Grace and peace to you this week is my prayer, and I am sure that you will pray the same thing for me as well. My thoughts as I write this weekly letter to the people that I spend eternity in heaven with, is the beauty of the special gift God has given to each and every one of us; Free Will. I think it is interesting that even the angels were given Free Will, for the same reasons mankind has had Free Will given to them.
There is an age-old debate concerning Free Will and the conversation is never ending. How many remember the Encyclopedia Britannica? I don't have to conjure up some definition concerning Free Will, the Encyclopedia does this for us: "Free Will and moral responsibility, the problem of reconciling the belief that people are morally responsible for what they do with the apparent fact that humans do not have free will because their actions are causally determined. It is an ancient and enduring philosophical puzzle.
Historically, most proposed solutions to the problem of free will and moral responsibility have attempted to establish that humans do have free will. But what does free will consist of? When people make decisions or perform actions, they usually feel as though they are choosing or acting freely. A person may decide, for example, to buy apples instead of oranges, to vacation in France rather than in Italy, or to call a sister in Nebraska instead of a brother in Florida. On the other hand, there are at least some situations in which people seem not to act freely, as when they are physically coerced or mentally or emotionally manipulated. One way to formalize the intuitive idea of free action is to say that people act freely if it is true that they could have acted otherwise. Buying apples is ordinarily a free action because in ordinary circumstances one can buy oranges instead; nothing forces one to buy apples or prevents one from buying oranges."
Yes, when we speak of Free Will we need to remember that it is clear that even (lucifer) in leading angels of heaven in the mutiny was acting on his own recognizance.
I asked a few different groups of our younger congregation this question on the past Sunday. What is the most important scripture in the Bible, most answered John 3:16. Though it is important, it is not what I would think is the most important. Let me call your attention to Isaiah 14:13. Satan said, "I will." On the other hand, when Jesus came into the world, he said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." Hebrews 10:7. If anything we do is other than the will of God, it will cyclically take us away from the purpose of God for our lives.
Have you ever considered the five "I WILL's" of satan? Isaiah the prophet wrote this for us to see how the mutiny took place in heaven:
This is a picture of Covetousness, which according to the Word of God is idolatry. Colossians 3:5
The last "I Will" of the Mutineer is, "I Will be like the Most High." When you stop to think about it, there are some 400 titles to the Lord in the scripture. I would say that would have been a lofty quest.
The enemy of the purposes of God is revealed in Genesis 3:15, which I submit to you as the most important verse in the Bible:
This is where the long war began for the souls and lives of men and women. For a picture of true humility, follow me to Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 thru 11:
Let Christ be your example of humility.
5-11 Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high, and has given him the name beyond all names, so that at the name of Jesus "every knee shall bow", whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth. And that is why, in the end, "every tongue shall confess" that Jesus Christ" is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The adversary is always seeking a way for us to violate the law of God by disobedience to His Word. When I pray to the Lord, "LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION," I am surrendering my will to the will of the God of Heaven, which will lead me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. It is in this act of submission to His namesake that gives us victory over the deception of Eden's Snake. I end the letter today with, Psalms chapter 12:5,
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him."
I missed this one but there is more to it than what we may see at a glance. The American Standard Bible has it like this:
This is a great promise for this week. This is my story and I am sticking to it.
I believe in you,
Pastor Cleddie Keith
There is an age-old debate concerning Free Will and the conversation is never ending. How many remember the Encyclopedia Britannica? I don't have to conjure up some definition concerning Free Will, the Encyclopedia does this for us: "Free Will and moral responsibility, the problem of reconciling the belief that people are morally responsible for what they do with the apparent fact that humans do not have free will because their actions are causally determined. It is an ancient and enduring philosophical puzzle.
Historically, most proposed solutions to the problem of free will and moral responsibility have attempted to establish that humans do have free will. But what does free will consist of? When people make decisions or perform actions, they usually feel as though they are choosing or acting freely. A person may decide, for example, to buy apples instead of oranges, to vacation in France rather than in Italy, or to call a sister in Nebraska instead of a brother in Florida. On the other hand, there are at least some situations in which people seem not to act freely, as when they are physically coerced or mentally or emotionally manipulated. One way to formalize the intuitive idea of free action is to say that people act freely if it is true that they could have acted otherwise. Buying apples is ordinarily a free action because in ordinary circumstances one can buy oranges instead; nothing forces one to buy apples or prevents one from buying oranges."
Yes, when we speak of Free Will we need to remember that it is clear that even (lucifer) in leading angels of heaven in the mutiny was acting on his own recognizance.
I asked a few different groups of our younger congregation this question on the past Sunday. What is the most important scripture in the Bible, most answered John 3:16. Though it is important, it is not what I would think is the most important. Let me call your attention to Isaiah 14:13. Satan said, "I will." On the other hand, when Jesus came into the world, he said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God." Hebrews 10:7. If anything we do is other than the will of God, it will cyclically take us away from the purpose of God for our lives.
Have you ever considered the five "I WILL's" of satan? Isaiah the prophet wrote this for us to see how the mutiny took place in heaven:
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!
how art thou cut down to the ground, which weakened the nations!
For thou hast said in your heart, I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God:
I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
This is a picture of Covetousness, which according to the Word of God is idolatry. Colossians 3:5
The last "I Will" of the Mutineer is, "I Will be like the Most High." When you stop to think about it, there are some 400 titles to the Lord in the scripture. I would say that would have been a lofty quest.
The enemy of the purposes of God is revealed in Genesis 3:15, which I submit to you as the most important verse in the Bible:
And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
This is where the long war began for the souls and lives of men and women. For a picture of true humility, follow me to Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 thru 11:
Let Christ be your example of humility.
5-11 Let Christ himself be your example as to what your attitude should be. For he, who had always been God by nature, did not cling to his prerogatives as God's equal, but stripped himself of all privilege by consenting to be a slave by nature and being born as mortal man. And, having become man, he humbled himself by living a life of utter obedience, even to the extent of dying, and the death he died was the death of a common criminal. That is why God has now lifted him so high, and has given him the name beyond all names, so that at the name of Jesus "every knee shall bow", whether in Heaven or earth or under the earth. And that is why, in the end, "every tongue shall confess" that Jesus Christ" is the Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
The adversary is always seeking a way for us to violate the law of God by disobedience to His Word. When I pray to the Lord, "LEAD ME NOT INTO TEMPTATION," I am surrendering my will to the will of the God of Heaven, which will lead me in the paths of righteousness for His name sake. It is in this act of submission to His namesake that gives us victory over the deception of Eden's Snake. I end the letter today with, Psalms chapter 12:5,
"For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, now will I arise," says the Lord; "I will set him in safety from him that puffeth at him."
I missed this one but there is more to it than what we may see at a glance. The American Standard Bible has it like this:
"Because the poor are despoiled, because the needy groan, I will now arise," says the Lord; "I will place him in the safety for which he longs."
This is a great promise for this week. This is my story and I am sticking to it.
I believe in you,
Pastor Cleddie Keith