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Partakers: With Whom and Of What? - part 1 of 3 (Amplified Bible—unless otherwise specified) Satan continues to pose the question, “Did God really say…?” Continuing without interruption, the Tempter immediately implants the further seed-thought of, “And even if He did, He didn’t intend you to take it all so literally, did He?” He then often extracts, distorts and misinterprets some portion of scripture, further enlarging his anticipated harvest of mental doubt. “Here’s an example,” the Deluder asserts. “God Himself said, ‘It is not good (sufficient, satisfactory) that the man be alone,’”{Gen 2:18} stopping short of God’s creation of woman as fulfillment for that aloneness. Insisting that the Bible is “open to interpretation” Truth-Distorter concludes that God’s Word both justifies and condones homosexuality. As the listener begins to question God’s goodness and intent, he is assaulted with condemnation for believing so outdated and unreliable a book. The argument then expands from individuals to special interest groups, then to society in general, and finally to religious and governmental sanctioning of that which is ungodly. “Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with You—they who frame and hide their unrighteous doings under [the sacred name of] law?” {Ps 94:20}. These are they of whom Micah records, “You who hate the good and love the evil” {3:2a}. For the so-called “church” to sanction a homosexual priesthood as well as homosexual marriages is to expose it as an instrument of unrighteous masking under religious garb. Ensnared by his enticements, those who succumb to Satan’s ploys doubt, debate, distort and eventually deny the authority of God’s Word. Through distorted vision, these who perceive their “relative values” as “progressive reality” will doubtless be recorded in a like manner as those in the days of the Old Testament, “In those days there was no king in Israel, every man did what was right in his own eyes” {Jud 21:25}. We are warned not to be deceived into involving ourselves in destructive alliances, for “Bad company ruins good morals”{I Cor 15:33 RSV}. Paul warned, “Let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments [for these sins], for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience. So do not associate or be sharers with them…Take no part in and have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds and enterprises of darkness, but instead [let your lives be so in contrast as to] expose and reprove and convict them” {Eph 5:6-7, 11}. Individually and corporately, our choices determine that of which we partake. “To partake” is to become a sharer or participant with, to have fellowship with. “Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” {I Cor 10:21}. Like Moses, as with multitudes throughout history, we are already choosing whether we will partake of the world’s pleasure and share its approval or shun all that attempts to usurp the rule of Jesus Christ as Sovereign Lord and Savior. -Ruth French April Newsletter 2004 | It Is Finished | Digging for Gold | Pastor's Journal April 2003 The Power of Forgiveness | Partakers: With Whom and Of What? part 1 of 3 |
Biblical Counseling for Leaders
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