Salvation Is Not The End - It's The Beginning

“And do not turn aside, for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing." 1st Samuel 12:21 We're busy. Our attention is taken by spouses, children, school, jobs, hobbies, interests, and that leaves very little time for God. And because we're so busy, we don't stop to consider the fact that we're only passing through. When one is twenty years old, time seems like it's going to go on forever. But when one reaches old age, he becomes aware of the swift passage of time. You meet someone you knew when they were children, and all of a sudden they're grown up and you wonder, "How did that ever happen?" Because we keep ourselves so busy, we lose sight of what's important. We waste a lot of time on "empty things." On a yardstick, life here is 1/16th of an inch. The rest we will spend in eternity. All these things that kept us busy and consumed our attention will be gone, they will be behind us, our short journey here will be over. How greatly important is it then, to seek to know from God what our purpose is while we're here? “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn't really matter.” Dwight L. Moody Our eternity is going to be determined by what we chose during our 1/16th inch here. If believers wasted their lives on entertainment, they will enter eternity empty handed and with regret. But there are crowns and rewards in heaven that depend on what we chose here. We aren't told much about them but when you stop and think about it, if the Word of God says there will be crowns, then obviously they are something that will be of great value to us when we receive them. The wise man will seek out how to attain them. And when he reaches eternity, he will be SO glad he did. "Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire." 1st Corinthians 3:12-15 Note here that we're not speaking about salvation, we're speaking about what a person has done with his life. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for our sins, and all who have received him and surrendered their lives to him will be saved. But that's not the end of the story, it's the beginning. What a person does with his life will determine the quality of life he will have in eternity. If one truly understood this, would he not make every effort to use his God-given gifts and talents wisely? A man who wants to have a career must first spend years of schooling in preparation for that career. His wage level afterwards will be vastly greater than one who only graduated from high school. And so it is in eternity. One can ignore his salvation and still be saved, but there will be a vast difference later in the position he will hold versus the position he COULD HAVE attained to had he spent his life seeking those things that are eternal. What are the things that are eternal? What should we pay close attention to? The most important thing a person can do after being saved is to go before the Lord and seek to know from him through fasting and prayer what the will of God for his life is. Every person has received unique gifts and talents. Every born-again person is a specific and unique part of the Body of Christ. No one else can play the part he's been called to. How important therefore it is to find out from God what to do with our specifically and personally-assigned gifts and talents, and how to use them. In surrendering our lives to the Lord and walking in his will for our lives, we are ensuring our position and reward in eternity. Perhaps the greatest thing a man can aspire to is to hear the words upon entering eternity: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the JOY of your lord." Matthew 25:21

Why Win Souls?

"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise." Proverbs 11:30 He who wins souls... Our lives are filled with the cares of our worlds, and there are a multitude of things keeping us busy. Who has time or energy to win souls? But if a person would stop and think about it, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - more important. All the busy-ness of our world is going to pass. But a soul is forever. A human soul has infinite value. That person is going to live for all eternity, either in heaven ...or in hell. Make no bones about it, hell is very real. Jesus spent a good amount of his teaching on the subject of hell, in fact he said more about hell than he did about heaven. If Jesus taught on it, you can be sure it is not only real, but is of such importance that it draws us to pay close attention. How does one avoid hell? By being good? No! No one can be good ENOUGH. Many grew up under the teaching that a good person goes to heaven, and an evil person goes to hell. This is a clever heresy that Satan has convinced most of the world of. Most religions teach this as the way to be saved, but this is utterly, utterly, false. Pay close attention: if one could go to heaven by being a good person, the torture and crucifixion of Christ would have been unnecessary. Wouldn't it? The reason this is such a damning heresy is that it motivates people to try to be "good" in order to attain heaven when they die, rather than showing them their sinful fallen nature. Satan will do anything he can to prevent you from realizing that you, the good person, are actually corrupt in your nature. People do good things to cover over the horrid evil that lurks inside every descendant of Adam, to assure themselves that they are good. But the truth is, the natural human nature is corrupt. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked;" Jeremiah 17:9 Is anyone willing to admit that his heart is DESPERATELY WICKED? If not, he is calling God a liar. According to the Word of God, all ARE desperately wicked. That is such an affront to the mind of man that he desperately tries to do good to assure himself that no, he IS good. It's a lie we tell ourselves. "There is none righteous, no, NOT ONE;" Romans 3:10 "...for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God..." Romans 3:23 That includes mother Teresa. It includes every one of the apostles of Jesus. ALL have sinned. There is not one person who has been able to not break the laws of God. If a person breaks the law of God in only one point, he has broken the law of God. "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10 It's like breaking a glass. If you break it, the whole glass is broken. It doesn't matter if the break is small or large, it's broken. Every human being has broken the law of God, and is stained with sin. No one stained with sin can go to heaven. When a man is accused of rape or murder and he stands before the judge, if he tells the judge that he has given money to charity, that isn't going to change a thing. The judge doesn't care what good the man has done in his life, the issue is his crime. When one stands accused of breaking the laws of God, what good he has done in life isn't going to matter, his sin is the issue. But what if another man comes to the judge and persuades him to let him take the punishment FOR the criminal? That's exactly what God did for us. He sent his Son Jesus Christ to take upon himself the judgment due on our sin. Jesus Christ allowed men that he had made - to scourge him and spit in his face, to place a crown of thorns on his head and to nail him to a cross and crucify him. When Jesus hung on that cross, he was bearing the judgment due those men. He was bearing the judgment due YOU. He shed his blood and died for YOU. But his atonement, to take effect, must be accepted. "He paid a debt he did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay." To be acquitted, one has to receive that salvation, one has to be born again, and that can only happen when a person comes to accept the truth about himself, confesses his sinfulness, and surrenders his life to Jesus Christ. When one is born again, he belongs to Jesus. Jesus becomes his Lord, and the Lord begins the story of salvation in that person's life, he begins the process of destroying the works of the devil in that person and in his life. "For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." 1st John 3:8 Surrender to the truth about yourself, and acknowledge the evil in your heart. And if that's too difficult, ask the Holy Spirit of God to help you with it. Once you are humbled by the truth - and the truth is ALWAYS humbling - ask Jesus to receive you and become your Lord. Surrender ALL to him. On the day that you do that, a whole new story will unfold for you as the Lord destroys the works of the devil in your life and begins the work of salvation. You will be amazed, absolutely awed at what he will do in you and for you. You will be filled with joy. You will be so thankful that all that will matter to you will be ...to bring this salvation to others, to win souls. More: Born Again -What Does That Mean?

A Promise To Those Who Have Waited In Patience

"I John, both your brother and companion

in the tribulation and kingdom

and patience of Jesus Christ,

was on the island that is called Patmos

for the Word of God

and for the testimony of Jesus Christ."

Revelation 1:9

The apostle John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved," had been exiled to the island of Patmos and there he received the vision and the words of the Book of Revelation.

It should be noted here that in spite of being one whom Jesus particularly loved, yet he was not spared the tribulations of this lifetime. He didn't try to "claim" his freedom, or speak words that would move God to free him. John the beloved accepted his fate not knowing that the vision and revelation he would receive there on Patmos would go down in history as one of the greatest passages in the entire Bible. God doesn't let us know in advance the "why's and wherefores" of the circumstances we find ourselves in as we walk through this life. John made it very clear in this passage that even the most dear and most faithful followers of Jesus Christ would experience suffering and injustice and were expected to abide in "the patience of Jesus Christ." Later in chapter 3, the Lord states specifically that those who abide in him while in trouble are promised to be kept from the time of the seven-year Tribulation period as outlined in the following chapters of that book.

In the first chapters of the Book of Revelation, the message is exclusively to the churches. The first three chapters are all about the church and only about the church.Then... The fourth chapter begins with a door being opened in heaven and John was told to "come up here" (Revelation 4:1). After that the scenes that take place on earth reveal the terrible judgments of the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth and - and this is important - the church is no longer seen on earth in the Book of Revelation until the end. Many believe that the door being opened and the words "come up here" show the Rapture of the church, especially because although the first three chapters were all about the church, the church disappears at the point when the words "come up here" are spoken. Of the seven churches addressed, only two do not receive criticism from the Lord, the church at Smyrna, and the church at Philadelphia. The church at Philadelphia is noted for its patience in the hardships of this life, and because of its perseverance in patience, God promises that they will be not be on the earth during the Tribulation, that they will be kept OUT OF that time.

"Because you have kept the word of my patience,

I also will keep you OUT OF the hour of trial

which shall come upon all the world,

to try them who dwell upon the earth."

Revelation 3:10

There are several other passages in the Scriptures pointing the believer's attention to the Rapture. It's even found in the Old Testament, long before the apostle Paul brought the understanding of it to the church:

"Come my people, enter your chambers,

and shut your doors behind you;

hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,

until the indignation is past.

For behold, the Lord comes out of his place

to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity..."

Isaiah 26:20-21

When the Lord comes out of heaven to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, we will not be in that number. We will have entered into our place in heaven, having shut the door behind us as the Lord pours the judgments upon the inhabitants of the earth. The Tribulation is the wrath of God being poured out upon the unbelieving. Jesus said that this seven-year period will be the most terrible time that the earth has ever experienced or ever will afterwards. His church, his bride, will not be here to receive his wrath.

"For God hath not appointed US to wrath,

but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ..."

1st Thessalonians 5:9

Friends, let us not be among the churches who received only criticism from the Lord. We can choose to dwell in the Philadelphian group with the promise to be taken out before the wrath of God falls upon the earth. But we are warned that it will take patience because we are not spared the trials of life as we live in a world presently dominated by the Satanic hosts.

We will receive the "fiery darts" of the enemy of our souls, but we will NOT be here to receive the wrath of GOD when it is poured out without mercy during the last seven years of this age - IF we have stayed in patient endurance until that day comes. All the signs are here currently pointing to the nearness of that day.

Jesus told us to ESCAPE this time:

"Watch therefore, and PRAY always

that you may be counted worthy TO ESCAPE

all these things that will come to pass,

and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Luke 21:36

MORE:

The Rapture