Oh, God’s goodness to us!

“The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.”  Proverbs 16:1

This scripture should be a special blessing to every Christian on the earth. As Christians we are so blessed of God, He has brought us from spiritual death to spiritual life. As Christians, as believers in Jesus Christ, we are the Children of God, what a thought, what a blessing to be a child of the King! God, the Creator of the heavens, the universe, of the earth and all that exist, sent His own Son to this sinful world to give life to His people. Without Jesus, His life, His death, His blood, His resurrection, we are assured the eternal flames of hell for eternity. But God, who is so wonderfully gracious chose to save our souls and bless us with innumerable blessing’s. Our hearts should jump daily with praise to God the Father, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, for their wonderful gifts that never stop coming to us. God does not stop at our salvation, we are His chosen servants, no matter what you do for God, your chosen. Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Oh, Blessed Lord thank you for making me what you want me to be in this life! We are His creation because God created us to be as He chose and ordained before the world was created, Wow! Think on that, just take a minute, and hour, a day, a year, or a lifetime to think about that. The world is full of preachers, assemblies calling themselves churches that do nothing less than degrade God and His powers, but here we learn God is the reason we are what we are. The Apostle Paul, one of the most wonderful creations of God’s power. As Saul of Tarsus, he was very evil, hating Christ Jesus, hating Jesus’s disciples, hating His church in Jerusalem that He Himself had created. Persecuted Jesus Christ through persecuting His people and church. “…Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Acts 9:4b That’s right believers, we are one in Christ and one with Christ Jesus, “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ...”  Romans 8:17a. The blessings just keep being revealed in every point we make, oh thank God. But the Apostle Paul who once hated Jesus, His people, and the church, as Saul of Tarsus became one of the greatest men in the bible, and servants of God. But not because Saul turned around, not because Saul repented and chose to be saved, but because God changed his old, wicked heart. Old Saul met Jesus, “And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do…” Acts 9:6 What a turnaround Saul of Tarsus had made, not because of his glory or power, no, it was God’s glory and power, “…created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Oh, God’s goodness to us all, our salvation, our life, our works, our walk in Christ Jesus is all God’s work and power. Any preacher that preaches that God cannot change a persons will, gives God no glory, he needs to visit with God and receive God’s blessings. Look at Paul’s life as a Christian, all he accomplished, all the Christians, churches, and people who was enriched with scriptural knowledge because of his writings, and at the end Paul took his final bow with these words, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain…” 1 Corinthians 15:10a Saul who God named Paul knew that no glory was due him, all glory was God’s because all he was as a Christian was God’s glorious works. God’s work on us started before the world was created, it’s called eternity because it has no beginning or no ending. Time only exist on this earth and once God destroys it time dies with it. Solomon wrote in the Proverbs these words, “The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the LORD.” Did you know that word “preparations” means - mental disposition – in the Hebrews? God, please forgive the fools who claim you cannot “change mans will”. Paul was not being gracious to God in his words in 1 Corinthians 15:10a, he was thanking God for making him what he had become, because if God had not changed him, he would be in hell right now, and so would I if God had not changed me. God speaks all through His word about changing us for the good, we have no power to change ourselves, no, not one chance. God has created everything to please Himself, everything even evil praise God. “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4 God did not create anything or anyone that He does not control, not did He create anything that does not bring Him glory. Satan is not a competition to God; he is a servant to God’s power and will. Only a depraved being like Satan could believe that God doesn’t have the power and control over any created being. However, any Christian that does not recognize God’s blessings in their life, needs to search the scriptures. They need to get out of houses ran by the blind because their heading for the ditch. Jesus said, “Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.”  Matthew 15:14 God promised that those that come to truth He will bless them, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, (18) And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.”  2 Corinthians 6:17, 18

If you cannot standup and give God all the glory for your Christian life than you are not in step with God’s word. The greatest blessing in a believer’s life is to give God all glory through Christ Jesus and accepting not praise for himself. “I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.”  Psalms 22:22 Because God hath saved me from the evils in my own heart, from the grip of sin, and the power of Satan, oh praise thee my gracious God! “Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee. (13) And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me.” Hebrews 2:13

Brethren, Stand Strong!

“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”  2 Timothy 4:2 – 4

The charge from God to every preacher is “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ…Preach the word…” no matter what. The charge is to “preach or proclaim” which means - to herald (as a public crier), especially divine truth (the gospel), from Strong’s. – that is to publicly shout or cry because as Ministers we are the official messenger bringing the word of truth. There is not another, no one else will deliver God’s written truth to the world of both lost and saved. It is just as important as the churches of truth getting the gospel to the world, no one else can do it. Without the preachers or proclaimers appointed by God, or the churches commissioned by Jesus Christ, neither the word of truth nor the true gospel gets delivered. This is the importance we all must put on it, it is exactly that important. Now, please do not use the attitude that, “well God is Sovereign, and He will get it out no matter what”. That is called “hard-shell-ism” and if that’s you’re thinking then why preach the gospel at all? While you are correct, it’s our commission from God to both Preachers and churches! Listen men, a Minister is a called servant of God, no one else was appointed and called of God for this beautiful work, just us. It is the Word of God that both sinners and saints need, they do not need entertainment, they do not need worldly sympathizing, they do not need worldly lies, they need God’s TRUTH. No one tells God’s servants what people need because it is God Who tells the Minister, and the Minister tells the people. Don’t forget what God told young Jeremiah, “But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.”  Jeremiah 1:7 - 8 It wasn’t that Jeremiah was so young that God was with Him, look at the Apostle Paul, “Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.”  Acts 18:9 – 10 Preaching is a calling and an inspired work, we are never alone in it, God is with us all the way. The Apostle Paul was extremely successful in his work for the Lord, but why? Well Paul credited God, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”  1 Corinthians 15:10 Brethren, this is to us all, we are, what we are by God’s grace, and we will accomplish what we will because God is continually with us! We never need to forget those words of encouragement because we will always need them because lost people will hate us and some Christians will walk away with, “…having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” One Author wrote these words, “The great fight is the preaching of the Word. The men of power and weight are men of the Book; such represent God.” Preaching the Truth of the Word is a great fight because Satan hates it. He is fighting us on every turn and we who are God’s men of truth must walk in truth, no matter what. God warned us thru the Apostle Paul that weak Christians would have carnal desires for religious lies. Because of their “itching ears” they would desire teachers who would satisfy their cravings for things that disagree with God’s truths. God’s word is hard for the weak Christians that fail to study God’s word, they simply cannot stomach truth, therefore they forsake the church and truth. In our day, a preacher who has a large congregation is mostly a sign that he is preaching untruth for “itching ears”, or it has a lot of children in it. In fact, it may be evidence that he is tickling people’s “itching ears” and giving them what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. The churches of Truth and the churches that are true need to be fed strong meet, the weak need to be fed milk, but God will direct His men He has appointed what to feed them, always trust God and not people. However, a good well-seasoned Pastor knows what is needed and will always lean on God to show him, no matter where it leads or what the results are. Younger Pastors and Ministers need to pay attention to the good well-seasoned Pastor’s and learn from them, not just the truth of preaching, but from their strength and manner of their ministry. I will personally never forget the strong men who showed me the strength of the ministry, I love them even today even though most are with the Lord. Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 2 Timothy 4:7 This should be the thought of every God called man to the ministry, I stood on truth no matter what, because I trusted God even if they all walked away, I stood on truth like Jesus did in, John 6:60 - 61, 66 - 69 "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? (61) When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? (66) From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. (67) Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? (68) Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. (69) And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God."  Brethren, numbers are in God’s control, we are commanded to preach the truth and never stop!  

 

You are inexcusable!

“Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”  Romans 2:1

One day, every single person will stand before Jesus Christ the righteous Judge. It doesn’t matter who you are in this earthly life, lost, saved, a murder, Christian, or even a Minister or a Pastor, our judgement is an absolute, no one will escape judgment. People, Christians, churches, and Pastors ignore this thought but be assured your day of judgment is coming. “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Hebrews 9:27 It is because of man’s sin’s that we will all die because God promised it to mankind in the fall. Adam’s sin caused us to be born sinners and it caused death, both spiritual and physical. God Himself not only determined our day on this earth, “Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass;” Job 14:5 God will also determine our judgment. This is a fact, we will all die, and we will all stand before the Great Righteous Judge, Jesus Christ. While it is true our judgments will be at different times and for different things, Judgment will be His to do. “And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.”  Acts 10:42 We are all responsible to Him in this life, the lost for their sins and the saved for their biblical faithfulness. The saved will have their works as a believer judged, and the lost will be condemned for their sin starting with Adam. Lost people cannot live a good enough life to redeem themselves, because sin has eternally condemned them. People try to figure out how to redeem themselves by their works but find out at the Great White throne they have failed. “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?” Matthew 7:22 And in the very next scripture Jesus answers them for their failure. “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Jesus will condemn them to eternal hell, not because their works were bad, but “…I never knew you…”. Let’s look at the actual judgment, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire." Revelation 20:12 – 15 We saw in Matthew what is said in judgment of the lost, Jesus tells them He never knew them, here in Revelations we see why, He never knew them because their names are not in the book of life. These people are without excuses, their condemnation is real, they’re all going to hell’s eternal flames, why? “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.” John 3:18 Not because he did not have enough good works, but because He believed not the testimony of God and called God a liar. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:10 – 12 If you have not believed on Jesus Christ as your Saviour, you are ALREADY CONDEMNED! When Jesus opens the single book, that was their condemned judgment, they were not in the book that was written before the foundation of the world. This book has the names of every soul that was given to Jesus before the foundation of the world was spoken into existence. “Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.”  John 17:24 and “According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Ephesians 1:4 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God." 1 Peter 1:18 – 21 It is absolutely true, just as the atheist is without excuse because creation proves God’s existence, God’s word proves His salvation in Jesus Christ. Therefore, if you stand at the Great White Throne for judgement, don’t forget, “you are inexcusable”!

Saved are also going to be judged, by the same Judge our Saviour Jesus Christ. But for our biblical works in life, for the fruits we all produced. As Christians our sin’s have been paid for through the blood of Jesus Christ. “For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell; And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.” Colossians 1:19 – 20 However, this is not an excuse to sin, because Jesus did not die for your sins to allow you the freedom to sin more. As a Christian we are to serve the Lord our God with all our heart and might. As the scriptures teach, “Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great things he hath done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:24 failing to do so will be your loss, you could lose all the rewards you earned by not serving the Lord properly. “Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” 1 Corinthians 3:13 – 15 Your failure to serve the Lord properly is not hid, notice these words, “Every man's work shall be made manifest” You may fool your family, friends, church, and Pastor, but you will not fool Jesus Christ. “But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the LORD: and be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23 Will you Christian have crowns or rewards in heaven? Will you Christian have nothing in heaven to offer God? In heaven the greatest honor of ours will be to praise God with our crowns and rewards, what will yours be. “The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” Revelation 4:10 – 11 If not, you are inexcusable, and the eternal affect will be because of you!