Category Archives: warnings

There, it is.

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I look within myself, and I find it.  I look at the words of every man, and I find it.  I look at my errant deeds and I find it.  I look at the errant deeds of all men, and I find it. 

It is in the words of the wicked.  It is in the words of the socially righteous.  It is there in every advertisement for profit.  It is in every enticement to sin.  It is in every political statement and desire.  And to the great shame of humanity it is in every religion of man.

What am I finding that is so very replete?  What is it among men that can be so very blatant, yet so incredibly and deftly hidden?  Every man is blind and deaf to its presence.  Yet by his words and deeds his agreement is obvious.

Every man who has ever lived, has desired to put Christ last.  Only those who are driven by the Holy Spirit of God, rightly desire to put Christ in his proper place as First.  Everyone on earth, and everything of men, disagrees with the Glory of Christ Jesus.

Do yourself a favor and ask why.  The Living God, the Holy Father of all life, has put his Holy Son as first of all things.  At the unveiling of Glory, every men will perceive his irrevocable Kingship.  And what a great surprise it will be.  Yes, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

By His Grace

Two Promises

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Profit and loss.  The entire world is based on these two concepts.  Absolutely everything we do contains things that are considered profitable, and those things that are considered loss.

In every possible way, creation has been subjected to loss.  It takes serious diligence to build and maintain anything.  And if we are slack, we will quickly witness our work returning to “nothing” from which it came.

This is true of material things.  It is true of our relationships with one another.  It is true of all “life”, which is so very abundant in this world,  And it is absolutely true of Spiritual things.

“By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)  We could easily say that all creation was created from what was “not”.  And if left alone, to its origin all things glide.  Creation could easily be perceived as a great splash in an eternal ocean.  The water will reclaim its equality of height, by absolute necessity.

It is the blessing of God to provide Life.  It is the curse of God to restrain His hand.  That’s all it takes for man to experience loss.  Just as we can produce loss by neglect, so it is with God.

He is the Sustainer of all things.  But even the idea that something must be sustained, indicates that it tends to obliteration.

There are two promises from God.  If you will consistently turn to me, I will sustain you.  But as you desire your own strength, you will suffer loss.  The first promise leads to eternal life in Christ Jesus, for God offers no other source of blessing and life.  The second is simply our natural destination; we came from nothing, and to that nothing we will return.  But God offers eternal life to every soul that will turn to His Holy Son in faith.

I know that there is a massive misunderstanding of these things.  Man thinks that he can save himself.  How can you save yourself if your hands are busy trying to hold up your own roof?  What knowledge do you have of eternity?  Isn’t it true that eternity is only a concept within the heart of every man who ever lived?  We are born and die.  That’s not eternity, friends!

What do we know of Holy Sustaining?  We can’t even make it through an entire day without causing some sort of destruction.  We crush a bug as we walk.  We speak an unholy word in casual conversation, or we do not speak what is holy when it should have been spoken.

Proof lies abundant within us, that we can’t sustain anything for very long.  Quickly, the glide to oblivion pushes past our strength to keep things going.  We are, by nature, walking death.  God alone, and this in His Holy and Righteous Son, is LIFE.

Make your own choice.  Consider these things with the utmost diligence, or relegate these promises to obscurity.  Choose death or Life.  The one is a given, we slide through time to the place of obliteration without any effort at all.  But life must be gained from He who is Life, Christ Jesus, the Holy Son of the Living God.

What is Sin?

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Sin is “doing wrong”, whether in the mind or by the hands.  Sin is a living being, expressed by the individual.

I have spoken often about how sin disrupts the Righteousness of Eternity.  I have written of how the will of God is staved off by our disobedience called sin.  But Charles Spurgeon takes this concept one step farther than I had perceived.  You can find the entire audio of his sermon, “Thoughts on the Last Battle” at this link http://www.spurgeongems.org/messages/028chs.mp3.

Brother Spurgeon speaks of sin, as it is, past the sealing of the soul.  He asks, (in my own words) if sin destroyed the will of God while the man lived in this place of testing, what will it become when the soul is sealed in sin for eternity?  What will the “man” become when all the restraints of God’s beautiful Grace of the Holy Spirit’s influence is removed?  When the Holy Blood of Christ is no longer effective, when repentance is no longer an option; for the man is now sealed in the manner of soul he allowed God to create.

What then is sin?  Is it simply a game we play between ourselves?  Is it simply a futile expression of disruption in the Truth of God for Eternity?  Is it simply being a rebellious child who stands outside the door of God’s Holy Family?  Is it simply pleasure?  Or is sin a growing monster?

Will hell restrain the wickedness of wicked souls?  Do you think that you will live one slight moment in hell with a smile on your face?  You will be frustrated beyond description.  You will find desire consuming you.  Yet there will be no more avenue to disturb the Holy Will of the Living God or His Holy and Righteous Christ.  You will no longer have a body to command.  You will be only an essence of SIN.  You will be a distilled form of desire, with no possibility of expression or gain.

If God had not designed hell to be obliterated, there would be eternity to suffer within an indescribable torment of desire.  But ask yourself this:  How long will the Living God allow the display of tormented, wicked, desire ridden, useless souls to remain?  Even if He allows the display to remain for the sake of reminder to His Holy People, there is a place where even the display will be done away with.

Not only will those multitude of souls be in agony of frustrated desire.  They will face the prospect of eternal extinction.  And they will know it for certain.  For in their consignment to hell, they will have, no doubt, been told that death must join them.  When death arrives, “Nothing” becomes.

Is that what you want to be?  When your moment of transfer from “life” to the grave comes upon you, is that what you want for your hope?  Pleasure calls now.  But do you think you’ll love pleasure as dearly when there is no longer any means to employ it?

The offer of transformation remains, only as long as a man is in this place of testing.  Only while we are in the flesh of this body, is the Holy Blood of Jesus of any effect.  He calls all men to take from His Holy hand the things of Grace.  But when our hands are no longer able to hold anything, what is Grace to us then?

Jesus stands ready and willing to embrace any man in the Righteous Way of Christianity.  But who will consider these things and live?

Addition:

I have wondered why, in the story of the Rich man and Lazarus, Abraham sat on a hill overlooking Hell.  Can it be that Abraham and Lazarus were learning about the prospects of God’s Holy Promise to eternally punish the wicked?  (Luke 16: 19-31)

And I am reminded of the words of Christ Jesus, 9 “A third angel followed them and said in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives its mark on their forehead or on their hand, 10 they, too, will drink the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment will rise for ever and ever. There will be no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.” 12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the people of God who keep his commands and remain faithful to Jesus. (Revelation 14)

Let us wake up to the reality of the Gospel’s power.  The promise of eternal life is TRUE!  The promise of eternal torment is TRUE!  Which will each man choose?  We all, every man, know.

Defining “The Difference”

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Yesterday morning, I drove to the garden supply to gather some things.  As I drove, I found myself filled with a different perspective.  The beauty of Spring overcame my mind.  I saw the houses, lawns, people, even the shining aspects of my truck, as though they were worthy of “righteous” praise.

I have not had that perspective for years.  The difference between what has become my perspective in Christ Jesus and what is the perspective of man, was astounding.  It scared me to witness my thoughts turning from what is holy to what is obscene before the Most High God.  (It is possible that the reader might raise an eyebrow at that last sentence.  But bear with what is written here, that understanding might surface.)

In writing this post, I am reminded of the words of Jesus.  In regard to my experience yesterday.  “He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.'” (Luke 16: 15)

How can I relay the difference between what is holy and what is common, to those who do not believe?  By His Grace, I have become a man who sees the things of this world as an enemy to the soul that belongs to the Christ of God.  How can I help others perceive the things of this world in the same light?  If the war of Christ has not become the primary resident in the soul, the things of this world will appear as a friendly.  We either gravitate (learn to live) to the battlefield of Spiritual Difference, or we continue to live in the encampment of the enemies of God.

The draw of man’s things is powerful.  Powerful enough to cause men to demand the death of Jesus.  Powerful enough to entice men to spit on the crucifixion of the Holy Son of God.  Powerful enough to draw a soul away from Christianity.  And powerful enough to retain eternal hold on any soul who does not seek the face of the Living God continually.  Even the slightest withdraw from the Holy things of Christ, is enough to unveil the desires of the flesh.

Let me try to convince the reader (If indeed, there is the slightest desire to disbelieve these words.)

There was a man who starved himself to death, some time ago.  I don’t remember his name.  I don’t remember his cause.  He is simply gone.  All I remember is that there was a man who did this in the last 20 or 30 years.  He was an American.  That’s all I remember.

But see how useless his life was.  I do have the sense that his plight was not provoked by Christianity.  It was some political miscarriage of injustice.

He is gone now.  What was written about his “statement” would be difficult to find.  Even the memory of him is obliterated by the demands of this Place of Testing.  His family may know to remember him.  But the fabric of America doesn’t even think about him.

But what should a man of Christ expect, as he works out his salvation with fear and trembling; knowing that it is God who works in him, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. (From Philippians 2: 13)

The things of this world are obliterated from the memory of man, as time moves from one year to the next.  Even if it is written down, either on a headstone or in a book, our provocation to live and do comes to nothing.  But the things which are done in a man, by Christ Jesus, are retained forever.  They take their place as living testimony to the Righteousness, humility, godly doings, and hope that remains in this place of testing.  Not only that, but they take their place in Eternity.

Either we endure the “warfare within”, that is caused by conflict between the things of God and the things of man, or we suffer the futility of life that comes from living the things of man.  I will add, I would not have known the difference in perception if I had not become accustom to the things of the Living God’s Christ.  I have to admit, the difference in perspective is enough to frighten my soul.

I guess it’s up to the reader.  Do you even know that there is a difference between the perceptions of the flesh and the things of God?  Do you even know there is a war to be fought?  Or have you never tasted the perspective of Heaven?  This place of testing is a passing ruse.  Heaven is the eternal perspective.  Those who have never tasted the things of God, are helpless to remove themselves from the things of man.

I testify that there is, indeed, a radical difference.  Those who will live eternally, will be incapable of memory toward those who do not join them.  The Glory of Christ will overwhelm His people.  The doings of those who remained in this place of testing, enjoying the things of man as if they were worthy and eternal, will be obliterated.  All their days will come to NOTHING.

Crushing Fear

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Can one man make a difference for Christ?  Do worms eat dirt?

Through the actions of one man, Adam, all humanity was condemned to die.

Through the actions of one man, Christ, all humanity is offered eternal life.

I started to write this and remembered all the leaders God has raised up.  But the intended audience for this post is not in such a position as they.  And the provocation for this post was a tiny man in a tiny place.

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I sat in the driver seat of my truck facing the sunrise,

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The pathetic body

as almost 200 people passed by the front of my truck to go to work, I kept myself busy with reading.

Did anyone notice?  That’s not my call to make.  I offered the opportunity of “Sonrise” to everyone who passed.

One slice of time in one day.  And everywhere I go, the message is brought.   

Underneath the hat, lay a Christian spy.  Everywhere he goes, he searches for weakness in the enemy camp.   Can something be done?  Can something be said?  What can I do to allow the Gospel to infiltrate the domain of wickedness?

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The parking lot

It is not reasonable to assume that everyone who dismounted from those cars is strong in Christ.  There are about 150 cars there.  Statistically speaking, 1% of those who passed by might have understood the visible message.  (I’ll round it off.  I don’t think there was a “half” person who pass by my truck).  Two people might have been influenced by the display.

I’m making a fool of myself by showing how I strive to serve the Gospel.  But I’m trying to make a difference here.  I’m trying to inspire others to do similar things.

I have found that most Christians are terrified to testify for Christ verbally.  The human body is not just a set of lips.  And the ingenuity of man is proven.  If a Christian wants to testify, he can find a way.

I will end this post with a rather sobering thought.

Try to envision your appearance before the Holy One.  What will be said of you if you died today?  Are you striving to further the cause of Christ, regardless how great or small the effort?  Or are you letting fear shove you into a dark corner?

We will all stand shoulder to shoulder with those who were beheaded for Christ.  Those who were torn apart by the rack will be there too.  Those whose bodies were ripped apart by lions will stand there with us.  Many had been imprisoned for years, for the very name of the Lord Jesus.  Perfected souls of mutilated bodies for the sake of their love to Christ.  And shall we appear empty handed?  Can you possibly imagine the shame of having hid the beautiful message of salvation because of fear?

Let us go and die with him!  For if we die with him, He has promised we shall surely live with him. 

And if by chance, you need further inspiration , read what is said in Revelation 21: 

“But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars–they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”

I have no strength to inspire you more powerfully.

By His Grace

We Didn’t Know

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I was taking my break here, thinking about my service to the Lord.  I was remembering clearly, that is not my responsibility to convert people to Christ.  It’s simply my responsibility to testify about him.  Then I thought of something rather interesting.

I’m not the only one who writes for the Lord.  There are hundreds and hundreds of Christians trying to testify for Christ.  In the vernacular we might say, “They’re everywhere!  They’re everywhere!”

God has already said that men are without excuse.  But there will be people on the judgement day, who say they had no way to know.  Frankly, the answer will be, “Yes you did.  You preferred not to look”.

Please give that some thought.

By His Grace