The Witch and the King - Purity 860

To see today's photo, go to mt4christ.org or follow me, M.t. Clark, on Facebook or Twitter. Good morning. Today's photo of the greener-than-green grass on the hillside below Edinburgh Castle in the United Kingdom comes to us from a friend who decided to cross the Atlantic Ocean for a vacation with a friend and shared this photo on social media yesterday. Although the skies over said castle seem foreboding and this scene is hilly rather than mountainous, I was drawn in by that vibrant green grass and decided that this hump of rock built into a fortress had enough novelty and beauty to adequately visually represent our arrival to the summit of another work week. So, happy hump day, or Latha Chroim in Scottish Gaelic. Now, don't be saying that to any Scots today to seem cool, because even though I said it, It may not translate well, as Google Translate interpreted that phrase as "lean day" when I asked for the English translation. So, so much for the accuracy of Google Translate. So be warned. This photo and the fact that we are in the spooky month of October had me thinking of Hamlet seeing the ghost of his father and had me misremember my knowledge of Shakespeare and led me to doing a failed search for a line in Shakespeare's work that included the word Edinburgh. As in get thee to Edinburgh or something like that. But according to my search of the complete works of Shakespeare on my Kindle app, Edinburgh appears zero times in all his works. Anyway, I also thought of Macbeth and Shakespeare's use of witches to offer their prophecies of doom. And yeah, even though that play takes place in Scotland, all of the action takes place north of Edinburgh. Not that any of this matters. Uh, Edinburgh was on my thoughts this morning, uh, wasn't on my thoughts this morning until I saw my friend's photo, but I was thinking about ghosts and witches. As the Lord directs our steps, I just happen to be studying 1 Samuel 28 this morning, which tells the story of Saul, the doomed king of Israel, and his desperate going, uh, in his desperation going against the word of God and seeking out the help of a witch to contact the departed spirit of Samuel for a word from the Lord. Uh, John MacArthur's commentary on the text pulls no punches and says that even though the Christian understanding of ghosts and the contacting of the dead by spiritists is best understood as deceiving spirits that are in league with Satan, MacArthur stands on the word of God as true and states that Saul's encounter with Samuel was a special miracle allowed by God, by the Lord, in this one instance. For the Lord's purposes, Samuel's spirit was brought forth to speak to Saul. 1 Samuel 28:12 tells us, when the woman— that's the witch of Endor— saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice. And the woman spoke to Saul, saying, why have you deceived me? For you are Saul. The Witch of Endor's reaction reveals that this conjuring was not like her usual brand of magic. But beyond this surprise, Samuel's words reveal that unlike other supposed spirits brought forth by mediums and spiritists that speak of a happy place where faith in Christ isn't required, he was indeed sent for the— from the one true holy and righteous God. 1 Samuel 28:16-19 tells us, then Why then do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy, and the Lord has done for himself as he spoke by me? For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbor David, because you did not obey the voice of the Lord, nor execute his fierce wrath upon Amalek. Therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover, the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. Saul had disobeyed the Lord and lost the kingdom, and, and when he decided to use a witch to get a word from God, he got more than he bargained for. He got the hard truth that he already knew, and he got a prophecy of doom that came to pass. Saul's story reiterates the truth of the word of God spoken in Leviticus 19:13 that says, give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. And Leviticus 26 that tells us, and the person who turns to mediums and familiar spirits to prostitute himself with them I will set my face against that person and cut him off from his people. Saul disobeyed God repeatedly, and, and through this dabbling in occult practices, he learned that his days were numbered. Uh, so as we go forth, uh, into the month of October, I would just like to point out that there is no good magic or good witches. The practices of mediums, spiritists, and witches are denounced by the word of God, and Christians should warn their friends and family to have nothing to do with any occult practices that promise knowledge of the future, a word from a departed loved one, or the casting of good, uh, of spells for good or ill. Those who practice such things are deceived or have actually made a covenant with Satan and, and are thus separated from God. And as much as we may be entertained by films like Hocus Pocus 2 or Hereditary and view such things as harmless fiction, we have to realize that God didn't consider them to be harmless and commands his people to shun such practices. So as a person who loved a good scare, and still do, I just say that to— I just advise to ask for the Lord's guidance in the things that you expose yourself to, and to seek to apply his word to your life, to be wise. What I used to watch for entertainment, I now watch with a critical eye to see how the enemy operates and the reveals and the lies— let's see— and how it reveals, uh, the lies that our society is believing. The scariest things that I have seen lately is not the movies that depict the spiritual forces of darkness, but the reaction of our youth who disbelieve the existence of God and who seem unable to discern good from evil and have sympathy for the devil. So keep walking and talking with God and encourage others to know the truth of God's word and what it says about witchcraft and avoid it as it defiles all that it touches. Today's Bible verse comes to us from the New Living Translation Bible Promise Book for Men. This morning's meditation verse is 2 Timothy 2:21, and it says, if you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you'll be ready for the Master to use you for every good work. Today's Bible verse speaks to the importance of purity in the walk of a Christian and how remaining pure prepares you to be used for the Lord's good work. So yes, we should remain undefiled, avoiding witchcraft as stated above, but this encouragement from the Apostle Paul directs us, all of us, to be pure for the use of the Lord. So we are to avoid sin, particularly sexual sin. Any sexual sin is any sexual activity outside of the interactions between a man and a woman united in in marriage is sin. Our sins make us impure. They defile us. But the good news is that Christians have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus, so all the sins we com— uh, commit are covered by our covenant relationship with God through faith in Christ. And if we sin anew, we simply have to go to the Lord and confess it to reestablish our harmony with him. But we shouldn't take our forgiveness and use that as a license to sin. Instead, we should listen to the abundance of Scripture that directs us to repent of our sins and to live a life that is good, clean, and holy. We benefit so much from living a godly life. Abstaining from sin keeps us free from guilt and shame and gives us peace and joy in their place. But the best benefit to a pure life is that the Lord will invite you to work for him and guide you into work— good works to further your relationship with him and his will on the earth. So repent of your known sins, avoid defiling passions and things of the occult, and live a pure life through God and for God. As always, I invite all to go to mt4christ.org where I always share insights from prominent Christian theologians and counselors to assist my brothers and sisters in Christ with their walk. Um, today we continue sharing from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Discipleship, also known as The Cost of Discipleship., and we're still in chapter 6, and we're sharing from the Beatitudes. And today's beatitude is, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. So if you want to see what Dietrich Bonhoeffer had to say about that particular section of scripture, go to mtforchrist.org, and you'll see that resource at today's— at the end of today's blog post. And as always, we encourage a life of discipleship, living out your faith every day. And not just once a week, to direct our thoughts upon the Lord Jesus and who we are in Christ, and to let our— let the Holy Spirit be our guide. If you need instruction in this, we provide teachings from Dr. Neil Anderson on our blog, on our podcast, as we've done classes for Victory Over the Darkness, The Bondage Breaker, and Freedom in Christ. We're also doing a series on Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship. Um, and, uh, we, we do a Bible study with our friends Arthur and Suzanne Sincotti. So if you need encouragement, you have these messages that I do here, and if you need instruction, there's those other resources available on the podcast and our YouTube channel, M.t. for Christ 247. Um, as always, things are running late again, uh, so, uh, but I do want to encourage everyone in prayer Um, you know, if you're listening to this podcast, I consider you to be walking and talking with me. Uh, so I appreciate your, your, your company on the path of Christian discipleship. And, uh, let's pray for you. Lord God, Heavenly Father, thank you for another day in your kingdom. We thank you so much for all that you've done for us by revealing us the truth of your word and by leading us into life, by showing us that Jesus is the true— the way, the truth, and the life. That we can be saved and forgiven of everything we've ever done through him, and that when we walk with you, we can, we can play a part in your kingdom work, Lord. So thank you for that. And Lord, we just thank you for everyone listening today, uh, on the podcast. We pray for them to be blessed by your grace, Lord, and, and to seek your guidance and your guidance only. Lord, we thank you so much for what you've done And then, as always, we pray that you go before us to open our eyes to see the things you want us to see and to lead us into the things you would have us do. Lord, I'd like to offer prayers for my wife Tammy Lynn, who's been suffering from pains in her mouth from dental stuff, or who knows what. You know. And so we're asking for your relief, Lord, to give her healing in Jesus' name right now. Amen. And, uh, Lord, we just, we just want you to know we accept your will one way or the other, but we do ask for your mercy in this regard. And we pray for everyone listening and their needs too, Lord, that you would come alongside them and help them. Lord, we thank you, we praise you, and we love you, and we pray all these things in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.