Friday, July 31, 2020

It’s God's Way... or the big wide Highway!


"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'" John 14:6

"My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,' says the Lord. 'For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9

"Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways." Psalm 128:1

"And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths. Do not be wise in your own  eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil." Proverbs 3:5-7

"...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.... And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."  Romans 12:1-2

"For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." 
1 John 2:16-17

Just a few of the many poignant verses in the Bible that reveal the attitude and character of a righteous, just, merciful and jealous God.  

He is the God who has been working His plan of salvation... to recover mankind from the ravages of sin since that infamous day in Eden, when the first man and woman decided they knew better than God how to run their lives.  Since then mankind has been in a state of decay and decline.

Increasingly, society today is adhering to man-made humanistic philosophies, with the central teaching being that no one person or group can be 100% correct about God.  Thus, the Biblical claim that Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to Heaven is adamantly rejected by those who raise secular humanism and moral relativism as the defining philosophies for humanity. 

Many unsaved sinners today, refuses to trust God, Christ and Christianity.  Instead, they lean upon their own finite, corrupt and carnal understanding of things.  Since the fall of Adam, there has been a battle between God's Word and man's stubborn sinful will to do everything his way.  No matter how successful the philosophies of men seem or how alluring they may be, we should not be lulled into apathy  towards— God's Word, His plan, His methods, His requirements, His judgment.  They all will prevail.  Everything will be done according to God's way. There is no negotiated compromise with God, only consequences for willful disobedience.

These are dire times.  More and more people are ignoring the Bible, viewing it as merely a religious book written by men thousands of years ago.  It is considered irrelevant in today’s humanistic world.  It’s divine authorship is continually challenged.  Yet, even a brief look at how the Bible came into human existence is incontrovertible proof of it's divine origin.  God divinely inspired 40 different men over 1,500 years, spanning 4000 years of human history, to pen the 66 books of the Bible.  

There is no possible way that such an accomplishment could have taken place at the hands of humans, to produce a perfectly harmonized Book of prophecy.  2 Timothy 3:16 states... “All scripture is inspired by God….” In 2 Peter 1:20-21, Peter admonishes us... “know this first of all, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, … but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.”  In fact, an astonishing 668 Biblical prophecies have been fulfilled and none have ever been proven to be false. The Bible is historically, archeologically and scientifically correct.  No other holy book of any man-made religion comes close to the Bible in the amount of evidence supporting its divine inspiration and authorship. Only a fool would deny that the Bible is God's inspired Word.  

Obey God or Be Eternally Damned
You have no choice, no other option, no other way, in the matter of salvation if you want to firmly claim God’s eternal blessing for your life—you MUST come to God the Father through Jesus Christ the Son.  We read in 1 John 2:23, “No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”   Again, in 1 John 5:12 we read, “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  

Either you come as a guilty hell-deserving sinner to the cross of Jesus Christ to be saved,  or else you will face everlasting destruction when you die. God’s warning, not mine.   We are sternly warned in 2 Thessalonians 1:8,9... “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”  Could the Bible be any clearer? 

Yet, most people today have believed the lies of Satan that it doesn't matter what you believe, just so long as you're sincere.   The road to everlasting destruction will be wide and spacious, able to accommodate the throngs of sincere people unwilling to see and hear the truth of God as revealed in Christ and His inspired Word the Bible…

"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.” Matthew 7:13-14

Either you're going to OBEY God and find the narrow path or you are going to careen aimlessly through your life down “the wide road” captivated by the philosophies of men, and find yourself ending abruptly in the Lake of Fire for all eternity.   It's your choice.  Are you willing to gamble with your soul's eternal destiny?  It's God's Way or a highway bound for Hell.

Make no mistake... the Bible, the source of ALL truth, is intolerant.  It does not offer compromises.   God said what He meant for mankind to know and understand, and He means what He has said.  If you don't accept and believe on Jesus Christ, trusting upon His precious blood to wash away your sins, then you have NO future when you leave this earthly life.  There is ONLY one way to Heaven—Jesus Christ!  

It doesn’t matter what you say, think or feel—how nice a person you are, how sincere, loving and caring you may be.  If you do not repent of your sins, turn your life towards  God, submit to baptism for the forgiveness of your sins (Acts 2:38) and live your life in submission and obedience to Him, you have no hope.  Salvation is not found in any  religion... but rather, in a Person —The Lord Jesus Christ. 

Would you rather live your life as if the Bible is true, and die to find out it isn't... or live your life as if it isn't, and die to find out it is?  Think about it.

Seeking and Sowing… Anywhere, Everywhere

  Maybe you know a missionary couple who have toiled for decades in a far away country and ended up with precious little to show for their l...