Satan Destroyed

 (Excerpt)  THE DESTRUCTION OF SATAN

Will Satan be destroyed? This question may seem strange to some, for we are aware that there are some who regard the eternity of Satan as well settled in their minds as the eternity of God. In the popular opinion the devil and his angel will never cease to exist, but live to all eternity in hell, blaspheming God and tormenting the lost. 

But is this reasonable? Is it scriptural? For God to perpetuate the existence of the devil and all the wicked, would not benefit them; they are lost beyond recovery, and their punishment is not reformatory. Could a God of love and mercy take delight in such a scene of woe and suffering? Is it necessary to keep such an example eternally in view of the saints and angels to keep them in subjection? Shall such a foul blot eternally remain to mar the beauty and happiness of God's fair universe? 

No; such a thought is as abhorrent to reason as it is opposed to the Bible. Truth and righteousness are alone enduring and eternal. Sin and sinners are both abnormal developments, at war with the Creator and Governor, and, in the very nature of things, must come to an end. God once had a clean universe, and he will have it again. 

The Bible teaches that both wicked men and demons will be destroyed, and cease to pollute God's kingdom and government. Speaking of the humiliation of Christ, Heb. 2:14 says; "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood. He also Himself likewise took part of the same; that through death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil."

Then, as surely as He died, so surely will He destroy the devil, for the object of His death will be accomplished. We have seen that the covering cherub of Ezekiel 28 is the devil. God says of him; "I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness; I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee. Thou hast defiled thy sanctuaries by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy traffic; therefore I will bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee; thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more." 

Here we see that Satan is to be brought to ashes upon the earth, and that he will then cease to exist, for he "never shall be any more." He is the king of rebels. For him God will prepare the lake of fire. All who follow his ways will with him be cast into it. To the wicked the Lord will say, "Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Matt. 25:41. 

Upon the same subject the prophet says: "For Tophet is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; he hath made it deep and large; the pile thereof is fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle it." Isa. 30:33. 

The devil will be blotted out of existence, and all his works with him. Wicked men are the works of the devil. See Matt. 13:38, 39. "The tares are the children of the wicked one; the enemy that sowed them is the devil." Will they be destroyed? Let John answer; "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil." I John 3:8. 

Not only will the devil himself be destroyed, but those also who have followed his ways. Says David, "All the wicked will He destroy." Ps. 145:20.

The Lord says by His prophet: "Behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the

proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Mal. 4:1. 

Jesus said to His disciples, "I am the vine, ye are the branches." John 15:5. The followers of Christ are branches of the Heavenly Vine, because they bear heavenly fruit by strength drawn from Him.

In Rev. 14:18 an angel cries to the reaper on the white cloud, "Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe." 

As Christ is the Heavenly Vine, of which the Father is the Husbandman, so Satan is the vine of the earth; his followers bear fruit that is "earthly, sensual, devilish." They are confederated in clusters of all kinds; but they do not gather with Christ. Root and branch will be destroyed together. Said Jesus, "Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up." Matt. 15:13. Not a vestige of them shall be left to mar the creation of God. In harmony with this, the book of Revelation speaks of a time when "every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever." Rev. 5:13. 

The word of the Lord says; "Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth; much more the wicked and the sinner." Prov. 11:31. 

When the earth is made new, the righteous will have it for an everlasting possession. But they will have a reign of a thousand years in the city of God in heaven. The wicked have their recompense in the earth, for it is here and here only that they suffer their punishment. In this sense they are recompensed in the earth "much more" than the righteous. Peter says; "But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Peter 3:7. This present earth is reserved unto fire; for "the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Verse 10. This shows that not yet the devil and the wicked are suffering in the fire unto which they are appointed. Jesus says that their departure into fire is after He comes in His glory. Matt. 25:31-41. 

Peter says that this earth will melt with fervent heat in the day of perdition of ungodly men. And so the book of Revelation. When Satan gathers the hosts of the wicked about the camp of the saints and the beloved city, fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. This is after the thousand years, after the resurrection of the wicked dead. This is the fire that melts the earth, and burns up everything that pertains to sin and the curse. This is the fire of gehenna, for the melted earth will be the lake of fire in which Satan and his angels, and all his followers, will be destroyed; when all that do wickedly shall be burned up and left neither root nor branch. Here the controversy between righteousness and iniquity is ended.

Now what has Satan gained by his rebellion?-Nothing but the miserable satisfaction of having done evil for a season. He has lost all the joys of heaven, the pleasure there is in doing right, and the consciousness of being pure and innocent, and the happiness of being the friend of God. But above all he has lost eternal life. Had he remained obedient to God, he would have lived to all eternity without pain, or sickness, or the fear of death. But now he has to die-to sink into the darkness of everlasting oblivion. Oh, what an awful thought it must be to Satan, who once occupied such an exalted position in heaven! Can we suppose that the devil has been happy for the last six thousand years, in the woe and misery that he has produced in the world?-No; it is impossible. And what shall be said of those of Adam's race who have been his willing dupes and followers? They have been warned, they have been entreated, by the terrors of death, by the joys of eternal life, by the preciousness of the blood of Jesus shed for them, to turn and live; but against all they have turned away to ruin. Now they appreciate the question of the Saviour: "What is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul" (or life)? When this is lost, all is lost. To them is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Jude 13

Angels: Their Nature and Ministry-  (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)

You Don't Have to Understand.

 You do NOT war with yourself. You are warring against unseen entities. Yes, I suppose someone might read that and think I'm looney tunes. It's true though. Life isn't easy for any of us, not a single human being has an easy life- not the richest, not the healthiest, not the most beautiful, not the most popular, not the smartest, not the nicest, and so on. We can't have an easy life because that's just not how Satan works.

Principalities. Powers. Rulers  of Darkness. Spiritual Wickedness.

Eph 6:12  For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 

Doubts, fears, trepidations, anxiety, worry, stress - these terms are commonly used because they fill our lives. Just when you think things are on an even keel, that you have a handle on things, that you're dealing well with the everyday little mishaps of life-- right then -- along comes a very large thing that doesn't even have a handle for you to grab. Like a large bowling ball it strikes you, its human bowling pin, and knocks you over and boy do you wobble a bit as you're falling. This isn't an uncommon occurrence, in fact, it's what we call … LIFE. Yet, we chalk up all this LIFE- the ups, the downs, the sideways, backwards and so ons and so forths- to just LIFE as if it has no other real explanation.  It does have an explanation though.  Satan would have us believe it's just our lack of ability to handle LIFE well that makes us so volatile. That our particular mental short comings (through no fault of our own but rather the genetic short straw we drew) is the reason we can't get a grip on dealing with LIFE without constantly exploding- into tears, or anger, or well you name your particular explosive trait. I know I say I'm just not built that way, I just didn't get whatever it is that makes life easy for others.  (Yeah, I'm under the misconception life is easy for others- which isn't really a misconception- but rather a skewed view) You see, various things in life are easy for some, hard for others. Just because the majority find one thing easy, doesn't mean the minority is screwed up, it just means they find something else easy. Alright, we're going off on too many tangents here- time to reign it in. 

We are being attacked constantly. Every single weakness we possess is being exploited. Satan will harass us endlessly -each of us in our own personal ways. Satan has a tailormade plan for each of us that will keep us under His control. When we veer away from his plan, when we leave His control, he doesn't like that one bit and will attack us that much harder.  

Believing in the REALITY of Satan and his demons allows us to comprehend that WE NEED someone who can fight Satan and the demons for us. 

The truth is… it's our ETERNAL LIFE that is at stake here. 

We are allowed to be Satan assaulted, and that old popular saying…. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger … is true. Or rather… what doesn't kill you has the potential to make you stronger. And by stronger, it's a stronger faith I'm talking about. 

We won't understand- Satan wants us confused, completely and utterly confused by why we have to go through the things we do that make LIFE hard. He wants us to use that confusion to place blame on God for not letting us understand, to get us to despair. We won't understand, but we can admit to that lack of understanding and acknowledge God as being in ultimate control. We are thinking the next moment, day, month, year…. God has eternity on His mind, he has a much better grip on things.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and LEAN NOT unto your OWN UNDERSTANDING. Proverbs 3:5

He tells us right there! Don't do it! DO NOT LEAN UNTO OUR OWN UNDERSTANDING!

But…but…but…. BUT NOTHING! Don't do it! Understand that YOU DON'T HAVE TO UNDERSTAND!

Why aren't we to lean to our own understanding? Because it's very faulty. We don't have the big picture- we don't know how that particular trial in our life is going to increase our faith, we don't know when we're going to need the strength of having survived something horrible for our future, we just don't know. If we TRUST we are in God's control with all our heart then we have a reason for getting through all of the horrors of life, all of them. Even if we are facing death through disease or (insert death producing ailment here), and only have a short while left to live- it is for a reason we don't have to understand, we just don't.

Satan and his evil demons will torment all of us- you don't have to believe in them for them to torment you, you do have to believe in God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ if you want to be kept from the evil they will use on you to steal your eternal life. Then again, if you don't believe they are stealing your eternal life, because they aren't real to do so- and then it turns out eternal life is a reality -you've lost it. 

The truth is that no matter what anyone in the entire world has said, is saying, or will say…  only those with faith to believe there is an eternal life can have that eternal life through JESUS CHRIST. You definitely won't have eternal life if you don't accept Jesus Christ as Your savior, now and forever! 

(Excerpt)

THE DEVIL AND HIS ANGELS

Properly speaking, there is but one devil, though some translations of the Scriptures would make it appear that there are many. This name is from the Greek, Diabolos. The LXX., the translators of the Old Testament into Greek, uniformly used Diabolos for the Hebrew name, Satan. It signifies adversary. Of Diabolus, Liddell and Scott give the definition, "the slanderer, the devil." Schrevelius defines it, "a slanderer, the devil, Satan."

In Rev. 12:9, 10, "That old serpent, called the devil, and Satan," is also called the "accuser of our brethren." Satan was the adversary and accuser, or slanderer, of Job. See Job 1. And as the serpent he falsely accused God of withholding benefits from Adam and Eve to which they were justly entitled, whereby he deceived them to their ruin. Gen. 3:1-6. Well did the Saviour say of the devil: "He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him." John 8:44.

It has been shown that Satan, also called Lucifer, was once a very exalted being in heaven, one of the cherubim, whose place was at the very throne of the Most High. When he rebelled and fell, he did not go alone. He led others with him in his rebellion, and with him they were cast out of heaven. Thus Peter says: "If God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment," etc. 2 Peter 2:4.

And Jude says: "And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." Jude 6.

Of the judgment of these fallen ones Paul speaks thus: "Know ye not that we shall judge angels?" 1 Cor. 6:3. The saints shall judge the world-the wicked world-and the fallen angels, the demons or evil spirits who have been the instigators of sin in the world, shall be judged at the same time and by the same judges.

But Satan was the chief, the leader of the rebellious ones. He originated the war against the government of God. He was higher in rank and mightier in power than they, and it was by his superior wisdom and influence that he led so many away from their allegiance to the Most High. And, therefore, names and titles are given to him which are never given to them. While they are uniformly called demons (in the New Testament), he is called the devil, Satan, Apollyon, Diabolus, etc. Because he is their leader and they have given themselves to follow him in his works of inquiry, our Saviour speaks of them together, as the devil and his angels. Matt. 25:41. The same is found in Rev. 12:7-9: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels." "He was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." This identifies the dragon as Satan. In Matt. 9:34 he is called the "prince of the demons;" in Eph. 2:2, "the prince of the power of the air;" and in 2 Cor.4:4, "The god of this world." Jesus also refers to him as "the prince of this world."

A certain writer has well said: "Daimon , in the New Testament, always means an evil spirit, who is under Satan's control, a demon. The word Satan means an adversary, an opposer; it is never found in the plural number, so that the sacred writers acknowledge but one being of that name." But the demons are many, even legions. See Luke 8:26-30. These are Satan's servants, his emissaries to carry on his work in all parts of the world. Against all these Paul warns us, as

follows: "Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Eph. 6:11, 12. Not against the rulers of this world, but against the rulers of the darkness of this world.

We are accustomed to place too low an estimate on the majesty and power of Satan and his angels, making them like unto ourselves, or even lower. This is wrong. We naturally stand in awe of the mighty men of earth, such as a great king or a mighty warrior, but what are they compared with the devil and his angels. These are the enemies with whom we have to contend; so we ought to be acquainted with their character, and thus be better prepared to resist them.

But, mighty as they are, the angels who remained faithful to God have all the power of heaven on their side. The Psalmist says that these "angels excel in strength." Ps. 103:20. They are our helpers, our defenders against the powers of darkness. If we trust in God, and are faithful to the trust he has committed to us, we need not fear. For says Paul: "I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:38, 39.

Angels: Their Nature and Ministry-  (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)

Let Me Sleep

 Why do you want me to witness your pain?

Why do you want me to see every hurt?

Why is it important to you that I agonize with you?

I can't understand why.

To see your grief, watching every single tear fall, why?

Your pain would be my pain. 

I would ache in the very core of my being to see you suffer.

My heart would break if I had to see all the agonies of life heaped upon you, upon your children, upon their children…

You say things like- I'm glad they are no longer suffering, 

Yet you say I am where I can see you, watch over you, and see you suffer.

What horrific pain it would be to watch and not be able to help.

To see your every action, to witness every step.

To watch you draw near to danger over and over, and never be able to stop you.

How can I not suffer terribly to see you suffer terribly. 

I would need to be made of stone to watch without my heart breaking over and over again. 

Tell me how I could smile as you cry? 

Convince me of the happiness I feel when you live in pain?

Shout out that I am at peace, all the while I see you at war.

Why do you want me to witness your life as it marches on towards death?

Why must you place me as one viewing it all, just so you can believe I know how much you love me?

How do you find comfort knowing I see your anguish every day? 

I am given no reprieve from the tortures of life if I must watch yours. 

I would rather endure my own endless pain than have to see you suffer, unable to stop any of your pain.

But I can no longer hide, if you believe I am a witness, then I do endure endless pain as I am forced to see yours.

Why, I ask, can't you imagine me at peace, unable to see, unable to know the agonies of the life you have left to live?

Does it sadden you to know I'm missing the joys of your life so much that you think I should endure the pain just to witness the joy?

How is this different from life?

How is this better than life?

How is this not something much worse?

How can you call it heaven?

Tell me, do you want to watch your loved ones suffer- is that your idea of joy in heaven? 

Is that your idea of a better place? 

The ultimate viewing box uncensored in any way for all those I love.

I get to see it all, and by all, I mean all.

You cannot pause heaven's view at will.

If you seek comfort from me when you hurt, I hurt to have to comfort, I hurt because you hurt.

And you call that joy.

And you call that happiness.

And you call that peace.

And you call that love.

For me to be able to see it all is evil.

I am not the Creator.

I am not the Redeemer.

I am not the Father God.

I am not able to endure, I am not given the power of God to know the end from the beginning.

I do NOT become a god!

What if…

What if I have to watch you slip from God's embrace into Satan's claws, and I can do nothing but watch as you are forever taken from me?

Let me sleep.

Let me be at peace.

Let me rest now.

Find your comfort in knowing I know nothing.

Find your comfort in knowing the next thing I will know is my Savior waking me from my sleep, calling me to be with Him- and with you as you join us on that great day of Jesus' return for all His children!

Let me sleep.

Do not keep me awake.

Let me sleep.

I knew you loved me.

God has you, look to Him, not me.

I am at peace. 

I trusted God to keep you, and He will.

Let me sleep now, knowing my God has you.

Let me sleep in peace.

Let me know nothing - peace.

Let me sleep undisturbed by the lives that continue on after I'm gone.

Let me sleep.

Ecc_9:5  For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing

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(Excerpt)

2. ANGELS ARE NOT THE SPIRITS OF THE DEAD

We cannot admit that the spirits of dead men ever come back to communicate with the living. And we affirm, upon the authority of the Holy Bible, that they know nothing concerning their friends here or of what is done in this world. Thus Job says: "Thou destroyest the hope of man. Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth [i. e., dies]; thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away. His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them." Chap. 14:1-21.

This testimony shows that after a man dies he has no knowledge of what befalls his friends here. It plainly contradicts the idea that our dead friends become our guardian angels, watching over us, sympathizing with us in our sorrows, and rejoicing with us in our prosperity. It plainly declares that after a man is dead he knows nothing of what befalls his children in this world. Here is Another testimony still more decisive; "For the living know that they shall die; but the dead know not anything. . . . Also their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun." Eccl. 9:5, 6.

This text declares positively that the dead know nothing concerning things in this life. They have no part in anything that takes place under the sun. So says the word of the Lord, and so we believe. Indeed, it would be the source of the keenest anguish to a mother, after death, to see her children left destitute, abused, and led into crime and to degradation, as orphan children frequently are. How much of a heaven would this be to her? What good could result from consciousness in heaven under such circumstances? But there is neither reason nor revelation to support such a theory. Spiritualism is one of the greatest schemes that Satan ever devised for the deception and destruction of the human family. It is based upon the supposition that all the spirits who communicate are the spirits of the dead. We propose, therefore, to enter into a Bible investigation of this subject.

3. THE HEAVENLY FAMILY

"For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named." Eph . 3:14, 15. By this we learn that there is a family in heaven.

Who compose that family? Not the spirits of our dead friends, but the holy angels who were created in heaven before man was made upon the earth. We read in many places of the angels in heaven. Thus in Rev. 5:11: "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands."

Spiritualists claim that these angels are the souls of the departed ones who once lived on this earth. As a man cannot die till he is created, of course if angels are only the souls of dead men, there could have been no angels until after the sixth day of creation; no, not even then until one or more men had died. But angels did exist before man was created, or even the foundations of the world were laid. If this be proved, the theory above named, that angels are the spirits of dead men, must fall to the ground.

In Gen. 3:24 we read that God placed cherubim to guard the way of the tree of life when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden. Cherubim are a high order of angels. This was before any man had died; therefore they were not the souls of dead men. The word of the Lord to Job was: "Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38:3-7. 

By this we see that when God laid the foundations of the earth, the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. This proves that the heavenly family did exist before man was created; therefore they are not disembodied spirits.

Furthermore, men and angels are not of the same nature. Thus, the Psalmist says: "What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that Thou visitest him? for Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels." Ps. 8:4, 5. 

Speaking of Christ, Paul says: "For verily He took not on Him the nature of angels; but He took on Him the seed of Abraham." Heb. 2:16. Then in their very nature angels are different from men, and of course are not men. 

But does not the Bible say that at the resurrection we shall become angels?-It does not. Jesus says that the saints shall be equal to the angels, in that they can die no more.  Luke 20:36. But this does not intimate that angels and men are of the same nature.

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Angels: Their Nature and Ministry

 (Excerpt - for continuing study) Revised by J.H. Waggoner.  1891 by Pacific Press Publishing Co.)

Jesus Will Return and Receive Me Unto Him.

 Joh 14:3  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

If Jesus goes to prepare a place for us….. HE WILL COME AGAIN AND RECEIVE US TO HIM so WHERE HE IS WE WILL BE.

Has Jesus come again to receive us to Him?  

NO! A resounding NO! Jesus has NOT returned again. All those places He is preparing for us will be ours when He RETURNS for us and not a moment before. 

Believing in the immortality of the soul, that the knowledgeable part of us lives on immediately after death, negates Jesus having to return for us. If there is a system in place where those who are His simply go to Him upon death, then why does He need to return at all? Why can't things just continue on as they are? 

We are told this-

Heb 11:39  And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: 

Heb 11:40  God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. 

They without us… should not be made perfect.  The they included-  Abel, Moses, Abraham, Noah… etc they were NOT made perfect, and only the perfect can live with God in His heavenly kingdom. We are made perfect in HIM. All those who are God's throughout history did NOT receive the promise.  The promise of another world, this world wasn't their home- they were just pilgrims and strangers here, as are we. We don't belong to this world but we are a part of it and until our Savior returns and receives us to Him, we stay in this world- if alive then upon the world, if dead then in death's sleep. Our bodies decay and the part of us that has knowledge is in death's sleep, while our spirit breath, the essence that gave our bodies life- not thoughts- our physical body life, that returns to God.  In death's sleep we aren't thinking any longer, we aren't able to praise God, we are stored in the grave until our Savior comes for us and calls us from the grave. We have to ask ourselves, who is Jesus calling from the grave to meet Him in the air, if NO ONE is in their grave? 

Do we have knowledge of all the details of how God does things? We don't, we are not God. We were made by God. There are secrets that belong only to Him, not us. 

Deu_29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

I know my Savior called death a sleep, I know my Savior said He would return for me- not that I would go to Him when I died, but He would come for me and call me and all those that are His from the graves to meet Him in the air.  Being called from the grave to meet the Lord in the air does not sound like some life after death mystery to unravel. We remain in the grave until we are called to meet Christ in the air upon His return. 

The world of believing in the immortality of the soul, and immediate life after death is not of God it is of the father of lies, Satan. 

How many people has Satan seduced to his evil way through this corrupted, perverted belief? How many people are deceived by Satan and don't even realize it because they refuse to believe the truth? How many are going to tell Christ they are His when Christ returns and He is going to tell them to get away from Him, that He doesn't know them? He won't know them because they've refuse truth only to cherish lies. Satan is a deceiver, and only by seeking truth can we not be deceived.  We are told this- 

Mat_24:24  For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect

It's not possible for the very elect to be deceived, but Satan will deceive ALL those he possibly can, anyway he can. The art of deception is those deceived being unaware of the deception. God won't allow any who seek His truth in all sincerity - to be deceived. 

Help us, Lord, not to fall into the deceptions of Satan that are surrounding us and passing themselves off as Your truth when they are really lies. Please, save us from all evil! Keep us in YOU now and forever, Lord, now and forever! Amen!!!!!!!

(Excerpt)

(The Immortality of the Soul, Is it a Scriptural Doctrine?) 

Continued from yesterday's excerpt…

The coming of the Lord, and the resurrection of the righteous dead, are directly connected by Paul thus:

"The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17. 

And again: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:51-55.

"Then shall be brought to pass the saying." When?-"At the last trump," certainly; "for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised." When is it that the trump shall sound?- "This we say unto you by the word of the Lord, . . . The Lord himself shall descend from heaven . . . with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise." "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Then it is, and not till then, that men shout, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" But through belief in the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul, it is now sought to be made to appear that this "saying" is "brought to pass" when men die! There can be no more direct perversion of the word of God than to represent this saying as being brought to pass when men die. But what does the doctrine of the immortality of the soul care about the perversion of the word of God? 

The first time that that doctrine was ever uttered, it was in direct contradiction of

the express word of the Lord himself. The Lord said, in the event of man's disobedience, "Thou shalt surely die" (Gen. 2:17); and the devil said, "Ye shall not surely die" (Gen. 3:4; Rev. 20:2.) And there is no shadow of reason to expect that the doctrine will, in reality, ever assume any other position. 

It is not alone a perversion of Scripture to so apply the "saying" in question; it is alike a perversion of the plainest principles of reason and experience. For instance, here are death and a saint of God struggling for the mastery. Presently death obtains the mastery. The saint lies lifeless; death has the victory. When he is dead, is that a time to claim victory over death? When he is being lowered into the grave, is that a time to shout the victory over the grave?-Nay, verily. But it is not to be always so. There is One who exclaims, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [the grave] and of death." Rev. 1:18. And when that glorious One "shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God, and with power that bursts the bars of the cruel grave and destroys the strength of death, then the saint arises triumphant over death, and "then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." Then the saint can shout exultingly, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? "And, "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord

Jesus Christ." And thrice thanks, yea, "blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead," 1 Peter 1:3.

However, it is not alone through the subversion of the doctrine of the resurrection that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul strikes against the coming of the Lord. The issue is directly joined. For by those who believe in the natural immortality of the soul, it is held that those who die in the Lord go straight to heaven; that they go direct to the place where the Lord is; and so they sing,- "Then persevere till death Shall bring thee to thy God; He'll take thee, at thy parting breath, To his divine abode." - Gospel Hymns, No 112.

And obituaries are actually written by them such as the following, which we read not long since in the Christian Cynosure: "Alvah Palmer went to heaven from" a certain place in New York; and then the notice went on to tell when and of what he died, etc. And Dr. Talmage, in relating how a certain saintly woman was "emparadised," tells how the chariot of Elijah was outdone; for there it must have taken some little time to turn out the chariot and hitch up the horses; but here, in this instance, the transition was all made instantaneously, without waiting for either horses or chariot! And all this when a person died! These are only notable

expressions of the common idea of those who believe in the doctrine of the natural immortality of the soul. 

Now, if these things be true,-if it be true that death brings people to God; that men and women go direct to heaven from their homes in this world, and this so instantaneously that there is no time to get ready the chariot of God, as was done when Elijah went without dying at all,-we say if these things be true, then there is literally no place left for the coming of the Lord. It would be simply the height of absurdity to talk about the Lord's coming to this world after people who are not here at all, but are, and have been, for years and hundreds of years, in heaven,-in the very place which he leaves to come here! This is why the doctrine of the coming of the Lord is so neglected, so despised, in fact. Believing this, and there is no need to believe in the coming of the Lord; indeed, it is a palpable inconsistency to believe in it. Believing this, and there is no need to look, or wait, for the coming of the Lord; all there is for such to do is to wait till death shall come and take them; and so death-"the last enemy," "the king of terrors"-is given the place and the office of Him who is our life (Col. 3:4), of Him "that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood."

But this belief is not the "belief of the truth." There is no element of truth, in any form, in the idea of people going to God or to heaven when they die. Christ himself said as plainly as tongue can speak, "Whither I go, ye cannot come." John 13:33. Then when his disciples were troubled because of these words, he told them, in words equally plain, of the event upon which they must place their only hope of being with him where he is, and that event is, "I will come again, and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3. And

that word "that" shows positively that that is the only way in which men may ever be with him where he is. Therefore the coming of the Lord is the Christian's hope. And the doctrine of the immortality of the soul, in supplanting, as it certainly does, the doctrine of the coming of the Lord, supplants the Christian's hope. Then when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul sends men to heaven before the end of the world, before the sounding of the last trump, before the time when the Lord himself shall descend from heaven and raise the dead, before he appears in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory, and sends his angels to gather together his elect-we say when the doctrine of the immortality of the soul puts men into heaven before the occurrence of these events, it does it in defiance of the word of Christ, which liveth and abideth forever. Therefore we say it stands proved that the belief of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul is subversive of the doctrine of the second coming of Christ, and, in that, is subversive of the truth of God.

(End excerpt)

Eternal Prize.

Jas 1:12  Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

Crown of life… the Lord has promised. This crown of life is truly what we long for isn't it? The knowledge that makes this crazy world of ours and our very existence comprehensible, is the hope we have. The hope given to us by God, that one day all the crazy will be over. Every single bit of crazy will stop. From the smallest irritation, to the greatest horror imaginable- it will all cease to exist. The crown of life promised to those who love the Lord symbolizes the end of all sin and it's results- death.  Without sin there would have been no such thing as us dying. Every day we live is- as some have sung about- one step closer to death. None of us knows when we might die, not a single person knows this not even if they plan their own death- many who have planned their death have failed in the attempt and continue to live. Even when a person may appear to be on death's door, sometimes they pull through to live on longer. Not sick, not injured, not suffering from any life threatening ailment- we just don't know when death will happen to us, but we do know that we are one day closer to our death, yes? Being promised a crown of life is huge!

A crown of living without any death at all. With the crown of life we know that we- through our Savior- will one day live in a world free of death. There will be no sin, and therefore no penalty for sin- no death. We will never again be separated from God.

A crown of existence, permanent existence.

When Jesus took on flesh, setting aside His existence in pure spirit as God with God in heaven, He did so with the expressed purpose of obtaining justly the promise of the crown of life for all who believe in Him, fully and wholly believe in Him.

The crown of life- the kingdom of God- this is why Jesus came to live and die and live again- to GIVE this to us.

Mat 25:34  Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world

A kingdom prepared!

Luk 22:28  Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. 

Luk 22:29  And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; 

Luk 22:30  That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Appointed a kingdom!

Rom 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: 

Rom 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, 

Rom 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; 

Rom 2:10  But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile

Seek for glory, honor, immortality, ETERNAL LIFE!

1Co 9:25  And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. 

An incorruptible crown!

2Ti 4:8  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. 

A crown of righteousness!

1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ

More precious than gold!

1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. 

Glad with exceeding joy!

1Pe 5:4  And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

Crown of glory!

Rev 2:10  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. 

A crown of life!

Rev 3:21  To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 

Sit in the throne of Christ, with Christ!

The eternal crown is there for all who believe in Christ and live as a Christ follower in all truth revealed through the Holy Spirit.

Endure and receive.

Too many endure life's many hardships waiting to receive some sort of earthly prize for having to endure life's horrors. Too many wait for earthly relief from all their awful circumstances- some dealt to them from birth shaping their lives into miserable pits of existence. Too many feel the injustices of our current lives as painful nightmares- and still they have s smidgen of hope their circumstances might change for the better. We need to place our hope in the Crown of Life promised to us through Jesus. We need to place our hope in the heavenly prize- no one can take that prize from us, not ever and the prize is very real, and it awaits us all should be choose to endure for the eternal prize.

All through the grace, love and mercy of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ now and forever!

Amen.

Imprisoned Yet Given New Life.

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

All things are newly spiritual in Christ. We are raised from hopelessness, to hope. Our walk in the newness of life is one of hope. We have an advocate, we have someone fighting on our behalf.

The prisoners on this planet who choose to remain imprisoned even after they are offered freedom- live under a death sentence and they are controlled by the warden running this planet- Satan. We are surrounded by the unredeemed prisoners and as such, our lives will be far from easy. We must holdfast to the newness of life we are given- a newness we renew every single day of our new spiritual life.

This is truth-

Joh_3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Joh 3:4  Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Joh_3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

1Pe_1:23  Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

BORN AGAIN.

As soon as Jesus uttered those words, the very wise Nicodemus asked the logical question all of us would have needed to ask, right?

How? We can't very well go into our mother's womb again and be born. 

Do you think perhaps Nicodemus may have said that with a hint of amusement? Seriously. He was an old man and here he was being told that he needed to be born again. The very idea of having to enter his mother's womb a second time was laughable. Jesus wasn't laughing though, Jesus was telling Nicodemus a very important truth. In fact, this truth was so important Jesus told him that without being born again there is NO entering the kingdom of God.

Now Nicodemus was fully listening to these strange words, this strange concept.

Joh 3:5  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 

Joh 3:6  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 

Joh_3:7  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

A man must be born of water.

A man must be born of the Spirit.

Without this new birth it would be impossible for the man to go into God's kingdom.

Flesh is flesh, every human being most obviously is born of flesh, no man is born without flesh. Once a man exists in the flesh that birth of the flesh is over- no turning back. Being born of the Spirit is a whole other matter. There are going to be millions and millions of people who have never been born of the Spirit.

Jesus went on to tell Nicodemus not to be surprised by His telling him that he needed to be born again and He explained.

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

You can hear the wind but just like the wind you really don't know where it is coming from ultimately and you can't tell where it is going to go.  Imagine yourself on a sailboat out to sea and you can't even see land any longer only water. You've no method other than the sail to move your boat and there is absolutely no wind at all whatsoever, not even a tiny breeze. There you are, stuck at a complete stand still. You need to head in a certain direction to get where you are going but you can't. You wait…one day…two days…three days… where is the wind?! Why is there no wind?!  This isn't an unreality, this is truth, this happens. Wind does not always blow. There have been many times I've been working outside in the sweltering heat, sweat pouring off me, and I long for a breeze. I comprehend the state of being surrounded by absolutely no wind.  As the boat in the middle of the sea is stranded, as I perspire relentlessly in the heat, the wind is desired and we may even be praying for the wind to appear. Where do we think that wind needs to come from? Can it be on its way? Will it appear out of nowhere in a great gust? Will we have a storm of wind so powerful it will knock us over, tip the boat on its side?  Wind is a marvelous thing and unpredictable.  Yes, the scientist may tell us all about wind… the sun, air pressure, molecules and so on and so forth. They can make predictions about wind force in storms and even measure the force of hurricane and tornado winds. The mystery is still there, they too are subject to sweating on a hot day and longing for a breeze. 

Joh 3:8  The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. 

You hear the wind, but even with all scientific knowledge you can't absolutely predict when it will come and when it will go. You will have guesses as a meteorologist, but absolutes are not going to happen. You will have theories and computations, and some might be spot on, but not all of them. No one can predict with certainty the actions of the wind. Often they'll be more fierce than expected, or less severe that is the nature of the wind.

When we are BORN of the SPIRIT it isn't a birth like a child. You know when a child is about to be born, you can generally tell the mother is very pregnant. Again, this isn't an always situation, but the majority of time births are expected and known about before they occur. Our Spiritual birth is not something that can be known, we aren't inside our pregnant mother when this birth happens. The Spirit is given to us, the new life we must have in Christ is given to us in such a way that it could happen at any time without any prior expectation of it occurring. You can hope for this Spirit birth, want this Spirit birth, and you can wait for it expectantly- but ultimately the Spirit like the wind, will go where it wills.

More on this tomorrow…all by the grace and will, the love of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. And yes, all through the Holy Spirit!

God help us all!

What Part of Us Should Die Daily?

What part of us should die daily?

1Co 15:31 … I die daily.

Death to Selfishness. Death to Self-serving.

Denying ourselves- what part of us are we denying in order to take up the cross of Christ and follow Him?

Luk 9:23  …let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

What is this cross we must take?  How are we to follow Christ to be worthy of Him?

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 

The commandments of God are summed up like this by Jesus- God with us-

Mat 22:36  Master, which is the great commandment in the law? 

Mat 22:37  Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 

Mat 22:38  This is the first and great commandment. 

Mat 22:39  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 

Mat 22:40  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. 

Loving God with ALL our heart.

Loving God with ALL our soul.

Loving God with ALL our mind.

Do we? Look into your heart and lay it bare right now. Open your heart before God and search for a moment, what is in there? Who is in your heart, what is in your heart? We put other people in our hearts- but aren't we supposed to? We are told the second commandment of ranking is loving others as we would be loved. To love they have to be in our heart, don't they? The answer is truthfully yes and no.  Let me try to explain.

God must be first in our heart- we must love HIM with ALL of our heart and that leaves what left over? Nothing. It is ONLY when we do love God with ALL our heart are we able to love others WITH that very same love, God's love.

We surrender our all to God and out of that surrender He will enable us to live as He wills. We won't be loving with our own imperfect love that is riddled with flaws, but we will love with God's love and HIS love is perfect. God's love can love what we deem most unlovable. God's love will continue to love through many, many betrayals- we as human beings have turned our backs on God time and time again, yet He still loves us.

God's love has provided hope.

God's love will in truth destroy utterly into non-existence those who cannot love. It is that love which knows all the people who choose not to love would never be content if forced to live in that love offered. No forced love, no forced will, no forced hope, God allows each of us to choose- daily.

There is no one-time only choice and you are forever held to that choice regardless of all circumstances.

The initial choice is allowing the life-long commitment to be possible. As soon as you choose to allow God to have all your heart, soul and mind you are choosing to love Him. The forgiveness you find through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, allows us to love.

Because you do not stop thinking, breathing, functioning as you've always done up to that point, you will be prone to temptations that will want to draw you away from God, not towards Him. Daily a renewed commitment must be made. You don't simply stop after baptism, you don't stop after the newness wears away. Every day RECOMMIT your life to God. EVERY DAY. Wake up and choose every day to exalt God above all other things in your life no matter what they are- and love Him with all your heart, mind and soul. Seek forgiveness as soon as you recognize any other entering your heart before Him. Put God before all, and love others with HIS love.

Rom_5:5  …the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

I asked above-

What part of us should die daily?

1Co 15:31 … I die daily.

Death to Selfishness. Death to Self-serving.

Denying ourselves- what part of us are we denying in order to take up the cross of Christ and follow Him?

Luk 9:23  …let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

What is this cross we must take?  How are we to follow Christ to be worthy of Him?

What part of us should die every single day? Our life outside of God. Truly all we do should be to His glory and not our own in any way. That cross we must take up is the knowledge we are choosing a path less traveled, a path that will have us making choices the world will not want us to make. In fact the self-serving part of us is going to fight against putting God first in every way it can. 

Can you put another person before all your own wants and needs? Yes, I said needs. Or do you think or say things like, I need to do this before I can help you with that. My need is just as great as yours. I need to take care of me first. Again I ask, can you put another person before ALL your own wants and needs?  If called to do so, could another person come before your preferred way of life? And by preferred way of life I mean- doing the things that make you most comfortable, most content, most at ease. Will you choose others before your own ideas of how you want your day to unfold?

We must allow God's way to unfold for us and follow HIM wherever He leads us and that will mean taking up a CROSS and that CROSS will kill our self serving and by the grace of God make us God serving first, and from that serving others!

Please LORD, we would be YOURS! Please! Put to death all the self-serving inside of us that would take over and kill You in Your rightful place in our hearts! All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ!

From What I Was Then....

From what I was then to what I am now.

To read these words-

1Co 15:31 … I die daily.

Luk 9:23  …let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. 

Mat 10:38  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. 

To read the above words is to comprehend death to self. This is something that needs to be before us constantly as Christ followers, constantly.

When we first accepted Christ as our Savior in genuine conversion from being lost to sin to being saved to eternal life, a change took place in us. A new world was opened up for us to witness. A hope that didn't exist before was suddenly present in us. The knowledge that we were lost in our sins and are now saved through the grace of Christ is something exquisite beyond measure. The conversion experience for a lot of people is quite remarkable and there is a pointed old man to new man that people who know us witness. While we may have been caught up in partying to please self- we are now caught up in living to bring the amazing truth of salvation to others. Sometimes our initial conversion experience is so powerful we can't help but shout it out to all who will listen to us. We explain to those we were once partying with that something awesome has happened and it can happen for them too. More often than not, those we are trying to convey our new sense of purpose too will shun our new found faith and as a result, shun us. We didn't mind though, we felt the weight of sadness that one feels as they witness someone missing out on an amazing opportunity, but we didn't feel regret over our conversion.

To be able to say our lives before accepting Christ we were different people is something a lot of Christ followers can say. I won't say all, because I truly don't know how it might be for everyone. Some Christ followers are raised to be so from their childhood and slip into their conversion differently perhaps.

From what I was then to what I am now.

Can I still say those words or has my life after many years from that initial conversion become such as it would be unrecognizably different from my life before that conversion?

I'll tell you the truth for myself- I have lived on a slippery slope. There I was standing upon the mountain, upon the rock, the firm foundation in Christ and then somehow without much realization that rock was being chipped away at. The mountain was being excavated so subtly I wasn't aware on a fully conscious level- whether choosing to not hear the bulldozers and earth excavators, the dump trucks being filled with foundation boulders, I don't fully know. On some level I have to believe I was handed some ear plugs and I chose to put them in my ears. I was also given a blind fold and I slowly chose to slip it on over my eyes. Then after a while I unstopped my ears and removed the blindfold only to find myself no longer upon the mountain, no longer standing on the firm foundation only found in Christ. I was at the bottom of what remained of my destroyed Christ following life and I was living for myself- very selfishly concerned with my self-centered pursuits- even though some of those were tokens of my former Christ following life that I wanted to keep so I could try to keep myself deceived that I was still where I needed to be- on that narrow Christ following road.

Again, truthfully, over the course of the last forty years of my life I have climbed the mountain a few times, only to climb down again. I stopped my daily dying to self gradually so as not to shock myself back into continuing to do so. 

Our CROSS must be picked up DAILY.

Our DYING TO SELF must be done DAILY.

This daily cross bearing and dying is a DAILY recognition of our not naturally wanting to bear that cross, or die to self. We choose to bear the cross KNOWINGLY, we choose to put our self-serving to death KNOWINGLY. We don't indulge the self-serving in ourselves that will forever fight for supremacy.

Our daily choices must be done with recognition, not done by rote to the point we no longer think much about what we are doing.

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE and WILL of our LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST!

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 

Rom 6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 

On the Side of Salvation.

Eph 2:1  And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; 

Eph 2:2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: 

Eph 2:3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. 

Children of wrath.  That sounds like us, doesn't it? And when we hear those words- children of wrath we kinda like the sound of it, don't we? It has a catchy ring to it, making us feel as if we are cool, tough, someone to be contended with, not easily mistreated, not wimpy and soft. Children of wrath is kind of like a group super hero name, and those children aren't going to take any nonsense from anyone.  Here in the context given in the Word of God it says by nature we are children of wrath - and the children of wrath walk in the lusts of their flesh, seeking to fulfil the desires of their flesh and mind- these are NOT good things, these are not super hero attributes at least not on a God desired level. On a Satan level, yes, they are welcomed attributes. Satan, the prince of the power of the air, the spirit of disobedience, the one to whom all who are dead in their sins and trespasses obey knowingly or unknowingly.

We are all children of wrath by nature until we are quickened by our Savior. Our natural propensities will be towards evil, towards self-serving, towards contention, towards upset and Satan will do all he can to instigate this nature in us. Being a child of wrath is being Satan's child and all too many today embrace this even knowingly.

God who truly is rich in mercy, loving us with great love knowing our natural state as children of wrath, has given us His Son and through His Son we are given a new life- no longer to be among the children of wrath, ruled by Satan.

God, through the grace of our Lord and Savior has offered us a new life as His children. God wants to save us from Satan, from our natural state of wrath. God wants us to be raised up in our lives even right now here on earth, God wants us to realize that when Jesus Christ was raised from the grave we were raised with Him- no longer under the death sentence of sin. We live with Christ in us, and Christ is in heaven ministering there for us- we are there with Him. Christ is living on our behalf right now! We are saved by His grace. We can't deserve it, we can only believe it is so. If we stop and question how it can be possible when we still feel as if we are under the heavy yoke of Satan's wrath, then we are trying to figure out a way on our own to be released from the death sentence. We have to trust that Christ is working that all out for us, saving us through His grace, not through our ability to defeat Satan- He defeated Satan for us.

Choosing Christ Jesus doesn't take us out of the battle, but it puts us on the side of salvation. Choosing Jesus, choosing through it all to believe that He will work the good works in us.

God forgive us for falling so far short of being the love you would have us be so others witness Your love not our bitterness. Do in us all we cannot do ourselves and if there is something we need to do, please, Lord, please help us to do that, keep us from evil in all its many forms.

We are saved through grace, help us to live saved in Christ Jesus, and any works we do that are acceptable to Him, let all the glory go to HIM, because we are by nature children of wrath and we don't want to be! We want to belong to Jesus Christ living for Him, living with Him in us always! Please!

Thank you! All glory, honor and praise to You Lord, to You Father, to You Holy Spirit now and forever!!!!!!!

Eph 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 

Eph 2:5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)

Eph 2:6  And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 

Eph 2:7  That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. 

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 

Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast. 

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. 

Overcome This World.

We need to overcome the world.

Faith is the victory, truly. Faith in Christ is the victory in overcoming the world.

This world will drag you down to great depths of despair. If you don't think so then I'm really surprised. There is not a person alive with sound, or mostly sound, mental faculties that can't agree that there are times in this world where we are knocked down to an emotional abyss where everything is dark, sad and very, very dreary. I don't know ONE single person who hasn't experienced some sense of despair in their life time. I'm not saying everyone has been brought to the point of wishing for death over life (not necessary suicidal) but just having the wish even momentarily for an end to whatever suffering it is they are going through. This world offers us plenty of opportunities for suffering in all sorts of ways. 

If I were to be a promoter of Earth and humanity upon Earth to- let us say, an alien race, trying to get them to want to help earth by coming to live here with us and bring their own technologies etc, what would I have to offer in way of promotion?

Yes, there are a lot of beautiful, amazing and wonderful things on Earth, but let's get down to the nitty gritty. Even those people who have everything money can buy, often lack things money can't buy. Even those people who have nothing, lack the things money can buy. People who have money often use (employ) those who don't and those employees are not always happy in their positions of subservience to the rich, rather they wish they had the riches and had servants of their own. Yet, there has to be a servant- there has to be those who are not living the life of ease so many dream of in this world we live in.  If we brought an alien down here and showed them the rich lifestyle and the most beautiful that Earth has to offer, they would not be able to help but see that not all the people on Earth are in that rich lifestyle- it'll be all around them every time one of the rich people has a not so rich person do something to accommodate the alien.

And if I were an alien race looking to possibly share my technologies with and maybe enjoy mingling of alien races for the sake of exploration and way of life- I would want a sample of all Earthlings and how they all live. I'd want an overall picture, not just the one presented at its best.

If I had to witness the enormous amount of suffering that takes place all over Earth, would I truly want to consider mingling with such an existence?

Yes, these fictious aliens are living in a world with no pain, heartache and suffering- these are my fictious aliens so I can have them that way if I want them that way, right?

The aliens don't die, they don't hurt, they don't have any diseases, or sickness at all. The aliens don't have any mental or emotional illness, but truly are a contented people that have never had to live with the ravages of sin. When they come here and witnesses all that sin has done to this world and us who live upon it, there is no way they would want to live here exposed to all the heartache, the pain, and the horrors of life upon planet Earth.

Do we need to OVERCOME this world? We most certainly do!  And how do we overcome this world? We live, by faith in the ONLY ONE who can help us because HE overcame this world and promises us that help. We overcome this world by living for the world to come, the promised world found only through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, the SON OF GOD.

1Jn 5:1  Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 

1Jn 5:2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 

1Jn 5:3  For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 

1Jn 5:4  For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 

1Jn 5:5  Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 

May God help us live for HIM, for believing in HIM and all HE would have us believe. May we through HIS power live for HIM. We surrender our entire life to GOD to use according to HIS WILL, for HIS purposes. We believe and ask that HE help any unbelief that arises in us. We long for the return of our would be KING after His priestly ministry is completed in the Sanctuary in heaven. We long for our KING to lay aside the priestly garb and come for us to take us from this pit of sin into His heavenly home, and eventually bring us back to Earth as He destroys all that sin has done to the world and makes it new for us. This is our HOPE that we find only in the ONE who can save us from ourselves, from all that sin has brought to this world. Please, Father God, please keep us from evil. We believe in Jesus Christ our Lord, our Savior, the Son of yours, God, and wipe away any unbelief we might harbor anywhere within us. Lead us in the way everlasting. Help us to love YOU and love all others as YOU would have us love. All through JESUS!

Amen.