“Self rules in the heart of every person, even at times among new creatures in Christ. Satan has not missed any opportunity to entice the world into seeking his delusionary prize of godhood. The idea that man could become a god, or part of God, or that he is a god but doesn’t yet realize his divinity, may seem farfetched to some people, but that’s because they are simply unaware of how prevalent this belief is. Furthermore, from a biblical perspective, the criterion for being a god is rather simple. Everyone who has not submitted to Jesus Christ and has not been reconciled to God through faith in Christ’s finished sacrifice as payment for his sins qualifies as a god–that is, an autonomous, or self-governing, being who has elevated self over his Creator. As Dave Hunt has noted, “The basic cause of the many problems in the world today is not that man fails to recognize his godhood but rather that there are about seven billion gods on this planet, each one doing his or her own thing.” The First and Final Lie: Self Deification, The Berean Call Newsletter.
Category: Edifying Quotes
The First And Final Lie- Quotable from TBC
Excellent Quotable: “The Battle Over the Truth”
“The Bible is the most exciting book there is, yet for years here in the U.S. our children have been fed a “let me entertain you” diet with only a hint of scriptural nutrition. That’s part of Satan’s “Yea, hath God said…?” strategy. The consequence is an upcoming generation that is, for the most part, spiritually anemic and ripe for the various schemes of apostasy. Deprived of the objective truths of Scripture, they are easy prey for those who would entice them through the subjective and experiential, that is, their “feelings.” Nevertheless, our marching orders involve a rescue operation as found in 2 Timothy 2:24-25: “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.
Pray for our young people that they would have a heart for truth, but then seek out those of their generation to whom the Lord would have you minister His love and truth.” T.A. McMahon, “The Battle Over the Truth”, www.thebereancall.org, April 1, 2009.
Problems or Opportunities? -Quotable
We are trained both by society and the flesh to avoid anything that might cause us any ‘pain’, but recently it has occurred to me that for the Christian, problems are in reality opportunities to draw nearer to our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. The quote below sums it up perfectly.
“Every problem in life is an opportunity for spiritual growth (Romans 5:1-5; Romans 8:28-29). So often believers pray for God to change the other person when they themselves are in a perfect place to draw close to the Lord, to come to know Him more deeply, and to love Him more completely. All believers have numerous opportunities to focus on their own relationship with Christ, to look to Him to work in their own lives for spiritual growth, and to confess their own sins rather than the shortcomings and failures of others. Shifting the focus to how others must change defeats the purpose of spiritual transformation and growth (see Genesis 3:12-13).” Martin and Deidre Bobgan, “Person to Person Ministry-Soul Care in the Body of Christ”, p.59.
God is Not ‘The Force’ -Quotable by Dave Hunt
“Rejecting the truth God has revealed to everyone, man perverts the witness of creation and conscience and creates his own gods. The very appeal of the “Star Wars Force” or some “higher power” is that a force, being impersonal, cannot hold one morally accountable but, like atomic power, can be used by man to his own ends. Clearly, God has to be a personal Being to create and relate to mankind.
The Bible gives the factual account of Lucifer’s rebellion in heaven itself and how Eve believed the lie that she, too, could become one of the gods. To this day that lie remains the great hope and motivation of mankind. The remainder of the Bible is a recital of the devastating consequences of that rebellion, and the working out of God’s plan to restore mankind into the “new heaven and…new earth” (Rev 21:1) which He has planned in His love and grace.”
Justice and Justification, The Berean Call, Feb. 1, 2002, Dave Hunt.
Referring to the Antichrist, the Holy Spirit through Daniel writes, “Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor…” Daniel 11:38-39
The Majesty in the Heavens- A.W. Tozer Quote
“But the God we must see is not the utilitarian God who is having such a run of popularity today, whose chief claim to men’s attention is His ability to bring them success in their various undertakings and who for that reason is being cajoled and flattered by everyone who wants a favor. The God we must learn to know is the Majesty in the heavens, God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, the only wise God our Savior. He it is that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, who stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in, who bringeth out His starry host by number and calleth them all by name through the greatness of His power, who seeth the works of man as vanity, who putteth no confidence in princes and asks no counsel of kings.
Knowledge of such a Being cannot be gained by study alone. It comes by a wisdom the natural man knows nothing of, neither can know, because it is spiritually discerned. To know God is at once the easiest and the most difficult thing in the world. It is easy because the knowledge is not won by hard mental toil, but is something freely given. As sunlight falls free on the open field, so the knowledge of the holy God is a free gift to men who are open to receive it. But this knowledge is difficult because there are conditions to be met and the obstinate nature of fallen man does not take kindly to them.”
A.W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy, Chapter 23.
The Captain of Souls- A.W.Tozer Quote
“God has given us our free will in order that we may choose the right pilot. He has also provided the Pilot, Jesus our Lord. We only need to acknowledge our own ignorance and cry out in faith,
“Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal;
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.”
A.W. Tozer, This World: Playground or Battleground?, p.125.
Is Counseling a Spiritual Gift?-Great Quotable from the Bobgans
God's Word is True
“Where is the office of counselor in the New Testament? Is there a specific calling of counselor as there is for evangelist, pastor and teacher? Are there specific offices for a counselor as there are for elders and deacons?”
“There is no one-up/one-down relationship of counselor and “counselee.” Instead there is the mutual care, encouragement, and edification of all members of the Body of Christ. Counsel may be given and received, but the real position of counselor is reserved for the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer, who sees into the inner man, who applied the Word and makes it effectual in the believer, and then who enables the believer to glorify God through the love and obedience, as most clearly taught in Romans 8:26-27: Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.”
“It has been said by some, and we agree, that those who take the position of counselor in someone’s life may be usurping the role of the Holy Spirit. Believers are called to comfort (1 Thessalonians 5:11), instruct (2 Timothy 2:24-26), edify (Romans 14:19), admonish (Romans 15:14), forgive (Ephesians 4:32), and restore (Galatians 6:1) one another. However, the only one who can accurately see inside a person and therefore be the real counselor is the Lord Himself.” Martin and Deidre Bobgan, Person to Person Ministry, Soul Care in the Body of Christ, pp. 45-47
“Christian + Psychology = ?”
“Well-meaning psychologists who profess Christianity have merely borrowed the theories and techniques from secular psychology. They dispense what they believe to be the perfect blend of psychology and Christianity. Nevertheless, the psychology they use is the same as that used by non-Christian psychologists and psychiatrists. They use the theories and techniques devised by such men as Freud, Jung, Rogers, Janov, Adler, Fromm, Maslow and others, none of whom embraced Christianity or developed a psychological system from the Word of God.
The Christian Association for Psychological Studies (CAPS) is a group of psychologists and psychological counselors who are professing Christians. At one of their meetings the following was said: “We are often asked if we are “Christian psychologists” and find it difficult to answer since we don’t know what the question implies. We are Christians who are psychologists but at the present time there is no acceptable Christian psychology that is markedly different from non-Christian psychology. It is difficult to imply that we function in a manner that is fundamentally distinct from our non-Christian colleagues….asyet there is not an acceptable theory, mode of research or treatment methodology that is distinctly Christian.”
“Christians who seek to integrate psychology with Christianity have actually turned to secular, ungodly sources for help. But, because these unbiblical, unsubstantiated theories and techniques have been blended into the dough, they are well hidden in the loaf. Thus many Christians honestly believe they are using only a purified, Christianized psychology. Instead, they are left with a contaminated loaf, not with the unleavened bread of the Word of God.”
Martin and Deidre Bobgan, “James Dobson’s Gospel of Self Esteem & Psychology”, pp. 192-193.
Christ In You- Is Christ Prominent or Preeminent?
“The Christian life is not what I can do for God, but what Christ wants to be in me. Therefore, when my purpose, goal, and aim in life is simply to know Christ — living a life of intimate, abiding fellowship with Him — then He will initiate and fulfill His good works through me (Ephesians 2:10). His good works are the overflow of my daily walk with Him — His life being lived through me —without my even realizing that which He is doing. And this will bring praise and honor and glory to christ, the Preeminent One, “Christ in you, [which is] the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).” Jerry Benjamin, Simply Singular Is Christ Prominent or Preeminent?, p.14.
“Can Toy Makers Make Us Morally Better?”- A.W.Tozer
“Even though we live in the world’s most advanced civilization, we have been betrayed by our teachers — tragically and cruelly betrayed by our teachers! Years ago our teachers told us the world was getting better. They supposed that because we have become brilliant toy makers, we had also become morally good toy makers. It is true we have invented and developed and discovered all kinds of brilliant new toys. And so our teachers have concluded that we must be better because we know so much more!”
“But one little thing has been overlooked in their preoccupation with our wonderful new ability to take the forces of nature and harness them. Our scientific and intellectual advances were not accompanied by similar moral strides.”
“Technology, instead of making us morally better, has been accompanied by a time of moral disintegration. Do not quote me as saying that science has made us bad. But science has not made us [morally] better.” A.W. Tozer, “Faith Beyond Reason”, pp. 123-124.
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