New Beginning Christian Fellowship
September 25, 2011
Revealing the Greatest Enemy to the Advancement
of the Kingdom of God on the Earth Today…
…and the Key to the Last Great Awakening
Before the Return of Jesus Christ!
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The Complete Grace Message
1. The Believer
2. The Church
3. The World
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The Complete Grace Message
Part One: The Believer
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The Parable of the Rich Young Ruler
Mark 10:17-31
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If Salvation is a free gift, do we have to do anything to
receive it? (No)
Then why did Jesus tell the rich young ruler that he had to
do something? (Old Covenant)
Did the requirements to become a disciple of Jesus change
after the crucifixion? (Yes… but not really)
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Matthew 16:24-26
Instructions for Discipleship for Today
“Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let
him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whosoever
will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul?”
1. Deny yourself
2. Be ready for persecution
3. Follow Jesus
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Jesus said to the rich young ruler, “To be my disciple you must
get rid of all of your worldly distractions, all the earthly
treasures that your heart is attached to, and then come and
follow me.”
Today Jesus says, “Come to Me, allow Me to become formed
in you, and as a result We will no longer be attached to the
things of this world.”
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Christ fully formed in us is the goal!
So what does that mean?
Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly father is perfect.”
(Matt. 5:48)
Peter said, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had
when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy
in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:14-16
Hebrews 12:14, “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be
holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
But that’s impossible!!!
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The Complete Grace Message
1. By Grace we are saved and brought into the family of God by
accepting the offer that Christ extends to live in us.
2. By Grace we become sanctified into holiness because the Spirit of
Christ gives us the power to overcome the devil, the world, and our
fleshly desires.
- With the first part we receive Salvation and Spiritual Gifts by Faith, even if
we have sin in our lives.
- With the second part we pursue Holiness motivated by Love, overcoming
temptation and sin through the power of His Spirit working in us.
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Romans 6:22
“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is
eternal life.”
Romans 8:11-14
“But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in
you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your
mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren,
we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the
deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of
God, they are the sons of God.”
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In the New Testament Paul’s anger was directed at two
different kinds of false teachers, and both had an incomplete
understanding of the work of Grace in the life of a Christian.
1. Pharisees and keepers of the Law
- Galatians 3:1
2. “Believers” who used “Grace” as an excuse to keep sinning
- Galatians 5:13
- Jude 4
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Romans 8:1
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”
The New Testament is FULL of condemnation
for “Christians” who are walking after the flesh:
- Galatians 6:7-10
- Ephesians 5:5-7
- 2 Peter 2
- Jude
- James 4:1-4
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If Jesus is the Second Adam, then the Bride of Christ is…
The Second Adam - 1 Corinthians 15:45-47,
“…The first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a
life-giving spirit. Howbeit that is not first which is spiritual, but that
which is natural; then that which is spiritual. The first man is of the
earth, earthy: the second man is of heaven.”
The Second Eve - 2 Corinthians 11:2-3,
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you
to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I
fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.”
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2 Peter 1:4 explains that “corruption” entered the world through “lust.”
Genesis 3:6, “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good
for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining
wisdom, she took some and ate it.”
How was Eve deceived by the serpent?
How was Jesus tempted by the devil?
How are Christians tempted today?
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1 John 2:15-17
“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is
in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the
pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof…
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
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The Complete Grace Message
Part Two: The Church
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Jesus speaks to the Churches at the end of the First Century:
1. Ephesus (repent 2x – left their first love)
2. Smyrna (SS)
3. Pergamum (repent – Balaam and Nicolaitans)
4. Thyatira (repent 2x – Jezebel and her followers)
5. Sardis (repent – asleep and dead, imperfect works)
6. Philadelphia (SS)
7. Laodicea (repent – covetousness)
Every message ends with a promise, “To him who overcomes…”
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The Church of Laodicea
Rev. 3:14-19
“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; these things saith the
Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy
works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then
because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my
mouth.
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing;
and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and
naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich;
and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest
see.
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.”
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Luke 12:13-21
“And one out of the multitude said unto him, Teacher, bid my brother divide
the inheritance with me. But he said unto him, Man, who made me a judge or
a divider over you? And he said unto them, Take heed, and keep yourselves
from all covetousness:
for a man's life consisteth NOT in abundance of the things which he
possesseth.
And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully: and he reasoned within himself, saying, What shall I
do, because I have not where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I
will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my grain
and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up
for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, be merry. But God said unto him,
Thou foolish one, this night is thy soul required of thee; and the things which
thou hast prepared, whose shall they be? So is he that layeth up treasure for
himself, and is not rich toward God.”
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Bigger Barns?
Kaimuki Storage
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Central Self Storage, Kaneohe
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Matthew 6:19-24
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for
yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy,
and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are
bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you
is darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters.
Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to
the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and
Mammon.”
The Laodicean Church is blinded by their devotion to Mammon.
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The Parable of the Sower
Mark 4:18-19, “And these are they which are sown among thorns; such
as hear the word, and the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it
becometh unfruitful.”
The Laodicean Church is unfruitful because they have been deceived
by their own riches.
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Covetousness is Idolatry
Ephesians 5:3-6 “But fornication, and all uncleanness, or covetousness,
let it not be once named among you, as becometh saints… for this ye
know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man,
who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of
God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these
things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.”
Colossians 3:5-6, “Put to death (mortify) therefore your members which
are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry; for which things' sake cometh the wrath
of God upon the sons of disobedience.”
The Laodicean Church is a “Consumer Church” that has made
Materialism their god.
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False Teachers in the Church
2 Peter 2:18-19,
“For when they speak great
swelling words of vanity, they
allure through the lusts of the
flesh… While they promise them
liberty, they themselves are the
servants of corruption: for of
whom a man is overcome, of the
same is he brought in bondage.”
The Mark of the Beast will be
connected with COMMERCE
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Covetousness breeds Violence
James 4:1-4, “From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come
they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? Ye lust,
and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and
war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not,
because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye
adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the
world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God.”
Covetousness = Idolatry = Adultery
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The Laodicean Church is the worst case of all the seven
churches of Revelation, because they are blind and think they
have need of nothing.
But what can possibly be worse than the Laodicean Church?
A Church that prays,
“Oh God, we want to be rich and possess an abundance of
goods. Please bless us Lord, we’re standing on your promises
of rest, peace, and prosperity! We want to be just like the
Laodicean Church!”
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Do you think the Laodicean Church understands the first
part of Grace?
Do you think the Laodicean Church understands the second
part of Grace?
How can the Laodicean Church be saved?
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The Answer:
Revelation 3:18-21
“I counsel you to buy from me…
…As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and
repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my
voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him,
and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in
his throne.”
- The first part of Grace seats you with Christ in heavenly places. (Ephesians 2:6)
- The second part of Grace keeps you there, as you follow the leading of the
Spirit of God in you, overcoming your own flesh, the world, and the devil.
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The Complete Grace Message
Part Three: The World
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Revealing the Greatest Enemy to the Advancement
of the Kingdom of God on the Earth Today…
Revelation 17:1-6
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked
with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of
the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: With whom the kings of the
earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been
made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the
spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast,
full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the
woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and
precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a
name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood
of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I
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wondered with great admiration.”
Revelation 18:23-24
“…for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy
sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”
A counterfeit gospel that penetrates all nations.
Tares sown among the Wheat. (Matthew 13:24-30)
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The Mother of Harlots is the Queen of a counterfeit gospel
that is based on commerce, covetousness and materialism.
What is the nature of her deception?
What are the core values of her system?
- The lust of the flesh
- The lust of the eyes
- The pride of life
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The Alpha-Omega Bible Study
The mysteries of the book of Revelation are revealed in Genesis.
Revelation describes the completion, resolution and consummation of
the great human drama that began in the Garden of Eden.
So who is this Great Prostitute, this Mother of Harlots and
Abominations, whose influence penetrates the whole world, who is
held responsible for all the blood shed upon the earth?
“The fruit that your soul longed for (literally- “lusted after”) has gone
from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from
you, and you shall find them no more at all.”
Revelation 18:14
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The first time the word
“Hallelujah!”
appears in the New Testament:
Revelation 19:1-5
After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in
heaven shouting: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to
our God, for true and just are his judgments. He has condemned the
great prostitute who corrupted the earth by her adulteries. He has
avenged on her the blood of his servants." And again they shouted:
"Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up for ever and ever." The twentyfour elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,
who was seated on the throne. And they cried: "Amen, Hallelujah!"
Then a voice came from the throne, saying: "Praise our God, all you his
servants, you who fear him, both small and great!"
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The Fourth and Last Hallelujah in the New Testament:
Revelation 19:6-9
Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of
rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: "Hallelujah! For
our Lord God Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and be glad and give him
glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made
herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Fine
linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) Then the angel said to
me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of
the Lamb!’”
At the end of the Age every single human being will either be a part of
the spirit of rebellious Eve, the Mother of Prostitutes, or a member of
the Bride of Christ.
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JESUS Cries Out to His Church:
Revelation 18:4-5
Then I heard another voice from heaven say:
‘Come out of her, my people,
so that you will not share in her sins,
so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.’
(The end-times move of God will come through a Church
that is aggressively pursuing both Power and Holiness)
THE END
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