January 20, 2023

H E T H A T W I N N E T H
I S W I S E
JANUARY 20 , 2023
Editor | Dr . Shelton Smith Vol . LXXXIX , No . 2
What It Means to

Occupy 14

H E T H A T W I N N E T H

souls

I S W I S E
P R O V E R B S 1 1:30

Boiling a Frog 6

God ’ s Amazing Book

5

100 % Certain

JASON MYERS Pastor , Victory Baptist Church , Hanover , Pennsylvania

The John 3:16 Catalyst

DR . GEORGE ALQUIST Pastor , Grace of Calvary Baptist Church , Erie , Pennsylvania
“ These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God ; that ye may know that ye have eternal life , and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God .”— I John 5:13 .
This is written to the people who have said that they believe in the Son of God “ that ye may know that ye have eternal life .”
The Lord God in Heaven today wants you to know one hundred percent if you are or are not saved . The Lord Jesus Christ wants you

Playing Hurt !

DR . W . JACK HUDSON ( 1922 – 1990 )
“ We are troubled on every side , yet not distressed ; we are perplexed , but not in despair ;
“ Persecuted , but not forsaken ; cast down , but not destroyed .”— II Cor . 4:8 , 9 .
I ’ ve always been an avid football fan . I watch football for various reasons . First , I like the sport . Second , I see so many examples of Christianity in football . I see teamwork . I see respect for each team member .
Jimmy Brown was a great running back for the Cleveland Browns . He ’ s been retired for a long time . To my opinion , he was one of the greatest running backs football has ever known . Now , back then they didn ’ t stress yardage as a personal accomplishment , but he carried the ball probably more times than all the other running backs on the team put together .
Two or three years after he retired , I read a book about him . Jimmy Brown was asked , “ Why did you always get up slowly after to know one hundred percent for sure that you have eternal life and that the eternal life that is in you is not because of yourself , your church , your good works , your good looks or your stature in your community . It is because you be - lieve on the name of the Son of God .
The most important question in life is : “ Do you know one hundred percent for sure that you have eternal life ?” There need be no
Continued on p 14 ▶
After Dr . Lee Roberson retired from his forty-year-six-month pas - torate in Chattanooga , I had him preach for me in Maryland any number of times .
On one such visit we had him in the Boston Inn motel directly across the boulevard from the church . While he was preaching on Sunday night , he told us that the phone in his room had started ringing in the wee hours of the morning .
He tried to answer it , but it would not stop ringing . He looked out toward the motel office , but it was all dark with no one on duty . The phone continued to ring unceas - ingly . After several frustrating minutes , he took his pocketknife and , as he said , “ Cut the cord .”
The ringing stopped . Then Dr . Roberson quickly said to us , “ That ’ s what some of you need to do . You need to cut the cord .” He proceeded to tell us that the next morning he offered to pay for the damage to the cord , but the motel ownership would not hear of it .
Here are scriptural orders for us that are so often overlooked or explained away .
“ For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son , that whosoever believeth in him should not perish , but have everlasting life .
“ For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world ; but that the world through him might be saved .
“ He that believeth on him is not condemned : but he that believeth not is condemned already , because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God .
“ And this is the condemnation ,

Cut the Cord

DR . SHELTON SMITH things that are wanting , and ordain elders in every city , as I had appointed thee .”— Titus 1:5 .
“ A man that is an heretick after the first and second admonition reject .”— 3:10 .
“ If any man teach otherwise , and consent not to wholesome words , even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ , and to the doctrine which is according to godliness ;
“ He is proud , knowing nothing , but doting about questions and strifes of words , whereof cometh envy , strife , railings , evil surmisings ,
“ Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds , and destitute of the truth , supposing that gain is godliness : from such withdraw thyself .”— I Tim . 6:3 – 5 .
If I may follow up and say , “ the tie that binds ” is not always a blessed one . Often it is a cord that needs to be cut . For example , may I suggest :
I . Cut the Worldly Cord ! that light is come into the world , and men loved darkness rather than light , because their deeds were evil .”— John 3:16 – 19 .
In this message , we are going to take a journey from Genesis through Revelation , from the beginning to the end , with John 3:16 as the catalyst .
Our world has always been filled with problems . Troubles and tribu - lations arise around the globe and throughout every generation . There are problems in individuals , in families and in communities .
There are problems in states , al - liances and even in churches . There are financial problems , political problems , social problems , mental problems and spiritual problems . Indeed , all the problems and plagues in mankind ’ s history can be traced to a single starting point .
“ Wherefore , as by one man
“ Blessed is the man that walketh
not in the counsel of the ungodly , nor
standeth in the way of sinners , nor
Continued on p 17 ▶
“ For this cause left I thee in Crete , that thou shouldest set in order the
sitteth in the seat of the scornful . Continued on p 3 ▶
Continued on p 2 ▶
[ Adam ] sin entered into the world , and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all men , for that all have sinned ” ( Rom . 5:12 ). It is this death that mankind fears the most , fights the most and from which there is no escape .
God writes in Hebrews 2:15 of mankind : “ who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage .” This fear has held mankind in its grip since the Garden of Eden
Continued on p 7 ▶

Federal Court Blocks Biden Administration From Forcing Christian Doctors to Perform Transsexual Mutilation Surgeries

A federal court has dealt a significant blow to the Biden administration ’ s leftist medical agenda , sparing Christian doctors and religious hospitals from being forced to perform sex change mutilations and abortions in violation of their conscience and better judgment .
The U . S . Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit agreed with a district court ’ s opinion that the Obamacare mandate requiring facilitation of sex changes posed “ irreparable harm ” to the plaintiffs ’ “ exercise of religion .”
The court ultimately found the transsexual mandate unlawful .
— Joseph MacKinnon , theblaze . com