THE PASTOR'S PEN
PREPARING TO LEAVE HERE!
by Stephen Benton
Good Morning and welcome to The House of Good News, the BIGGEST
little church in Los Angeles: Small number--BIG hearts,
GIANT
message.
This
morning I think we should take time to thank and praise God for the messages he
has sent our way. We sing "Deeper, Deeper every Sunday as
our theme song and I personally believe God has honored our request by
continually taking us into deeper truths.
On the
back of the bulletin is a passage from St. John that has become the golden text
of this ministry. Today's Church is
constantly looking for signs as proof of salvation and discipleship. In South American, Chile in particular, the
Pentecostal Church demands that a new convert dance in the Spirit, more
commonly known as shouting, as proof of the Holy Ghost being in that individual. In some holiness churches throughout the
Appalachian mountains one must take up a poisonous serpent or drink a poison
concoction as evidence that they have the Holy Ghost.
My personal
experience as a Pentecostal was to speak in other tongues as proof of having
the Holy Ghost. I now realize that
although God may seem to honor all of those criteria as evidence, none of
them are supported in his word.
Remember, signs are for those who do not believe. There is no way that God would ever confirm
the faith of an individual in his word by showing a sign. Why would a God who is opposed to signs in
general turn around and make a sign, any sign, the focal point of
salvation? And if he did at some point
in history, which he never did, he certainly is under no obligation to continue
to do so. At some point he should be
believed on the strength of his word without offering signs as proof of what he
has promised.
Jesus laid
down one sign and only one sign as evidence that an individual was really
saved:
"As
he spake these words, many believe on him, Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, if ye continue in
my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the
truth shall make you free." John
8:30 -32
That is a great
scriptural truth. Notice the setting in
which the text appears. Many had just
believed on Jesus. Their actions are in
accord with the demand Jesus made in the 6th chapter of the same book. There he told the people what they must do in
order to work the works of God.
"Jesus
answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him
whom he hath sent." John 6:29
Notice that when the multitude believed on him,
Jesus did not rejoice and take a head count of those who were converted. Believing is only the beginning of the trip.
True salvation is not a one-time event but a lifelong experience on continuing
in the word!
The Church
has taken the attitude that believing is too simple. Therefore, throughout history, as
denominations and organizations rose and fell, each one created its own
non-scriptural criteria for salvation.
The biblical requirements for salvation have never changed: it has
always been by faith; standing solely on the word of God without any
accompanying signs. Yet when one comes
to God for salvation the first thing churches do is demand that God work a sign
as evidence that he has really saved them. In effect, the Church is saying that it does
not really believe that Jesus has saved someone unless he proves it. Well, my friend, that is simply not
scriptural.
In the
16th chapter of Acts is recorded the salvation of the Philippian jailer who was
assigned to guard Paul and Silas while they were in prison. After he saw that none of the prisoners had
escaped after the earthquake he asked Paul and Silas, "Sirs, what must I do to be
saved?" Notice their answer:
"And
they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy
house."
Now right
away some of my Pentecostal friends will demand that one must first repent
according to Acts 2:38. But the question
asked by those in Acts is not the same as the question asked by the jailer. In Acts they asked the question, "men and
brethren, what must we do?" They
had not repented but had merely been
pricked in their hearts. The fact that
the jailer asked what must he do to be saved already evidenced a repentant
heart. That is why in the former case
Peter told them to first repent but here the man was told to believe on Jesus. The jailer was then baptized.
"And
he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was
baptized, he and all his, straightway."
Acts 16:33
Pentecostal
will insist that water baptism saves an individual. Well, Peter, the "key man" of the
Church never taught that. In fact he
taught just the opposite. Peter compared
water baptism to Noah being saved by the water. It was not the water that saved Noah's family
but the Ark. So it is with us, it is not
the water that saves us but our faith in Jesus Christ. Peter wrote that the water is "the
answer of a good conscience toward God." We don't get baptized in water in order to be saved, we are baptized because we have been saved.
I would
further press the Pentecostals in this story by asking them to find in that
story where Paul and Silas insisted that they speak in tongues. they did not.
Again, the Pentecostal will tell us that we must assume that the jailer
and his house spoke in other tongues.
Well, why didn't the Holy Ghost let us assume that they were baptized
also?
My entire
point is that tradition blinds us to the truth of God's word. That is why Jesus did not present any signs
as proof of salvation except one. The
one sign Jesus extracted was a continuance in the WORD. He promised that whomever continued in his word, that person would
know the truth because it would be given to him or her.
The
breakdown occurs when one does not receive
the truth that has been given. And that brings us to today's message.
A couple
of weeks ago we strayed into a passage of scripture found in St. John chapter
12.
"Then
Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness
come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he
goest. While ye have light, believe in
the light, that ye may be the children of light." John 12: 35-36
I guess
this message extends the series of believing the report. Today's message will emphasize the necessity
of accepting revealed truth when it is given.
God expects us to step into the light of his word as he sheds it on our
path. That is something that very few
Christians are willing to do (See "Believe God's Current Message" on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va1WG7cgf-s&t=927s ) Most reach their own comfort zone in God's
word and forever seal themselves off from any additional truth. My objective in today's message is to let you
know that God's Spirit will strive with man only for so long. When we have knowledge of his word and then
resist the knowledge given to us, God eventually will allow the light to move
on and leave us in darkness. May the Lord open up our understanding to this
great truth this morning.
Written in THE WEEKLY WORD
OF THE
HOUSE OF GOOD NEWS February 26, 1996 issue by Stephen Benton
To read more current revelations from Pastor
Steve, check out his book published September of 2017 on Amazon.comhttps://smile.amazon.com/Gods-Final-Secret-Stephen-Benton/dp/1976338476/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1509271792&sr=1-1&keywords=god%27s+final+secret+by+stephen+benton
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