The Word Became Flesh

by Mike Ratliff

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. 19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. 20 But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the One who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:18-21 (LSB)

We are in the process of celebrating the Advent of our Lord Jesus Christ. Of course, most people celebrating Christmas are not doing so in light of the coming of our Saviour. However, that should not impede us from doing so should it? The early church did not celebrate the Advent of our Lord. That came later. Therefore, we must keep this in the perspective of who He really is and why He came.

I Heard The Bells

This last Saturday evening our Small group met at the AMC theater at Quail Springs Mall in OKC to watch the movie “I heard the bells.” I was actually surprised at how good the movie was. I am so used to the Gospel and God’s truth being twisted and treated with disdain in these Last Days, but in this movie that was not the case. The main character in the move is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. My English teacher in High School here in Yukon, Ok, Mr. Briley, loved Longfellow and I suppose I inherited some of that from him. The setting for the movie is at the beginning of the American Civil War.

The Abomination of Easy-Believism – Part 4 – The Real God of the Bible

by Mike Ratliff

4 “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one! 5 You shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (LSB) 

Several years ago my wife fell down stairs while visiting our daughter in Oklahoma. She broke her leg. She actually shattered one of the bones right above her ankle. It required surgery and some metal plates to be used to hold her bones together. Our former Pastor came and sat with me in the waiting room while my wife’s surgery took place. We discussed all sorts of things. One of the things that we spent a great deal of time on was Easy-Believism and how those who adhere to it have an incomplete view of God. He said, “It is quite foolish to think that one attribute of God, His love, can trump His Holiness or His Righteousness or His Justice.” This from a man who is not Reformed in his theology and has even preached sermons siding with John Wesley in the Calvinist vs. Arminian debate. 

Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?

I cannot read this without worshipping the Living God. I pray that you will do so as well.

In Christ

Mike Ratliff

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is Yahweh of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory.”
4 And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called out, while the house of God was filling with smoke. 5 Then I said,
“Woe is me, for I am ruined!
For I am a man of unclean lips,
And I live among a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King, Yahweh of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal in his hand, which he had taken from the altar with tongs. 7 And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is atoned for.”
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” 9 He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not know.’
10 Render the hearts of this people insensitive,
Their ears dull,
And their eyes dim,
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their hearts,
And return and be healed.”
11 Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He said,
“Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant,
Houses are without people,
And the land is devastated to desolation,
12 And Yahweh has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.
13 Yet there will be a tenth portion in it,
And it will again be subject to burning,
Like a terebinth or like an oak
Whose stump remains when it is felled.
The holy seed is its stump.” Isaiah 6 (LSB) 

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The Image of Gold

by Mike Ratliff

16 “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; 18 and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. 19 But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you are to say. 20 For it is not you who speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Matthew 10:16-20 (NASB) 

If we listen to the common message from the vast majority of “Christian” leaders these days we will not receive one of eternal focus, power, or value. Instead, if we believe the message, we know that God desires for all of His people to have it their way, to have their best life now, to live any way they choose all the while seeing that the point of Christianity is to be blessed here and now. If we suffer then we must have sin in our lives that we have not confessed. Is the point of Christianity the believer’s health, wealth and prosperity? Is the focus of our faith primarily on this life now?

Underneath are the everlasting arms

by Mike Ratliff

Leaning on the Everlasting Arms

by A.J. Showalter

What a fellowship, what a joy divine,

Leaning on the everlasting arms;

What a blessedness, what a peace is mine,

Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain:

Leaning, leaning, safe and secure from all alarms;

Leaning, leaning, leaning on the everlasting arms.

O how sweet to walk, In this pilgrim way,

Leaning on the everlasting arms;

O how bright the path grows from day to day,

Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain

What have I to dread, what have I to fear,

Leaning on the everlasting arms;

I have blessed peace with my Lord so near,

Leaning on the everlasting arms.

Refrain

Growing up in Southern Baptist churches in Oklahoma in the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s I learned to love some, but not all, of those old hymns we sung. Even to this day I can still hear those voices in our church sing in those tones that were not loud or harsh or meant to entertain, but were directed to the throne in Heaven in praise. When my mother grew older and could no longer attend church because she was in an assisted living center I used to love to pick her up and take her to church, however, I could tell she would rather hear those old hymns than some of the newer stuff that our churches seem to be in love with these days. I am pretty much the same way. Give me real worship music and hymns with meaning and sermons rooted deep in solid Biblical doctrine and my soul is well pleased. I believe they call that edification.

God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man

by Mike Ratliff

1 O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
3 You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
5 You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me. Psalms 139:1-5 (NASB) 

Our God is beyond our understanding. Thankfully, He has revealed Himself to us, to a degree, in His Word. Those who claim to serve Him, but treat His Word as if it was not important, or refuse to submit to the truths therein are fools. That has always puzzled me about those who take a sliver of God’s Word, misinterpret it, and then build massive doctrines around their misinformation. Have they no fear of God?

God is Omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent. He knows all, is everywhere at once, and is all-powerful. Those who play games with Christianity must have no understanding of this for if they did, they would not dare trifle with God Almighty!

The Holiness of God

 

by Mike Ratliff

1 In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. 2 Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called out to another and said,
“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts,
The whole earth is full of His glory.” Isaiah 6:1-3 (NASB) 

In the English translations of the Old Testament when we encounter the word “Lord” we are actually reading the Hebrew word “Adhōnāy.” On the other hand, when we read the word “LORD,” it is is completely different Hebrew word, “Yehōwāh.” “Adhōnāy” is actually a title for God meaning “sovereign one.” “Yehōwāh” is the sacred name of God. It was the name He used to reveal Himself to Moses at the burning bush. “Yehōwāh” is the unspeakable name, the holy name of God. The Hebrew scribes wrote it as “YHWH.” Therefore, it is referred to as the sacred tetragrammaton, the unspeakable four letters. “Adhōnāy” is the plural noun form of “Ādhōn,” which, when used in reference to God, means Lord. However, “Adhōnāy” is plural but singular in meaning. This speaks of the Holy Trinity, i.e. One God in three persons.

The Preeminence of Christ

by Mike Ratliff

1 God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, 2 in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world. 3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they. Hebrews 1:1-4 (NASB) 

Much of what we see in the “Post-Modern” version of “Christian” teaching is that if Jesus were here now He wouldn’t be a Christian. In other words, the “Church” has got it wrong. While much of what I see “Christian” leaders doing these days seems to verify that statement, there is still the core of genuine Believers who make up the Invisible True Church that do not have it wrong. They know in whom they have believed. They know that their Lord and Savior is God.  We serve a risen Savior whose Preeminence is over all.

God will not Forsake His Saints

by Mike Ratliff

34 Wait for the LORD and keep His way,
And He will exalt you to inherit the land;
When the wicked are cut off, you will see it. Psalms 37:34 (NASB) 

Several years ago The Discovery Channel released a movie that supposedly showed a grave from an archaeological dig in Israel that contained the bones of Jesus, Mary, and other members of that family. Before people actually saw it the hype certainly caused many interesting responses from people. I remember reading responses that I agreed completely with which were obviously based from the foundation of faith. I mean either we believe God or we believe men. However, I read responses from some professing Christians who were distraught about this “news” as if it would somehow destroy Christianity. I pitied them. Their faith seemed to be based entirely on sight. Now here we are in 2021 and the unbelieving Main Stream Media still does this sort of thing it seems annually. Their goal seems to be an attempt to destroy our faith. Of course, they never get anything right about our Lord Jesus because they don’t know Him because they are ignorant of the Truth. Those professing believers who have angst about these things show that their faith is not genuine by how they react to the lies. 

I Am Who I Am

by Mike Ratliff

14 God said to Moses, “ I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’” Exodus 3:14 (NASB) 

In our look at the Bible and the Christian view that it is the living Word of God, His communication to His people, we see that it is not just a collection of writings or a simply a history. The Holy Spirit not only indwells Christians he also indwells Sacred Scripture. When believers read and study the Word of God, The Holy Spirit works through it to accomplish spiritual, eternal work within them. God communicates with His people primarily through His Word. One of the main goals in this is His revelation of Himself to those who love Him.

Jesus Christ is the interpretive key to Sacred Scripture. Any other hermeneutic will lead people into various forms of heresy or unbelief. However, if we view all of scripture from this key, it enables us to see clearly the utter depravity of fallen man because it imparts this to us via God’s Word by the Holy Spirit working in our consciences and minds. We see that the Gospel is not what most of us have conceived of as we have listened to some preacher’s water-down version of it. No, we see that Christ is the center and purpose of all creation and that the Word of God clearly shows us God’s plan of redemption of those chosen before the foundation of the World.

I Am the Good Shepherd

by Mike Ratliff

1 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. John 10:1-2 (NASB) 

Just because a person claims to be a Christian does not mean that he or she is Regenerate, Justified, Sanctified, or Adopted into God’s family. Many base their standing as a Christian on religious acts they have done. Others claim salvation based upon their good words plus their religion. Tragically, there are also many, and more each day it seems, “Christian leaders” who preach and teach things that they portray as the Good News, but are, instead, only the result of marketing techniques.

The Self-Existence of God

by Mike Ratliff

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Acts 17:24-28 (NASB)

Over the last few decades (perhaps much longer) our society has been doing all it can to eradicate all remnants of what we call the “Christian Worldview” from everyone’s mindsets. Of course this is being done through education, entertainment, social reforms (in name only) and many other things that put the emphasis of our being on man rather than on God.

The Deep Things of God

by Mike Ratliff

6 Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; 7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; 8 the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; 9 but just as it is written,
“THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD,
AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN,
ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”
10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 1 Corinthians 2:6-10 (NASB) 

I’m sure the title of this post struck some of you in a way hard to explain. When I first started this study, I could not help but think back on an investigation I did many years ago into some false teachings by a man who claimed that his ministry was based entirely “in the deep things of God.” That mysterious statement seemed to be used by him as a smokescreen to hide the fact that he was teaching rank heresy and that heresy was claimed by him to be coming to him as a direct revelation from God. Well, if that were true then it would indeed be “the deep things of God,” but what he was teaching was very shallow spiritually and really called for people to become submissive to him as a prophet based on one thing; he said so. This is not what the depths of God (the deeps things of God) are. Let us take a closer look.