RESCUE BAPTIST CHURCH

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world." --1 John 4:1--

"Have you ever been asked this question: "There are so many different religious beliefs, how can you be sure that what you believe is true?' It is for certain that you cannot believe everything that is taught in today's churches because 'many false prophets are gone out into the world'. But those who have experienced the 'new birth' have what false religionists do not have. God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts. There are many evil spirits, but there is only 'one Spirit' of God (Eph. 4:4). God's children 'have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God' (1 Cor. 3:12). It is true that babes in Christ have a very limited spiritual understanding, but the Spirit of God 'will guide us into all truth' (John 16:13). As we assemble on a regular basis where God's ministers faithfully preach and teach the Gospel of God's Sovereign Grace from His Holy Inspired Word, our spiritual understanding will increase. The same Holy Spirit of God who inspired the writers of Holy Scripture dwells in the hearts of His children. And only the Holy Spirit is able to interpret the Scriptures correctly. It is the ministry of the Holy Spirit to take the things of Christ and reveal them to those God purchased with His own blood. And as God's preachers proclaim the gospel of His Amazing Grace, our hearts will burn with grateful joy and genuine praise to the One who loved us, and gave Himself for us. Now let me share a few Biblical truths that all of God's children believe and rejoice in:

1. Jesus Christ is God Almighty. Jesus Christ is One with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Anyone who does not believe that Jesus Christ is Jehovah God; or, anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is just a God, that there is another God with more power and with more authority, is blinded by Satan and has not been taught by the Holy Spirit. If there is only one Holy Spirit, and He is God, what Spirit does God the Father have? The same Holy Spirit! What Spirit does God the Son have? The same Holy Spirit! Hence, God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are One; equal in essence, in power and in purpose. There is only one God. Christians are monotheistic, not polytheistic. 'Try the spirits whether they are of God'.

2. Jesus Christ is the God-man. Mary was a virgin when she gave birth to the Christ-child. That little baby was formed in her womb by the power of God the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ had two natures in one - human nature and divine nature. 'Without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh' (1 Tim. 3:16). Jesus Christ did not have Adam's fallen nature. His human nature was without sin - PERFECT! Perfect God, and perfect man in one. And, while He walked on this earth in humble obedience to His heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, as a man, lived a perfect life. In so doing, He kept God's holy law perfectly, establishing a perfect righteousness for His covenant people. When Adam sinned, he plunged the whole human race into condemnation. Consequently, all of his posterity were made sinners. We don't become sinners because we sin. We sin because we're sinners. We have no righteousness of our own. But Jesus Christ established a perfect righteousness for His own chosen people by walking in perfect obedience before His heavenly Father. 'For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous' (Rom. 5:19). The saints of God are made righteous, not by our obedience, but by the obedience of our Substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ. Preachers who teach that God accepts sinners based upon any act performed by man are not God's preachers. 'They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.' The Holy Spirit will teach us that we have no righteousness of our own. And we will rejoice in the righteousness of Jesus Christ that is imputed to us when God gives us faith to believe on His Son. 'Try the spirits whether they are of God.'

3. Jesus Christ is God the Saviour. God Himself said, 'Before Me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Me there is no saviour' (Isaiah 43:10, 11). Jesus Christ is the very God who spoke those words. He is the Word of God. And the New Testament plainly teaches that Jesus Christ is the Saviour. The angel of the Lord spoke these words to Joseph in reference to the birth of the Christ-child: 'Thou shalt call His name JESUS: for He shall save His people from their sins.' Did He save His people? Absolutely! When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He didn't just make salvation possible. He 'obtained eternal redemption for us' (Heb. 9:12). The angel of the Lord did not say that Jesus Christ would try to save His people. He said, 'He shall save His people from their sins.' God's sheep rejoice in this overwhelmingly, God-honoring truth. Jesus Christ, 'by Himself purged our sins' (Heb. 1:3). 'We were reconciled to God by the death of His Son (Rom. 5:10). False religionists teach that Jesus Christ laid down his life for all men but did not actually secure the salvation of anyone. They continue in their lies by teaching that God is obligated to save you if you will just do something that will enable Him to do so. Then they tell their congregations what it is that they must do. Some say that you must join their church in order to be saved. Some say you must be baptized. Others say you must exercise your own free-will and make a decision for Jesus. And some teach that you cannot be saved unless you receive the 'gift of tongues'???. And the list goes on and on. These different religions have made the cross of Christ of none effect. Jesus Christ is not their Saviour. They believe that they were reconciled to God by somthing they have done and that is what they are trusting in. Satan, who has blinded their minds, is not anti-religion. He is anti-christ. 'Many false prophets are gone out into the world'. They were preaching another Jesus during the apostolic age and they are preaching another Jesus today. And the majority of religious people believe in another Jesus and hate the Christ of the Bible. But all of God's enlightened people believe with their heart and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is our LORD and our SAVIOUR! 'Try the spirits whether they are of God.'

4. Jesus Christ is God who rules and reigns over all of creation. All things are under His feet and under His sovereign control. Nothing happens without His permission. He upholds 'all things by the word of His power' (Heb. 1:3). God the Father has highly exalted His Son and will accept praise only from those who have bowed down to His absolute sovereignty. This Sovereign God, the Lord Jesus Christ, has 'power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as the Father has given Him' (John 17:2). All of God's children were once 'dead in trespasses and sins' (Eph. 2:1). How dead is dead? A dead man cannot do anything to change his condition. God alone is able to give life. And Jesus Christ is the true and living God Who quickens (gives life) to 'whom He will' (John 5:21). In His own appointed time, our Sovereign Lord seeks out His lost sheep and brings them under the sound of His gospel. By His power our minds are enlightened and we lovingly embrace the truth. God has given us life - spiritual life; eternal life, through Jesus Christ His Son. How can I know for sure what I believe is true? How did Lazarus know that he was alive after being dead for four days? He came out of his tomb! He heard the voice of Jesus Christ say to him, 'Lazarus, come forth' (John 11:43). Lazarus could not have heard the voice of Jesus Christ unless he was alive. A dead man cannot hear! And those who are dead in trespasses and sins are just as dead, spiritually, as Lazarus was, physically. Our Lord Jesus said to some unbelieving Jews, 'Why do you not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word' (John 8:43). They could hear the audible sound but they had no spiritual understanding. But God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts so that we can hear His voice and understand His gospel. We are 'not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth' (Rom. 1:16). And Jesus Christ is the power of God, the sovereign power of God, who has given us life and has set us free. Once again, how can I know for sure that what I believe is true? The gospel comes to God's elect, 'not in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance' (1 Thess. 1:5). There's only one true gospel. Salvation is either all of grace or all of works. Any doctrine that attributes any part of salvation to man's doings, no matter how slight, is a false doctrine. And those who teach and believe a false doctrine are blinded by Satan and are still in darkness. 'To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them' (Isaiah 8:20). When God's sheep hear the voice of Jesus Christ, they come out of the dark tomb of unbelief and they follow the One who called them out of darkness. They will flee from the voice of strangers. We have heard the same voice that Lazarus heard and know that we have passed from death unto life. And we know that it was because of the sovereign power of our Lord Jesus Christ. A man-centered religion causes people to place their confidence in something they have done. 'Try the spirits whether they are of God.' God's people have no confidence in the flesh. Rather, 'we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us' (2 Cor. 4:7). Our hope and our trust is in Christ alone. We rejoice in our risen, exalted King, the Lord Jesus Christ and give God all the praise and all the glory through Him.