"There is no wisdom or understanding
or counsel against the Lord."
Proverbs 21:30
One cannot win against the Lord. A wicked man thinks to himself about how he is going to make his way, but once the Lord has determined the outcome there is nothing that man can do to change it. He revels in his cleverness and devises the ways he will avoid bad results, but the one thing he cannot prevail against is the Word of God.
Consider the evil men who once lived, Nebuchadnezzar, Nero, Hitler, Stalin, Lenin, Mao, and multitudes upon multitudes more ...where are they now? What did they gain by their wisdom, their cleverness, their power? It's over for them. Finished. And they have an eternity to spend in regret. Their proud counsel against God gained them nothing, only hell. And even in hell, every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
"...at the name of Jesus every knee will bow,
of those in heaven, and of those on earth,
and of those under the earth,
and that EVERY tongue will confess
that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."
Philippians 2:10-11
There are no atheists in hell. They are no longer atheists - they all know the truth now.
Why did they rail against God in life? Did they give no thought to their future? Were they so drunk with their own pride that their mortality never concerned them? Were they so successful in their self-will that they were fearless? But oh foolish men - their pride meets its fate. Their self-will comes to its tragic end.
You can't live for evil in your life and then go with Jesus when you die. How foolish. Truly their pride, in the end, is finally revealed as foolishness.
"For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God."
1st Corinthians 3:19
But for anyone who has willingly bowed their knee before Jesus Christ, their future will be secured and their joy beyond what anyone has ever imagined. These are they who realized their mortality and were aware that they need to settle it. These are they who saw their sinful soul and sought pardon for their sins. These are they who realized the wisdom of God and the truth of God, who accepted and believed his Word and who were willing to surrender their lives to him. When they bowed before him, surrendering their pride, confessing their sin, asking for forgiveness, and receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, their fate was eternally settled by him and all they have to look forward to is the glory of the life to come.
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
nor have entered into the heart of man
the things which God has prepared
...for those who love him.”
1st Corinthians 2:9
If anyone wicked is reading this, I pray you will come to understand that your pride is going to be your undoing. Your pride will be broken. You can choose to surrender it now, or else have your pride destroyed when you stand before Jesus Christ. Rail if you want, scoff if you want, hate if you want, but your fate will be sealed. Think very deeply before you decide to live in the enjoyment of sin for awhile, while looking forward to an eternity in hell. Hell is real, and the Word of God says it's a place of eternal TORMENT. There is no avoiding it for the proud who ignore Christ. Jesus Christ holds out to you the offer of eternal life. He is willing to place you under the blood he shed in atonement for your sin. He is willing, even inviting you, yes even you, to walk with him in this world, and live with him forever. He loves you. Perhaps he is the only one who has ever loved you. Come to him. He will forgive your sins completely. But your pride has to be surrendered first. Bow your knee before him now while you can do it willingly, and change your fate now while you still can.
"Behold, now is the accepted time, behold, now is the day of salvation."
2nd Corinthians 6:2
"And you he made alive,
who were dead in trespasses and sins,
in which you once walked
according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience..."
Ephesians 2:1-2
It has been said that the greatest and most successful deception that Satan accomplishes is to convince mankind that he doesn't exist, or that references to him only mean a negative power of some kind.
Brothers and sisters, Satan is real. He's an archangel. He was the wisest, the most beautiful, and the most powerful of all the angels God had created. He saw his beauty and power and in his pride he rebelled against God, thinking to rise above him, and was banished instead from his place in heaven. His agenda now is to hate those who will someday be in the place that he lost. He comes “to steal, kill, and destroy" all that God loves - especially us, because we are to inherit the heaven that Satane lost.
The Scriptures make it abundantly clear that the kingdom of this world is headed up by Satan who usurped Adam's authority by causing him to sin. All who are descended from Adam are born into a fallen human nature - and are born into the kingdom of darkness, the realm of Satan himself. That is WHY Jesus said we must be born again.
When Adam sinned, his spirit died, his connection to God died, and all born from Adam are born likewise, that's why it is imperative that we be born again, born into the Kingdom of God. It is absolutely vital. Jesus stressed it:
vs 7:
Do not marvel that I said to you,
you MUST be born again."
Mankind walks according to the principles of the world and are under the control of that prince, that spirit who controls the sons of disobedience. This is why Jesus SO stressed it, because until we are born again, we walk in the kingdom of this world, the kingdom of darkness into which we were born.
In the human condition into which we were born, we are UNABLE to see or understand the principles of the Kingdom of God. Reading the Word of God profits us nothing because until we are born again we are unable to understand it.
"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again,
he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
John 3:3
It is so important that he repeated it for emphasis:
vs 5-6:
“Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit,
he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit."
If you have not been born again, pray with me:
Father, I don't understand what it means to be "born again," but Jesus said it is absolutely necessary. He taught that we who are born in the flesh, must be reborn by the Spirit. I know that I am a sinner, and that I need your salvation. I ask you to become my Savior AND my Lord. I surrender myself and my life to you, please bring me into your Kingdom. I ask to be born again according to the words of Jesus Christ, that I might experience that total change that takes place within. I surrender to you and will follow you all the days of my life, because I place my trust in you, in you alone. Please receive me, Father as I surrender myself to you forever.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation;
old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new."
2nd Corinthians 5:17
MORE:
Born Again - What Does That Mean?
"The Lord of hosts has purposed it,
to bring to dishonor the pride of all glory,
to bring into contempt
all the honorable of the earth."
Isaiah 23:9
This will happen to every proud and glorious man on earth when he leaves his lavish lifestyle and stands before his Creator empty-handed. He who enjoyed such honor will be brought into contempt. What a shock he has coming!
There is a passage in the Scriptures that says that all in hell await the mighty men of the earth coming into the place of damnation.
“Hell from beneath is excited about you,
to meet you at your coming;
it stirs up the dead for you,
all the chief ones of the earth;"
Isaiah 14:9
The great men of the earth lived in luxury, they were drunk and deceived by pride, they lived unrestrained from evil, their names appeared on the news media daily. The great men of the earth love the fame, they rejoice in the glory. Many of them actually think they are invincible. But they don't consider their end ...the grave is the great equalizer.
It's the same for all. The poor and afflicted go to the grave, as well as the rich and famous. There is no honor given them when the famous stand before their Creator, the one they scoffed at or ignored. They will descend in shame.
vs 10-11:
"They all shall speak and say to you,
‘Have you also become as weak as we?
Have you become like us?
Your pomp is brought down to Sheol…'"
Jesus said, "What will it profit a man
if he gains the whole world
and loses his soul? (Mark 8:36)
Think on this while you still have time. You don't know if you'll be alive tomorrow, many will die unexpectedly before the dawn of the next day. They will stand before their Maker, and many will discover the foolishness of the priorities they clung to in their walk on earth. But it will be too late.
What can be worse than finding oneself in hell? What can be worse than the shock and the regret?
Some say there is no hell, but they make Jesus a liar, because Jesus had a lot to say about the place called hell. It's in his Word. In many passages. He actually speaks more of hell than he does of heaven. Why? Because the “many” go that way. (Matthew 7:13-14)
As people age, they begin to realize how short this lifetime is. Some will come to understand that the wisest thing they can do with their short sojourn is to obey the command Jesus gave:
"But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you."
Matthew 6:33
Does this mean that you quit your job and go hand out religious tracts? No, of course not - that is, not unless the Lord so directs you.
No, what it means is it demands a shift in your focus. We need to work, to do whatever we do to support ourselves and our families. The apostle Paul was a tent maker. The difference is in the attitude. The attitude in the world is to become someone great, to make a name for oneself, to rise to the top, to gain wealth. Not so the believer in Jesus Christ.
The believer's HEART is focused on his Lord and on whatever his Lord will direct him to do. The right attitude is to do what one has to do but to always be ready for the Lord to interrupt and send him on a mission, even if it's just to speak to someone, to bless someone, even to silently pray for someone when the Lord has pointed that person out to him.
It's the attitude of the heart, the willingness to surrender at all times from a heart that has been deeply touched by the love of God. Some of these people will never be known among men, but on arriving in heaven they will find that indeed the last becomes first. The most glorious words a person can hear upon leaving this world are:
"Well done, good and faithful servant;
you have been faithful over a few things,
I will make you ruler over many things,
enter into the joy of your Lord."
Matthew 25:23
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