THOUGHTS FOR THINKING PEOPLE

by Leo Price

• Published on June 29, 2022

Ministry Speaker Author at Leo Price Ministries 191 articles

THE FOUR DOCTRINES OF MAN.

This is Part 2 of ‘THE THIRD DOCTRINE OF MAN.’

THE DOCTRINE OF HUMANISM.

The ‘Doctrine of Humanism’ is ‘Humanity is Glorious, Exalt Yourself.’

The tenets, the code of this Belief system is: 1. We are the ‘Masters of Our Own Fate.’ 2. We are ‘Unconquerable and Invincible.’ 3. We are ‘Our Own Saviors.’

“WE MUST BE CAREFUL THAT WE DON’T BECOME SO ADJUSTED AND ACCUSTOMED TO WHAT HAPPENS IN LIFE, THAT THE MORAL STING OF GOD GIVEN CONSCIENCE IS NO LONGER EFFECTIVE.”

SUBTLE ABUSE: One must remember that as Christian leaders, individuals, husbands, fathers, wives and mothers, Subtle Immorality leads to Subtle Abuses of Spiritual Power

HOW DO WE ARRIVE AT THIS POINT: By changing our THEOLOGY to fit our LIFE STYLE.

For instances “If a spouse is in an immoral relationship they would reason it out first mentally, by saying, ‘nothing is right at home’.” And then act it out carnally. At this point, but not necessarily in this order, they theologically determine that the Old Testament seemed to provide for many wives and concubines. Sorry, that doesn’t work out historically. It was a pagan practice adopted by the Israel to create peace with a neighboring countries.

Proverbs 3:5-10 (KJV) (5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. (6) In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (7) Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. (8) It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. (9) Honour the LORD with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine in-crease: (10) So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine.

Psalm 130:1-8 (KJV) (1)   Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O LORD. (2)   Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. (3)   If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? (4)   But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared. (5)   I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. (6)   My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning. (7)   Let Israel hope in the LORD: for with the LORD there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption. (8)   And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

 If you are the Captain of your ship on the sea of life without ‘Christ’, you are on a ship of fools.

PURSUIT OF PLEASURE: Malcolm Muggeridge, from the book – Jesus Rediscovered (1903-1990) was one of England’s most articulate journalists, and here he sums up his pursuit of pleasure. “I may, I suppose, regard myself, or pass for being, as a relatively successful man. People occasionally stare at me in the streets – that’s fame. I can fairly easily earn enough to qualify for admission to the higher slopes of the Internal Revenue – that’s success. Furnished with money and a little fame even the elderly, if they care to, may partake of trendy diversions – that’s pleasure. It might happen once in a while that something I said or wrote was sufficiently heeded for me to persuade myself that it represented a serious impact on our time – that’s fulfillment. Yet I say to you – and I beg you to believe me – multiply these tiny triumphs by a million, add them all together, and they are nothing – less than nothing, a positive impediment – measured against one draught of that living water Christ offers to the spiritually thirsty, irrespective of who or what they are.”

DORIAN GRAY: Oscar Wilde was by all estimates a literary genius and still today in many literary circles is considered so. His life at the end spiraled out of control with such debauchery that he was driven out of England. His best known work was the novel ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ which is probably, a self-portrait. His decline is best stated in his own words: “I started with almost everything in life that a young man would want … I let myself be lured into long spells of senseless and sensual ease … I became the spendthrift of my own genius … and to waste an eternal youth gave me curious joy. Tired of being on the heights, I deliberately went to the depths in search of a new sensation … What paradox was to me in the sphere of thought, perversity became to me in the sphere of passion … Desire at the end was a malady, a madness, or both … I grew careless of the lives of others. I took pleasure where it pleased me and passed on … I forgot that every little action of the common day makes or unmakes character … I ceased to be Lord over myself. I was no longer the captain of my soul and did not know it … I allowed pleasure to dominate me … I ended in horrible disgrace. There is only one thing for me now: … absolute humility. In the end he admitted that it was: ‘foolhardy to try to obtain by one means what God had intended to be obtained by another.’

In the end Oscar Wilde lost his family, his fortune, his self-respect and his will to live. He died bankrupt and broken at age 46.

John Eldredge in his book “Wild At Heart” describes a man in the when he said: “I don’t know when I died, but I feel like I’m just using up oxygen.”

Solomon was correct when he said: “Ecclesiastes 2:1 (1) I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

I choose something different: Nehemiah 8:10 … the joy of the LORD is your strength.

When we please the ‘Father’ His Joy becomes our strength.

Leo Calvin Price