31 Jan 2008

Operation 513 outreach in Manchester. Pictures and Report.

by Kevin Williams.
Today (Wed 30 Jan) I had the great blessing of joining Joshua Williamson (who preached an open-air message of over an hour to about 200 people), David Gee, Dale McAlpine, his friend Alan, and Dave Higson for the Operation 513 outreach in my home city of Manchester.Just like at the recent London outreach, many tracts were given out and one-on-one conversations had.

First up to preach was Dale McAlpine who had traveled down from Workington. Straight after he had finished preaching I had a long conversation with a lady called Suzz who was in the city working for the Aspinall Foundation charity. She took a CD and tract, and David Gee witnessed to her friend at the same time, so please pray that God will save their souls.
Next up I preached, and had what could have set a new world record for the world's quietest heckler. But it still drew a crowd as I loudly repeated all of his questions to the audience and gave answers.

I then took my brothers to John Ryland's Library for the rare treat of seeing the P52 manuscript.

Then later as Joshua Williamson got up to preach the crowd quickly built, and as he engaged with hecklers, he ended up preaching for over an hour, and in that time maybe 150-200 people stopped by to listen, and many even stopped from start to finish. Josh boldly answered all objections from Muslims, atheists and agnostics. Many people after listening to Josh took tracts and CD's and asked further questions.

I was approached by a lady with her Bible in hand trying to tell me that speaking in tongues was necessary for salvation. For anyone caught up in this error please see: Why Tongues Is Not a Necessary Sign of Salvation
and also:
Almost A Cessationist-The Gifts, Cessationist Versus Sensationalism.
And also see: the errors of Oneness Theology.

Please pray for all those who heard the Gospel today in Manchester. That God will do a work in them and grant them repentance, convicting them of their sin, and saving their souls.

All in all, the day was a real blessing seeing the Lord move. We agreed we'd meet up more often to preach in different cities around England on a regular basis.

See also:Operation 513 Outreach in London Report & Pictures.
And: Open-Air Preaching outside Buckingham Palace

30 Jan 2008

"Cannot Sin" (1 John 3:4-9) by Charles Leiter

Thanks to Charles Leiter for giving us permission to use this, from Appendix B of his excellent book which we highly recommend Justification & Regeneration, which explains vital truths in such simple and easy to understand language to every Christian.

John tells us in 1 John 3:4-9 that Christians “do not” and “cannot” sin. What does he mean by such statements? Numerous answers have been given to this question over the centuries, but here we will consider only two of these.

1. One popular explanation of these verses is that the Christian’s new nature cannot sin. “God’s seed” (which is perfect) “remains” in the Christian, and it never desires or commits even a single act of sin. While there is much truth in this view, it nevertheless faces formidable objections.

First of all, John does not say that the Christian’s new nature cannot sin; he says that the Christian himself cannot sin: “God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” (1 John 3:9) The “he” who “cannot sin” is clearly the Christian as a total person—the same person who is said to have been “born of God” in the last part of the verse.

Secondly, the proposal that a Christian’s “new nature” does not sin is actually a meaningless statement. Only a person is capable of sinning or not sinning; an abstract nature cannot will or act at all. As we have seen in Chapter Nine, a “nature” is not something that we “have” separate from our persons; it is a description of who we really are in our innermost being.

Thirdly, “doing sin” is contrasted in v.7-8 with “doing righteousness.” Surely John is thinking here, not of a single act of righteousness, but of the practice of righteousness. So, likewise, when he speaks in this passage of the impossibility of Christians “doing sin,” he must have in mind, not a single act of sin, but the practice of sin.

Fourthly, John is concerned here to show that the actual actions of Christians are diametrically opposite to the actions of the unregenerate. He is talking about Christians actually not sinning, not just Christians “sinning and hating it” or Christians “sinning, but not sinning from their new nature.” Such teaching would play into the hands of the very heretics John is opposing.

2. The best explanation of these verses is that the “sin” which a believer “does not” and “cannot” do is habitual or persistent sin. John is literally saying that the Christian does not “do sin.” That is, the Christian does not “practice” sin. On the contrary, the Christian “practices righteousness”: “Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.” (1 John 3:7)

Why does the Christian find himself unable to “practice sin”? The answer is given in v.9: “No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.” All Christians have a new nature (God’s seed) as their essential identity. This new nature (which is perfect) asserts itself against all evil, effectually preventing the believer from living in sin. On the contrary, righteousness is the main characteristic of his life. The Christian’s walk is not perfect, however, because he still has the flesh to contend with throughout this lifetime. When his mortal body is redeemed, then the new life already present in him will be manifested in its fullness, and his actions will perfectly correspond to the desires of his renewed heart.

This understanding of John’s words is the only one that gives full weight to the present tenses of the verbs involved and is reflected in the best modern translations of 1 John 3:4-9.

NASB:
“Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, let no one deceive you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.”

ESV:
“Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.”

See also: Romans 7 by Charles Leiter (The view shared by Paul Washer, Martyn Lloyd Jones, & Tim Conway)
And: Charles Leiter-Justification & Regeneration.

29 Jan 2008

How The Holy Spirit Prepares The Soul For His Work of Regeneration. by John Owen

It is impossible for us to regenerate ourselves. But this does not excuse us from our spiritual responsibility.
We can go and hear the Word of God being preached (Rom 10:17). We can go determined to understand and receive the things revealed to us to be clearly from God.

Many souls are eternally ruined because they simply will not let God speak to them and teach them from His Word. It is true that no man can regenerate himself, even although he hears and receives God's Word. But God is prepared to come to those who come to Him by the way He has told them. He meets souls where He says He will meet them.

As the Word of God is preached, certain things begin to happen in the hearers as the Holy Spirit brings the Word home to them personally. These things usually happen to the person before he is 'born-again'.

The first thing that happens is that the Holy Spirit illuminates or enlightens the understanding, enabling the person to know and to understand spiritually the spiritual truths revealed (1 Cor 2:9,11). This is quite different from a natural understanding of what is being preached by the use of reason only.

The Spirit's work of illumination makes the Word clear to the mind (2 Pet 2:21). The Gospel is understood, not only as true, but as God's way of righteousness (Rom 1:17;10:3,4). Illumination helps the mind to agree to the truth (Acts 8:13; John 2:23; 12:42). Illumination brings a momentary joy (Luke 8:13; John 5:35). Along with illumination a person may receive some spiritual gifts (Matt 7:22).

Illumination is not regeneration, nor does regeneration infallibly take place after illumination. When light is shone on God's saving grace, then the soul sees clearly what is being offered. So illumination prepares the soul for regeneration.

The second thing that happens is that the Holy Spirit brings conviction of sin. This is also brought about by the preaching of the Word (1 Cor 14:24,25). The soul begins to feel a disturbing sense of its guilt as it is brought to face the righteous demands of God's law. It begins to feel a sense of sorrow or grief for the sins it has done (2 Cor 7:10). They are now past and can no longer be put right (Rom 8:15). This leaves the soul to feel humbled for its sinfulness (1 Kings 21:29). Now, unless the soul is swallowed up in despair, it begins to look for a way out of its present state of misery (Acts 2:37; 16:30). Often the person begins to reform his life and great a change of attitude follows (Matt 13:20; 12:44; 2 Pet 2:20).

Some neglect this light and conviction or seek to stifle it. Some are overwhelmed by the power and strength of their lusts, the love of sin and the power of temptations. Some think that being enlightened is quite enough and that this is all that God intends to do with them.

All these things which are brought on people by the preaching of the Word are in fact the actions of the Holy Spirit working along with that preaching (Isa 49:4; Jer 15:20; Ezek 33:31,32; John 8:59; Acts 13:41,45,46). Those 'enlightened' are said to be made 'partakers of the Holy Spirit' (Heb 6:4).

Objection: If this preparatory work of the Holy Spirit does not lead to regeneration, does the Holy Spirit intend only to do a weak and imperfect work in that soul, or is He unable to bring that soul to 'New Birth'?

Answer: In some, real conversion does take place. This initial work of the Holy Spirit is neither weak nor imperfect, but it can be willfully and stubbornly resisted. In the 'elect' the Holy Spirit, of His own sovereign grace, removes this wilful stubbornness. The rest He leaves to suffer the righteous rewards of their evil deeds. The Holy Spirit is perfectly free to do what He wants to do. He does what pleases Him, when it pleases Him and how it pleases Him. However, His works are always good and holy. He fully and perfectly accomplishes what He freely planned and purposed to accomplished.

Illumination No Guarantee of Salvation.

There is an 'illumination' which does not lead to salvation. It does not change man's will and does not give the mind a delight and satisfaction in spiritual things. The mind does not delight in God (Rom 6:17; 12:2; 1 Cor 2:13-15; 2 Cor 3:18; 4:6). It gives no spiritual insight into the glory of God's grace.

Neither does this illumination purge the conscience from dead works to serve the Living God (Heb 9:14). It only convicts the soul of sin and rouses it to condemn many things of which before it heartily approved. Such illumination works on the feelings, arousing fear, sorrow, joy and delight. But it does not fix them on heavenly things (Col 3:1,2). Nor does it tear out evil desires and fill the heart with heavenly joys. It often leads to a major reformation in lifestyle, even producing the appearance of godliness. But there are three great defects in this illumination.

The first is that it allows raging and reigning sins of ignorance to continue, as it did in Paul before his conversion.

The second is that the reformation of life it stimulates the person to attain seldom leads to getting rid of all know sins, unless for a while the soul is engaged in a flagrant pursuit of self-righteousness.

The third is that this reformation of life, although it may be strong at first, soon fades and decays. Eventually it leaves people as spiritual skeletons.

Taken from The Holy Spirit by John Owen, Abridged, pp52-55. Recommended. Buy from U.K. or U.S.A

28 Jan 2008

Open-Air Preaching outside Buckingham Palace, - Kevin Williams

Kevin Williams preaching an open-air Gospel message to the many people sat on the steps outside Buckingham Palace.

Click blue link to play (or right-click/Save-As to download mp3)
Buckingham Palace Open-Air Preacing, Kevin Williams - 10 min.
.
Listen to this & Puritan Fellowship sermons through iTunes:


See also:Operation 513 Outreach in London Report & Pictures.
"
Then I got to preach to the many people outside Buckingham Palace. As I started to preach to the many people of different religions including Muslims, atheists, Hindus, and Catholics, people gathered in front of me and sat on the steps listening. I was later told that the police at the gates were straight on their radios. But God was faithful, I had prayed beforehand and it wasn't until I had just finished my 10 minute Gospel message that the police came. They politely asked us to move on and informed us that we wasn't actually doing anything illegal, but if we want to preach there in future then please inform Scotland Yard as they were more concerned at the occasional protester who will preach against the Queen."

26 Jan 2008

Operation 513 Outreach in London Report & Pictures.

by Kevin Williams
This week (Tue 22nd-Jan-25th) I had the blessing of joining Operation 513 for their London outreach. Our base was at the church where Rob Hughes fellowships Trinity Road Chapel in Upper Tooting, who kindly provided us with accommodation for the week.

Josh Williamson had travelled from Australia for the outreach organised by David Gee, another Aussie from Operation 513 who is based in Rotherham, and another Robert had travelled from Uganda to join the 10 of us.

On Tuesday with an early morning start we travelled from Trinity Road Chapel to Leicester Square, tracting everything that moved and having one-to-one witnessing conversations as we went. Each of the journeys on the London Underground provided one-to-one witness encounters.

Rob Hughes and Joshua Williamson open-air preached to a queue at a tour ticket office.

We then went across to Trafalgar Square, where myself, and Josh Williamson open-air preached.


Many witnessing conversations formed, one including a long witness encounter Josh and Rob had with a Catholic, and I also witnessed to a man who was an Anglican but clearly not born again. Rob witnessed to several people, including the couple in the picture.

Each day at 6pm Joshua was doing "Phone-Fishing" for Way of the Master Radio, which is where we find two people for Ray Comfort to witness to over the phone for the American radio show. We had planned to do the phone-fishing for the day near the Tower of London, but God had other plans, and by His divine providence we had to split the team, and so most of us took the Underground to Tower Hill, whilst Joshua, Robert H, and David Hayes, stayed in an area what seemed like the middle of nowhere to find people for the radio show as time was running short and they couldn't take the underground Tube as there is no phone signal there. And whilst the first caller was being witnessed to by Ray Comfort, another man stopped them who they witnessed to and was then weeping at the side of the road.

Meanwhile I was with the rest of the team in Tower Hill. We was opposite the Tower of London and when a brother Peter started open-air preaching at the place where the "Jack the Ripper" tour starts, people just gathered round to listen who I am sure thought it was part of the tour. As soon as he'd finished everyone of us got to witness to groups of people asking questions. I got to witness to about ten schoolgirls (about 15), some seemed very convicted. I don't know all their names (one was called Natalie) but God does so please pray for them.

At the end of our day we travelled back to our base on the Underground, which was an experience. It was difficult to get on the very long trains which had people tightly packed and squashed together literally like Sardines in a Can. These trains were every few minutes and all over London. The City was just masses and masses of people and whilst it was a blessing proclaiming the Gospel to so many and seeing people convicted, it was also very saddening that it is likely that within 50 or 100 years most of these masses of people will be in Hell.

That night I had a very angry email from an atheist called Pia who had received my "Who Warned You To Flee From the Wrath That Is To Come?" tract in Leicester Square, who told me it was not right for me to warn people of Hell and that "what you are preaching is rooted in selfishness." I emailed him back asking him if he thought that firemen who go to schools to educate children against playing with fire are "rooted in selfishness," and pointed out that when you know there is a literal place called Hell it would be sick not to warn people of the only way of escape, and that we preach the Gospel because we love people. I sent him my testimony "How I Went From Being An Atheist-Evolutionist To Religious Hypocrite To True Christian Convert." and a 7 minute video "Evolution A Fairy-Tale For Grown-Ups".

On Wednesday we spent the morning tracting and open-airing outside Tooting Broadway Underground Station which is a busy area near to Trinity Road Chapel. The people were mostly Muslim and again we handed out thousands of Gospel tracts and had many witnessing conversations.

After lunch we did door-to-door witnessing at the streets surrounding the church. Anna Gee knocked on the door at a group of flats where an old lady answered who was already a Christian and said "Oh wonderful you can witness to all my neighbours", and took Anna to all the other flats in her house.

I had witnessing conversations with a Catholic lady and a "scientist" who both took Paul Washer CD's. And then just as we were finishing I went into the dry cleaners across the road from the church to witness to a Muslim called Daniel. Please pray that God will save Daniel as we went over a lot of things and he was very convicted.

Then we went back to Tooting Broadway Tube Station for the rush hours, for more open-air preaching, one-on-one witnessing and tracting. Thousands of Gospel tracts were taken, and many witnessing conversations happened. As we arrived there were masses of police dragging out of the Tube Station several hand-cuffed Muslims (I don't know what for), and after Rob open-air preached a Police lady encouraged him to do it there as much as possible as they need help to reform the area! And in accordance with Romans 13 Rob was happy to obey and reply "Of course I would be happy to help and preach here often". Rob and Phil are actually preaching there most Saturdays.

Next up was the Way of the Master Radio phone fishing for the day, and it was amazing watching a Muslim, in his early 20's, on the phone with Ray Comfort, countenance radically change from smiling and laughing to one of conviction as Ray took him through the law and the Gospel. When I asked him what he thought about what Ray had told him, he looked very convicted and told me "he gave me a lot to think about". He took some stuff from us, so please pray for him.

On Thursday
we went back to Tower Hill, again tracting anything that moved as we went and having one-to-one's on the tube. We gave out tracts and witnessed to people outside the Tower of London, before being moved on by security who informed us it was now private land. As we were leaving Joshua quickly went to take some photo's of the tower and came back to tell us that the security man who had taken my "Who Warned You To Flee From the Wrath That Is To Come?" tract, had given it to the Beef Eaters, who were now passing it around and reading it out loud and he could hear "we're going to hell," "...Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life...".

Then I got to preach to the many people outside Buckingham Palace (Click link to listen to audio). As I started to preach to the many people of different religions including Muslims, atheists, Hindus, and Catholics, people gathered in front of me and sat on the steps listening. I was later told that the police at the gates were straight on their radios. But God was faithful, I had prayed beforehand and it wasn't until I had just finished my 10 minute Gospel message that the police came. They politely asked us to move on and informed us that we wasn't actually doing anything illegal, but if we want to preach there in future then please inform Scotland Yard as they were more concerned at the occasional protester who will preach against the Queen.

In the mid-afternoon I had the treat of seeing the house of Charles Spurgeon.




In the evening we went to open-air preach in a busy Leicester Square. First up was Rob, who after engaging with a heckler for just a few minutes, the crowd quickly enlarged from about 15 to maybe a hundred. Straight after he had finished preaching, a man who was apparently from the demonic band Korn approached Rob and put a 50 Euro note into his hand before taking a Gospel tract.

As Joshua was about to preach it was then time for me to get my 9.05pm train back to Manchester, but the team carried on sharing the Gospel into the night and then the next day, which I'm sure Joshua will be reporting on his blog when he gets time amongst the busy schedule.

All in all, it was truly a blessing spending a few days on the outreach with the team, especially seeing so many people hear the Gospel. Operation 513 will be in Newcastle on Monday, and Lord willing I will be meeting up with them again in my home city of Manchester on Wednesday. So keep on praying for all who heard the Gospel this week, and asking God to prepare hearts for next week.

25 Jan 2008

Darwin and eugenics. Darwin was indeed a ‘Social Darwinist’ by Bill Muehlenberg.


Poor old Darwin. So misunderstood by his followers. He was actually a nice old chap with fairly tame ideas, but his extremist disciples took his thoughts a bit too far. At least that is the spin being put out by many Darwinists and atheists today.

While more sober minds see a clear line between Darwin’s ideas and many of the horrible social experiments of the twentieth century, including Nazism, defenders of Darwin argue that at best there is no connection, or at worst any such episodes are aberrations or perversions of what Darwin believed.

But is that the case? Most people are not even aware of the full title of his 1859 masterwork: On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. That last half of the title, often overlooked, sounds like it could come straight out of a Ku Klux Klan manual.

A very interesting article appeared lately in the decidedly liberal religious journal Commonweal, taking on this notion of the ‘gentle Darwin’.1 The anti-creationist Peter Quinn argues in that Darwin was not quite so squeaky clean when it comes to dangerous social implications of his theory.

Quinn argues that Darwin’s biological theory had very real ramifications for social theory. Says Quinn:

‘Adrian Desmond and James Moore in their 1991 biography, Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist, make clear that natural selection was intended as more than a theory of life’s origins. “‘Social Darwinism’ is often taken to be something extraneous, an ugly concretion added to the pure Darwinian corpus after the event, tarnishing Darwin’s image,” they write. “But his notebooks make plain that competition, free trade, imperialism, racial extermination, and sexual inequality were written into the equation from the start—Darwinism was invented to explain human society.”’

Indeed, the whole ugly world of eugenics needs to be seen for what it really is: very much an outgrowth of Darwinian thought. As Quinn notes:

‘Darwin played a prime role in bringing about a fateful confusion between cultural and racial differences, conferring new scientific authority and intellectual legitimacy on theories of human inferiority central to eugenics, the most destructive medical movement in history.’

Indeed, ‘by the time Darwin published the second edition of The Descent of Man in 1874, he had added Francis Galton’s eugenic theories and Herbert Spencer’s “survival of the fittest” social philosophy to the mix, calling Hereditary Genius, Galton’s treatise on the biological nature of intelligence and moral character, “remarkable” and Spencer “our greatest philosopher”.’ Note that Galton, the Father of Eugenics, was Darwin’s first cousin, and indebted to his theories.

He continues:

‘Darwin’s work is filled with references to the work of those involved in creating a radical new “scientific” justification for labeling races, classes, and individuals as “inferior”. … Darwin writes in The Descent of Man that “a most important obstacle in civilized countries to an increase in the number of men of a superior class” is the tendency of society’s “very poor and reckless”, who are “often degraded by vice”, to increase faster than “the provident and generally virtuous members”.’

Writing in a manner in which even Hitler would be proud, Darwin made it quite clear that certain races are to be preferred over others. Says Quinn:

‘All races, as it turns out, descend from the same ancestor but some are more descended than others. “I do not think that the Rev. Mr. Zincke takes an exaggerated view,” Darwin declares, “when he says: ‘All other series of events—as that which resulted in the culture of mind in Greece, and that which resulted in the empire of Rome—only appear to have purpose and value when viewed in connection with, or rather as subsidiary to … the great stream of Anglo-Saxon emigration to the west.’”’

‘Sounding more like Colonel Blimp than Lieutenant Columbo, Darwin envisions a far grimmer future for races or sub-species less fit than the Anglo-Saxon. “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world,” he predicts. “At the same time the anthropological apes … will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state … even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla.”’

‘Darwin is cavalier about the extermination of lesser breeds. He estimates that minimal force will be required, for “when civilized nations come into contact with barbarians the struggle is short, except where a deadly climate gives its aid to the native race.”’

His followers were quite happy to run with such ideas, and Darwin would not seem to disapprove. Consider his son:

‘In 1912, in his presidential address to the First International Congress of Eugenics, a landmark gathering in London of racial biologists from Germany, the United States, and other parts of the world, Major Leonard Darwin, Charles Darwin’s son, trumpeted the spread of eugenics and evolution. As described by Nicholas Wright Gillham in his A Life of Francis Galton, Major Darwin foresaw the day when “eugenics would become not only a grail, a substitute for religion, as Galton had hoped, but a ‘paramount duty’ whose tenets would presumably become enforceable.” The major repeated his father’s admonition that, though the crudest workings of natural selection must be mitigated by “the spirit of civilization”, society must encourage breeding among the best stock and prevent it among the worst “without further delay”.’

Concludes Quinn:

‘Educated at the best schools, winners in a global competition that has driven anonymous millions to the wall, the Gentle Darwinians’ effort to turn Charles Darwin into the sainted founder of a humanist creed undoubtedly reflects their own high position in today’s world order. But unlike their Victorian predecessors, they prefer a Darwin devoid of his social theories and his role in linking evolution with rank prejudice.’

It is time Darwin is taken off his pedestal and treated to rigorous and penetrating scrutiny. Numerous works have been penned on this subject. Richard Weikart’s From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics, and Racism in Germany would be a good place to begin for those who are really interested in such matters. The truth is, bad ideas have bad consequences, and Darwin had his fair share of them.

Related Articles
References:
1. Quinn, P., The Gentle Darwinians: What Darwin’s champions won’t mention, Commonweal 134(5), 9 March 2007.

24 Jan 2008

The Idol Of Glorying in Shallowness-Jeff Noblit

Note: Photographs and News + Audio from the London
Operation 513 Outreach will appear on this webiste Saturday.

Is the preaching you hear wishy washy?
The Milky Way 10 min Video

23 Jan 2008

Who Warned You To Flee From The Wrath That Is To Come?

When someone is caught speeding, the law demands that a fine is paid. If someone else pays the fine, the judge can still be just and let the speeder go. However if the fine is not paid, and the guilty one simply asks for forgiveness “just let me off his once, I drive safely most of the time, ” like people say “I know I’m guilty of breaking God’s laws, lying, stealing & using His Name as a cuss word, but I’m good most of the time.” Then what they are asking the judge to do, is be corrupt and break the law. And in the same way when a Muslim, Jew, or anybody asks God to forgive them without the payment in full by the blood of Jesus Christ for their sin debt, then ohey are asking the High & Holy God who cannot sin, to be corrupt and break His law.

“We must all stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ” and ...“it is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of a Living God.” The Bible says “All liars will have their part in the Lake of Fire,” “No thief, no adulterer, no one having sex outside of marriage & no drunkard will enter Heaven.”

Those in Hell will be tormented forever, burning, weeping & gnashing teeth, in total blackness.

2000 years ago God became a man in Jesus Christ, was born of a virgin, lived a sinless life (He never broke one of God’s Commandments, lying, lusting, stealing, that you are guilty of), and then He hung on a cross to be a willing sacrifice to pay the fine for all the sins of those who will repent (forsake sin) & give their life to Him.

“By His stripes we are healed, ” “the chastisement for our peace was upon Him.,” “He was bruised for our sins”. “For God so loved the World that He gave His Only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life.”

To be forgiven you must repent, being sorry for and turning away from your sin (breaking His commandments) and then trusting fully in Jesus Christ alone paying the fine for your sin in full on the cross to save you. Giving your life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says “Now is the accepted time, today is the Day of Salvation.” Jesus, invites you to come to Him & be forgiven of your sins today.

www.PuritanFellowship.com email: kevwilliams@hotmail.de

22 Jan 2008

True Christian .v. False Convert by Mark Kielar, (plus Operation 513 Outreach in London)

Today I'm in London with Operation 513, for their outreach, so please keep us all in prayer. The outreach is Tuesday 22nd until Friday 25th Jan (although I will be back in Manchester on Friday).

Brother Josh Williamson has flown over from Australia, for the outreach and is also visiting Newcastle, Manchester and Sheffield on his stay here.
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True Christian .v. False Convert

Using Jonathon Edwards, Mark Kielar shows us the difference between a true Christian who fights against sin and a false convert who instead says 'I'm covered by God's Grace'.

8 min Video

21 Jan 2008

Families, Be Filled With The Spirit-How To Be Filled With The Spirit Biblically.

Kevin Williams
A Sermon that covers wives submitting to their husband, children obeying parents, Biblical Child discipline and discipleship, how family segregation (with parents and children in different church meetings) is unbiblical, the Gospel and much more:

Ephesian 5:15-19 - Families Be Filled With The Spirit. How To Be Filled With The Spirit Biblically-Kevin Williams - 45 min. (Click link to play or Right-Click/Save-As to download mp3)

One of the most misunderstood verses in the Bible today is Ephesians 5:18b “be filled with the Spirit”. It is so often completely ripped out from its’ context to mean falling over laughing, speaking in ecstatic babble, having joy and waving arms in a worship service only to be down in the dumps again the next day. In fact at one church I used to attend, the Pastor at the end of the service after nobody responded to his altar call would sometimes ask the congregation: “If anyone would like a fresh filling of the Spirit then raise your hand.” But none of that is what it means or is the means of attaining it.

The Bible does not just tell us to be “filled with the Spirit” but it also clearly tells us how. We simply have to just read the surrounding context instead of picking out a mere five words.

Another misconception is that we are to wait for God to fill us with the Spirit. But notice the text does not tell us to wait for a filling of the Spirit, but rather we are to “be filled”, this is simply how a Christian should live.

To be filled with the Spirit (We must do all of the following)…Play Sermon to hear more.

19 Jan 2008

The Worth of a Soul - author unknown

The worth of a soul: Who can count its value? Who can appraise its worth? An immortal soul is beyond all price.

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" (Matthew 16:26)

In money, one soul is of more value than the wealth of the world.

In journeyings, no foreign land is too distant or any portion of it is too inaccessible for all the people of the world to take a journey there, if by so doing one soul could be saved.

There is no trouble too great, no humiliation too deep, no suffering too severe, no love too strong, no labor too hard, no expense too large, but that it is worth it, if it is spent in the effort to win a soul.

Of all creation in this world and in the world to come, the greatest, the most wonderful, the most priceless, the most enduring is a soul.

God loves the soul more than all creation. He fashioned it after His own image, and made it like unto Himself. Every soul has departed from God and gone astray, and God has bought every soul back again with a price. That price was the blood of His only begotten Son, Who took upon Himself the sin of the soul, suffering the death penalty, that the soul might be saved, cleansed and made holy again. God loves every soul with an everlasting, eternal love greater and deeper than any human love can possibly be.

Satan hates the soul. In Satan's enmity towards God he is using all his energy, using every snare, his utmost cunning, employing every means with the one single purpose of ruining the soul of man, because Satan knows the soul is God's most cherished creation, the apple of His eye.

A Soul Will Never Die

When this earth of ours has crumbled to dust and has passed away into the forgotten past, a soul will still be in its freshness of youth.

When a million million eternities have each lived out their endless ages and have rolled by into the unthinkable past, and time is no more, the soul will still be living a conscious personal reality endowed with perpetual life.

God has said: "He that winneth souls is wise." (Proverbs 11:30)

If Christians would only realize the value and the immortality of precious souls, and the shortness of this earthly life, they would work feverishly, unceasingly, with all their greatest energy, day after day, year after year, that they might save one soul.

15 Jan 2008

Children Should Be In The Church Meeting.

Children in the Meeting of the Ephesian Church by Scott Brown

Ephesians 6:1-4 is the flagship New Testament passage on child rearing and fatherhood. It is an extremely simple and steadying message in light of the dizzying array of advice the world gives to parents. We find four major ideas arising from the text. First, the setting: the meeting of the Church. Second, there are two simple commands for children: obey and honor (Eph. 6:1-2). Third, there are two understandable results for children: good life and long life (Eph. 6:3). Fourth, there are two dangerous pitfalls for fathers: provoking and neglecting (Eph. 6:4).

This article is focused on the first point — the setting of the meeting of the Church.

In the first two verses, Paul is clearly speaking to children. These are the children who are in the meeting of the Ephesian church and are hearing the letter read. Paul uses a Greek grammatical form called the vocative case, called the “vocative of direct address.” He is directly addressing the children in the meeting of the church. This makes it an obvious fact that children were present in the meetings of the early churches.

In his commentary on Ephesians, William Hendricksen explains it this way:

"The apostle assumes that among those who will be listening when this letter is read to the various congregations the children will not be lacking. They are included in God’s Covenant..., and Jesus loves them.... Were Paul to be present with us today he would be shocked at the spectacle of children attending the Sunday School and then going home just before the regular worship service. He has a word addressed directly and specifically to the children." (William Hendricksen, Galatians and Ephesians (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1979) pg. 258)

The meetings included young boys like Eutychus (probably between 7 and 14 years old) who left the meeting after midnight by falling out a window. He was overcome with sleepiness during a long Pauline preaching session, nodded out and rolled off the window’s ledge (Acts 20:7-12).

We need to understand that the meetings in the early church included babies who were cutting teeth, eight-year-old boys who were wired for movement, and budding teenagers being tempted by the worldliness of the world. The children were not in age-graded Sunday schools, but were in the midst of the meeting, and were taught side by side with everyone else. The meetings of the early church were conducted with a full complement of relationships.

There is no indication from Scripture that children were ever removed from the meetings designed for preaching, Scripture reading, prayer, and worship. But, in our culture, it is automatic and comprehensive. Contrast the normal meetings of our churches with the normal practices of the meetings recorded in the Bible:

The Time of Moses: Deuteronomy 31:12-13;

The Time of Nehemiah: Nehemiah 8:1-3, Ezra 10:1;

The Time of Jesus: Matthew 18:1-5, 19:13-15; and

The Time of Paul: Ephesians 6:1-4, Col 3:20.

Jeremy Walker sums it up:

"The constant presumption of Scripture is that children were present in the worship of the people of God. In Nehemiah’s time, men and women and all those who could hear with understanding gathered to hear Ezra the scribe read the Law (Neh 8.1-3; Ezr 10.1). Moses certainly anticipated the literal “children” of Israel to be present when the Law was read (Dt 31.12-13). Paul’s letters, intended to be read to the churches, assume the intelligent presence of children (Eph 6.1-4; Col 3.20), and children were present when the Lord Jesus taught (Mt 18.1-5; 19.13-15)." (Quoted in Banner of Truth magazine, November 7, 2002, “Attendance of Children in Public Worship”)

For further study, see the following passages where it is mentioned that children were present in meetings of God’s people.

In Joshua 8:35, Joshua built an altar to the Lord in Mount Ebal of whole stones over which no man had ever laid an iron tool. He read “all the words of the law.”

"There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them." (Joshua 8:35)

Joel 2:15-16 describes a time of repentance of the people where all were to gather—even the bride and bridegroom on their wedding day.

"Blow the trumpet in Zion, Consecrate a fast, Call a sacred assembly; Gather the people, Sanctify the congregation, Assemble the elders, Gather the children and nursing babes; Let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. "(Joel 2:15-16)

I would like to pose four questions to help us to reflect more deeply on this subject and, hopefully, help us understand how important it is that we experience the worship of God and the fellowship of the saints alongside our children.
Read Scott T. Brown's 4 Questions & the Full Article at: HERE

12 Jan 2008

Apostasy: Unpardonable State (Hebrews 10:26)-Jeff Noblit.

What is Apostasy & the Unpardonable Sin/State?
Have Rick Warren, Joel Olsteen and other pushers of the Modern Gospel Apostatised?
.
Listen to this excellent sermon by Jeff Noblit:
Apostasy: Unpardonable State. (Click blue link to play or Right-Click Save-As to download mp3)

Are You Willing To Take A Stand Against Apostasy?

It is a Day for courage. It is a Day for discernment.

"For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins," Hebrews 10:26.

11 Jan 2008

Hell in the Old Testament

Kevin Williams
A brother was witnessing to a liberal about the existence of eternal torment: "...he refuses to believe in a literal hell and keeps pointing out that the OT does not refer to eternal suffering therefore it cannot exist".

Well it sounds like unless he repents this liberal will soon find out that Hell is eternal when he gets there:

And it is simply untrue that the Old Testament does not speak of an eternal Hell:

See also:Lost Doctrine of Hell-those in Hell are NOT physically separated from the presence of God

Hell in the Old Testament:

Dan 12:2 "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, Some to everlasting life, Some to shame and everlasting contempt. "

Isaiah 66:24 "“ And they shall go forth and look
Upon the corpses of the men
Who have transgressed against Me.
For their worm does not die,
And their fire is not quenched.
They shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

Isaiah 33:10-14 "“ Now I will rise,” says the LORD;
“ Now I will be exalted,
Now I will lift Myself up.
11 You shall conceive chaff,
You shall bring forth stubble;
Your breath, as fire, shall devour you.
12 And the people shall be like the burnings of lime;
Likethorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire.
13 Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done;
And you who are near, acknowledge My might.”
14 The sinners in Zion are afraid;
Fearfulness has seized the hypocrites:
“ Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?” "

Isaiah 1:31 "The strong shall be as tinder,
And the work of it as a spark;
Both will burn together,
And no one shall quench them."

Psalm 21:8- 9 "Your hand will find all Your enemies;
Your right hand will find those who hate You.
9 You shall make them as a fiery oven in the time of Your anger;
The LORD shall swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire shall devour them.

Jer 7:20 "Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.”

10 Jan 2008

Against God, & God Alone, We Do Sin-Paul Washer

9 min Video

If after watching this video you realize the reality that you are guilty before God:
Jesus said "Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28.

The Apostle Peter said: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble. Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:5b-7.

When the Philippian Jailer "fell down trembling before Paul and Silas... and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?So they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved." Acts 16:31.

"Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink." John 7:37.

Jesus said "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." John 3:16.

"Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.

Jesus said “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed." John 3:18-20.

"Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6.

Jesus "said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." Luke 9:23.

Jesus said "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:38-39.

Jesus said "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:13-14.

Isaiah said "Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the LORD,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon." Isaiah 55:6-7.

Hosea said "it is time to seek the LORD" Hosea 10:12c.

The Apostle Paul said "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2b.

Peter said “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." John 6:68-69.

Please See:Are You Born Again? by J. C. Ryle

&The Radical Claims that Jesus Made. Charles Leiter-The Glory of God in Jesus' Words.

Click on link to play mp3 Paul Washer 19 min Gospel (or right-click & save as to download) Play: High Quality Play: Low Quality


8 Jan 2008

The Servant Compelling People To The Great Supper Is The Holy Spirit

Kevin Williams.
Unlike in the Parable of the Wedding Feast Mt 22:1-14, where we see "servants" plural throughout, the "Servant" in the parable of the Great Supper Lk 14:15-24 is servant singular throughout. The servant in the Parable of the Great Supper is the Holy Spirit striving with man.

This is significant because in the Wedding Feast Mt 22:9 . "Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’" We, the believers are to invite people to the wedding.

However in Lk 14:23 "Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled." It is the Holy Spirit that is compelling them to come in.

Websters Dictionary:
Compel= 1) to drive or urge forcefully or irresistibly
2) to cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure

Invite:=1) a: to offer an incentive or inducement to : entice
b: to increase the likelihood of
2) a: to request the presence or participation of (i.e. invited us to dinner)
b: to request formally
c: to urge politely

This makes a big difference, because if we wrongly ascribe the compelling to the Christian, then it would make sense to rack up false conversions by pressuring people to pray a prayer, and use emotional music and make Jesus seem 'the cool option'.

But when we realize it is the Holy Spirit who is doing the compelling, then we are preach the Gospel God's way and to invite people to repent and believe the Gospel and let the Holy Spirit do the
compelling and converting.

But notice also Mt 22:9 "and as many as you find, invite to the wedding". The call of the Gospel is to everyone and so we are to preach the Gospel to all. God "commands all men everywhere to repent." Acts 17:30.

7 Jan 2008

How A Biblical Understanding of What Is Love Changes Everything.

Many Christians have a Greco-Roman understanding of what love is, which is contrary to the Biblical one, and so when most Christians hear that loving God first and then fellow man is the most important thing, they naturally ascribe a Greco-Roman style of love to it.

Listen to this sermon and learn what it means to love in the Biblical way. (Click on Blue Link to Play or Right-Click/Save-As to download mp3).
John 5:30 - How A Biblical Understanding Of Love Changes Everything-Kevin Williams - 47 min.

The implications and importance of having a correct Biblical understanding of what love is, are enormous:

5 Jan 2008

Election. Limited Atonement/Particular Redemption

D J Kennedy & R C Sproul Jr explain Limited Atonement/Particular Redemption 10 min.


Another Clip (8 min) to help explain the Doctrine of Election.

3 Jan 2008

The Preaching of the Cross in the First Century. by Kevin Williams

1 Cor 1:22-24 “For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”

Many churches today waterdown the Gospel until it is no Gospel at all, with no mention of the Cross, Sin, Repentance or Judgement. Instead of preaching on sin, they’ll emphasise “we’re all guilty” and “nobody’s perfect.” Likewise, instead of preaching on Hell they’ll emphasise “separated from God,” and they may mention words like “repentance” but never explain what it means.

But imagine preaching the Cross of Jesus Christ in the 1st Century A.D.

First of all, you’re nervous anyway, because you can be imprisoned and tortured for your faith, but by the power of God, and love of fellow man you have the courage to speak to someone:

“I want to tell you about God becoming a man and making a way for you to have all your sins forgiven and receive eternal life. There was this man called Jesus, He was a Jew…”
‘Ooops, bad start, He came from the most despised nation on earth.’

“…and He was a Nazarene.”
‘Oh great, the most despised among the despised.’

“And He was born of a virgin.”
‘Oh really?’

“And He never sinned once.”
‘I thought you just told me He was Jewish?’

“And then He was crucified.”

If the person being witnessed to is a Jew then “Cursed Is he who is hanged on a tree.” But if he’s a Roman, even worse. We have to remember the cross was a real and vilest form of execution at this time and so wasn’t made into jewelry or talked about.

There were no pictures of crosses in the early church. An equivalent would be to have a picture of the electric chair on the church wall.

In fact to give you a picture of what it must have been like to bring up the cross for the early Christians, imagine a man starts talking to you about a new religion, and then you agree to go to his house. As you go in, you notice in his hallway he has a picture of a guy being hung. You look across and on the opposite wall there is a picture of a man with a bag over his head in the electric chair. Further along the wall you see a picture of a man receiving execution by lethal injection. Then you look down the hallway and notice a hangman’s noose (with trapdoor below) hanging from the ceiling. Now, not only would you run out of that house as quickly as possible, but you’d be straight on the phone to the police.

It’s easier to preach the Cross today, than it has ever been. In fact, the hardest time in history to preach the Cross of Jesus Christ and the time which it would cause the most offence was the period of time when the Apostle Paul boldly proclaimed "we preach Christ crucified."

2 Jan 2008

Paul Washer Video-Paul Washer preaches an excellent Sermon on the Beatitudes, Sermon on the Mount

Play Video Part 1 or Audio mp3 . (50 min)
Play Video Part 2 or Audio mp3
. (53 min)

A 10 Min Clip of the Beatitudes Sermon. Legalism & Modern Evangelism.


Another: 5 Min Clip Love Is The Fulfillment of the Law


Matthew 5:1-16
"1 And seeing the multitudes, He went up on a mountain, and when He was seated His disciples came to Him. 2 Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “ Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

13 “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.".