TILL YOUR DYING DAY THIS SIN WILL NOT BE ATONED FOR…

Hello beloved,

“The LORD Almighty has revealed this in my hearing: ‘Till your dying day this sin will not be atoned for,’ says the Lord, the LORD Almighty.” – Isaiah 22:14

God revealed, to Isaiah, a sin that Israel had committed against God, which would not be atoned for. We have to ask ourselves, “What is that sin?” If you go to the beginning of this chapter, and put this verse in context, you will find what that sin is. And it is not just found in chapter 22, but this sin is confronted many times in the book of Isaiah. An important note, before reading this, would be that God was not dealing with personal salvation, but the salvation of a nation.

At the beginning of this chapter, you will find that the Southern Kingdom(Judah) is in much distress. Isaiah was prophesying about the time when Jerusalem was being defeated by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The entire city was in great distress. They realized, for perhaps the first time, that they were not the invincible machine they thought they were.

We also see that this is not a happy day for the Lord(v. 4). It is never a happy day for God when He has to bring His hand of judgment down on His people. But the Lord is very clear, in this passage, that He is sending “the destruction of my people.” You see, they had been warned over and over by His prophets, yet His people would not repent. They had ears but could not hear; and eyes but could not see(Is. 42:20).

In chapter 22, verses 8-11, you see that the people trusted in their own way of deliverance, completely ignoring the Lord when He called on them to weep and to wail, to tear out their hair and put on sackcloth(v. 12). But, they would have none of that. They relied on their own strength to deliver themselves. And, beloved, that is the sin that would not be atoned for. They would not listen to the Lord calling them to repent. Instead, over and over, they turned to Egypt or Assyria for help. They relied on anybody but God! Are you seeing any parallels to our nation today, beloved?

So, in the midst of God’s judgment, the people devised their own plan of salvation. They completely ignored the fact that God sends His judgments upon the earth, so that “the people of the world learn righteousness.” (Isaiah 26:9b) Is that not exactly what we are doing in America right now? I can see that it is no coincidence that God is taking me through Isaiah right now. Over and over, I’ve read of a people who go to Egypt, “that splintered reed of a staff” (36:6), for help. Or, they rely on the king of Assyria, Tiglath-Pileser, to save them from the coming judgment(2 Ch. 28, 2 Ki 16). I couldn’t help but to think that if they had studied the word of God, such as Deuteronomy 28, they would realize that they had brought these judgments upon themselves. And then, they would just need to do what Solomon said to do, in 2 Chronicles 7:14, in order to find redemption and salvation. But, then, I realized that these people did know the truth; but they rejected it. They rejected His prophets. Therefore, they rejected God. And know this; the only sin God can’t forgive is the sin that is not confessed. These people were not going to confess and they were not going to find the salvation of God.

Now, ask yourself, “Can this be applied to our nation today?” A better question would be, “How could we not apply this to our nation today?” Beloved, all around us we see the medial judgments of God. Gas prices are soaring, causing food prices to soar; the housing market is falling; the banks are falling; natural disasters are much more frequently disastrous than ever before; our enemies are mocking us; the dollar and stock market are falling continually; women are ruling(Is. 3:12); homosexuals are one of the most influential voices in this nation today; and now we see a Presidential candidate, in Barack Obama, unlike any we have ever seen. God is shaking us to the core, yet I fear that we have seen only the tip of the iceberg. I believe that this once great nation is facing perilous times, the likes of which we have never seen. Beloved, God is sending us a message. We have sinned greatly against the God of heaven and earth. He is calling us to repent. (Isaiah 30:15) But, will we hear it?

We can look to no man(or woman) to rescue us. We have made God our enemy. Our only hope is in turning to the Lord in repentance.

I can’t say that I don’t, somewhat, understand the logic of many who are putting their faith in the McCain/Palin ticket. Isaiah probably would have sympathized, somewhat, as well. At one point, during Isaiah’s ministry, it would seem that he was tempted to go with the leaders of Israel who were trying to ally themselves with Assyria to rescue them. Look at Isaiah 8:11-13, “The LORD spoke to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people. He said: “Do not call conspiracy everything that these people call conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it. The LORD Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread,” It seems as though Isaiah was tempted to “go with the flow”. Yet God made it clear to him that He is the One Isaiah was to fear and dread. Many wonderful Christians today are wanting to “go with the flow”, but God is saying, “I am the One you are to fear.” Isaiah came to this realization, in verse seventeen, “I will wait for the LORD, who is hiding his face from the house of Jacob. I will put my trust in him.” Isaiah had ears to hear and put his trust in the Lord. The question is, “Do we have ears to ear? Are we going to trust in God? Or are we going to rely on the Republican party to save us?”

In closing, I would like to quickly visit Isaiah 30; which is Isaiah’s prophecy against that “obstinate nation”. In verse one, we see the obstinate(rebellious) nation carrying out plans that were not the Lord’s plans. They were forming alliances that were not by His Spirit. This, He called “heaping sin upon sin”. Are we not heaping sin upon sin when we ally ourselves with the Republican Party? The Republican Party is not a friend of God, and we are simply carrying out plans that are not His.

In verse two, He confronts them for going down to Egypt without consulting Him; seeking protection from Pharaoh. We, too, are putting our faith in a Pharaoh; it’s called the Republican Party, or might I say, “Rahab the Do-Nothing(v. 7)”.

The rest of this chapter breaks my heart; especially after attending an Obama rally (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsE5rlvMRpw), in downtown Charlotte, this past Sunday. I saw a rebellious people, deceitful children, who would hear nothing of what we had to say. A people that say they are all about love and tolerance were gnashing at the teeth. With their response to the message, they were saying the same things as this rebellious people Isaiah spoke of, “They say to the seers, ‘See no more visions!’ and to the prophets, Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” (Isaiah 30:10-11) That was exactly the attitude of most of the people we met at the Obama rally. They did not want to be confronted with the Holy One of Israel.

It broke my heart to see a people that were so blind and deaf to the truth of God’s word. Though I was stricken deeply with sadness, as I saw the attitude of these professing Christians, I am even more saddened as I look at what we call “fundamental Christians”. For, I am seeing much of the same. Oh, not at all am I seeing the hatred I saw in the Obama crowd, but I do see a people unwilling to even entertain the idea that God just might be saying something different then what they think. It breaks my heart, for many have made up their minds and are not willing to change. They are relying on the Republican Party to save them from the judgment of God.

If that’s you, beloved, please soften your heart. Read Isaiah before this upcoming election. Don’t listen to all of these political consultants, but please listen to the word of God(Is. 8:19-20). You must put God first. Stand firm in your faith. For, as Isaiah says in 7:9b, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Don’t you want to be standing for righteousness when God’s judgment comes? He’s not going to worry about who gets elected. No, God is going to be concerned with whether or not you stood for righteousness. He is looking for faith in His people(Luke 18:8).

Just remember this beloved; our enemy is not, solely, Barack Obama or the Democratic Party. It’s hard to even write the words, but, in this nation, we have made God, Himself, into our enemy. There is no alliance we can make to rescue us from His mighty hand of judgment. Our only hope is found in Isaiah 30:15, “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,”. That’s not the end of that verse, though. The verse ends with, “but you would have none of it.” I only hope it doesn’t end that way for us.

In Christ, I love you all,
Adam Tennant

P.S. I want to make it clear, again, that personal salvation is not being dealt with in these passages, and neither does this article address personal salvation. God is desiring to save our nation, but He can’t save us unless we repent. We can blame the ACLU, the Democrats, and many more; but we must first point the finger at ourselves. We, as a Church, need to repent; and we, as a nation, need to repent. So, please do not interpret this message as saying that you are not a Christian if you vote one way or the other. Your personal salvation lies in your repentance and faith in Jesus Christ, period.

EXAMINE YOURSELVES…

This was written in September of 2008.

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 3:5)

Hello beloved,

The above scripture is one that most of the Church today has chosen to shy away from. Instead of being taught that we should examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith, we are taught that, if at some point we asked Jesus into our hearts, we never need to test ourselves again. “Just look back at that day you said that prayer and tell the devil to stop making you feel guilty.” Beloved, I would submit to you that this is simply not true.

What the Church needs today, more than anything, is a large dose of self-examination and repentance. If the Church today would do more self-examinations and less false proclamations, we would not be in the moral down-slide we are in. What a travesty, not only that professing Christians would vote for a man like Barack Obama, but that they would vote for “the lesser of two evils” in John McCain. And where travesties, such as these, take place, you can be assured that repentance is necessary. And if we stop entertaining ourselves long enough to search our hearts, everyone in the Church of America would find something to repent of.

Can’t we just stop long enough to see that it doesn’t matter who we elect. God is going to bring His mighty hand of judgment on this nation if we don’t repent of the killing of innocent children. The Church in America is guilty of this. That means you. That means me. That means everyone professing Christ as Lord. I’ve been accused in the past of being a “one string fiddle” when it comes to me speaking against abortion. That’s fine with me as long as I am playing the same string God is playing. Let me make it real simple, if we don’t deal with the sin of abortion, God will. God is going to keep playing the same string until we get it. I just don’t understand how we can just turn a blind eye.

It is time to open our eyes, beloved. We need to wake up from our spiritual slumber, put on our big boy pants and take the battle to the streets. Why is it that we act like sugar when God has called us to act like salt? “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.” (Matthew 5:13)

So, in light of that, I believe that God desires that all of the Church must repent because we allow abortion in America to continue. You don’t need to examine yourselves on that. It’s right there for all to see. But, now let’s take a look at how we can do what Paul asked us to do in 2 Corinthians 3:5. Let’s look inwardly to see what controls us. Is it the Spirit or is it the flesh?

When Paul said to “examine yourselves”, in his second letter to the Corinthians, he was in the midst of rebuking them for their rebellion and immorality. And he was about to come and straighten things out. We too are called to rebuke our brothers and sisters. But, before we can do so, we must examine ourselves..

As I was reading this passage, I asked the question, “What would this examination look like?” The answer to that question seemingly resides in Romans, Galations and 1 John. Beloved, I earnestly implore you to take this test. But, first I ask that you soften your heart. It is far too easy to apply these things to someone else, but I ask that, first and foremost, you apply them to your own heart. If not, you are simply wasting your time reading this, and more importantly, you are resisting the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. So, examine yourselves beloved, to see whether you are in the faith. Shall we begin?(I suggest grabbing a pen and paper)

1. As you live your life, are you controlled by the Spirit or by the sinful nature(the flesh)?
“You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.” (Romans 8:9)

As Christians, we would all say that the Holy Spirit lives in us. This statement is always true, yet one that can only be claimed by those who “are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit”. What is it that controls you? Are you truly controlled by the Spirit or by your own lusts? Are you building God’s Kingdom, or are you striving to build your own? Let’s look at the acts of the sinful nature, compared to the fruit of the Spirit.

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. (Galatians 5:16-26)

After reviewing this scripture, I ask that all of you would make a list of the “acts of the sinful nature” and a list of “the fruit of the Spirit”. Be honest with yourselves. Do you truly walk in the fruit of the Spirit? Or do seek to gratify the desires of the sinful nature? Oh, beloved, please don’t let this go in one ear and out the other. Please take the time to truly examine yourselves. Your eternity just might depend on it.

Please note that possessing the fruit of the Spirit makes you no more righteous than anyone who has put their trust in Christ. Likewise, committing acts of the sinful nature make you no less righteous. There are no levels of righteousness when you are a believer. We are made righteous when we repent and trust in Jesus. You are either made righteous through faith or you are not righteous at all. And it is not our own righteousness that the Father sees, but the righteousness of Christ. Therefore, there are no levels of righteousness. Look at it this way, you are not lost because you commit acts of the flesh, but you commit acts of the flesh because you are lost. Likewise, you are not saved because you possess the fruit of the Spirit(or look like it), but you possess the fruit of the Spirit because you are saved.

After making these lists, if you found that you are, at all, led by the flesh, you must repent. Do it now, beloved! Your eternity just might depend on it.

2. Do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ?
“We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 John 3:14)

Do you see this in your life? Do you love the brethren? It is a rarity that I see true biblical love in action, by the Church in America. What we call love is not love at all. When was the last time you loved your brother by warning him of the sin he is living in? Do you not know that, if you do not speak out to dissuade him from his ways, both of you will be held accountable for his sins(Ezekiel 33:8)? The problem is we tell our brothers that we love them, but won’t confront them in there sin. Proverbs 27:5 says, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” Beloved, hidden love is no love at all.

Jesus said in John 15:12-13, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” This is a command beloved: that we love each other as Christ has loved us. Do we really know anything about that? How far are we from this? Do you take part in all of the backbiting and gossip which has infiltrated our churches and businesses? God hates that. Have you put your desire to advance yourself, above your love for the brethren? Have you lied to a brother or sister in Christ? Have you been rude, jealous, envious or selfish with the brethren. If so, you don’t love the brethren. If so, you need to repent.

3. Do you practice righteousness?
“If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.” (1 John 2:29) “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” (1 John 3:9)

Like I said before, practicing righteousness is not what makes you a Christian. It’s your Christian faith that makes you practice righteousness. The Pharisees and Judaizers practiced righteousness yet they were definitely not Christians. Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and other religions practice righteousness, yet they are lost and will spend eternity in hell, unless they repent.

But, as a believer in Christ, you will seek to do that which is right. The season that this nation is in allows me an excellent illustration of this. In the upcoming election, we have two candidates, which are in moral opposition to the God of the Bible. Neither of them stand for morality. Yet, one, you could say, is more moral(or less evil) than the other. Now, there are many Christians that can see just how evil the one candidate is, and are willing to cast their vote for the lesser of two evils, hoping to keep the greater evil out of office. I won’t address the obvious lack of trust in God that this represents. Yet, I would like to address the morality, or righteousness, of this choice. Senator John McCain agrees that life begins at conception. That is a righteous truth. Yet, here is the major problem with that. Senator McCain also agrees that abortion is a good thing in the case of rape or incest. He is also a supporter of embryonic stem cell research. And he is a big supporter of Planned Parenthood. God is in direct opposition to all three of those. Yet, many Christians are going to overlook that which God hates, in order to help God out. That’s right, we are going to help God put the right guy in the White House. Beloved, that is not the way. We must stand on the Word of God. We must stand for righteousness and God will incrementally rescue this nation from the wicked.

So, that is an illustration that directly relates to the season we are in currently. But, there are other areas for self-examination. Look at 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, “9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Now ask yourself the question, “Am I truly born again?”

These things are black and white, beloved. Ask yourselves, do you practice righteousness? If not, you need to repent.

4. Have you overcome the world?
“for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (1 John 5:4)

It certainly is not hard to elaborate on this one. The Church in America has become so inundated by the world, you can no longer tell the two apart. We do everything the world does, but we get away with it by slapping the name of Jesus on it. In doing so, we might as well be slapping Jesus Himself. How can there be a music genre called “Christian Death Metal”? Most of our music looks and sounds just like the world. The divorce rate is just as high in the Church as it is out of the Church. There is so much evidence of the Church embracing the world. Just look at the way we dress, the way we talk, the things we talk about and the list goes on and on. One of the favorite shows of Christians is American Idol. Hello! Does the name not send up a red flag?

Here’s the thing though; each of us thinks that we are exempt for some reason. We think that we are one of the few that has not become worldly. We can’t do that, beloved. Just soften your hearts. Ask yourselves a few questions: Do you dress like the world? Do you talk like the world? Do you watch worldly TV shows? Are you worldly in your business practices? Do you listen to worldly music(that can include some “Christian music”)? Have you overcome the world?

Unfortunately, we have tried to make black and white areas into gray areas. But, spend some time alone with God. Ask him to show you areas in which you have given into the world. If you are born of God, you will overcome the world. If not, you need to repent.

“You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” – James 4:4

Some Closing Thoughts…

Beloved, we have reviewed some scriptures which provide an excellent test to see if you are in the faith. I would ask you to entertain the though of a few more attributes I believe all Christians should possess. I believe that Christians should read their Bible daily. How can we go two weeks without getting our spiritual food, yet we can’t go four hours without eating physical food? I believe that Christians should regularly witness to the lost. If we truly believe that lost souls will spend eternity in Hell, how can we sit by and do nothing? How is your witness? Every second, two people die and walk off into eternity; either Heaven or Hell. Does that concern you. If you are truly born again, it should. Yet, it must concern you enough to do something about it. As Mark Cahill says, “If it doesn’t bother you enough to do something about it, it doesn’t bother you.”

Beloved, that concludes the exam. Now, I would ask you to answer one last question. This might be the most important question to the result of this test. Ask yourselves, “Is what I just read the truth, or is it just the ravings of a disturbed mind?” The truth is all that matters and, if what I have just told you is true, than you can’t just let it go in one ear and out the other. And you need to embrace the fact that these truths are not addressing a generic crowd. They are addressing YOU. It’s easy to say, “Man, I wish so and so would hear this…” No, beloved. This message is addressed to you. You determine whether your sorrow is worldly or godly. (2 Corinthians 7:10)

Now, I would ask that you spend some alone time with God. Confession and repentance might be necessary. But, I would also recommend that you just spend some time meditating on all that Christ has done for you.

In Christian love,
Adam Tennant

DOES SARAH PALIN CHANGE ANYTHING?

Below, is an article I wrote on Friday, August 29. Since then, I have found out a lot of things about John McCain’s running mate. I must say, I am very impressed with Sarah Palin. And I am very excited about what’s going to happen. She definitely holds the standards that would help turn this nation back to God. With that being said, I must also state that, though she is on the ballot, she is not running for President. All I can say in response to some of the questions you might have regarding Mr. McCain’s choice for VP, is that I’m just going to wait to see how things pan out. At first look, I would say that God has definitely raised her up for such a time as this. But what is that purpose? Hopefully she can get John McCain to truly stand for the sanctity of life. So, right now, I will still say that I am not casting my vote for John McCain until he repents of his stance that abortion is OK in the case of rape or incest, and his position that embryonic stem cell research is OK. If life starts at conception (which it does) there are no exceptions.

Copy and paste this to go to the article: https://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/2008/08/30/a-vote-of-repentance/

In Christian love,

Adam Tennant