Deny Him?

[tsth]

2 Tim 2:12

If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Titus 1:16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.

2 Tim. 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

What happens if we deny Him/His Power??? But, what if we seek Him?

2 Chron. 15:1 And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him, he will be found of you; but if ye forsake him, he will forsake you. 3 Now for a long season Israel hath been without the true God, and without a teaching priest, and without law. 4 But when they in their trouble did turn unto the LORD God of Israel, and sought him, he was found of them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to him that went out, nor to him that came in, but great vexations were upon all the inhabitants of the countries. 6 And nation was destroyed of nation, and city of city: for God did vex them with all adversity. 7 Be ye strong therefore, and let not your hands be weak: for your work shall be rewarded.

As they found rest round about because of the seeking and turning to the Lord, may we do the same! May we abandon our idols, and seek the Lord again, through His Word.

15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath: for they had sworn with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them: and the LORD gave them rest round about.

In His Love,

Suzanne

Edited June 21, 2005 by tsth

[Guest Zayit]

Is it just denying his power, or denying his will, his commandments also , in deference to how we perseave them?

[Christ's Free Servant]

You know, I came to the realization many years ago of how often we, as believers, deny Christ in ways we are not even aware of. We deny him when we fail to tell people about him, when we know we should. We deny him when we respond in fear to a situation when he has said that "perfect love casts out fear." We deny him when we worry about a situation or when we feel that we must control things or people in our lives, because he has said that he will take care of us and that he is Sovereign and is in control. We deny him when we put ourselves down, because he has chosen us and he created us - we are wonderfully made by HIM! We deny him when we give into temptation, because he says that he will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability to endure but will with that temptation provide a way out so that we can stand up under it. We deny him when we give up and we don't persevere and when we don't stand firm in our convictions because we have believed the lies of Satan and have believed other voices instead of the voice of truth. I wonder, truly, how many times a day each and every one of us deny him by our speech, our actions, our failure to act, etc.

So... what does it mean that he will deny us if we deny him? Perhaps it goes along with other scriptures that talk about not continuing to live in sin and not making a practice of sinning. It does not say we won't sin. So, we will deny Christ. It is inevitable, because we are going to sin, and in a sense, every time we sin we are denying him and his power to work his will in our lives. So, this has to be a continuous, conscious choice of our free will to deny him in all things, because none of us are ever going to reach perfection until we meet Jesus face to face.

[tsth]

When I refer to the "Power", I am speaking of the effectual working power of His grace to give us victory over all things, namely the strongholds of willful sin.

Receiving God's Grace in vain:

http://www.worthyboards.com/forums/index.p...=22927&hl=grace

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I would like to go further on the discussion of "the Power" afforded to us now as believers. It is the essence of grace!

I would like to start with this verse that the Lord showed me this morning. Which I believe addresses our day and time.

Jeremiah 16:14

"However the days are coming." declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, "As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt," 15 but "As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them." For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 16:19-21 (NIV)

O LORD, my strength and my fortress,

my refuge in time of distress,

to you the nations will come

from the ends of the earth and say,

"Our fathers possessed nothing but false

gods,

worthless idols that did them no

good.

Do men make their own gods?

Yes, but they are not gods!"

"Therefore I will teach them--

this time I will teach them

my power and might.

Then they will know

that my name is the LORD.

Have we, the church forgotten the power that Jesus Christ afforded to us by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, to overcome lives of sin? The Lord is mighty, His Power is Abundantly Great. But....is anyone speaking of His Power to defeat the sin in our lives? Why are the pastors not speaking to the flocks about sin? The food has been withheld from the hungry, the poor in spirit are not being fed, because the leaders are withholding the Truth. Because many will yell, "how dare you say that we can be set free from sin!" "Are you saying you are sinless!"

Wake up O Church, it is time!!!! It is time to recognize the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ's shed blood! It is time to defeat the power of the enemy.

Let us no longer deny the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Lord and has defeated the enemy. Let us now speak up about the strongholds of sin, so that the prisoners may be set free!

Let's talk about the Power of God

I wanted to look at exactly what Jesus Christ's death purchased for us:

1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.

We have been afforded the gift of living for righteousness in Him now!

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have* peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

What does that mean for us?

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

Here is the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Romans 6:18 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,

so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

It is possible for us to do this now, through the Power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ! Are we taking hold of this promise?

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Fisher of Men]

Amen and Amen,

Suzanne, I opened a new thread on Questions titled Why did Jesus die for us. This relates to Jesus being denied because his very purpose of dying for us is denied by those saying we cannot live righteously.

[tsth]

Today's Henry Blackaby Devotion:

SPIRITUAL FAMINE

6/21/2005

"Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord God, "That I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord."

-- AMOS 8:11

One way God communicates is through silence. The Israelites blatantly ignored and rejected God's word to them, and God responded by sending a famine. This famine was far more severe than a shortage of food and water. Instead, they were deprived of His words of life. God's silence may be hardly noticeable at first. You may still remember times when God spoke to you, but you gradually realize you've not heard His voice for a long time. If you realize you are in a "drought," immediately seek God and ask Him what adjustments your life requires so you can once again enjoy fellowship with Him. It may be that you disobeyed His last instructions to you and that He is waiting on your obedience before giving you a new direction. It may be that there is unconfessed sin in your life or that you have a damaged relationship (Isa. 1:15; 1 Pet. 3:7). It is possible that you have done too much talking in your prayer times and that He wants you to listen. God's silences can be powerful times for Him to communicate with you. God is God! Because He is God, when He speaks He expects a listening ear and an eager response. He will not be mocked! (Gal. 6:7). When we ignore Him, He may withhold His voice until we repent and get right with Him. The prophet Azariah assured King Asa, "The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you." (2 Chron. 15:2b)

In His Love,

Suzanne

[EricH]

I though the Titus passage was especially interesting. Here is the whole thing for context:

Paul, a bond-servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness, in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago, but at the proper time manifested, even His word, in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior; to Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and appoint elders in every city as I directed you, namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children who believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion. For the overseer must be above reproach as God's steward, not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain, but hospitable, loving what is good, sensible, just, devout, self-controlled, holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict. or there are many rebellious men, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, eaching things they should not teach, for the sake of sordid gain. One of themselves, a prophet of their own, said, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons." This testimony is true. For this cause reprove them severely that they may be sound in the faith, not paying attention to Jewish myths and commandments of men who turn away from the truth. To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient, and worthless for any good deed.

Paul begins the section greeting Titus and encouraging him to appoint qualified elders in the local body. He lists the qualities the should embody:

1. They are to be above reproach

2. The husband of one wife

3. Have believing children

4. And not have outstanding accusations of dissipation or rebellion

In verses 10-11 Paul now begins to address why the appointing of elders is so important. False teachers have entered the church. They are characterized by:

1. Rebellion (1:10)

2. Empty Talking (1:10)

3. Deception (1:10)

4. They are of the circumcision (they appear to be of Jewish origin and are bringing up myths and disputes about the law 1:14; 3:9)

5. They stress adherance to man-made commandments as a way of "purifying themselves before God (1:14)

So it appears that the false teaching that has entered, is like that found in 1 Timothy only with a Cretan flavor. It is concerned with Jewish myths and genaeologies, strife and disputes about the law. It focuses on obedience to man-made commandments in the hope of gaining purity through these efforts. It opposed the teaching of the apostles and had as its chief motivation, financial gain for the teachers (1:11). Paul says that these teachers are to silenced due to the impact they are having in the church that Titus is overseeing.

In verse 12, Paul quotes Epimenides of Crete. The quote, which condemns the Cretans is Paul's way of using the words of one of the prophets of the false teachers against them.

Paul begins verse 13 with the command for Titus to condemn "them" severely. The question is who does the "them" in verse 13 refer to. Is it the false teachers, or the cretan believers who have been impacted by the false teaching. It seems from the text that Paul had in mind the believers who were being impacted by the false teaches. The reason I think this is so is because the "they" is differentiated from the men "who turn away from the truth in verse 14. In verse 14, Paul indicates that to be sound in faith includes not believing men who teach false doctrine.

These false teachings are described as Jewish myths and commandments of men. So it seems the false teachers were trying to convince the Cretan believers that obeying man-made commandments and understanding ones genaeology were important to God. The man-made commandments were very likely similar to those listed in 1 Timothy 4:1ff (forbidding marriage, abstaining from foods etc.)

In verse 15 Paul adresses the concept of purity, because that was one of the main contentions of the false teachers, that one could not be 'pure' in God's sight unless they obeyed these "commandments of men".

Paul maintains that:

1. To the pure (believers) all things are pure.

2. To those who are defiled (unbelievers) nothing is pure

The logic here is simple. Those who are in Christ have been "purified" by his blood. Thus no food or blood lineage can make them unpure. Those who do not know Christ on the other hand are "unpure". Nothing they try (apart from Christ) can make them pure.

Paul continues that those who teach 'purification by ceremony" are defiled not only on the surface, but to the very core of their being. This is because they are trusting in ceremony to cleanse them and not the blood of Christ. When a person comes to Christ, they are changed not only on the surface, but to the core of their beings.

In verse 16, Paul completes his description of the state of false teachers outside the faith. Their profession to know God is based on external cleansing, myth, and ritual. They do not know Him, and this is made manifest in their deeds, because they have not been cleansed completely, only ritually. In fact their deeds which they think cleanse them, are actually detestable, disobedient, and worthless for every good work. They are worthless for every good work because they did not adress the true issue (their spiritual death) rather they focused on ritualistic cleansing and myths. They have not been empowered by the Holy Spirit, so are incapable of good works.

So Paul's argumeent is basically that purification only comes through a relationship with Christ, and that good works are impossible apart from that relationship. Only the "pure" can do good. The "inpure" are incapable of good

HTH

[EricH]

When I refer to the "Power", I am speaking of the effectual working power of His grace to give us victory over all things, namely the strongholds of willful sin.

Receiving God's Grace in vain:

http://www.worthyboards.com/forums/index.p...=22927&hl=grace

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I would like to go further on the discussion of "the Power" afforded to us now as believers.  It is the essence of grace!

I would like to start with this verse that the Lord showed me this morning.  Which I believe addresses our day and time.

Jeremiah 16:14

"However the days are coming." declares the LORD, when it shall no longer be said, "As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of Egypt," 15 but "As the Lord lives who brought the people of Israel up out of the land of the north and out of all the lands where he had driven them." For I will bring them back to their own land that I gave to their ancestors.

Jeremiah 16:19-21 (NIV)

O LORD, my strength and my fortress,

my refuge in time of distress,

to you the nations will come

from the ends of the earth and say,

"Our fathers possessed nothing but false

gods,

worthless idols that did them no

good.

Do men make their own gods?

Yes, but they are not gods!"

"Therefore I will teach them--

this time I will teach them

my power and might.

Then they will know

that my name is the LORD.

Have we, the church forgotten the power that Jesus Christ afforded to us by the indwelling of His Holy Spirit, to overcome lives of sin?  The Lord is mighty, His Power is Abundantly Great.  But....is anyone speaking of His Power to defeat the sin in our lives?  Why are the pastors not speaking to the flocks about sin?  The food has been withheld from the hungry, the poor in spirit are not being fed, because the leaders are withholding the Truth.  Because many will yell, "how dare you say that we can be set free from sin!"  "Are you saying you are sinless!"

Wake up O Church, it is time!!!!  It is time to recognize the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ's shed blood!  It is time to defeat the power of the enemy.

Let us no longer deny the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Let us boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Lord and has defeated the enemy.  Let us now speak up about the strongholds of sin, so that the prisoners may be set free!

Let's talk about the Power of God

I wanted to look at exactly what Jesus Christ's death purchased for us:

1 Peter 2:24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins might live for righteousness--by whose stripes you were healed.

We have been afforded the gift of living for righteousness in Him now!

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have* peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification.

Romans 5:17 For if by the one man's offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

What does that mean for us?

Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

Romans 6:17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.

Here is the Power of the Lord Jesus Christ:

Romans 6:18 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness,

so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

It is possible for us to do this now, through the Power of the Holy Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ!  Are we taking hold of this promise?

In His Love,

Suzanne

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

This is a really good post and says it all in terms of the purpose of our salvation. We were not saved just as fire insurance, but our salvation has unleashed a new nature in use that is capable of obedience and bringing glory to God. I'de say it is possible and expected, that every day we will grow more and more into His likeness and image.

[tsth]

When I refer to the "Power", I am speaking of the effectual working power of His grace to give us victory over all things, namely the strongholds of willful sin.

Receiving God's Grace in vain:

http://www.worthyboards.com/forums/index.p...=22927&hl=grace

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

I would like to go further on the discussion of "the Power" afforded to us now as believers.