Post by Cindy on Mar 4, 2022 10:19:29 GMT -5
This is an excerpt from a book called, How to win souls & influence people by Ray Comfort
In Acts 7:39–41 Stephen gives us an interesting insight into the workings of a false convert. ““But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.” (Acts 7:39–41)
Egypt is a type of the world, and Moses is a type of Christ. The 1st sign of false converts is “in their hearts” they turn back to Egypt. No one else may know—but they know, and God knows that deep within the heart is a yearning to go back to the world. Like Lot’s wife, they are longingly looking back. The Scriptures warn that “fellowship with the world is enmity with God.” It teaches that whoever “wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Therefore those who profess to be in the Army of God, but have a desire to go back to the enemy of the world, are not on our side. How can they be if God’s Word says they are the enemy of God?
Second, Acts 7:40 The backslider in heart loses the reality of his walk with Jesus—“As for this Jesus who led us out of the world—we don’t know what has become of Him.” They leave what they said was their first love. To say, “I love you Jesus” sounds trite to them, yet the Bible warns, “If any man loves not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed.”
Third, they make for themselves an idol. They create a god in their own image. They shape a god to suit their own sins, then worship the work of their own hands. Their god becomes one who is void of reference to sin, righteousness and judgment. There is no need to flee from sin, because their god condones sin. Then it is only a matter of time until they slip down the slippery and sinful path they have chosen. He who loves the world may not be in the world, but the world is still in him. Of them, the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” The pig wallows in the mire to cool its flesh. If we have any, even hidden desire, to go back into the sinful excitement of the world, we haven’t seen the sacrifice of the Father.
The true Christian has seen that God in the person of Jesus, without hesitation, dived into the very jaws of Hell to save him from the folly of sin. A sense of horror consumes him at the cost, the extreme, the length, & the expense his Father went to, to save him.
How to win souls & influence people by Ray Comfort
In Acts 7:39–41 Stephen gives us an interesting insight into the workings of a false convert. ““But our fathers refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him!’ That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and held a celebration in honor of what their hands had made.” (Acts 7:39–41)
Egypt is a type of the world, and Moses is a type of Christ. The 1st sign of false converts is “in their hearts” they turn back to Egypt. No one else may know—but they know, and God knows that deep within the heart is a yearning to go back to the world. Like Lot’s wife, they are longingly looking back. The Scriptures warn that “fellowship with the world is enmity with God.” It teaches that whoever “wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” Therefore those who profess to be in the Army of God, but have a desire to go back to the enemy of the world, are not on our side. How can they be if God’s Word says they are the enemy of God?
Second, Acts 7:40 The backslider in heart loses the reality of his walk with Jesus—“As for this Jesus who led us out of the world—we don’t know what has become of Him.” They leave what they said was their first love. To say, “I love you Jesus” sounds trite to them, yet the Bible warns, “If any man loves not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be cursed.”
Third, they make for themselves an idol. They create a god in their own image. They shape a god to suit their own sins, then worship the work of their own hands. Their god becomes one who is void of reference to sin, righteousness and judgment. There is no need to flee from sin, because their god condones sin. Then it is only a matter of time until they slip down the slippery and sinful path they have chosen. He who loves the world may not be in the world, but the world is still in him. Of them, the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” The pig wallows in the mire to cool its flesh. If we have any, even hidden desire, to go back into the sinful excitement of the world, we haven’t seen the sacrifice of the Father.
The true Christian has seen that God in the person of Jesus, without hesitation, dived into the very jaws of Hell to save him from the folly of sin. A sense of horror consumes him at the cost, the extreme, the length, & the expense his Father went to, to save him.
How to win souls & influence people by Ray Comfort