Category: Bible Prophecy
What’s between you and Jesus?
Prov:14:12: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
When Joshua and the people of Israel were headed toward the Promised Land, right in the middle of their path was a huge obstacle, it was called Jericho. Jericho was a large, fortified city. It had huge walls surrounding it. The Israelites couldn’t go around the city; they had to go through it.
Between you and your destiny, there will always be a “Jericho” or something that you cannot go around. You have a choice either defeat it, or it’s going to defeat you.
God told Joshua to tell the people to march around the city walls one time for six days, and on the seventh day, they were to march around it seven times. They were instructed not to say a word. No talking. No whispering. No complaining. They had to March perfectly quiet. But on the seventh day, and on the seventh time around, God said, “This time I want you to do something different. As you march, I want you to let out a shout of praise.”
When God tell you to do something, does it mean to do exactly what he says or is it ok to change it just a little.
I can imagine on that seventh day, there was so much excitement. They marched around once, twice, three times with great anticipation. They knew something big was about to happen. On that seventh time around, after the priests blew the trumpets, they let out the high praises of God. They began to shout and cheer and sing, “Hosanna in the highest! To God be all the glory!” so loud that people could hear it for miles and miles.
Then all of the sudden, the impossible began to happen. Those thick, fortified walls began to shake and rattle. In a matter of moments, those walls crumbled and came tumbling down! The Israelites were able to go in and take the city, and eventually, they made it into the Promised Land.
How often in life do we think, “I’ll shout after the walls come down. I’ll shout after my victory, after the promotion, after the breakthrough?” No, that’s backwards.
The shout is what activates God’s power. I realize God hears us even when we whisper, but I believe there are some walls that will not come down without the high praises of God coming out of your mouth. That’s why when you feel like you’re going in circles; you’ve got to turn up the praise! You’ve got to thank God in a greater way. You’ve got to declare His goodness over your life. And you need to do exactly what He is telling you to do.
Maybe you’ve been around that city once, twice, three times. God is saying, “You’re coming into your seventh day. Don’t give-up you’re about to enter into your victory lap.” Now here’s the question: What’s coming out of your mouth? Make sure you’re praising Him. Make sure you’re thanking Him.
Make sure you’re ready because those obstacles, those walls are going to come crashing down in Jesus’ name! Don’t let anything come between you and Jesus, If God say it, believe it, and let that settles it.
Let us Pray!
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What is the only thing that can separate you from the Love of God? SIN
Turn with me to the book of Exodus: 31:
18: And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with Gods ball point pen, written in pencil by God, How then were they written; that’s right written with the finger of God.
Question: Why were there two tables of stone giving to Moses?
- The one had Mans requirement to God
- The other had Mans requirements to his brother.
Today we are going to look at mans requirements to God, what God told us to do
Exodus: 20:
First Commandment
1: And God spake all these words, saying,
2: I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Story:
A long time ago…in a country far, far away…there was a wealthy young guy. He had everything that he could ever want; all the stuff that anyone could ever want and more.
He followed the rules and was a good guy. He didn’t sleep with his neighbor’s wife, he didn’t kill anyone, he never stole anything, he wasn’t a liar, and he honored and respected his mom and dad. He was a wealthy man and followed the rules.
In case you didn’t catch on to the story…this was a brief retelling of the first half of the story of the rich young man from Luke 18. The man came to Jesus and asked him what he had to do to have eternal life.
Jesus told him to keep all of commandments, to which the young man responded, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.”
I can picture Jesus in my head smiling and nodding and then quietly saying, “Yea…but you have this one thing standing between you and Me. Your stuff.”
Jesus told the man to sell all of his stuff and give to the poor. Then he could follow Jesus. He made it very clear what needed to be done, and yet the man walked away from Jesus with sorrow. Jesus didn’t turn his back, the man walked away from Jesus.
The problem with the man was that he didn’t really want Jesus, all he really wanted was eternal life. He probably came to Jesus expecting to hear, “Hey good job, you’ve kept the commandments, you’re in good shape!”
But instead Jesus challenged him and said, “Hey…what’s consuming your life? Your stuff? Okay, now get rid of it and follow me.”
Jesus knew this man’s heart. He knew that his stuff consumed his life. If you aren’t willing to give up what’s most important to you in order to follow Jesus, will you enter the Kingdom of Heaven?
This man let his stuff keep him out of the Kingdom of Heaven. He let his stuff get between him and Jesus.
What stuff are you letting get between you and Jesus? What’s consuming your life that isn’t Jesus? If it were you that came to Jesus, what would he tell you to give up? Would you give it up…or would you walk away filled with sorrow?
Second Commandment
4: Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
6: And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
From the beginning mankind always worship something. Way back in time we see Man worshiping the Sun, Moon, Stars, Rocks, Trees, Animals why is that.
Satan wants to make sure you are worshiping anything except the real thing and that is the creator God.
Why do you think there are no true pictures of Jesus today, because there would people who would worship the picture more than the person in the picture.
We can see that in many of the world religions today, even in some Christian Churches we see people praying and worshiping statues or as the Bible calls them a graven image.
Inside of Man is the need to worship and that need is only fulfilled when we worship the Creator God.
*** STORY: The stature that was leaking Holy Water in Italy. Years later it was found that a bath room sink was leaking down a wall a few hundred feet away.
Third Commandment
7: Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
When my Wife married me, back in 1974 she took my name. At that time and in our culture, that was traditional.
She forsook her parent’s name, and took her husband’s name. The taking of the new name, reflected a change in life, and change in status and a change in priorities.
She was no longer a single woman, she was married. She no longer dated men, she was mated to one. She no longer was a young woman, she was a changed woman. She was now responsible for a family and a relationship that would last over 38 years (so far!).
If her lifestyle did not change from that day forward, she would have been disapprove of by her community. Few, if any, cultures or societies encourage their married women to live in the same way after the marriage as they did before they married
In other words, if my Wife had taken my name, but not changed her lifestyle, she would have taken my name “in-vain”. She would have had a ceremony, but not a new life, and boy would I have been upset, to put it mildly.
When we put on a uniform, we take the name of those whose uniform it is. Whether it is a sports team uniform, a work uniform for that employer or a military uniform.
When we choose a career, we take the name of the best of everyone in that career field. When we take on a title, we take the name of the best of everyone with that title.
If you take the name of God, at a ceremony, and tell the world that you are now part of the ‘bride of Christ’ as the church is called, yet you do not live like a ‘bride of Christ’, you have taken His name in vain, and you will not be considered guiltless.
Live with Jesus as if you are committed to Him for life, not as if He is a friend. A spouse is supposed to be an intimate friend, companion, confidant, friend and a lifetime commitment.
To treat Jesus as anything less than that, is to take His name in vain. Ouch. Are you ‘guilty as charged’?
You get the picture!
** Thou shalt not take
The true meaning of that phrase is made clear if we substitute “bear” for the word, “take”. We would then have this for our scripture from Exodus 20:7: “Thou shalt not bear the name of the Lord in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who bears His name in vain.”
Jesus told Paul that he was to “bear His name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel“ (Acts 9:15). Bearing the precious name of Jesus with integrity, faith, and charity, Paul turned many to righteousness in the ensuing years.
He did not bear, or take the name of the Lord upon himself, in vain. As Paul later testified, “His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all.” (1Cor.15:10).
After Moses led Israel out of slavery in Egypt, he took them to Mount Sinai, to enter into a covenant with the Lord. First though, God sent Moses down from the mountain to deliver His “proposal” to Israel: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people, for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.“ Exodus.19:4-6.
When we as Christians don’t live up to that name before our friends what are you really telling them. When we don’t live by the standards that God told us what is that really saying about your relationship with God?
Are you beginning to understand what the 3rd commandment is really saying. It does not mean just using the verbal word or expression about God. It means more; it means your marriage relationships to God.
Don’t treat God any different then you would your spouse next to you.
Fourth Commandment Exodus 20:
8: Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9: Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
We are told to Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy if we search the Bible no where can you find where the Sabbath was giving to just Abraham or his children only.
So we must go back further in order to find where did the Sabbath that we are told to remember start.
Genesis: 2:
1: Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2: And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3: And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
So where did the Sabbath come from, the book of beginning, better known as the book of Genesis says at Creation.
Maybe this is the reason why only the fourth commandment starts with the word
Remember.
God is saying to Remember because it was giving at the beginning
Let me tell you something; I would fear to be the minister or preacher who would tell you it is OK to forget something that God wrote with his own finger and said to remember; Especially if there were no scripture to back up or to say otherwise.
The Word Christian what does it mean:
Acts:11:26: And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
Why were they called Christians? What was it about them that people seen that they gave them that name. They were all doing the same things that Jesus did, so they call them Christians, Christ Like people.
What are you watching is it parsing God?
What are you saying is it praising God?
What are you listening to is it parsing God?
You see these are the things that tell you just how close to Jesus you really are, if they don’t bring honor, glory or praises to Jesus maybe you need to change what you are doing.
It is the little things that we do that keeps us away from fully knowing Gods love. Those little things that come up and get right between you and Jesus; I pray that each of you here today will examine your life and see what is there.
Are you willing to give Your Stuff up for Jesus?
Romans: 8:
35: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36: As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37: Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
38: For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39: Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
1John:5:
3: For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
John:14:
23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with 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.
Friend I pray that there is nothing standing between you and Jesus today and if there is go to him and ask forgiveness and decide in your heart to change it today, not tomorrow, change it today. We are not giving tomorrow we have only today.
There is no sin in your life that He is not willing to forgive.
He loves you how much, enough to die in your place so that you will not have too. But if you don’t love Him, if you are not faithful to Him, do you expect Him to be any different then you would be if your spouse was unfaithful to you.
Don’t let this world or the things of this world stand in your way to the only one who really love you.
Rv:12:12: Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.
Satan will stop at nothing to keep you out of heaven, why because he hates Jesus and he hates all who follow Jesus. We as Christians will always have problems in this life, why look at 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.
Remnant is not the Majority or large groups; it is the small little groups who follow the truth. Not because it is popular but because it is what God said to do.
The closer you get to Jesus the more problems you might be in for because there is always a Jericho in the way. It is how you deal with that Jericho that really matters.
If you Love me just keep my commandments Jesus said and show the world that you and I have a covenant relationship with each other. I love you and want you to live with me for eternity in a home I am building just for you.
God Bless
Elder Tim McNab
Be Ready for you know not the Hour
John 4: 23: But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
I always find that things happened when you least expect it. And if you are waiting on something, especially if you are watching it as you wait, it can take forever.
When you lease expect it, something like a Fire Drill can through you right off balance, why because we are not prepared.
On the Ships we are forever having drills, drills of all kind. The reason is to make sure you are ready at all times and prepared at all times in case of a real Emergency.
Because if you are prepared when the trouble comes you will know just what to do to be SAVED.
Matthew:24: 42: Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
Jesus is telling us the same thing, be ready, be prepared because we know not the hour when the Lord shall return for those who are ready
Rev:14:12: Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Let us Pray!
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I have a message today for every individual. I wish everyone in Lafayette could gather around and hear what we’re going to talk about today— because today we are going to talk about the last night on Earth.
That night that finally comes to every person who ever lives on this planet. Today we are going to talk about making decisions.
STORY: The City of city of Pompeii
Many of you have heard about the city of Pompeii which was in Italy long ago. It was in the year 79 AD that the mountain called Vesuvius literally exploded and millions of tons of ash and molten lava came down from that volcano to completely destroy the inhabitants of that city.
That day was like another day, they were Partying, Drinking, Getting Married, some others were properly out in the field Working, some were Grinding at the Mill, It was like any normal day that is “Until”.
If the stones of that city could speak, what a story they would tell us of that last night for the people of that city. The tale of a whole city who were overwhelmed in one night
Apparently there was a time when those people saw the mountain exploding and many had the chance to escape. The city was filled with many wicked people who cared nothing about God. We know this because the city had a terrible reputation.
They lived a lavish comfortable lifestyle, maybe too comfortable. Yet before the volcano erupted, the people of Pompeii had plenty of evidence that something was wrong, something was about to happen.
Small tremors could be felt on a regular basis throughout the city, wells and streams had dried up, the animals began to act strangely as they could sense the soon coming danger.
The Spirit of God was there pleading with them to repent of their sins and get ready for what was coming. But the people kept on with their pleasure seeking until their doom was sealed.
They didn’t know when they went to bed that night that it would be their last night alive on planet earth.
Then on August 24 the volcano exploded. Some died instantly, yet others lingered to see what would happen. Rather than flee, they made a decision which would cost them their lives.
The Bible gives us another illustration of the last night on Earth in the book of Genesis. It’s the story of a man named Lot who lived in the city of Sodom—another very wicked city.
When the destroying Angles came they found only Lot was ready and prepared
Lot tried to warn some of his daughters and sons-in-law but they mocked him and he finally had to leave them knowing they would be destroyed and lost forever.
The inhabitants of those cities pushed away the pleading voice of the Holy Spirit. They, too, didn’t realize that by morning, their life would be over.
People today think, “If I knew that I only had one day or one month or even one year left to live, I could get ready for Jesus. I’d make things right and prepare myself. I’d pay my debts and confess my sins”
Of course we would. But, my friends, most people will never ever know when they will enter into that last 24 hours of their life on this Earth. Because death comes very suddenly upon us
Matthew: 25:13: Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
The awful tsunami disaster that struck on Dec. 26th of 2004. An event so powerful and devastating and yet so sudden that many tens of thousands in Indonesia were caught unawares.
For those people caught and killed in the large wave, the last thing on their minds when they went to bed the night before was death.
They didn’t think that it would be their last night to make things right with God and so most would just carry on with their normal lives.
The devil knows that death can come suddenly and he takes advantage of our procrastination. That sin of neglecting salvation turns into the sin of rejecting salvation.
If we say “no” to God, before long it turns into a habit and becomes addicting. If a person waits one day, he’ll wait another day. If he’ll wait one week, he’ll wait another week. And those weeks stretch into months and even years and finally his time is over.
There is never a better time to get things right and get ready for eternity than today!
“Today is the day of salvation.” 2 Cor. 6:2
I wonder how many of you are aware of the devil’s favorite word. The devil’s favorite word is “Tomorrow.” The devil will tell you, “Don’t make a decision now. Make it tomorrow.
Don’t follow that Bible teaching today or tonight. Do it tomorrow. Tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow.” Because tomorrow turns into weeks, and weeks into months and then years and finally the day will come suddenly—perhaps much more suddenly than we even think—and there will be no more tomorrows!
The human heart that is so touched by God’s Holy Spirit tonight can become hardened if we wait for tomorrow.
Jesus knew that. And so He warned us. In John 12: 35“Walk while you have the light lest that light turn to darkness.” You see friend, if we walk away from God’s truth, all there is left is darkness.
When people keep on lingering and putting off the call of God and the invitation of the Holy Spirit, they actually harden themselves and seal themselves against the convictions of truth and after a while those truths don’t make an impression anymore on them.
What a tragedy! If we are one step outside the door of the ark when it closes, we might as well be a thousand miles away.
When the angel hand came to close that door of Noah’s ark, there were people no doubt only inches from the ark; only inches away from making the decision that would have saved there life’s.
When Noah made his last appeal to the people, there were many who probably helped at some time in the building of the ark and never got on; but just waited and watched.
If you’re lost by an inch, you might as well be lost by a mile or a million miles.
There are some just like that today. They may have worked for the church, and they said they agreed with the teachings of the church, but they never made a firm decision to get on board with the church!
Friends, we must be willing to move in our lives and get on board the ark of today—which is to submit our lives to the truth of God’s final warning message.
Story: Remember the story of Paul preaching in Act 26: 28:
Governor Felix “When I have a more convenient season I’ll call for thee.”
King Agrippa Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
*Friends, an “almost” Christian is not a Christian at all.
I’ve watched people tremble with conviction as the Holy Spirit pleads with them but they are only almost persuaded. But friend, if we sit and sit as the call of God comes to us, and do nothing, we are just as lost as the person is down at the bar drinking.
There were two thieves who died with Jesus. One asked for and received salvation. The one on the other side was just as physically close to Jesus and yet he didn’t turn to him and cry out for help. He didn’t say the words that could have brought salvation to him. Many are going to be lost exactly like that.
In Matthew 12:30 Jesus says, “He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”
Sometimes the most profound statements in the Bible just slip by us. Here Jesus is taking away all neutral ground—all fence sitting, and He says, “You’re either with me or you are against Me.”
There’s no neutral ground with Jesus. And then in the next two verses He tells us about the one and only sin that He cannot forgive.
Matthew 12: 31,32 “Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men, And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.”
The Bible says all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men. What is another word for manner? All kinds! Every kind of sin can be forgiven.
So is the unpardonable sin a kind of sin? Any sin you name, whether it’s adultery, murder, lying, any kind of sin, if we sincerely confess it, and forsake it, God will forgive it. Isn’t that good news?
No matter what kind of sin we commit we serve a God who is open-armed with forgiveness just as the father was in the Bible with his prodigal son.
We serve a God of mercy. The Bible says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive them.”
If you are tormented with a guilty conscience, come to Jesus and let Him forgive you. Come to Jesus and let that great big guilty burden roll off your back and He will give you peace and take those accusing voices away.
According to Matthew 12:31 the unpardonable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit of God, the third member of the Godhead. When you sin against the Holy Spirit it can’t be forgiven. It’s a very serious sin. Now why is this?
Why is this sin against the Holy Spirit so serious that it would jeopardize our eternal life?
In order to understand this simple truth, we must go and study the work of the Holy Spirit in the human heart, and the delicate mechanisms by which the Holy Spirit works.
We’re going to study in the Bible just how the Spirit works so that we can be sensitive to the Spirit’s voice. So we can hear the Spirit’s voice as He works in our heart and mind.
John 16:13
The Bible says, “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into (what?) all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
The first work of the Holy Spirit upon every human heart is to lead them to truth so the truth can set them free.
It is the Holy Spirit that inspired this Bible that we’re reading here today, and the Bible says that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb.13:8)
So the same Holy Spirit that inspired the Bible writers to write Scriptures, leads you and I today to understand what the Bible writers wrote down.
For example, if I study the Bible truth regarding death, and realize the Bible doesn’t teach purgatory, and there is no such thing as an immortal soul, but because of my past cultural or traditional background, I reject the clear teachings of the Bible, I am not only rejecting a Bible truth, I am also resisting the Holy Spirit that wants to lead me to understand that truth.
Why? Because the same Holy Spirit that caused that truth to be written in the Bible, now desires to lead us to understand it.
There are some folks that say, “Well, Tim, I hear the truth, and I know the Holy Spirit is saying ‘this is sin, this is wrong,’ etc., but I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, I’m going to go home, and I’m going to pray about it. And I’m going to wait on the Holy Ghost and see what the Holy Ghost has to say.”
Friends, if we can see plainly what the Bible is saying, then we don’t need to wait on the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is waiting on us.
And every impression we get does not mean that it’s the impression of God’s Spirit. I’ve had people say to me, “I know what I ought to do, but I’m not going to do it unless I feel convicted by the Spirit that I should.”
Luke 16:31 “And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose form the dead.”
In other words—the Scriptures are enough! They are sufficient proof of what is truth!!
Isaiah 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.
So whatever God has said in the Bible, by faith, step out and do it. Move ahead and do it. Don’t wait for a special feeling, or a sign from heaven.
(Man in Harrisburg who prayed to see shooting stars to know if the Sabbath was true or not.)
When God shows us something plainly in the Scripture, there is no need to ask for shooting stars!
We must make an intelligent choice to act on the Word of God. And when we choose to act on that which is right, our feelings then will follow.
If I have a feeling which harmonizes with God’s Word, praise the Lord! But if I don’t have any feeling at all, I still act based on what God says in the Bible.
The Bible tells us God never condemns sincere people that are in darkness.
John 3:19
He says, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.”
God is telling us that in the Judgment, Men and Woman will not be condemned because they believe a lie, But rather because they would not believe the truth.
Why because when the opportunity came to know and accept the truth they refused to accept it
There must come a point in our hearts and lives where we love and embrace that truth enough to follow it no matter the cost.
Satan will work, and is working amazing deceptions in these last days. The only safety is to have a mind open to accept and to obey Gods truth.
Let’s go to 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 in the New Testament also to establish this fact. “What shall it profit you if you gain the whole world and lose your own soul?”
What is your job going to mean to you and your family and your friends: all on the outside of the walls of the city will be forever lost?
If you’re waiting for truth to be popular—it will never happen. If you’re waiting for all the popular speakers in the country to follow Bible truth—you’ll wait too long.
*Was it a popular thing to get on the ark in Noah’s day? No
*Was it the right thing though? Yes
*Was it a popular thing to be a follower of Jesus when He was there at Calvary? No
*Will it be popular to be a faithful Christian during the Mark of the Beast crisis? What do you think?
The same Holy Spirit that speaks to you speaks also to the popular people of the day. My friend they will have to give an account to the Creator God in the judgment with what they did with truth just like we will.
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.
17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Roman 8:
39: Nothing can separate us from the Love on God that is in Christ Jesus except your willingness to not be saved.
God is poring out his Love and Truth to all people everyday, saying follow me for if you love me do the things I told you to do and you will have everlasting life.
So that when the time comes and when the clock strikes that hour in your life you will have no worry or fear. John 4:23: The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth, why because they have made the Lord the Ark of safety in there lives.
My friend please be Ready for you know not the Hour or how close we really are, but I tell you a truth it could happen at any time.
God Bless each and everyone of you today
Elder Tim McNab
Restoring Gods Truth Ministries
www.restoringgodstruth.org
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
Strengthening Your Faith
What is Faith?
We all know the Bible answer to that can be found in Hebrews 11:1 Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
What gives you Faith?
What gives you faith when everything is going wrong?
What gives you faith when problems are touching you personally?
How do we Strengthening our Faith in God in times like these?
I don’t know about you but it is hard for me to just have Faith in something I can’t see.
That is why we have a Bible, because God is the same yesterday, today and forever, He does not change
The Bible is a Book full of people with Faith. Why so that we can know how God has worked in the past, so it can give us Hope and Strengthen our Faith in Him now and in the Future.
Let us Pray!
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I would like to share with you what gives me Faith.
What gives me Faith is Stories Like: “The Prophet Elisha and his servant”
Tell a short Story about Elisha…..
2 Kings 6:
16: And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.
17: And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
Sometime we get discourage when we don’t see things going like we think they should. If I can’t see it with my eyes I don’t believe it
- Sometime we are discourage when other Christian judge us by there standard of Christianity. Remember satin also goes to Church
- Many of time we are surrounded by the enemy and satin brings sickness into our life, don’t let it get you down, let it be a tool to draw you closer to Jesus.
- What about other problems in this world. Read the story of Job
- Don’t give up Faith, but pray and ask God to open your eyes so that you might see; Angle standing next to you to protect you and take care of you.
Fall on your knees and pray, don’t let Satan block your hold on Jesus
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: “Moses crossing the Red Sea”
God gave a Man a Missionto lead his People and that man was “Moses”
We meet him by the Red Seawith his Church group of complaining Christians “You have brought us here that Pharaoh may kill us. Remember the Story; the army was right behind them.
Exodus 14:
21: And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.
I have heard many of people try and explain what happen and how the water naturally dried up for the Children of Israel to cross over
But then there is this one little scripture that said
22: And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.
It is proof that God can not only Walk on Water but he can also make it stand Vertical if he so needs
There was a young Man reading his Bible and he was at the part where Moses was crossing the Red Sea and he was so excited about how God would deliver his people.
Then a Man came up to him and asks what he was so excited about. So he told him, and he said O that, yes but you see there was a strong Earthquake that day and the water just ran out some. And so there was still about 6 inches of water left so that was no real miracle.
As the man was walking away, the young man started jumping up with even more excitement, when the Man asks what was it, he said “God just drowned the entire Egyptian Army in 6 inches of Water.
If I had learned anything in Life; I have learned that if God said it, Believe it!
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: “A boy named David”
Israel was at war: Both armies’ were camp on a hill with a Valley between them. David found himself bring supplies to his Brothers, when he saw what
1 Samuel 17:
23: And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
24: And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
We are no different; we run and forget about God who is fighting on our side, when we see how big the Mountain is that satin laid before us.
26: And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
- How big are the problems you face everyday in Life. We all look at the little things in life that make us afraid. Because our problems look so gigantic.
- None of us fight the same battles, because we are all different, what’s a problem to you is child play to me; and what’s a problem for me is silly to you.
- We allow satin to put a magnifying glass in front of our eyes to make us fear the things we have no control of.
- We need to learn the lesson of True Faith in God
- The Bigger the problem the bigger the Miracle, What is too big for God
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: A young man by the name of “Stephen”
He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was brought in for what he believed
Act 7
55: But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
56: And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
57: Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, (People will do the same today)
58: And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man’s feet, whose name was Saul.
59: And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
60: And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
- People today still don’t want to hear the Truth. They will do all they can to keep from hearing and not believe the Truth. Why does it always seem easier to believe a Lie then to believe the Truth,
Matthew:7:13: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
- There is a time coming when again they will want to stone and Kill you for telling God’s Truth. So don’t be afraid when it come; Jesus told us it would happen, be Faithful, because you will not be alone.
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: “Sharack, Meshack and Abednego.”
It is very importance when you are in a leadership position to be true to what you believe. Because you may be called in to account for it someday
Daniel 3
12: There are certain Jews whom thou hast set over the affairs of theprovinceofBabylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego; these men, O king, have not regarded thee: they serve not thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
13: Then Nebuchadnezzar in his rage and fury commanded to bring Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.
The King told them look I understand about this thing you have of worshiping your God, but right now you don’t need to worry about your God you need to worry about Me. Because I am fixing to do you a lot of boodle harm if you don’t do what I say
Look at what they said to the King
17: If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18: But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.
19: Then was Nebuchadnezzar full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated.
- When the going gets hot will you be there for Jesus.
- The hold world will be falling down on there knees paying honor to someone other then Jesus, Will you follow.
- The Bible said you can’t serve God and man
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: “Daniel and the Lion Den”
He too was in a leadership position, but his pure heart made him stand out among all the other. So they tricked the king
Daniel 6
18: Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him.
21: Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22: My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
- When the going gets tuff will you be able to stand for Jesus all by your self.
- That’s right no Mama and Daddy there, No Brother or Sisters There, No Husband or Wife There, No boy friend or Girl friend there to help you make it.
- Just you all alone. Most people fail because they have never put Jesus First
- Do you have the Faith in Jesus that will secure you a place in Heaven?
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: Noah
He had the faith that can build when everyone else was in doubt
Geneses 6
7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
8: But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
I am happy for us today that there was a Man like Noah
Again the Earth is filled with Violence; and again it will be destroyed.
The Ark Represented Jesus, all who would go in could be Saved. It is no different to all who come to Jesus he will again save them, but they must make a choice
- It may not be easy to go and do what God is telling you to do.
- But if you put the little Faith you have in God you will be like Noah. “How” Everyday he drove a nail into the Ark every time he put a board on the side his Faith Grew and Grew until he could see the plan God had in mind for him
It happens only by Faith When you are obedience to Gods word he will save you
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: Elijah “Choose ye this day who you will service”
Did the people forget who there God was, who brought them through the Red Sea, Who provided for them for 40 years in the wilderness, who defender them from other invading tribes.
1 Kings 18
21: And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.
Yes they did forget, and so do we, when we put other things first in our Life before Jesus.
One of the Most Dangerous things that we as Christians can do is to put Religion before God, it happens when we believe more in the rules then the rule maker, this is what happened to the Jewish nation. They put Gods Laws before God himself.
Jesus said I am the truth the light and the way, no man comes unto the Father but by Me.
Remember that It is by Faith that we server him; and because we Love him that we keep his Commandment. We don’t keep His commandments to be saved.
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What gives me Faith is Stories Like: Creator who became his Creation
“ Why; to Save Them from there Sin”
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.
17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18: He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
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Now my Question is; What are you doing for Jesus?
What’s your Christian Experience like lately, are you kind of Plateau, or maybe on a down ward trend.
If you leave here today and get nothing else out of this Sermon except what I am going to tell you right now you will have understood what other before you have giving for Jesus.
Today; there is a knock on your Door, you open it up and there are 6 Police Officers and 4 Army Men come to take you in for a hearing.
You say, what have I done, (Know one say’s a word more to you except that they have a warrant for your arrest).
You are hand cuffed and lead out of your home, you look back and see your kids crying, the neighbors are all out watching you being lead away because of the commotion in the neighborhood.
You are brought in and told to wait, you look and see a group of people some you recognizer as former Church members other you have no idea who they are.
You ask a guard standing near-by, where are my Children, and my Family; he only looks at you and said “TRADER” and turns and looks the other way.
Now you are brought in before this council, and they ask you question about your family, your place of work, and finally about you Church.
You are accused of crimes against the State; you have broken Civil Laws, and can no longer be trusted worthy with your Freedom. You have been told and warred about your failure to keep the secular day of worship and about you’re spreading lies about Jesus coming back to this earth.
You have been tried and convicted for your crimes,
Do you have anything to say for your self before sentence is passed on to you?
The Judge picks-up his gravel and say “you are hear by sentence to Death”
HOW WILL YOU STAND?
There will only be two Choices “Faithful or Faithless”
How is your walk with Jesus today, it is not enough to just say that you love him.
You must have a daily living relationship with Jesus if you will be able to stand for him when the time comes. Remember you will not be alone Jesus will be there just like with Stevenson, giving you the Strength you need.
But we must learn to live by Faith now so that when the times comes we will not fail but like the Men and Women of the past stand strong in Faith for Jesus.
Don’t trust to yourself, Peter denied Jesus three times before he learned one of the most importance lesson and that is just two little worlds Have Faith………
Strengthen your faith in Jesus everyday; read about the life of others who had Faith. When the time comes and the clock is ready to strike midnight right before the hammer falls. Jesus will be there.
He is never late my friend; he is always right on time!
God Bless you all amen
Who Did Sin
Story: One Glass of Milk
- One day, a poor boy who was selling goods from door to door to pay his way through school, he had only one thin dime left, and he was hungry. He decided he would ask for a meal at the next house.
However, he lost his nerve when a lovely young woman opened the door. Instead of a meal he asked for a drink of water. She thought he looked hungry so she brought him a large glass of milk. He drank it slowly, and then asked, “How much do I owe you?” “You don’t owe me anything,” she replied. “Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness.”
He said, “Then I thank you from my heart.” As He left that house, he not only felt stronger physically, but his faith in God and man was strong also. You see He had been ready to give up and quit but this one kindness act gave him the strength to keep going on.
- Years later that young woman became critically ill. The local doctors were baffled. They finally sent her to the big city, where they called in specialists to study her rare disease.
Dr. Kelly was called in for the consultation. When he heard the name of the town she came from he went down the hall of the hospital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor’s gown he went in to see her. He recognized her at once. And so he went back to the consultation room determined to do his best to save her life. From that day he gave special attention to the case. After a long struggle, the battle was won.
Dr. Kelly requested the business office to pass the final bill to him for approval. He looked at it, and then wrote something on the edge and the bill was sent to her room.
She feared to open it, for she was sure it would take the rest of her life to pay for it all. Finally she looked, and something caught her attention on the side of the bill. She read these words:
“PAID IN FULL WITH ONE GLASS OF MILK.
(Signed) Dr. Howard Kelly.”
Tears of joy flooded her eyes as her happy heart prayed: “Thank You, God, that Your love is shed abroad through human hearts and hands “.
Let us Pray!
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Don’t you just love a good Doctor? If you find one please let me know…
As far back in history as I can go I find that there has always been doctors, or what we would call doctors, people who studied the Human Body. People who wanted to know how to help others who were sick.
Why do we need Doctors anyway? Why is there so much sickness in our world,
Why so much suffering, pain and sorry? If God is so good can you tell me why?
What is it all about? How did it start? When will it finish?
In Jesus time there was a Lady who had a problem
Luke 8: 43: And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
Sounds about right, nothing has changed in 2000 years. I know a lot of people who are just like this woman. Spent everything they had on doctors first
But listen to what happens to her
44: She; Came behind him (Jesus), and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. In other words it Stopped.
What had happened here, this woman touched Jesus and her 12 year problem went away, how, listen to what Jesus told her.
48: And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
Jesus said your FAITH your FAITH has made you whole.
- Have you ever read in the Bible about the Kings of Israel? I challenge you to read the books of Kings and Chronicles and there you will find that Good Kings only lived 20 to 30 years after they became King. But Evil or bad kings lived 40 to 55 years after they became king.
Why is this, did you ever wonder why?
May years ago people believe that Sickness was all because of Sin, you made God angry and so God has broth this sickness on you. The sad part is that many people still believe that today.
Open with me to the Gospel of John and let’s see what Jesus says about this
John 9:
1: And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
2: And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
There was people and religious leaders who believe that if you got sick it was because you have Sinned and made God angry.
Look at the story of Job was it because Job sinned that he lost everything he had
No….
STORY: Tell only a short version of the story because of time:
Who was the cause of Job’s sickness “ Satan” he hates people who loved and worships God and puts God first in their life’s.
3: Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
Was the works of God manifested in the life of Job, yes they was.
I have heard people say you are sick because you don’t eat right, or you brought this upon yourself by your bad habits.
Yes it is true that eating right can help your body fight off sickness and help you to heal faster.
But not all sickness if because of what you eat.
I know some very good Vegetarian who has Prostate Cancer, why, no one can explain..
- Some diseases are caused by other things beside what you eat.
- Sin has affected our genes; sometimes we get sick because of our ancestors
- Sometimes we get sick because of the environment around us
STORY: Working Offshore on the Oil Rigs / Being put into tanks to clean them of who knows what. 10 to 20 years later we find we have Cancer and no one knows why.
- Sometimes we get sick because of the stuff that is put on or into our food Genetically modified food not good for the human body
So it is not always because of what you eat, But what and how you eat may makes a big different in the outcome of how your body will heal and fight the disease.
- What about bad things happing to good people, is it because they Sinned?
Remember the Story Jesus told of the Good Samaritan, in Luke 10: 30-35.
STORY: Tell short Story of the Good Samaritan
Most people will turn their head when they see someone suffering or in pain. They will walk right by saying I hope someone helps that poor lady that poor man.
The problem these days not all people who are hurting are laying down on the ground.
Some of them are in our everyday life. They live down the block, or in the house next to you, they are there at work standing in front of you, sometimes they are sitting in the Church right next to you.
How do you know if someone is hurting? How can you tell when someone is in need of help?
Sometimes it is easy to see if they are just laying there on the ground or in bed hurting. We can look and say excuse me but are you hurting, can I help you.
I remember when I was going through Cancer treatment many times people who cared about me would ask how are you doing and I just say.
I could not be better if I was twins…..
Many times I was hurting on the inside, I was in pain, I was in distress physically and sometimes mentally, I was sick, but I was happy to know someone cared about me.
How do you tell someone what you are feeling when they don’t understand what you are going through. I could pull someone over and talk for hours about my pain, and the next time they see me they will avoid me because I take too much of their time telling them how I hurt all the time.
So again why,
Why if God is so good is there so much sickness in our world?
Why do good people suffer and why SIN?
Why did God just not blot it out when it started?
Did you ever ask yourself Why God, why me what did I do to deserve this….
The only way to know something is to live it yourself or you will never really know it, you can’t know or feel what someone is going through unless you have felt it for your self.
- God knew of Sin and he knew of its deadly effects. But how could he in all fairness justly condemn mankind to eternal death if he himself has never experience what it is like to suffer, and die because of Sin
One day God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit all came together. They came together to plan the creation of a new World and a new kind of Creature.
A creature that would not be a spirit but would be flesh and blood. One that life would be created from within life and they would be made in the image of their creator Himself, he would be called Mankind because this new Creature would be both male and female.
Mankind like all of creation would also be giving the freedom of choice.
What is the freedom of choice?
The freedom of choice is what keeps all of heaven in perfect order; it is the ability to choose: to love God, or not to love God.
God the Son said what if this new creature would choose not to Love God and would Sin, what would happen to them?
1John:3: 4: Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Ezek:18:4: Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death The wages of sin is death
Why if God is so good is there so much sickness in our world, why do good people suffer and why SIN.
Why did God just not blot it out when it started?
Why God, why me what did I do to deserve this….
If you knew your Children would turn out bad would you still have them?
What if you knew your Children would someday kill you, would you still have them.
No matter how they turn out I love them and would still have them, even if it cost me my life to save them. Why because I love them
- Are you beginning to understand now how God Loves?
God the Son said but wait, if Mankind chooses to not love God, if he chooses death rather than life, if he chooses not to obey the commandments of God.
God the Son said, I will Chooses to die in his place,
I will take his Sin’s upon myself so that if Mankind chooses to believe in me he can once again be restored to his Maker
That is why God the Son became a Man to know and understand where we are, and to help us find the path that was lot because of Sin back to the Father.
He took Sin upon himself who knew no Sin and died the death that we will die because of Sin. This He did so He could give us in exchange His eternal live that we do not deserve, all because He Loved us.
Romans 6: 23: For the wages of sin is death but, I like that word but, you know why because it tells me that there is more to the story, there is something better to come.
You see the BUT says the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
There is hope after all; there is a way to be reconciled back to our Creator who loves us
The only way to know something is to live it yourself or you will never really know how it is. That is what Jesus had to do for all Mankind
A healthy person can never understand the pain and suffering of someone who is sick and we are all sick with the disease of sin and dying.
God being God had to become what we are in order to feel what we feel and live how we live in order to show us that God loves us and through Him we can know God the Father loves each and every one of us.
Becuase of Love
Isa:53:5: But he God was wounded for our transgressions, he God was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him God ; and with his God’s stripes we are healed. We are forgiving
Isa:53:8: He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
Isa:53:11: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Isa:43:25: I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.
You know the different between Man forgiving and God forgiving.
Man forgives but never forgets
God forgives and forgets
John:15:13: Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
May the God of our fathers be with you and bring a blessing into your life this Sabbath and throughout the new week just ahead. Amen
If you Love Me!
Remember the day when you first saw that someone special. What was it like ? You just wanted to show them how much you loved them and wanted to be with them.
If you ask someone who had been married for 50 years, how did you do it?
They would tell you, we fell in Love.
It was not always easy; we had our problems along the way, but the harder the problem the harder we worked to get through them.
For someone to stay in Love you must be willing to do Cretin things.
Willing to admit that you are not always right….
Willing to put your pet project aside in order to see your help mate achieve there goal…
Willing to Listing to your help mate when you have something importance to say…
Willing to take time and just be a friend….
Willing to love, when you are treated with no love in return.
The world just don’t understand what is means to say the word LOVE
Just how far would true love go?
There was a song back in the 70tes that said. I walk a million miles, cry a million tear, swim the deepest seas, clime the highest hill, just to have you near me.
The problem with people is that when the test comes we often fail. True love knows no boundaries, it knows no limits, it will cross over any obstetrical to get to the one who is Loved.
Love is not by what you see Good looking people
Love is not by what you hear Good sounding people
Lover is not by how you feel A feeling can be wrong
Love is an expression of giving, the more it is cultivated the more it will grow.
John:3:16: 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.
Love is not taking but Giving, you must be willing to Give in order to stay in Love..
Let us Pray !
What is Salvation?
Christ Alone praying for YOU
The Bible said that all that is needed for our salvation is for a person to except Jesus as their savior.
Simply put; Salvation by Faith “All that is needed is simple Faith in the son of God” as my redeemer
What does Jesus then tell us to do to show that we love him and have forsaking this world of sin.
John 14: 15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Would it not be correct to say that when you are in love, that you are willing to do anything that someone special asks you to do?
John 14: 23
Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
Jesus is saying that He will come and make his home with you, for if you love me you will show it in your outward works.
Works can’t save anyone works only shows the one who you love. If Jesus is in you then the works of Love will show through you to others.
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.
Keeping the commandment can’t save us; it is only a way that helps Gods people to stay in his Love with Him. It shows to the world that I have giving my life to the power that is high then I.
John: 8: 51
Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
What is he saying here….
What type of death is Jesus talking about here in John 8:51. Do we not all die?
Many of the prophets kept Jesus sayings and are dead!
Here is where we need to let the Bible and the Bible alone speak for its self
Too many times we are told by religious leaders what the Bible is saying. The Bible is wrote in common language so that every man for himself can go and read for himself what God has said. Never let someone try and tell you what the bible said, read and see if it is so.
Rev: 2: 11
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
God’s people, who know the truth, understand that this life is not the death Jesus was talking about. It is the death that comes after the first resurrection, the second death, those who will die a second time in the lake of fire. This is an eternal death that there will be no coming back from.
Rev :20: 6
Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.
We all must take part in the first death, if not, how would there be a first resurrection.
The only people who will not take part in the first resurrection will be Faithful Enoch for he walk into heaven, and Elijah who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire. Even the great Prophet Moses had to pass through the portal of death because of sin. There will also be a group of Christian people living in the last days who will not see death.
1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
What a day that will be, Can you say Amen
What a day that will be, to see Jesus coming our of the eastern sky, and hearing him shout to the sleeping Saints, awake my friend for I am coming for you, to give you that reward I have promised, that where I am you will be also.
It’s hard to imagine what that day will be like, God people for the passed 6000 years have been laying down their life on the old world.
But when the Lord comes they will be awaken, could you imagine standing there looking up and some old Saint saying hey Friend could you please more over a little you are standing on my chest.
People who have been buried for Hundreds even Thousands of years going to meet there Lord.
If you are a child of God it don’t matter where you die or how you die. Jesus has giving his Angles charge over you, and they have Marked the very spot where you have laid down you life.
Rev: 20: 14
And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev: 21: 8
But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
It is one thing to die on this earth, but quite another thing not to have a part with Jesus and die the second death.
Don’t you just love when the Bible answers Questions and not man?
What a Gold Mine the Bible is to those who love the Lord.
How many preachers do you think would have elaborated on what Jesus was talking about, and each one come-up with a difference Idea about never seeing death? But the word of God makes it so clear.
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I was at a Friends Funnel who I knew for many many years, and his wife ask me if I would like to say something. So I got up and told how we got to know each other and a few old boat stories.
I then said I am glad he gave his life to Jesus before he died.
Then I quoted from 1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
I then said what a day that will be when we see Jesus coming back and those who have die believing in him will rise on that day, I can’t wait to see my friend again.
I was giving the worse look you could have ever imagine by a man of the cloth, that church Pastor was angry at me for quoting the Bible in his church.
He was mad and then started preaching on 1 Thessalonians 4:16 but when he got to the part that said and the dead in Christ shall rise first
He jump over it and went on to verse 17, and saying that, that is why when you die you go straight to Heaven.
After the Funnel was over he shook everyone hand but mine…
Satan is always looking to lead you away from the truth, and the shame of it all, he uses so called men of God to do it.
Jesus said in Mark:7:7: Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of (God) NO the commandments of (men).
As Christians, from the start satin has been trying to block our way.
He puts roadblocks in our way, but some how we get through with God help.
So he digs a pit for us to fall into, it takes a lot of faith to get out of it. Sometimes we loose faith and don’t always make it.
Remember Peter for only one second he took his eyes off Jesus and he started to sink. And like Peter all we have to do is say Lord save me.
Satin will put many roadblocks in our way. He will use every means possible to lead us the wrong way. Away from the finish line “away from Jesus.”
For three and a half-year the disciple followed Christ, yes they love him. They were also proud to be associated with him.
Jesus said one day let us go to Jerusalem, There the son of man will be betrayed and they will kill him but I will “rise again the third day”.
When Jesus made his way in to Jerusalem his disciple were full of joy as they heard the people saying Ho-san-na blessed is he that comet in the name of the Lord.
Now they thwart that Jesus would take his place as King of Israel “But he did not”
Only a few days later in the upper room, after washing the disciple feet and breaking bread and giving them the cup that would represent his blood shed for all mankind.
He said one of you would betray me.
They could not believe what he just said. “Who which one of them”
Jesus knew what he came to do; and because of his infinite Love for us He was willing to give his live in our place,
STORY: Jesus In the garden:
He did not have to go through the pain and suffering, He could have called His Father and he would have send Angles to rescue Him.
But then how could he be man substitute
The arrest: They came out after him as if he was a murderer
The trial: He was marked and beaten before un-hold men, Even one of His own disciples denied that he even knew Him.
Then they hung Him on a cross:
But here on the cross is what he came to do, to take the place of you and me, to die the death that will bring us life, but now ask yourself WHY?
Because of His LOVE for You
Jesus disciples were their watching him as he hung on the cross. They could not believe that he would let himself be crucified.
All there hopes all their dreams of Jesus being King and they by his side.
There had hoped that he would redeem Israel from the grip of Rome.
But now every thing hung on the cross.
As they looked, they heard Jesus say IT IS FINISH and bowed his head and die.
Their hearts almost stop beating when there realized that Jesus was dead.
Is it over, is it all over they though to them self
Their minds were so blinded by Jesus death that they did not remember Jesus saying the 3rd day I am going to rise again!
John 19:31
The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
That Sabbath day was a special Sabbath day
It was a hi-day “it was the weekly Sabbath and a feast day Sabbath” making it a Hi Sabbath:
Death by the cross was slow and the Jews did not want the body of Jesus hanging were all could see what they had done
Jesus Disciples watched as Joseph and Nickodemos remove the body of Jesus and place it in a tomb and seal it.
In the book of Luke 24:1-7
1. Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices, which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4. And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5. And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6. He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet inGalilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
That evening two of the disciples were walking to a small town called E-may-us, and as they walk they did not notice a man walking with them.
Till he said what kind of communications are these that ye have one to another, as walk and are sad
One said to him art thou only a stranger here in Jerusalem and have you not know what had come to pass in the last days.
Jesus said what thing
Luke 24: 21
But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemedIsrael: and beside all this, to day is the “third day” since these things were done.
Jesus looked with love in his heart and said O foolish and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.
They felt hope as he talks, for it is what Jesus would have said
As they reach there home they invited him in but he did not except, but they said the day is far-spent come and enter and spend the night
So Jesus went in (our savior does not force him self on anyone) he will come in only when he is invited too.
As they sat for the evening meal they look
Their companion spreads forth his hand in the exactly the same way their master use to do.
They looked again and low they see in his hands the prints of NAILS
Both exclaim at once it is the lord Jesus. But he vanished out of sight.
As they look at each other and said did not our heart burned with in us as he talked
They go to tell the others
When they find the disciple and knock for entrance and the door open for them and another unseen enter in with them.
As the disciples tell that they seen Jesus and how he open the scriptures to them and was know in the braking of bread.
A voice said PEACE BE UNTO YOU.
They started back in terror for his radiance fills the place; Love was shining from him it was coming out his face.
Then he spoke the word of love that left no need for dough, and just because he knew our heart he spoke our feeling out.
Why are you so troubled why are you in fear; see my hand and see my feet for I my self am here. Reach out now and handle me till all of you been shore.
My life is more then spirit for I am here in flesh and bones.
Before Christ left he made a promise he will come back for all that believed in him. All that truly Loved Him, and keeps his commandments, not to be saved by keeping his commandments but because they want to show they Love Him.
Let me quote 1 Thessalonians 4: 16 & 17 again
1 Thessalonians 4:
16: For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
What a promises my brother, do you believe what Jesus said, he is coming back for all who Love him and have kept his commandments to show the World who they Love.
I hope that you are there on that beautiful day when Jesus calls all who truly Love Him to come and live with Him in that paradise home he built just for you. Don’t miss it my friend, it is there for all who put Jesus first in their lives.
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:
Everything was Good
(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:
The 7th day is the Sabbath
(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.
Every Eye will see Jesus coming
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
A light unto my Path!
Do you know what a Compass is, and what it is used for.
A Compass has only one purpose and that is to point to North.
Where would the world be with out something to guide man to North?
Story: All Ships use a compass for Navigation.
And all Air Planes use a compass. Now they have GPS or DGPS
They all do the same things telling you where you are, and show you the directions you are going.
I am the way the truth and the Light
John 8: 12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Jesus is just like a compass he is shining his light on the path we need to be traveling on and if you are looking unto Jesus he will guide you safely home.
I love pictures of old light houses.
As a boy growing up on an Island we would sometimes go to the hill where the lighthouse was to camp out. The lights on that Island were turned off at 10pm and everything was in completed total darkness. The only light you could see was the light coming out of the lighthouse.
When it would light up, it lit up everything around it, that’s how bright it was. It had to be bright because ships far out at sea needed to know where they were. The only thing they had was the light from that old lighthouse to guide them to a safe shore.
Thats how the song goes “Jesus is the lighthouse” it is he that will lead us to the safe shores of heaven!
********* If you were rich what would you do with all your Money? ***********
There was a very popular song many years ago recorded by a group called the Beatle. While; I never like the group, I must also admit that they did have some truth in there song. Money can’t buy me Love.
Money can buy a lot of things; many people are all trying to get something that can’t buy everything, and they think money will make then happy.
Do you realize that there are more rich people killing themselves than any-other people group! Why is that?
They have all the money in the world why then are they killing them self…. WHY?
1. Money can buy medicine, But not Health
2. Money can buy a house, But not a Home
3. Money can buy companionship, But not True Friendship
4. Money can buy entertainment. But not Happiness
5. Money can buy food, But not an Appetite
6. Money can buy a bed, But not Sleep
7. Money can buy a crucifix, But not a Saviour
8. Money can buy the good life, But not Eternal Life
9. Money can buy anything on this Earth, but not Jesus
That explains why we are told in this section of the Scriptures that it is God (alone) who is able to supply us “with all things to enjoy”
(Charles Swindoll once said, “Money has never made anyone rich”)
Can you believe that MONEY has never made anyone rich….Do you believe that only rich people have money.
I know a lot of people who are rich but have no money, because they are rich in Faith.
****** ******* ****** ****** ******** ****** *********
When I worked in a shipyard, sometimes I work on yachts and these rich people had signs that said. “He who die’s with the most toys Wins” If only they knew the truth…
Toys in this world don’t make you a winner. Faith in Jesus is what makes a person a winner.
Money can’t buy the love light that shine from Jesus nailed to a Cross dying for you and me.
****** What is Gods word to his children? *******
Ps:119:105:
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Isa:42:6:
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
The Biggest problem with our world to day is we are LOST.
The Creator has giving us a compass (The Bible) and we refuse to use it. It kind of like going on a road trip, not know how to get where you want to go, and not believing in any of the Maps that tell you how to get there.
It just does not make any sense does it to try and get someplace with out using something that tell you how to get there safely. We will stay Lost all our Life, never getting to the heavenly home God has prepared for you.
***********************************************************************
Have you every been in a cave “It’s Beautiful”
**** Story of Caves
In most Caves you will always have a rope to show you the way out if you get lost.
Now if we are lost in a cave we can look at the rope and say, I don’t believed in you, I don’t believed you are there, and I don’t believed you will lead me out of this Cave.
Here is a choice you have to make. Follow the rope out of the Cave, or stay Lost.
Many people stay Lost!!!
You see the Bible, cannot be just simply a good book. It is either true or it is not. It cannot be a good book if it is a book of Lies. It is either the Word of the Living God, as it claims to be, or it is not. One or the Other.
If there is no Creator there is no Redeemer it is as simple as that.
So how do you know that Jesus is real? How can you believe in someone you can’t see? Easy, all that is needed is for you to get to know him, how do you do this, only by studying in his word.
I hear people say that Jesus was nothing more then a another good Prophet, that he was not the Son of God but like John the Baptist and another good Man trying to lead his people back to there former God. What does the Bible say about that!
John 1:
1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2: The same was in the beginning with God. Who are we talking about?
3: All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
5: And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
There is no doubt that we are talking about God the Son here “Jesus Christ”. We know that God the Father and God the Son existed long before there was anything. We know from reading that God the Son was the one who did the Creation part. Verse #3
6: There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
Who was John, just a good man? John was not the Light; he was more like a mirror just a reflection of the Light that had come into our world.
7: The same came (Here God the son Jesus is now called the Light. He it is that will light your way in the world of darkness. No man that sets his faith in Jesus will ever be in darkness, for darkness can’t overcome light) for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8: He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9: That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
So who is the Light?
10: He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11: He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
I am almost ashamed of this statement, Jesus said he came unto his own and his own knew him not. Was he just talking to the Jew’s of his time or was he also talking to us today.
How many religious leaders proclaim to know God but refuse to teach his true words. They rather hold to there traditions then to God’s doctrines. They have turned away from the truth of Gods light so many times that they have become blind, and seek to hold others in the darkness of this world that they have become so accustom too.
But God is not slack in those who Love him and want to follow his true teaching.
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:
13: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
If Jesus came today how many would receive him as the Saviour. Or would we all just nail him back on the cross. Would he come the way we expect him to come, if not would you be disappointed.
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.
Before creating this world God the Father and God the Son knew that sin could spoil his creation. If that happen all of Gods creation would have to die forever. Because the law said that the wages of sin is death. The sole that sinnith it must die. This was just not acceptable to God. He would put himself in place of mankind if man would fall to sin and die in his place.
15: John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16: And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17: For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18: No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
Now we find out who this John was. The word said he was a witness, a witness to what?
19: And this is the record of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou?
20: And he confessed, and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ.
21: And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No.
22: Then said they unto him, Who art thou? that we may give an answer to them that sent us. What sayest thou of thyself?
23: He said, I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Esaias.
We like John are to be a witness, a Voice crying in the wilderness of this world of Sin. Get ready; for you know not the time of his coming. As his faithful witnesses we must sound the alarm of his soon coming. Will the world hear our warning, or will it say, ever since the days of out Fathers all things have been the same. Will the world look onto us as a Fanatic? The prophet John stood in the mist of all these Pharisees to give account as to who he was. He was not the Christ but only the Voice crying to make ready his coming.
If we do not warn them then they will die in there sin, and there blood will be required at our hands for keeping silent. We must point them to the Light that is our job as Gods people: “Christians”
24: And they which were sent were of the Pharisees.
25: And they asked him, and said unto him, Why baptizest thou then, if thou be not that Christ, nor Elias, neither that prophet?
26: John answered them, saying, I baptize with water: but there standeth one among you, whom ye know not;
27: He it is, who coming after me is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose.
************* ****************
I am amazed at Evolutionists. You know why. They are people of Faith. Did you know that?
Anybody that can believe BANG and it all began. Is a man of Faith to me?
**** But none can come up with what we call First Cause ****
****Do you know the Key element that all things are made of? (Atoms)
A Chair, Wood, cloth, People, Brick’s, All different, But All the same “Atoms”.
An Atom is the smallest elements know to man. Except for the Electrons that Orbit the Atoms
Billion all over us the very building block of our solar system
One day Man found a way to split the Atom. It gave us then the H Bomb…
Never would our world be the same again.
Listen to this
Splitting of the Atom is in reality creation in reverse. Can you see how this breathtaking discovery makes belief in the Scriptural record of creation, not at all difficult?
For if man can turn matter into energy, could not the Creator have turned energy into matter.
Sr. Albert Einstein
Sometimes is seems so easy to be lost in our world, why because people don’t listen.
They choose not to here
They choose not to learn
They choose not to see
They choose not to do
And when they choose not to, Gods Spirit can’t work with them. He comes to them who are waiting for him. He doesn’t force himself on us. Those who choose to follow him, he lights there path that they may see and those who choose not to follow him He respects there discussion and leaves them in the dark. Because they have no light they stumble and fall and soon die.
God has giving us a way to know him “His Word” His Word is a guide in our life showing us the way, pointing us to God. With out his word we are all lost.
Thy word is a light unto my path
Isa: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.
Today Not Tomorrow !!!
Sunday night, October 8, 1871, Dwight L. Moody was preaching to a large congregation in Chicago’s Fairwell Hall.
The text of his sermon was “What shall I do then with Jesus?”
At the close of the sermon he said: “I wish you would take this text home with you and turn it over in your mind during the week, and next Sunday we shall come to Calvary and the Cross, and we shall decide what to do with Jesus of Nazareth”.
Then, as usual, he turned to Sankey and asked him to sing a hymn. Sankey’s strong tones rang through the hall.
“Today the Savior calls;
For refuge fly;
The storm of justice falls,
And death is nigh”.
The hymn was never finish, for while Sankey was singing there came the rush and roar of fire engines on the street outside, and the heavens suddenly turned crimson with the reflection of the great Chicago fire. In the morning Chicago lay in ashes.
To his dying day Moody was full of regret, because he had told that congregation to wait until next week to decide what to do with Jesus.
“I never dare”, he said, to give an audience a week to think of their salvation. Settle it in your heart what to do with Jesus today, because tomorrow may never come.
KNOWING GOD RESULTS IN TRUSTING GOD.
IF YOU DON’T KNOW HIM, YOU WON’T TRUST HIM.
IF YOU DON’T TRUST HIM, YOU DON’T KNOW HIM.
The best blessing God ever gave me was Cancer, you see while I was physically strong I was Spiritually weak. God new that he had to do something so he made me Physically weak so that through Him I could become Spiritually strong.
Was it not Job who said; throw he slay me, yet will I serve Him.
The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the
“Peanuts” comic strip.
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winner for best actor and
actress.
6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.
These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields.
But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten.
Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.
Easier?
The lesson:
The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards.
They are the ones that care.
Jesus Cares; he proved it by dieing for you.
John 8: 12
Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.
Listen to words of this song.
The Lord is my light; then why should I fear? / By day and by night His presence is near;
He is my salvation from sorrow and sin; / this blessed persuasion the Spirit it brings in.
The Lord is my light; though clouds may a rise, Faith stronger than sight, looks up to the skies; Where Jesus for ever in glory doth reign: Then how can I ever in darkness remain?
The Lord is my light, the Lord is my strength; I know in his might I’ll conquer at length; My weakness in mercy He covers with power, and walking by faith, He up-holds me each hour.
The Lord is my light, my all and in all; there is in His sight no darkness at all; He is my Redeemer, my Savior and King; with saints and with angels His praises I sing.
The Lord is my light, my joy, and my song; by day and by night He leads me along;
The Lord is my light, my joy and my song; by day and by night He leads me along;
Make a decision in your heart to day to follow Jesus for he and he alone is the Light that will guide you through the toughest and most difficult times in your life.
Just put your trust in Him and believe. May God bless and lead you with the light of his love.
Holiness unto the Lord
Story: Noah
God called a man named Noah Why? The Earth was full of SIN and Evil
Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD
Genesis 6: 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD
• Doing something that everyone thinks you are crazy
Did you know that Noah preached the same sermon for 120 years: If the Pastor preached the same sermon for two or three Sabbaths in a row what do you think will happen?
Time to get honest here Everyone will start complaining right.
Noah was giving a Warning to the people of his day, Why because the cup of evil was full to the rim and running over
God did not just zap everyone out, He sent Noah to warn them and give them time to make a choice and save themselves.
Everyone had time to make ready, Everyone had time to study, Everyone had time to change their life style. But no one took the time to do anything but laugh at this crazy old man
The Garden of Eden was still on the earth and people could still go and see where it was and to know that it was because of Sin that they no longer had access to it.
One day something strange started to happen, Animals started to walk two be two out of the forest right into the Ark.
Sign after sign was giving but still no one believed
Till the great door of the Ark closed and probation also closed for the World
In everything Noah did he honored God and gave God the glory by his obedience and love for his creator, it was just too bad no one listened to what he was preaching
Let us Pray!
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Thousands of years ago, God gave a vision of what His people could be in contrast to the rest of the world around them.
In the book of Leviticus we see a holy God and we see what he thinks of all the evil around us and we find out what His plans are for His people.
Can God’s holiness give us hope? I’d like to share that message of hope with you today.
I invite you to open your Bibles to the book of Leviticus and we’ll look at a couple of Bible texts that emphasize God’s holiness.
First of all we’ll look at chapter 20, and I’d like to direct your attention to verses 22-23 and 26.
Verses 22-23 “You shall therefore keep all My statutes and all My judgments, and perform them, that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out. And you shall not walk in the statutes of the nation which I am casting out before you; for they commit all these things, and therefore I abhor them.”
Let me explain what the problems was with the other Nations (The Sins of the others Nations has reach their limit and probation was fixing to close for them)
Now verse 26: “And you shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.”
I would also like to point your attention to chapter 11.
Leviticus chapter 11:44, 45. “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.”
If you were to sum up those verses, what would you say the message is?
I believe we could summarize it this way:
The book of Leviticus is about the holiness of God versus the ugliness of Sin.
In fact, God’s holiness is a way to describe His pure loving character which is totally good and entirely separate from evil in any form.
And the more exalted our views about God’s holiness, the more we will not want to disgrace our holy God. Because the more we know Him, the more we will want to be like Him.
Now I’d like for us to look at Leviticus 19 for the sake of asking ourselves, “What is the holiness of God and what does it mean for us?”
Chapter 19, along with the other places it stresses that God wants us to be holy, because the Lord our God is holy. That’s in verse 2. I want us to notice how that theme is developed in this chapter.
In verse 3 it tells us that God wanted the Israelites to hold in the highest regard their mothers and fathers. To respect their mothers and fathers.
Gods commandment
If fact the 5th commandment in the book of Exodus 20: 12 tell us: Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Have you ever seen a child treat his mother or father with disrespect? Yep
We all have! This is a day and age when there is very little cross-generational respect. We hear stories of parents killing their children and children killing their parents.
In Leviticus19: 3 God also says “Keep my Sabbaths.” Most people don’t even know what “rest” is, much less the Sabbath experience. (God gave Man rest) Man is Over Worked today!
Verse 4, Don’t turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods. They Can’t see, hear or walk.
Verse 11: You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another. Stealing these days is a common thing to do, dealing falsely as well, and lying is easy for anyone.
Verse 13: You shall not cheat your neighbor, nor rob him Not very many people care about their neighbors these days.
Verse 14: You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind.
You shall not hate your brother in your heart. And it goes on to tell us that there should be no grudges against people, but we should love our neighbors as ourselves. (19:17, 18) Forgiveness that’s a rare thing today It is one thing to forgive and another to forget.
Some of the things have changed since the days God spoke these words to Moses. Lev. 19:27, for example, tells men not to shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard.
The SDA Commentary is helpful for things like this. It tells us that at that time it was a common practice, as a sign of devotion to one’s pagan god to shave off some hair and offer it to his gods.
So shaving off the sides of the head or disfiguring the natural shape of the beard was a symbol for all to see that a person was devoted to a certain pagan god. So that’s not quite the same today, or maybe it’s in another form today, I don’t know.
Other things are still relevant, however.
Verse 31 says Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits. It’s common to hear of people that claim they can speak to your dead family member. Fortune tellers and channelers seek to give you extra-terrestrial wisdom. They claim they can give that.
• Have you notes that today more so then ever in the History of man, all the people who clime that they can speak to the dead.
That also clime they can tell the future: But they can’t tell what the lotto number will be next week.
Gods says don’t believe them, and don’t play on Satan’s ground
Verse 33 says Don’t mistreat strangers. In today’s society of suspicion and prejudice, do we really care about people we don’t know?
Leviticus 19:34 says “The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Verse 35: You shall do no injustice in measurements of length, weight or volume. Don’t steal or cheat someone.
So what is God saying to us here? All of these admonitions, all of these commands, reflected God’s extreme dislike of the practices of society around us. Why would that be?
Because God is holy, and by nature hates anything having to do with the ugliness of sin. You see, God is not an arbitrary God.
God does not tell us not to do these things just because He doesn’t think we should do them, but because He doesn’t want those things to damage or kill us.
God wants His people to be different from the sinful society around them. He says You shall be holy, for I am holy.
Can you imagine living in a society in which
1. No one Cheats each other
2. Doors wouldn’t need to be locked because you could trust people.
3. People wouldn’t have to be scared of walking all alone in the dark.
4. People wouldn’t get kidnapped.
5. Kids wouldn’t become the victims of incest and abuse.
6. Women wouldn’t get raped.
7. Stores wouldn’t be robbed.
8. No one would have to go hungry.
9. People would care for each other.
10. There would be no adultery.
11. There would be no child pornography.
12. There would be no bribery.
13. And there would be no more politicians who care only about campaign contributions and saving their own jobs.
14. There would be no more deal-making behind closed doors of government
Why does all that sound so good? Is it perhaps because that picture, that dream, is so unlike our present reality?
The picture in our minds is what we want because we’re hungry for something that isn’t. We’re starving for a taste of what isn’t true today.
We’re so accustomed to most of the evil in society that we are unaware to the not-so-good that exists inside each of us.
Leviticus tells us that we have a God who is holy. He hates evil and sin, but He graciously loves us. He’s a holy God who cares so much for us that He wants to bring us from that evil, and save us from that and from the damage that sin brings to us.
Leviticus is about a God who cares enough about us to take us out of the dirt and the grime. To pick us up, dust us off, wash us and cleanse us, and polish and shine us with his love.
He is a God who wants us to be separate from the garbage that exists around us, garbage that is offensive, ugly and hateful.
I am thankful today that God’s plan is to restore us to His image so that we do what’s right because it is right. So God takes us out of the garbage of sin and tells us, “You shall be holy to Me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be Mine.” (Leviticus 20:26).
You know that tells me that God values us.
I never used to think about God’s holiness as giving me hope that’s often because I don’t feel holy. Do you know what that’s like? Do you ever feel unholy? Maybe 10% of the time, or 5%? Or maybe rather it’s 99% of the time.
It has always been the love of God, God’s forgiveness, God’s patience, God’s grace and mercy that has meant a lot to me.
But after studying the book of Leviticus, I see it very differently. And I see that there is a purpose and a message behind it all. And God’s holiness is that message.
In all of God’s pure, loving goodness. God can’t stand evil in any shape or form. And even though evil exists inside each one of us, God has His plan to get rid of that evil.
The sacrifices in the book of Leviticus communicated that. Jesus’ death was the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan to cleanse us from evil so we could be His people. And we could be His people in complete freedom once again.
God’s call to His holiness gives me hope because it means that we are all valuable to Him and He has a plan to heal us from the damage of sin.
He calls us to escape the sin and corruption that is in this world, because we are valuable to Him. God really does have something much better in mind for us.
STORY: Imelda Harrison and her sisters had made reservations to stay in a motel in the town of Yulee, Florida, in a very out-of-the-way place.1
Instead of rooms, it had cabins set way back from the highway. Imelda had an uneasy feeling about the place, but they had already taken care of their luggage, and her sisters were lying on the bed, resting.
It had been a long day, and all they wanted to do was to stretch out and relax. Soon, however, they heard a lot of cussing and swearing coming from the other side of the duplex cabin.
There was a door going from their side of the cabin to the other, with only a slide lock on the door. They could not hear every word being said, but they heard enough to know that the man was talking about them!
When they had first arrived, a car had been parked on their side of the cabin, and her sister Arlene had gone to knock on the door to ask the man to please move his car out of their way.
He had been sleeping and was wearing only his under garments when he came to the door, cussing and swearing at her.
Well, he got dressed and moved the automobile. But Arlene noticed a pistol on his night stand and mentioned it to the others.
Yet she still felt as if they would be safe enough with the doors locked. Imelda didn’t share her feelings, and was sure that they could be murdered if they didn’t get out immediately.
She eventually tried to talk her other sisters into packing up and getting out of there, but they just didn’t seem to want to be bothered at eleven o’clock at night.
She started to pray for something to happen to change their minds. Suddenly she heard them both scream at the top of their lungs.
She looked and saw something green in the middle of their bed! A lizard had jumped from the windowsill onto the bed, leaping right between them.
They packed up and were out of there in twenty minutes. They went ten miles down the road and rented another room at a motel that appeared much safer.
As they were registering at the desk, the woman said to them, “At a motel about ten miles down the road, there have been several unsolved murders committed in the last few months.”
When she mentioned the name of the place, it was the same motel they had just left. So Imelda thanked the Lord for sending the lizard to drive her sisters out of there.
God wants us to escape the corruption in the world, the evil. He has something better in mind for us. He has a better “hotel” for us to stay in.
And He will use whatever is necessary to motivate us to leave our ugly world of sin.
He offers you and me an escape from evil! With His loving holiness God rescues us from evil.
My prayer is that we may all choose to be, by God’s grace, His holy people.
One thing I have always found is that History repeats it’s self, time and time again, why because God keeps giving mankind chance after chance.
But like in the days of Noah time is running out and the great door of salvation will soon once again close forever
Those who Honor and give God the glory by doing what He said to do, and Keeping his words and Laws and taking on Gods Holiness will be saved.
Why because God is Holy and like Noah, we can find Grace in the sight of a Holy God.
Do All to the Glory of God
There were two Families who lived across the street in this particularly neighborhood.
One day they got in an augment over some little foolish thing that happen and vow to never speak to each other again (As long as they would live)
A few years would go by and both couples started having children.
One day they notices that there children were playing together in the fount yard.
This infuriated the parents to see there children playing with those people across the street.
They would go and get the children and tell them they were never to play with the People across the street again.
Only to find the children in the front yard playing again with the children across the street.
The Parents knew they needed to do something to stop this with those fitly no mans who lived across the street.
So the parents on the right side of the street started to build all kinds of play things in their back yard for there children
The parents on the Lift side of the street saw what the pigs across the street was doing and started doing the same in their back yard.
Never would there children play together again!
Time went on and the children grew-up and were ready for School. The parents on both sides of the street made sure that there children would not attend the same school so they all went to a different private school.
Time again moved on and the oldest of these children now made ready for collage.
At Collage both of these young adults met many of new friends, one day the Girl from the right side of the street met a wonderful boy who she fell in Love with.
And the Boy from the Left side met a wonderful Girl who he fell in Love with.
They Loved each other so much they did not want to even go home when the semester was over, So they decided to register and go to school all year long, studying and cramming there curses so they could both finish get Married and start a life of there own when School finished
Funny neither of them every talk much about there family back home.
But the day came and they graduated; now they planed to get married. They were surprised to learn that they both came from the same state, and even more surprised to learn that they lived in the Same City.
What a coincident they said to each other.
The Girl told here Boyfriend the street she lived on and the Boy said why my parents live on that same street.
He told the girl his parent house number and she said why that is not far from where her parent live
They just could not understand how they had never met before, living so close to each other all this time.
Until they drove down the road and seen that they were neighbors across the street.
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How many of us today go to Church and never talk to each other. How many times do we pass each other by with not so much as a smile, a hello, a good-by, or a go and drop dead.
We are supposed to be representing God on this Earth, but some times we tend to represent only Satan in Christ clothing.
God said in all that you do, do it to the Glory of God!
Our Question today is “How do I give God the Glory”?
Let us pray !!!!!!
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The Sermon today will be taking from the Scripture found in 1 Corinthians: 10:31:
The King James Bible:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
Twenty Century New Testament Bible:
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do everything to the honor of God.
Bible in Worldwide English:
So, whether you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to bring praise to God.
Do all to the glory of God.
Point #1 Is it possible to honor God in how or what we eat?
The Bible says yes it is possible!
In the beginning God created everything Good; it was perfect just out of the creator’s hands
Genesis 1
29: And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
We don’t need a preacher to understand what we just read? What we read is God gave to man his food, and it was not the beasts of the earth, it was the fruit that grew on trees, God call it meat.
For this reason you will find many Adventist who are vegetarian and not meat eaters. Not that there is anything wrong with eating Clean Meat.
The diet of man was altered after Sin entered into the Human family.
In the scripture we are told; God said I have given you every herb bearing seed & and every fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for Meat.
When God uses the word Meat; is does not mean animal flesh.
When I was growing up sometime we would get a young Coconut to eat and cut them open, and eat the Meat of the coconut on the inside, the fruit inside was conceded the meat of the Coconut. It is no part of any animal but the Meat of the Fruit that God had giving this is what God was saying
So where did Man start eating Flesh or animal protein.
Let go back to the Book of Beginning and see what happen
Genesis 6
5: And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6: And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart.
7: And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.
I am glad we have men Like Noah / even though he was called a Fool by the World Standards He Remained Faithful to Gods Laws. Out of the hole World God found only Noah righteous
We are not going into the story of Noah, because of time; let’s just take a look at what happen.
We know that God told Noah to build an Ark because he was going to destroy the earth with a flood. God gave Noah the plan for the size of the Ark, why because he knew it would have to hold a pair of all the beasts of the earth.
Lets pickup on the story where God is calling the animal and they are going on into the Ark.
Genesis 6
19: And of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.
20: Of fowls after their kind, and of cattle after their kind, of every creeping thing of the earth after his kind, two of every sort shall come unto thee, to keep them alive.
Let dig a little deeper here into what is happing and see if we can shade a little more Light on this subject
Genesis 7
1: And the LORD said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.
2: Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female.
God say to Noah Clean beast by sevens and un-clean by two. That is 14 of every clean the male and female and two of every un-clean one male and one female.
Did God make a distinction between what animals were clean and unclean back in the time of Noah?
So why do we hear men preaching today and telling us we don’t have to worry about those Jewish Laws, we can eat anything we want, just put a little more gravy on it. It is ok to eat what God said is an abomination, because those Law’s were for the Jews only.
Were those laws for the Jew only and not for us today? Was Noah a Jew?
Do you know there are a lot of similarities between Jews and Muslim?
One similarly is that neither one will eat Pork,
Do you know why?
Because they both had the same great Grand Father, the patriarch Abraham who taught his children of Gods Laws!
Not because they were Jews or Muslim but because they were his Children; and Gods Law was the delight of his Life.
The Jewish line came from Abraham Son Isaac who begat Jacob now known as Israel, The Muslim line came from Abraham other sons Esau & Ishmael
Now if it is understandable to be able to Give God Glory in what we eat, it is also understandable to believe we can Dishonor and not give Him Glory in what we eat and that is by eating what God said is an abomination to Him.
Isaiah 66:
16: For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many.
17: They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD.
If you have any drought as to what animals are Clean or Unclean just go to the Book of Leviticus and read in chapter 11:
1 Corinthians 6:
19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20: For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Where now is also the augment for abortion?
When is the Woman that said it is my body and I can do what I want with it. WRONG, God said your body belongs to him, he bought you with a price whether you like it or not. Now he will not force his way on you, but he will let you choose to do right or wrong that is a choice he has giving you.
Point #2 Can we Honor God in our Relationships.
Christ and Family
1. Life is built on Relationships
Can we bring Honor to God by having friends?
Yes we can, God did not create us to be independence of each other, we were created to be social, in other words to have relationships with other.
One of the worse things that can happen to someone is to be totally isolated, put away from everyone else. We were not made to be alone; we need the fellowship of others in our life to be totally happy. When we are a Friend to others or as Jesus said a neighbor to others we give God the Glory.
Mathew: 22:39:
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Why?
Because It give Glory to God.
Just the opposite is true if you do not love your neighbor, you do not bring Glory to God
► God holds the Marriage relationship as a Most Holy Thing.
It was giving to mankind in the garden before Sin, when God took the one Man and one Woman and joined them together, and they two became one flesh.
What God has joined together let no Mankind separate or come between.
Let me ask you a question? Can Sex bring Glory to God ?
When in the confines of the Marriage relationship even Sex can bring Glory to God. It was Gods way of forming the bond between the Man and the Woman, for God said and they two shall become one flesh
The Intermit relationship between the Man and Woman forms a strong bond and holds them together, but even it is not complete!
There is one missing element, and that is the need for his creator to be part of that relationship. That brings Honor to God in the Home and the Children of that Home will also bring Glory and Honor to God.
Because they will learn of Him by the example of the Parents, Children watch everything there Parents do, and imitate there very actions and words.
If they are words of Love and cheer of compassion and Faith, they too will have the same. But if it is words of hate and violence words of markery and slander they will become exactly like the Parents and that brings dishonor to God.
Marriage is a commitment to each other a way of saying I love you and want to be part of your Life. It is a way of saying I Will Always Be There for You
That is what God is telling us; when he is part of that relationship he will always be there for you, if you accept him into your Life.
In the Marriage relationship; if Sex brings Glory to God, Then the opposite must also be true.
Sex outside of the Marriage relationship brings Dishonor to God
Adultery is when the Marriage relationship is Broken.
In other words when the Covenant, when the Agreement, when the Promise, is made Void by one of the parties involved in the Marriage relationship and that is by Sex whether Physical or Mental is committed our side of the Marriage Relationship the Vow is broken and bring dishonor to God.
Satan loves nothing more then to destroy the Family, because there are two things that came out of Eden, One was the Marriage; our relationship to Each Other, and the Sabbath; our Relationship with God.
Satin will stop at nothing to break our relationship with God and with each other.
He attacks our very Homes when we are the lease expected; so we can dishonor our Creator
We are attacked everyday by the T.V. in our Homes, every time you look there is a Sex seen on the tube. Just about every Movie you see will has at lease one seen with people having Sex.
Most of the time T.V., Magazines, and Movies don’t give Glory to God
You open the News paper and there are pictures of Woman in there undergarments, the same with a magazine from JC Penny or Sears. All to lead your Mind away, and into a place it should not be and to help you break that covenant relationship you made.
By Far the worse Magazine you can have in you Home if you have Men or young boys is a Victoria Secret magazine.
It is Pornography at the first stage (it opens the door to Sin in young boys)
Look at what Jesus said in Matthew: Matthew:5:28:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Please notice here there is nothing wrong looking at a beautiful Woman. That is not the problem; it is what a man does in his mind when he looks that is the problem.
There were a sect of Men in Israel that were called the Burse and Bleeding Pharisees. Why because they believed that to look at a Woman was Sin.
And so to keep from Sinning if they were walking and a Woman was coming down the other way, they would cover there eyes, thus running in to Buildings or in a Ditch
As Paul Harvy would say now you know the rest of the story… Burse and Bleeding Pharisees
To look at a Woman is not Sin but to “Undress her in your Mind is Sin”.
Because you have committed Adultery with her in your heart
That is what Jesus was saying, if you Lust after her, if you desire her, if you long for her, if you hunger for her you have committed Sin because you have broken the covenant with your Marriage Partner.
God also liked the Marriage relationship to Himself by the Church.
The Church is his Bride
He is coming back for a Pure and Holy Bride that has not committed Fornication or Adultery with the world.
But for those who have kept themselves as a Virgin awaiting the coming of the Bridegroom to give Glory to God
Phil:2:11:
And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Rom:3:23: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Jesus did say Be ye Perfect as I am Perfect, It is only as we are in Christ that we can become Perfect not in ourselves, In ourselves we are imperfect becuase we are sinners
We Glorify God in our acceptance of His Sacrifice on the Cross in Man behalf because we could not do it ourselves
The opposite it true we Dishonor God when we try to do it ourselves, it is like saying God I don’t need you
Point #3 Can we Honor God by keeping the day He blessed and said was Holy
Gods Holy Sabbath day
Can Worshiping God on the 7th day of the week the Sabbath bring Glory to God?
The Jewish people had a very big problem; they refused to keep Gods Law. Jesus said; If you Love me keep my Commandment. So we may say if keeping Gods Law shows that we love Him; then by not keeping them or braking even one of them shows that we don’t really Love Him; or at lease not totally; and if you don’t love Him totally, then you don’t love Him at all. And so Jesus has no choice but to let you have your own way
At the restoration of Jerusalem, in the days of Nehemiah, Sabbath breaking was met with the stern discipline “Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath. , “ Nehemiah 13:18
Christ, during His earthly ministry, emphasized the binding claims of the Sabbath; in all His teaching He showed reverence for the institution He Himself had given.
In His days the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather than the character of God.
Christ set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him.
The Sabbath was embodied in the law given from Sinai. The people of Israel had knowledge of it before they came to Sinai. On the way there the Sabbath was kept. When someone profaned it, the Lord reproved them, saying, “How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?” Ex. 16:28.
The Sabbath was not for Israel only, but for the world. It had been made known to man in Eden, and, like the other precepts of the Decalogue, it is of perpetual obligation. Of that law of which the fourth commandment forms a part, Christ declares,
“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law.Matthew:5:18:”
So long as the heavens and the earth endure, the Sabbath will continue to be a sign of the Creator’s power. And when Eden shall bloom on earth again, God’s holy rest day will be honored by all beneath the sun. “From one Sabbath to another” the inhabitants of the glorified new earth shall go up “to worship before Me, saith the Lord.” Isa. 66:23.
In the days of Christ the Sabbath had become so distorted that its observance reflected the character of selfish men more than God.
They began to worship the Day, more then the Creator of the Day.
The Religious leaders virtually represented God as giving laws which it was impossible for men to obey. They led the people to look upon God as a tyrant, and to think that the observance of the Sabbath, as He required it, made men hard-hearted and cruel.
It was the work of Christ to clear away these misconceptions. The Religious leaders followed Him with merciless hostility because he did not keep the Sabbath by their traditions. He did not conform to their requirements (Traditions), but went straight forward, keeping the Sabbath according to the laws of God.
The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27″
Does the Sabbath make us perfect, No it don’t, but it does make us dependence on Gods Grace, for it is by Grace that we are Saved through Faith and not of our works.
So if keeping the Sabbath brings Glory to God, then not keeping the Sabbath brings Dishonor to God.
How did the whole thing get mixed up in the first place, look at the Book of Daniel?
Daniel: 7:25:
And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
God knew these things would happen, because he knew Satan would stop at nothing to dishonor Him.
He knew Men would try and bring in another day; that He God did not bless and did not make Holy.
You must understand God did all He could do for Man
1. The Sabbath Came out of Eden,
2. Marriage Came out of Eden
3. The Food God gave us to keep us in good Health came out of Eden
God did all this to keep mankind happy and healthy, why because of His great love for his Creation.
Do you know who wrote the Bible, Men who were moved by the inspiration of Gods Holy Spirit?
Do you know the only part of the Bible God did not let man write?
His Ten Commandments, He God wrote them himself on stone with his own finger. Are his laws importance can man change something that God himself wrote. I don’t think so.
What every you do, ask yourselves this first
In what I am going to eat, will it bring Glory to God?
In what I think does it bring Glory to God?
In how I worship does it bring Glory to God?
If your answer is yes then you have no problems, but if it is NO I leave you with a Choice you need to make.
Give God the Glory by your obedience to his will and live forever or take your chances with the world.
To God be the Glory, Great things He has done so love He the world He gave us His SON.
D5 Creation
