#3—There is No Destiny

Fred R. Coulter

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We finished in part 2 that God is a liar, and I want to—before we get to the next one that there is no destiny—finish up a little bit on #2 that Satan claims that God is liar, and especially mention: What does a liar always do? The liar always accuses someone else of exactly what he is doing! We know that Satan is a liar and 'the father of it.' So, he says that God is a liar, and one of the way that he does it is this:

p 31-34—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies:

…as he said to Eve, he now says to this world in a thousand ways, "God's Word is not true; don't believe Him; believe me."

I heard someone tell me that 'the Bible is not for our time. The Bible was for those people back there, but they're old, they're ancient, they're gone. It's not for today.' Perfect alibi, perfect excuse.

Our generation, perhaps more than most, has seen the activity of Satan as he attempts to promote his second cardinal doctrine in many impressive ways. The person who would believe the Bible is pressed upon by many subversive voices that would beguile him into accepting some foundation for truth other than Scripture.

Dr. D. James Kennedy PhD, put out a nice booklet: Remember the Sabbath—which means keep Sunday. Nice Protestant.

Indeed, the Bible itself has been attacked in this century such as never before.

That's sure true! God's Word is not true. Bible scholars say this is wrong, that is wrong, a collection and writing of men. Doesn't mean a thing. We don't have any ancient manuscripts to prove it.

What happened? They found some years ago in the Holy Land the Dead Sea Scrolls! It's interesting how they found it. I won't go into all of it. But God is never without a witness. One thing that the Jews have done since taking over the Holy Land and all the archeology and all the excavations, they are proving to the jot, to the tittle, to the letter, to the location, to the proclamation in the Bible everything in the Old Testament is true.

Even some people have gone so far as to say, 'Well, in Moses' day they didn't know how to write; so Moses' didn't write this.' What did they find in the Dead Sea Scrolls in the Caves of Cumron? The found a scroll of the book of Isaiah that goes back to around 600B.C.! Guess what the book of Isaiah had in it? Word for word everything that is in the book of Isaiah today!

Since this century that has been done, to attack the Bible and discredit it, God has done everything to show that His Word is true and those men are false. It talks about German rationalism, and a lot people don't understand that a lot of the German rationalism was Jewish rationalism in Germany. Then he says:

…One after another, the major denominations of that day… [at the turn of the century] …were subverted by the higher critical point of view, leaving… [rejecting] …the view that the Bible is the inspired word of God and giving the right of critical judgment to the reason of men. For them, reason superseded revelation, and the Word of God could not longer be trusted.

And that's what people say today—isn't it? You can't trust the Word of God today. After they say, 'we're getting better and better in every way and every day…'

Last night I got up and went over to turn off the TV because it was left on. So, here is this young teenaged kid coming out of a shower—in the shower he had his hair all plastered straight up—and has his head wrapped in a towel, and a towel around his waist. He's walking down in front of the camera and he says, 'I believe in myself!' After reading this book, I thought, 'Isn't this fantastic? He believes in himself!' It's gotten to the point to where—10-15 years ago—they proclaimed that God was dead. They even had the 'Requiem Mass' for the death of God! Back in 70-something.

[Liberal theology today results in] …Christian-Marxist hybrid that some say bridges the gap between Christianity and Marxism.

That has hit the Catholic Church harder than anything else.

[And] the message of Christianity promises economic instead of spiritual liberation. Christ becomes a social revolutionary instead of a Savior.

Corrupt theology has also produced a corrupt "new morality." This religious establishment has produced the most godless concepts and anti-Christian philosophies imaginable to man. Church groups are now declaring that trial marriage is a legitimate involvement….

…The list seems endless of the false points of view taken by some factions of our present religious establishment. When one rejects the final authority of the Word of God, he begins a process of corruption whereby his whole thought structure becomes a vast delusion.

Virtually all of the problems of our present age have come because we have turned from the truth of revelation to the sinking sand of mere human philosophy. Every psychiatric clinic, every automobile accident, and every graveyard testify to us that human reason is neither infallible nor eternal. Despite the obvious untrustworthiness of human reason, Satan still continues successfully to advance his argument that it is possible to place final trust in something else beside the Word of God. We must turn from the voice of Satan to the careful study of the Bible. A knowledge of the Bible is our best protection against the wiles of the devil.

What does the Bible say about the human mind?

• Deceitful above all things (Jer. 17:9)!
• Desperately wicked!
• The way that seems right to a man, the ends thereof are the ways of death!
• Enmity against God!
• The carnal mind is an enemy of God!
• The human mind is an enemy of God!

Therefore, it's impossible for human logic to reason itself to a correct understanding of God.

If you had the ability, logically human, to reason your way to God, who does the calling? We do! Man does because he finds God instead of God finding him! Let's see what an ally this human mind is. And it seems oh so right! God let's us get ourselves into situations—doesn't He? Yes, He does! Here is what's inside, so when you rely just on you:

Mark 7:21: "For from within, out of the hearts of men, go forth evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickednesses, guile, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evils go forth from within, and these defile a man" (vs 21-23). That's what happens when we rely on just our own human logic. That's what we eventually are going to come up with. No way around it.
When you and I sin, we kind of know it's not right to do, we really know it's not right to do, what do we do? We justify it! We figure some way around it so that we can live with ourselves. Thankfully, the Bible promises that if you're any otherwise minded, God will reveal this even to you; so He reaches down and pulls you back.

We do well to establish early in our lives the conviction that the Word of God, as against any alternative voice, will be our final authority….

…Our old enemy, the devil, can twist any other human argument into a new basis for his hellish corruption.

If you watch Crossfire, there's Buchanan on the right and this other fellow on the left. They were talking to representative Danameyer. He was saying that with Barney Frank—the most corrupt, perverted homosexual representative that we have sitting in the House of Representatives today; who—in his own home—ran a prostitution ring for homosexuals—'Look if this guy had committed murder he wouldn't be there.' He's wanting to get him expelled, but everyone else is saying, 'Oh, we ought not do that, so what we're going to do is censure him.'

Danameyer is saying that he should be expelled. He said that if a conservative politician was out committing adultery with a woman, the liberal media would have drummed him out long ago. So, here comes the argument:

The fellow on the left—on the Crossfire program—is saying, 'Are you saying that every man who has ever committed any kind of homosexual act should be forbidden from being elected to the House of Representatives and should be expelled?' That isn't what Danameyer said. But it shows the thinking that happens when you start following along Satan's way.

We must allow him to twist the Word of God or cause us to believe that Scripture is no longer a solid foundation on which to build our lives. Any person who follows the leading of anything apart from the clear and final truth of the Word of God is believing and committing himself to the devil's doctrine.

That happened so much in Worldwide Church of God. Don't anyone think that I'm saying that the devil took over the Church. I don't think he took over the Church, but I think that as David was moved by Satan to do something he shouldn't have done, there were things done in Worldwide Church of God where people were moved to do things that they should not have done, and thereby satanic doctrines took hold. That's exactly what happened.

He is rejecting the true doctrine of Jesus Christ. We will surely then sin against God unless we are protected by both a knowledge of and a commitment to the Truth of the Scriptures….

…God said, "The way of the transgressor is hard" (Prov. 13:15)….Every person who rejects the Bible and attempts to live without Christ is a fool, subverted by the second doctrine of his infernal majesty.

Let's see one of the reason why God is putting all human beings through this exercise, as it is, this tribulation as Solomon said in the book of Ecclesiastes the final end result is going to be:

Revelation 21:8: "But the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death."

Verse 27: "And nothing that defiles shall ever enter into it, nor shall anyone who practices an abomination or devises a lie; but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of Life."

There is No Destiny

That there is no purpose in human life. That becomes very destructive in so many, many ways. Here's the way that the author of Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies, Dave Breese personalized the conversation with Eve; Satan speaking to Eve:

p 25—"Now Eve, let's face it. You are so small and God is so big that there's no way you will ever be anything more than a pathetic little pygmy in His sight. He obviously made you in this limited fashion because He wants some little automatons who will always do His bidding. You and Adam will never be more than God's little slaves. It's time to strike out on your own, Eve, the name of the game is autonomy.

"Eve, God knows that if you eat of this fruit, you will be like a god. That's is why He told you not to eat it. I promise you, Eve, that God never will bring you anywhere near His level, and so you had better take matters into your own hands. Assert yourself! Take a bite of this fruit. Not only will you not die, but you will be like a god. You will know what it's all about by your own experiences and knowledge!"

Isn't that what people say today. How will you know unless you try it? That's what is used by young people today against their parents. Their parents try to tell something. 'Oh, well, you know that's for you old fogies. How am I going to know unless I try it?' How many lives have been ruined because a young girl comes home and she's 'madly in love'—this puppy love—is just so fantastic. Everyone knows it: her mother tells her, her dad tells her, but 'mom, how will I know?' That happened with my own sister. 'If I can't marry him, I'll run away and marry him.'

"…Take a bite of this fruit. Not only will you not die, but you will be like a god. You will know what it's all about by your own experiences and knowledge! It will put you on a level with Him. Take some, and give some to Adam to eat, and you are on the road to destiny. We can make a plan for your life, Eve, that will make God's little diagram look like peanuts."

Very cleverly written, but oh so true! In that statement, Satan is establishing the suggestion to Eve that she take matters into her own hands.

…He convinces her that she must take a shortcut to personal realization.

Isn't that the whole key of what this New Age thing is about? Personal self realization!

The question of Divine destiny is an important one for Satan. He has made it a point of his doctrine to deny this.

That leads to all kinds of things. We know that there is a tremendous and fantastic destiny that God has for us. Let's see what some of those things are. This man does believe that we will be the sons of God. In the light of what we know this really takes on a tremendous meaning:

Hebrews 2:1: "For this reason, it is imperative that we give much greater attention to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should slip away."

• God's Word is true!
• God's Word is eternal!
• God's Word is spiritual!
• God's Word is never going to go away!

It won't 'slip away,' but we can slip away.

Verse 2: "For if the word spoken by angels was enforced without fail, and every transgression and disobedience received just recompense, how shall we escape, if we have neglected so great a salvation; which was first received when it was spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him; God also bearing witness with them by both signs and wonders, and various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will?" (vs 2-4). That's was something!
Everyone knew that God began the Church at the temple. Why did God begin the Church at the temple on the Day of Pentecost? Everyone knew that the temple was the Temple of God, undoubtedly the Temple of God—no question! What if He would have started it in, say, Jackson Hole, Wyoming—whatever it may have been called then? Here come the disciples trooping on over to Jerusalem saying that 'we have a revelation from God.' What would they say?

God in His Bible has shown that He has placed His name here at Jerusalem. That's why He started the Church there and started it at the temple, because there was no other place that God could have started it, to give the authority to the Church that He needed to give. The only thing the priests and the scribes didn't like is that He didn't choose them! He chose fishermen and planted them up there on the Day of Pentecost in power and strength, and all the signs and wonders. This verse here is just a review of all the things in the book of Acts. That's why He started His church there.

Verse 5: "For it is not to the angels that He has placed in subjection the world that is to come, of which we are speaking. But in a certain place one fully testified, saying, 'What is man… [Think on that!] …that You are mindful of him, or the son of man, that You visit him?'" (vs 5-6). God has a great purpose for us! God has not created us to be little automaton slaves. What happens every time Satan gets a hold of something? What does he do to people? He turns them into automaton slaves! Witness the Soviet Union, the whole Communist way. Witness those who get into the clutches of Satan with drugs. They're automaton slaves to those drugs.

Again, he accuses God of what he [Satan] does! But God is mindful of us. He visited us! When we understand and put that together with what Jesus Christ did, that is absolutely fantastic.

I was thinking on that; when I drive to services I generally listen to sermons that I've done in the past. I listen to them so that I know what I've said. I listen to them to know what I should have said and didn't say—there's a lot of that, too. I don't listen to them to see 'how good I am' because that's neither here nor there—it's the Word of God! That doesn't mean a thing! All that would be is nothing but vanity and stupidity, and I've got enough of that without having to heap that on top of it.

What a fantastic thing that God has done that for all human kind. He says that He doesn't even want to lose one! Even when He prayed, He said, 'I haven't lost one, except the son of perdition that the Scripture can be fulfilled'—indicating that He didn't even want to lose that one, but the Scripture had to be fulfilled. That shows you how tremendous we are in God's sight. Not because we're anything great, but because God is!

Verse 7: "'You did make him a little lower than the angels; You did crown him with glory and honor, and You did set him over the works of Your hands; You did put all things in subjection under his feet.' For in subjecting all things to him, He left nothing that was not subjected to him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone; because it was fitting for Him, for Whom all things were created, and by Whom all things exist, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings" (vs 7-10).

That is a tremendous thing that God has done for us. I mean, just in the human realm. Go back and think: Just in the human realm God has given this entire world to all of mankind!

And this world, as it is—remove the rottenness of human kind—it is fantastic, it is wonderful, it is absolutely marvelous beyond description. God made that, and He said, 'Here, you've got the whole world, I put it all in your hands.' Talk about a generous gift of that magnitude. Just think if He did that for Adam and Eve, gave them the world, just think when we become the sons of God what it is that God is going to do for us.

There is a tremendous and fantastic destiny for us, and if we try and figure it all out by our little ole puny miserable microscopic brain, then we're going to miss the whole point. God has to reveal it!

1-Corinthians 2:9: "But according as it is written, 'The eye has not seen…'" Look at all the beauty in this world and everything that God has made, whether it be micro (small), macro (great) out in the universe. We still have not seen the greatness of what God is going to give to us.

"'…nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'" (v 9). I suppose with that one verse we could start 50 sermons. There are two verses that you could almost start a sermon with for an entire year. John 14:6, where Jesus said, 'I am the Way, the Truth and the Life' and this one here, "…'The eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.'"

You could almost give a sermon every week starting out with that one Scripture and not have the same sermon. It is absolutely fantastic what God has done.
Stephen got back from camp and he was telling his friend that the Bible says we're going to be like God, but he couldn't find it. So, the first thing he asked me when I picked him up was 'where is it?' and that he wanted a New King James Version of the Bible, and I said we would go get it. He said that one of things that bothered him growing up in the Church was that he always had a King James Version and when I would read a Scripture it wasn't what it said in the old KJV.

1-John 3: "Behold! What glorious love the Father has given to us, that we should be called the children of God!…." That's why Satan does not want people to know that there is any destiny. Satan knows that to become the very sons of God is absolutely fantastic beyond anything we can think of, but he knows! That's a tremendous amount of love that God has bestowed upon us, given to us, poured out upon us—that we should be called the sons of God!

"…For this very reason, the world does not know us…" They don't understand us; the world doesn't understand us. Why should we do the things that we do? They don't understand that! Why should you never work on Saturday? They don't understand that! After all:

• that's when most people make money.
• that's when most homes are sold.
• that's when the greatest bargains are.
• How could you go to Church and not go and take advantage of that tremendous sale?
• I can't understand why you are against Christmas; it's such a lovely time.

One of the ten lies of Satan, changed a little bit; make it good. After all:

• everyone wants to have a good time
• everyone wants to get together
• everyone wants something new

Even if you don't want something new, you've got to because every once in a while it wears out. Let's make it fun.

• After all, these pagans over here, it wasn't too bad for that tree, and those things are pretty anyway.

Those are sex symbols on the Christmas tree!

• Who ever told you that?
• What's wrong with it?

I'm sure I don't have to convince you what's wrong with it, but it's another one of those things to lead people away from the destiny of God. Do you think that this world would follow along and do the things that they are doing if they understood that through Christ they could be the very sons of God? What did it say in 1-Cor. 2? For had the princes of this world known the plan of God, they would not have crucified our Lord!

• The world doesn't know us!
• The world doesn't understand us!

"…because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are the children of God…" (vs 1-2)—because we have God's Holy Spirit we are the sons of God. Though we're not yet born into that kingdom, because Rom. 8 tells us that 'God calls the things that are not as though they are.' That's how sure that God is that we're going to be there! That's tremendous! That makes goose-bumps stand up and down on the back of my neck!

Verse 2: "Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be; but we know that when He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him exactly as He is." That is a tremendous, fantastic, marvelous, absolutely glorious promise of God! If there's anyone who comes along and says anything about the destiny that God has for us—to try and deride it—don't believe it!

Here is what Jesus Christ looks like, and we will see Him as He is, for we shall be like Him. I'm sure lesser in glory, but no less in power. But we're still going to be the very sons of God with a tremendous destiny.

Revelation 1:13: "And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like the Son of man, clothed in a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the chest with a golden breastplate. And His head and hair were like white wool, white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; and His feet were like fine brass, as if they glowed in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters. And in His right hand He had seven stars, and a sharp two-edged sword… [the Word of God (Rev. 19)] …went out of His mouth, and His countenance… [His whole visage] …was as the sun shining in its full power" (vs 13-16).

That's a little different from being a little pip-squeak slave pawn like Satan would like people to believe. That destiny is absolutely overwhelming.

(go to the next tract)

p 37—Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies

The Bible teaches a most exalted purpose for which God created man. This purpose is to become like God Himself…

There are very few theologians who really know that. A lot of them say that that's the lie that Satan told Eve. If you say that your destiny is to become like God, you are believing Satan's lies. So, he's covered his base on both ends.

…to partake in His uncreated and eternal life, and to share with Him the rulership of the universe.
Inherited all things is what it says of Jesus. Then in Rom. 8 we shall also do the same thing. That's why it's so fantastic.

Romans 8:14: "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. Now, you have not received a spirit of bondage again unto fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship, whereby we call out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit itself bears witness conjointly with our own spirit, testifying that we are the children of God. Now, if we are children, we are also heirs—truly, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer together with Him, so that we may also be glorified together with Him. For I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us" (vs 14-18). There again is that destiny. Absolutely fantastic!

We think about the things that happen to us. When you compare what God has for us, we're going to look back on all these sufferings that we've all had, that we've all gone through, as nothing! As kind of a little blip on the horizon to get where God wants us to go. There isn't anything that we can compare to it.

Sin entered the world because Satan was able to cause Eve to forget temporarily the doctrine of Divine destiny. She temporarily believed the anti-truth that God had no purpose for her life….

There are millions of people out there today that walk around and have absolutely no purpose in anything. Nothing! Nothing satisfies! They're driven here and driven there and try this and that, and do this and that, and nothing ever satisfies. They're empty and hollow. That's what happens when they get all glamorized and glorified with Hollywood. It all is a fake! It all is a lie!

Having succeeded in such fine fashion with Eve, Satan—we may be sure—will continue to push his argument that Divine destiny is  nonexistent abstraction, while reality is the immediate circle of fulfillments available in this present moment.

Then we have this great philosophy of 'do it now.'

p 38—…"Do it now! Live now!" is the rallying cry of this day and hour. The gospel that presents a hope for eternity sounds like a pleasant but impractical abstraction to the deaf ears of our now-oriented generation.

Christianity has been changed and he says this about it, after hearing a hymn:

…I realized then that much of our music, teaching and preaching has to do with the relevance of Christianity to this present moment. We hear a lot about involvement in society, keeping up with our changing times, being sensitive to political, racial and social problems and a host of other contemporary themes.

So, the new gospel is The Kingdom of God is now! There's a whole group that believe that if we elect 'Christians' into office that we will bring the Kingdom of God now. They ought to read the history of Cromwell.

Cromwell was a tremendous general. He ousted the king for taxing what he shouldn't, and putting the authority of the king over the authority of the Word of God. So, Cromwell, with a few hundred men defeated thousands upon thousands of the king's soldiers at every turn, at every battle. He captured the king and the king said, 'Okay, I repent, we won't do that.' The king went back on his word; Cromwell again defeated the king and captured him and caused his head to be cut off. Cromwell abolished parliament and setup his own parliament—all Christian ministers.

They abolished Christmas, so that tells you what Cromwell really believed. And you know what happened? They couldn't bring the Kingdom of God to England! So, there isn't anything, no movement today that's going to bring the Kingdom of God here now, or the fulfillment of the Scripture right now, because this is not God's world, this is Satan's world.

So, the whole thing is do it now, and it is called presentism! What does the Bible say about this present world today? It is called 'this present evil world!'

p 40—But the most important application of this satanic doctrine is to our personal lives. Each person who believes more in the fulfillments of the present that in the eternal purpose of God in his life has been subverted by this third satanic doctrine [that there is no destiny].

Another implication of the devil's third doctrine that can become a valuable lesson to each of us is the suggestion that experience "knowing good and evil" refers to knowing by experience. He is saying to Eve that she will know by experience good and evil; she will become as God.

But has experience ever taught human beings anything. Look at the wars that we've had. What was WWI? The war to end all wars! What was WWII? The war to save democracy! So, we ended up with Communism taking over half the world.
Now Satan's next great thing is going come. I predict that the Germans are going to come on so good, so absolutely overwhelming in their concern for Europe. They know they have it conquered, so they don't have to conquer it. They are going to lead all of Europe into a restoration of the greatest civilization that has ever been. I predict that's exactly how they're going to do it. 'We are no more barbarous. We are no more evil. We are good. We have learned from the war. We have learned. We apologize to all of the Jews. We give them reparations.' Then they will take control of that whole 35-European nation summit. Eventually, they'll take control of that and they will have everything in their hands.

p 41—A further implication… [of the old story 'don't knock it until you've tried it'] …that can also add to our moral understanding is that there is a valid shortcut to fulfillment, to destiny. The implied promise of eating the forbidden fruit was that Eve would become instantly wise, mature, Godlike and self-realized.

Isn't that exactly what we have today? This is the instant generation! I mean, if you can't have it now, instantly, when you want it, you demand! People do! You do and I do! Do you have enough patience to stand in line at the post office to buy three stamps and wait 45 minutes? I don't! Everything is instant! Especially with kids when it comes to food. 'Now!' That's got to cook. 'I'm hungry; I'm starving to death!' How come it takes so long? Same way with growing up.

There are few greater lies that Satan is able to pass into naïve hearts than the lie that there is a shortcut to maturity or destiny.

And a shortcut to riches. Take it now! Do it now! Breese says that the church is doing the same thing. 'have it now, do it now, the blessings now.' There are a lot of people taken in to that. If you have one tremendous speaking in tongues thing, you're saved forever and there's nothing else that matters.

p 42—The process of maturing that prepares us for our eternal and heavenly responsibilities involves suffering, rejection, persecution, complex moral decisions, study, prayer, tireless labor, successes, failures, and the chastening of God. No message is more cruel to preach to the new Christian than the idea that there is an instant, giant step to maturity that comes through some unique involvement or experience.

I have a very interesting situation. I have a loan officer that works for me. He's divorced, but he found 'the love of his life.' They're living together. He still has kind of a conscience. So, here's this bifurcation, this double-minded thing that happens to human beings. He knows I'm a minister, but he knows I haven't beat on him for anything.

I told him a little bit about the AIDS thing, and that I've got that on a video. He said, 'Can I see it?' and I said, 'Sure.' He took it home and also the other one Was Jesus God? He watched them and called at 3-o'clock in the morning. He was so excited about it. I saw him the other day and he said, 'Boy, you really hammer on a guy's conscience. Just like you said, there are a lot of things you don't like to hear. But it was good, and you're right. Yeah, and I've got to give up this smoking, too.'

Anyway, I guess it's getting to him because he asked if I would marry them. I said, 'Sure, I'll marry you.' God always provides a way out, but I'm also going to make sure that if that's what they really want that there's no way out for them. Let's not have any of this instant gratification, instant marriage, instant happiness, instant divorce, instant this, instant that—whatever you want, do it now.

But this is a tough message to say, 'You want to be a Christian?' It's easy to say you'll be happy, it'll be wonderful, it'll be successful, you'll make a ton of money, everyone will look up to you as the most popular, wonderful thing around.' NO! Jesus said, 'If any comes to Me and hate not his father and mother, his brother and sister, his wife, and lands also—he cannot be My disciple.' and 'No one can come to Me unless he hates his own life and takes up his cross and follows after Me.'

God gives us strength as we go along. It would be very difficult for a newly baptized person if right after the laying on of hands we told the newly baptized person:

We guarantee you a life that will take time to work at for the process of maturing that prepares you for eternal and heavenly responsibility. You're going to suffer. You're going to be rejected. You will be persecuted. You will complex moral decisions to make. You will have to study. You will have to pray. There will be tireless labor. There will be successes; there will be failures. And furthermore, in addition to being chased down by the devil, you're going to be chastised by God.

Thanks for such a friendly future, friend. That's the way it is. That's why God does not deal with us that way. When did God let us go through the things we've gone through? After we were strong enough through Christ to do it! God doesn't lay upon us anything more than we're able to take. With that he gives a way of escape.

Paul believed no such delusion [of instant maturity]. Speaking of his own situation, he says, "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect (mature), but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus" (Philip. 3:12). Christian sanctification comes to us in a positional sense instantly and totally when we receive Christ. Progressive sanctification is a daily and laborious task and will not and cannot be fulfilled so long as we live in a sinful world.

Tremendous insight—isn't it? This in itself gives us courage to see what's going on. This in itself gives us—with the love of God—the ability to go through these things, and to see on the other side. That's why Christ suffered the way that He suffered.

That is indeed the way God has ordained it. Earth is like a university, and our course of study will never be complete so long as we live on this campus….

Very good way to put it.

…The moment a person believes that he has achieved an exalted plane in life, at that moment, the evil one has successfully cut off the educational process that alone can perfect real holiness in life.

I remember one minister foolishly saying that 'I have been in the Church so long and have had so many experiences that Satan is not even interested in me.' KABOOM! That was self-exaltation and the Bible says that 'haughtiness comes before a fall.'

How many millions of Christians have been fixed in a state of tragic immaturity because they have believe a doctrine of instant perfection that has no basis in Scripture?

I remember talking to a woman one time who was talking to another woman—who was a Baptist—and she said that she was 'saved, she accepted the Lord'—once saved, always saved—and that 'if you're born again you cannot sin.' He who is born of God cannot sin! 'Therefore, anything I do is not sin, and when the Lord comes, the rapture comes, I will be caught up in the air to meet Christ in the air.'

The woman looked at her and said, 'Do you mean that would happen if you were right in the middle of committing adultery?' She said yes! There are millions of people who believe that doctrine; that salvation is now instant and it's perfected. How then can we grow in grace and knowledge?

p 43—Finally, the doctrine that the pursuit of God is a pointless errand has been the great inhibition to Christian evangelism. Of those who neglect or refuse to receive Christ as their Savior, the largest portion do so because they believe that the way to fulfillment is along another road. They pursue business achievements, personal pleasure, prestige, or other forms of human accomplishment as the path to success as they perceive it. Each individual who is not a Christian believes that there is a more valuable course to follow in life than the spiritual one.

Millions in their spiritual blindness believe the satanic doctrine that there is another path to destiny beside receiving Christ as Savior and growing in the Christian life. Satan makes the world appear to present great promise, but once again, this is a promise that cannot be fulfilled. He promises, but he does not perform.

Despite this lack of performance, people continue to believe that the path to destiny… [or to riches, fame or whatever] …is in some other direction beside God. Deciding against the will of God for their lives, they move into wasted years and a lost eternity.

They discover too late that the only purpose worth pursuing was the exciting plan that God has for their life. To believe any other point of view is to be subverted by a satanic doctrine [that there is no destiny].

Of course, there are many different ones who have a shortened version of that destiny.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in its Original Order, a Faithful Version by Fred R. Coulter

Scriptural References:

• Mark 7:21-23
• Revelation 21:8, 27
• Hebrews 2:1-10
• 1 Corinthians 2:9
• 1 John 3:1-2
• Revelation 1:13-16
• Romans 8:14-18

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Jeremiah 17:9
• John 14:6
• Revelation 19

Also referenced: Book:
Satan's Ten Most Believable Lies by Dave Breese

FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1-17-13