Salvation and Ministries are a revelation not a decision.

“But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:” Galatians 1:15 – 16

In our “today’s world” there are so many false conceptions about salvation that is leads to a mass confusion about the true salvation of God. Satan wants this mass confusion because it makes the truth about salvation sound irrelevant and unrealistic. It is the churches and their Pastors that are responsible to echo the truth about salvation in this evil world. Jesus left the gospel in the hands of the church’s leadership in the great commission. It is the Lords churches that that have the sole responsibility of holding on to true gospel and carrying it this lost and dying world. The worldly assemblies do not understand this because it was not given to their charge. It is the church at Jerusalem’s charge and her descendants charge only. Every person or organization like missionaries and mission works are descendants of a local church and held to the same responsibility as their mother church. Paul commanded this young minister and missionary to preach the gospel truth, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ… Preach the word…” 2 Tim. 4:1-2 Paul went on to say in our text “…when it pleased God…To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen…” This proves that salvation and the power to preach the gospel are those who has had a revelation to do so. It is the local churches that are called “The Pillar and Ground of Truth” 1 Tim. 3:15 “…the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” Paul wrote also these words “immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” but why not? Because every church, every Pastor, every Missionary, and every Ministry is deity controlled. The gospel is not originally “our message” it is God’s message and God’s chosen message for salvation, it is our gospel because God put into our trust. We are all sent by God into the world by God’s power to preach His message called the gospel. None of this is a “human power” because it is the Holy Spirit that controls it all. People cannot even understand the simplicity of the gospel message if it is not revealed to them by the Holy Spirit. Do you remember this conversation between Jesus and Peter, "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? (16) And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (17) And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Matthew 16:15 - 17 The only way Peter knew who Jesus was is because the Holy Spirit taught him, it was not a human revelation. Paul said, it was God who caused him to be born from his mother’s womb, saved his soul, and caused him to preach the gospel wherever God sent him to preach it. Why would Paul, or any church, or any Pastor, or any Minister confer with human beings when their entire existence and ministry is accomplished by God’s hand and power. If I ever ask my church or another minster a question or for advice, it is only “for data input” all my decisions are made by the Holy Spirit for me and my ministry. Our church is the absolute same, we never ask another outside source anything except for “data input”.

Let me conclude with this thought. God does not trust His ministry in the hands of mankind not even His own believers, because we are weak to the flesh, even as Christians and churches. Jesus tells us to “Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” Matthew 26:41 The spirit is strong because of the Holy Spirit, but the fleshly side of all Christians is weak. Our worship of God is “spiritual” because it is the strongest part of our being after salvation. Remember the spirit in lost people is dead therefore there is nothing in them that is strong. Therefore, God controls everything by the powerful workings of the Holy Spirit. Not even can we witness the gospel unless we are sent to that person by the Holy Spirit. “How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (15) And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” Rom. 10:14 – 15a. The churches are sent by Jesus to the world and we as individuals are sent by the Holy Spirit. We do not know the elect, they are few and far between, therefore God sends us to the elect or sends the elect to us. Therefore, we all work by a revelation from God, we are not on our own, we get no credit for the saved nor blame for the lost.  

What is man?

 

“What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” Romans 3:9. 

People are described by God as miserable, unholy, wretched, and sinful beings. Mankind, which includes all human beings are not good in any way. God gives a very ugly description of people right here in Romans 3. He says He is talking about both Jews and Gentiles, “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” Romans 3:9 People are only good in their own eye’s or other peoples eye’s but not in God’s eye’s, we are “…men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” Romans 1:18, in verse 21 God said, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”, in verse 22 God said they think of themselves as wise but are only fools, in verse 23 God said, “And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man” God is Sovereign, all wise, all powerful, all gracious, all saving, and ETC. nothing like man, but people make God out to a lesser than them, God said in verse 24 “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts…” God don’t want them therefore God cast them to believe the devils doctrine in their own hearts. God went farther in verse 25 “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator…” They deny the True God and worship the lesser god that is humanism, “I can do this on my own”. Verse 26 “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections…” They can have their Paganism, their self-salvation, they can hate the true God and Saviour and worship themselves, God gave them up, no hope for them. Why, why did God give them up, verse 28 “And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind…” God said in verse 31 people are “Without understanding…” that is of the True God, True Saviour, or the workings of the True Holy Spirit, therefore they worship a fake humanistic god that Satan has set in their evil hearts instead of the True God. People are totally depraved, God said, “I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life.”  Ecclesiastes 3:12 God went on to describe people this way “…There is none righteous, no, not one:” Romans 3:10, verse 11 says “There is none that understandeth…” they do not understand God in any way, so they reject the trye God. Then still in verse 11 God said, “…there is none that seeketh after God.” They do not even want God. God went on in verse 12 “…they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” And in verse 17 God said, “…the way of peace have they not known”. This is a description of total depravity that many rejects, although these same rejectors also are the ones God is talking about. We must recognize that in us is not good, we are unable to save ourselves, we need a Saviour and that Saviour is Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (29) Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. (30) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28 – 30 So, what is man, worthless outside of Jesus Christ and a child of God in Christ Jesus!

God is not “Slack” Jesus is coming.

“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (10) But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2 Peter 3:9 – 10

The Second Coming of Jesus has been talked about and expected since Jesus rose from the grave. For over two-thousand years people have looked, hoped, talked about, and prayer for Jesus to return. Why, because God has promised that Jesus would return to rapture His children out of this evil world. The most hoped for, prayed for and thought about subject among the faithful believers is the rapture. As we continue in this world the evil just gets worse and worse. Some believers have hope that someday the world will get better, but God has promised that it will not. “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13 Therefore, every year now we are watching the world get worse and worse, seeing the very deceivers being deceived. We ought to feel blessed because we are watching the prophecy of the bible unfolded right before our eyes. Before the foundation of the world God predestinated and ordained everything that must happen before Jesus returns for the rapture, and in our day, we are watching an acceleration of those ordained events. Folks, please never forget that in that predestination, God also ordained persecution for His own. Paul wrote, “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12 In the next four years our times will only get worse and worse, and it will not stop there because we are watching Satan take absolute control of The United States of America and the World. As believers we need to set our minds on the fact that while we watch, hope, look for, and pray for Jesus to return, only God knows when that is to be fulfilled. Peter wrote, “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness…” the word “slack means – tardiness or delayed -. Please remember that God is in absolute control and not Satan, as we saw in the account with Job, God only allows Satan and his demons to accomplish as God choses. As believers we have every reason to remain faithful to the Lord, let us not become part of the “little faith” believers. “If then God so clothe the grass, which is to day in the field, and to morrow is cast into the oven; how much more will he clothe you, O ye of little faith?” Luke 12:28 Whatever God has promised, God will fulfill it as guaranteed by God Himself. “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness…” As Christians we have no idea how far the persecutions will go, how much God will allow Satan to damage us. Could God allow Satan to take American Christians and other Christians back to the “dark ages” where Christians were being killed daily? How much will God allow today’s Christians to suffer for His name sake, we do not know. But, what ever God has ordained for us to live through in our time, we are to remain faithful to God’s word, even unto jail or death. Some will never believe that God will allow this world to suffer as those believers in the “dark ages, but we do not have His promise that He will not. As we see the predesignated will of God unfold and the bible become real, we need to be ready to suffer greatly for the Lord. God has ordained the times and events and God will manifest them in time as He commands them to unfold. Jesus asked this question, “I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8 The worse times get the lesser faith is found on the earth. Faith is not attending church or acting out being a Christian, faith is walking in the word and being a part of a true bible teaching church. Being faithful is always defined as “how closely to walking in the Spirit are you”. The churches are getting smaller in people, lesser funds to work with, and fewer are being saved. Folks, this is a sign of the times, and I believe it should make the true believers in Jesus Christ look harder for His return and to ready ourselves like the five virgins who had oil.

However, as we watch together, pray together, and hope together for the Lords return, let us also be prepared together to sacrifice for the Lord in worldly persecution. We need to carry this in our hearts every day, God is not slack in His promises, He will deliver us in His own way and His own time. Paul wrote,  “Persecutions, afflictions, which came unto me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: but out of them all the Lord delivered me.” 2 Timothy 3:11 Let us remember that God has a remnant chosen before the foundation of the world and God has promised that remnant “…but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” Do not worry about the lost, because every elect soul will be saved, do not worry about the times because we are all in the hand of God. “Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.” Psalms 34:19 Let me leave you dear believer with these words of comfort form our Saviour, “Jesus answered them, Do ye now believe? Behold, the hour cometh, yea, is now come, that ye shall be scattered, every man to his own, and shall leave me alone: and yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” John 16:31 – 33

Let us all pray together as we enter daily persecution and look daily together for the rapture of God’s Saints.