FINAL EXAM

There is no topic more avoided today than that of the final judgment.

A friend and I were discussing this topic at work, when suddenly a third person interjected angrily, “There is no final judgment, so stop talking about it. I do not want to hear about it anymore.”

He was truly upset.

It is strange that he was so adamant about something he professes not to believe in!

What does Gods Word say?

What can man expect after he dies?

Is there a final judgment or not?

So many people believe [hope] that we just fall asleep.

Please read carefully the following verses.

GOD wants all to know what lies ahead.

“It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27

Notice that Christ has given the sequence of events.

We die, then face the judgment.

Can some escape this judgment?

No, for all mankind is alike.

All have sinned and must stand before Him in judgment.

Friends, as lovingly and as carefully as can be done, I tell you that you will be there.

How will you make out?

Will you pass the judgments of GOD?

Are you aware that you can already know your verdict?

How can this be?

Jesus Christ has already recorded the decision in His Holy Word, the Bible.

Read the following passages carefully friend, for it clearly tells you the awful verdict; but notice that it also offers you a way of hope.

“And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the Book of Life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them; and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11-15

Please note: the final confirmation of the verdict was not based on the judgment of their works, but on whether or not their name was written in the Book of Life.

This is your awful expectation, friend, as you look ahead to your judgment.

You will not pass Gods final judgment.

As you read did you notice that your verdict can be altered if and only if your name is written in the Book of Life? The same portion that confirms your judgment, offers you hope.

God, through Jesus Christ, offers you the chance to settle now, today, your relationship with Him.

You can know forgiveness now, and forever, while experiencing peace with God.

The Bible says, “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 5:1

Or you may try to settle it then.

But it will be too late.

Is your name recorded there?

To have your name entered into the Book of Life you must respond to Gods offer to forgive you.

How do we do this?

The following few sentences will be the most important ones that you will ever read.

Please read them carefully.

To accept Gods offer of forgiveness and a new way of life, you must believe and accept what God has done for you.

The Bible says, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him (Christ) should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John 3:16

Whenever a person believes what Christ has done for him on the Cross and then invites Christ into his life, the result is forgiveness and a new life with God.

Would you receive Christ today?

You can do it right now. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2Corinthians 6:2b

If you are sincere and need help asking for forgiveness, then the following is a suggested prayer.

“Dear Heavenly Father, I come to You, confessing that I have sinned and broken your laws. I am sorry for my sin, and believe that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for me and my sins and rose again from the dead that I too might have eternal life. Please forgive me. I invite You into my life, and give Jesus Christ the right to take control of the rest of my life. Please help me to be what You want me to be. I thank You for saving me and accepting me and I pray this in Jesus name.”

If you prayed this and believe it congratulations.

We encourage you to contact a local Bible believing New Testament Church.

If you do not know where to look just contact us, we will help you with names of churches and personal contacts if required.

IF IT ALL ENDED WOULD YOU BE READY?

TIME IS WINDING DOWN QUICKLY

Mark 13:8 “For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles; but these are the beginnings of sorrows.”

Luke 21:11 “And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.”

Luke 21:25 “And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring.”

Revelation 4:1 “After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.”

Revelation 6:6 “And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

 

I have given us three verses of scripture that have been long in the coming yet are here or are knocking on the door, with one that may occur at any time and the fifth will happen soon after.

Many news stories have surfaced this past week 04.12-18.2008 that indicate that His appearing is imminently more certain than at any time in the past.

Pestilences are on the horizon again as the Times online and AFP have reported the likelihood of human to human transmission of the H5N1 strain of avian flu has occurred at least once in China.

Only time will tell if the avian flu will become the death dealing monster that so many in the world health care community fear that it may become.

Once again Iran and the muslin world is threatening the destruction of the Nation of Israel and the end of the Jewish race.

And once again the world has named the Nation of Israel as the cause of all the troubles in the middle east as well as much of the remainder of the earth.

The Nation of Israel says it will not tolerate a strike from Iran and the world does not censor the aggressor, yet lashes out at the sovereignty of Israel.

Over six hundred earth quakes have been verified this week alone in a region 150 miles out to sea from the state of Oregon. Geologists know that whenever this occurs a volcano is in danger of erupting, yet there is no volcano in that part of the world, at least not just yet.

Some other headlines:

EU aid chief says rising food prices risk African ‘humanitarian tsunami’

Soaring food costs threaten worlds political stability; UN official declares

Soaring food costs may cause ‘starvation and unrest’

Food costs worldwide are rising faster than in the last 17 years, Squeezing Poor Families

In our lifetimes we have never been on the verge of a global food shortage, yet that is what is soon to come upon our earth, it is prophesied and it will occur.

The food producing nations will hardly be able to feed their own and those that do not produce sufficient quantities of staple items will be forced to become militarily aggressive, to have the minimum amount of food that will sustain life.

The county of Haiti has within the last few days revoked its government because of the lack of available food, and in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, Egypt and several African nations, the famine of hunger is shamefully being magnified.

China, Vietnam, Indonesia, and India have reduced by 1/3 the amount of rice that will be exported this year as the climate and rising fuel prices have decimated global planting and harvest of this grain.

In other places the grains that could be used to feed humanity are being used to produce a type of alcohol to fuel the very engines used to grow more grain to produce more alcohol, it is a losing proposition, but in the name of money the industry is thriving.

Fuel prices are spiraling upward with no immediate end in sight, as those who have petroleum reserves have made the decision to change the governmental structures of the nations of the world.

The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations continue to pressure Israel to partition off its lands in the name of peace and then to give up half of the Holy city of Jerusalem to be used as a capitol for a nation that will not even acknowledge that Israel has a right to exist.

God warns against this as one of the last things that trigger Hisanger, you can read it for yourself in

Joel 3:2, and it cant be made any clearer, no one has the right to divide the land and separate its inhabitants.

We are living in the time that the Christ spoke of as the generation that will not pass until all things have been fulfilled.

The fig tree has taken root and has thrived and now is on the verge of the harvest.

Israel came into being in 1948 after never having been a nation before.

Jerusalem came fully into the hands of the Jews in 1967 and is no longer being trod upon by the governments of the gentiles.

How long is a generation?

Who can say.

We do know one thing , this is the year 2008.

If 1948 is the key, then we are 60 years into the fulfillment, and if 1967 is key then we are 41 years in, and either way the days of either generation are becoming short.

HE is coming soon, and very soon.

If you are reading this and you are not ready for His appearing in the sky, then please consider the truths as found in your news sources and compare them to the truths of prophesied scripture, you will not be able to deny that something is about to occur.

Prepare your hearts for His coming,

receive the free gift of salvation from Christ,

and then go tell others.

Whenever we speak of accomplishments we tell of things such as our works, goals, and victories, but not our deaths.

Yet Moses and Elijah saw the death of Jesus as an “accomplishment”.

Why?

Because it was the Fathers will for Jesus.

His death on the cross for our sins was the central purpose of His life mission.

So by submitting to crucifixion, unfair, cruel, and as painful as it was, Jesus “accomplished” the last and most demanding part of His Fathers will.

 

That two of Israel’s greatest prophets gushed about Jesus death--not His heavenly teachings, powerful preaching, astounding deliverances, and compassionate healings----confirms that His death, not His ministry, was His greatest accomplishment.

As such our greatest earthly accomplishment will not be our visible religious works, ministries, or good deeds, but our “decease”.

It will not be accomplished at Jerusalem nor on a cruel wooden cross.

Ours will be a spiritual death.

This glorious decease, for which heaven waits and of which it speaks, is our full surrender of sin and self -will.

First we must die to our personal sins.

We do so by surrendering the secret, besetting sinful attitudes, emotions, and habits we’ve stubbornly held, because we now see that they grieve Jesus and keep us from living in the fullness of the Holy Spirit daily.

Secondly, whenever Gods desires and our clash, we must die to self-will, not to be saved but to finish Gods plan for our lives.

When our strong personal desires are awakened in divinely arranged tests, yet we realize that, for whatever reason, they’re not Gods will for us, we “die” by willingly setting them aside to pursue what God wants.

Christ showed us how to do this.

When His and His Fathers will conflicted, He first told His Father exactly what He wanted; “Father…remove this cup from me” (Luke 22:42).

Then He put aside His preferences to pursue His Fathers preference; “Nevertheless, not my will, but thine, be done”.

Only after He emptied His soul of His self-will, the Father immediately gave Him overcoming grace: There appearedan angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him” (v. 23)

The Father does the same for us today.

Every time we yield to His will and empty our soul of our self-will, He gives us all the grace we need to live not only contentedly but also joyfully.

And His life flows not only into but also through us to minister to desolate, desperate, and despairing people on every side.

We see this in the “deceases” accomplished by the apostles Paul and John.

When Paul set aside his preference for tranquility and accepted his troublemaking “thorn in the flesh” as part of Gods wise plan, God was then able to give Paul the grace to bear it, and through him, more visions and revelations for the church.

When John put aside his desire to continue ministering and fellowshipping in the churches of Asia and worshipfully accepted his cruelly unjust banishment to the Isle of Patmos, God gave him new spiritual power, and through him, the new and powerful Book of Revelation for the church.

In the same way, whatever religious works, goals, and victories you accomplish in this life for the King and kingdom, none will be as important as your willing, worshipful death to sin and self will.

Have you accomplished this “decease”, yet?

If not hurry up! Fully die to all of the things that hold you back

Tell Him, “Lord this is what I prefer, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.”

Then and only then can Christ fully live in you, and through you, give the fullness of life to His spiritually needy people daily.

Fully, dying, fully living, fully giving.

False teaching of Universalism

The following is a response to a continued teaching from a person who claims to have the truth. What he teaches is not truth according to scripture, but is a false doctrine that is prevalent in today’s society and sadly is being taught from many venues in many forms.

As you read this response I would encourage you in the same way that the Apostle would.

“Hold fast to the faith that you have learned, (or are learning.)” 2 Thessalonians 2:15

Dear Sir;

What you are teaching is Universalism, which is a belief that everyone will be saved.

There are many people today who hold to the viewpoint of Universal Salvation--the idea that all men will eventually end up in heaven with the Lord.

Perhaps it is the thought of men and women living a life of eternal torment in hell that causes some to reject the teachings of Scripture on this issue.

For some it is their over-emphasis on the love and compassion of Christ that lead them to believe that God will have mercy on every living soul.

But the scriptures definitely teach that some men will spend an eternity in hell, while others an eternity in paradise with the Lord.

First of all, the proof that unredeemed men will dwell forever in hell.

Jesus’s very own words confirm that the time spent in heaven for the redeemed will last as long as the unredeemed in hell.

Matthew 25:46 says, “And these [unredeemed] will go away into ETERNAL punishment, but the righteous into ETERNAL life”

Some believe that those in hell will eventually cease to exist, but the Lord himself confirms that it will last forever.

In Mark9:44 Jesus speaks about hell as the “unquenchable fire.”

This “eternal fire” is mentioned previously in Matthew 25:41 as well.

It will never go out because it will burn forever.

How does one avoid this “unquenchable fire”?

Many people believe that all roads lead to heaven, or they consider God so full of love and mercy that He will allow all people into heaven.

While God is certainly full of love and mercy, it was these qualities that lead Him into sending HisSon, Jesus Christ to earth and to die on the cross for us.

Jesus Christ is the exclusive door that leads to an eternity in heaven.

Acts 4:12”And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all…”

In John 14:6, Jesus says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM should not perish but have eternal life.”

If any man chooses to reject Gods son, they do not meet the requirements for salvation .

Read it again:

If any man chooses to reject Gods son, they do not meet the requirements for salvation.

 

John 3:36 “ He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

 

With verses such as these, it becomes clear that Universalism and Universal Salvation is an anti-Biblical belief.

Universalism does not line up with what scripture teaches.

While many people today accuse Christians of being intolerant and “exclusive” it is important to remember that these are the words of Christ Himself.

Christianity did not develop these ideas on its own, Christians are simply stating what the Lord has already said.

People choose to reject the message because they do not want to face up to their sin, and admit that they need the Lord to save them.

To say that those who reject Gods provision of salvation through His Son will be saved, is to belittle the holiness and justice of God and negate the need of Jesus’s sacrifice on our behalf.