When Your Conscience No Longer Bothers You

"Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” Proverbs 9:17 One of the most obvious traits of the fallen human nature is the desire to get away with something. Sin is all the sweeter if it is stolen and carried out successfully in secret. It is a joy and a delight that they have gotten away with it, that they've succeeded in putting one over on anyone who would have disapproved. They spend time planning out what they want to do, and how they can do it without being caught. This is the fallen human nature, and it is manifest everywhere. It is common to the cultured man as well as to the lowly. They have created a talent within themselves, they put a smile on their faces, and speak with endearing words, in order to hoodwink the naive who believe them; and they delight in their craft. What mankind doesn't keep in mind is that they can never pull one over on God. In his eyes they get away with nothing. He knows their every deed, and he knows their every thought. He knows how evil they are, and there is nowhere they can go to escape his presence. "Where can I go from your Spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there." Psalm 139:7-8 The delight in sin is fleeting. When a man on his deathbed looks back over his life, he realizes that he gained nothing through all of his self-will and deception. He stands ready to meet his Maker and he knows this is not going to go well. There will be no pretense here. He's facing the end result of his life of deceit, and stares into the fires of hell. Proverbs vs 18: "But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of hell." Throughout our journey, throughout the days of our lives, the Spirit of God woos the sinner. He brings the sinner under conviction when he sins. The conviction stings the conscience for awhile, but having been ignored, the conscience grows dull. Someone said to me once, "It bothered my conscience terribly at first, but now it doesn't bother me at all." That is what happens as a person continues in defiant sin. When a person persists in sin, the conscience grows dim until it bothers no more. When it bothers no more, that person has been GIVEN OVER to a reprobate mind, the conscience seared, the heart hardened. "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God GAVE THEM OVER to a reprobate mind..." Romans 1:28 "...speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron..." 1 Timothy 4:2 How can one know that he's lost? It's when the conscience doesn't scream anymore, when the awareness of sin is no longer there, when it no longer bothers him. This is a call to repentance. To anyone not born again, if you can still "hear" the call, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ your Creator and surrender your life to him. There is no sin so great that it cannot be forgiven, he is waiting for you with outstretched arms. But that won't be the case forever. The signs of the day of judgment, the great Tribulation, are all around us, shouting to us, announcing to us the end of the day of grace. Prepare yourself, for the day of separation is almost upon us and the door is soon to close. Come while it is still possible, don't take a chance thinking you'll come later, that won't happen, God is not mocked.

What The Love Of God Is Not

"But those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them." Proverbs 24:25 When the faithful cry out against wickedness, they are sharply rebuked and called all manner of sarcastic and hateful names. Those who speak against evil are called "haters" while the hatred is actually in the wicked. Truth is hate to those who hate the truth. The wicked rise up, shouting at the faithful that they don't have the right to judge! Oh ...is that so? Well, of course that's the predictable human response when someone is rebuked, but God sees it an entirely different way, saying in fact that a blessing from God will come upon the one daring to speak up. "Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" Galatians 4:16 In Matthew 3:7 John the Baptist called the religious leaders of the day “a generation of vipers.” Wow, such a "hateful" rebuke, isn't it! Today, John would be accused of being a hater, being unloving, unkind, having no respect for the leaders, and most of all being un-Christian. Yet Jesus called John the greatest of men up to that time. (Matthew 11:11) The Scriptures not only tell us to judge, they admonish us to. We are to "know them by their fruits" and then to turn away from those who persist in evil. "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather EXPOSE them." Ephesians 5:11 One might ask, "didn't Jesus say not to judge?" Yes he did. We are not authorized to pass judgment on anyone, the sinner will stand before the Lord himself to be judged. But we ARE to judge wicked behavior as wicked, and to turn away from those who practice it. “Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” 1Thessalonians 5:21-22 The desire of the faithful is not judgment on sinners, but the hope that they will come to repentance. The faithful knows only too well that the end of the wicked will be terrible, and always holds out hope that that fate can be avoided by repentance. This hope is not hatred, it is in fact love. Believers love others enough to strive against the awful reaping that will come upon those who do evil. "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 Corinthians 6:9-10 The popular saying is that God is a God of love, but sinners twist that to mean what they want it to mean. They make God out to be the soft and cozy Santa in the sky, and the word for that is DECEPTION. Love does not mean all is ok when it truly isn't. Love does not mean do what you will when what you will is sin. They have painted a totally untrue picture of God, and the dread of the believer is the horror the sinner will face when he stands before God and finds him not to be what he thought him to be. We are to know the goodness and the severity of God, (Romans 11:22). Goodness yes. But severity too. And woe to the person who has twisted the love of God into the idea that all is ok, anything goes, and if it feels good do it. No, sinners must come to repentance and for those who do not, there is a huge surprise coming to them. That's why believers try so hard to call them to repentance. Not because they hate them, no, in fact it is because they love them enough to endure their scorn hoping some will repent and escape the consequences of a sinful life. "And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh." Jude 22-23

The Earth Is Going To Be Dissolved

"Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; yes, they will all grow old like a garment; like a cloak you will change them, and they will be changed." Psalm 102:25-26 Everything in this world is going to be dissolved. Everything – the great works of art – the great cathedrals – everything. We are told this several times in God's Word: We're told in the Old Testament: "For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind." Isaiah 65:17 And in the New Testament: "Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away." Revelation 21:1 Nothing of this world is going to remain, the world and its treasures are all going to be dissolved. The first time, the earth was flooded by water in the days of Noah. The next time it will be by fire. It's easy to imagine now, because nuclear bombs in the possession of evil men could alone bring this about today. Whether this is the way it's going to come to an end, or whether the Lord himself is going to bring it to an end, the bottom line is that nothing from this world is going to last. "...the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same Word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7 There are great works of art worth hundreds of thousands of dollars; great sculptures, great books by great men, great monuments and cathedrals, the great wonders of the world - it's all going to be dissolved. Therefore, if it's all going to be dissolved, of what worth is it? God places no value on great works of art. He's not impressed with their value being reckoned in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's all going to come to an end. vs 11-12: "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and Godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" All will vanish -- except God: "But you are the same, and your years will have no end." Psalm 102:27 Therefore, let us not be fools in putting value on things that have no real value. Let us instead seek the Lord, because he is forever and those who belong to him are forever. When the earth is dissolved, the things of the earth will be no more, in fact the Scripture above says the former things won't even be remembered. But the end of the earth as we know it is not the end of existence. God is going to create a new earth "wherein righteousness dwells." To this we aspire, to live forever in a world of peace and joy. How important is it then, to seek things that will have value in the world to come? "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein righteousness dwells." 2 Peter 3:13 So, one might ask, what today will have value in the world to come? Only one's relationship, or lack thereof, with Almighty God. And it has to start with being born into the Kingdom of God. Jesus said one MUST be born again in order to enter the Kingdom of God. We are all born in a fallen human nature, at enmity with God. That's why we MUST be born again. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You MUST be born again.’" Luke 3:6-7 It's not a suggestion, it's a must! When one is born again, he enters into a whole new life. Jesus has taken the penalty, the judgment on the man's sins, and now the man belongs to him. He embarks on a life totally different from the life he lived before, and it's a walk of faith as well as a grand adventure. All his growth in the Lord and the fruits from the works God leads him to do, all will accrue treasure in heaven. What could possibly be more important then, than finding out how to enter, and then how to walk with him? What could be more important than one's relationship with Jesus Christ, our Creator? What could be more important than leading others to Christ, that they too might have eternal life? There is NOTHING more important. All else is going to pass away. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:19-21 Where is your treasure? Turn away from what has no value. Find out what will last forever. Just one life, 'twill soon be past. Just what's done for Christ will last.