THE ONLY WAY - DIsmantling Universalism
This post will deal with THE Cancer in the modern church.

Hebrews 13:4 "Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral."

If you want to know what is important to God, look at what Satan is attacking. There is probably no other area that is more under attack than marriage and sexual purity. God designed us so that sex is within the realm of relationships he ordains. God puts people together - one man and one woman forever. Once he does and we accept that in the public ceremony of marriage, we can be off to the races with sexual expression. Sex is al outward expression of an inward reality. Just like communion. So many people take the bread and wine without having a real relationship with God - a covenant relationship where we are eternally committed to each other. Paul says that many are sick and even die because they are participating in Communion unworthily. A lot of people are also participating in sex without a God-ordained covenant. The problem is that people want to express sexual feelings without being bound to the person. They are expressing a lie – they are NOT spiritually or legally one one with that person, they are NOT committed to that person for life, and the very act is a farce. Just as the act of Communion is a farce without that eternal covenant with Christ, so also is it when men and women try to express the most intimate human emotions to multiple people with no approval by God, no witness of man, and no intent to be eternally one in spirit and soul as well as body.

It is not only the world, but unfortunately also the church that is awash in immorality, and it is a tragedy that even among those who name the name of Christ, there is little understanding of how things really are with God.

Many Christians take their cues from the world rather than from the Bible. They spout off things that they do not know. I heard a pastor not long ago railing on a point that there was no gender in God! Obviously that is grossly uninformed, since gender is very much in God’s mind. In fact, it is impossible to understand our relationship to Christ if we do not understand gender and why God made male and female. Let's review some background, and then I will tell you how we MUST understand gender in order to properly relate to Christ.

The world is on a crusade to confuse gender and to advocate changing genders as one would change clothes, rejecting the God who made them. Many Christians listen more to “politically correct” ideas than they do to God. We had some students from a Christian institution of higher learning on our covered deck, and they were uniformly advocating women in leadership in ways no different from men and were explaining away what the Holy Spirit unequivocally spoke through Paul, contending that the Corinthians were a special case and that those instructions were not for the church as a whole. Of course, any Bible student should know that Paul said he taught the same in ALL the churches and also that Peter taught the same thing, so their argument was obviously fallacious. If they had bothered to study some Greek history, they would also have discovered that there were at least two disparate cultural systems in ancient Greece. The Athenian culture was more traditional, with men and women in traditional roles. The Spartan culture, on the other hand, was rather egalitarian. Women were well educated, economically prosperous, and quite confident. The reason Paul went into as much detail as he did was because he was saying that EVEN WHEN SOCIETY ALLOWS IT OR ADVOCATES IT, the church must be governed by the rules of the Holy Spirit. The Corinthians were not being arrested by civil authorities because it was not a problem with them. Some of the women were simply doing what they were used to doing outside the church. Paul had to put the brakes on that. There are no exceptions. The same applies today no matter what society says! Let God be true and every man a liar!

In the Bible, women are given freedom to worship, to prophesy, to evangelize, to administrate, to practice hospitality and to teach other women and children. What is withheld are positions of rulership over men. It is so much like our relationship with Christ - he gives us many mandates in terms of our service to him, actually identical to these - what is withheld is rulership over Christ! It is no accident that just as too many women today are not satisfied with what God has abundantly given, but wish to be in authority over men, men and women in the church are trying to exercise rulership over GOD! They command, they decree, they "hold God to his word", they demand, and they declare things done by God even when he is not doing them. This manipulation must end. God is sovereign and we are his people. We must operate in the manner laid down to us in every area of life!

I also hear people say that Jesus was bound to his culture, which is why he did not have female apostles. Jesus was bound to no one! That insults the Son of God! He broke many traditions and was not afraid to make enemies. The reason Jesus did what he did is because he only did what he saw his Father doing. The Father is not about the feminist agenda. In fact, everything written in the Bible is contrary to it. God showed us a way where men and women are equal before him, and where women are highly honored, and where there is an orderly system of living that is 100% consistent with God' plan of creation and how he endowed men and women equally but differently to best express the glory of God in the earth and to show the relationship between Christ and his bride.

Jesus prayed for us to be one because he is marrying ONE bride, not many! He will not have an African bride, an Asian bride, an Hispanic bride, and a European bride! He will not have a rich bride and a poor bride. He will not have a male bride and a female bride, a Greek bride and a Jewish bride. He will have ONE bride. We have a lot of work to do! He wants a bride that agrees with itself, that is obedient to him, who holds to the truths of the groom, and whose agenda matches that of the groom!

Yet another line of thinking is that women were cursed because of Eve’s transgression, but now that curse in removed in Christ, and “there is now no male or female, bond or free…” Of course the curse is removed for all men and women who appropriate the grace of Jesus. It is not a curse for a woman o follow a man! It is a blessing rooted in the very design of God. That is why women of God who flow easily in obedience to God accomplish so much good for the kingdom. After all, we are of equal value to God. Where master or slave, male or female, Jew or Gentile, God does not discriminate. He honors all. He gave dignity to all. However, the basic rules of order remain. They PREDATE sin. Just check out Paul’s letter to Timothy..

I Timothy 2:11-15
11A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. 12I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she must be silent. 13For Adam was formed first, then Eve.

It goes back to the FORMATION of people – God’s ORIGINAL PLAN, not a permissive will that occurred after sin entered the world. You see, MAN was made in the image of God, but woman was made to be the glory of man. Read Genesis again carefully – that is what it says, and I Corinthians 11 is even clearer:

I Corinthians 11:7-10
7A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but the woman is the glory of man. 8For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; 9neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. 10For this reason, and because of the angels, the woman ought to have a sign of authority on her head.

The order is God, man, woman. Man was created for God, woman was created for man. Man was NOT created for woman. It is essential that we understand that women complete men. Man is the giver, woman is the receiver. This is obvious from the very sexual design of the human body, indicating the intent of God in creation which predated sin. Eve was created to HELP Adam. Yet both non-Christians and Christians want to break down the basic building block of gender. They want to assert the woman’s independence from man, they want to pair two givers and two receivers in total rebellion against the design of the human body, and they want to fundamentally change the intent of God.

God’s intent is certainly clear.

Ephesians 5:22-24
22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

I believe a major reason that the church is in such a mess is that Christian wives very often do NOT submit to their husbands. They have bought into the lies of Satan, and go their own way. They refuse the spiritual protection of their husbands, and think independently. The Holy Spirit teaches women through Paul to ask their husbands on spiritual matters. Yet many Christian women are at odds with their husbands, often being in utter deception. Without the spiritual covering, they are easy pickings or the devil, and the tales of tragedy are endless.

The church has the same problem as the modern Christian woman. It doesn’t submit to Christ either. Christ is the HEAD as the husband is to be the HEAD. Christ is the leader, Christ is the initiator. Christ is the one who gives of himself to us. Christ is the one who saves us by his mercy and grace, his unmerited favor. Yet the church wants to do things its own way. They want to be the initiator and nt the receiver. Christ says don’t use vain repetition in prayer, but people love vain repetition. He says pray without ceasing but people barely pray except mumbling something before eating. Christ says study to show yourself approved unto God, but Christians would rather be in church for yet another meeting or watching TV than spending time studying the Word of God. God says don’t wear expensive clothes, but Christians love to show off expensive duds while letting the poor in the church remain poor. Christ says not to lust with our eyes, but men still gaze longingly at the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, and the like. Christ says not to gossip, but many prayer requests are 90% gossip and 10% prayer. Christ says all kinds of things, but by and large the church stops its hears, follows its own program, and goes its own independent way. Christ has all kinds of ideas for us to pursue, but we want to put all our energies into our own ideas, our own liturgies, and our own progams.

We have to realize that we are the church and we are here to receive from Christ. We give him honor, just as the wife is commanded to honor and respect her husband. We obey Christ, just as the wife is called to obey her husband. We submit our will to Christ as he did to the Father – “not my will but thine be done”. Whether the use of our time, whether to buy a new car and if so how much to spend, which people to talk to that we encounter in life, our will needs to be subservient to his will. Jesus said he did nothing he did not see his father doing. Everything we do should be what we see Christ doing. After all, we are being prepared to live as his bride forever. We will be in eternal submission to him and loving him and following his agenda forever. We must follow his agenda now – we are not our own – we were bought with a price.

How much happier Christian marriages would be if wives followed the agendas of their husbands, and sought to please them in every area of life! That is God’s eternal plan, so we need to follow it. Wives need to truly be submitted to their husbands, and we all, men and women, need to be totally submitted to Christ.

We cannot share our love with others. A wife cannot have other men in her life who meet her needs. Many women have fantasy lives. They also receive “validation” and comfort from men who are not their husbands. With some it is a pastor, with others a friend. The woman is to have her needs met in her husband. A husband cannot fantasize about other women while making love to his wife. He cannot find emotional comfort with other women He cannot rely on friends, co-workers or a congregation to give him what is solely his wife's to give.

All of us are to have our needs met in Christ. So many of us let Christ do part of it, but we rely on others to satisfy parts of us that do not feel satisfied in Christ. We need to probe why we need that, and determine if there is a reason we are not receiving all we need from the Lord.

Israel time and again had other lovers. God hated that. He is a jealous God. He WANTS to care for you – he asks us to “cast all our cares upon him, for he cares for us”. We simply have to spend time with him regularly and actually walk with him and never leave his presence. The veil in he temple was torn so we can be in the Father’s presence 24/7. If we are, Jesus will meet every need he knows we have. If he doesn’t give us something we want, we need to find out why, and not try to get that need met some other way.

That is LOVE UNDEFILED.
Jesus only –
our Husband and our Friend.

Is change possible?
Ask the abused spouse.
Ask the parent of a drug-crazed child.
Ask those prowling the halls of Congress.
Glory Be.

Is change possible?
Ask the pew who holds someone unwilling to worship.
Ask the preacher who teaches people unwilling to listen.
Ask the Lord who stands and knocks at a door never opened.
Glory Be.

Is change possible?
Ask the spirit who is quenched day by day.
Ask the poor despised in every way.
Ask me, who sees his own faults every day.
Glory Be

Glory Be.
Glory Be.
Yes, Change is Possible.
He is changing me.

We are commanded to pray for our leaders. That does not mean we pray our politics. It was comical when Frank Rizzo ran against Thatcher Longstreth close to forty years ago. People were praying in opposite directions, both convinced they were right. The same is true today. There are people who believe that President Barack Obama is a fulfillment of prophecy to bring peace to the world and they pray against all his critics and refuse to even consider that there could be any flaws in his ideology or policy. There are others who are against everything he does and stop just short of praying something bad would happen to him.  We need to pray God's way, not in the flesh, but in the Spirit.

Those of you who read me know that I believe there is only one set of truth. That is why denominations are intrinsically flawed. They teach opposite points of view that are simply not compatible. How can you be unified with someone who believes he opposite? You can't. The same is true of politics. Policies are either right or wrong. Protecting the pre-born and believing in abortion are inherently incompatible. Believing in God's design for marriage and promoting homosexuality are inherently incompatible. So are issues such as loyalty, proper and improper political alliances, economic systems, and freedom. There are other issues that involve methodology where the Bible is not definitive. On those people can differ. However, most issues have Biblical roots, and it behooves all Christians to study to show themselves approved unto God.

I want to accomplish two things with this post - first, to summarize what prayers for political leaders are found in the Bible, and second, qualifications that apply to political leaders.

Most familiar is the prayer that we are commanded to do in the public assembly. From I Timothy 2, "1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time." This prayer is essentially for our leaders to leave us alone so we can serve our God, but salvation is included as well. God wants EVERYONE saved. He is no willing that ANY should perish. I believe we should earnestly pray for the salvation of our leaders, and I do that. We must require the same degree of proof of faith we would require of anyone. All too many politicians in our country cynically drop "Christianeze" phrases to get votes and though they do nothing in accordance with the will of God, they get a pass. Don't be fooled. Most Americans aren't in relationship to Christ, and the same applies to leaders.

We must also pray for leaders regardless of party. Some who are Dems are enthusiastic about praying for their man but refused to pray for his predecessor and in fact slandered him at every opportunity. Those in the GOP have done much the same thing. This commandment supersedes political positions. Obviously, where positions are clearly at odds with God, prayer should go along those lines as well. We are never asked to park our convictions at the door - we must simply be sure be pray in accordance with the will of God.

There are many more prayers for leaders in the Bible, some of which may surprise you. Read Exodus 8 and 9 and see how many times the Pharoah asked Moses to pray specific things for him and how Moses responded. Check out Judges 16 and see how God answered Samson's prayer which resulted in the death of ALL the Philistine leaders.

Read I Kings 13 to see how King Jeroboam asked for prayer , "?Then the king said to the man of God, 'Intercede with the LORD your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.' So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king's hand was restored and became as it was before." We are to include in our prayers what the king requests we pray for, as long as it is in the will of God.

In 2 Kings 19, Hezekiah prayed against the Assyrian King and his underlings who blasphemed God, and Isaiah prophesied against wicked ruler. It is thoroughly Biblical to pray against oppression and those who mock and afflict the people of God. Many prayed against Hitler, and God heard their cry.

We learn from I Chronicles 5:19-21 that we can pray for victory in war. God hears the cries of those with a righteous cause. If the cause is just, God is indeed on our side.

In 2 Chronicles chapters 6 and 7, we learn that if we have repented of our sin and evil, we can expect God to reverse the misfortune in our land. Keep in mind, though, that this promise was given to a theocracy, not a secular country. Nonetheless, as the Lord extended he life of Nineveh because the king repented at the teaching of Jonah, even pagan leaders who repent and heed the word of the Lord can bring blessing to their countries.

2 Chronicles 33:18 says, "The other events of Manasseh's reign, including his prayer to his God and the words the seers spoke to him in the name of the LORD, the God of Israel, are written in the annals of the kings of Israel." There are people with prophetic ministry to political leaders. May God help them to prophesy the truth, and not simply "prophelie" what they know the leader wants to hear. We need men of God who will step up to the plate and tell the truth without counting the personal cost it will surely exact from them.

We have the right to pray for favor from the king, as Nehemiah did. God can bring great results even from a person not inclined to do anything for God's people. We also see that with Esther and Xerxes. God sometimes puts one who represents the interests of the people of God into a position of influence, Esther asked the people to fast for her, and it behooves those who are in the court of the king to rely upon God for favor and power, and not trust in their own cleverness.

And should the worst happen, and our country ever get taken over by another, heed the word of God to the Jews in exile in Jeremiah 29:7, "Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."

Many know that there have been and are yet to come times when Christians are on the run. Obedience to authorities is no longer an option, as we simply try to escape the evil. Luke 21:35-37 says, "35For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man." Jesus himself prays for our protection from the evil one in John 17:14-16, "14I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."

In Acts 12, the church prayed for Peter, who was in jail and slated for certain death. God does not ask us to simply acquiesce to evil - we must pray for mercy and for his deliverance to those ensnared by evil people. In situations where he wants us to testify as Stephen, Paul, and others have done to the point of death, he will so lead us, but that should not be our first assumption. In Ephesians 6, we are told we are not wrestling with flesh and blood, but principalities and powers and rules of the darkness of this world. It sounds to me like some pretty aggressive prayer is called for in terms of the evil propagated by earthly powers. 2 Thessalonians 3:2 gives us the right to pray against evil men, "And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men, for not everyone has faith. 3But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one."

In Philippians 4, we are commanded to pray for our anxieties. Many of our anxieties revolve around the Middle East, the economy, etc. We need to pray for these things in detail regularly.

Now second, let's briefly look at qualifications for political leadership. Many know that I Timothy 3 and other passages call for the leaders of the church to be above reproach, temperate, sensible, dignified, hospitable, not dependent on alcohol, not greedy or two faced. While those who have read Romans 13 know that political leaders are ministers of God, it amazes me that they do not consider their qualifications in the same light. While we cannot insist that our leaders are all Christians, and in fact relatively few have been, we can insist that they submit to God because without God, there is no accountability. The ballot box voting events are spread too far apart. Without submission to God, we will have tyranny, and a quick survey of modern history is ample proof of the incredible scope of evil that can be wrought by atheistic or purely secular leaders in very short periods of time. Hitler, Stalin, Mao, and Amin are past examples. Leaders in North Korea, Iran, and Venezuela and similar men bear close watching, as they have the same characteristics of their evil forebears.

We also have to include in that group those who believe the doctrines of Demons, especially those who are militant such as Islamic fundamentalists, radical Hindus in Nepal and parts of India, violent Buddhists in Sri Lanka, and nominal Christians or cultists who cavort with them or seek to suppress the true gospel single-handedly. Demonic religions and their sympathizers seek to crush authentic Christian witness. We must be careful never to elect any leader who either belongs to one of these groups or who is deliberately or even unwittingly carrying out their agenda. Satan is the father of all lies, and he works in every country to bring forth his anti-Christ Agenda. We must know how to pray, how to vote, and how to do battle in the spirit world. All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing. So many today are fatalistic about evil. I'm so glad our forebears were not so fatalistic. The freedoms we enjoy today are here because God honored people who spoke up for truth and who put their own bodies on the line for it. That is why we have this country, and more importantly, that is why we have the Bible and that is why we have the true way of salvation preserved to this day. We must preserve these for future generations regardless of the cost. Amen? Amen.

Matthew 25:1-13 (New International Version) - The Parable of the Ten Virgins
1"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.
6"At midnight the cry rang out: 'Here's the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'
7"Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.'
9" 'No,' they replied, 'there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.'
10"But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.
11"Later the others also came. 'Sir! Sir!' they said. 'Open the door for us!'
12"But he replied, 'I tell you the truth, I don't know you.'
13"Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

It is about the lamp AND the oil! Haven’t you ever wondered why VIRGINS going to meet the Bridegroom were shut out of the feast? It is a sobering thought. Who then can be saved? Isn’t eternal separation from Christ too high a price to be paid for a mistake? Let’s look more closely at this challenging parable.

First - about Virgins. It is a wonderful thing to be Virgin. The world mocks virginity. They pressure everyone to give away the most precious gift they have - a gift that can only be given ONCE. It is a wonderful thing to be able to give the one you marry that gift. I doubt you will ever find someone who REGRETS being a virgin when they married. Have you found such a person? The devil is such a liar!

Five of these virgins did not stay that way. They ended up in the Bridegroom's chamber. They gave their virginity to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My friends, take all you are and all you have, and give it ONLY to the Lord Jesus Christ!

I was at a home meeting in Pottstown, and Min. Chris Petitti noted that the lamp was the Word of God and the oil was the Holy Spirit. That may seem to be extremely obvious, but the implications were profound and a lot of thoughts started filling my head as well.

Psalms 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible - 176 verses - 22 groups of 8 verses each, with EVERY SINGLE VERSE referring to the Word of God in one way or another. Psalm 119:105 states that God's word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.

Perhaps that is why it seems so dark in our time. People are ignoring the Word of God. Especially Christians. If you study Christian history, you will find that when the Word of God was ignored, times were mighty dark indeed. In fact, they called one of those periods "The Dark Ages". Now we might say that the word of God was not readily available before the printing press, but it could have easily been read from the pulpit. I am stunned that today, with probably more Bibles than people in America, the Bible is seldom read to any significant extent even in so-called "Bible-Believing" churches. In fact, in my experience, the Bible is read more in liturgical churches than in evangelical, Charismatic, and Pentecostal churches.

The simple fact is that when the Bible is not the LAMP, some other "light" is substituted, and great error slips in. The devil is an angel of light, and Paul warns us that many ministers come as "angels of light" as well. Without the Word of God, there is simply no pure light for us. Note the word "pure". Light can be very deceptive. We are not simply talking about the "inner light". When a light bulb comes on in your mind, check it out very carefully. You probably have wondered why meat looks so much redder in the meat case than at home - it is the lighting above the case - it is designed to bring out the red! We had a 1955 Plymouth Belvidere Station Wagon that was turquoise with an ivory top. However, it would look violet under the mercury-vapor parking lot lights.

I believe the Bible light is a bit different from those. Many of us have been to services where there was a chalk artist. He would be drawing a picture and explain the multiple meanings as he continued to draw. Then at the end, he would switch on the black light or ultra violet light or whatever he was using and all of a sudden a whole different meaning came to light.

Let me explain from personal experience. I was born again around June of 1955 not long before my sixth birthday. My Dad was an ordained Baptist minister and the Bible was really important in our home. We were brought up without TV (an even better idea now than then) and there were always books in our house. I even enjoyed reading the encyclopedia. I believe I read the Bible through at least three times by the age of 12 or 13, and Bible memorization was a central part of our lives. As children, we memorized 12 verses per week and as adults 7 verses during the program, which lasted three or four months per year. At family altar, we did not even have to open a Bible sometimes, as my mom might recite Psalm 91 or Romans 28, my Dad another chapter, etc. I decided to memorize John 15 about the vine and the branches, which I did, but was put to shame by my sister who memorized Philippians and Colossians during a two-week Vacation Bible School. My memory wasn't that good! I did write a term paper on the Inspiration of Scripture, though, as well as other studies about the Lord and a host of projects and activities to achieve the coveted Herald of Christ award, only the second boy in New Jersey to have done so. We had Bible commentaries in our home, and I had my own John Peter Lange collection. There is no doubt there was some oil in my lamp.

I am telling you this to tell you I had the lamp of God's word in my life. And there was a lot of light. It kept me a virgin during the sexual revolution of those years and it kept me from the deception of evolutionary philosophies, from cults, from drugs, and from much else.

When you accept Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in your life. I prayed a lot, including interceding for several dozen missionaries every day. I was a regular in church - four to five meetings on Sundays, but my walk with Christ was a daily walk and happened whether in church or not. Nonetheless, you have to have a fresh supply of oil, or you will eventually run out.

Then came January, 1970. The 22nd I believe. I had been around people who had been baptized by Jesus into the Holy Spirit, but the experience seemed very elusive for me. I prayed and prayed, but nothing happened other than being even closer to the Lord and eager to please him. Then, late at night while lying on my bed on the second floor of 2214 Fourteenth Street in Troy, New York, while a student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, it happened.

Let me say here that a lot of people who THINK they are filled with the Holy Spirit are not. They believe because they copied some words someone was praying in tongues that they are filled. The true evidence is the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit in your life and the taking of your relationship with God to an entirely different level. It is like the difference between holding hands and talking to a girl on the phone vs. being in full marital union in bed. If there is not a radical change in your life, keep asking - it hasn't happened yet! Don't let anyone tell you that you are filled and you will get a manifestation! If you are filled, you are filled. Just like when you are healed you are healed. Not that lying symptom business! Find THAT in the Bible! It isn't there. The Lord is very practical and straightforward. He doesn't practice Christian Science, Theosophy, or ANY of the cultic practices that have become imbedded in many who CLAIM to be Spirit-filled. If you are truly Spirit-filled, you will be absolutely loyal to the Bible and not all those "angels of light". You will not run around with strange doctrine that creeps into homes wreaking havoc.

Back to my story. I was laying on my bed when the Holy Spirit came upon me in power. I went into about three hours of prayer, including much speaking in tongues. I had been taught that modern "tongues" were not the real thing. Well, God gave ME the real thing - he gave me fluent GERMAN. The reason I know is because I had studied German for three years, but wasn't particularly good at it nor could I do better than read some dialogues. I come from a German background and my grandparents spoke it, but I could hardly understand it. God gave this to me because he wanted me to know it was not gibberish, but a real language. Tongues of men and of angels. Some have the tongues of angels, and the Lord has done different things with me since then, but I treasure the fact that the Lord dealt with me FIRST in that way.

The difference was acute. Even though I known the Lord for 14 1/2 years by that point, the Bible began to open up dramatically more to me. Things I hadn't seen came to light. Assurance became rock-solid. My love for God increased. A whole new ball game. The fresh oil. Ah yes, the lamps and the oil are where we started today. The Word is the Lamp, but we need the oil IN the Lamp. The Lord has opened the Word much more to me. He allowed me to do 600 Bible studies on the radio verse by verse without preparation, extemporaneously, teaching me as I taught in every single one without fail. The Holy Spirit is here to be our companion. Jesus sent him to teach us and to comfort us.

You see, the Holy Spirit of God WROTE the Bible. Yet people want to understand it without his help. Rodney Dangerfield was in a movie years ago called "Back to School". It was a bit ribald, so I would not watch it again now, but there was a hilarious sequence in it when Rodney went back to college where he was asked to write a paper about Kurt Vonnegut. He was a freewheeling entrepreneur, so he figured the best way to do it was to hire Kurt Vonnegut himself to write the paper. He handed it in and got an "F". The attractive professor told him he had NO idea what he was talking about. He stopped the check to Vonnegut! If only those who were teaching us had a clue!

Many people THINK they understand the Bible, but never bother to hear from the author. Instead, when the author actually makes points about it, it is so foreign to them, it is like they never read the book in the first place. Believe me, folks say some mighty strange things about the Bible, and justify strange practices based upon what they see in the Bible! Cults do it, denominations do it, and individuals do it. YOU HAVE TO HAVE THE OIL IN THAT LAMP!

Without fresh oil, the lamp goes out. I talk to lots of people, and it stuns me that the VAST MAJORITY of Christians do not use the lamp much! Or check their oil. Try that with your car! For shame! Without oil. everything seems dim to them and there is no understanding or edification. You need OIL in the lamp for it to work. You need the Holy Spirit ACTIVE in your life, filling your life, in order to make progress.

So these virgins had lamps. They had the word. But they RAN OUT OF OIL. Hmm. Theological quicksand here. Once saved, always saved, huh? Well, the Bible actually says that he who endures to the end shall be saved, and to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. Now to be sure, salvation is by grace through faith, not works. Sola Scriptura. Solus Christus. Sola Gratia. Sola Fide. Soli Deo Gloria. The Five Reformation Principles. I for real believe them. It is no accident that LIGHT came into the institutionalized church when people could see what the Bible actually said for themselves. Remember during slavery how the masters would tell the preachers to emphasize submission to masters? When slaves found out the Bible also said to get free if you can, everything changed! Too many people know only snippets of scripture, not the entire liberating message!

Five Virgins had lamps and through SACRIFICE had oil for the journey and enjoyed eternity with the bridegroom. The other five were also Virgins (I know some folks say a Virgin is simply a young woman, but I believe when the Holy Spirit says Virgin, that is what he means). They had moral excellence. However, while they had their lamps, they did not bother about the oil. They did end up getting the oil, but it was too late. Every knee WILL bow, but, my friend, timing is everything!

You know, many people have trouble with the fact that the five with the oil would not share theirs. The fact is, you CAN'T. I cannot give you the Holy Spirit. You have to get him for yourself. Those who seek him find him.

The tragedy is that the five condemned Virgins had lamps and some oil. But not ENUF (enough) oil. A lot of folks have been saved and even had an experience with the Holy Spirit. The question is, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM LATELY? Has your lamp run out?

The Bible talks about people who have been enlightened by the Holy Spirit turning aside. I shudder at the consequences. Believe me, I have had people holler in tongues who were in complete deception and under a lying spirit. What a tragedy. This often starts with disobedience to God in just one area. You see, the Holy Spirit wrote passages about submission of the wife to the husband and about qualifications for leaders among many other things. All of God's commands are not options, and many marriages and churches have paid dearly for disobedience to the commands of our God. The spirit of this world works in the Children of Disobedience, but the Holy Spirit does not!

Too many women are scofflaws regarding obeying their husbands in everything. Some claim to be talking to the Holy Spirit, but they have fallen for spiritual and political deceivers, developed an idolatrous spirit, and show demonic manifestations. Many men in leadership meet NONE of the scriptural qualifications, and the people hear the doctrines of demons or have unclean spirits imparted to them. Such happens when the LAMP is not used. In essence, the oil was spilled on the ground and never used for the intended purpose - to be infused in the Word to bring light to their lives. I also saw a flyer by a minister talking about Pentecost and glorious things, but that minister is a practitioner of and teaches Chakra Clearing, a new age abomination linked to pagan practices of Eastern religions. It is VERY DANGEROUS following someone who is in rebellion against the Holy Spirit! Beyond that, I have heard prophecy that directly contradicted the scripture on multiple counts, and the beat goes on.

In all cases, the blind lead the blind and the Holy Spirit is blasphemed. The Holy Spirit NEVER contradicts the Bible nor does the Holy Spirit ever allow idolatry or unclean practices. He is not the author of confusion, but spoke through Holy men to give us God's timeless commandments and to show us his heart with great clarity.

My friends, this passage in Matthew is a very sobering passage. I beseech you to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to spend ample time with God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and to let the Word interpreted to you by the precious Holy Spirit guide your path.

You will go off the path, get lost, and fail to reach your destination if you do not have oil in your lamp and let that lamp show you clearly the path God has delineated for you to take, to reveal to you the rocks and crevices to avoid, and to show you the hazards so they will not take you by surprise. If you are in a dark world - without the Word of God illuminated by its writer, the Holy Spirit, you will not end up in fellowship with the Light of the World forever.

Being a Virgin isn't enuf.
Having a Lamp isn't enuf.
Bring filled with the Holy Spirit of God is quite enuf¡

That is not my teaching. That is the teaching of Jesus Christ according to the Gospel of Matthew. May God bless and keep you!