The Lost World

                                                               The Lost World

In 1997 Steven Sperlberg released his dinosaur flick "The Lost World." Good film, some of my favorite dinosaurs, loud roars, chomping teeth, and a mother T-Rex's  love and protection of her own. The film  still holds up today. 

But the real Lost World is all around us. They are the living dead.

They walk the earth and appear to be alive, holding jobs, driving cars, going shopping, raising famlies  but they are really the walking dead. That is dead spiritually. And these are so called people who believe  or at least profess to believe in an afterlife. Their afterlife scenario goes like this: 

When someone dies they proclaim, "Oh they have their wings now." or "God needed another angel in heaven." People do not become angels. Angels are incorporeal beings.  They have not flesh, blood and bones as do we humans. Though they may appear human at various times,  they are not. 

Another popular preception enumerated by a vast number is , "Oh, they are looking down and watching over us and know what's going on."  Or they're at the big ballgame in the sky. That even became a top rated film. And the term that makes me very nervous when someone says it in regards to God, "the man upstairs". 

First off God is not a man that He should lie. In fact the father of lies is Satan himself. Not the God of the Bible.  I hate to say this but the world presents a notion of a God, as more like a man than the all powerful omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent God which Scripture says "Spoke everything into being. That the worlds were framed by the Word of God,  so that the things that are seen were not made of the things which are visible. (Heb. 11:3) Before there was anything their was nothing. Nothing. Nada. No universe, no matter, no atoms, no protons, no neutons, no quarks, no nothing. Just the blackness of darkness. A darkness unimaginable.  

The Bible of Christian belief (and Jewish belief) says, "The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”(Genesis 1:2-3). 

God spoke it out. The Gospel of John  says, that One who spoke it out was the One who humbled Himself, took on a body of flesh, blood and bones, was conceived by God the Holy Spirit in the womb of a young virgin, that Word who was in the beginning with God and was God, became flesh and dwelt  (tabernacled) among us. "And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross." (Phil. 2:8)

We have a Christmas because Jesus did God the Father's will. He obeyed the Father without exception. Fully man and fully God. Scripture says when you honor the Son you honor the Father who sent Him.  For "at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil. 2:10-11) 

His is "The Way, the Truth and the Life..." there is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved... "NO ONE comes to the Father except through Christ Jesus." (John 14:6;Acts 4:12)  

The problem is US. Our problem is SIN. We were born that way. Inherited by the federal head of the human race, who believed a lie rather than believe God. And everything, all creation was subjected to futility or vanity. We are tainted through and through. And good works won't cut it with a Holy and Righteous God. Good works can't save because all our righteous acts are as filthy rags. (Is. 64:6)  

As Jesus the Christ said, "without me, you can do nothing." That is nothing of eternal value outside of Christ Jesus. That's why he was sent. That is why He came. That is why he was born, lived a perfect life, fullfilled the law and the prophets, died on a cross, was buried and then raised up from the dead,  to save His people from their sins. 

Without Jesus Christ we can do nothing that can earn our way to heaven. Because as Jesus said, you must be PERFECT as the Father in heaven is perfect. Only one flesh and blood human being accomplished that. He who has the Son,  by grace  through faith, has life. That is life eternal. A citizenship in heaven. And as a child of God good works prepared for you to do, before God calls us into eternity not because of  what we have done or will ever do. But because God sent His only Son down from heaven "That He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works." (Titus 2:14)

That is the good news. the Gospel....BUT the bad news is this. Those  who do not have the Son, by grace through faith, those who have  not repented and  confessed Jesus Christ is Lord. For those  awaits  a certain fearful expectation of judgement and fiery indignation. For those who do not have  the Son DO NOT have life, but the wrath of God abides on  them. (John 3:36; Rev. 21:8; 2 Thess. 1:7-10) 

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:“In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”

Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor. 6:1-2)

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

What Is The Gospel?

What Is The Gospel??

To begin with you must understand that the problem is us. SIN in us. We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We are born that way. 

Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. (Ps. 51:5) 

both Jews and Gentiles (anyone not born Jewish)  are all under sin.

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become worthless;

There is none who does good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10-12; Paul quoting the Old Testament)

Nothing you do can commend you to God. Good works  CANNOT SAVE YOU.....For as Jesus said, "without me you can do nothing." And he told the people "You must be PERFECT  as your Father in heaven is PERFECT. 

That is the dilemma all human beings face. The only way to solving this dilemma of perfection is through God's One and Only Son. The Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. (John 1:1-3;14)

He is the only mediator between God and mankind...(1 Tim 2:5)

Because He is the God-man

Jesus the Christ Himself said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me."(John 14:6) 

His is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. (Act 4:12) 

Saved from God's wrath and the damnation of the unregenerate.

Jesus said so much in the Gospel of  John  "You must be born again" (which literally ,means "born from above") 

Born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

Jesus said,  “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matt. 7:13-14)

 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt. 10:28)

Christ came to save his people from their sins and went to prepare a place for them and promised "I am with you always." 

The love of God is to have prepared a pathway out of our predictment of that separation from God not only in this life but in our life to come in eternity. You will spend that in either one of two places. Heaven, the Kingdom of God or hell, separation from the presence of God and the glory of His power. (2 Thess 1:7-10) 

Jesus the Christ said it over 2000 years ago and it resounds with that same authority today, let these words sink down into your ears. 

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28-30)

Does this mean when Jesus Christ is your Savior and Lord, by grace through faith and not of yourselves but a gift of God, You can continue in a life of debauchery, unbridled immorality, lust and perversion? 

Paul uttered "God forbid!"  How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. In fact Jesus Himself said," “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin." Paul continues in Romans 6, What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!  But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.  For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:20-23)

Therefore if anyone be in Christ, they are  a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (2 Cor 5:17)

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,  that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.  For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles (pagans) —when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.  In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.  They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (1 Peter 4:1-5)

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.  Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. (Eph 4:17-19)

Sin births more sin. It is a perpetual hungry beast that plagues the heart of mankind. When fed, it brings forth a waste land of corruption the engulfs the entire being to crave more and act on those vile impulses that drag us  further from the purpose of God for His people. To glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

God wants all of us. He must be the preeminent one in our lives. Second best doesn't do it. He wants all of us. And for those whom He has brought from death to life and from darkness to light it is a challenge that we face everyday. But it should be the desire of our hearts.

O God, You are my God;

Early will I seek You;

My soul thirsts for You;

My flesh longs for You

In a dry and thirsty land

Where there is no water.

Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,

My lips shall praise You.

Thus I will bless You while I live;

I will lift up my hands in Your name. (Ps. 63 King David's joy in the fellowship of God)

Think about this for a moment. The God of all creation wants to fellowship with you. Yes you ! Why? Because you are of intrinic value to Him.

In this is love. Not that we loved God... Because the carnal (fleshly) mind is at enmity (hatred) aganist God, it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.  So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.(Romans 8:7-8)...

Yes it's not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for sin. (1 John 4:10) 

Why? Because sin is that egregious to a Holy and Righteous creator God. And no one tainted, surrounded with perishable flesh, can inhabit the kingdom of God. You must be a new creation in Christ Jesus. 

God can not change His nature. The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will not have a place in the Kingdom of God.(Rev 21:8)  He has set the standard. 

He chose the Nation Israel to receive His law for mankind, and to be a light to the gentiles. To them He gave the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the service of God, and the promises; and from whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen. (Romans 9:4) 

And God gave them the sacrificial system that pointed to the one true acceptable sacrifice that was to come. The One spoken of in the Psalms and by Isaiah the prophet... 

He was oppressed and He was afflicted,

Yet He opened not His mouth;

He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,

And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,

So He opened not His mouth.

He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

And by His stripes we are healed.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;

He has put Him to grief.

For All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned, every one, to his own way;

And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53 750 years before the birth of Jesus)

He is the One  to whom we hear John the Baptist proclaim when He saw Jesus coming toward him, "Behold the lamb of God, that takes away the sin of the world."(John 1:29)

Referring back to  the time when God spared His people Israel, when they obeyed and the death angel passed over the people when he saw the blood of the lamb on the door frames and spared their first born. (Exodus 12)

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Heb. 9:22)

So, God made Him who had no sin--the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God--the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us--to be a sin offering for us, so that in Him we might become the righteous of God. (2 Cor 5:21; John 1:1;14) 

That is why faith in Jesus the Christ , the object of true faith, is absolutely necessary for entrance into God's kingdom. By trusting in Him for your salvation and obeying His commands (John 14:21) Of course you won't have perfect obedience, but  God the Father sees you as perfect through the offering of His son, in whom you have confessed and repented. And the desire of your heart will be to please Him.

As Paul the Apostle through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, in His attempt to  grasp the enormity of God's precious gift uttered, "No eye has seen, No ear has heard, No mind has concieved what God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Cor 2:9)  

If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Ro. 10:9) 

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand,  by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures...(1 Cor 15:1-4)

Repent, and Believe the Gospel, for the Kingdom of God is Near

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,  and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”(Matt 3:1-2;)

Repent: It paints us a picture of a man with a sign, sometimes screaming out to an unhearing, unattentive, uncaring  populace. Repent: What does this mean? Biblical repentance  is to make a change of mind, heart, and action, by turning away from sin and self and returning to God. Turn from evil and turn to what is good. It is believing God and turning away from evil and ungodliness. It is a radical change of heart wrought by the conviction in one's inner being of one's disobedience toward a Holy and Righteous God. Much is said about how all this transpires. 

There are those who believe it is totally by a persons own volition, there's enough good in us to make that choice. They say a prayer or cry out to God in repentance, and they are born again. (regenerated) Others say it is God who choses a person, opens their heart to believe His truth, are regenerated and then they believe, confess and repent. 

Scriptures on both views: Free will of mankind*** The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3)   Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matt 11:28-30)  This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. (John 1:7)  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:33)  I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:51) And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.(John 12:47)  For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Tim 2:3-4) 11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (Titus 2:11)***

God makes the choice***  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.(John 6:44)  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,  having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,  to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. (Eph. 1:3-6)  Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed. (Acts 13:48)  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:  who 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)*** 

Important note: Paul quotes these Old Testament verses:   As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;

There is none who understands;

There is none who seeks after God.

They have all turned aside;

They have together become unprofitable;

There is none who does good, no, not one.”(Romans 3:10-12)

also: "And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sin  in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,  among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. (Eph. 2:1-3)  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (2 Cor. 2:14) These verses postulate this presupposition, if people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil (John 3:19) If they are dead to the things of God following the course of this world and can not receive the things of God. How can anyone believe without the intervention of God? For their heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. (Jer. 17:9)   

To conclude Peter told the believers  in his first letter chapter 1  "to the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.... you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;  who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. (1 Peter 2:9-10)

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance, (Matt 3:8)

fruits....good works....Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, Honor the King (1 Peter 2:17) Yes we are saved unto eternal life by grace thru faith and not works BUT we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, FOR GOOD WORKS which God has prepared in advance, for us to do. (Eph 2:10)

John the Baptist proclaimed, " indeed I baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matt 3:11) The Holy Spirit and fire. Interesting way to have put that. Did John the baptist understand or somehow know what was to come to Jesus disciples and soon to be Apostles. "When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. (Acts 2:2-3) Peter went on to say this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,

That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;

Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

Your young men shall see visions,

Your old men shall dream dreams.

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matt 4:11) Repentance says I am done with my old life. The new has come. But we are still in these corrupted, perishing, bodies of rotting flesh. It has been programmed for pleasures that once infected every fiber of our being. It consumed our life and still hangs on plotting to tempt us to indulge which you now want gone from your life. As Jesus Himself said to His disciples "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." It is a battle raging  within all children of adam. His full armor must be appropriated each day. The breastplate of righteousness. The gospel of peace. The shield of faith. The helmet of salvation and the sword of the spirt which is the Word of God. 

 ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”(Matt 9:11) I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” (Luke 5:32) Knowing that there is a problem and the problem is us and that only way to solve the problem is Jesus the Christ transforming your life within. When you are born again, born from above, regenerated the new life begins but it is not without temptations, suffering and even doubts. But He says, You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all of your heart. Put off the old self, which is dead through Christ and put on the new self,  renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, (Col. 3:10)  

I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”(Luke 13:5) When you are regenerated by God the Holy Spirit you see the present evil age in a whole new light. You understand the god of this age, that serpent, the dragon, the devil, that is satan himself, is the one whom the world follows after. And the world's people love darkness because their deeds are evil. I had a radio pastor once say to me "we sin  because we like it." How true. Sin is comfortable, familiar, like an old sweater. Yet is tattered, torn, filled with holes and frayed with the ravages of destruction that sin brings. The devil is not your friend. Sin is not your friend. Evil is contrary to a Holy, Righteous, Perfect creator. It is a war we are in against the world, the flesh and the devil. And the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of this world.  "On the contrary, 2 Corinthians 10:4-5 says, "they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, (Acts 3:19) That word refreshing is the Greek word anapsuxeos meaning strengthen, refresh, relieve; recovery of breath. Recovery of breath. Ever try to see how long you could hold your breath under water? Without the saving work of God thru Jesus Christ in your life, it is like you are existing in this world holding your breath, never coming up for oxygen that allows you to breath and have life. Without the only name under heaven by which we can saved. You really are the walking dead. Physically animated but spiritually dead.   

Walk in the Spirit and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:19-22) Only through Christ Jesus is this possible. Without Him the war is lost.   

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, (Acts 17:30) 

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? (Romans 2:4)

Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. (1 Cor 7:1)

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 eter 3:9)

God commands us to repent. It is not a request. It is a command. It is God who has led you to this point, to walk worthy of the call you have received. Follow Me, Jesus the Christ says, and I will  give you rest. For He is the Lord of our Sabbath, that eternal rest and peace with God, through a healthy fear of God, who is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. 

Now when Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, He departed to Galilee.  And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali,  that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,

Galilee of the Gentiles:

The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light,

And upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death

Light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:12-17)

Who You know,or Who Knows You

 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the craving of sinful mankind,  the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what we say or do—comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

I have heard it said before. What is the will of God in my life. What does God want me to be? What does God want me to do? Where does God want me to go? Scripture records that and it is very wise of us to let these words sink down into our ears. 

For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in  sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; (1 Thess 4:3-5)

For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. (1 Peter 2:15-16)

Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess 5:16-18)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.  Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:1-2)

John speaks about **The cravings of sinful mankind.** Scripture tells us we were  brought forth in iniquity and in sin we were concieved. That is all of us were born with a sinful nature , inherited from the representatives of all the human race. Adam and Eve. Who failed to believe and thus obey God.  But instead believed the lie of the serpent, the dragon, the devil of old,  Satan. The adversary of everything that is contrary to and in opposition to the One True, Holy, and Righteous God. 

All of us have that prospensity toward sin. For there is no one righteous, no not one. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Jesus Himself said we are evil. (Matt 7:11; Luke 11:13) that we were slaves to sin and free from the control of righteousness. (Romans 6:20-23)  Sin was our master. We obeyed it's commands coursing thru every fiber of our being. For we are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners. We were born that way. And we desire to satisfy those inherited sinful desires. 

The Apostle Paul expounds on those cravings in Gal. 5:19-21 "Now the practices of the sinful nature are clearly evident: they are sexual immorality, (any sexual activity outside the bond of marriage between a man and a woman)  impurity (contamination, polluted, foul, filthy),  sensuality (total irresponsibility, lack of self-control),  idolatry, sorcery (The use of witchcraft, incantations, and drugs in calling up familiar spirits: The New Testament uses the word Pharmakeia, from which our english word  pharmacy is derived) hostility, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions (that promote heresies),  envy, drunkenness, riotous behavior, and other things like these. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal. 5:19-21)

The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 1 "To God's chosen people, exiles scattered through out various provinces of the day "with minds that are alert and fully sober,(self controlled) set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.  As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.  But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;  for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”

You have been set apart brought from darkness to the light of the world. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. The precious blood of Jesus Christ.  (1 Cort 6:20)

We have been  called out from this present evil age to let our light so shine, that the world can see our good works and glorify the Father in heaven. Paul added, "preach the word." Have genuine concern for the lost, knowing the severity of their fate without the one mediator; the way, truth and life; the only name by which anyone can be brought from darkness to life and from death to life. Remember one plants, one waters but God gives the increase.    

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Cor 6:9-10)

But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.  And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day;  as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. (Jude 5-7)

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,  because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

Not one will stand before the judgement seat and claim God did not give them enough proof of His existence. All of creation says there is a creator. It is not a result of some accidental chance happening. God created for His glory and purposes. But mankind decided they wanted to be like God and so all creation was subjected to futility. Cast out of the paradise of Eden away from the God who brought them into existence.   

For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.  Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

No one gets away with anything. God is all knowing. God is all seeing. The book of life will be opened. Those written in the book will hear, "well done good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of the lord." But those who loved the things of this world.....those who do not believe...   

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate  mind, to do those things which are not fitting;  being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers (gossips),  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:18-32)

The world is so consumed by its own fallenness it can not see how utterly corrupt and condemned they are. All they comprehend is the here and now. They want as much as they can get. Eat, drink and be merry, they say for tomorrow we die. No God means no  consequences to their actions. Death is the end all. Nothing comes after we take our last breath.    

Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,  that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.  For we have spent enough of our past  lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles—when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.  In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you.  They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (1 Peter 4:1-5)

Scripture says everyone will give an account of what they did in this life. But it is not what you do that counts, no number of good works can justify entrance into God's kingdom. For all are tainted, polluted by sin. 

The only way you can escape condemnation at the judgement seat is through the one mediator between God and all the human race, Jesus the Christ. Nothing else will do. Jesus Himself said, "without me you can do nothing." That is nothing anyone can do that is of intrinsic value to gain entrance into the Kingdom of God.  For all our righteous acts are as filthy rags.   (Is. 64:6) 

So in these few verses we see that God wants us to abstain from sexual immortality. Just the opposite of what this world is telling you to do. It is not easy. The Christian walk is a disciplined one. The world will temp and tease. Entice and ridicule. And think it strange of you not to satisfy the lust of the flesh. Remember this example from Scripture. Moses chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, for he looked forward to the reward. (Heb. 12)  

God wants us to do good. That they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Peter said sanctify (set apart; consecrate; purify) the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; (1 Peter 3:15)

God's chosen people in Jesus Christ have hope that one day they will be absent from the body and present with the Lord. Which Paul said, is far better. God's people look forward to the New Heavens and New earth where righteousness dwells. 

But he who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev 21 and 22)

But he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still....And for those who have trusted in the only name under heaven by which anyone can be saved  there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him.  They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.  There shall be no night there: They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. And they shall reign forever and ever. ”

The Past Gone the New Has Come

I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith.  I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:7-14)

These words from the Apostle Paul were on my mind when I woke up this morning. I think the hardest thing for many of us who were brought from a past where we had no thoughts of God and to coin the hippy phase and moral imperative of Woodstock in 1969 "If it feels Good do it." was our mantra.   It's hard for many of us to forgive ourselves.

A past can be riddled with the things of this world. The lust of the flesh and of the mind and acting on those impulses. And the flesh wants to hang on to them. In fact Jesus the Christ said to those who would become His Apostles 'the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." But may we all be like the Apostle Paul who said he counts all those things dung. Dung??? 

Now in the original language in which the New Testament was written that word is "skubalon" meaning:  any refuse, as the excrement of animals, offscourings, rubbish, dregs, of things worthless and detestable. That is waste material. All our righteous acts like filthy rags for even our good deeds are tainted by that nature inherited from the worlds first parents. Our sinful nature. (Ps. 51:5)

THE POWER OF CHRIST'S RESURRECTION:  The song says "Jesus paid it all all to him I owe." If Jesus Christ would have never been born there would have been no chance to be forgiven of our sins. Our transgressions against a Holy and Perfectly Righteous God absolute and remain. No Hope and therefore no salvation. All would be condemned. We die in our sin. Not a pretty picture.

Think about this: Jesus the Son of God, the Word who was in the beginning with God and being in very nature God, the Word through whom all things were created  (John 1:1-3;Phil 2:5-11) living in perfect harmony with His Father and the Holy Spirit. Perfect Love. Perfect Unity. Perfect Divinity. No Pain. No Sin just everlasting Glory. And to further that Glory, God created all we see today. Why? Because He could. He created for His glory. 

And we were created to adore and honor and serve our perfect creator. But sin through the one man's (and woman's) transgression and believing the lie of the evil one, (Has God said....you will not die....you will be like God) came into the world and dashed all hope of that intimate and loving relationship with God. A mediator, an intercessor,  a savior was necessary to bridge that gap between God and mankind. Without the Gospel (1 Cor 15:1-8) there is no hope. 

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. (1 Cor 15:20-22)  

In Christ all will be made alive. Brought from darkness to light. from death unto life (Is. 9:2; 1 Peter 2:9). Not only today in this existence but also in the life to come. For those who have the Son have life.  For He indeed is the Way, the Truth and the Life. No One comes to the Father except through him.  No One! Jesus the Christ is the One mediator between God and all the human race. There is no other name under heaven by which we can be saved. From ourselves, from a life separated from  the One True God. (John 14:6; Acts 4:12; 1 Tim. 2:5)  

This is not something I say but what God Himself says..."this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to Him. " (Matt. 17:5)

If you have heard His call and responded by grace through faith, repented, confessed, believed, your slate is clean. The debt paid. Perfectly. As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord walk in Him rooted and built up in the Him and established in the faith as you have been taught. Forget those things which are behind and strain toward those things which lie ahead. God has work for you to do. So let your light so shine before all people that they may  see your good works and glorify our God in heaven. For there is no other way to be happy in Jesus than to trust and obey.  (Col. 2:10;Phil 3:7-14) 

What Will You Hear?

The problem as I see it, is that people do not understand the severity of their disobedience to a Holy, Righteous, Perfect, Creator. The God of the Christian Bible. There is no other God.   Almighty, all powerful ,all loving, all knowing.  And at the same time because He is perfect, holy, righteous and without defect, nothing impure, unholy, unrighteous, no one tainted by the corruption of the sin nature can of and by themselves stand before and be welcomed into His Kingdom because of anything they have done. Because those good works, so called, are tainted with the scourge of the  hostility and hatred that each child of Adam born of flesh, blood and bones  is endowed with at birth.

Simply put, we are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. We are born that way. It is in our nature to sin. Unbelief is a part of that nature. Denying the God of Scripture is of  that rebellion long ago when the words that contradicted God's command , "you shall not die, but you will be like God" were uttered to the first innocent parents of the human race, who were tempted to believe a lie rather than God's truth. 

And thus Scripture expounds through the Holy Prophets and Apostles "Behold I was brought forth in inquity and in sin my mother conceived me. (Ps 51:5) All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23)  Yes all our righteous acts are as filthy rags. (Is. 64:6) And without Jesus the Christ you can do nothing. (John 15:5) That is nothing commendable in gaining access to the Kingdom of God. In other words we are unable to purchase the redemption needed because all of us are immersed in a world drowning in and consumed by its own lust toward an evil end. (Gal. 5:19-21; 1 Cor. 6:9-11; 1 Peter 4:1-5; 1 John 2:15-17)  Every single human being is LOST without Christ Jesus. 

He is the One mediator (intercessor) between God and all those created in His image. (1 Tim 2:5) No other name saves you from the wrath of God coming on the whole earth and sinful mankind (Acts 4:12)  In love God sent His Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 5:10; John 3:16)  “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (John 3:36). "For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ" (2 Corinthians 5:21).  "Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins" (Hebrews 9:22).

God the Son's coming into this world, taking the form of a man, His signs, wonders and miracles proved He was who He said He was. And His death, burial , resurrection and finally His ascension into heaven and back to the Father proves He will one day return and establish a new heavens and new earth where righteous dwells. As Jesus the Christ Himself said, You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect. Only one fulfills this and  was in all points tempted as we are yet without sin. (Heb 4:15) For God made Him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.   

As the angel said to John in Rev. 22    He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”

What will you hear from the Lord when you stand before the judgement seat of Christ? "Well done good and faithful servant enter into the joy of the Lord. Or depart from me, I never knew you." Yes it is a fearful thing thing to fall into the hands of the living God, for our God is a consuming fire.

 Let these words of Jesus  sink into your ears:

"I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9). 

when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels,  in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.  These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, (2 Thess 1:8-9)

if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)

Something Wrong That Must Be Righted

There is something wrong with us. We have lost our way.

We have drifted into the dismal abyss of confusion, doubt and fear. We have lost our trust in the things we used to hold dear. We have squandered our time and energies on the worthless idols of  the things of this world forgetting that they will perish on the ash heap of self indulgence. 

And it didn't take much to see  fear gnawing at the very fiber of ones existence. For we abhor even dwelling on this noun and prefer to wallow in the blindness and absolute hopelessness of our frail, helpless conditions. As the years pass by so quickly we feel the draw and see the result of the entrophy that embraces this feeble existence called life. Muscles ache. Bones snap out of place. Paces slow. Wrinkles grow and become more pronounced. Eyesight dims. Hearing fades. And the reality breaks through that wall of denial suddenly as this beast lunges in and pounces on it's prey.

Death. 

Why do we just live for what seems a blip on the screen of time and then are no more? Is there meaning to why we are here or are we just meaningless beasts  from the primordial slime from which evolution says  we were spawned.   

Do our lives matter?   

The God of the Bible says "YES"! His call to the world goes out to all those who can hear, believe, repent, confess , trust and obey. Is there a rustling within? Do you cringe at the utter uselessness of this present existence? Do you sense a longing for truth that is firmly placed and extricablely bound by logic and reason? 

ahhh, reason....in ancient Greek philosophy and early Christian theology, the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning. As the Gospel explained in the language of that day, The word (logos-reason) became flesh. And dwelt among us.

 That one who brought everything into existence. Who literally Spoke and it came to be and it was good. That Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Word through which all things were made and without which nothing was made that has been made. That Word, that eternally existing reason took upon Himself human flesh, blood and bones. For it was absolutely necessary. For you see though God created all things good, mankind failed to believe God, and rather believe a lie, that they would be like god.  Thus in their disobedience to  trust Him and obey Him, death was initiated, as  God subjected all things to futility, vanity, and utter uselessness. 

The entire creation fell into a state of separation from the God who brought them into existence. And sin coursed through every fiber of the created order. 

Yet in Gen 3:15 a promise was made of one who would remedy the situation, when the fullness of time would come. 

In the  years before this one was to be born, God through the prophet Isaiah spoke of a child born, a Son given called wonderful, counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting father, prince of peace. One who would make peace between God and all the human race. Who would be pierced for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. One who would be cut off from the land of the living and yet would see his seed having  gave his life a ransom for the sins of many. 

This Messiah, the anointed Son of the Most high, the  One to whom every knee shall  bow and every tongue confess. And every tongue swear allegiance, being the only name under heaven by which anyone can find meaning, hope and salvation to eternal life. A way out of that pit where hopelessness, pain and foolishness of this present evil age rage and devour. 

That One has come and He Only fulfills the promise God made to the world. In this is love the Scripture says,  not that we loved God. For we are conceived as natural born enemies of the God of the Bible,  that proclaims all  have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So say the Apostles of the Way, the Truth and the Life.  

What is truth? 

Now immortal words etched into the annals of time and space itself. Uttered by the  hard hearted and cynical governor of the province of Judaea.  Who questioned Jesus the Christ and responded after Jesus proclaimed "everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

The truth is Jesus is who He said He was, God's One and Only Son. And he proved it by rising from the dead. And being seen by all the apostles who claimed his name as the only way. And by more than 500 who Paul an apostle said, " go ask them, they will acknowledge that they were indeed witnesses that Jesus the Christ rose from the dead." 

This one who existed before Abraham was, and claimed before Abraham was  "I Am." And those Jews listening to Him picked up stones to throw at Him. Why? They knew exactly what He was saying. That He is indeed God in the flesh. 

And He proved it. For while in prison John the Baptist who heard about the works of Jesus sent two of his disciples to ask Him if indeed He was the coming one or should they look for another. Jesus answered and said to them, go and tell John the things which you hear and see: the Blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the Gospel preached to them. and blessed is he who is not offended because of Me. 

He indeed is the One who came down  from heaven, born of a virgin, a young girl named Mary, upon which the Holy Spirit lighted upon,  and  the power of the Most High  overshadowed her.  Thus was born, of flesh and blood and bones, the God/man, Jesus Christ. When the fullness of time had come, the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God, humbled Himself and became obedient in all He was sent to do.  

He is the only mediator between God and all the human race. He is a  Prophet, Priest, King of King and Lord of Lords.  A great high priest who was tempted in every way as we are. Yet, without sin. The One in whom God is well pleased and says to us all, "Hear Him."   

"For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,  that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him." (John 5:20-23) 

For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.  Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name,  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:5-11)

it is appointed once for all people to die, and after that to face judgment, (Heb 9:27)

When you stand at the judgement seat of God, will it be in your own good works, which are as filthy rags, tainted, cursed and unworthy to be accepted before a Perfect, Holy, God. For remember, to inhabit the kingdom of God, the New Heavens and New Earth, Jesus Himself said,"You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Only One Human being accomplished this. Jesus the very Son of God. 

Or when you stand before that judgement seat, will it be by grace through faith and not of yourself. Will it in the precious righteousness of God's one and only Son. Who saves us from the  wrath of God to come. And gives us the gift of everlasting life. Secured by grace through faith in the only name under heaven  by which anyone can be saved.  

THERE IS NO OTHER WAY. I don't say this on my own authority. Jesus said this. (John 14:6) He is  God's gift to a lost and dying world. I have come to realize God really doesn't owe anyone anything. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us Christians likewise at one time were following the course of this world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience and we were "BY NATURE" children of God's wrath. (Eph. 2:1-5)

Everyone deserves His wrath. But to those who believe, confess, repent, trust and obey,  He saves, not because of the righteous things we have done or will ever do,  but because of His mercy. 

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:“In an acceptable time I have heard you, And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.(2 Cor 6:1-2)

If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom. 10:9)

Ball of Confusion

 An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, Vote for me and I'll set you free, Rap on, brother, rap on.

Well, the only person talking about love thy brother is the preacher, And it seems nobody's interested in learning but the teacher

Ball of confusion, Oh yeah, that's what the world is today

The sale of pills are at an all time high, Young folks walking round with their heads in the sky, The cities ablaze in the summer time, And oh, the beat goes on

So, round and around and around we go, Where the world's headed, said nobody knows

Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors,  population out of hand, suicide, Great Googamooga, Can't you hear me talking to you?

It's a ball of confusion, That's what the world is today, hey, hey (Temptations 1970)

                                                                                            

Somewhat dated yet much still applies 51 years later in that 1970 song from Motown's Temptations. One thing that never changes though and hasn't changed for the course of humanities existence is mankinds fallen sinful nature. 

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions  and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. (Gal 5:19-20)

Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the craving of sinful man, lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boasting of what we have and do, —comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17)

And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers,  backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,  undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;  who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them. (Romans 1:28-32)

To the believers  Peter wrote "For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, (extreme indulgence in bodily pleasures and especially sexual pleasures)  lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead." 

Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,  nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.(1 Cor 6:9-10)

Well, sounds hopeless doesn't it. The Apostle adds this to the Corinthian verses that changes that despair  to hope.  

 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.(you were cleansed from all your sins, set apart for God and seen as righteous through the only name under heaven by which we can be saved)                                          

The country,  

                          

the world for that matter is a hotbed of confusion.

                                     

 There is so much happening all at the same time: pestilence,  terrorism, threatening storms.  I vision actor  Charlton Heston  imprisoned in the film Planet of the Apes  screaming at the top of his lungs,  "it's a madhouse! A madhouse! The world truly is a Ball of Confusion today.                      

                                          

But God's word is not confused. it gets to the point and doesn't waver. He has promised us a Blessed Hope."  Hope for deliverance from ourselves. God judges in various ways. Sometimes in a temporal sense. Then eternal judgement from the presence of God and the glory of His power. Which  is eternal punishment. (everlasting)  (Matt 25:46) 

Some like to postulate a view of  annihilation. That  the wicked simply cease to exist. Note: both everlasting and eternal (translations from the greek language) is the same word.... in the original Greek in which the New testament was written. Meaning  without end, never to cease, everlasting. 

If the punishment is NOT eternal and everlasting then neither is the eternal, everlasting life promised by God and proclaimed by Jesus Christ himself in Matthew 25:46....and that makes no sense at all for Jesus, the very Son of God said in John 14 "“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope.  For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.  For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess 4:13-18)

It would be no comfort all if the eternal life promised by God to his people by grace through faith is not everlasting. 

NO the eternal life is just that: forever, without end. And the everlasting destruction is everlasting punishment for those who have not believed in the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. (John 14:6;Acts 4:12) Saved from the wrath poured out on the world and the eternal judgement awaiting those who have not believed, trusted  and obeyed God's only accepted ONE by which we can be saved. (col 3:1-7;) 

God has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Jesus said eternal damnation in Hell is "weeping and gnashing of teeth." I believe the weeping is having heard the Word of Truth but having denied it. Having refused to believe and accept the truth. And the gnashing of teeth is eternal anger and hatred of the Only True God of creation.  

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”(John 3:36)                                    

                                          

The Word of God proclaims worshipping any other God but the God of scripture and giving worship to His One and Only Son in whom God the Father is well pleased is an act of idolatry.  You are worshipping the demonic.  Satan desires to keep everyone away from the truth.  He is the father of lies and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8) 

                                 

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked  (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)—  then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,  and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,  whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. (Jude4-11)

(NOTE: The dignitaries here are the fallen angels that were cast out of heaven with satan that devil of old ) false teachers who speak against the divine government established by God for the universe. Jude notes in a similar passage that even the archangel Michael spoke respectfully to Satan, the premier fallen angel (Jude 8-9).(ICR speaking evil of dignitaries) Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.  Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

I pray do not be like those who do not believe God. No one will stand before God and say, "Well if you would have given me more proof." The proof is all around us " since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,"(Romans 1:20)

it's just as Peter says in his second letter chapter 3.... 

 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder,  that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.”  For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,  by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.  For He says:“In an acceptable time I have heard you,And in the day of salvation I have helped you.”Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation. (2 Cor 6)

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9)