Tag: Jesus Christ
It’s closer then you think
Scripture Mt: 24:14: And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
STORY: Harley the Pit Bull,
Anyone have a Dog? Anyone have a Pit-Bull?
Pit-Bulls are about the most loving Dogs in the world, they are just giving a Bad name by people who miss-use them. Well I have a Pit-Bull named Harley; she was dropped off on my door step by my Children and never picked up again, but she is a very loving dog so she stayed.
Now and then she will do some of the strangest things, like getting in my way under my legs so I can’t move with out knowing she is right there. Then all at once she will be gone, now where did that crazy dog go I would say. So I would look all over the house for her and can’t find her, what is going on I would think.
I would start looking under the beds and no Harley; well I would say I know she did not just disappear. So again I would start the search room by room and then at last I would check the Bathroom, and when I pulled the shower curtain there she is right in the bathtub. Oh I would say you want aBathbut then I would notice in her eyes something strange. As I reach down to pet her she would be trembling and her tale between her legs in fear.
What is wrong I would say but just about then I would hear it outside. Thunder out side, I would go and look and see dark clouds with thundering and lightning. Where did this come from it was Sunshine just a little while ago. Oh that’s it she could hear and feel that there was a storm coming and did her best to warn me to take shelter in the bathroom. When I would not go she had no choice but to leave me and go her self. I would think that is remarkable that Animals know when something like bad weather is about to happen long before we ever hear or see it.
Let us Pray!
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Did you know that right before a Hurricane or an Earthquake Animals will start to act strange as if they somehow know something bad is coming!
Why is this, it is something left over from Noah days.
Let’s take a look at what happened back then in Noah’s time.
God told Noah that the End of everything was coming, to build a really big boat.
The question is why?
Genesis 6:
12: And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.
The Earth was Corrupt with Sin and God told Noah to warned the people that the end is coming. Noah preached for right at 120 years, and what happened no one believed him.
Only the Animals believed and when the time came they went into the Ark and were saved while the world outside perished.
In the book of Matthew Jesus himself is telling us something very importance for the time we live in.
Matthew 24:
37: But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
38: For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
It is sad but the Bible is telling us that our World today is no different then it was back in Noah’s time
39: And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
Most of the signs about Jesus return have all been fulfilled except for a few.
Matthew 24:
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
What did Jesus mean by all this?
There is a time coming that people will not believe there eyes if it were told them, in fact it is told them and they still will not believe.
The end of Sin out of Gods kingdom is soon to be removed forever, never to rise again.
But listen to what Jesus is telling us about how people will feel about his coming.
2nd Peter 3:
3: Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4: And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Are there scoffers in these last days?. There always has been scoffers but they are getting worse.
They are scoffing at everything including the nearness of the coming of Jesus Christ. You have seen scoffers. They are everywhere and complain about anything, listen to just a few
- “Everything that can be invented has been invented. I recommend that we close the US Patent Office.”– this was the statement of the director of the US Patent Office to President of the United States in 1889.
- Thomas J. Watson Jr. of IBM predicted in 1958: “There is a world market for no more than about five computers. There’s no future in it.”
- In 1896, one magazine author wrote: “The vast majority of people would prefer a smooth running, reliable steam engine . . . to the evil smelling dangerous, wasteful, and at best uncertain and unreliable gasoline engine.”
- In 1900, a spokesman for the granddaddy of the Mercedes Benz Co. said: “There will probably be a mass market for about 1,000 automobiles, that’s about it. And after all, there is a limit to the number of Chauffeurs who could be found to drive them.” And during the next seven years Henry Ford sold millions of Model “T”s.
- In 1903, a preacher predicted, regarding air travel, “it’s good for God and angels and the birds…”. – -his name? Bishop Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur Wright.
- In 1948, radio pioneer Mary Summerville predicted: “Television will not last. It is a flash in the pan.” Newspaper editor C.P. Scott agreed: “Television? No good will come of this devise. For one thing, the word itself is half Greek and half Latin. Is isn’t going to amount to a thing.”
- In December of 1989, West German politicians confided to David Hasselhoff that the Berlin Wall would still be in place long after their children and grandchildren had died. Two weeks later it came down!
Scoffers! I tell you there are an abounding number of scoffers in our world today, scoffing, even in the Church, “you will hear people saying Jesus coming is a long way off. Don’t worry about it, just be cool we are all going to be raptured
The last days are not far in the future my friend; and I believe the last days are here just around the corner.
Scoffers are saying: the ground under Los Angeles is solid. We aren’t expecting any earthquakes in our life-time. We still have time to eat, drink and be merry.
But God says in Luke 12:40, “You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.”
I think there are going to be many, many disasters in the last days, just before the coming of Jesus.
One type of disaster will be in bad weather. Look at Psalm 50:3 (NLT) Our God approaches with the noise of thunder and a great storm rages around Him..
Lighting and thunder.
- When God came toMount Sinaithere was a storm. Remember?
- When He appeared to Elijah there was a great storm.
- And just before the second coming, I think we are going to have great storms.
“Natural disasters, Ellen G. White says in Counsels on Health, “will be more and more frequence and disastrous.”
Come over here to Revelation 7 in your Bible. The first verse talks about the wind.
Revelation 7:1 After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree.
In the last 20 years or so we have seen some of most devastating hurricanes ever.
Do you remember names like Mitch, Frances, Andrew, Katrina, Rita, Lili, Charley, Ivan, Jeanne. Those aren’t names that people are very happy with.
Those are big named hurricanes. Some of them coming and splitting and turning around and coming back again. We have the weirdest stuff going on. I think that eventually the angels will let go of the four winds.
What do these winds represent? They represent trouble, strife, wars, and all kinds of problems in the last days.
STORY: . **** Galveston Hurricane Report of 1900 ****,
In Galveston on the rain-darkened and gusty morning of Saturday, September 8, 1900, newspaper readers saw, on page three of the local Daily News, an early-morning account of a tropical hurricane prowling the Gulf of Mexico.
On the previous day Galveston had been placed under a storm warning by the central office of the Weather Bureau (now the National Weather Service) in Washington, D.C.a one-column headline announced, “Storm in the Gulf.” Under that, a small subhead proclaimed, “Great Damage Reported onMississippi and Louisiana Coasts-Wires Down-Details Meagre.” The story, only one paragraph long, had been sent out ofNew Orleans at 12:45 A.M. that same day, but it added nothing to the information presented in the headlines. Additional details were unavailable “owing to the prostration of the wires.” Beneath theNew Orleans report appeared a brief local story: “At midnight the moon was shining brightly and the sky was not as threatening as earlier in the night. The weather bureau had no late advice as to the storm’s movements and it may be that the tropical disturbance has changed its course or spent its force before reachingTexas.”
This hurricane had been first observed on August 30 in the vicinity of 15° north latitude and 63° west longitude, about 125 miles northwest of Martinique, proceeding westward. Galvestonians had been aware of the storm since September 4, when it was reported moving northward overCuba. From the first, however, details had been sketchy because of poor communications. Ships at sea, where oncoming hurricanes built strength, had no way of telegraphing weather observations ashore, and other nineteenth-century technical shortcomings interfered.
Except for the rain and wind, Saturday began in the city of 38,000 inhabitants much the same as any other weekday. People prepared for another stint in the routine of six-day workweeks then common; not even an encroaching tide disturbed them greatly. Galvestonians had become used to occasional “overflows,” when high water swept beachfronts. Houses and stores were elevated as a safeguard.
The tide kept crashing farther inland, and the wind steadily increased. The Weather Bureau official in charge locally, Isaac M. Cline, drove a horse-drawn cart around low areas warning people to leave. Comparatively few people had evacuated the city, before bridges fromGalvestonIslandto the mainland fell, many of the people along the beach waited until it was too late to seek shelter in buildings downtown, away from the Gulf.
Houses near the beach began falling first. The storm lifted debris from one row of buildings and hurled it against the next row until eventually two-thirds of the city, then the fourth largest city inTexas, had been destroyed. People striving to make their way through wind and water to refuge were struck by hurtling bricks and lumber and flying slate from roofs. The greatest wind velocity registered before the anemometer blew away at 5:15 P.M. was an average of eighty-four miles an hour for a five-minute period, but gusts of 100 miles an hour had been recorded, and weathermen’s estimates later reached more than 120 miles an hour. About 6:30 P.M. a storm wave, sweeping ashore in advance of the hurricane’s vortex, caused a sudden rise of four feet in water depth, and shortly afterward the entire city was underwater to a maximum depth of fifteen feet. This storm wave caused much of the damage. The lowest barometer reading was 28.44, recorded shortly after 7:00 P.M. Around 10:00 P.M. the tide began to fall slowly, and little damage occurred after that.
September 9 dawned on desolation. Most of the city lay in shambles. Between 6,000 and 8,000 people in the city ofGalvestonhad died, and estimated casualties for the entire island ranged from 10,000 to 12,000. Property damage was impossible to estimate by current standards, but contemporary figures ranged from twenty to thirty million dollars.
A high-water mark of 15.7 feet and high winds had destroyed a third of the city, including 2,636 houses and 300 feet or 1,500 acres of shoreline. The sixteen ships anchored in the harbor at the time of the storm also suffered extensive damage.
More violent and costlier hurricanes have struck coastal areas of the United States since 1900, but because of the death toll the Galveston storm that year was in the 1980s still called the worst recorded natural disaster ever to strike the North American continent.
They had signs, they had reports, but no one picked up on them.
The worse thing that can happen is when the warning is giving and no one pays attention until it is too late.
If hindsight was foresight our first parents would have never sinned
I think we will have great storms in these last days and I don’t mean just Hurricanes. The winds of strife are beginning to blow, and in the last days there will be great trouble raging all over this entire Planet.
Take care because there is hope in Jesus
Revelation 7:
2: And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea,
3: Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads.
God will take care of his people in these times, we have nothing to fear if we put our faith and trust in the hands of Jesus
Psalm: 91:
7: A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
8: Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
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What are you doing to warn people of this soon coming End?
Look at what the Bible is telling us, we are the Watchman on the Wall we must tell the people. It is not our job to force them to hear or believe, but it is our job to let them know that it is coming and that it is closer then many people think it is.
There are many who have not heard, many who have not been told, many who have not been warned, and it is our job to warn them of what is coming.
Ezekiel 33:
6: But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand.
7: So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house ofIsrael; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
8: When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9: Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
We must tell the world that Jesus is coming back soon, and not just soon but very soon. .
We are the Watchman on the Wall; every little thing you do will find someone who is looking for the truth.
Look at what Jesus is telling us in the book of Isaiah:55:
11: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
We go not alone, Jesus is right there with us
Hope is in Jesus, we must tell the World that Jesus is coming
What are you doing oh Watchman?
Jesus said in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations; and then the end will come.”
How can we sound the trumpet? How can we let the people know?
There are many ways to share the Gospel, the good news about Jesus.
Everything thing we do will fall into one of three categories.
1. Direct Contact:
- a. Face to Face sharing the good news
- b. Visiting the needed
- c. Bible studies
- d. Volunteering
- e. Missionary work
- f. Your personal behavior, and that effects people more then you think.
2. Indirect Contact:
- a. Mailing; this can be anything from sending a card to say Thanks, Miss you, happy birthday, hope you get well soon.
- b. Leaving literature behind, tracks, free Bible studies cards, Health booklets,
- c. Finding people who are in need and directing them to help
- d. Sharing your resources, Time or Money
There are a lot of Christian’s right here in our Church that I know who minister, through Indirect Contact; God bless you for what you do in His name.
3. Prayer:
- a. Just that on your knee interceding in someone behalf.
- b. Nothing will get you closer to Jesus then through Praying for someone else.
The gospel is going to the world. And, many Christian denominations are out there preaching about Jesus. We’re doing a lot, but we’ve got a lot more to do and we need to keep at it.
God has richly blessed the spread of His Gospel.
We need to keep something at heart, When the Gospel goes to the entire world, we go home!
Is it going to the world, I think it is and I think Jesus coming is a lot closer then you think
What are you doing personally to help other prepare for His coming?
Friends, the last days are an Opportunity.
It is the last opportunity for a dying world to know its creator, an opportunity for us to preach the gospel, an opportunity for you to give your heart to Jesus Christ
I wonder if there is anybody here today who needs a saving relationship with Jesus. Are you closer to Jesus today than you were last year?
Do you truly have a saving relationship with Jesus Christ? If not would you like to receive Jesus as your Savior all you need to do is to invite Him in to your life?
If you want to know more details of last day events, I highly advise reading a very informative book called The Great Controversy, by EG White, especially the last chapters.
Friend: It is closer then you think.
May the Lord our God guide and Bless you as you seek for His Truth
What are your priorities?
At a Washington, DC Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. A man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time approx. 2 thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After 3 minutes a middle aged man noticed there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried to meet his schedule.
4 minutes later: The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk away.
6 minutes: A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
10 minutes: A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.
45 minutes: The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
1 hour: He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed.. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.. Two days before Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, priorities.
Let us Pray! ——————————————————
What are your Priorities in life?
Do you really truth God; Do you trust him with your Money and with your time
There is a story that Luke tell about a Rich man..
LUKE 12:16 The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. It brought forth plentifully. I don’t know what the crop was. It could have been wheat or figs or kiwis or even Okra.
His problem was that his barns were too small. If you have a very good crop and a very small barn what do you do?
What follows is what his mind told him to do.
Verse 18: I will TEAR DOWN my barns and build bigger ones. There will I store all my grain and my goods. End of problem. Right? Wrong!
He forgot just one thing…. the uncertainty of life.
– He was considered a fool NOT because he was rich and successful.
– He was considered a fool Not because he was cautious & a careful planner
– He was called a Fool because he considered himself the OWNER of the goods which his farms produced.
He had the right Idea but the wrong priorities
In Verse 19–he talked to his SOUL(!); “Soul, thou has much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink, & be merry.
He should have talked with God. Instead he consulted with himself. That night his many years shriveled into a few hours.
At that point Jesus asked a question– When you die, who will take possession of your things?
Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
Have you ever gone to an Estate Sale or an auction of someone’s estate who you knew? You see the ownership of the things they valued being transferred to someone else.
There is no such thing as a FUNERAL HEARSE WITH A U-HAUL TRAILER BEHIND IT.
Ownership implies control. At the best we can only control our possessions for a time.
See if you think this statement is true: WE ONLY OWN THOSE THINGS OTHERS ARE WILLING TO ADMIT THAT WE OWN.
Who own your House or you Car, do you own them or the bank, they only allow you to live in the house or drive the car, Stop paying on them for a few months and see who really owns them
On this earth we have conditional ownership.
Only Jesus Christ has true ownership.
Christian stewardship is really a Relationship with Jesus.
If our farmer in this parable had recognized that he was just a steward and that God really owned the farm he would not have talked with himself.
His conversation might have been like this: “Lord, your FARM produced so bountifully this year under your blessing that your barn is too small to hold your harvest. Shall I tear it down and build a bigger one?
Jesus might have replied: Leave the barn alone, it is big enough. ……So what are we going to do with all your surplus?
No problem. Just give it to My children who are in need. In fact, the Lord may have said something like this: I invite you to Enjoy what I enjoy,—
Do you know what God Enjoys? “Giving” THE PRIVILEGE OF GIVING.
Giving is a divine privilege. Giving from a heart that is in love with Jesus will produce more joy to the giver than to the receiver.
I was in Galveston Texas one time, as I came upon a poor man who looked like he was wearing all the clothing he possessed. As he sat there on the floor his hand was outstretched. I put some money in his hand and went on. He said God Bless You Mister! I thought about that man. It is not a divine privilege to sit there against that cold wall and beg. The divine privilege is to be the one who is able to place the money in his hand.
As humans we were given two divine privileges that God has:
1)– To give, this is a divine privilege!
2)– To forgive. Only God can forgive us. But we can forgive each other.
But giving is not only in Money, most importance it is in TIME
One problem that we have is that we try to equate material things with security. The more we have the better or the safer we are.
So we get more and more until at some point we depend upon a god we can see rather that a God we can’t see. If an accumulation of material things brings happiness why are so many rich folks so unhappy?
A man wrote about the late JACKIE GLEASON. There were two Jackie Gleasons he said:
The LIFE-IS-A-LARK Gleason who charmed his audiences by saying: HOW SWEET IT IS!, and the private man trying to drown his problems in alcohol.
Like Solomon, Gleason could have anything he wanted, and both could have said: all is vanity. They both had vast amounts of money.
But the problem was that they did not have dominion over their possessions, their possessions dominated them.
Their goods had become their gods. If you remove one of the two “o”‘s from goods you have gods.
If we truly understand stewardship we will recognize that God gives us the FREEDOM OF DEPENDENCE!
We like to think that freedom is INDEPENDENCE. But that is not God’s plan at all.
God Planned that we should have the freedom of DEPENDENCE.
In their ideal state, ADAM AND EVE had no housing problems, no clothing problems, no problems with weather, health, payments etc.
It would be a strange person who wouldn’t settle for such a situation today.
Then one day along came an ugly old snake in the leaves he said,
Look, God knows that the day you eat of the fruit you will be as gods, you’ll be INDEPENDENT. You will not need Him. What happened?
Everything went berserk.
They were evicted from their home, they had clothing problems, the weather changed, they needed band aids to deal with the thorns,
Eve knew pain as she gave birth, they needed health insurance, they needed death benefits, they had big problems.
They were better off when God owned it all and they were the managers.
If today you place everything you own on the alter and give the ownership to God you are better off.
Look at it this way IF A PERSON DOESN’T OWN ANYTHING, HE IS NEVER SUBJECT TO LOSS
Job thought that way. That is why he could say “The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job recognized Who owned everything he managed, therefore, God could trust him with 2X as much as he had before.
One day a church treasurer resigned. Finally the church asked the local grain elevator manager to take over. He agreed under two conditions:
That no treasurer’s report would be given for the first year. That no Questions be asked about finances during that whole 12 months.
The members were surprised but because he was known for his honesty they agreed. At the end of the year he gave the first treasurers report red:
*The church indebtness of $228,000 had been paid.
*The minister’s salary had been increased by 8%
*The Cooperative Program gifts had been paid 200%
*There were no outstanding bills.
*There was a cash balance of $11,252!
Immediately the shocked congregation asked: “How did you do it?” Where did all the money come from?
He quietly answered: “Most of you bring your grain to my elevator.
Throughout the year I simply withheld 10% on your behalf and gave it to the church in your name. I have your receipts here.
And none of you even missed it. Do you see what we could do for the Lord if we were all willing to return an honest Tithe to God, Who really owes it anyway?”
We Humans have been given possessions as a test to determine whether we can MANAGE eternal things.
If we can’t manage a few dollars down here, what would we do with a whole galaxy?
So this test here is given so there will be no possibility that a selfish person will get into heaven.
We have the divine privilege of giving. Job could say in JOB 29:15-16 “I was father to the poor, and the cause which I knew not, I searched out”
We should look for projects to give to, and not have to wait for appeals to be made. We should consider every NEED as an OPPORTUNITY.
In our parable today about the rich farmer who tore down his barns and built larger ones, the final outcome was not long in coming. LUKE 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’
The final verse says in verse 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”
Don’t get me wrong it’s OK to store up things for ourselves but at the same time we need to be RICH TOWARD GOD.
We make a living through what we get,
We make a life through what we GIVE!!
You can take it with you!
By giving to the needs of God and His work right here we are depositing PEARLS into that vault in heaven.
In my 401K the company gives .35 to every dollar I put in, that is good free money, You would be a fool not to invest.
God said for every dollar you give I will match it 100 times
You will see that your deposits have gained interest and there is quite an accumulation there. Why because you were unselfish here.
May God richly Bless you in your giving back to him what is already His.
Last Day Counterfeits
Prov. 14:12 “There is a way that seemeth right unto a man but the end thereof are the ways of death.”
If you were the devil and could counterfeit anything you wanted, what would it be? Certainly it would be some thing of great worth.
Have you ever seen a counterfeit pile of dirt or a counterfeit toothpick? We only copy valuable things. Money is often copied.
“Satan is constantly seeking to counterfeit the work of Christ.”
Matthew 13:24,25 – “Jesus told them another parable: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.‘”
Satan especially likes to plant his tares among the wheat.
The arch counterfeiter is the devil. So, as you might expect, the biggest forgery today is in religion. Churches (most of them unknowingly) have become involved in teaching forged illusions of Bible truth. With so many clones out there, truth seekers become confused and many simply seek out the best counterfeit. Never be satisfied with anything less than the genuine article.
Swindler Satan’s simulations reach fervent pitch in the last days. In Luke 21:8 Jesus said: “Watch out that you are not deceived.”
I Timothy 4:1 The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow ddeceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
God’s truth has splintered into more than 250 different beliefs. This forgery of truth has been masterminded by the devil.
This replica of truth is not new. Christ warned about it in His day: Mark 7:7 – “In vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the Commandments of men.”
Let us look at a few of the many delusions the devil has devised and that most of the world accepts:
(1)–Creation/Evolution Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” I believe that in the beginning God Created the heavens and the earth. The chance that higher life forms might have emerged through the evolutionary processes is comparable to the chance that a tornado sweeping through a landfill might accidently assemble a space shuttle all gassed up and ready to fly from the junk in the dump.
If we can’t believe in the first sentence in the Bible, then we must reject every other page as fraudulent.
Another hoax emanating from the time of Genesis comes from the Garden of Eden. It was there that the original “Snake in the Grass” announced a great counterfeit that is still believed by most of the Christian world today.
(2) – There is no Death. Genesis 3:4 – “‘You will not surely die,’ the serpent said to the woman…” Almost every church today believes this deception. Most of the religions of the world have purchased the devil’s lie- hook, line, and sinker. In saying “There is no death” he was introducing the delusion that there is life apart from God, Who is the source and maintainer of all life. God said man is mortal, the devil said he is immortal and that evil or good, man will never die. Romans 6:23 – “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The wage of sin is NOT eternal life. Even if that life is in the fire of hell. Think about it, if you are alive in the fire of hell forever then you would have to have eternal life. Not much of a life!…. but it does last an eternity. Is that what the Bible says? NO! The wage of SIN is not life in hell or anywhere else. The wage of sin is death. Eternal Death. Just the opposite of the gift of God which is eternal life. Praise God for Eternal life! (Note that even Jesus said in John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”)
So, this counterfeit, that there is no death, opens the door for yet another fabrication!
(3) – I call it– Fake Fire. You see, if a sinner dies, and somehow does not die, then he must be alive somewhere. Where is that? Hell! And so the belief that there is no death means that life is indestructible. After “death” the person continues to live on somewhere. The unsaved sinner can’t die. So people believe that when the sinner is cast into hell fire, he must live there forever.
He can’t die. And do you know that 95% of all Christian Churches, yet to this day, still believe it?! They have accepted the counterfeit. Why do I call this “fake fire”? Because -if- the fire of hell can’t do its job in a million years or more then it is lukewarm fire!
How does the Bible describe hell fire? II Peter 3:10-12 – “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief… The elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.” Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.” That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.
Next delusion: When Adam and Eve were created from the hand of God, their first full day was spent in worship on the holy Sabbath Day. This brings us to the next counterfeit:
(4) – Sunday is the Sabbath. A gigantic perversion of Bible truth in religion today, involves the question of which day is the true day of worship. Sunday observance has its roots back in the days immediately after the flood (Genesis 10 and Nimrod) In that time, Sun worship was conducted on the day of the sun, that we call “Sun-day.” As sun-worship began to increase, God decided to give to his people a written copy of His law. In the heart of it is His Sabbath commandment.
Exodus 20:8-11 The longest commandment is the only one with the word REMEMBER! If there was not a counterfeit in the making, why do you suppose God would say that? And so today there are many Christians accepting this counterfeit as the genuine article.
But fortunately today there is a movement in the world to get back to the real thing. The Seventh-day Adventist church is basically a call for a return to the truth as it is in the Bible.
Sunday keeping is a counterfeit of God’s Bible Sabbath. God says: Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy!
The counterfeiting continues. The devil needed a logical event on which to base a reason for first-day observance. And so today we have good Christians keeping Sunday because of the resurrection of Christ on the first day of the week. This is not a Bible reason for Sunday worship. We certainly believe in the resurrection of Christ. But this is not a reason to switch from keeping Sabbath.
Now because one lie leads to another, the need arose for a counterfeit Baptism.
(5) – Is Sprinkling Baptism: Baptism under the water is God’s true symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Sunday is not the symbol to honor His resurrection. The new life of the new Christian is! And so if you take Sunday keeping as the symbol of the resurrection, you must introduce a counterfeit baptism that does no require this three fold symbolism. Hence: sprinkling! And so the large majority of Christians today accept this counterfeit baptism and don’t know why.
Ephesians 4:5 speaks of one baptism. Matthew 3:16 tells of Jesus baptism; going down into the water, being buried in it, and coming up out of the water renewed.
(6) – False Christs Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect–if that were possible.”
How many Redeemers do we have? One! Who is that? Jesus Christ. Any other is a false Christ. However, it seems that the Papacy is about to establish an additional redeemer. The over 400 apparitions of the “Virgin Mary” in the last 100 years are shaking the Roman Catholic Church to its core. During just the last four years Pope John Paul II has received over four Million signed petitions to name Mary as CO-REDEMPTRIX with Jesus Christ.
The Pope is considering naming Mary also as the “Mediatrix of All Graces and Advocate for the People of God.” This means that all prayers must flow through her as the ONLY channel of grace from Jesus Christ.
This would in essence elevate Mary to a place in a new “Holy Quartet” of the Godhead!
[for more information see Waymarks, a pamphlet published by the Southern Union Department of Public Affairs and Religious Liberty, Volume 2, # 4, October 1997 issue.]
In John Paul II’s own words, “the new Eve beside the New Adam [Christ] in the Redemption.” Thus Mary would be the daughter of the Father, the mother of the Son and the Spouse of the Holy Spirit.
see Freedom Alert a periodical published by the Council on Religious Freedom, Vol. 13, Issue 4, 1997, E-mail address: page 8.
So you can see there are apocalyptic counterfeits currently in the making. If and when Mary is made a God, it means the World is racing inexorably towards a prophetic date with destiny! You have heard of these little books: God’s Little Instruction Book and etc. Now there is a Mary’s Little Instruction Book.
(7) False Church: God has a true church. She is described as a woman who is in deadly combat with a devil like dragon. Revelation 12:17 – “Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring–those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”
Lutherans and Calvinists are adopting common communions. [AP, 8-18-97]. A public announcement was made in Chattanooga, TN on Sunday May 4, 1997 by an archbishop of the Episcopal Church stating that Protestantism has all but died and that will leave only the Roman Catholic Church to represent Christianity. “God’s church is catholic,” he said. see Chattanooga Free Press, May 10, 1997 p. B1.
Ralph Reed, the director of the Christian Coalition in 1996 said: There is a growing strength of evangelicals and their Roman Catholic allies. “Dark distrust about popery has been swept into the ash heap of history. John F Kennedy’s election in 1960 buried the Catholic bogeyman forever. No longer burdened by the past, Roman Catholics, evangelicals, Greek Orthodox and many mainline denominations are forging a new alliance… See Freedom Report April, 1996, Clifford Goldstein, Editor.
“When the leading churches of the United States, uniting upon such points of Doctrine as are held by them in common, shall influence the state to enforce their decrees, sustain their institutions, then protestant America will have formed an image of the Roman hierarchy and the infliction of civil penalties upon dissenters will inevitably result.” – EG White, Great Controversy p. 445
(8) A COPIED COMING Prophecy warns that in the last days Satan would attempt to impersonate Christ’s second coming. II Thess. 2:3-4 That day shall not come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed as God showing himself to be God. II Thess. 2:8-12 That wicked shall be destroyed by the brightness of His coming. Even him (Satan) whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. With all deceit (many counterfeits).
Luke 21:8 – “many shall come in My name.” II Cor. 11:14 (KJV) – “Satan, himself, is transformed into an angel of light.”
“in the last days he will appear in such a manner as to make men believe him to be Christ come the second time. He will bear the APPEARANCE OF CHRIST IN EVERY PARTICULAR…” – EG White, Vol. 5, Testimonies for the Church, p.698
Back in the 1970’s a rare discovery was made. It was called a pathological phenomenon. Scientists in China discovered a lady actually growing horns out of the top of her head. The written account said that she looked “like the Devil.”
For years the devil has sought to teach a false-hood here. We picture him as a red skinned imp with a tail and horns, and a pitchfork in his hand. This is a false picture. A trick. He has thrown this dust in the eyes of most in the world so that when he comes as an angel of light no one will recognize him and his coming will be accepted as the coming of Christ, Himself. What a counterfeit!
Speaking of Christs second coming: I Thess. 4:16-17 states the correct manner of His coming in the clouds of glory, and in the air.
Rev. 1:7 – Every Eye will see Jesus come!
Very soon, Satan will appear as the true Christ “He will be clothed as an angel of light…The apostate churches unite in the exaltation of Satan…” – EG White, Testimonies for Ministers, p.62 “Disguised as an angel of light, Satan will walk the earth as a wonder-worker. In beautiful language he will present lofty things. Good words will be spoken by him, and good deeds performed. Christ will be personified, but on one point there will be a marked distinction, Satan will turn the people from the LAW OF GOD. – EG White, Fundamentals of Christian Education, p. 471-472.
“He will declare that the Sabbath has been changed from the seventh to the first day of the week and that he is the lord of the first day.” – EG White, Maranatha p. 205
“Satan, surrounded by evil angels, and claiming to be God, will work miracles of all kinds to deceive. God’s people will not find their safety in working miracles, for Satan will COUNTERFEIT the miracles that will be wrought.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol. 9, p. 16.
Matt. 24:24 (KJV) “..shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders, in so much, that if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” – Revelation 16:14 (KJV) says “for they are the spirits of DEVILS, working miracles…”
“Before the end of time he (Satan) will work still greater wonders. So far as his power extends, he will perform ACTUAL miracles.” – EG White, Testimonies for the Church, Vol 5, p.698
(9) – Hoax Healings – these miracles are another great counterfeit of Satan.
Revelation 13:13 – “And he performed great and miraculous signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to earth in full view of men.”
Revelation 16:14 – “They are spirits of demons performing miraculous signs…”
EG White – 2SM51 – “He is to work miracles; and this wonderful, miracle-working power is to sweep in the whole world.”
EG White Testimonies t the Church, Vol 1 – “The sick will be healed before us. Miracles will be performed in our sight. Are we prepared for this?”
Have you ever thought about why it is that we seem to be seeing less and less true miracles of physical healing from God? Could it be that these things will fade in importance in the last days, because Satan is counterfeiting so many of them. The devil knows his time is short and these miracles and the imitation of Christ’s Second Coming are his trump cards. As we hear more and more about these false healings and false Christ, we should wake up to the fact that the real genuine article is almost here. How often the fake just precedes the real event.
EG White Great Controversy, p. 625 – “Satan is not permitted to counterfeit the manner of Christ’s advent.” …. “only those who have been diligent students of the scriptures and who have received the love of the truth will be shielded from the powerful delusion that takes the world captive.”
(10)-His counterfeit of the Bible– There are so many books out there claiming to contain the truth. The Koran, the book of Mormon, the new age writings, … the list could go on and on.
But there is only one Bible and It is hard to know which Bible is the Real Bible.
I stood at a Bible Book store and saw a
• Bible for Men with nuts, bolts, gears on the front cover.
• I saw a Bible for Women.
• A Bible For Mothers.
• A bible for Fathers.
• A bible for Students.
• A bible for Teenagers.
• A bible for Boys.
• A bible for Girls.
• A bible for Parents.
• A bible for New Converts.
• A bible for hillbillies.
• A bible for African Americans.
• A bible for Catholics.
I wanted a copy of God’s real word for me!
(11) –His emulation of the church-fellowship…
“The neighborhood bar is possibly the best counterfeit that there is to the fellowship Christ wants to give His people. It’s an imitation dispensing liquor instead of grace, escape rather than reality, but it is a permissive, accepting fellowship. It is a place where you can tell secrets and they usually don’t want to tell others. The bar flourishes not because many people are alcoholics, but because God has put into the human heart the desire to know and to be known, and loved, and many seek a counterfeit at the price of a few beers and are led into the devil’s trap and barred from eternal life.”
(12) –His backward millennium with its deadly second chance after seven years of tribulation AFTER the second coming. Revelation 20 does not indicate there will be a second chance after the rapture. Jesus will come at the beginning of the 1000 years. All the righteous will be taken to heaven and all the wicked will be left behind dead and unburied.
(13) — TANGLED TONGUES:
There is a movement today in religion that says unless you speak in tongues you are not saved. Yet Jesus never spoke in tongues or David or John or hundreds of other Saints. Most of what is claimed as Bible examples of speaking in tongues is actually the gift of another LANGUAGE.
Listen to Acts 2:2-6 (Living Bible) – “Suddenly there was a sound like
the roaring of mighty windstorm in the skies above them and it filled the
house where they were meeting. What looked like flames or tongues of fire
appeared and settled on their heads. And everyone present was filled with
the Holy Spirit and began SPEAKING in languages they didn’t know for the Holy
Spirit gave them this ability.
And when they heard the roaring in the sky above the house, CROWDS CAME
RUNNING to see what it was all about and were stunned to hear their OWN
LANGUAGES being spoken by the disciples.”
That is how the Holy Spirit came to them. The same could and must happen to each of us today. The time is here. The Spirit is even now being poured out. Are you receiving it yet? If we are not filled with the Holy Spirit, we will be filled with another spirit.
I would like to share with you something that I will never forget. It happened when I was about 11 years old. A young lady about 26 years old had been suffering from cancer for eight months. She was paralyzed and wasn’t able to walk. One Saturday night she asked her husband to take her to the Holy Ghost Pentecostal church. He did and carried her in through the door. The group there were with the spirit that night and excitement was high. Immediately that paralyzed lady began to preach and pray. She started talking in an unknown tongue. “I couldn’t understand her,” her husband said.
But in a few minutes she stopped, and then, as if a hand had raised her to her feet, she stood up and began to walk around. (Remember she had been paralyzed.) They were all praising the Lord about that time. Suddenly she darted from the church with her husband trailing behind her; but he couldn’t catch her. She kept running until she reached the highway, where upon she immediately jumped in front of a passing car. She was killed. (Newspaper- Houston Press, Nov. 17, 1952)
Here was a woman who went to a Holy Ghost meeting. She started speaking in tongues. She apparently seemed to be healed and then was lifted out of her seat and ran out and flung herself in front of a speeding car.
Could that be the Spirit of God? I can’t believe it. The spirit of the DEVIL leads to self destruction as in the case of the swine that ran into the sea. If the Holy spirit takes charge of our lives, then he will lead us to life in Christ. If the Evil spirit takes charge, he will lead us to the road of destruction. Let us make sure that we have the Holy Spirit in control of our lives. The Devil is now trying to counterfeit every truth of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14.
Our only safety is to be led by the Holy Spirit. I want to be a son of God. Don’t you?
The best way to detect a counterfeit twenty dollar bill is to KNOW THE GENUINE. To avoid being taken in by all the falsehoods and videos and cassette tapes and mimeographed sheets that come in the mail, what must you do? Must you wade through all that stuff? NO! You concentrate on knowing Jesus Christ. He is the truth. Study your Bible. Focus on Jesus. And someday when the counterfeit is placed in your hands, you will instantly know it is a fake. I saw a counterfeit bill one day and it only took a glance and I knew it was bad.
Sometimes I wish Jesus would keep the counterfeits of His truth out of circulation like the Bank tries to do with the bad money. You can’t go to the Bank and get any counterfeit money. So do your spiritual banking with Jesus! Invest in the truth. The truth is Jesus.
Jesus said: “I am the way the Truth and the Life.”
Stick with Jesus and you will not be deceived.
Sermon from McDonald Road SDA Church
Does GOD still have Laws?
Are laws important?
Do laws put us in bondage?
Have you ever lived in a place where there were no laws?
What would happen to the USA if there were no laws to govern the people?
Just think, no laws so you could just do what ever you want and no one would stop you. Except everyone else is doing the same thing as you, and there is no one stopping them either.
Do you see where a problem could come from?
What if I don’t like stopping for a red light, there are always a pain and turn red at the wrong times. So I am going to just drive straight through them from now on. I might not live long doing that but remember there are no laws telling me I can’t.
Laws are not made to keep us from something good! They are made to keep us happy and safe. So everyone knows what to expect from the other person.
Did God give us laws?
Were Gods Laws to be a burden or a joy to mankind?
What about Grace if we have Grace Do we still need Laws?
GRACE:
We don’t have to earn it. It is the most valuable gift of all. The Scripture says in Ephesians 2:8, 9: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” Salvation does not come from any human effort. It is a free gift without a penny and without price. It is the science of salvation that deserves our attention and our study.
In Revelation 5:9, the redeemed are pictured as standing before the throne of God, both those redeemed from the Old Testament times and from the New Testament times, singing glory to Jesus, the Lamb, “Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” A great, fundamental truth is expressed here—the only way a sinner can be saved is through the blood of Jesus. Since the time of Adam, sinners have been saved only by believing in Jesus.
If men are saved through faith in Jesus Christ, where does the Ten Commandment law come in?
Throughout all the ages of controversy between Christ and Satan, the devil has sought to destroy the authority of God over man by casting the law aside and by preventing knowledge of the truth about the law.
The enemy of Christ brings this about by rejection of the law or a wrong concept of the dispensation of the law as opposed to the dispensation of the gospel.
Satan could bring in the principle of salvation through works, and prevent the functioning of the law according to God’s design.
The role that the law fulfills in relation to the gospel is two-fold. First, it is God’s standard of what is right and true. As a standard the law expresses the mind or will of God, for in Psalm 40:8 it says, “I delight to do thy will, 0 my God; yea, thy law is within my heart.” The law also declares man’s duty to God, for in Ecclesiastes 12:13 we read, “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.”
How often I have heard Christians boast that they don’t care about the law of God. They hide behind Romans 6:14, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”
They say that since they are saved by grace, through the atoning blood of Christ, they don’t have to keep God’s commandments at all. Have you ever heard that theory? Well, I am sure the Bible doesn’t teach that.
In Romans 6:15, the very next verse in the chapter, Paul says, “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” The fourteenth verse has stated, “Sin shall not have dominion over us,” or “it shall not be our ruler.”
We are not under sin, or the condemnation of the law either, when we obey God. Why? Because we are saved by grace. But does that license us to sin? “God forbid.” Friends, when an individual is saved by grace, he is under greater obligation than ever before to keep the law of God.
As it says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law.” Are we licensed to break the law of God because we are saved by grace and saved by faith? God forbid. “Yea,” he says, “we establish the law.” The law is firmer than ever in our lives.
Who is under the law today in your city? Those who have broken it; they are under the law, and in jail. The man who keeps the law is the man who is free today. The law breaker is under the condemnation of the law.
Right here let us stop a moment and read the definition of sin in 1 John 3:4. “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” That is very clear. When a man sins he has transgressed the law.
Every sinner has broken the law. What is sin? “The transgression of the law” When a man sins, what does he do? He breaks the law of God. There must be a law, otherwise he couldn’t break it. We are not under the law unless we break it.
I would fear to be called a minister of the Lord today, telling people that it is OK to break Gods laws or to say it is OK to forget what God said to Remember
Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
How does God feel about man making his own laws and rules and teaching people to live by them instead of his commandment Law’s.
Matt:15:9: But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Mark:7:7: Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Colossians: 2:22: Which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men?
Is there danger in not keeping God Commandments?
Titus: 1:14: Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.
Let’s pretend there is a line drawn in the sand that said those who are on God side stand here and those who are not on God side stand over there.
What side would you want to stand on?
You might say; Lord I am saved by grace I was told I don’t need to need to keep those old laws.
Let’s look at it this way!
The governor of the state has life-and-death power. A man has been sentenced and condemned to die. He is under the sentence of death. Friends intervene. They present evidence to the governor, special factors involved in this case—contributing factors as to why this individual was caught in this particular crime.
As the governor investigates the evidence, he feels that this man deserves clemency; so he uses his official prerogative as the head of the commonwealth. He takes his pen and dips it in the ink and signs across those condemnation papers, “PARDONED,” and then signs his name.
That condemned man, my friend, has been saved by grace, not by his works or by his goodness.
He was doomed to die, and being ever so good in that death cell would never, never in this world save him. That is very obvious.
In other words, after an individual has broken the commandments of God, he cannot be good enough to save himself. The wages of sin is what? Death. We have all sinned, so are under the sentence of death. And there is only one way of salvation, through Jesus Christ.
Now the condemned man is pardoned. He can hardly believe his eyes as he sees the kindness, the stroke of generosity and love shown by that governor.
PARDONED, SAVED, FREE, You meet the freed man a little later and he says, “Wonderful what that governor did for me, and wonderful this new freedom of mine.
Now I can break the law all I like, for the governor set me free from the law and from the sentence of death. I was saved by grace.”
Did the governor pardon him so he could go out and become a greater law breaker? Shall we who are saved by grace continue law breaking? “God forbid.” We are under even greater obligation to keep the law because we are saved by grace
Matt:22: 36-40
36: Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
37: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
38: This is the first and great commandment.
39: And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
40: On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Is that Jesus we hear saying on these two commandments hang all the “WHAT” Law’s and Prophets.
Love the Lord thy God is the first four of the Ten Commandments;
Love thy neighbor is the last six of the Ten Commandments;
Do we find any evident of keeping the old Jewish Ten Commandment Law in the New Testament
Matt:19:17: And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
Mark:10:19: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not, Honour thy father and mother.
Luke:18:20: Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother
Luke:1:6: And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Over and over and over again we hear Jesus telling the people to keep his commandments.
.
If you really Love the lord, and want to show him that you Love him, then do what?
Show him you love him by doing what he tells you to do.
I have heard some say, “Those commandments were only for the Jews.” Then a Christian can lie and steal, and murder people, and do anything else that he pleases. Is that possible?
Jesus says in” John:14:15: If ye love me, keep my commandments. It was because these were broken that Jesus gave His life. If these were to be abolished, why not abolish them before Jesus came to die? Then His death would not have been necessary.
John:14:21: He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
John:15:10: If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
Somebody says, “Well, I can’t leave my church.” We’re not talking about churches today, friends.
We’re talking about following God.
Don’t look at the people. Look at the Light God is showing you.
We need to take one more quick glance here at what Jesus said. 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.”
Now notice verse 22. This is an amazing statement by our Lord. “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?”
Oh yes, miracle workers in the name of Jesus.
Don’t you see? Notice Christ’s answer now in verse 23. “Then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Oh, this is one of the most sobering passages in the Word of God, because we’re led face to face here with the understanding which we can’t escape—that it makes a difference to God what we believe and how we live.
It isn’t enough to say, “Yes, I believe. I’m a church member.”
It’s a matter of how we live and what we believe about our God that makes a difference.
Many will say, “Lord, we’ve cast out devils. We’ve done miracles. We’ve prophesied.” And yet, they’ll be lost.
It makes a difference what we believe. Anchor your faith firmly, my friends, to the rock of Scripture.
Christian can you say you know Jesus and not keep his Commandments
1John:2:3: And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1John:2:4: He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
That’s not my saying brother and sister, for it is written in the book called the Bible, which is none other then God word.
1Cor:7:19: Circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping of the commandments of God.
1Cor:14:37: If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Thes:4:2: For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
1John:3:22: And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
People are always looking for bargains, for special discounts. Some churches advertise, “Come to us, we will give you a bargain, 10% off of the Ten Commandments.” But will that stand in the judgment?
Just because some great churches tell you that they will make it easy and only ask you to keep nine of the Ten Commandments, is that sufficient? Will you pass in the judgment day?
Has any church the right to discount the commandments of God? How do we dare to imagine that we are on the high road to heaven when we knowingly break any of God’s commandments?
Matt: 5:19: Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
1John:3:24: And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
1John:5:2: By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1John:5:3: For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
2John:1:6: And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
So now we know that it is very importance to keep God’s commandment WHY?
If you love God then who are you enemy with?
That’s right the world.
For you can’t love God and the world!
What are we told will happen to God people because they love the Lord their God and claim to be his people. His people who keep his Laws and keep the testimony’s of his Son Jesus Christ.
Rv:12:17: And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rv:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Rv:22:14: Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Some time ago one of the items of interest in the newspaper was about a cave-in in a mine down in Pennsylvania somewhere—I think you might remember it. There were some miners trapped but there was reason to believe they were still alive under ground.
There was no way to dig down through the mine shaft that had caved in so they were hoping the miners were off to the side of the main shaft in a little room in a horizontal shaft.
So they brought in a great drilling rig and started drilling down through that virtually solid rock trying to get into that room where they felt they were probably entombed.
Hour after hour, day after day, while the world watched, virtually holding its breath, as the news media portrayed for us the picture of how they went down there 6 inches and then another foot and down finally to three feet.
The families camped at the mouth of the mine where the rescue operations were going on.
Finally the day came when that great boring rig bore through the ceiling of that room where the miners were trapped. Rapidly it was withdrawn and they lowered a microphone to a little speaker down that hole.
The man who was directing the rescue operation at the top spoke into his end of the microphone and said, “Are you alright? Are you alive? Are you there?”
And then a voice came back from the heart of the earth. “Yes, we’re here. We’re alright.”
A great shout went up from the rescue workers at the opening of that pit. Then the director said this into the microphone. “What do you want the most?” There was a pause and then a voice came back, “I want a cigar.”
Oh friends, heaven is involved in the greatest rescue operation the world has ever known.
The entire universe is watching. Day after day, week after week, year after year, for the last six-thousand horrible years,
God has been seeking to rescue those of us who have been entombed by the avalanche of sin.
What must it do to His heart by our procrastination, our idleness, our spiritual postponement of eternal things. We send back a message and say, “Oh, we’re satisfied with the trinkets, we’re satisfied with the things, but thanks just the same.”
How shall we escape if we neglect so great a Salvation?
Walk A Mile In My Shoes
Have you ever wondered why people are so funny looking? No two are alike unless they are born twins.
One day I was walking in the mall and as I turned the corner I busted out laughing at what I saw!
There was a girl standing there who was about 4 foot tall and about 200 lbs, her hair looked as if she had stuck her finger in a light socket and it was all kinds of different colors. All I could think of was frosty the snowman with a rainbow color hairdo.
Her boyfriend was no different, he was about 6’ 2” with a mohawk cut and rainbow color hair and it was all I could do to keep from falling on the floor and dying from laughter. But you see, they were making a statement on the outside about how they felt on the inside.
We are all different no matter how we look, we see things in different ways and through different shades of gray.
Ever though there are people who are born twins and look alike on the outside they are still very different in how they think and act. You can’t judge one by just looking at the other.
A few weeks ago I was in the bathroom and my wife heard me saying “oh no” so she asked what’s the problem. I said my ears, she said what is wrong with your ears?
I said they don’t hang right anymore, one is higher then the other, and all I could hear was her laughing.
You see, when I had radiation treatment for my NPC Cancer, it damaged how I looked.
So I told her that was fine, she could laugh all she wants at my ears. She said I am not laughing at your ears, I am laughing at what you said, there is nothing wrong with your ears.
I think she said that just to make me feel good.
We as Christians should not judge any one, but sometimes we do!
Romans 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
A member of a Church was going to prayer meeting one late Wednesday night, and while passing the truck of deacon John she smelled something.
She started looking around to see if she could find the source of this smell and low and behold there it was. It appeared that the deacon John has started drinking again. She again surveyed the back of the truck and even picked up one of the many beer cans that were there.
Being the good Christian that she was, she pulled out her new I-pod 4G phone and began taking pictures of the back of the deacon’s truck.
I am going to bring this to the Pastor right away, no time to loose; this type of problem needs to be dealt with right away.
She showed the pictures to the Pastor and also brought him to the truck so he could see for himself, the pile of beer cans in the back of deacon John’s truck. She then said, “the deacon must have fell off the wagon”.
You know Pastor, years ago he was an alcoholic, then we had a seminar that our old Pastor put on, and many new people came into the church. John was one of them; he had a lot of battles at first trying to give up his drinking. Then one day he said that the Lord gave him victory over it, he never drank again, until now that is.
It just happened that night there was a Church board meeting and the Pastor brought up the problem with the deacon to the Church board. The Church board decided that the Pastor would need to go to John and relieve of his duties as deacon right away; he was to be put on probation until the Church board could meet again to deal with the problem. It was getting late and everyone wanted to go home for supper.
The next day the Pastor went over to deacon John’s home. He said, “John, I have some bad news! The Church board met last night to decide what to do about your drinking problem. We think it is best that you step down from being a deacon for now. The board also has put you on probation until you get some help.
John then asked, “Pastor, what are you talking about, I have not had a drink in many years. The lord has given me victory over alcohol, a long time ago.
The Pastor said, “John, don’t make it hard on your self. We have all seen the beer cans in the back of your truck. The only way you are going to get help is to admit you have a problem and ask God to help you.”
John then looked up at the Pastor with tears in his eyes.
He said, “Pastor, because of the beer cans in the back of my truck you think I am drinking again?
Pastor, do you remember last week, the director of the youth club asked if we could start saving cans for the club. This was their project to help pay their way to summer camp for many of the boys whose families could not afford the cost.
It is true, at one time I was an alcoholic, but God, through his Son Jesus gave me the strength to overcome it, for no other reason then He Loves me.
I wanted to share this love with many of my old friends, so after Church that day I went over to see them. Because of the youth director’s request, I asked them if they would mind if I took all their empty beer cans to help pay the way for the kids to go to camp this year.”
John was looking at his Pastor, who’s head was now bent very far down in his lap. He said, “Pastor, if you thought that I was drinking again, you should have came and asked me first.
Why did You judge me, try me, and condemn me, without even asking me?”
Do we sometimes jump the gun, as it is so called?
Do we read the book, by only looking at the cover?
Do we make discussions without all the facts?
We are all human, and everyday we make discussions based on nothing else but by what we can see.
It’s called the first impression syndrome, and here is how its works.
- If it smells good, it is good.
- If it smells Bad, it is bad.
- If it looks pretty, it is pretty.
- If it looks ugly, it is ugly
Isaiah 53:2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
I always wondered what Jesus looked like; all we have is the writhing in the Bible to go by. As I read this scripture is does not appear Jesus came looking like any of the people I seen playing his part in the movies.
He was kind of plain Jane looking, standard model with not a lot of extras
John 7:
24: Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
Some of the books with the worse covers have been the best book to read.
Some of the people in this world who have not been the best looking have always had the hearts that were full of Love. They are the ones who are kind and always willing to help other, even going out of there way to do something for someone who has a need.
Matthew 7: 1-5
1: Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2: For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
The scriptures warn us about judging, Why ?
Many years ago before there were cars, there were horse drawn carts. The streets were made of mud not cement.
The driver of the cart would put on the horse a set of blinds so the horse could not see on the sides, he could only see forward. This way he had better control of the horse and it also help the horse from getting spooked.
Wend we judge we are like these horses only looking forward we can’t see the real picture of others people lives because we have on our blind that keeps us from see through the skin to the heart.
If we are not seeing the hold picture then our judgement is incorrect.
3: And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4: Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5: Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
If you are in need of a heart transplant would you go to a doctor who it blind or would you want someone who could see what they are doing. All mankind are blind, we all have eye problems it is only when we go to Jesus that he can change this heart of stone into a heart of love.
There is not one soul on this earth that is not importance to God, he loves all.
Jesus died that all may have access to eternal life, and salvation. We have all sinned and are worthy of death.
Luke 6:
30: Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again.
31: And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.
32: For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them.
33: And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same.
34: And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again.
35: But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.
36: Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
37: Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:
38: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Children pick up the values that are lived constantly before them. Inconsistency creates confusion and doubt.
But a faithful Christian life as a parent does not mean a flawless life. Show me the perfect parent and I’ll show you someone who has no children.
God does not require us to be perfect parents, but in our brokenness and imperfection we are to direct our children to the perfect Savior that we have found, and to guide their feet along the path to find Him for themselves.
• If a child lives with criticism, He learns to condemn.
• If a child lives with hostility, He learns to fight.
• If a child lives with ridicule, He learns to be shy.
• If a child lives with shame, He learns to feel guilty.
• If a child lives with tolerance, He learns to be patient.
• If a child lives with encouragement, He learns confidence.
• If a child lives with praise, He learns to appreciate.
• If a child lives with fairness, He learns justice.
• If a child lives with security, He learns to have faith.
• If a child lives with approval, He learns to like himself.
• If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, He learns to find love in a world that is filled with hate.
Children learn by what they see, if they live by being judged all there life, they too with grow up judging others by the standard they were judged.
If they live being loved all their life they too will learn to love.
Be careful parents, Satan is roaming the Earth like a Roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, and our Children are no exception.
John 12:
46: I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
47: And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
48: He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
49: For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
50: And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
There is only one who is worthy to Judge and that is Jesus. Why because he is the creator, by his might, by his power, by his Love, we were created.
It was not the Father’s plan that sin should enter into our world, but when it did God did not forsake his children.
By all rights he God should have Judge us right then and there “Guilty”, and destroyed us, but he didn’t.
With Guilt still written on the face of man, Jesus came unto mankind. But because of sin man went, and as if he could to hid from his Creator.
Love played a great roll in our relationship with God, not that we love, but that God loves-us from the beginning.
So great a Love that he would give his life in the place of his Children.
For the Bible said in John 3:16
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.
That is why Jesus said:
If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
By rejecting the salvation Jesus officer to you as a free gift, you judge yourself.
Rom:2:12:
For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;
God’s law is the standard that we will someday be judged by. It is the same standard that the entire Universe is Judge by.
For it is his Law, the standard that all things are measured agents.
So if you know the standard that you are going to be judge by, doesn’t it make it essay so you can be ready and be judge worthy and not unworthy.
If I am traveling down the road and the sign say Speed Limit 60 mph. It is saying that the Law said, as long as I don’t go over that posted speed I will be OK.
Now freedom of Choice comes into play here. I am free to keep the Law and I am free to break the Law.
I can keep the Law by doing the speed limit 60 mph, I can get where I am going with no problems.
Or
I can break the Law go as fast as I want, but if there is a Cop hiding up the road somewhere he is going to stop me and give me a find for going to fast.
The find says I was breaking the Law and must now make restitution, in other words “I will pay for the Law I have broke”.
It is the Law that I broke that has Judge me and the salvation of Jesus Christ that saves me.
Acts:17:31:
Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
No one knows the though of the heart, but God only. We look only at the out side of what we see and never see the inside of the struggle going on in a person’s life.
We sometimes judge only by what we see, when all the time we should have been praying for the ones in need.
There will be many of people in Heaven who we will be surprised to find there, why because of the thief on the Cross. Many just like him after committing the act which condemned him to death still asked Jesus in the last moments of life for forgiveness and found there a Savior reaching out to bring them home.
Salvation is free my friend but never has it been cheep. The price paid for all Mankind was of the ultimate cost: The life of God’s only Son Jesus Christ.
Rom:14:13:
Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.
STORY:
There was a lady who had 4 daughter and they loved going to church.
One day the pastor made an announcement that in two weeks we will be taking up an offering for the poor. He encouraged his congregation to start finding ways to save money to help families that were in need.
So the Mother and each one of the girls looked to see what they could do to raise money to help the poor Families.
They themselves did not have much there Father passed away about a two years before. But the Mother who was a strong Christian kept the family together through the good times and bad. They did not always were the best of closes sometimes they had patches or two on them but they were clean, and there shoes were old but were always polished. Mother also made sure no one ever went hungry.
On the way home one of the girls say Mother:
For the next two weeks I am going to bake cookies and go and sell them. Another said.
For the next two weeks I am going to ask if anyone needs any sowing done. The other two said we would offer to do baby-sitting.
The Mother was so proud of her girls and how hard they worked for the next two weeks.
One the Friday just before the offering for the poor, the Mother and girls took up all the money that they had made and put it into a pill, when they finish counting they had $99.85 Mom put in the other .15 to make it an even $100.00 dollars.
Mom then pick-up all the money and went to the bank and brought back 5 new just off the press $20.00 dollar bills.
The girls were so excited that week; they could hardly wait to go to Church. When the offering plate was passed Mom gave each one a $20.00 dollar bill to put in, they were so happy just thinking about the poor Family who will be receiving all that money; for the church was full that day
On the way home they were all so very happy singing and thanking Jesus. After supper the girls went outside in the swing as Mother finish in side.
As they looked they could see the Pastor coming, he went inside and was talking to there Mother and then left kind of fast.
They went in to see if all was OK because Mother was not saying anything. Then she said to her Girls the pastor gave me this envelope, they took up and offering for the poor today.
When they open the envelope there was 5 new $20.00 dollar bills and six one dollar bills.
The oldest Girls looked at the Mother and said. Mother they think that we are the poor family.
We may not have the best to put on, or ride in the best cars, or live in the best house. But we are rich when it comes to Love and knowing Jesus as our savior.
They would have never known they were poor until they were told they were poor
Their Heart was in the right place. By the standards of the world they were judge poor. But by the standard of God love they were judge worthy.
In the eyes of man things don’t always look like what they are.
Man looks only at the out-side; he does not look at what is in the in-side. It is hard to Judge someone unless you can walk in there shoes, and see what they see, and feel what they feel, to hear what they hear, and to love how they love.
2 Tm:4:8:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
There is only one who will Judge and Judge righteously
Rv:20:12:
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Of all the joys of heaven, the greatest will be to see Jesus face to face, to worship Him and our heavenly Father. “for there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: and THEY SHALL SEE HIS FACE; and his name shall be in their foreheads.”
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.” Isaiah 66:22,23.
Rv:20:13:
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Wasps are numerous. They build nests in our houses and under our eaves in the summertime.
One day a wasp flew in and landed on the dinner plate of a man eating his dinner, he saw the wasp. It had landed near a slice of bread that had jam on it.
The man didn’t like the wasp there eating his jam. So he took his table knife and cut the wasp in half.
The wasp was so anxious to keep eating that he kept doing it. Somehow that insect went on with his meal. The man observed a tiny stream of jam trickling out the end of the severed body.
Only when the insect tried to fly away did he grasped the dreadful thing that had happened to him. And you know, a lot of Christians without Christ are just like that wasp. They are dead and don’t know it.
We’re severed from Christ and yet we’re still greedy, we’re still consuming the sweetness of the world and we don’t realize that we’ve been separated from life. And only when it’s time to fly away will we really realize our dreadful condition. We’re lost. We’re dead in the water. We’re shut out of the New Jerusalem, the Holy City. We can’t go in. The gate is shut.
Satin is every ready too severe the connection between God and man. He wants nothing more than to keep man under his power, and he does this in many different ways.
All that defiles must be rooted out of our lives so that we may be purified and sanctified, that our names may be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Not every one that said unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” Matthew 7:21
So Don’t Judge someone until you have Walk a mile in there shoes and seen the part of there life that they see and live everyday.
God bless and be with you and remember what Jesus said in that you have done it unto one of the lease of these my brethren you have done it unto me.
Elder Tim McNab
Restoring Gods Truth