The Quickening Voice Of Jesus.

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” John 5:25

If the dead hear the voice of Christ Jesus and live then those who do not hear it will never live. Life absolutely comes from God, and if Christ be the Son of God then He also has the power to give life to the dead. Let us not forget when God created Adam he did not have life, but was rather a lifeless human laying on the ground. It was God that breathed life into Adam and gave him a living soul and Spirit, therefore making him a threefold being in the image of his Creator Jehovah God (Father, Son, and Spirit). It is when Adam became a living soul that he had a relationship with God, however that relationship was severed when Adam eat of the “forbidden fruit” or sinned against God. Since the creation of Adam God no longer breathes life into a soul but rather speaks life into us because we already live in the body, but rather He speaks life into us. Everyone who is without Christ is a living soul but dead spiritually, and this spiritual life is what we receive when we hear the voice of Christ Jesus. There are three types of death, (1.) Natural death – which comes to us all at some point, (2.) Spiritual death – which is the third part of our threefold being and is the result of sin, and (3.) Eternal death – Which is Gods punishment for sin and Gods eternal judgment for that sin. The life that Jesus speaks into us is spiritual life, which keeps us from the third death which is eternal death. The lost person will hear two calls of Jesus (1.) The call from spiritual death which comes to us from the Holy Spirit, and the call of our bodies from the grave at His second coming, however the living at the second coming will hear the call “come up here” from Jesus as an invitation to join Him in the cloud. Those who are lost at His second coming whether dead or alive will not hear either call at all. I believe Jesus Christ knows the name of every believer and every one of Gods elect and call them everyone by name. Just as He did with Lazarus, John 11:43 “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” If Jesus had simply said “come forth” then all that was buried around Lazarus would have come forth because the dead hear His voice. There is no doubt that Jesus knows all our names and we who are saved know His beloved voice, and should always obey our Saviour’s voice. John 10:14, 27 - 28 “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. (27.) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: (28.) And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish,” It is because we hear His blessed voice that we live and it will be because we hear His blessed voice, whether dead in this life or living we will rise from the grave or we will leave this world and meet the Lord in the air. These two calls are always obeyed by us. We hear His call for salvation and follow His voice just as we will when He returns in the clouds. John 10:3 “To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out.” Just as God breathed life into Adam giving him a living soul, Jesus speaks life into us and we become a living spirit. But to us who have already heard the call to salvation the next great call of the Saviour we will hear and will without delay answer will be at His second coming. 1 Thessalonians 4:16 - 18 “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. (18.) Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” AMEN!

Who shut their eyes? God did!

Romans 11:7 - 8 “What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded (8.) (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day.”

We as Gentile believers can learn so much from the Israelites. As we continue to study the book of Romans, it never fails that we always run upon some deep wonderful truth. Here in chapter 11 we found out what happened to the Israelites, God put them into a deep sleep. Israel tried so hard to justify themselves before God that they missed what exactly it was that God was doing. Their ignorance in justification became a self-justification for them which became a stumbling block for them. The Israelites became so deep in their labors that they missed the greatest gift that God has given to the world and that was Jesus Christ. In fact instead of accepting Him as their Saviour, they crucified Him, choosing a murder over Him! Ignorance has always run deep in this world, and today is no exception. People of all different denominations are attempting to work a self-justification by their works and they (like the Israelites) will miss Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to this world to do His Fathers will and that will was to die for His elect. This was to fulfill the eternal agreement between the Father and the Son before the world was created. John 17:2 “As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.” That is to the elect. Well if God has an elect people, then what about the rest of them? God has shut their eyes that they will not see and their ears that they will not hear. Now I know that there are some Armenians who will deny this but please notice what God did to the Israelites! God has closed their eyes and ears that they will not see nor hear the glorious saving message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ just as He has with so many of today. Verse 8 says God has put the Israelites into a deep sleep as He has also done with most Gentiles today. Nothing we say, nothing we do will cause them to awaken from this deep sleep, only God can awaken them.

Now I must also add this very important verse; in verse 11 “I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.” Because God has put them in a deep sleep that they cannot see nor hear then they certainly cannot proclaim the gospel message to the world, therefore God elected to use the Gentiles for this task and beloved that is a great honor to us-ward. It is no longer up to the Israelites to carry and proclaim God word it is now in the hands of the Gentile churches, and this is why it is so important to deliver the gospel to the world in any fashion that God has made available to us. Mark 16:15 “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Not just to those who attend church services or not just to those in our community but rather to the entire world. Beloved this is done in many ways and one of those ways is missionaries. Missionaries are the one single biblical force in that deliverance, however today we have many tools at our disposal with the biggest being the internet. However convenient and cheep the internet may be it will never replace missionaries because they are the ones that God has sent forth from the local churches to accomplish this task. But please allow me to say that we Gentile church have been given a glorious opportunity by the Lord and we need to make sure we deliver and God has commanded. God has promised to return Israel to the task of once again carrying His word by saving a remnant of them in the Tribulation period, and the short time we have left we all need to work hard at fulfilling Gods command.

Why Do You Try To Hide; The Lord God Sees you!

“Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?” Isaiah 29:15

Some people are simply hypocrites; they move their lips one way but think and do another. I have always said, say and do what is in your heart because it is your true feelings. One thing people must understand is while they may be hypocrites in their words and actions, and fooling man, they are not fooling God, He knows every thought of the heart and every action. Job told us in Job 34:22 “There is no darkness, nor shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves.” They cannot hide from God neither can they hide their thoughts. God knows everything and nothing escapes His eyes and ears. People think they hide from God because they are so soon to forget that God is Omnipresent or every place at the very same time. God has promised that not one single word will escape judgment “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” Matthew 12:36. With that being said never think that one thought, one deed, nor one action will go unnoticed by the great Judge. Let us remember Adam and Eve, after eating the forbidden fruit and the Lord came walking in the garden they hid themselves from the Lord and then lied about what they had done, but God knew, He did not have to ask questions because He already knew the answers. While men may fool each other they will never fool God.

The reason these folks sought to hid their true feelings is because they were hypocrites, notice in Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” God said while their mouths praise Me their hearts have moved far from me. This is exactly the way that most of today’s religionist are, they seek with their sermons to praise God but in their hearts they are the ones that has all the power, and not God. When man attempts to rob God of His sovereign power and authority then that act belittle God below man by proclaiming that things are accomplished by the authority of man rather than the authority of God. They sing “Amazing Grace” while failing to recognize that salvation is of grace. The Lord went on to conclude in Isaiah 29:16 “Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?” This is like building a house, the builders build it, and then the owner claim that he built it. Man wants so much to be equal with God that they simply cannot accept that God, the sovereign God of all creation saves sinners. They, with their mouths claim that He does but in their hearts deny God the credit. So please do not be a hypocrite, either God saves sinners or man works out his own salvation. God saved me and I need no credit because I had nothing to do with it. God took this piece of clay and molded it just as He wanted it, and I praise God that He did. Every detail of my life is at the will of God. If I had a choice in the matter I would have never chosen God nor would I have ever chosen Christ as my Saviour. I thank God that He saved my worthless soul and made me what I am today. Therefore I can proudly sing “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, That saved a wretch like me....I once was lost but now am found, Was blind, but now, I see.”

God’s Calendar

To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: (2.) A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Ecclesiastes 3:1, 2

We have many uses for calendars; we make special dates such as birthday, anniversaries, a date and time for appointments, and etc. Well God has a calendar which He has marked every event that was or is going to happen in time, the difference between our calendar and Gods calendar is we sometimes miss the dates marked on it therefore forgetting a birthday, a special event, or etc. but God never forgets an event, day, or event. Every thing under the sun has an appointed time and happens just as God has predetermined it to happen, from your birth, to your salvation, to your death and all things in between.

In verse 1 the word “season” comes from the Hebrew word (zemân) and it means - an appointed occasion – and it comes from the Hebrew word (zâman) which means – a fixed time or an appointment – which leaves absolutely no doubt that “to every thing there is an appointed time or a set time by God, and to every purpose under the heaven:” not just to something’s but to every purpose under heaven. In saying this we must understand that every event in our lives are ordained by God, a time to be born, a time to be reborn, and a time to die. Many have attempted to destroy the predestination of God but it cannot be destroyed, because it is absolutely a fact. We must understand that there simply are not worldly answers to all that God does or how He does them, nor do they have to be logical or even humanly possible to us. We do not have to logically explain how God parted the Red Sea or how a “big fish” actually swallowed a man and he lived there three days and nights before being vomited up on the sea side. Man who has not faith must be shown proof, but the Christian lives by faith and if the bible says it then it is a fact and needs no proof. Therefore we must also understand man does not make man live longer nor shorter because we live and die by Gods blessed will. Now we can take this much farther because every “…time to every purpose under the heaven:” means everything that happens in time is set to happen by Gods plan and calendar, from political elections to great disasters, and it is not up to the churches, Pastors, or Christians to answer why God does or allows what He has decreed. There are a lot of Pastors and Christians that like to think that God had nothing to with certain events but the fact is nothing escapes His approval because we must remember Jehovah God is in total command and has ordained every event under heaven. We also learn in Ecclesiastes 3:17 “I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.” Or how about this one Ecclesiastes 8:5 - 6 “Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing: and a wise man's heart discerneth both time and judgment. (6.) Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him.” Sometimes misery is judgment from God not simply a natural disaster that cannot be explained. I know that many consider God to be loving and that He would never allow bad things to happen to those He loves, but always remember God is in control of everything from a political out come to all natural disasters. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being...” Acts 17:28 Maybe instead of attempting to prove that God was not involved in some event or disaster maybe we ought to give some though as to what we did to cause God to allow certain events or disasters. Because we must understand that while God controls every event under the heavens He also has a purpose for them. Maybe a Nation that God has so richly blessed that keeps thumbing their noses at Him and His commandment deserves what has happened over time. Maybe if we would fall on our faces toward God and ask Him to forgive us, maybe He would and maybe some of these bad things would stop.