Text: "If ye continue in My Word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." --{John 8:31,32)

Merle D’Aubigne, the renowned Church historian, wrote, "Salvation perceived as coming from man is the creating principle of all error and abuse." A casual glance at those societies of men, in which salvation is believed to lie in the hands of men, i.e. of a priesthood, and you find religious oppression, and extreme poverty in the midst of immeasurable wealth. For example, consider Spain, Central and South America, France and Italy.

Scripture speaks of "salvation" both in the sense of an eternal deliverance as well as in the sense of temporal deliverance. So Israel experienced salvation by her deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Let us consider this statement by D’Aubigne in a temporal sense, and let us realize that it is the most basic teaching of any system of priesthood that salvation, i.e. deliverance, lies in the hands of man.

Herbs: Natural Drugs vs. Man-Made Drugs

In Psalm 104:14, the Psalmist declares God gave herbs "for the service of man." The Creator has given man herbs for health but there is a cult of men in society who, like Jannes and Jambres, have imitated the healing properties that God has planted in His creation. While God offers His "deliverance" to all men freely, these druggists with their artificial concoctions can prescribe for you until you have no more "money." This constitutes priesthood.

Since childhood, my wife has suffered with strep infections.

Within minutes after realizing her condition, her throat would swell until swallowing was next to impossible. To make matters worse, about 10 years ago, she contracted a case of erysipelas which is a staph infection which attacked the tissue in her leg. One hour from the time she knew her foot was infected, the fire had nearly reached her knee!

Time and time again we battled her strep and staph infections.

In a matter of weeks after her antibiotic prescriptions were completed, she would again contract one or the other infection. One year she suffered 5 such infections alternating between erysipelas and strep throat. Then we heard of an herb called "goldenseal" that is a natural antibiotic. Although we had the druggists’ medicine on hand, we decided to try the herb. Catherine has had neither infection for 5 years!

Have you considered your clothing label? For thousands of years, people dressed in garments made from threads grown by the hand of God. It is only recently we have allowed a cult to develop artificial fibers. When society looks to man for deliverance instead of to the Creator, it constitutes Priesthood, and sows the seeds of oppression.

Take for example the automobile. Until recently, people could repair their own cars, but they are now being computerized. Everything from home appliances, to office equipment, even our national defenses are being operated by computers.

The Power Company runs this technology even to the point of pumping our wells. It was not always so. Remember the words of D’Aubigne? "Salvation perceived as coming from man is the creating principle of all error and abuse." Were we indeed wise we would develop our technology to operate by natural means instead of placing it in the hands of men.

In Genesis 1:29, God gave food "every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree yielding seed." God did not give man hybrids to eat. But we have allowed a cult to spring up that has convinced us they can improve upon the Creator’s creation. They have tampered with the seeds of plants and of animals and have made hybrids that are not natural seeds, and which cannot reproduce. The farmer, therefore, instead of "going to the lord" for his seed, goes annually to the "seed store" for deliverance.

If you are inclined to think this is the raving of a lunatic, read the article in the Reader’s Digest for this month entitled.

"SOS --Save Our Seeds."

Have you considered the Food Industry? We have allowed a priestly class to develop between the farmer and the consumer. Instead of looking to the Creator Who "sends the sunshine and the rain," society looks to Kroger, Winn-Dixie, and Food lion for "deliverance."

What would happen if the trucks that transport the groceries were restrained from entering your city: how long could you survive? Perhaps you are numbered among the very people who go to the grocery store every day.

Whether we look to the American Medical Association for deliverance, or to the American Bar Association, or to our denominational headquarters, remember the words of our Lord Jesus Christ from the text.

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Text: "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his Subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." – (II Corinthians 11:4)

"When is it that so many people who profess to be "filled with the Spirit" of God were not able to discern the fraudulent spirits in the "PTL" "Ministry?" It is because they follow another spirit. Certainly one need not be an angel in Heaven to know such people are not following the Holy Spirit.

Some who were caught up in the emotional ecstasy are people who have repented of such sins having put to death immorality, impurity and covetousness. They are blood-bought citizens of Heaven. How could they be so easily duped? It is because the emotionalism and materialism appeals to the lust of the flesh and lust of they eyes; and together they cause a groundswell of pride.

The Bible warns the "just shall live by faith" and not by sight; and while it is a womanly trait to judge matters by emotion, when men judge things by emotion, they are said to be effeminate. Such men are even willing to sit under a woman "pastor", or Sunday school "teacher."

The first time Jim or Tammy Bakker taught the Faith is the exercise of positive thinking, and that "gain is godliness" it was grievous scandal. They bowed before the gods of gold and silver, and the Apostle Paul plainly declares that "covetousness is idolatry." (Colossians 3:5) And, how many heard Tammy "preach", "God loves you just the way you are!" Such doctrines are as pagan as ever disgraced any heathen religion.

Whether Jim and Tammy Bakker are truly citizens of Heaven, I am not able to say. After all, the future with events yet to be revealed is still future, but I have never seen from them any evidence, or heard from them any Bible exposition that would substantiate such a claim. Do not the Scriptures say, "Not everyone that saith unto Me, ‘Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of My father which is in Heaven?" Does not our Lord plainly say that in that day He will say unto many, "I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity?"

Be that as it may, the "PTL Club" has been identified with the Church of the First Born. For this reason, Pastor Jerry Falwell has agreed to moderate over these distressing circumstances. While I might not have accepted such an invitation to help settle such a ministry of abominations, Pastor Falwell is to be commended for behaving as a pastor and a brother beloved. Our theological differences are vast, but for his demonstration of a compassionate spirit, our hat is tipped in appreciation. What will be the future of the PTL "Ministry?" Job has answered the question --"Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean?

Not one." (Job 14:4)

The Constitution of the United States had been drafted. It was a monumental work in the history of mankind because it provided for a constitutional republic that was founded upon the Law of God.

Ratification of the document was another matter. A primary obstacle in several states was a group of people who were an independent breed of men who called themselves "Baptists." They were families and descendants of families who suffered the unbridled passion of persecutors first across the ocean, then in the New World as the persecutors tracked them to these shores.

They suffered in England during the time of the Presbyterian

Commonwealth, and in such times when Episcopalians ruled the land.

In Germany, Baptists suffered at the hands of Lutherans, and in the Netherlands, they suffered the terrors of the Reformed Church. These all learned the art of persecution from the Roman Catholic Church who tormented Baptists as well as Protestants.

It is sad to say that among the faithful members in the state churches were brethren who like all born-again Baptists have one common Lord, one common faith, and one common baptism of the Holy Spirit. Such believers never learned the art of persecution from the Lord Jesus Christ; but they were the children of their age. Calvin might burn Servetus for his anti-Trinitarian obstinacy, but the blessed Son of God persecuted no one. Much to their credit, Baptists have never been a persecuting people.

It is sadder still, as Isaac Backus points out, that German Lutherans, English Puritans, Scotch Presbyterians transported to these shores their concept of Church and State; and with them they brought the spirit of the persecutor.

John Leland, a Baptist pastor from Virginia, was vehemently opposed to the draft of the United States Constitution, and he used his influence among Baptists to halt its ratification. In order to enlist his support of the document, James Madison rode to Virginia to ask the reasons why Elder Leland would not lend his support to it. The man of God declared the draft of the Constitution contained no safeguard for ensuring religious liberty in America. James Madison promised the minister that if he would lend his support to the Constitution, he would introduce a Bill of Rights, the first of which would guarantee religious liberty. He kept his word.

The First Amendment --do you know it? Can you quote it?

Strangely missing is the phrase "Separation of Church and State."

The word "separation" is not even found in the First Amendment; neither is the word "Church", nor the word "State."

The Amendment refers to "Congress" because it is the only law-making body, and what it forbids is clearly a state church. The First Amendment was not written to infer children should not be allowed to pray or to read the Bible in school, nor was it written to prohibit prayer before ball games. It was not designed to outlaw public displays of the manger, or the depiction of Christian symbols. One would almost think by recent rulings by the Supreme Court the intention of the First Amendment was to ensure this nation’s leaders would be a godless, irreligious lot.

The phrase "Separation of Church and State" appears no where in the United States Constitution; however, it does appear in a constitution --the Russian Constitution, and, to use the words of Walter Williams, "Even if you only take tiny steps in a direction, you will eventually arrive there."

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A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT

I had been preaching a week of meetings at the Bethany Baptist Church in McCormick, South Carolina. I was in great need of another automobile, yet I knew that if I cashed in my life insurance, my stocks and bonds, and liquefied my savings account I would not have $25 since I have none of the above.

Four and one-half years ago, our previous automobile was held together by "bandages." The windshield wipers had to be systematically pushed and pulled by hand! At that time a dear family purchased a vehicle for us. My mechanic, Mr. Jim Murdock, now with our Lord, sold us the 1971 Pontiac Bonneyville with a 1978 engine for $1500. The Lord used this automobile to carry us 90,000 miles with no need for any major repairs! (Perhaps it ought to be "funeralized.")

On Friday, April 17th, I was taking a carload of church members to the last night of services when a teenager in a MG skidded on the rainy street and "totaled" my automobile from behind. We praise the Lord no one was injured, especially since we had a 62-year-old gentleman in the car.

In order to give you some idea just how badly in need we were of another ear, the patrolman who arrived on the scene asked where I was hit! The point of impact was the center of the rear of my car and although it crunched the fuel pipe, it did not effect an explosion, neither did it dent my license plate --"CHOSEN."

Five weeks have elapsed and the insurance still has not settled with us. They appraised the car at $100. It has more than that in rubber. Certainly we can not purchase another vehicle for such an amount. Some dear friends here have sent us a check for $500 to help us obtain a decent car. Blessed be the name of the Lord! Pray with us we can soon find a reliable automobile.

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"When Satan is attacked he always weeps and talks of love."

-Martin Luther-

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Bishop Desmond Tutu is a Nobel Prize winner and Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, South Africa. Is he a Bible believer?

Concerning the Divinity of Christ he has said, "Some people thought there was something odd about Jesus’ birth... It may be that Jesus was an illegitimate son." (Cape Times, October 24, 1980)

Concerning the Holy Spirit he has said, "The Holy Spirit is not limited to the Christian Church. For example, Mahatma Gandhi, who is Hindu ...the Holy Spirit shines through him." (St. Albans Cathedral, Pretoria, November 23, 1978)

Concerning the Kingdom of God he has said, "When justice prevails over injustice as in Zimbabwe, it shows that the Kingdom of God is here already." (Ecunews, November, 1980)

Concerning Communism he has said, "If the Russians were to come to South Africa, most Blacks would welcome them as saviors." (St. Paul’s Cathedral, November 1984)

Scripture admonishes us, "Blessed is the man who walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly..." and warns us "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil." May God make us wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

-from Maranatha Baptist Watchman, printed in the "Calvary Clippings" published by Calvary Baptist Church, Lima, Ohio, March 17, 1987)

by John Angell James

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