It is about the Lord, and not about you.

“And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not…” Jeremiah 45:5a

Humility to every believer is their greatest walk in life. It is so easy to gain pride because pride is natural, but humility is a gift from God. We can see the greatest humility in the men who penned the scriptures, because they all understood that the Spirit of God gave them the gift of writing the Holy Script. I cannot say if they knew that what they wrote was going to become the Word of God for thousands of years. But I can promise you this, they knew it was special because they felt it deep in their hearts. I would have to assume that the most humbled servant of God must have been the Apostle Paul, because he arose from one of the biggest haters of Jesus Christ to one of the most loyal servants of Him. In his past he reaped the greatest havoc on the Lord’s church in Jerusalem to become one of God’s greatest servants. God used him so great, and of his greatest accomplishments he wrote anywhere from 13 to 15 books in the New Testament, while a Missionary, Pastor, and while being imprisoned. And of all his accomplishments he wrote these humble words, “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 He never thought of himself as anything except a very blessed servant of God. We see this same humility in so many of God’s servants throughout the scriptures, and it should make us very humbled in what God calls us to do. Humility begins with the understanding that we are nothing, that every accomplishment is a blessing from God. Greatness is not something we earn, it is God’s grace and humble servants do not seek greatness neither do they need it, because all glory is the Lords. The greatest man to have ever lived never seek glory for Himself, He said I come to do my Fathers will. “I can of mine own self do nothing…because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” John 5:30. Whenever a believer that God saved, called to be a servant, and gives him everything he needs to be successful, then God is to be the glory not him. As servants we never need to think of ourselves more than we ought, Rom 12:3, but to humility thank God for every success. Jeremiah knew this when “the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth.” Jeremiah 1:9 Whatever we are, it is by God’s grace and work, and it is not about us, and it never will be. Never seek the Lord’s glory for thyself!

Lawlessness is a sign of the Lord’s return.

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:12

It is no secret nor is it any hidden thing that the time of apostasy has happened. As we study the seven churches of Asia Minor, we see only one church that remained faithful to the Lord, the Church in Smyrna. We do see the church at Ephesus left their first love “thou hast left thy first love.” But there is nothing said about their repentance and return to their first love; therefore, we must assume that they never returned. True churches today are called Smyrna type churches because they have remained faithful to the Lord and His word of Truth. It is sad when a church of Truth, or a Smyrna type church has allowed themselves to turn into an error church in the time of apostasy. The scripture we are looking at Matthew 24:12 is a scripture describing a sign before the Lord’s return. Jesus is privately asked in Verse 3 “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus’s reply was, “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold...” I believe, the Lord is describing some churches and Christians here, because we all know that the world will wax worse and worse therefore this is speaking to the lawlessness of many churches. Just as six of the seven churches fell from the Lord and left their first love, so many have today. The Lord prophesied “…the love of many shall wax cold.” That is both churches and Christians, they have “left thy first love.” We can look into the world and see the heathenism, and as that is expected, but when we see this in the personal lives of Christians and even worse in churches, which is unbelievable. As the recipient of God’s grace of His gift of salvation and His gift of honor of being a church member, some need to ask themselves “how did we leave our first love”? The Lord answered this very question in verse 4 “…Take heed that no man deceive you.” Deception causes Christians to leave the Lord, and, in some cases, entire churches left their first love. They were deceived by their fleshly lust, for many different reasons to ignore the word of Truth and to think for themselves. This lawlessness that the Lord is talking about is not the world but rather His churches and Christians. When Christians refuse to join or attend a Smyrna type church or a church that has remained faithful to the Lord, then they are not godly believers. Church is not an option for a believer and remaining faithful is not an option for churches. Jesus said in verse 8 “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” That is, all these things listed in the verses above, including the lawlessness of churches and believers. Christians need to stop using ungodly excuses and lying to themselves and others, repent and return to the Lord because they have left their first love. However, as sad as it is, they’re going to believe their deception, justify their fall and never repent and return. In the end, only the Lord’s elected remnant will remain faithful, which leaves us asking, “where they ever really part of us?” “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” 1 John 2:19 Falling from the Truth and leaving their first love is no simply thing, it is inexcusable, it is ungodly even with all the fleshly excuses. I am personally not asking if all people who have fallen from the churches are Christians or not, I just repeated what God has said. But how do God’s children fall from the churches, from the Truth, and away from their first love and not even think it is wrong? Churches are absolutely dying because Christians refuse to attend and support their churches. There is no excuse for this sin against God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit who assembled the churches. “iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” And there are no excuses because the Lord warned us all, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together…” Heb. 10:25 Please stop with the excuses, stop trying to justify your apostasy, stop using ungodly excuses and just realize that one day, if you are truly a Christian, you will stand before Jesus and understand you left your fist love, because He sure did not leave you! Did your love for the Lord and His church wax cold? “…the love of many shall wax cold.” If so, it is time to repent, its time to return, and it is time to ask the Lord for forgiveness, and if you do not, you will answer to Jesus in judgement. And if you believe that I am cruel in writing this, wait tell Jesus judges you.

Let us remember God’s loving kindness to us.

Psalm 48:14 “For this God is our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death.”

As the recipients of God’s love, mercy, grace, we must never forget what God has done for us. We should wake every morning, go to bed every night and if it were possible dream every night of the blessings God hath shown to us. We must praise Him for the love He gave us in sending His own Son through the womb of Mary to be born to secure our gift of salvation. We must also remember the mercy He has given to every saved sinner in redeeming us through the sacrifice and blood that Jesus secured. We must also remember the promise to never give up on us, even though we remain sinners on this earth. While there is no excuse for sin, we will all die active sinners as long as we remain to have one single ounce of the old nature. It is only when we fly away in death that we shall be free from sin and death for eternity. Paul wrote in referring to God’s law and our sin these words, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.”  Romans 7:24 – 25 We sometimes forget who we are in this flesh, we sometimes forget the battle between our old and new natures and their conflict even as much as a painful conflict it may be. Sometimes life for a Christian can be an agonizing struggle between good and evil for us. This affects us all; every single believer is affected by this struggle, some more than others but all are affected. No believer, no not one single believer is beyond sin in their life, but we are also not without the love and grace of our God our Saviour. We are not without the love of our Saviour in Jesus Christ who both has promised us “he will be our guide even unto death.” Praise God! We do not have to rely on ourselves to fight the battle from within, we have the power of God to help us fight to do good, to do right, to walk in godliness, in the power of the Holy Spirit. As we walk on this earth and eventually walk into our graves we never walk alone. “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” Psalms 23:3 - 24 Through God’s loving kindness to us, “He quickened us,” that means He causes all believers to live when we were dead, He made us all as a vessel of honor when He could have very well made us a vessel of dishonor. But His love did not stop there, He caused our redemption through Jesus, and “he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake”. The Psalmist Asaph wrote in the Psalms these words “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins.” Psalms 73:21 Asaph was grieved at his heart because of envy toward the wealthy, it is amazing how small sins make us realize our lack of faith in God’s love and grace. The Psalmist went on to write, “Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee.” Psalms 73:21 For failing to remember the love and grace of God toward us. Let me ask, would it be better to be the richest lost soul on earth or the poorest believer in Jesus Christ? We must always remember “For in him we live, and move, and have our being...” Acts 17:28. Therefore, we must ever be content for the grace that God used to bless us with so many blessings. Life-eternal is not what we have but rather the grace, and lovingkindness of our Lord and Master. The gifts that he has given to us, and the blessings that are too numinous to even count.   

Works and Salvation.

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

The debate from the beginning of salvation has been about whether human work is in any way part of the salvation of the human soul. God answers that question and settles the whole debate in these two scriptures. Salvation is by grace and not by work because grace is a gift. God goes farther to say that grace and works cancel each other out. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Romans 11:6 God just declared that salvation is by His gift of grace and are in any way of works. God gives us His love, His mercy, His Son, His Spirit, His faith, and many other things in giving us His gift of salvation. God said in Romans 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.” If justification comes by faith, then how could human works be involved? Paul also wrote in Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” This one single part of this verse defines the role of the law in our salvation, “for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” We see in God’s book of law called the bible that once we reach the point of understanding Gods law then we recognize our failure and are brought to the point of repentance. God called the law a “schoolmaster” to us. Gal. 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The word “schoolmaster” shows us the rebuking of God; it is not actually teaching us not is it an instructor word but rather showing us our condemnation through sin. The only teacher or instructor we have is Christ not the law. Paul went on to say in verse 25 “But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.” If the word “schoolmaster” meant the law was our teacher then why does it end once faith comes, it is because as Christians Christ is our teacher bringing our sins to light, not the law. Verse 26 shows us why we no longer need a schoolmaster or the law, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Since we are “all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.” Why do we need the law? Everything we are as children of God we are “in Christ Jesus.” And as we saw in Eph. 2:8 “and that not of yourselves”. The gift of God explains to us that salvation is only in Jesus Christ and by His works and power of God. The Holy Spirit brings to us “faith” therefore we do not need works for salvation because Jesus Christ is our salvation. Once saved the meaning of works changes for us, it is no longer a schoolmaster, because remember it ended once faith came, therefore, to the believer works means a labor for God. Our faith produces our labor for the Lord and if you have no works then how we say we have faith. “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.” James 2:18 Our works are not for our salvation but rather a show of our love to God who saved us and Jesus who redeemed us. If works were in any way a part included in our salvation, then where does that leave Jesus? Our salvation and labor must be separated to give Jesus due respect for His work and sacrifice to redeem us. How can Jesus have preeminence in salvation if He shares it with our works, what kind of glory is that for Jesus. Jesus does not destroy the law; He just changed the meaning from condemning us to His glory through us. God said of Abraham, “Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?” James 2:21 The word “justified” means a rendering or a show of His faith, he obeyed God because he was righteous, he did not become righteous because of his work. Verse 23 explains this, “Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness” His faith had already made him righteous, and that is why he was ready to offer “Isaac his son upon the altar”. People cannot have true faith, God given faith, saving faith, and not have works that show their salvation, this is called letting your light shine in this world, your works of faith is your glorious light.    

Does God Truly Elect People to Salvation?

Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:”

The question is not can God elect people to salvation but does He. This has been a debated question since Jesus was on this earth and even longer. To get a better understanding to arrive at a right answer everything starts with God. Most Christians or those that claim Christianity fail to understand that God is Sovereign. God created everyone and everything that exist outside of Himself and He is eternally self-existent. Therefore, God owns everything that exist because He created it. Everything in existence is under the rule and power of our Sovereign God. From the heavens to the very plants on the earth. In the beginning after God created Adam he sinned against God, therefore separating himself from God along with his wife who ate of the forbidden fruit through the slyness of Satan. When Adam ate of the forbidden fruit, he not only became a sinner separating himself from God he became a spiritually dead soul. With him being spiritually dead Adam could no longer have fellowship nor communication with God unless God came and personally communicated with him. Adam and all his descendants which includes all of mankind are born with dead spirits, and sinner bounded to sin in their natural state. Paul said of all mankind, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” Rom. 7:18a meaning there is nothing good in an unregenerated soul, nothing, not one good thing. Therefore, there is no possibility that an unregenerated soul can ever “make a decision” of any sort to change what they are by nature. Therefore, without the election of God to save a remnant no human soul would have ever come to know Jesus Christ. God said in Rom. 3:11b “…there is none that seeketh after God.” because there is no want nor ability in the depraved heart to ever be saved because of sin they hate God. Oh, there a love in their heart for “a god” just not the very God that condemned them because of sin. God is Sovereign and nothing can save a dead spirit unless God quickens it to a living state. But it takes God’s Sovereign Power to quicken a dead spirit. “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;” Ephesians 2:1 There is nothing in the scriptures that tells a dead spirit to quicken itself, nor does it say to “make a decision”, nor does it say that “God cannot change the human will”. In fact, without the Sovereign Power of God a sinner will never truly turn to Christ. Now we must ask this question, does God choose His children by election, yes, and without question. This is why salvation is “not of yourself but a gift from God,” through His electing you. So, it is these elect that are given the gift of salvation of God. Paul wrote in 2Thess. 2:13 “But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:” So, these unlearned preachers want people to believe that “God cannot change the human will”. But the Apostle Paul wrote in Php. 2:13 “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.” How does God “work in us to will and to do His good pleasure” if He does not change our will? And why would a lost, spiritually dead sinner who is born at enmity toward God, ever want God’s salvation? He does not, therefore he goes about to create his own salvation opposite of God’s giving of salvation. Their salvation is humanistic at its base, decision, choices, and all sorts of works, which eliminates the power and work of God, including election. The Jews also had this ungodly thought about salvation when Paul wrote “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.” Rom. 10:3 More than 2,000 years later they still do not know who Jesus Christ is. Neither do most of what call themselves “Christians,” and neither are they saved except in their own sinful heart and by their ungodly thinking. People misuse the scriptures to eliminate God from saving sinners, but only to their own destruction. Salvation is a gift of God, He has the power to give salvation to one vessel and not another, Rom. 9. The word grace in Eph. 2:9 means - the divine influence upon the heart – meaning that God influences the heart by the power of the Holy Spirit once the spirit is quickened to come to Christ. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Romans 8:14 But only as many as God has chosen. Everyone needs to stop believing everything some man says and believe God.  

Understanding Grace.

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Ephesians 2:8

Without a proper understanding of what grace means, why God gave us grace, and how God continually uses grace in our everyday life, we will never have a proper appreciation to God for His gift of grace. Without God’s grace toward us, God would have never saved one sinful soul. Sin is an abomination to God, He hates sin, therefore, the thought must be, how could God ever save one single soul? After the sin of Adam and the fall of mankind, man became an abomination to God. God said in the flood of the earth, “And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth…” Gen. 6:6a. The repenting of God here is the punishment that God was inserting toward mankind. When God said “…it grieved him at his heart.” it is to show us the amount of anger that God had toward the sinful sinner. How did God truly feel about sin, “…the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth…” Gen. 6:7. This anger was not only toward Adam but the entire human race, we were all condemned. We must understand God’s anger, not only toward sin but also the sinner. While Noah was a “just man”, he was also a sinner and had committed the same abomination against God that everyone else, but “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” and it is this grace that caused Noah to be a just man. God’s repentance is His grace, not giving some sinners their just due, which is the wrath of God. Any goodness man has toward God is God’s grace toward us. None of mankind should ever have an imaginary thought that we are the source of anything good toward God, because we are not. One of the greatest and most godly men of the New Testament was the Apostle Paul, but toward the end of his life, after all the good he did he said, “But by the grace of God I am what I am…” 1 Cor. 15:10a, because he was unworthy to be who God made him by grace. Paul never forgot his greatest abomination against God, “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.” V. 11. Paul was not devaluing his works as a servant of God, he was being grateful for God’s grace to have elected such an unworthy worm to be what he was. I believe the greatest blessing to us as Christians is to remind ourselves of our own sins and to remember the grace that made us what we are as Christians. I believe, in our time now, many Christians and even churches have forgotten the true meaning of God’s gift of grace in our life that has made us what we are. When a believer loses the true meaning of grace, we turn weak toward God’s grace and gather more pride. We never need pride because a proud heart is a sinful heart. “An high look, and a proud heart, and the plowing of the wicked, is sin.” Pro. 21:4. Every good thing we do in the Lord is by God’s grace, and if we fail to credit God, then we are sinning. God’s love toward, even a remnant of sinners is a very large gift of grace. God’s love, even toward one sinner is grace, His dispatching His very own Son, Jesus Christ to do the acts He did for our redemption is grace. And it goes deeper, the very act of our spirits being quickened, our believing, our repentance toward God, and our life and works in the Lord are all God’s wonderful grace. God elected all of this for us, we are not responsible for our Christian life no more than the Apostle Paul was. However, many of us, maybe even all of us at some point have wasted God’s grace. Paul wrote “…his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all…” meaning that some had “wasted” God’s grace by making it “void” or empty. When a believer forgets what grace means, when they grow hardened to God’s grace and stop pleasing the Lord, stop serving God “according to the scriptures”, then they have wasted God’s grace. And on the other hand, when a believer forgets to remember God’s grace in their life and starts thinking that “they” have risen and accomplished much, then they also have wasted God’s grace. The Apostle Paul never forgot nor wasted grace, “…yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Our remembering God’s grace is what make our walk in the Lord stronger, more upright, and more rewarding.        

Be careful in dealing with other believers.

1 Corinthians 2:15 “But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man.”

This chapter teaches us so much about our knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of God and His word. We understand that everything from God is a gift, and God gives His gifts in diverse ways to His children. 1 Cor. 12:1 – 11 will teach us more about this. But to us who are blessed with God’s gifts of knowledge, understanding, and wisdom of God and His word. We are responsible for those teachings, to grow in them, to decern them, and to walk in them. Everyone, from the Pastor down are to spiritually know, understand and in wisdom how to properly decern biblical truths. And one of those teachings is to “spiritual judges all things.” Not somethings, not things we think of, not things with human understanding, but things taught by God in His word. Once we step outside of those guidelines, we have failed God. Everything we judge must be judged in LOVE, with the love God gives us and not human love. Since our understanding of God’s giving of gifts to each believer, our judgment must be with much caution. Because another believer may not understand spiritually or be as spiritually smart as you are. We must remember that only God can truly teach another believer and cause them to decern the scriptures. God went on to say “…yet he himself is judged of no man.” Because we do not know the workings of God in every believer’s spiritual life, or even what God is doing in our life. We only know and understand what God is showing us; we do not know the mind of God. Our judging others must be with much love and understanding of what God is doing, and this takes much prayer. Please understand, God is judging us on our action as we are judging His other children. Especially as Pastors and church members. Let us never stop studying, praying, learning, and walking in that spiritual education, because we do not want to fail God.

When God says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Gal. 5:25 While our walk will not be perfect, that cannot be our excuse in a voluntary failure. Every believer is required to walk in the Spirit. Our walking in the Spirit or in the Holy Spirit is to follow our spiritual hearts in the Truth of the Word. And if we fail, we are giving in to the lust of the flesh. The Lord went on to say in the next verse Gal. 5:26 “Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.” That is by our failure to walk in the glory of our hearts and not that of the Spirit. Living in the Spirit is walking in the Spirit, a failure to do one is a failure to do both. Again, we will not be perfect, but that is not an excuse to fail. We may ask, “how does this equate to how we treat other believers,” well we must try to understand not only ourselves but others. God is the giver of everything good, therefore He gives His gifts diversely and while He may give to one does not mean He gives to everyone. This makes every gift a blessing and therefore we cannot blame another for not having that blessing. The greatest example is the gift of salvation, because God gives it, it cannot be obtained by anyone except to whom it is given. Therefore, we cannot blame a lost soul for not being saved, it is not within the person’s choices. Neither is any other of God’s gifts, they like salvation is a gift, not earned are a choice of getting. Therefore, we must be carful and not judge God’s other children for what they do not have, because God may not have blessed them with it. It is better to thank God for our blessing instead of being critical of believers who may not have it. Every saved soul is God’s child; it is Jesus who justifies and Jesus who judges and He has promised to judge us as harshly we judge others. As Christians we are to help the weak, we are to attempt to teach them, but while some judgment is right, it is extremely limited.

Matthew 7:1-6 “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.”

Are you prepared?

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

Death is coming, I know people ignore the subject, but death is not far away, and the fires of hell await those who have ignored the gospel of Jesus Christ. If you live your life at your pleasure and ignore God and His word, please be aware that judgment day is coming. Your final place for eternity is either in heaven or hell. Think of it as a joke if you please, ignore it if you please, but the day of judgment without mercy and grace is coming, it is going to happen. 1Cor. 15:52 “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” As Christians all we can do is plant and water the seeds of God, any increase is of God. So, the seed and the water is this article, hate it, laugh at it, ignore it, but in judgment you will wish you had taken it to heart. Luke 16:24 “And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

Here is the solution for your redemption, “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Hebrews 9:28 and in Luke 16:23 - 24 “And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.”

John 5:22 - 27 "For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man."

John 8:16 "And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me."

Romans 2:2 "But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things."

2Cor. 5:10 "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."

Revelation 20:11 - 15 "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 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.”

So, as we can all see, that judgment is coming and the lack of thinking about it will not delay it. There is a place called hell, and the road is wider than the road to heaven. When a lost sinner dies not amount of prayer, no amount of hoping, no minister preaching your funeral and just insert you into heaven. Only Jesus Christ, His being, His life, His work, His most painful suffering, His crucifixion, His death, His burial, His resurrection, and His blood shed can save you from hell. Titus 3:3 - 7 “For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

Satan’s Walk.

Job 1:7 “And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.”

Satan works daily along with hidden demons to trouble those that belong to God through the salvation that God has so graciously bestowed on us. When we study the word of God on Satan, we learn that he has many names, the devil which means the slanderer, the tempter or one who entices Christians to sin, the evil one or the one who is the source of sin, then there is the liar that is the deceiver of truth, murdered because he the killer of life, God called him the god of this world because he has dominion over the people or rulers of this world, he is called a dragon because of the manifestation of the power of Satan, and while there are many more biblical names for Satan God gave him one more name we need to pay close attention to, and that name is Roaring Lion.1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” God called him this because he is “walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” This is why when God spoke with Satan in Job 1:7 he said he was “and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.” As a hungery Lion seeking out his prey. I am sure when God suggested a more favorable target like Job, whom God said, “Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?” Satan was like a hungry lion looking at the best piece of meat he could have ever been given to him. However, Satan is like so many they forget that God is Omniscient, and God knew the outcome. God never gives up His people, His servants without deity protection. However, God did not need to ask Satan what he was doing, God already knew that Satan was walking as a roaring lion seeking prey. But who exactly is Satan’s prey, it is Christians and churches, why, because he has the lost blinded already toward God and Truth. The lost are like dry bones to Satan, they have no meat because they have been blinded and dead since birth. Satan wants meat on those bones, he wants to hurt and devour as many of God’s people that he can, this is why he was overly excited when God offered up Job. The word “devour” does not mean that Satan wants to cause us trouble, it does not mean this very hungry wants a leg or an arm, the word “devour” means - to drink down, that is, gulp entire, swallow (up). Satan wants to totally control you heart and mind again, he wants to laugh at God that he has swallowed up one of His own. God allowed Satan to take almost everything Job had, about all he had was a wife that told him, “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.” Job 2:9 But all that Satan put Job through, even turning his wife against him, he kept his “integrity”, God said of Jobs integrity in verse 3 of chapter 2 “my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.” Do not be so hard on Jobs wife, her faith and integrity were not as strong as her husbands, in fact God said of Jobs integrity “there is none like him in the earth,” not even his wife. Satan uses the weaker around us in his effort to devour us, just as he did with Adam. So, what was Jobs answer to his wife, but he said unto her, “Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” Job 2:10 Therefore, instead of Job allowing himself to be devoured by Satan, he remembered that no matter what, I will stand with the Lord, because all that I have was a gift from God. Therefore, Job said if Satan takes it all, “And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Job 1: 21. We all need to remember, as Paul wrote “But by the grace of God I am what I am:” no more and no less, God has made me what I am only as He has elected. Beloved, we all need to “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil…” because we are all Satan’s prey and he is looking for our weaknesses and any kink in our armor, and crack he can slither through, to make us prime prey for him to stop our walk long enough to devour us. Satan never stops walking because God said he knows his time is limited therefore, his walk is constant. Beloved, be careful, remain alert, examine all things, and make sure God’s will is in it, and pray much.        

How shall God not freely give us all things?

Romans 8:32 “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

God asked in v. 31 “If God be for us, who can be against us?” Looking at the context of this chapter God is telling us that through His electing us, and His “predestinating us to be conformed to the image of his Son” v. 29 God has made us into the image of His Son, Jesus. God did not just redeem us, but also “conformed” us to be like unto His own Son. That is a total changing us from a wretched lost and dying sinner to be like unto His Beloved Son. The process of this change was costly to God because it was essential that God choose the perfect source of our change. Therefore, the only way for God to be molded in the image of His Son was to sacrifice His own Son. Therefore, God elected us, predestined us, called us, and in Christ He justified us, and in the end, He will glorify us. This means God, in His finished work will make all believers in heaven to be fashioned like His own Son Jesus. God through all this, brought to view His glorious love for us, because He sacrificed His own Son to accomplish this work of change in us. If God was to form us like unto the image of Jesus, then Jesus had to pay the price for our redemption. This is what God did for every Christian throughout time and until this change is complete. We, in this flesh will never understand what God has done for us in our redemption until we are in heaven. The love it took for God to allow His own Son in Jesus to crucified by Satan and those wicked and sinful hands that sacrifice Him. We will never in this life ever understand nor appreciate the love and sacrifice of what God has done for us. If we did, just our smallest and most insignificant sin would cause us to fall on our face and ask God for forgiveness. Our human mind cannot understand the reality of heaven and hell and the glorious love that God has given to us. In heaven we will surlily understand the true meaning to these words “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound That saved a wretch like me.” God, “spared not his own Son,” God put on Jesus the entire burden of sin for every soul that He is going to redeem.

Then God said, “…how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” The words “all things” does not include our every wish in this life, God did not say this for our selfishness, but for His grace given. Let us remember the gift of grace God had just given, “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all….” The question is, isn’t this all things? Isn’t this more than we would or could ever ask for? What else could we ever ask for that overshadows our gift of salvation? “All things” are our spiritual gifts that the Holy Spirit has given to us along with our salvation. God said, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James1:17 God is not a giver to selfishness; God is the giver of grace and mercy. God knows our needs before we ever ask, “for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matt. 6:8b. Therefore, Jesus warned us in the same verse “Be not ye therefore like unto them…” that is “thou shalt not be as the hypocrites.” The greatest gift that God has ever given to a sinner is salvation through redemption by His sacrificed Son, how dare we ever be selfish. Therefore, God has given us everything He has chosen for us, let us rejoice and be glad, let us enjoy everything God has given to us. We that are saved have the greatest gift because there is none greater, every other gift just adds to that joy. Thank you, Lord!

If God Be for Us.

Romans 8:31 “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?”

What a true blessing of a scripture, what a blessing from our Sovereign God, the very Being that controls everything that is created. As created beings, even as Christians, we will never be able to totally understand nor grasp what God is saying here in this verse. This verse should bring glorious peace of mind to every believer, and when we add in verse 28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” it should cause every believer to rejoice and shout from the mountain top, so that everyone can hear us for miles around. Listen closely to Psalms 46:7 “The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. Selah.” The word “refuge” means God is our cliff or inaccessible place, meaning there is no safer place in existence than being in the Lord and the Lord being in us. Look at how the Psalmist describes the Lord in Psalms 18:2 “The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.” We must ask ourselves, “do we need anyone else” the answer must be no, because in the Lord our God we have everything we need. Beloved, we need never worry, wonder, nor fear any creature or anything else because God is for us! Listen once more to the Psalmist in Psalms 118:6 “The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me?” As Christians we are God’s children, we are His possession, and because of that we have His greatest promise, “…for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” Heb. 13:5c This very thought should give every child of God the greatest of comfort. We live in a dangerous world, Satan and his people in this world hate us, they want to destroy us every second of every day. And if it were not for the power and grace of God, they would. But God is our refuge or our hiding place, we are in the palm of His hand, and no one has the ability nor the power to bring any harm to us that God does not allow. Think about the word is “perseverance”, it is found only once in the entire scriptures, “Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” Ephesians 6:18 The word “perseverance” means persistence which means we are to be "to be attentive or vigilant." in our faith in God. We pray because we trust God in all things, in our everyday life and every event or action or happening in our everyday life. We need to constantly remind ourselves that “God is for us” and since He is, we can believe that whatever He brings us to, that He will also bring us through it. If God (as He did with Job” bring suffering and challenging times to us, then we are going to be fine. The Lord said in Rom. 8:17 “And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.” God will lead us into trials, persecutions, and tribulations, just as He did Jesus His own Beloved Son. It is our walk in this life, suffering with the Son because this is God’s will for us and it is for our own good.

Then God added in verse 31 “who can be against us?” this is our perseverance or our persistence that our faith can be strong because we do not walk alone in this life, God walks with us protecting us from all evil. God sets the limits of what happens in our life, there are no coincidences, or we do not live by “luck” everything in a Christians life is by God’s will and grace. Just as He told Satan “And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand…” Job1:12 God is not against us, God does not allow things in our life to hurt us, but everything has a purpose and that purpose is, “…all things work together for good to them that love God…”. Therefore, no one can be against us, because God is not only for us but in us. God is the Omnipotent God over all creation and there is no greater power than Him. Praise God for His always being with us!  

Is Satan real, and what is his purpose.

 1 Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:”

If you believe in God and if you believe God’s word, then you must believe Satan is as a real and powerful being. Satan is anti-God; He was created to be Satan even though he was originally created a powerful angel. God never created any one or anything without a purpose to bring Him glory. “The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.” Proverbs 16:4 We must understand the reason God created anything, it was all created for God’s personal glory, God gets glory from everything, even from Satan. This world, man, Satan, and everything else was created because of the glory God wanted for Jesus His Son. Without the creation of everything there would not have been the fall of Adam, and sin would not have entered the world. Therefore, God created evil in the person of Satan and created Eve to sin, therefore creating Adam to sin and through Adams sin bringing sin upon all mankind. Satan was created also as an adversary of God; he fell from heaven by challenging to be like God. “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.” Isa. 14:14 This challenge from the angel Lucifer was a sin, and angels that sin with him were cast into hell which God made just for Satan and his angels, and for all those who die lost. God said to Satan after the fall in the garden, “And the LORD God said unto the serpent…And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed” Gen. 3:14a, 15a. The word “enmity” means -hostility and even hatred- meaning God has put hate between “the woman’s seed, and Satan’s seed, the seed of the woman is Jesus and the seed of Satan is the non-elect. Therefore, the real hate that exist between God and Satan is also between the elect and non-elect or those that are saved and those that are eternally condemned. Satan through the fall took dominion over the world in the fall of Adam. God gave this dominion to Adam and Satan took it in the fall and Satan became ruler over the earthly system. In 2 Corinthians 4:4 Paul called Satan the “god of this world”, “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” In the fall Satan through Adams fall brough spiritual blindness to the entire population of the world. And this blindness is so powerful that only the power of God can remove it and cause man to see, “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6.

God said Satan was, “your adversary the devil” Satan is the Christians greatest adversary because of his power. We have already looked at how he blinded the entire population of the world with such blinders that only God in His glorious power can undo the damage that Satan has done. “For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts…”. People have no power to undo the damage that Satan has done, people are helpless without God. God said Satan is “as a roaring lion, walketh about”, he is a wild beast and he is so dangerous God compared him to a “roaring lion”, Vincent’s Word Study said of the word “roaring” “it denotes especially the howl of a beast in fierce hunger.” Therefore, he never rests to do as much harm to Christians and churches relationship to God as he can because his time is short. Revelation 12:12 “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. 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 knows God and he knows what his future is, but he is still wanting to cause as much havoc as he can to God’s people. This is why God warned us all “Be sober, be vigilant….” It is our responsibility to be watchful and not allow ourselves to be overcome through his trickery. Satan wants the weak and those that are easily tricked into falling. It is unfortunately that so many Christians and even churches have failed the Lord because they are not watchful enough. God went on to warn us that he is “Seeking whom he may devour…” and the word “devour” means “to drink down, that is, gulp entire.” Satan’s desire is to cause all of us to be worthless, so the Lord cannot get glory from us. He cannot steal our salvation, but he can rob us of our service in righteousness, if we are not watchful for him.      

Christians are not under the law, but grace.

Romans 6:14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

What does it mean to be “under the law of God,” it means that lost souls are bounded to live the law to obey it in fulfillment. Lost souls cannot live the law of God because we were all (that is all souls) born in sin and with sin. People are not condemned because we sin but because we were born condemned in the sin of Adam. God made this crystal clear in Rom. 5:12 “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:” Therefore, we must conclude that every soul born was born under sin and therefore bound to sinfulness. So many people mistake moral goodness and spiritual goodness as one in the same, but a soul can be morally good and a condemned sinner at the same time. God’s law was ever written for us to be made righteous; the law was written to show us our sinfulness. God said in, Gal. 3:24 “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” The law was never meant for salvation, meaning living good will never save a human soul. This is why God said in Eph. 2:8,9 that salvation is through grace and not by works. In Rom. 6:14 God said, “For sin shall not have dominion over you…” the word “dominion” means to lord over someone or to be a divine authority over someone. When people are lost, they do not control their thinking nor actions, sin does. The word “dominion” makes it clear that a lost or unredeemed soul is living in a depraved state of mind and will never turn to God for redemption. The reason for this is because every human soul is born not only depraved but at enmity with God, or a hater of God. God said in Rom. 8:7 “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God…” which means mankind, without redemption is hostile to God and everything He is. Therefore, every lost soul’s thinking is opposed to God’s Law, and not just a law but everything God is or says. God said that mankind hates Him so much that, “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.” Rom 3:11 The reason they do not seek God is because they do not understand God, to the unredeemed mind, God is their enemy not their Saviour. Therefore, people make-up a god that suits their condemned mind and that god is weak, subject to the will of man, and is controlled by man’s thoughts and opinions. This is why people hate the Sovereignty of God, because a Sovereign God controls the creature which is reverse to what man wants. This is why so many mistakenly believes that “God cannot change the human will” because man’s human will is so free that God must beg man to come to Him. The truth is that salvation cannot be of works because true salvation is a gift from God and is accomplished by and through Jesus Christ. We who are saved were saved by God’s grace through the work of Jesus Christ. God even went as far to say in Eph. 2:8 “…and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” and He even went farther to clarify this in verse 9 “Not of works…” because salvation is by grace. This makes us that are saved, “under grace” and not under the law. We as Christians are not subject to the condemnation of the law or “the curse of the law” because “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:” Gal. 3:13 Therefore, we are under grace and no longer bound to the condemnation of the law. God said that salvation is not of both grace and works because they do not accomplish the same thing but are opposite of each other. “And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Romans 11:6 The law condemns the soul to eternal hell, but grace saves our soul from hell. This does not mean that the law is meaningless to a Christian, because Paul went on to write in Rom 6:15 “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” But the law no longer condemns us, but it becomes our standard of life. God’s grace through the blood of Jesus forgives and pardons our sin therefore if we sin, we are no longer condemned by that sin. This is what God meant in 1 John1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.” His blood cleanses us so much that we can walk in fellowship with God, beloved that is grace!   

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.

What Our Father Hath Done for Us!

Isaiah 53:10 “Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.”

It is beyond our greatest thought what our Father has done for us. It brings me back to Abraham and what God told him to do with his son, “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen 22:2 What would go through any father’s mind if God were to tell them to take the very son that they loved so much and to sacrifice him on an altar. It reminds me of all those parents that must have watched helplessly as their children were martyred in the “dark ages”. No parent that loved their son or daughter would have any pleasure in watching their child given as a sacrifice. The tears and broken heart Abraham must have had as he began obeying God’s command. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” But just as “Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” “the LORD called unto him out of heaven, God said to Abraham, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him” for as Abraham looked, “behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” I could only imagine how blessed Abraham must have been feeling with God’s blessing. However, I could only imagine how blessed Abraham would have felt if God had allowed him to follow through with the sacrifice. It is a blessing to do anything that is pleasing to our Father.

As we turn our attention to Jesus, the very Son of God in the flesh. As we think of everything He suffered, the humility of the arrest, the horrible beating He took, and then the hours He spent on the cross in unimaginable pain. He had all the power; He could have come off the cross and destroyed those wanting Him dead. He could have called legions of angels, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” Mat 26:53 But no, He could not, “But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” Jesus was here to fulfill the Fathers will and His will was for Jesus to go through everything He did, even on the cross of death. Why did the Father feel so much pleasure, it was all because He loved us. Jesus was the only being in all the world and all of creation that could accomplish this great task, for there was no other. No “ram caught in a thicket by his horns” This Son’s sacrifice was to cleanse the sins of every redeemed soul that God was going to save. Therefore, the Father “shalt make his soul an offering for sin,” and rejoice in His death. Our Heavenly Father was not selfish, He was not greedy, He was not ashamed, He was pleased in every possible way. “Yet it pleased the LORD”. What an act of pure love our Selfless Father has done for sinners like us. As we look at the grace that God had for us in sending the only worthy Saviour as our Redeemer. Let us all rejoice today and everyday until we are with the Lord. We all have so much to be thankful for, because without God sacrificing His own dear Son, we would have all went to hell.     

What is good for a Christian?

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.”

When people look at life, they must look at who they are, for example if you are a lost soul then you look at earthly/worldly things or humanistic things. For a Believer in Jesus Christ, for a soul that has been redeemed by God’s grace through the blood of Christ, for a soul that now has a living spirit, our outlook on life should be completely different. For a believer, the things that are good for us are opposite to those that are lost. For example, look at what God says, “A good name better than precious ointment; the day of death better than the day of birth; the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting; sorrow is better than laughter, the rebuke of the wise better than the songs of fools; the end of a thing better than the beginning; the patient in spirit better than the proud in spirit.” If you do not understand God and what God says is good for us, then we will always look to our human side. For a believer in Jesus Christ to be happy and satisfied is to be faithful to/in God and to be walking in the Spirit of His word. There is nothing more satisfying to God than a faithful servant, Noah – obeyed God, built the Ark exactly as God commanded and because of this Noah had a good name. It was Able’s faith in God that gave him a better name than Cain his brother – “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain….” Again, Abel’s good name is what made him better than his brother. Then there is Enoch, God credited his faith and said, “for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Therefore, it was Enoch’s faithfulness to God that gave him his good name. And the examples continue, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, and etc., etc., and etc. all who gained good names by trusting God and doing as God commanded. It matters not how great our name is with the world if it is not great with God. Now compare what God says about what is good for Christians, opposite to what the world says is better for us, or that we sometimes believe is better for us. “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting” How is this possible, it is simple, because whatever God has given to you is better than anything else. It is all about how much we believe and trust God. God said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Matthew 6:31- 32 The question is, do we believe this? The question is, do you really believe God and what He said? The ask yourself this question, do you really believe this, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28 The question is, do you truly believe that everything that happens in your life is for your good? Our true faith in God is seen when God rest us, gives us trials, tribulations, or even persecution. It is easy to praise God when good things happen, but what about when bad things happen in your life? Either we trust God or not, either we lean on God or ourselves. Listen to God, is “Sorrow is better than laughter”, is it “better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools”, and do you believe “by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.” God said all of this is better, because it is what God promised would be better for us because He chose it for us. We do not know what God has sent to be in our life, but if God sent it, then He ordained it for our good. Is it better for a Christian to die than to live on this earth? Is it better to give than it is to receive, is it better to suffer for the Lord than to live happily in this world? God said it is, that all of this is better for you, if God gave it to you. The truth is we do not know what is good for us nor do we truly know what is good for us, but God does. If we truly trusted the Lord, we would be glad and thank Him for everything that happens no matter what it is, because God controls everything in our life. There are many reasons God brings things into a person’s life, some He brings to reproof or rebuke us, sometimes to teach us, maybe to draw us closer to Him or to trust Him more, but be certain, God brings it for our good.  

How does the Lord stop people’s mouth?

Romans 3:19 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

God answers this question in the very next part of this verse, that “all the world may become guilty before God.” Our guilt is our depraved nature, and it stops us from every doing any good for God. Therefore, it must be concluded that every single human soul born, are born sinners, and totally depraved in their entire being. Paul wrote, “…but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” Rom.7:17b – 18a. This means in a person’s lost state, there is nothing good in them to God. Once we learn this, then our mouths are stopped, and we learn that only in our Lord Jesus and through the grace of God anything is possible in godliness. The Apostle Paul admitted in speaking about his own Christian life that the grace of God was his only good. However, you may ask, “how does this stop our mouth,” once we see our true state before God, we realize how much we need His grace. It does not matter who you are (Jew or Gentile) we are all sinners; we are all totally depraved sinners. “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;” Rom 3:9 God shuts-up those who think through their own pride that they are someone and that they can on our own accomplish certain things! God said, “that they are all (every soul ever born) under sin; that us under sins power.” Even the Apostle Paul admitted, “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 Paul admitted, that in all he had accomplished in his Christian life, it was by God’s grace, then Paul put a explanation mark after it to make it loud and clear, even though I had worked so hard and accomplished much, “but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” This great Apostle could not take credit for one single thing he had accomplished, and neither could/can one single soul saved ever saved and accomplished anything for God, it was all through Jesus and by God’s grace. Our mouths are stopped, we have no pride in ourselves, there is no room for boasting. This is the very reason when Paul wrote Ephesians 2:9 he wrote, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It is because God shut our mouth in verse 8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” God has told us the Truth, the question is do we believe His Truth or do you like some people, simply ignore His Truth for Satan’s lie of works for salvation? Has God shut your mouth, or do you simply ignore God’s Truth and believe in yourself over the grace of God? These scriptures should stop anyone from boasting of their righteousness, and to stop people from making any excuse for themselves when God said they are “without excuse” Rom.1:20. God has made everything plain to see, that He created all things and that He saves the souls of the lost by grace and through Jesus Christ, it is so plain that when people disagree they are calling 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. (11) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:10 – 12. A lost soul must believe God, humble themselves, and understand that salvation is a gift of God in which we cannot earn. God must stop our mouths and make us to understand that in this flesh “dwelleth no good thing…” no, not one. Every soul must believe God and reject Satan’s lie about salvation, and that we cannot be saved through ourselves but only by God’s gift of Grace and through Jesus Christ His Beloved Son. This is God’s record, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Match this with Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Because if your belief contradicts this, then you have called God a liar, you are lost, and you will go to hell when you die. “…the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

Are Tribulations, Trials, and Persecutions Bad?

Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience;”

The question is, are tribulations, trials and persecution bad for a Christian, and the answer is no. In Romans chapter 5 verses 1 – 11 God describes a believer’s life; He also describes how He builds a believer’s strength as a Christian into maturity. We must never forget that we are flesh, therefore our abilities to comprehend and keep our minds focused are sometimes hard. This explains why the Holy Spirit must bring things back to our memory. “…and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” John 14:26 If we had a perfect understanding of God and a perfect memory of God’s works then we would be in heaven, because in this flesh we will fail to understand. For example, God said, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom. 8:28 However, do we really comprehend God’s thoughts, powers, and actions in our life through this verse? If we had a perfect understanding of this verse and God’s Sovereign Powers, then we would never need the Holy Spirit to remind us that God controls every single aspect of our life’s happenings. Do we truly, without doubt, worry, or confusion glory in our tribulations in life? Do we simply apply the tribulations, trials, and even persecution to the working of God in our life for a purpose He is applying for our better and growth? Do tribulations in your life build patients or do you worry, and cry? Listen to the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor12:10 “Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.” Did you know that persecutions build strength in our faith in Jesus? And when these things come do we glory in the Lord, we ought too. Listen again to the Apostle Paul, “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 Tim 3:11. Now go back and study what events Paul is talking about, did you know that at one point Paul was stoned so badly, they thought they was dead? “And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.” Acts 14:19. But even though they tried to kill him, he returned to do God’s work in those cities, why, “but out of them all the Lord delivered me.”

In conclusion, one of the hardest things we can do in life is to just simply trust that God is doing these things for our own good. It is easy to forget the Sovereign hand of God is behind these things and panic. In some way we all do it at some point, because we are not perfect, we all have weaknesses. It is when God reminds us we remember and come to our spiritual senses and accept that GOD IS SOVEREIGN, He has promised that EVERYTHING is for our good, and that HE WILL DELIVER US. However, this depends on the strength of the believer’s faith and knowledge of God and His word of promise, if a believer does not grow much their level of understanding will be so weak, they may never understand. A question we must all ask ourselves, do we know “that tribulation worketh patience;” and that the harder the tribulations the more patients it builds. Therefore, the next time tribulations, trials, and/or persecutions come our way, even if we panic, let us remember “that God is building patience and that He WILL deliver us. The question must be, HOW STRONG IS OUR FAITH IN GOD?