Are we hearing the Holy Spirit?

Revelation 2:7a “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;”

God’s Spirit which we all know as the “Holy Spirit” is more active in our life than we will ever realize. When God says, “He that hath an ear” God is saying that if you are saved then you have a spiritual ear, and that spiritual ear allows us to hear God speaking to us through His Spirit. In a believers’ daily life, we may think of the Holy Spirit less than we do, the Father or the Son, however, the Holy Spirit while least thought about is the most active in our life. He quickens our dead spirit, He causes us to have spiritual ears, and spiritual eyes, He also us causes to hear God’s call to salvation and see the gospel and then He gives us the faith to believe. He is the one who not only leads us to salvation, but walks us through the process, He is the one who delivers the completion of our salvation. He lives inside of us and will never leave us, and He works every second of everyday in our life. He teaches us and brings things to remembrance. He also causes us to join a church, and assembles the church, He also sets the membership into the churches and delivers the needs to the churches. He is the very one who authored the bible, He saved, called, and delivered all the writes of the bible, every writer, every word written, and He is the very one who teaches the bible to every believer. John wrote a scripture that sums all this up for us in Joh. 14:26 “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” So, just remember Paul brilliantly wrote a very humbling truth in 1 Corinthians 15:10 “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.” We are only what God’s grace has made us, and while is it believed that some people do waste God’s grace and others do not, we are still what God’s Holy Spirit has made us. The command from God is, “let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.” Not just to the churches but to every believer, the Holy Spirit speaks to us as He calls, saves, teaches, directs our hearts, and brings things to our remembrance. What the Apostle Paul was saying in Corinthians 15:10 is that we owe everything to God that is spiritual and Christian, every accomplishment was because of the powerful leading of the Holy Spirit. Paul listened to the Holy Spirit in his heart, and did exactly as He command, and he did accomplish much because he did not waste the grace given to him. You can ask any accomplished minister, and he will never take credit or glory for his work, because if he does then he is not “accomplished.” You may ask, how do I recognize an accomplished Minister or Pastor, He will teach, walk, and live by the scriptures and give every gory for every accomplishment to God and all power to the Holy Spirit. Paul gave all glory to God, then while it may appear he may have taken a smidgin of credit, he ended the verse with these words, “…yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Jesus said in Matthew 10:19-20 “But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.” And God told the Prophet Jeramiah in Jer. 1:6-7 “Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. 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.” God speaks to the churches, in Rev. chapters 2 & 3 and as He is speaking to the churches, we need to be listening, are we listening to the deep things to these churches? Throughout the entire bible God is speaking to us through the inspired word, God’s Spirit lives in us teaching and reminding us of the word of God, but are we listening? God reminded all seven churches “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;” Did they? Do we? Or do we ignore the Holy Script of God and do things our way? Think about it and it may surprise you to the true conclusion. Instead of, in regret saying, “I should have listened to God,” then listen to Him and be right the first time. Even if it may seem not so right, if God leads you there, then it will be right no matter the outcome. God is never wrong, and the Holy Spirit will never lead us wrong!    

The Vengeance of God.

2 Thessalonians 1:8 - 9 “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: (9) Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;”

As a Christian, as a Pastor, and as a member of one of the Lord’s churches. This passage of scripture does two things, (1.) it makes me very thankful for God’s love, mercy, and grace toward me in saving my unworthy soul from this punishment, and (2) it makes my heart cry for the lost souls of this world. It does not matter how evil people are because the very though of someone spending eternity in hell’s fiery flames where God said, “the fire that never shall be quenched: and their worm dieth not” Mark 9:46, 46 make me pray harder for the lost. The Prophet Isaiah wrote in 66:24 “And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.” God said, “their worm die not” Vines define this as, “The statement signifies the exclusion of the hope of restoration, the punishment being eternal.” Therefore, once a soul enters the fiery flames of hell it will never end, the pain, the misery, or the unquenchable fire. This will be for eternity, and it is “God taking vengeance” on them because they “know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” These are those who are ignorant of God, who mock Him, hate Him, laugh at Him, and disobey His word. These are those who mocked Jesus Christ by their disbelief, who believed in the works and power of man over the works and power of Jesus Christ. People will one day understand, just saying you are a Christian does not make you a Christian, God said, “he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.” 1 John 5:10b. People will pay in the eternal lake of fire for calling God a liar, for mocking God in their disbelief, and for not believing in Him and trusting His Beloved Son as their Saviour. God gave us a record, His own record, and it does not include works for salvation.

God said, “In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ:” The word “vengeance” means - vindication, retribution, anger or wrath – in the flaming fires of eternal hell. People can believe anything they want, they can believe there is no true God, that the bible is untrue, that Jesus was just a man and not our Saviour, they can believe that their ungodly works will save them, the fact is it does not matter what they believe because the undeniable truth is, if they do not believe in Jesus Christ as their eternal Saviour then hell awaits them.

Then the Lord said these people “shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.” These poor lost souls will spend eternity separated from God’s grace and mercy, and from His presence or from hearing from Him ever again. They will eternally suffer as the rich man did, “for I am tormented in this flame.” Matt. 16:24c He was suffering because God no longer showed any mercy or grace to him but left his wicked soul in hell all alone and for eternity. This man’s soul will never know a good day ever again and neither will the unbelievers of this world.

One day God will melt this earth with fervent heat, the crust of the earth will be melted and sealed and those in hell will forever be sealed in hells flames crying for God who will never hear their cry for mercy. Sadly lost people have no idea and give no thought to what awaits them when they die. People that call themselves Christians who are not truly Christians, that believe in their ungodly works over God’s own given Saviour for their salvation will one day open their eyes in hell wondering what went wrong. When people refuse to believe on Jesus Christ for their salvation (which is the command of God) and believe their own false religion they have called God a liar. The only way to be God’s child is to obey His command,  “For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. (5) Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?” 1 John 5:4 

All Blessings Belongs to God.

All Blessings Belongs to God.

Ephesians 1:3 - 6 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: (4) 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: (5) Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, (6) To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved.”

People throughout the history of the New Testament have obliterated the Truth of God, turning it into a lie just as God said they would. “Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Romans 1:25 Their goal is Satan’s goal, to make God irrelevant in in everything, and especially salvation and making salvation entirely the plan and work of sinful man. However, when the truth is revealed, salvation is the work of God and not sinful men. “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.” John 1:12, 13 It is impossible for salvation to be both of God and man, because it is a gift of God and not the work of sinful man. We must remember that sinful man are at enmity with God, which means man in their natural state hate God and will forever reject the salvation offered by God. Therefore, as churches and ministers of the Gospel message we must ask ourselves, “Who hath believed our report?” and we also must have the same answer as the Prophet “to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?” Isaiah 53:1 This very question was quoted two times in the New Testament by Paul in Romans 10:6 and by John in John 12:38 “That the saying of Esaias the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The answer remains the same, “to whom hath the arm of the Lord been revealed.” This is only accomplished by the omnipotence or power of God. The Prophet Isaiah wrote about this in Isaiah 65:1 “I am sought of them that asked not for me; I am found of them that sought me not: I said, Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.” So, if the Lord does not seek us and calls us by His grace then we will never come. Listen to Isaiah in verse two, “I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts;”. To lost and sinful people all that matters is self, they cannot accept the very God they hate by nature. It is not hard to understand why the world of religion is so rebellious toward God’s Sovereignty, they reject and deny Him. Just the very thought that God is Sovereign over people destroys their ego and pride. They do not by nature call on God for salvation, when they pray in their churches for God to save sinners, they are being hypocritical, because they do not believe God saves sinners. Salvation to them is by decision, choice, or works, God has nothing to do with it, because they have changed the Truth into a lie to make God irrelevant in salvation. Listen to the Apostle Paul speaking of these people, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Corinthians 2:14 That is that God in sovereignty saves sinners, that man cannot on their own make decisions and choices, and that being born again you have eternal life. They simply cannot believe God and what He says in His word, so they make God out to be the liar when they themselves are the liars. It is impossible for us to change their hearts. We cannot convince lost souls of any of these things unless they are enlightened by His Holy Spirit. As Christians, we must stand and praise God from the highest mountain-top to the lowest of valleys, for God’s blessings not only in salvation but in every step of our life. When our hearts are right in God, then we understand that we are what we are by God’s rich grace. All blessings are to God because it is He that hath blessed us.