Do you know that most people who are perishing and going to hell are the ones who don't care? Those who simply don't care what will happen after they die.
Not necessary the bad ones as lots of sinners in the time of Jesus repented and came to Him for forgiveness. Also the " apparently" 'good' ones are the most 'endangered'. I say 'apparently' as they give all the impression of being good and think of themselves as good people.
Luke 18;11-14 talks about one example
"The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
The Bible says no one of us is good enough on our own, and the 'righteous' to themselves need to see they also need a Savior. The other careless group of people is the one enjoying only the present time and for whom all the worldly things seem to take over.
Happy as long as there is a good retirement plan, but what about the eternal plan of salvation ? Nobody said you will die at the age of 90 so you have time to wait, God can call you earlier at the age of 40 or 50 or any other time. It might be by surprise.
We read that those who don't know Christ will pay the price. A severe, terrible price. In referring to this price Jesus is talking in Matthew 24;38-20
"For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man."
The parable is clear. A message of judgement was proclaimed at the times of Noah as it is now. People didn't listen much at that time, people don't care much in these days. People could be saved in Noah' s ark, people can be saved in Jesus now. There came judgement of flood, next there will come the judgement of fire.
"In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:
Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." 2 Thessalonians 1;8-9
Whoever was to hide in the wooden ark was to be saved, whoever will hide in Jesus and His cross will be saved.
If God didn't give up the judgement in Noah's generation, He is also not going to give it up at Christ's return. In both situations people had enough time to change and choose life with God Until Christ comes it is your time to get right with God. Don't put it off so you wouldn't have to be taken by surprise.
"But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment." 2 Peter 3;10
The era of Noah was a sad one. People on earth did what God said was evil, and violence was everywhere.. Gen 6;11
Such rebellion was breaking God's heart. He even regretted creating it.
Only Noah and his family responded to His call and they and the animals were saved. Whoever responds to Christ's call will be saved also.
When the door of the ark was closed and it started to rain- it was too late for anybody else. When Christ will come second time, the door will be closed as well.If you don't know Him you will pay the severe price.
You would ask, why should I know Him? Are you sure there is such a place as hell? Isn't God love? How would He sent anybody there?
His justice and holiness requires the punishment of sin.
When Christ was teaching thirteen percent of the of His teaching is about judgement and hell. More than half of His parables refer to God's eternal judgement of sinners. No one spoke of hell more than Christ did. He spoke about it so much to let you know where you don't have to go if you put your trust in Him!
He is our high priest interceding for us. You need to be forgiven to be able to avoid God's eternal punishment. And that sin- forgiveness is only from Jesus.
God is giving everybody a chance, a chance to escape the horror of eternal hell, and if you choose to ignore it, there will be no mercy after Christ return.
We all celebrate Easter, we all know what happened before Easter, we know Jesus had to go through lots of pain, cross and experience of separation from God. If God's judgement wasn't real and wasn't terrible, Christ wouldn't have to worry about saving us from that. We would die for our sin, God would resurrect us and say, " I forgive you" and that's it. If God's Son experienced the separation from God and pain, surely will those who will die without Him.
Don't choose the worldly things to captivate your minds so much and become careless person.
You might know Jesus ' dead' only on the cross and you don't know how much your life depends on Him. Get to know the real resurrected Christ who has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.
When John saw Jesus on the island of Patmos, he was amazed. John's encounter was far too different from any in Galilee. The impression was so powerful that John was knocked out cold." When I saw Him I fell in a dead faint at his feet." Rev 1;17
John describes; "He was dressed in a long robe and had a gold band around His chest.". The significance of the robe and band is great. Jesus is wearing the clothing of a priest who presents people to God and God to people. He is at the right hand of God interceding. Rom 8;34
He is the one who can wipe away your guilt. He is the one who doesn't want you to perish.
We also see absolute strength. "His feet were like bronze that glows hot in a furnace" Rev 1;15
He comes to you gentle.
"His voice like a noise of a flooding water." The sound of His voice soothes a soul.
"Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword" Rev 1;16
The truth of His voice pierces a soul.
He knows everything about you, He knows your heart, every thought, every sin of yours and wants to wipe it away when you come to Him. "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." Hebrew 4;12
He doesn't want you to experience judgement;
"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life." John 5;24
He wants to give you life;John 10;10
"I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" John 10;10
He laid His life for you;
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep" John 10;11
He is alive and He is definitely coming again;
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.
So shall it be! Amen." Rev 1;7
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Saturday, March 16, 2013
The Kingdom of Heaven
There are so many books that are coming out about heaven and peoples' experiences ' while they died for a short time' and these books attract the most attention and sell the most. Recently a friend of mine gave me her old Kindle. There were so many of those books there with different titles; "5 minutes in heaven" ,
"2 minutes beyond the body", and many many more of that type. As I listened to some of them one thing struck me the most. People are talking about their experience while seeing heaven , seeing all their relatives but not seeing God, not seeing Jesus. What kind of hope these books give to you? I wondered. Knowing that heaven is for real should be our hope? Of course there are so many people who are looking for any sign of life beyond the grave and these books might give some evidence -yes- there is a sign, somebody experienced death and saw heaven. Personal experience , but how much of it is true? Don't satisfy your faith by only believing in heaven. The Bible tells us clearly such place exists, there is no secret, Jesus Himself talked about it many times; " my Father in heaven",
"(...) there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents (...) Luke 15;7
"But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 56 “Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” Act 7;55-56
These are just a few examples of reading in the Bible that there is a place called heaven. The thing is we should be more concerned about whether we are on the way to it or not!
Just believing in heaven doesn't make a person saved, knowing how the place looks like doesn't either.
Jesus said “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it."
Luke 16;16
He also says; "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 7;21
We read here about two important things; " everyone forces his way into it" and that " not everyone who says Lord, Lord will enter it.
Our concerns should be whether we are doing the will of the Father who is in heaven. Some people weren't sure what does it mean and asked Jesus;
" Therefore they said to Him, What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
John 6;28-29
If you already heard what the Bible talks about salvation, how to be saved you will see it is all in agreement with the verse above; "believing in Him whom He ( Father) sent" which is believing in His Son Jesus Christ.
He said in many ways how we should respond to Him; "come to me" " repent",
"Truly, truly, I say unto you, He that believes on me has everlasting life." John 6;47
"You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." John 5;39-40
He is a point. Without coming to Jesus we can't have everlasting life, we can't get to heaven.
When we come to Him, then we will understand how much He did for us, we will understand the significance of the cross and His blood shed for our sin. That will open the way.
Heaven is for people who came to Jesus, who responded to His call.
Jesus said to those who believe in Him
" And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." John 14;3
He doesn't say this to the whole world, to people who go to church or trying to work their way to heaven by good deeds. No such thing.
The verse 1 of John 14 says " Believe in God, believe also in Me". You have to be a believer in Jesus. You have to know the way to heaven . And the way is Jesus.
"You know the way to the place where I am going.” He said;.
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." John 14;6
One day Jesus told people a parable about the Kingdom of Heaven.The end of that story is really interesting.
"The Kingdom of heaven is like a King who arranged a wedding for his son..."
The king prepares the banquet He wants us to be His guests He sends out an invitation and with that invitation he provides the proper wedding clothes. Then the wedding day comes. The guests arrive . There the man enters who is not properly dressed. He is asked why he is dressed like that.? Did he not get an invitation? Yes, he received an invitation, in fact " I was asked to come so I came". Why then did he not put on the proper wedding clothes? Did he not receive the clothes with the invitation? Yes, he received the clothes but but was it really necessary for him to wear them? Was` it not far more important that he was here and had accepted the invitation? After all, the King did invite him.
Then just the King arrives. And that is what they have all been waiting for, to see the king. A silence falls over the assembly. The king spots the man not properly dressed.
" How did you come in here?" he asked " Without being properly dressed for the wedding? The man stumbles about for words , but can find none.
" Tie him up and throw him into darkness outside. There will be weeping and gnashing teeth"
The end for that person is really terrifying
.
You can not play with God's invitation. You can not come shamelessly with your sins on you. You need to humble yourself. Your sins have to be ashed away, so your clothes are white. That can only happen if you come to Jesus and receive His forgiveness. Somebody said " You can not play a little game with the grace of God." You either received it or not. You might know a lot about heaven, read lots of books, forced your way into it, but the question of the King will stop you. " How did you come in here?" " Where are your clean clothes?" You might be disappointed about heaven if you newer knew Jesus.
The King of the universe invites you.
The Kingdom of Heaven is for those who" have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
Thursday, March 7, 2013
The living Jesus
I remember first time somebody told me about Jesus and salvation. I thought my friend was really 'religious'. Just because I had never heard before anybody talking about Jesus so much I thought the person must have been super 'religious'.
I also recall her explanation to me about the difference between trusting in God and religion. At that time I had no clue what she was talking about as it seemed that both topics were pointing to one. Before I really got to know Jesus, believing in God seemed a religion.What made the difference is when I finally put my trust in Him and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.
He just answered my prayer after I cast all my burden upon Him saying that I didn't have peace in my heart and I wanted to be sure I was saved and that I was following His call. Then the peace came into my heart about which I also read in the Bible;
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives that I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.”
John 14;27
I realized Jesus was true and living.
Then I knew what my friend was talking about. There is a big difference between knowing the true God and religion. Religion is only holing on to man -made regulations or holding on to different man made -rituals, doing different things to impress an unknown God, aiming to your salvation on your own. Religion is for those who want to be religious but Jesus offers life! No rituals to hold on to.Salvation is free.
You are not saved by offering any animal sacrifice to God, you are not saved by fasting or reading the Bible constantly, you are not saved by going to the church or because your parents baptized you as an infant and put a name " Christian" in your documents so you belong somewhere. Jesus doesn't call us to a new 'religion' but to life. He never mentioned a word 'religion' about trusting in Him.
You would say everybody has life so what is the difference? What did Jesus mean by life?
What we think about life -is what relates to out earthly temporary existence. Life in which God has no authority over us. " Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we might die." Death will destroy everything, it is the end. So let's have as much fun now as possible before that end comes. That is how many understand 'life"
"But if there is nothing more to life than that, no meaning, no purpose, no knowledge of God, no Christ, how pathetic life becomes." somebody already said.
We are more than just the bodies, we are also souls Surely life is more than food!
There are many religions but only one person through whom we are saved- Jesus Christ. Only one man who died and rose again- Jesus. Only one person with the given authority over death and life- Jesus. Only one person that can give you peace and meaning in your life- Jesus. Only one person who demonstrated power over the rules of the nature- Jesus.
People throughout the centuries weren't dying for a lie.They weren't dying for an uncertain fact. They were dying for their faith, that they couldn't deny as they experienced real presence of Jesus in their lives. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
And The Life was revealed and we perceived and we testify and we proclaim to you the Life Eternal, that which was with The Father and was revealed to us."
1John 1-2
If Christ didn't rose from the dead, if nobody experienced any changing power that gives hope and new life - Christianity would be built on a lie.
If there had been no resurrection, the Christian church would never have come into being.There would be no meaning to life whatsoever. Even the Bible says;
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 1 Corinthians15;19
There is a true hope beyond the earthly life.First of all there is no fear. Death is no longer the end and time is no longer the enemy. When you know Christ you know life is forever. The purpose of it Jesus stated in His prayer;
"And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." John 17;3
Life is yours for taking. You take it by faith in the living Christ. You can't believe in a dead Christ. Only the living Lord can save you. Eternal life - "now and forever." It is offered freely, but how many of us take it seriously?
We care about things like our house to be paid off in 20- 30 years,about our life insurance, but what about eternal insurance in Jesus? We think about our little kids going to college in 20 years, but what about us in 40, 50, 60, 70 years from now? At some point we will face God and eternity. For some it will come sooner, for some later. Eternity either with God, or apart from God in a darkness..
Life without Christ is actually very scary! Very uncertain. You want to hold on to it as much as possible, preserve it with all possible means but no matter how much you try, you won't be able to keep it forever. There is a story in the Bible.
Jesus talked to people who came to Him complaining about ' innocent' people killed in an accident;
"Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13;4-5
Without a Savior the future is very uncertain, life very fragile.
Forgiveness and life is offered now. Don't wait, don't put it off before it is too late.
No teacher has ever said anything like that " All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth". Have we ever thought about that?
What does it really mean? All power is His as He is the risen Lord. Because He is the risen Lord, He is the Savior of the world. He said " I am the resurrection and the life"
Do we forget why we celebrate Easter? Put the eggs, and the bunnies aside, it is celebrating victory over death! He is risen, He is alive! Death could not hold Him. He is victor. He is the resurrection. He is triumphant over death.
" I am alive forevermore...and have the keys of hell and death." Revelation 1;18
Remember the knowledge about Jesus doesn't save you. You might know all details about His life and still be missing the life He is offering. Christ is life and gives life to those who take it, but we must want it. We must mean it. This is no gift for which you say ' thank you' and put it away in a closet. Salvation was purchased for you by a very high price, it cost God's Son to shed His blood.
Jesus comes to us when we really mean it. Then we can experience a new transformed life, full of hope with the living Lord.
Then we can say; He is REAL!
I also recall her explanation to me about the difference between trusting in God and religion. At that time I had no clue what she was talking about as it seemed that both topics were pointing to one. Before I really got to know Jesus, believing in God seemed a religion.What made the difference is when I finally put my trust in Him and accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.
He just answered my prayer after I cast all my burden upon Him saying that I didn't have peace in my heart and I wanted to be sure I was saved and that I was following His call. Then the peace came into my heart about which I also read in the Bible;
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. It is not as the world gives that I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.”
John 14;27
I realized Jesus was true and living.
Then I knew what my friend was talking about. There is a big difference between knowing the true God and religion. Religion is only holing on to man -made regulations or holding on to different man made -rituals, doing different things to impress an unknown God, aiming to your salvation on your own. Religion is for those who want to be religious but Jesus offers life! No rituals to hold on to.Salvation is free.
You are not saved by offering any animal sacrifice to God, you are not saved by fasting or reading the Bible constantly, you are not saved by going to the church or because your parents baptized you as an infant and put a name " Christian" in your documents so you belong somewhere. Jesus doesn't call us to a new 'religion' but to life. He never mentioned a word 'religion' about trusting in Him.
You would say everybody has life so what is the difference? What did Jesus mean by life?
What we think about life -is what relates to out earthly temporary existence. Life in which God has no authority over us. " Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we might die." Death will destroy everything, it is the end. So let's have as much fun now as possible before that end comes. That is how many understand 'life"
"But if there is nothing more to life than that, no meaning, no purpose, no knowledge of God, no Christ, how pathetic life becomes." somebody already said.
We are more than just the bodies, we are also souls Surely life is more than food!
There are many religions but only one person through whom we are saved- Jesus Christ. Only one man who died and rose again- Jesus. Only one person with the given authority over death and life- Jesus. Only one person that can give you peace and meaning in your life- Jesus. Only one person who demonstrated power over the rules of the nature- Jesus.
People throughout the centuries weren't dying for a lie.They weren't dying for an uncertain fact. They were dying for their faith, that they couldn't deny as they experienced real presence of Jesus in their lives. "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;
And The Life was revealed and we perceived and we testify and we proclaim to you the Life Eternal, that which was with The Father and was revealed to us."
1John 1-2
If Christ didn't rose from the dead, if nobody experienced any changing power that gives hope and new life - Christianity would be built on a lie.
If there had been no resurrection, the Christian church would never have come into being.There would be no meaning to life whatsoever. Even the Bible says;
"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." 1 Corinthians15;19
There is a true hope beyond the earthly life.First of all there is no fear. Death is no longer the end and time is no longer the enemy. When you know Christ you know life is forever. The purpose of it Jesus stated in His prayer;
"And this is life eternal, that they might know You the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent." John 17;3
Life is yours for taking. You take it by faith in the living Christ. You can't believe in a dead Christ. Only the living Lord can save you. Eternal life - "now and forever." It is offered freely, but how many of us take it seriously?
We care about things like our house to be paid off in 20- 30 years,about our life insurance, but what about eternal insurance in Jesus? We think about our little kids going to college in 20 years, but what about us in 40, 50, 60, 70 years from now? At some point we will face God and eternity. For some it will come sooner, for some later. Eternity either with God, or apart from God in a darkness..
Life without Christ is actually very scary! Very uncertain. You want to hold on to it as much as possible, preserve it with all possible means but no matter how much you try, you won't be able to keep it forever. There is a story in the Bible.
Jesus talked to people who came to Him complaining about ' innocent' people killed in an accident;
"Those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no!
But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13;4-5
Without a Savior the future is very uncertain, life very fragile.
Forgiveness and life is offered now. Don't wait, don't put it off before it is too late.
No teacher has ever said anything like that " All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth". Have we ever thought about that?
What does it really mean? All power is His as He is the risen Lord. Because He is the risen Lord, He is the Savior of the world. He said " I am the resurrection and the life"
Do we forget why we celebrate Easter? Put the eggs, and the bunnies aside, it is celebrating victory over death! He is risen, He is alive! Death could not hold Him. He is victor. He is the resurrection. He is triumphant over death.
" I am alive forevermore...and have the keys of hell and death." Revelation 1;18
Remember the knowledge about Jesus doesn't save you. You might know all details about His life and still be missing the life He is offering. Christ is life and gives life to those who take it, but we must want it. We must mean it. This is no gift for which you say ' thank you' and put it away in a closet. Salvation was purchased for you by a very high price, it cost God's Son to shed His blood.
Jesus comes to us when we really mean it. Then we can experience a new transformed life, full of hope with the living Lord.
Then we can say; He is REAL!
Friday, March 1, 2013
The voice of God
God comes so quietly to Abraham and promises him a son. God makes Himself known to Elijah by a still small voice He calls young Samuel late night in the quietness. He also says " Be still and know that I am God".
He calls no attention to Himself . There is no voice blaring from heaven over a huge loudspeaker. God sends a message to a teenage girl that she will have a baby and that she will name him Jesus. The Savior is born and then his ministry is in small forgotten country in the small corner next to a Roman empire. He has time for women and children and lays his hands on miserable people who live in dirty places. He is telling us that the Kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure. He who wants God will have to desire to find Him. Jesus does not come marching down the streets with bands playing, flying flags, dressed in the king's clothes, waving to a jubilant crowd. He does not come marching in the front of legions of angels to impress us with His strength.
He rebukes the evil spirits who recognized Him as the Holy One of God and tells them to be quiet. He is not showing off. Jesus never tries to impress anyone with Himself.
He has lots of power people never had seen before, He heals every sickness, raises the dead ones to life, orders the storm and wind to calm down, comes in God's authority to forgive sin. He is somebody. He is the king. He knows the truth. If anyone was to brag about himself , He should be the first one to have the right to, yet He does not blow a trumpet before Him.
Even His brothers said "Leave here and go to Judea, where your followers can see your miracles! You can’t become famous if you hide like this! If you can do such wonderful things, show yourself to the world!" John 7; 3-4
Why is He so humble ? As a King He had a right to enter Jerusalem on a horse, but no... He rides a donkey. He doesn't choose influential theologians but very simple people to be His apostles. He is not a nationalistic deliverer. Not the one how most Jews imagined. He is not throwing lightnings to show His power. He is not going to enforce His rule over anybody. His message is righteousness and peace. Why is He not coming to demonstrate His power like many expected of the Messiah?
Then we would only admire Him for His power and we would admire Him in a crowd. As`somebody already said" We would only wave to Him. We could never get close to Him. But the thing we need is to be recognized." Not to have a Savior to admire from the distance but to get close to Him and have a personal relationship with Him. Otherwise we would be lost in the crowd. Religious people whose life was only their 'religion' but not close relationship with God wanted Him to show powerful signs in order to believe Him that He is the Messiah. Jesus refused. That was not the way.
He said " Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls." Matthew 11;29
You have to humble yourself to come to God. He is opposing the pride. He doesn't want to impress you with miracles but wants your faith!
He doesn't want you just to watch Him in the crowd but to be close to Him. He wants to be your personal Savior!
He shows utter humility at the end of His life. He takes the cross to die on. " He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter."
He doesn't protest when Roman soldiers come after Him, He doesn't try to run away or deliver Himself from the cross. He hears the others saying;
"You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!" Matthew 27;40
He does not open his mouth. We would think it is a weakness. Jesus does not submit because He has no other way out.
" Don't you realize that I could appeal to my Father and He would at once send Me more than twelve legions of angels to defend Me?"
He also said about his life; "No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the right to lay it down, and I have the right to take it up again."
John 10;18
Somebody said " He dies to save the world that does not want to be saved. He forgives sins and yet a few want to be forgiven. He brings a peace that continually will be abused."
The world still doesn't care much what happened on the cross and doesn't feel the need to be forgiven. We tend to rely on ourselves. But if we could save ourselves the cross would not be needed. Jesus wouldn't have to come to deliver us.
We say, we have no time for Jesus, we have our own business. We forget He is the author of life. You are not living out of your own power- even if it seems so to you. Your life is in God's hands.
God gave all the judgement all to His Son. And His Son could say "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" Matthew 28;18
Jesus is the One who will call your name either to everlasting life with Him or to pitiful judgement and death.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live." John 5;25
v.28 "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice "
If you ever wondered how you could hear God and make your life right with Him, come to the cross. " God's forgiveness is a very costly gift. A gift which cost Him unimaginable pain and anguish a gift which cost Jesus unbearable suffering and death." He gave Himself for you!
Friday, February 22, 2013
The way to God
Most of the world developed an idea about God, who is a great Unknown. The thought that He is detached from the world, the Unknowable is very common because He doesn't do things according to our own expectations or imagination.
According to the Stoics - God is utterly detached from the human scene and we cannot influence Him, neither have any relationship with Him. Many still retain these ideas. God is Unknowable and He doesn't care. We want Him to be a sort of a Fairy to fulfill our wishes.
We wonder why isn't He simply visible to us, why isn't He talking to us from heaven with a loud voice so we can clearly see this is God?
Because it is not about seeing but getting to know who He is, how much He cares and how much He is involved in our lives. And it is based on His conditions;
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4;6
If we only knew how He looks like but didn't care about getting to know His character, His personality, His heart- would that be satisfying for is- just to say;
" Oh, I saw God, He is of that shape, looks so and so." ?
No. God is definitely more than we could see to be able to describe Him. Besides, God is a Spirit and we can know Him by getting to know His character. God made the way to know Him. For those who believe the gospel, there comes His revelation.
He doesn't have to be the Unapproachable One any more.
In a Jewish temple there was a curtain hanging to hide the Holy One. Only once a year the high priest could enter to make atonement for the people.He alone could come near the Holy One, the God who was separated from man.
But we forget that huge curtain hiding The Holy One - was torn down when JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS!
He came into this world where God seemed unknown and removed our own conception of unapproachable God.
Jesus comes to call us to God. He comes with the news that God is not removed from us that He wants us to approach Him, that in fact, this Holy God is friendly to sinners. For this reason the Pharisees were filled with anger when they saw Jesus befriending the common people. But Jesus reveals God, enters the human scene and calls us to Him;
"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me..." Matthew 11;28
Here Jesus reverses our human ideas of God and shows that God wants you to come to Him. God calls you as a father calls his children home. God seeks you as a shepherd seeks a lost sheep. He calls you in His name ." Learn from Me....you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19;10 That is -us- who were lost in this sinful world, and by sin were separated from God.
Somebody once said;" Shakespeare can give you literature, Browning can give you poetry, Kant can give you philosophy, Sartre can give you existentialism,Freud can give you psychoanalysis, Einstein calls you give you science, the newspaper calls you to give you information, the motion picture gives you entertainment, the advertisers- a better living... Everything the world gives you is temporal. Everything Jesus gives is ETERNAL! He calls you to salvation!
What is Jesus cure? " Come unto Me" A call not to join an organization, to follow an ethic, a new teaching, or even a way of life, but this is a call to meet a PERSON, an invitation to come directly to Him and through Him to God. He is the DOOR. He is the WAY. Who else can save you if not the One who demonstrated His power over life and death? The One who died and rose again.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to." John 5; 39-40
God desires to be approached. He can be approachable through Jesus. Can anyone hold an intimate conversation with one of the Greek gods or any other man-made gods -statues? Definitely not! But the Father of Jesus Christ offers Himself to us; :" Come unto Me."
Can any of the man-made gods in different religions give you salvation? Definitely NOT.
"No one can come to the Father except through me" John 14;6
And Jesus says;" I will give you rest" The release of sin. The removal of fear. Freedom of conscience. Everlasting life. Jesus brought us the vision of God, the God who desires to be approached. It is not the fear of sin but the love of God which sets men free.
So Jesus calls you He invites you to the eternal God. For this God approaches you in Jesus and invites you to salvation and service. You may come from the lowest of motives. You may only want peace of mind, or rest from your burdens.. Someone once said; " I came looking for shelter. I found a shell. And then in a shell, I found a pearl"
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". Colossians 1;15
According to the Stoics - God is utterly detached from the human scene and we cannot influence Him, neither have any relationship with Him. Many still retain these ideas. God is Unknowable and He doesn't care. We want Him to be a sort of a Fairy to fulfill our wishes.
We wonder why isn't He simply visible to us, why isn't He talking to us from heaven with a loud voice so we can clearly see this is God?
Because it is not about seeing but getting to know who He is, how much He cares and how much He is involved in our lives. And it is based on His conditions;
"God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." James 4;6
If we only knew how He looks like but didn't care about getting to know His character, His personality, His heart- would that be satisfying for is- just to say;
" Oh, I saw God, He is of that shape, looks so and so." ?
No. God is definitely more than we could see to be able to describe Him. Besides, God is a Spirit and we can know Him by getting to know His character. God made the way to know Him. For those who believe the gospel, there comes His revelation.
He doesn't have to be the Unapproachable One any more.
In a Jewish temple there was a curtain hanging to hide the Holy One. Only once a year the high priest could enter to make atonement for the people.He alone could come near the Holy One, the God who was separated from man.
But we forget that huge curtain hiding The Holy One - was torn down when JESUS DIED ON THE CROSS!
He came into this world where God seemed unknown and removed our own conception of unapproachable God.
Jesus comes to call us to God. He comes with the news that God is not removed from us that He wants us to approach Him, that in fact, this Holy God is friendly to sinners. For this reason the Pharisees were filled with anger when they saw Jesus befriending the common people. But Jesus reveals God, enters the human scene and calls us to Him;
"Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me..." Matthew 11;28
Here Jesus reverses our human ideas of God and shows that God wants you to come to Him. God calls you as a father calls his children home. God seeks you as a shepherd seeks a lost sheep. He calls you in His name ." Learn from Me....you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Luke 19;10 That is -us- who were lost in this sinful world, and by sin were separated from God.
Somebody once said;" Shakespeare can give you literature, Browning can give you poetry, Kant can give you philosophy, Sartre can give you existentialism,Freud can give you psychoanalysis, Einstein calls you give you science, the newspaper calls you to give you information, the motion picture gives you entertainment, the advertisers- a better living... Everything the world gives you is temporal. Everything Jesus gives is ETERNAL! He calls you to salvation!
What is Jesus cure? " Come unto Me" A call not to join an organization, to follow an ethic, a new teaching, or even a way of life, but this is a call to meet a PERSON, an invitation to come directly to Him and through Him to God. He is the DOOR. He is the WAY. Who else can save you if not the One who demonstrated His power over life and death? The One who died and rose again.
"You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to." John 5; 39-40
God desires to be approached. He can be approachable through Jesus. Can anyone hold an intimate conversation with one of the Greek gods or any other man-made gods -statues? Definitely not! But the Father of Jesus Christ offers Himself to us; :" Come unto Me."
Can any of the man-made gods in different religions give you salvation? Definitely NOT.
"No one can come to the Father except through me" John 14;6
And Jesus says;" I will give you rest" The release of sin. The removal of fear. Freedom of conscience. Everlasting life. Jesus brought us the vision of God, the God who desires to be approached. It is not the fear of sin but the love of God which sets men free.
So Jesus calls you He invites you to the eternal God. For this God approaches you in Jesus and invites you to salvation and service. You may come from the lowest of motives. You may only want peace of mind, or rest from your burdens.. Someone once said; " I came looking for shelter. I found a shell. And then in a shell, I found a pearl"
"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation". Colossians 1;15
Saturday, February 16, 2013
All about salvation
Who will be saved?
There is no universal salvation, some will be saved and others lost. The Bible says that the day to separate one from the other will come for sure. This is the day to separate grain from the chaff, the good from the bad, the sheep from the goats. Each person will be classified into one or the other group. The Holy Bible says that in many places. Therefore, I do not accept the thesis of universal salvation. The question is: Are you between the saved or the lost ones?
To emphasize the importance of this issue, I must refer to the parable of the wheat and the tares and the parable of the fishing. We do not have to find our own interpretation of these parables, the Lord explained them to us clearly Himself. Wheat - says Jesus - symbolizes the children of God, and the tares - the children of Satan. The servants wanted to root out the tares and to leave the wheat , but Jesus said: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Matt. 13: 30).
How long will they grow together? Until the harvest. When will be the harvest? When the Lord says it is time for that. That means, while we are on this earth there will be wheat and tares, children of God and children of Satan. If we all were to be saved, the weeds would have to be turned into the wheat. But the Bible says the tares are tares, they are not intended to be saved, but will be collected in bundles and burned.
The same lesson is in the parable about fishing. The fisherman catches the good and bad fish. In the sea there are also bad fish.The sea is the Kingdom, the visible church - and it has also unbelievers ( or fake believers) in it who are like bad fish in a net. The separation does not take place earlier than at the end of the ages( whenever the Lord decides). Then the good will be separated from the bad. Not everyone will be saved.
"Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who commit iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear! (Matt. 13: 41-43).
"Angels shall come forth, and separate the wicked from the righteous" (Matt. 13: 49).
"And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world [...]. Then He`shall say to those on his left hand, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels [...].
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
(Matthew 25: 32-34, 41, 46).
Our Lord says that the angels will separate the sinful from the righteous, The sheep will be set on his right and the goats on the left. To ones He will say, "Come, ye blessed ones " to the others He will says : "Depart from me, ye cursed ones ." Thus, if there is a separation, not everyone will be saved. The question is are you between the saved or the lost ones?
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7: 13 - 14). So many are on the broad road and not too many on the narrow.
"But, how God of love - you would say - may take so many for destruction?!
Let me ask you a question: Do you remember from the Bible when God allowed for so many to go to destruction? Yes, there was such a time. It was the time of the flood. Only eight people were saved, and all the others were killed. So many were lost in the waves of the flood.Their salvation was in the ark God told Noah to build but only Noah's family hid in there.
If God had already done so, is it difficult to accept that the judgement will happen again? Do you remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? How many people survived? Only three. There were only three righteous people God led out of the city before He destroyed it. All the others were killed. If God judged the wicked ones for the second time, He will surely carry on His judgement for the third time. Unfortunately the vast majority is rejecting the only savior Jesus Christ and so they will be lost.
Why today so many are walking on that wide road that leads to destruction? The vast majority have no idea at all about the Gospel ...
Most people do not have Jesus Christ in their lives. And which group do you belong to?
Many of those who expect to be saved- relying on their own righteousness, not on the God - will be lost
This is the saddest fact, but some of those who confidently expect that they will be in heaven, they will be not there.
Those who deceived themselves, were not looking for the truth but were holding on to Satan's lies regarding their salvation. It is a faith that is rejecting God's grace, relying on your own righteousness, faith without Christ the Savior, when the doors of mercy are closed.
"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then I tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness "(Matthew 7: 21-23).
Make sure you are building on the one foundation that is Jesus Christ.
Do you let yourself be deceived by false teachings that are not rooted in God's word. You might have been listening to the Gospel all your life but never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You might have been raised in a Christian home, attending Bible classes and were active member of the church but never really received Jesus as your Savior. There is no salvation without Jesus.
There is no universal salvation, some will be saved and others lost. The Bible says that the day to separate one from the other will come for sure. This is the day to separate grain from the chaff, the good from the bad, the sheep from the goats. Each person will be classified into one or the other group. The Holy Bible says that in many places. Therefore, I do not accept the thesis of universal salvation. The question is: Are you between the saved or the lost ones?
To emphasize the importance of this issue, I must refer to the parable of the wheat and the tares and the parable of the fishing. We do not have to find our own interpretation of these parables, the Lord explained them to us clearly Himself. Wheat - says Jesus - symbolizes the children of God, and the tares - the children of Satan. The servants wanted to root out the tares and to leave the wheat , but Jesus said: "Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
(Matt. 13: 30).
How long will they grow together? Until the harvest. When will be the harvest? When the Lord says it is time for that. That means, while we are on this earth there will be wheat and tares, children of God and children of Satan. If we all were to be saved, the weeds would have to be turned into the wheat. But the Bible says the tares are tares, they are not intended to be saved, but will be collected in bundles and burned.
The same lesson is in the parable about fishing. The fisherman catches the good and bad fish. In the sea there are also bad fish.The sea is the Kingdom, the visible church - and it has also unbelievers ( or fake believers) in it who are like bad fish in a net. The separation does not take place earlier than at the end of the ages( whenever the Lord decides). Then the good will be separated from the bad. Not everyone will be saved.
"Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who commit iniquity, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear! (Matt. 13: 41-43).
"Angels shall come forth, and separate the wicked from the righteous" (Matt. 13: 49).
"And before Him shall be gathered all nations: and He shall separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
Then the King will say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world [...]. Then He`shall say to those on his left hand, Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels [...].
Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”
(Matthew 25: 32-34, 41, 46).
Our Lord says that the angels will separate the sinful from the righteous, The sheep will be set on his right and the goats on the left. To ones He will say, "Come, ye blessed ones " to the others He will says : "Depart from me, ye cursed ones ." Thus, if there is a separation, not everyone will be saved. The question is are you between the saved or the lost ones?
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
(Matthew 7: 13 - 14). So many are on the broad road and not too many on the narrow.
"But, how God of love - you would say - may take so many for destruction?!
Let me ask you a question: Do you remember from the Bible when God allowed for so many to go to destruction? Yes, there was such a time. It was the time of the flood. Only eight people were saved, and all the others were killed. So many were lost in the waves of the flood.Their salvation was in the ark God told Noah to build but only Noah's family hid in there.
If God had already done so, is it difficult to accept that the judgement will happen again? Do you remember the story of Sodom and Gomorrah? How many people survived? Only three. There were only three righteous people God led out of the city before He destroyed it. All the others were killed. If God judged the wicked ones for the second time, He will surely carry on His judgement for the third time. Unfortunately the vast majority is rejecting the only savior Jesus Christ and so they will be lost.
Why today so many are walking on that wide road that leads to destruction? The vast majority have no idea at all about the Gospel ...
Most people do not have Jesus Christ in their lives. And which group do you belong to?
Many of those who expect to be saved- relying on their own righteousness, not on the God - will be lost
This is the saddest fact, but some of those who confidently expect that they will be in heaven, they will be not there.
Those who deceived themselves, were not looking for the truth but were holding on to Satan's lies regarding their salvation. It is a faith that is rejecting God's grace, relying on your own righteousness, faith without Christ the Savior, when the doors of mercy are closed.
"Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name cast out demons, and in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then I tell them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness "(Matthew 7: 21-23).
Make sure you are building on the one foundation that is Jesus Christ.
Do you let yourself be deceived by false teachings that are not rooted in God's word. You might have been listening to the Gospel all your life but never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You might have been raised in a Christian home, attending Bible classes and were active member of the church but never really received Jesus as your Savior. There is no salvation without Jesus.
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Judgement & salvation by God
based on 'Victory over life's challenges"
Have you ever wished that God would already bring justice to all people and pay them according to their deeds?
Many times we can't wait, we look at the news, hear the stories about people treated really unjustly and we demand justice as soon as possible.
We want it now. We don't want to wait for the Lord's return. But did you know that not even the murder of the Son of God has been avenged?
The most hideous crime in the history of mankind has yet to come to trial. Somewhere there sits the group of men responsible for the murder of Christ. Though the crime took place nearly 2000 years ago, their case has not yet been tried. God has chosen to wait for Christ's return to judge those who crucified His Son.
If God has chosen to delay justice for that case, who are we to demand that our case take precedent?
Today I was thinking about the judgement that took place at Noah's life. We read that people got so wicked that God regretted to have the world created.
Only Noah and his family found favor in His eyes. God didn't spare the world but got the flood to wipe away every living creature. I was thinking why all that trouble with building the huge ark to spare the animal's species and all the work Noah had to take building the ark for over 100 years? Could God just strike everybody with a sickness to get rid of all the evil people? But God doesn't execute the judgement like we would think- immediately.
In His love and mercy there is always time for a second chance. While Noah had such a long time to build the giant boat and keep telling people about coming judgement - that was a second chance for the wicked people. Whoever would believe the message and obey God's word and hide in that boat would be saved! But the problem was nobody except Noah and his family took God's words seriously.
The ark was build on a hill where there was no access to any water.The lack of visible danger made the circumstances ridiculous to all the people watching Noah's work so they ignored God's warning and the message God gave him; ' the ark is your shelter from disaster'
The same way God acted in the past the same way is acting now and in the future. The wrath of God that will finally put the end of all injustice we see now is still to come. All delayed so that everybody has the second chance to save himself .This time our Ark is Jesus.
John 3;36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”
John 3;16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life"
The judgement does not come immediately after every crime people commit. But one day God will say the time has come, when His Son will return and His judgement will start.
God has already appointed a prosecuting attorney , a jury, and a judge.And they are all the same person - the Lord Jesus. On that court date He will bring about justice for all.
If you are in Jesus are safe from destruction. If you don't take your shelter with Jesus, you will be separated from God through all eternity.
Your sin demands a death and separation from God but Jesus paid that penalty in full. Christ did have to suffer the punishment we would have had to suffer. Mark described the events surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus;
"And when the sixth hour come, darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour . And the the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice ' Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated "My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?"
While hanging on the cross, Christ experienced for our sake separation from His heavenly Father. The separation was so deep that Christ even addressed Him differently . Until that time He had spoken of God as His Father. Then He cried "My God". There was no longer the intimacy, the warmth, or the closeness.
Before crucifixion He could say to His disciples; " I am not alone because the Father is with Me." John 16;32 At that moment He was experiencing deep loneliness.
All for you so that you wouldn't have to go through that separation and perish forever. Christ voluntarily put Himself in a position in which He no longer had fellowship with the heavenly Father. Just as Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, so Christ, in a sense, was cast out of His privileged position with God. Yet Jesus volunteered to suffer that kind of pain including physical pain and humiliation because it was the only way God would get you back.
It was the only way He could arrange for your forgiveness. God wanted you back and He wanted you badly.
" Through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins." Acts 10;43
" But He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time , sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet. For by one offering He had perfected for all time those who are sanctified." Hebrews 10;12-14
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