on the uncertainty of riches; but in the God who affords us all things richly for our enjoyment. (I Timothy 6:17 Darby)Shall I hate my life?Nay, but you shall love it less than Christ. You must be prepared to loose it for His sake! this is literal and figurative. Denying Christ to save ones life was a most detestable and feared crime of a Christian since the 1st century. Many Christian's under pain of death have confessed Christ. The word 'disciple' itself could be translated as martyr. Should we seek to be killed? Preach the word and you will not need to look for tribulation, tribulation will find you. Yet, again, use not this calling as a means of malice and unprofitable preaching. Preach not of envy or strife- but of love. Moreover, you shall live life for His glory and do all things for the glory of God. (Colossians 3:17) This is a progressive aspect of our life as we keep responding to the revelation of God's word and his Holy Spirit. Hating life in the sense such as the monastics who tortured themselves for Christ this is known as asceticism. This is rooted in paganism, specifically dualism. It is not Christianity.What shall we do then? Do what the Holy Ghost is convicting you to do from the moment you turn to Him in faith and repentance. God will bring things to the surface from now until the day you die to deal with. You will stand each time "at the beginning of it all" and have to choose what you will do. This is the road of perfection- and it is that of maintaining a clear conscience between us and God. If our heart condemns us we need to repent of that thing and confess and forsake it. Holy Ghost conviction will always lead to God for the good of our relationship with Him; and accusation from the accuser will always make you want to flee from God. In this will you know the difference. God Bless,-Robert

REAL REPENTANCE Part 3 (Zealots's or Prophet's?) Robert Wurtz IIFlaming TonguesCharles H. Spurgeon once said, “A burning heart will soon find for itself a flaming tongue.” He was speaking to the issue of winning souls for Christ and how important having a heart ablaze for the lost condition of sinners is. Yet, there are two different fires that drive our tongues; the one being the fire of the Holy Ghost and the other being the fires of hell. The fire of the Holy Ghost backing a person’s words will profit much in the Kingdom of God; but when a person succumbs to the conditions of the times they will fall prey to the flesh, the world, and the devil and not even know it. One truth we must understand if we are to ever speak to our generation is that a ZEALOT and a PROPHET are not one and the same.The primary difference between a zealot and a prophet is that a Prophet waits on God for a word to speak to his generation, but a Zealot takes matters into his own hands. Actually, the Jewish Freedom Movement or ‘zealotry’ in the New Testament period began during the 400 years of silence (no prophetic voice) when the heavens were as brass. This goes a long way to warn us if we will stop and listen. Where there is no true Prophet- there is danger of zealotry. In the New Testament times a man by the name of Judas the Galilean gave this whole struggle for freedom from Rome a theological implication that secured in the hearts of many their allegiance to the struggle. Judas the Galilean taught that people could not yield to a ruler who claimed ‘divine status” for themselves. To obey the emperor was to break the First Commandment and worship a false idol (or god. See Exodus 22:19). They had gone as far as to say that paying tribute to Caesar was an act of worship no different than paying tithe to God. This ultimately was not about God or the Bible; it was about a few men’s interpretation of God’s word; much of which was refuted by Jesus.Danger In Our Times!We live in a day when the Church is rife with apostasy. There is trouble on every hand. There is compromise on the right hand and the left. There is a God-birthed urgency in the hearts of God’s remnant to preach a strong word of repentance before it is too late. These conditions are wearing out many Saints. It is taking its toll. Some are staying behind and God is even now raising them from the dungeons of obscurity and into the palace of Divine favor. They are the outcasts of the Church and society who have been mocked since childhood. Others are growing bitter and heading for the caves as did Elijah fleeing from the face of Jezebel. Yet others are so angry they are like Jonah and desiring that judgment simply devour the people. They are mad and are reacting to the Church like Jonah reacted to Nineveh. Some are willing to go to their death to ensure that judgment hits the Church. They are swallowed up in the bowels of bitterness.I never knew there was so much contention between the Church and folks who are just ‘fed up’ with the Church. This is not a new topic for me ‘per se’ as I dealt with this frequently coming from certain Messianic Jews who felt that the Church was completely out of step with the New Testament ‘Jewish’ pattern. But I never realized there was trouble within. The whole "Out-of-Church" movement was pretty new to me this time last year, but since then I have learned a bit. Broken and BitterI personally know of people who are so angry with the Church that they absolutely refuse to go back. They pray at home and worship God at home. They refuse any real contact with the church. They spend lots of time pointing out all of the faults of churches. I understand they are upset, but there are some very disturbing trends here. Leonard Ravenhill in his article titled “Zeal- Love Ablaze” writes; Some people have a lifelong preoccupation with sitting in judgment over every ministry, every elder, every pastor and every Bible study leader. They call down fire - bringing down the gavel of judgment hard and heavy. They say they’re trying to bring correction, but they crush, kill, and destroy. Everyone Is In Compromise!?There is a false notion that some have that every Church and leader associated with a ‘church’ is somehow in compromise. If anyone despises easy-believism and sin it would be me I suppose; not that I detest it more than others, but I dare say 'as' much. So it was quite strange for me once to be at a house prayer meeting and a brother came in and started in on me. He even used curse words as he talked. I was the only 'church goer’ there, so I apparently was his point of contact. Pretty soon, it got out of hand. The brother whose house it was rose to his feet and dismissed him and his wife from the home and exhorted them to repent. The man had a strange mix of truth and lies as he spoke. He talked of going to South America and rebuking a nationally known evangelist. He talked about how the Passion movie crucified Christ ‘afresh.’ I am reminded of a passage in James 3:14, 15; But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. In verse 16 we see a stunning statement; for where zeal and rivalry 'are', there is insurrection and every evil matter; (YLT) But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace. When we speak out of bitter envy and strife we are speaking things ‘earthly’ at best and ‘demonic’ at worst. This type of conversation sets on fire of hell. It does not work the works of God. It destroys and does not build.That prayer meeting was my first real taste of the anger and resentment being leveled on the church by these folks for the shortcomings of the Church. No one measured up to this man’s standards. His misguided zeal and anger caused him a seriously embarrassing situation in front of his wife. I felt deeply for the man, but knew he had to be dealt with as he was. He was way out of line and was endured with much longsuffering. This man actually believed he was a Prophet. It is my estimation that he was not a Prophet, he was a Zealot. Why Are They So Mad? The issues run the full spectrum when it comes to being upset. It could be anything from a 'soft' Gospel to an emphasis on prosperity. Some it is more personal between the pastor and them. These types of compromises are all legitimate problems, and we all agree on that. The concern I have is for those who might be tempted to feed their zeal for God with the 'meat' of being angry at the Church. This is the biting and devouring of one another that Paul speaks of in Galatians 6. This is spiritual cannibalism. This can be very dangerous. Pretty soon instead of looking to the Holy Ghost for unction, we look at a problem and are fueled in our zeal. In time, if not careful, the persons whole expression of faith will be to attack compromising believers. Instead of reading the Bible, they will feed on materials that fuel their anger. They will come to church looking to pick a fight with someone over compromise. This is not God- this is misdirected zeal. Again, a Zealot and a Prophet are not one and the same. Progressive Bitterness The progression that must never come about; is that we can never allege to love God so much that we become bitter and even hate our brother in our zeal. Brothers and sisters and whole legitimate churches soon get set at naught simply because things don’t 'measure up.' Again, look at the churches of the New Testament. Five of seven did not measure up in Revelation. Corinth did not measure up and is known as the ‘carnal’ church. Titus had to be sent to Crete to “Set in order those things that are wanting…” Lydia, was a woman pastor of an outdoor group. That in it self would have discounted the group in some people’s eyes- yet God honored them. By the time we get through looking the New Testament churches all over we had not attended any of them save Philadelphia. Some may have thought Philadelphia were too much on love, but they were the only one that passed the test. Ephesus failed on love and hated sin and falsehood. They about lost their anointing. This shows that God will terminate the ministry of folk who love sound doctrine, hate sin, and have not charity. Judgmentalism and the ChurchLeonard Ravenhill writes; When I was a new Christian I opened up my Bible, then set myself up as judge. I’d go into ministries and get loud about their need for correction. Worse than that, within six months of my conversion I was on stage performing. Thousands of people came to hear me, and I really got into letting them know what I thought - judging things publicly. One day God grabbed me by the collar and showed me something: Judgment comes out of spiritual immaturity. Mature Christians will pray, discern, love, and counsel. If need be they’ll rebuke, but never in a critical, destructive spirit, and never publicly to shame and punish. That’s the godly way. Immature Christians can have a lot of zeal but little wisdom. They can put fire and noise into things that harm rather than help the cause of Christ. I fell into that trap and, like James and John, the Lord rebuked me for judging others… I was just thinking I was a big shot, a spiritual authority, when really I was just a debater with a big ego. I was sharpening a human talent for debate, not a spiritual talent for being quiet, listening, and praying.The Finality of Succumbing to The Conditions of the ChurchVerily, there is a disturbing trend I have noticed in the Body of Christ that troubles me greatly. It is the trend that I believe has robbed the Body of Christ of many influential and God fearing people from positions of great influence. This ‘trend’ is to withdrawal from the main body of believers into a place of 'separation' due to imperfections in the local churches. When the separation takes place the opportunity to influence is lost. Joseph is the prime example of how God can get His people in places of authority when He is ready. The trip from the ‘pit’ to the ‘palace’ was a rough and tough one. It was filled with dissappointments. Joseph’s own brothers did not like him. So it is with those who long to see God move in our midst. Maybe if we had ignored the person who criticized us for our dedication to God, we had patiently endured the criticism as an act of acceptable worship and God would have sent us to the top of command. Joseph woke up one day and was nearly controlling Egypt. What would happen if we would simply allow God to raise up a people in the ranks that will pray and fast for revival? Could you be patient enough for God to bring you into your local church for such a time as this?

I am reminded of Paul's discourse in Romans Chapter 10, verses 1-4"Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteouness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth"I believe it important to remember Paul's persecution of the Church was rooted in his zeal for the law.The Zealot was the strict interpreter of the law, who was willing to follow the way of "zeal for the law of the God of Israel" unto death (Acts 22:4). The Zealot was willing, not only to kill a Gentile, or to lay down his own life rather than transgress the law, but he also was quite prepared to take the life of a fellow Israelite, if necessary, out of his zeal for the law.By the time we get through looking the New Testament churches all over we had not attended any of them save Philadelphia. Some may have thought Philadelphia were too much on love, but they were the only one that passed the test. Ephesus failed on love and hated sin and falsehood. They about lost their anointing. This shows that God will terminate the ministry of folk who love sound doctrine, hate sin, and have not charity. Most likely it seems, long after the Zealots have disbanded and long after the local "prophet" has received a new vision and mandate and has moved on, the local Church which God has promised the gates of Hell shall not prevail against will still be about the Father's business caring for the fatherless and widows.blessings,tony

REAL REPENTANCE Part 4 (STRANGE FIRE) Robert Wurtz IIAnd Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father (Numbers 3:4)As we mentioned in our last study, there are two fires from which a person might speak; the Fire of the Holy Ghost and the fires of hell. One comes down from above and is first pure and then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17) The other sets on fire the course of nature and it is set on fire of hell. What fire is being offered before the Lord as we move into "revival's of repentance"? Is it the wisdom from above? Does the spirit of the message match James 3:17? If not the minister ministers before the Lord at his/her own peril. The Believers That Should Have known BetterThe church at Ephesus appears on the scene first in Acts 18. In Acts 19 we have Paul arriving there and meeting up with 12 disciples of one John Baptist. There is no doubt in my mind that this church understood the true meaning of repentance. The foundation of that church was 12 former disciples of the great repentance preacher of the Bible. The church at Ephesus also had arguably the greatest doctrinal teaching available in the New Testament and especially on the subject of love. Both Paul the Apostle and John the Revelator worked diligently with this church. Paul in the book of Ephesians writes that we should be holy and without blame for Him in love (1:4) and commends the church for their love for the saints (1:15). In 2:4 he reminds the people of the great love wherewith God loved us to quicken us with Christ while we were dead in sins. In 3:17 Paul tells us that we should be rooted and grounded in love and verse 19 we read these words… And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. In 4:2 we are admonished to “bear with” one another in love and to speak the truth in love (v15) until the body is built and edified in love (v16). Perhaps 5:1,2 are the most telling… Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour. Three times Paul tells the husbands to love their wives as themselves, even as Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it (5:25, 28, 33). Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit made two final pleas of love when he closed his writing… Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen (6:23,24). It can be noted that I Corinthians was written by Paul from Ephesus which contains the great love chapter- I Corinthians 13 (See I Corinthians 16:8). John the Revalator spent much time at Ephesus and is believed to have written the Gospel of John from there. From Ephesus he penned the words “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son….” Ephesus was inundated with the teaching of love, both in word and in example. It was John who penned the words, he that loveth not knoweth not God- for God is love. Why Ephesus Nearly lost Their Anointing To ministerJohn the Revelator writing from the isle of Patmos saw visions of the great and mighty majesty and glory of God. As one of the first orders of business Christ gives a report on the condition of the Seven Churches of Asia. He begins with Ephesus. The Living Bible captures the great essense of what is happening… here Jesus says: “I know how many good things you are doing. I have watched your hard work and your patience; I know you don't tolerate sin among your members, and you have carefully examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but aren't. You have found out how they lie. You have patiently suffered for me without quitting. "Yet there is one thing wrong; you don't love me as at first! Think about those times of your first love (how different now!) and turn back to me again and work as you did before; or else I will come and remove your candlestick from its place among the churches.” (TLB) What horror John must have felt. They seemed to be doing everything right, but their motivation was all wrong. They had become a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol and all these things profited them nothing. Their hearts were hardened. There was a lot of business, but no real fruit. They hated sin, but did not balance it with their love for Christ. They had a zeal for doctrine but had left their first love. This was no different from the Pharisees that Jesus chastised in the years he walked the earth. They had abandoned their love for Christ that should have been chief and foremost (GK. protos). And if there is no real love for Christ we need not look for a love for the saints and vise versa (I John 3, 4). After all that teaching on love and all that example of what love was… they forsook the great love that they once had for Christ. They naturally, in an atmosphere such as this would have hated sin without having the heart of God’s love for lost souls. They would have been moved by contention, strife, fear, envy, resentment, jealousy, guilt or vain glory, but not by love to do Christ’s work (See Philippians 1:16). They would have condemned the guilty without considering their own sins (Galatians 6:1). Perchance they had so forgotten their sins that they may have thanked God that they were not like sinners such as the wretched publicans as did the Pharisee who prayed with himself (Luke 18:11). With them, yes, the Gospel is preached, and we can rejoice, but from the workers point of view it was all in vain because the motivation was not compassion (unmerited love). The fire in the end shall try every man’s work of what sort it is (I Corinthians 3:13) and if it were birthed from a heart of great love, that work will not fail the test, because love never fails (I Corinthians 13). Yes at Ephesus, they condemned sinners and argued theology real good, but where was the compassion and love? Why A Person Like This is Not Qualified To MinisterWithout the genuine Holy Ghost birthed love for God and the lost a person is simply not qualified to minister. Jesus said to REPENT and do your first works. The people had not lost their first love, they had left it. This is a deliberate act. This was no accident. Folk who seek to exalt themselves care not what means they use; fame, fortune, or even victory over sin. Anything to exalt onesself will do if they have this mindset. Pretty soon they are thanking God that they are not sinners instead of remembering that they were once purged from their old sins. A.W. Tozer once said that The Gospel in the hands of bad men is worse than error. What is their error? They have forgotten the mercy that God showed them at salvation and it has caused them to become prideful and even devilish. WHEN ZEALOTS PREACH REPENTANCEWhen zealots preach repentance God shuts me down and puts grace in my mouth. Beloved, that ought not so to be! It is a crying shame that folk cannot keep their spirit so that God can move. This has happened again and again in the last two years. Human nature is always to take things too far one way or the other. Remember the story of Legion in Mark 5? Remember how he was possessed with devils (perhaps 3000-12,500 of them)? The man had a literal army of demons in him. Yet, suppose someone would have stepped in front of him as he was running to Jesus and said, "Buddy, you better get some clothes on before you come to Jesus!" Who had DARED do such a thing. What would have happened? What if he was exhorted to get those devils out before he repented? The man was helpless. He could break chains and fetters, but he could not break the chains of sin. Only Jesus can do that. Jesus said- come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden. Count the number of times folk are asked to "come" in the New Testament. it is not our business to clean a fish before we catch it. The Holy Ghost will do the work. Do you understand that many people do not believe they can be set free from sin? Do you know that many people feel no real desire to be set free until the Holy Ghost comes upon them? Why then would a person tell someone to clean up their life before coming to Jesus? Beloved, you come to Jesus so that you can be set loosed of your sin. Some people are bound by sin and you can preach repentance until you are blue in the face and it will have no effect. What is the difference between New Testament preaching and today? I dare say the preacher were full of the Holy Ghost and when they preached or prayed for people they were freed from sin. Some people will never repent no matter what. Others who hear repentance will desire to repent and are bound to sin. Before we condemn folk for living in sin and compromise are we willing to pray and fast before we minister for their deliverance? Are we willing to seek the face of God until we are so filled with the Spirit that we can minister in great compassion and love- just what God is saying and leave out out pet-peeves? Are we willing to let the Holy Ghost clean the people up? Moreover, do we have the clean hands necessary to even see people set loosed from sin? Any one can complain. Anyone can point fingers. But who is ready to get in the trenches with these people and pray with them until their set free and walking with God?God Bless,-Robert

REAL REPENTANCE Part 5 (Returning to Real Christianity ) Robert Wurtz IIHe therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. (Galatians 3:5)When we talk about repentance and revival what are we wanting to see happen? Ask 2 people and you will get 3 opinions. Some believe revival comes when we get back to the strict precepts of legalism and come out of the world and live seperated lives unto ourselves. Others believe that when revival comes we will forsake all modern means of living and return to old paths of hardships. One believes God wants to use modern media to reach the world- others believe its of the devil. I personally know several repentance preachers and they all have their focus a little different. I look at them and realize my focus is different from them all also. Deliverance From SinWhen I was growing up my family would tell stories of my great great grandparents and their kinfolk. My great great grandmother was a Methodist street preacher- turn Pentecostal street preacher. She would preach on the corner and folk would come while her husband stood by and backed her up. This woman was so on fire for God that the fear of God came on people in her presence I'm told. Wasn't nothing weird about this woman. They told stories of how revival would come and people would be delivered from alcoholism on the spot. They told of people being called to preach in store front meetings with the stinch of alcohol still on their breath and preaching all their days until they died. Many today would not even give that person the time of day until they sobered up. Finney would have sent him home to sober up even. Yet I am told that during the Hebrides revival a drunk man fell in a ditch and woke up the next morning set free and converted! That's what happens when God comes. Yet when that generation passed people began to try to clean people up before they could come to Church. We havn't seen a real move of God since.LegalismBro. Ron Bailey has said something in his messages that I greatly agree with. Holiness movements are always in danger of falling into legalism when peoples consciousness of God begins to dwindle. When this happens someone starts making up lots of rules about how long the shirt sleeves are and the like in order to try and retain what was once there. It becomes legalism. I have seen it in my family. We actually had a preacher preach that if a woman wore heels it would be as a sounding brass and tinkling symbol on the concrete. Man would compel their wives to dress as homely as possible in order to be 'spiritual.' What happened? They dressed their wives so bad that they couldn't take their eyes off other women and they fell into adultery and lost their ministries. This is factual stuff I am relaying. Softball at summer camp was a sin. Swimming had to done boys with boys and girls with girls (rightly so); but that was not enough. Boys had to wear jeans to swim in. Not being a good swimmer myself back then (this was in 1979)- I could have drowned doing that. We are not talking about modesty here; we are talking about legalism. This is not spirituality it is madness.Can You Receive the Holy Ghost By Keeping Rules?Yet Paul asks the question; He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith. (Galatians 3:5) No one is going to see God working by trying to impose law on folks. This is a blatant misunderstanding of the Gospel. When law comes in- God resists the meeting. God will not bless legalism. God will bless holiness, but holiness is simply this; people walking in the Spirit. That is it- nothing more and nothing less. It is people full of the Holy Ghost living out their life as the Holy Ghost directs them. when the Holy Ghost prompts you to do something- you do it. When He 'checks' you NOT to do something- you don't do it. The Spirit and the Word always agree. How can a person walk in Christian perfection? There is no other way than to walk in the Spirit. What Are We Repenting For Anyway?So we can get out a ruler and measure skirts? So we can wrap people up in such bondage that they can't live? Shall we preach circumcision to them? Shall we preach legalism hoping to get God to show up? Forget it- He is not coming within miles of that place. Christ will show up when we decide we are going to preach the true Gospel. When we decide to preach the good news of the coming of Christ we will see results. The Pharisees could make more Pharisees. We need some disciples of Jesus Christ that have made Him the Lord of their life in a real way. We need some folks delivered from sin and bondage. What Spirit Are Ye Of?But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted----you may well put up with it! (II Corinthians 11:3-4 NKJV) We need some folks filled with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost that causes one to walk and live with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit carries the seed of ministry. A seed without fruit will do little in ministry. Some people have received a spirit, but was not the Holy Spirit. They got saved and since then have been mad at the Church, the World and everything else. Was that the Holy Ghost you received? Is the Holy Ghost a critical Spirit? Oh, but when the Holy Ghost comes upon you you'll not stand around with your arms folded pointing out every error you see; you'll ask God to hand you a gift with which you might get in the trenches and see some hurting people bound for hell plucked from the burning. Revival HAS NOT HIT Until The People Walk in Pure ReligionWhen you get the Holy Ghost active in your life what hurts God will hurt you. What grieves God will grieve you. You spend your hours in prayer trevailing for souls and then get up and put some legs on those prayers! Away with all this alleged Spirituality! It's time to get about the Master's business! It's time to quit complaining and grab a towell and start washing some wounds. It's time to visit some folk who are a hungered and in prison. You really want to see people repent? Do you? start serving them- start giving them what you got! They will run to God and glorify Him when they behold your good works coupled with fear.God Bless,-Robert

I had a thought this morning that I thought to pass on. It seems to me that the absence of the Holy Spirit in the life a believer who desires to live in holiness can only produce legalism. It sort of fits together with a statement I heard a brother say over the weekend; religion is the worship of God in His absence. That is, to keep trying to worship God when He has departed for some reason or the other. And we must remember, real holiness will yield the fruit of the Spirit. If the 'holiness' being expressed is simply meaness it is not real holiness. The key to genuine holiness is walking in the Spirit. God Bless,-Robert

And we must remember, real holiness will yield the fruit of the Spirit. The key to genuine holiness is walking in the Spirit. Amen, bro. Robert!In Him, Chanin