O you who love the Lord, hate evil! – Psalm 97:10 ~ There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. – Proverbs 14:12
Based on Daniel’s prayer for his people as he stood in the gap for them:
Oh Lord, our great and awe-full God, who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love You and keep Your commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity and done wickedly with our Christo-paganism by rebelling against Your precepts and judgements; nor have we heeded Your servants, the watchmen, who spoke to us in Your name. Oh Lord Jesus, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face for our idolatrous ways of worshipping You. You have been distant from us because of our prideful rebellion and our love for the pagan/papist “holy” days full of men’s traditions, of which our devotion to them has blinded us to Your commandments against such worship of You. To us belongs shame of face, but to You belong mercy and forgiveness even though we have sinned against You. We have not sought Your Word nor repented that we may worship You in spirit and in truth; to obey Your voice and heed Your warnings, that these feast days are of a false gospel leading to the false messiah, the pagan god, Tammuz. But now, our Lord, our Savior from sin and God’s wrath, our Deliverer, turn away Your anger and deliver us from our prideful rebellion and convict us of our sins against You, that we may purge from our worship to You all vestiges of paganism and syncretism. Cleanse us with Your precious blood and, by the power of Your Holy Spirit and grace, lead us to walk on Your path of righteousness. Hear our prayer for the sake of Your erring children and, once again, cause Your face to shine upon us that we may be pure and true witnesses of Your salvation before a most dark world. O Lord! Hear us! O Lord! Forgive us! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, and for Your children who are called by Your name. Call them to come out of Babylon! In Your holy name we pray, amen.
Daniel’s prayer- Daniel 9:1-26
Several years ago my husband and I met with the Pastor of a large Christian church. We asked the Pastor why he often spoke highly of men who were actively promoting Roman Catholicism’s false gospel. We wanted the Pastor and the people in his church to know that we had come out of a church that preaches a false gospel, and that we were concerned for the souls of those who were still there. Although he was very nice to us, he didn’t seem overly concerned. We spoke with another Pastor in the same church regarding Rome. His only response was to ask us if we thought our time in the church was coming to an end. We belonged to this church’s prayer ministry. They knew us well. I remember walking into the sanctuary after the first meeting. The service was just about to begin. The church was very crowded, but…
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George Gillespie, one of the Scottish Commissioners to the Westminster Assembly, and one of the greatest theologians since the days of the Apostles, writes,
“By communicating with idolaters in their rites and ceremonies, we ourselves become guilty of idolatry; even as Ahaz, 2 Kings 16:10, was an idolater, eo ipso, that he took the pattern of an altar from idolaters. Forasmuch, then, as kneeling before the consecrated bread, the sign of the cross, surplice, festival days (like Christmas-ed.), bishopping, bowing down to the altar, administration of the sacraments in private places, etc., are the wares of Rome, the baggage of Babylon, the trinkets of the whore, the badges of Popery, the ensigns of Christ’s enemies, and the very trophies of antichrist, — we cannot conform, communicate and symbolise with the idolatrous Papists in the use of the same, without making ourselves idolaters by participation.
Shall the chaste spouse of Christ take upon her the ornaments of the whore? Shall the Israel of God symbolise with her who is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt? Shall the Lord’s redeemed people wear the ensigns of their captivity? Shall the saints be seen with the mark of the beast? Shall the Christian church be like the antichristian, the holy like the profane, religion like superstition, the temple of God like the synagogue of Satan?” (A Dispute Against English Popish Ceremonies, in Gillespie’s Works volume one, p. 80, SWRB reprint, or as free MP3s at A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies emphases added).
Listen to the teaching here: http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=715111534397
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. -Matthew 5:20
(O)ur Lord expects from His people a more exact performance of the divine will than even the Pharisees pretend to give. Observe, (in Matthew 6:17-20) He speaks here about jots and tittles never passing away, and about those who break the least of His commandments, and teach men so; and I gather that He would have us observe the very least of His words and treasure up His commandments. Do you think, dear brethren, there would be so many sects among Christians if all believers honestly wanted to know the truth and to know Christ’s will? I do not think there would be. I cannot think our Lord has written a book so doubtful and ambiguous in its expressions that men need differ in interpreting it upon plain points. I am afraid we bring prejudice to it, the prejudice of our constitutional temperament, or of our parents, or of the church with which we are associated, and we pay reverence to somebody else’s book, perhaps a catechism, perhaps the Book of Common Prayer, over and beyond the Bible itself. Now, this is all wrong, and we must purge ourselves of it and come to the word of God itself: and, when we come to this book, it must be candidly and humbly, with this feeling, “I desire now to unlearn the most precious doctrine or practice I have ever learned if the Lord will show me that it is inconsistent with His will; and I desire to learn that truth which will bring me most into derision, or that ordinance which will submit me to the greatest inconvenience, if it is His will, for I am His servant, and I desire nothing to support my own opinion, or to be my own rule.” I think we shall all get pretty near together, if, in the Spirit of God, we begin reading our Bibles in this way. Surely the Lord expects this of us. I do not think He expects this of some professors, for certainly He will never get it; they are quite satisfied to say, “I attend my parish church, and that is the faith of our church;” or, “My grandmother joined the Dissenters, and, therefore, I keep to them; besides, after all you know there are no sects in heaven.” That last assertion is one of the most shallow pretences ever designed on earth, to excuse men from being scrupulously obedient to every word of their Lord and Master. I do not doubt, O disciple, but that you will reach heaven, even though you mistake some of the Master’s teaching, but I do doubt your ever reaching there if you wilfully despise His words, or decline to learn what He came to teach. Our Lord has said unto us, “Go ye therefore, and disciple all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost,” and therefore, if you will not become disciples, and learn of Christ, we have not even begun with you, neither can you be baptised, or bear the name of the Triune God. Jesus will have you obey His will, as well as trust His grace. Mind that, beloved. This demand for exact obedience is no word of mine, but of the Master. ~ C.H. Spurgeon
https://www.blueletterbible.org/Comm/spurgeon_charles/sermons/1029.cfm
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