Why Christmas?

                                                                          Why Christmas?????

                                                     

The Christmas Holiday season is upon us. Crowded highways, crowded department stores  shopping centers and malls. As Charlton Heston screamed when locked up in a prison cell in the first Planet of the Apes film screamed ,"it's a madhouse....a madhouse!" It seems Christmas is a time of competing with neighbors in the amount of Christmas decorations necessary  to outdo the competition. And becomes a time of trying to find a perfect gift for whomever you're searching.  Interest rates on credit cards are soon forgotten. And paying for said items in the soon to be future, when the bills come due, is tossed aside in the forgotten pile of ones mind. Gifts come first it's Christmas and we have to do this. Buy Buy Buy Buy Buy!!!!
                                                   

I was brought up at a time in the country when most people didn't have credit cards. The first credit card was issued in 1950. So they had them but no one I knew had or used one. You paid cash or put it on layaway. And if you couldn't pay for something for Christmas then you just didn't give it by going into debt. It was lay a way or No Way. 

We always had a Christmas tree. And it was a real tree that needed real water so that it didn't dry out  and leave more needles than necessary to be cleaned up. Something my mom was well  aware of and always made it aware to my Dad and I. I always enjoyed decorating the tree, wrapping the lights around the branches,  hanging   the various ornaments, putting a star or angel at the very top and throwing tinsel icicles on the tree that added a special touch. 

And most of all  I really looked forward to assembling my Lionel Train laying the tracks down to circle the tree.  Putting my hand to the transformers main switch, moving it to the right and watching that train proceed to move around the track. 

                                         

In addition,  my Christmas  train would pass by  a nativity scene, with 3 kings, a shepherd or two, and a figure of a man on the left and a young women on the right looking down at her baby in an old wooden crib surrounded by hay. It was part of the Christmas celebration but I never heard that true story of who this baby born in a manger was and why His birth was necessary.

The first Christmas was held on december 25 in 336 AD. Why that date? The Roman Christian historian Sextus Julius Africanus dated Jesus’ conception to March 25, which, after nine months in his mother’s womb, would result in a December 25 birth.There is no mention of birth celebrations in the writings of early Christian writers such as Irenaeus (c. 130-200) or Tertullian (c. 160-225). Origen of Alexandria (c. 165-264) goes so far as to mock Roman celebrations of birth anniversaries, dismissing them as “pagan” practices, a strong indication that the birth of Jesus was not celebrated at all at this point.Even though Easter was already widely celebrated to mark the death of Christ.

                                                 

By the fourth century, two dates were widely recognized and by then, also celebrated: 25 December in the western Roman Empire and 6 January in the East (especially in Egypt and Asia Minor).The earliest mention of 25 December as Jesus’ date of birth comes from a mid-fourth century Roman almanac that lists the dates of death of various Christian bishops and martyrs. The first date listed, 25 December, is marked: natus Christus in Betleem Judaea: Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea.

It is widely held that early Christians chose 25 December to celebrate Christmas to encourage the spread of Christmas and Christianity throughout the Roman empire because if Christmas looked like a pagan holiday, more pagans would be open both to the holiday and the God whose birth it celebrated.

                                                    

Over the years, gift exchanges became connected with the name of St. Nicholas, a real but legendary figure of 4th century Lycia (a province of Asia). A charitable man, he threw gifts into homes.The 8th century English missionary, St. Boniface, Apostle to Germany, is supposed to have held up the evergreen as a symbol of the everlasting Christ. Around the thirteenth century, Christians added one of the most pleasant touches of all to Christmas celebration when they began to sing Christmas carols. Puritans forbade Christmas, considering it too pagan. Governor Bradford actually threatened New Englanders with work, jail or fines if they were caught observing Christmas.

But it seems much of the world, Christian world, has come to accept and look forward to a Holy Day on December 25th. A time of visiting, meeting those relatives or friends we haven't seen in a while and also eating a little bit too much during the Christmas feast at dinnertime. And most of us, including myself have fond memories of Christmas. But for many, if not most, the reason for Christmas gets forgotten in all  the excitment, traveling, giving and getting that the Christmas Holiday entrails. 

                                         

You have probably heard from some whom you believe to be overzealous, "Jesus is the reason for the season." But that is the number one reason to celebrate. The Bible gives the answer with John  3:16, "For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son and whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life."  "In this is love not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10) 

                                                  

There it is...God loved ...God sent....Jesus was sacrificed for the sin of the world. He paid the price that no mere tainted mortal born in sin could. Why is that? Again we consult Scripture. 

 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, (Phil 2:5-6) 

There you have it. Jesus in the form of God ( another translation "being in very nature God") and is equal with God. This Jesus 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. (Phil 2:7-8)

That little baby we see in nativity scenes literally came down from heaven to accomplish for us what no human being child of Adam could. Redeem us, buy us back to God in the sacrifice He would eventually submit to. The Word who was with God in the beginning was God, that Word became flesh and dwelt among us. By him, God the Word, Jesus, all things were created in heaven and on earth. He is before all things and in Him all thing hold together. (Colossians 1:13-18) 

The book of Hebrews begins with these words,inspired by the Holy Spirit:"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets,  has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds;  who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,  having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.(Heb 1:1-4)

In the gospel of John,  the Apostle reveals that the religious leaders knew exactly what Jesus was saying about himself when He  answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God."(John 5:17-18).

Jesus didn't correct them in this assumption. They had heard about and some had even witnessed the signs and wonders Jesus had performed. Opening the eyes of the blind to see, causing the lame to walk, cleansing the lepers of their disease,  healing the deaf that they might hear, and raising  the dead. And yet their hearts were hardened and they sought all the more to kill him. Their security, their prestige, notoriety and livehoods were threatened by this One the people clamored to see and listen to.

In John 10 Jesus  told those who asked Him if He was the Christ " The works that I do in My Father’s name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.  I and My Father are one.”  And again they took up stones to stone Him. (John 10:26-30)

 His Apostles understood He was very God in very flesh come to save His people from their sins. That Jesus the Christ was the only name under heaven by which to be saved from an eternity of punishment and absence of God and the glory of His power. (1 Thess 1:7-10)

Colossians 2:9-10 “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily. and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.“(Paul)

1 John 5:20 “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.“ (John)

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: (Peter)

Isaiah 44:6 “Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.”(OT Prophet Isaiah)

 Revelation 1:17-18 “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.“

Christmas should be a remembrance day of God the Father who sent God the Son on a mission. To save a people for His own from the curse of death and the scourge of sin. 

When you see that babe in a manger remember that baby would one day be persecuted, scourged, hung on a cross and would endure God's wrath in your place.  

                                                 

 

2 Cor 5:21 "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

"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)

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 15:3-4)

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

(** Some info
gleaened from Business Blog and Christianity.com)

Watering Down The Gospel

 

There are those who disparage believers who preach of fire and brimstone, eternal torment, the blackness of darkness forever, everlasting punishment and absence from  the presence of God and the glory of His power to all those who do not believe in the only name under heaven by which anyone can be saved. The way, the truth and the life Jesus the Christ.                                                                                                       

They are those Who cringe if  The FEAR  of the LORD is mentioned...... To those  I strongly disagree. To not speak of these things is to deny the importance and absolute necessity of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Fear of the Lord invigorates the senses...fear starts the thinking processes to percolate.  Jesus Himself said, "Do not fear those who can kill the body but fear Him who is able to destroy both body and soul in Hell."                                                                                                                                 

We have this oggy googy if it feels good , raise your hands, roll on the floor and bark kind of Christianity today.  There are  false prophets and teachers writing worthless nonsense about God's best for your life. Never approaching the doctrine of sin and the effects and consequences of transgressing what God calls inquity.                                                                                                                                  

God's best for every Christians life is that you we be Holy as He is Holy. God said this and means it.  Jesus, God's One and Only Son said " You must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect." No one filled that bill except the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. The Word who became flesh and dwelt (literally tabernacled) among us.  Jesus humbled Himself in a physical body and came into time and space to save "his people: from their sins. And it is God himself who must put that desire to know Him in a persons heart.  For each and every person is dead in their trespasses and sins, following the course of this sinful world, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedince and are by nature Children of Gods wrath. (Eph 2:1-5)                                                                              

 And it is God who  must instigate that new birth in a persons life. To have faith to believe, repent and obey. Saying a prayer without the changed heart, for the ability to do so, doesn't save anyone. If there's no regeneration,  no changing of a cold dead heart,  then there is no real confession and  no real repentence.                                                                                                                                                        

I have heard Christians so called say, "they have fire insurance." Meaning by saying the prayer, they're kept from hell. If there is one. (for many just don't believe there is)   Yet there are people who say a prayer and everything continues as it was in their life. No real conviction of sin. A shallow repentence. That is very dangerous. For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. For our God is a consuming fire.                                                                                                                                 

They argue "But God is a God of love who wouldn't send anyone to hell (if there is one). God is love. Yes, that is why He sent His Son, Jesus into the world. But remember  first and foremost God is Holy. Sin, any sin will have no place in his kingdom. And sin is what the human race is full of. It is called the works of the flesh.                                                                                                                               

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, (sex with another mans wife or another woman or someone  other than one's wife) fornication, (sexual contact with anyone if not married. Heterosexual or homosexual) uncleanness,(impurity)  lewdness, (unlawful indulgence of lust; in Scripture mainly applies to...) idolatry, (craving, wanting, enjoying, being satisfied by anything that you treasure more than God... you revere a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc..) sorcery, ( the word in the New testament is pharmakeia.....from which we get our english word "pharmacy." and denotes drugs used in casting spells....Those abusing drugs then are practicing sorcery)  hatred,  contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies,  envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-22)                                                                                             

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)                                                              

 Do not love the world [of sin that opposes God and His precepts], or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.  For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life [pretentious confidence in one’s resources or in the stability of earthly things] —comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires  [its lusts and the shameful pursuits and ungodly longings]; pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. (1 John 2:15-17AMP)                                                                                                                                

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 unbelievers)—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)                                                                                                                         

Yes God is love, I experience that every single day. His provision, His care, the knowledge of His Holy Word. But there are  those who say they believe and act as though it really doesn't matter how they live. It's "Sin- sure" rather than "Sin No More." We don't contemplate the enormity of our fallenness. How wretched we are in the sight of a Holy, Righteous,  Pure and Perfect God. And the eternal penalty that awaits those who are not  born of God....Who are not His people....born not  of  blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but born  of God. (John 1:13)                                                                                                                                              

His love  demanded that death of a pure and perfect human being and  only One, the very Son of God was capable of paying for the sin of the world. Jesus Christ made Himself of no reputation, took on the form of a bondservant, and came 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. (Phil 2:7-8)   No woman born Son of Adam, tainted, corrupt, impure, in their fallen state could qualify.  For sins inheritance is our lot. And we are that bad. That lost.                                                                                                

Jesus Himself said, without  me, you can do nothing.  No good works can be credited to our account as worthy of  allowing us entrance into the kingdom of God. We must be perfect as the Father in heaven is perfect. Only One was and is. Jesus the Christ in whom God said, "this is my beloved Son. In who I am well pleased. Listen to Him." One way, One Truth, One life. No one comes to the Father except through Him. (John 14:6)                                                                                                                                         

As For a Christians life. It is as Jesus Himself said to His disciples: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.  For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?"                                              

God is serious about sin. God knows us, our nature. Nothing  is hidden from His sight....As Jesus said "What comes out of a person, that defiles a person.  For from within, out of the heart of each person, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”(Mark 7:20-23)

All of us need a heart change. It is God who reaches down from out of heaven and ignites a persons desire for Him in their heart. God's word takes on a new and significant meaning. A person then longs to trust and obey. "For if anyone is in Christ Jesus they are a new creation.  Old things have passed away. Behold all things have become new." (2 Cor 5:17)                                                         

Not that we won't continue to struggle with certain sins and temptations. Everyone has them. Paul the blessed apostle said what I want to do I do not do  but what I hate to do in Romans 7. Our most treasured desire should be to please the One who gave us new life here and now and with Him in His Kingdom to come.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen. But on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary but what is unseen is eternal. (2 Cor 4:18)                                                                                       

Our lives on planet earth are but a mist, a vapor that appears for a time then vanishes away." (James 4:14) But eternity is forever. You will spend it in one of two places. Through faith, belief, trust and obedience through Jesus the Christ. One's citizenship is in heaven, and the Kingdom of God awaits all His people.                                                                                                                                                          

For the unbelievers, those who refuse to believe, the disobedient and enemies of God. What awaits them is a  a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. (Heb. 10:27) And as Jesus said of the Son of perdition, the betrayer of the savior in the flesh, "it would have been better if he had not been born."  (Matthew 26:24) For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.                                                

Grace, Sin, Salvation Truth

 I always believed the adage "Don't count your chickens before they're hatched."  Some of those  who claimed a Red Wave was coming should have considered that idiom. Well,  A Red Wave did not materialize.  In fact those in authority  democrats proclaimed their winning the senate vote was proof for their boasting. But the republicans winning the House? Hush .Hush. Or give a reason that fits their convoluted explanation. Ah the three ring circus called politics. It brings to my mind those 4 words in Psalm 116:11 "All men are liars." What about Christians?  There are many  Christian's  who are conservative. And the majority of these  are republicans. And their are others who claim to be christian and yet are democrats. They're not conservative yet lean toward a liberal bent. Then are their conservative, democrat,  liberals who vote republican? Whew it can all get very confusing. 

Confusing as well it seems is the church.  How many different denominations can you name? We're all sinners in the flesh and the church is likewise. Different views on baptism, sacraments, worship styles, music, clothing, nature of god, nature of man, we chose god, God chooses us, day of worship, etc. permeate  those hallowed halls. Hense the different denominations. But the main things are the plain things and the plains things are the main things. 

Yes, it is by God's grace through faith that one is brought into the kingdom of God. They are given a new heart to believe God's truth. And its plain in Scripture that before that we were a son of God, we existed as God's enemies and children of God's wrath. (Eph. 2.) And it is God's mercy, that we don't receive what everyone deserves. To be absent from God and the glory of His power for eternity and eternal punishment. (2 Thess 1:7-10)                                                                                                                                                                            There are some churches where worshippers are encouraged to take grace to  such an extreme level that anything done in the body is OK. Any lifestyle is acceptable.  Lifestyles deemed an abomination in the Scripture.  Or God is not angry. He will forgive no matter what lifestyle you pursue. There doesn't need to be a change of heart  in  the direction of ones life. Some even believe whatever you do in the flesh is OK. Jesus has got you covered.  Or my favorite "it doesn't mean that" about verses that condemn various acts that the bible condemns. Sort of like the gnostics who believed flesh is evil,  Only spirit good. And Jesus really didn't have a real body of flesh and bones and blood.  John the Apostle calls this a doctrine of the antichrist. And Paul addressed that issue of sin after conversion  in Romans 6.

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?  Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."  Walk in newness of life." As the apostle said.....

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

As Christians our delight should be to be more like Him who died and rose again to pay the sin debt that all us owe to God. In fact, our desire should be to be more like our savior and Lord everyday. Peter told the elect in 1 Peter  chapter 2 Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: “Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth”; who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously;  who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed." 

Died to Sin???          

We are born into this world as creatures tainted through and through with a propensity to fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind. We are born with a sinful Adamic nature.  When Adam and Eve chose to believe a lie from the evil one (you shall be like God) rather than God's truth,(if you disobey you shall die.) They chose darkness rather than light.  And thus all creation was subjected by God to futility. That is all creation was subjected to vanity.  Try as hard as a person may want, with lotions. potions, face creams, body rubs, exercise, body building etc. The end product is old age, decay and death. None of us can escape it. 

How should a Christian Live? 

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do (pagans, heathen unbelievers), 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) An unbelievers life is spent thinking futile thoughts, living self gratifying, lust fulfilling, flesh centered lives. If it feels good do it.The mantra of my generation that echoed from the stage. 

Peter reiterated quoting the Old Testament command to His chosen nation  Israel as applying to Christians in the New Covenant:  Therefore, prepare your minds for action be self controlled,  set your fully hope on the grace to be given 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.” (1 Peter 1:13-16) Christians are set part to do God's will.  

You might add "what is God's will ? "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 (slaves)  of God.  Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. (1 Peter 1:15-17)

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

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;  For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness.  Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. (1 Thess 4:3-8)

The will of God..do good....rejoice, pray always, give thanks and abstain from sexaul immortality. (any sexual activity outside of the marriage bond of a man and woman) 

Be Holy for God is Holy.  Not an easy task but Paul exhorts us in 1 Cor. 10:13 saying "no temptation has seized you except what is common to man and God is faithful, he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 

It is a struggle, it is not an easy task,  for  Scripture  tells us we  are brought forth in inquity and in sin our mother conceived us. (Ps. 51:5) We are by nature children of God's wrath (Eph 2:1-4)  We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners....we are born that way.      

It doesn't take long before a baby exhibits the sins of selfishness, pride, envy, greed and self-centeredness.  We all need a second birth. We must be born again, born from above, by grace through  faith and not of ourselves, for all our righteous acts are as filthy rags. Salvation by grace through faith is a gift bestowed by God on underserving people, and is not of good works lest anyone should boast. ( Eph. 2:8-10)

With many Christians (so called) it seems they have been taught a  faith that allows, for some things God calls an abomination.  That  kind of faith is not only worthless but will bring about God's wrath. In other words it is dangerous--for our God is a consuming fire. And it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Jesus Himself said, "without me you can do nothing." 

No ordinary flesh and born human being could die in our stead. Because he himself would be born fallen and condemned.  Jesus was totally unique.  One-of-kind. Literally The God/Man... He is the Word who was in the beginning with God and was God. He came down from heaven and tabernacled in a real body of flesh, blood and bones (remaining divine as well, yet laying aside some of His atttributes.) two natures in one person. As I said totally unique.  The One in whom God the Father was well pleased and tells us to "listen to Him."

"I Am the Way, the truth and the Life,  no one comes to the father except through me." (John 14:6)   Jesus Christ is absolutely essential in order for anyone to have a place in the Kingdom of God. There is no other name under heaven by which anyone can be saved from God pouring out his wrath. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son shall not see life (eternal) but the wrath of God abides on them. (1 John 5:12;John 3:36) God is serious about sin and those who are disobedient will suffer the consequences. An everlasting punishment from the presence of God and the glory of His power. ( Matt. 25:46;  2 Thess 1:7-10 ) 

Jude said to those sanctified by God the Father and perserved in Jesus Christ  "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." Those who did not believe caused all of Israel to wander in the desert for 40 years until all those who didn't have faith to believe had died. Then God allowed them to enter the land of Canaan.  Read Romans 1:18-32.  (check out  Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,...goodness  gracious be--Israel recieved judgement....was put in exile for 70 years, in Babylon. They  lost everything, their land, their possessions, their dignity, and their God  as the LORD  allowed Babylon {a pagan nation}  to be His weapon of choice to punish  God's chosen people in the old covenant economy)       

Israel tuned from the One and Only God who chose them to be His special treasure, the apple of His eye,  as they turned to idol worship  and vicious immorality, praying to and bowing to the gods of the nations  around them (and even practiced child sacrifice as did the people of the land)....That's right child sacrifice.

Jeremiah 7:31 They (Israel)  have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, which I did not command, and it did not come into My mind.              Psalm 106:35-38 But they mingled with the nations And learned their practices,  And served their idols,Which became a snare to them.They even sacrificed their sons and their daughters to the demons,                             Ezekiel 20:31 When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day.             

 But I might ask you. Are we any better? Human nature hasn't  changed. We practice the same thing today but it has a different name. Much of the population supports the taking of an unborns life. Offering up the child to the God of convenience that one may not have to deal with what they believe to be a terrible interruption of their lifestyle. For many it's a form of birth control--another form  of contraception. Their solution to the problem of dealing with the responsibility of their transgression....sexual immortality. 

God's chosen people Israel was privy to God's revealing Himself through signs and wonders.  Parting the red sea and thus drowning the entire army of pharoah as they pursued God's people. Still they strayed from God's truth and just went though the motions, made up their own rules and pretended to believe and began to worship the gods of the people around them. And made and bowed down to their idols. The images of the false man made idols of stone, metal or wood.  The Psalmist writes about them in psalm 115 where he cries out: 

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us,

But to Your name give glory,

Because of Your mercy,

Because of Your truth.

Why should the Gentiles (nations)  say,

“So where is their God?”

But our God is in heaven;

He does whatever He pleases.

Their idols are silver and gold,

The work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak;

Eyes they have, but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear;

Noses they have, but they do not smell;

They have hands, but they do not handle;

Feet they have, but they do not walk;

Nor do they mutter through their throat.

Those who make them are like them;

So is everyone who trusts in them. 

What about you how many idols do you bow down to?  You may not have little wood, stone or metal idols. But anything more important in your life and takes the place of God  can become an idol.  Money...Sports...Movie (idols)...Music....(country, rock, hip hop artists become idols) cars....technology (trust the science he says. Though it makes and has made mistakes  like those perpetrated during the recent covid pandemic). And even nationalistic patriotism, putting your country before God, can also become idolatrous. It is a fine line. As Jesus Himself said, "Love the lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strenght." God must be first. And yes it is a radical idea.  But Christianity in Scripture is a radical faith. 

Pick up your cross and follow me, said the savior. And Jesus words cut deep into those following Him when he uttered," "whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it." (Luke 9:24) He is the Blessed Hope that saves His people from their sins that is true. But it is also true that He said "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21-22) "

Jesus  spoke out against what the religious leaders of that day taught. They believed because they were in that covenant community of Jews,  walked a certain way, (followed the marked  paths on the Sabbath)  talked a certain  talk, obeyed the rabbis dictates,  those certain manmade rules and regulations . That they would be blessed by God for their good works and inherit Gods blessings. It was by their good works,  not by their faith or the grace of God.   And many were just going through the motions without any real faith or trust in  the God they supposed to believe. 

Jesus himself chastised them saying  "Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?" ( See Matt 15:1-20) “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves."  “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! Because you build the tombs of the prophets and  adorn the monuments of the righteous,  and say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets.’ “Therefore you are witnesses against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.  Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ guilt.  Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? (see Matt 23:1-39) 

Those words don't go over very well in this day of the feel good, your OK I'm OK churches that adorn the American landscape. Instead we see signs that read, "God is not angry" along our highways. But  God hates sin. Anything tainted with and by sin will not inherit the kingdom of God. It instead will be thrown into the fiery furnace of Hell as Jesus the very Son of God proclaimed. You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect.  

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and disciple. (instruction). Are you  one who fears the lord or are you a  fool?     

The fool has said in his heart,

“There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;

There is none who does good. (Ps 53:1-2)

Jesus makes  it very plain that it is by God's own chosing that one comes into His kingdom.  A lot, prehaps even a majority  of Christians hate that doctrine. God is the one who draws one to His Son and into His presence.  God is the one who convicts a tainted, rebellious, fallen individual of their  need  for a Savior.  Jesus --The One who came to save His people from their sins. God is calling one to come fourth from darkness to light through the power of God the Holy Spirit. And God is the One who regenerates the inner being of a person to confess, repent and believe in the one mediator (go between) between God and mankind. Jesus the Christ. 

Those Old Testament Prophets and New Testament Apostles, were  all Chosen by God. God knew them before they were even born. (Jer. 1:5; 1 Sam. 3;  Gal 1:15; Luke 6:12-16)  God made that choice, of who would speak His truth. Words that the listeners would not accept.(Isaiah 6:9; also Matt. 13:14-15)  Words that weren't what the people wanted to hear. Words that did not tickle their ears with lovely melodious  platitudes of victory over their enemies. Those prophets and apostles in speaking God's truth were repaid by the religious reprobates with persecution, torment, torture and death for many. 

In Hebrews 11, often called the faith chapter,  we read "Others (prophets) were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—  of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.Through faith they subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." 

Whew! Tough being a prophet that's for sure. Unlike the so called prophets today who pontificate that you must sow seed by sending them a certain amount of cash. Or go on  TV and proclaim God is going to rip all the evil out of the world....(actually proclaimed by a so called prophet in 1994...I saw and heard it). Guess what... it didn't happen. Cause if God did rip all  evil out of the world. That would be a real pre-trib rapture of every single person on earth into an eternity of suffering, and no one would be left.

For Jesus the Christ called all those he was preaching to evil. And explained to his disciples, “What comes out of a man , that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,  thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.  All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”(Mark 7:20-23)"  

The Prophets and Apostles calling was accepted by them. It wasn't easy. The prophet Isaiah was told by God to go and tell the people they may hear with their ears but will fail to understand what Isaiah would proclaim from God.  (Isaiah 6:9-10)  Jeremiah got those in power angry and was thrown into a well filled with mud and he sank down. and stayed their in the mud until his rescue from that pit. And Ezekiel was tied to the ground on one side for 390 days and then on the other side for 40 days and ate cakes cooked over feces also to make a point to the people Israel. 

The Apostles left everything, family, jobs and home to follow Jesus.   Once fishermen, tax collectors,  and other professions nothing surpassed that calling to "follow me" spoken By Christ. But they knew God's calling and obeyed the word God gave them.  It wasn't always received with gratitude by those they preached it to, but they knew that to obey is better than sacrifice and they knew they should  walk worthy of that calling they received. 

God called me late in life. I know not why, ( except the words "God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, from the Apostle Paul come to mind) It it was by His choosing,  it was by his mercy (not receiving what we all deserve--Hell) and by His grace (receiving what we don't deserve.) It was a major interruption of my life. One for which I am forever graceful to God for.  Things don't always happen the way you thought they should but this life is a learning experience. And there is a purpose and reason for everything. In it all,  God has been and is always faithful to his people.

Something we forget at times. For we get so caught up in the things of this world.  And events don't always happen the way you wish they would. And  we're told to trust the science...to trust technology. And for many they become most people's hope. But science  constantly changes and technology is  fragile.  Just see what happens when people don't have cell phone service or the internet. It is tragic. Great when it works. but if not. Confusion and interruption prevail. Remember too that Scripture says all men (all people) are liars. So we must have discerning hearts and common sense knowledge of truth. To survive the onslaught of this present evil age. 

Ponder this thought: God, through His Word, Jesus The Christ, spoke out all of creation.  And in six days no less. And Jesus Christ is the One by whom all things were created. As Scripture tells us. "He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.  And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.(Hold Together)  And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Col. 1:15-18)

"So Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,  who, being in the form of God, (being in very nature God) did not consider it robbery to be equal with God,  but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant,(a slave)  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. (Phil 2:5-8)  

It is Jesus the Christ that paid the price for the sin of the world. And calls out "Come and follow me all you who labor and are heavy laden and He will give you rest. Rest from the cares, the trials and tribulations you will suffer. Rest from the fear of death, for He has gone to prepare a place for us, His people and he will come again to receive His own to Himself. He loves His own who will spend an eternity basking in His glory. As John Newton penned in His well known hymn....Amazing Grace 

When we've been there ten thousand years

Bright shining as the sun

We've no less days to sing God's praise

Than when we've first begun

For God's people eternity will be an eternal learning experience...glorifying God and  enjoying Him forever. 

 I know the word judgement isn't very popular today. I work out in a fitness center that even has a No Judgement Zone. I actually had a good laugh about that one. And I thought, the only true real judgement zone is Jesus the Christ. " 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 5:22-24)                                                                                                                                 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. (1 Cor 5:10)  That's a bunch of judgement and for those separated from God in unbelief it will not be pleasant. When the Lord returns on that day to gather His own to Himself. And cast those who deny Him and disobey His commandments into an eternity absence from God and the glory of His power.                 

What will you hear on that day? Well done good and faithful  servant enter into the joy of the Lord. Or depart from me I never knew you?

Jesus said "You must be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect" You must have the righteousness of God to enter into His kingdom. Only One person has that. The God/Man...Jesus the Christ. He is the one mediator between God and men. (1 Tim 2:5) For God made him who had no sin to be sin (a sin offering) for us. So that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 cor 5:21)  

A real and terrifying judgement is coming on this world.  Coming at a time you least expect it.  "For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape." (1 Thess 5: 3) And Jesus Himself proclaimed that people love to be in the dark about that subject of life after death. For they love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  For the god of this age (who is satan) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  BUT God is calling His own to himself. 

Have you wondered about these eternal things? Have you ever wondered why is there anything when there should be nothing? Have you sensed His calling? Is God knocking on the door of your heart? Cry out to Him. "Have mercy on me a sinner." If you are sincere. if God has been moving in your heart to believe and come to Him. God will change your heart to have faith to believe and know His truth. A new life awaits  those redeemed who answer and obey His  call. 

When you honor the Son you honor the Father who sent him. As He said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. listen to Him."  When you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the death, you will be saved. From the wrath of God to come. And given life eternal in the New Heavens and new earth to come. (Rom. 10:9; Rev. 21:1-8)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.” And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.  All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.

 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” 

Behold The Lamb

I was awakened from my slumber. A dark foreboding cloud embraced my spirit. The sense of dread crawled beneath my skin. The reality of the wrath of the Almighty upon the wicked pierced within the inner reaches of my very soul. Terror gripped the unbelieving disobedient, those who had mocked and disobeyed the righteous commandments of the Holy One of God. Those with hearts hardened by the deceitfulness of sin now cowered in terror at the prospect of their fate. No cave could be a sanctuary, no rock could hide them from his face, no hole dug deep enough to escape from his gaze. And the words "depart from me for I never knew you" were like a flaming furnace purifying the dross from the silver. The time had come, his arrival to purge and perfect was it at hand. The lion of Judah descending, Behold the Lamb!

the Lord Jesus will be 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,  when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. (2 Thess 1:7-10)

the next day John (the baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)

Since the children (those God the Father has given to Christ) have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death that is , the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb. 2:14-15)

God made Him (Jesus the Christ) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor. 5:21)

And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:22)

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. (2 Cor 5:10-11)

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. (Rom. 10:9)

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)

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavily burdened [by religious rituals that provide no peace], and I will give you rest [refreshing your souls with salvation].  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me [following Me as My disciple], for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest (renewal, blessed quiet) for your souls.  For My yoke is easy [to bear] and My burden is light.” Matt. 11:28-30 AMP)

Jesus said .... “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. (John 14:6)

The Good of Evil????

                                                          C

                                                     Calling Good Evil and Evil Good

Rioting in the streets. Burning down businesses.Destroying cities and places where the law is adjudicated. Hordes  cross over and invade the country illegally for what those on the left hope are votes for more of the same. And the murder of a peoples own progeny is seen as a legal right. Rip out that fetus, to the garbage heap of immorally may it lie in its own amniotic fluid as its last breath of life ebbs away.

This insanity will surely cripple and evenually  obliterate a nations will both morally and spiritually.  Lawlessness abounds. Criminals are the victims and robbing, looting, stealing is accepted as their acting out to injustice. 

It  is seen by the far left, liberal, progressive, socialists,  marxists as the  proper responses to those who are deprived the same without earning what they feel they deserve. The Ideology that what is yours by hard work, long hours  and sweat is really not yours. But theirs. Your stuff belongs to everyone so give it up.  Private property isn't.  Your home is not your castle. It belongs to the the rioters, looters, robbers, who deserve a trophy yet never earned it. Welcome to American society today. Where criminals become the victims and victims are seen as the real criminals. As having suppressed the lives of those who have not.  Justice is denied and victims receive not justice. But a sentence of guilt. It is wrong. It is dangerous. And it will destroy a nation. And it is here now.   

Humanistic Hopelessness

 The world, it seems, is about to erupt into a conflagration, a self emulation, a vile wickedness, with feet rushing hopelessly on the path of  vain meanderings of a heartless and Godless humanity, bent on a  callous disregard for a dominion God has given them.

Perverting God's truth to fit their own wanton lusts. All are guilty, all are profane in their selfish idolistic worship. A hopelessness of dispair and corruption that consumes all who bow down at the altar of humanistic  philosophy and science so called. As the serpent whispers "has God said" the world listens, genuflects before the altars of transgression and descends even deeper into the realm of self destruction, despair and eventual eternal damnation. They have no fear of God and the consequences of their actions. 

Creation itself groans and reacts in the fooliness of those created in Gods imagine and have strayed from the truth of His rescue. In His laws that protect and guide and in His Son who fulfilled those laws and can deliver us from darkness to light and from death to life...now and forever.

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)

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

The Stone The Builders Rejected

Isaiah (oftened referred to as the prince of prophets because of his rich theology.) Wrote of things that would not happen until hundreds of years later....Picked up on by the New Testament Apostles as being fulfilled In Jesus The Christ...Isaiah Chapter 8:11-19

This is what the Lord says to me with his strong hand upon me, warning me not to follow the way of this people:  “Do not call conspiracy  everything this people calls a conspiracy; do not fear what they fear, and do not dread it.

 The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear,  he is the one you are to dread.

Jesus the Christ said, "Do not fear (be afraid) of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather,  fear Him (be afraid) of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt. 10:28)

He will be a holy place;  for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.

As it is written:“Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense, and whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” (NT fulfillment Romans 3:33)

Many of them will stumble;  they will fall and be broken,  they will be snared and captured.”

Then Jesus looked at the chief priests, scribes and elders with Him  and said, “What then is this that is written: ‘The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the chief cornerstone’? Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.” (Words of Christ Luke 20:17-18)

Bind up this testimony of warning   and seal up God’s instruction among my disciples. I will wait for the Lord,  who is hiding his face from the descendants of Jacob.I will put my trust in him.

Here am I, and the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and symbols in Israel from the Lord Almighty, who dwells on Mount Zion.

Hebrews chapter 2  In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.  Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.He says,“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;  in the assembly I will sing your praises.” And again,“I will put my trust in him.”And again he says,“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”

Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—  and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. (Heb. 2:11-15)

Finally Isaiah 750 years before the birth of Christ  in his book chapter 8 pointed out: "When someone tells you to consult mediums and spiritists, who whisper and mutter, should not a people inquire of their God? Why consult the dead on behalf of the living?  Consult God’s instruction and the testimony of warning. If anyone does not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)