Have you ever had a
church, illusion of confusion? Let me
tell you about something, which happened to me last Sunday. I went back to the
church of Christ. You know the one, that dosen’t play any instruments, when
they sing, or at all. I thought that if
singing, without instruments was the worst that they do, surely I could get
over that little bit. After all, the
preacher seemed to be really knowledgeable, in the Word.
I will have to be honest
about the singing service. It truly was a joy to my ears. I got all wrapped up
in the song service. Do you know what I am saying? I was getting my grove on, singing with the
crowd!! I’ve told y’all before that I don’t sing well. However, I got in the
Spirit with that praise service, and was worshipping my Lord with song!! There
were around five-hundred folks there, that Sunday morning, and they were
sounding great.
When the song service
ended, I was ready to continue, in the Spirit, to the Word of God being
preached. The preacher got up, and told us to go to the second chapter, in the
book of Acts, starting at verse fourteen. He really has the Bible memorized,
and he rarely stays behind the pulpit. This preaching man is a ball full of
energy, and causes most of us to share, in his enthusiasm. The title of the
message was, “making sure that your, this was that.”
He went on to say that so
many have got away from the true gospel of the Bible. We needed to make sure
what we were practicing today, (our this) was what the Bible taught (our that).
I was sitting there thinking, that he is right with saying, what he said. He
preached on for around fifteen minutes, when he got to verse thirty-eight.
Acts 2:38 Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of
Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
This man took this verse,
and said that salvation was not complete without baptism. Suddenly I got this
gut wrenching sick feeling, in the center, of my being. Then he went to a
couple more verses, to make his point. I found myself sitting there in
confusion, because I was up against a wall. He even said that whoever came up
with the deal, of Just calling on the name of Jesus alone was enough for
salvation was wrong. Salvation is not complete without baptism!! He even called
a few denominational names of the guilty parties.
By the time this man went
all through the Bible, Old and New Testaments, proving his point, I was in a
mess. This man must be a lawyer, because of the way that he sold this idea.
Everything that he brought out made, this seen to be true. However, I was
fighting in my Spirit against what he said!! I knew that somehow this was a
spiritual illusion of confusion, but I could not figure out how.
I am sharing this with
you, so you will realize that, I go thru Spiritual battles, the same as you.
Honestly, I was dumbfounded, and couldn’t put the scripture together to bust
this illusion. I prayed for Jesus to show me if this, was the truth. I prayed
the Holy Spirit would search my heart, and see if there was anything in me
blocking this out, if it was the truth. I was confused, but I wasn’t baffled,
to the point of worry.
Last night,(Wednesday) I
was reading my Bible, and Holy Spirit started talking. This is so sweet, that I
need to put into human words, so you can understand better. I was not studying
anything about any of these things, which I am telling you about today.
Actually, I was studying about children. Holy Spirit: What about the thief? What
thief? What are you taking about? The
thief on the cross. I don’t
understand. Why are you saying to me,
the thief on the cross? That is the answer to what you are seeking.
Then it struck me hard. Wow!! You are right!! Thank you!!
Luke 23:42-43 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me
when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said
unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt
thou be with me in paradise.
Jesus didn’t say to
him, “If you can hop down, and be baptized, then we have a deal!!” I can’t tell
you why I didn’t catch that at first. I did know that something was wrong. It
simply didn’t align with my Spirit. It was like it was grieving me, but I just
couldn’t place my finger on what it was, at the time. I have written to you
that Jesus stands alone several times. Jesus plus nothing equals Salvation, and
Jesus plus anything else is heresy.
I am not sure why,
Holy Spirit took His time to reveal, that to me. However, I know everything He
does is for a good reason. Sometimes He works faster than other times. The
great thing is that He is always working!!
John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come,
he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Ain’t God good?
….Much Love
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