Tag: gospel of Christ
Unconditional Love
About 41 years ago I fell in love with a beautiful Island woman; but it was not just her looks that I loved it was also her mannerism. She was very well spoken of and treated her family, her friend & herself with a deep respect for everyone. At that time I was working in the oilfield off shore of Venice Louisiana, I was just 17 teen at the time but was soon to be 18. I would leave for 6 or more months at a time and she was always there waiting for me to return. One day I asked her to marry me and she said not until I ask her Father first. What I said ask your Father first but why I am not marrying him I want to marry you, not until I ask her Father.
Asking someone Father for the right to marry their daughter, no way am I going to do that, or at least I said that to myself. You see asking someone Father for the right to marry their daughter was a way of respect and that was one of the things about her that made her stand out from all the other woman that I dated. Now 41 years later she is still my beautiful Island woman, we have both made a lot of changes because time is no body’s friend. But is it not what is on the outside that matters it is what is on the inside because unconditional Love overlooks the faults in each of our characters and says I love you, I love you, I love you.
But what about God’s unconditional love for man, come take a trip with me in the Bible and let’s see what it says about God love for mankind.
Let us Pray!
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Let’s look at John: 3:16-17
16. 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.
17. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
The scriptures have a beautiful way to describe how God feels about His creation. Can you imagine the creator God stooping down from His eternal glory and becoming His creation in order to save them from a bad mistake they made.
Well that is exactly what happened!
Gen. 1:27. God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
All heaven took a deep and joyful interest in the creation of the world and of man. Human beings were a new and distinct order. They were made “in the image of God,” and it was the Creator’s design that they should populate the earth. They were to live in close communion with heaven, receiving power from the Source of all power. Upheld by God, they were to live sinless lives.
The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels, and were granted communion with their Maker, with no obscuring veil between. . . . The mysteries of the visible universe–“the wondrous works of him who is perfect in knowledge”–afforded them an exhaustless source of instruction and delight. The laws and operations of nature, which have engaged men’s study for six thousand years, were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and Upholder of all. They held converse with leaf and flower and tree, gathering from each the secrets of its life. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan that playeth among the waters, to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. God’s glory in the heavens, the innumerable worlds in their orderly revolutions, “the balancings of the clouds,” the mysteries of light and sound, of day and night,–all were open to the study of our first parents.
God created man a superior being; he alone is formed in the image of God, and is capable of partaking of the divine nature, of cooperating with his Creator and executing His plans.
. 1 John 3:1. Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not; because it knew him not
As John thought of the love of Christ, he was led to exclaim, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.”
People think that it is a privilege to see a royal personage, and thousands go great distances to see one. How much greater privilege it is to be sons and daughters of the Most High. What greater privilege could be conferred on us than to be given entrance into the royal family in Heaven?
In order to become the sons and daughters of God, we must separate from the world. 2 Corinthians 6: 17: Come out from among them, and be ye separate,” the Lord says, “and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters.” . . .
There is a heaven before us, a crown of life to win. But to the over comer only is the reward given. He who gains heaven must be clothed with the robe of righteousness. “Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.” In the character of Christ there was no discord of any kind. And this must be our experience. Our lives must be controlled by the principles that controlled His life.
Through the perfection of the sacrifice given for the guilty race, those who believe in Christ, coming unto Him, may be saved from eternal ruin. . .
Let no one be so deluded by the enemy as to think that it is a condescension for any man, however talented or learned or honored, to accept Christ. Every human being should look to heaven with reverence and gratitude, and exclaim with amazement, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” That when Christ appears we shall be Like Him
1 John 3:2. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
We are not to settle down, expecting that a change of character will come to us by some miraculous work, when Jesus shall appear in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. Listen my young friends, we are judgment-bound right now, and probation is granted to us here in this life, in order that we may form characters for the future, immortal life.
Let none imagine that selfishness, self-esteem, and self-indulgence are compatible with the Spirit of Christ. Upon every truly converted man or woman there rests a responsibility that we cannot rightly estimate. The maxims and ways of the world are not to be adopted by the sons and daughters of the heavenly King.
In separating from the world, we shall encounter difficulties on every hand. But here is what the servant comfort for us: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.”
We should show by our words and works that we recognize the great responsibility laid upon us. Our light should shine so clearly that others can see that we glorify the Father in our daily lives; that we are connected with heaven and are joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
To have fellowship with the Father and His Son Jesus Christ is to be ennobled and elevated, and made a partaker of joys unspeakable and full of glory. Food, clothing, station, and wealth may have their value; but to have a connection with God . . . is of priceless value. . . . And although it “doth not yet appear what we shall be,” “when Christ, who is our life, shall appear,” “we shall be like him.”
1 John 3:3. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure
Christ would elevate and refine man’s mind, purifying it from all dross, that man may appreciate the love that is without a parallel.
Through repentance, faith, and good works he may perfect a righteous character, and claim, through the merits of Christ, the privileges of the sons of God. The principles of divine truth, received and cherished in the heart, will carry us to a height of moral excellence that we had not deemed it possible for us to reach. . . . “And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Holiness of heart and purity of life were the great subjects of the teachings of Christ. In His sermon on the mount, after specifying what must be done in order to be blessed, and what must not be done, He says, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Perfection, holiness,–nothing short of this would give them success in carrying out the principles He had given them. Without this holiness, the human heart is selfish, sinful, and vicious. Holiness will lead its possessor to be fruitful, and abound in all good works. He will never become weary in well-doing; neither look for promotion in this world; but he will look forward to be promoted by the Majesty of heaven when He shall exalt His sanctified and holy ones to His throne. . . . Holiness of heart will produce right actions.
As God is pure in His sphere, so man is to be pure in his. And he will be pure if Christ is formed within, the hope of glory; for he will imitate Christ’s life and reflect His character.
The princely dignity of the Christian character will shine forth as the sun, and the beams of light from the face of Christ will be reflected upon those who have purified themselves even as He is pure.
1 John 4:10. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
In redemption God has revealed His love in sacrifice, a sacrifice so broad and deep and high that it is immeasurable. John: 3: 16: God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son.
When Adam’s sin plunged the race into hopeless misery, God might have cut Himself loose from fallen beings. He might have treated them as sinners deserved to be treated. He might have commanded the angels of heaven to pour out upon our world the vials of His wrath. He might have removed this dark blot from His universe.
But He did not do this. Instead of banishing them from His presence, He came still nearer to the fallen race. He gave His Son to become bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. John: 1: 14. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Christ by His human relationship to men drew them close to God. He clothed His divine nature with the garb of humanity, and demonstrated before the heavenly universe, before the un-fallen worlds, how much God loves the children of men.
The gift of God to man is beyond all computation. Nothing was withheld. God would not permit it to be said that He could have done more or revealed to humanity a greater measure of love. In the gift of Christ He gave all heaven.
The Highest, who was with the Father before the world was, submitted to humiliation, that He might uplift humanity. Prophecy withdraws the veil, that we may behold the throne of heaven, that we may see upon that throne, high and lifted up, One who in human form, came to our world to suffer, to be lacerated with stripes, and bruised for our iniquities.
Thus God showed His love for man. With Christ the Father gave all of heaven, that the moral image of God might be restored in man. . . . His grace in all its vastness is provided for all.
John 1:12. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
Divine son ship is not something that we gain of ourselves. Only to those who receive Christ as their Saviour is given the power to become sons and daughters of God. The sinner cannot, by any power of his own, rid himself of sin. For the accomplishment of this result, he must look to a higher Power. John exclaimed, John: 1: 29: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” Christ alone has power to cleanse the heart. He who is seeking for forgiveness and acceptance can say only,–
“Nothing in my hand I bring; Simply to Thy cross I cling.” But the promise of sonship is made to all who “believe on his name.” Everyone who comes to Jesus in faith will receive pardon.
The religion of Christ transforms the heart. It makes the worldly-minded man heavenly-minded. Under its influence the selfish man becomes unselfish, because this is the character of Christ. The dishonest, scheming man becomes upright, so that it is second nature to him to do to others as he would have others do to him. The profligate is changed from impurity to purity. He forms correct habits; for the gospel of Christ has become to him a savor of life unto life.
God was to be manifest in Christ, “reconciling the world unto himself.” Man had become so degraded by sin that it was impossible for him, in himself, to come into harmony with Him whose nature is purity and goodness. But Christ, after having redeemed man from the condemnation of the law, could impart divine power, to unite with human effort. Thus by repentance toward God and faith in Christ, the fallen children of Adam might once more become “sons of God.” When a soul receives Christ, he receives power to live the life of Christ.
Eph. 5:27: That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish..
The church, enfeebled and defective though it be, is the only object on earth on which Christ bestows His supreme regard. He is constantly watching it with solicitude, and is strengthening it by His Holy Spirit. Will we, as members of His church, allow Him to impress our minds and to work through us to His glory?
Christ loves His church. He will give all needed help to those who call upon Him for strength for the development of Christlike character. But His love is not weakness. He will not serve with their sins or give them prosperity while they continue to follow a wrong course of action. Only by faithful repentance will their sins be forgiven; for God will not cover evil with the robe of His righteousness. He will honor faithful service. He will abundantly bless those who reveal to their fellowmen His justice, mercy, and love. Let those who are engaged in His service walk before Him in true humility, following faithfully in His footsteps, cherishing the holy principles which will live through the eternal ages. Let them in word and action show that they obey the laws which are obeyed in heaven.
The church is the repository of the riches of the grace of Christ; and through the church will eventually be made manifest, even to “the principalities and powers in heavenly places,” the final and full display of the love of God…. The church is God’s fortress, His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world…. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts.
God’s love for His church is infinite. His care over His heritage is unceasing.
2 Cor. 6:17, 18. I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
The Creator of the universe addresses you as an affectionate Father…. Your heavenly Father proposes to make you a member of the royal family, that through His exceeding great and precious promises you may be a partaker of the divine nature…. The more you partake of the character of the pure, sinless angels, and of Christ your Redeemer, the more vividly will you bear the impress of the divine, and the more faint will be the resemblance to the world.
“I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters….” What a promise is here made upon condition of obedience!…. He promises to be a Father unto you. Oh, what a relationship is this! higher and holier than any earthly tie. If you make the sacrifice, if you have to forsake father, mother, sisters, brothers, wife, and children for Christ’s sake, you will not be friendless. God adopts you into His family; you become members of the royal household, sons and daughters of the King who rules in the heaven of heavens.
If you call God your Father, you acknowledge yourselves His children, to be guided by His wisdom, and to be obedient in all things, knowing that His love is changeless. You will accept His plan for your life. As children of God, you will hold His honor, His character, His family, His work, as the objects of your highest interest. It will be your joy to recognize and honor your relation to your Father, and to every member of His family.
God is our Father, a tender parent, solicitous for His spiritual children. He is pledged to be the protector, counselor, guide, and friend, of all who are obedient to Him.
Rom. 8:17: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
All who enter into a covenant with Jesus Christ become by adoption the children of God. They are cleansed by the regenerating power of the Word, and angels are commissioned to minister unto them. They are baptized in the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. They pledge themselves to become active members of His church in the earth. They are to be dead to all the allurements of worldly desires; but in conversation and godliness, they are, through sanctification of the Spirit to exert a living influence for God.
“Heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ,”–what an exalted, dignified position! Separate and distinct from the world, secure from the wily snares of Satan! By their baptismal vows, God’s professed followers have pledged themselves to stand in opposition to evil. The enemy of souls will work with all craft to corrupt their minds. He will seek to introduce his methods into their service for the Master. But there is safety for them if they will heed the injunction: “… be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” .
To what greater honor could we aspire than to be called the children of God? What greater rank could we hold, what greater inheritance could we find, than that which comes to those who are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ?
God so loved the world, what a blessing to this sin lost world that its creator would step in and pay the penalty for the law that mankind broke. Then to give the very best that heaven could give, the gift of His Son; the Father gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John: 3: 16:
My friend, God love you, no matter where you are in life, no matter what you done in life there is hope in the Fathers Son Jesus Christ. Pray He will always hear a prayer coming from a repented heart reaching out to Him for forgiveness. Always remember God loves you with unconditional love.
Elder Tim McNab
Restoring Gods Truth Ministry
Preaching Another Gospel
STORY: Island of Lost Sailors
Every time a bad storm went by, sailors would be found washed up on the beach of this island sometimes dead, sometimes still alive.
The local islanders decided to build a rescue station on the beach and when there were storms at sea, they would each take turns manning the station. The governor heard of this endeavor of the islanders. He saw this as a good thing for his hope to get re-elected, so he contributed to the building funds and also donated a small generator to help power the place.
With the government’s help it was not long before there was a full size, fully equipped rescue station operating on this island.
The people enjoyed coming to the rescue station. They couldn’t wait for a storm, just so they could go out and look for sailors who got caught in the storms.
Soon someone voted to make meeting at the rescue station a weekly event. What better choice as it had everything, running water, electric Power, etc.
Before long, the people found themselves meeting two, and sometime 3 times a week at the station.
Now and then, a storm would blow in, and a lonely sailor would wash-up on the beach and find his way to the station, only to find the local island people busy. By some chance of luck, he may get someone’s attention.
Daily the island people met at the station, it was where you could hear the latest news and get latest reports on what was going on through the islands.
Before long, someone wondered, why hadn’t they built the meeting hall in the middle of town instead of so close to the beach?
It is so very easy to loose site of why we are here today….
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Do you remember Peter Marshall, the famous Scottish preacher and chaplain?
As a boy he worked one summer in an English village of Bamburgh, 16 miles from the border of Scotland.
One very dark night he had to walk home and decided to take a shortcut. He knew there was a deep, deserted limestone quarry in the area, but he thought he could avoid the danger.
The night was dark, there were no stars. It was black as the inside of an ink bottle.
He had walked slowly for some time when he suddenly heard someone call: “Peter” in an urgent tone.
He stopped and all he could hear was the wind. He called out, “Who is there?” There was no answer.
He thought he was mistaken and walked on a few steps and then he heard that voice again, even more urgently: “PETER!” This time he stopped dead still and tried to peer into the impenetrable darkness.
He stepped forward and fell over something and reached out to catch himself but there was nothing there! He groped around to the left and to the right. Then he realized that he was right on the edge of the quarry, one more step and he would have fallen to his death! There was nothing there.
He was right on the edge of death. He was saved, but just barely in the nick of time.
Peter never forgot that voice his whole life. He always listened to that voice through the rest of his life. God had warned him and he shuttered that he almost did not listen.
Has something like that ever happened to you? Has God ever said to you, “there is a time when you need to wake up.
Has some sign happened to you that you didn’t listen to?
How many times will God warn us?
How many times will we not listen?
God is capable of saving us to the uttermost if we will just respond to Him. Don’t put off responding to God, to listening to God.
It is dangerous to put off responding to the leading of God. The road to spiritual loss is usually greased with the slime of indifference and neglect.
Sometimes I feel that we walk in darkness in our Christian experience. We all like to feel that we are safe because of what we believe, but how do you know it is the truth?
After all, everyone today believes that only their Church is the true Church and that they are living and teaching the truth.
What makes a church a church? What makes your church different from any other?
If someone asks you: Are you saved? What would you tell them?
What if they ask you: Are you a Christian? What would you say?
You can be 99% saved and 1% lost and guess what, you are still LOST…
Church is a body of believers, no one part is better then the others, and that is what makes Christianity different from all other religions.
It is the belief in the power of one Man’s life that will transform others. Lifting them up and giving them the power to go and tell others about God.
We call this word “Gospel.”
But what is it about “this Gospel” that makes it so much different from the many other world religions?
Do you know what the Gospel of Jesus is?
Do you know what truth is?
Can you tell a fake from the real thing?
In the world we live in; there are two Gospels and only two.
No matter what religion or faith you keep, you are either one or the other.
1. The Gospel of Truth.
2. The other is the gospel of lies!
The Gospel of truth is that which God himself has given unto mankind.
The gospel of lies is also God’s Word, but turned around by Satan’s lies.
Look at Genesis 3:1″Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Very true what the serpent said is it not; God did say that our first parent could eat of every tree of the Garden.
2: And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
Notice how the serpent applied his tactfulness. He is not denying the fact he is clearly stating something that was already known. He has the woman off guard now, being that he is quoting the same thing that God had told them.
3: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Now, the woman goes on to repeat the rest of what God had told them. That in the day they eat or even touch this fruit, they would die.
Now notice, there was nothing in the fruit that would cause death. This tree was like all other trees God had made, the only different was God said not to eat the fruit off the one tree.
4: And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Here is the first and biggest lie ever told in our world by Lucifer!
5: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Satan again, puts doubt into the mind as to what God’s true propose is! He has taken the truth that God has given, but turned it into just the opposite.
And it is no different in our world today, the same lies told 6,000 years ago are still at the corner stone of the very popular religions in our world today.
97% of all world religions today teach that when you die you don’t really die. They teach that you get transferred to some other place or transformed into something else.
It is only true Christians who study the word of God that have a clear understanding of what God said. That when you die you do just that, you die!
Genesis: 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
So what is death?
Death is the opposite of life.
Before you were born, did you know anything? NO
Why
Because you were dead, you did not exist, you were not born yet.
You are a living soul because of two things.
1. You have the dust of the ground
2. You have been giving the breath of the living God, and so you became a living Sole.
1+1 always equals = 2
Remove one; and what do you have “you have, death”, because God said in Genesis 2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
Genesis 2:17 . . . for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Come, let’s turn to the book of Galatians and see what problems Paul was having in his days.
How old was the Church then, not quite 50 years.
Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Paul left to go on a mission trip, no sooner is he gone, then other men came in preaching something a little different. Just like in the Garden of Eden, not much different, just enough.
What does Paul tell them? I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
7: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
Paul goes on to say, not that it is another gospel, but the words are distorted. Meaning something different from what God told Paul and the other disciples to preach.
8: But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Paul knows that Satan will stop at nothing to pervert the Word of God, so he makes it very clean that even if an angel comes and starts to preach something different, don’t believe it.
We as Christians, have only one way of knowing Truth, and that is by knowing God’s Word!
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Read it! Live it! Believe it!
We know that in the last days Satan will try an impersonate Jesus Christ and deceive the whole world. Why? Because of people who will not study to find the truth, they went with only what they heard from preachers!
Galatians 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
There is only one Gospel my friend, and that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, anything else that deviates from that, even one millionth of inch, is not the Truth.
10: For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11: But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12: For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I have always said this one thing, don’t believe a word I say, study for yourself, search the scriptures, for only in them will you find the truth.
Understand what Jesus is telling you. You might say, “how I can do this; I can’t understand what the Bible is saying.”
Understanding will come through prayer and giving God your time.
Ephesians 6:10 Paul said, Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11: Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12: For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
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Truth has never been popular
But truth has always been the truth.
When you are surrounded by the enemy, don’t fear, Jesus is right there with you…
Sometimes, we in Church forget the reason we are here. It is not about pot luck or fellowship, it is about how to bring the message of Jesus to a fallen world; How to bring those who have been washed-up on the shore of sin into Gods heavenly kingdom.
Just like the story of the island people, before long no one remembers why the building was even built on the beach.
The same thing was happening to the Church in Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3: Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4: Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
5: Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6: And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7: For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8: And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10: And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11: And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
Why are there so many different religions in our world today?
One of the main reasons is because of Burger King. That’s right, everyone wanted to have it their way!
We are a society of having everything fast.
Fast life, fast food, fast cars, fast family, and fast religion.
I am amazed by some of what we here in the U.S.A. call, ‘Church.’
It has very little to do with worshiping God, it is more to do with pleasing oneself.
I looked on the internet the other night and this one Church was advertizing itself.
Showing pictures of the Church basketball court, weightlifting room, swimming pools.
We have a lot to offer, the ad said, and yes, we even take our tithes and offerings by e-mail.
Well that’s great, but what about going to Church to find Jesus, have they gotten so big, the main reason they go to Church is no longer necessary?
What does Jesus say is going to happen?
Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22: Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23: And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Remember The ten virgins?
Five went into the wedding and 5 were left out.
Why was this? Why was only half of them ready when the Lord came?
What does a ‘woman’ represent in bible prophecy? “A Church.”
So this is not the world we are talking about here, this is God’s people, the Church.
Half of them will be ready and the other half will not.
So what is the difference? The difference will be in what they teach at the end time. We live in a time of grace because the Gospel has not been given to all the world yet.
But the time is coming when the Spirit of God will convict all, rich and poor, small or great..
Everyone will have the same opportunity to know and believe, or to reject the truth!
Revelation 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
7: Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.
Praise God and our Lord Jesus for rescuing all who have washed up on the beaches of this world of sin, by just putting their faith in Him.
God Bless and be with you all.
D5 Creation
