Sermon On the Net

OVERWHELMED

 

Hi Everyone:

 

When I finished reading the last book in the Left Behind series, the Glorious Appearing,  I must tell you that the title of this article does not begin to describe the feelings I am experiencing at this moment; both sadness and happiness.

 

My sadness is a result of the many, many people in the world, past, present and the future who have, and will reject Jesus as their personal Savior. This is tragic and it is a real burden in my heart. They have no idea what the future holds for them as a result of their own personal choices in this world. Also, I am very concerned for you all to whom I write. I pray fervently for you all every day. I pray that the Lord will bless you all, both spiritually and physically. I pray that you are all born again and have accepted Jesus as your personal Savior. I am devoting my time for this very purpose, that is, to help strengthen the Believer and helping others find Jesus.

 

At the same time I am experiencing a joy that is almost inexpressible. To know Scripture, to know what God has in store for all Believers, is absolutely astonishing. When you begin to realize what it is that we are being saved from and what it is that Jesus has in store for us, then and only then, will you be able to know the feeling I am experiencing right now. I pray that I will always be able to retain a little bit of it.

 

My thought for today considers the three kinds of people on the earth; those who have accepted Jesus as their Savior, those who have rejected Him and those who think they have accepted Jesus, but haven't. I want to spend the rest of this article concerning the third group, people who believe in their heart of hearts that they have accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. This is a very difficult subject for me because I am going to be crossing the grain, so to speak, for some. To those who feel this, please, please try to understand that I am not trying to exploit you with my personal opinion; rather I am going to be using the facts contained in the Bible. I must speak what is in my heart otherwise my articles will be of no use to anyone, except Satan who stands ready at all times to try to destroy any relationship with Jesus.

 

God did not inspire men to write the Bible so that anyone could take from it that which suits their purpose and to add to it a doctrine of their own devices. Revelation 22:18 says "I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book; if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him, the plagues which are written in this book;" and verse 19 continues, "and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book." For further conviction of this point see Deuteronomy 4:3, 12:32 and Proverbs 30:6. I don't know about you, but this Scripture has my attention. I know this reference applies to Revelation but we should heed its warning for the rest of the Bible.

 

According to the Bible, a saved person is one who knows that the wage of sin is death, which is eternal separation from God, and that Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross and acceptance of these facts brings one back to God through Jesus. See Romans 6:23 and John 3:16. In this most unselfish act Jesus paid for the sins of mankind, my sin, your sin, everyone's sin. Something that we cannot do by ourselves nor can any person or organization or religion. The Bible is HisStory from the beginning to the end and tells us what we must do as individuals. There is nothing left for our imagination to help us get to Heaven.

 

Why, then do we have religions, cults, or other organizations who think they can do a better job than God? GOD DID IT ALL. More importantly, why do we allow ourselves to be misled? Or saying it another way, why do we follow ANY teaching other than the Bible's teaching? I have written before that every cult, religion or organization (no exceptions) was or is man made. Therefore I ask you again, why would anyone want to follow doctrine created by man and not God?

 

There are religions that purport to be based on Biblical principles. However, they add, they take away and the bottom line is they create a ball and chain that will do exactly what it was designed to do, wear around their neck only to drown in a sea of false teaching. As an example some religions teach good works as the means of salvation. If that is true then Jesus is a liar and an imposter and the Bible is the inspiration of a brilliant and deranged mind. Another says that we should pray to saints. If this is true then God was wrong when He said, 'thou shall have no other God's before me.' This is the purest form of idolatry. Anything that takes away our focus on God is idolatry, whether it's a cult, religion, organization, habits that consume us, money, etc. Another is the penance we should pay when we confess our sins for forgiveness. I may be wrong but I thought that's why Jesus suffered a painful and humiliating death i.e. to pay our debt.

 

I could go on and on, and perhaps I will in future articles, but for now I pray you get the picture. People who are committed to the Bible in its entirety represent the true church of God and there are plenty of these groups available. You can quickly discern their position when they stray from the Biblical teachings that Jesus taught and wants His church to follow. A true believer reads the Bible, knows the Bible and lives by the Bible. Personally, when I may inject a thought, my doctrine comes from the Bible, exclusively.

If Jesus says He is the way, the truth and the life, then that's the way for me. I pray that it is your choice, too.

 

I remain your friend and servant, Nick                                                  Number17

Sermon On the Net

Developing Christ-like Character

 

Hi Everyone:

 

Have you given much thought to developing your character into what God wants? He has given us a lifetime to do it. I cannot think of anything I'd rather do than to develop at least some, if not all of Jesus' characteristics. Today I am sitting in my car overlooking a large valley with magnificent mountains in the background. The area is called Valley Center. I was contemplating an article and all of a sudden I saw what I, at first, didn't see: the majesty of the Lord, that which He has given us to enjoy, that which we so easily overlook, the hills covered with beautiful, natural landscaping, the rivers, the streams, the animals, the trees, nature and perhaps the most important thing of all, and that is time. Yes time, time to grow, time to think, time to love and time to enjoy all of God's gifts to us; time to accept what He has done for us on the cross and time to develop His characteristics.

 

Are we growing Christ-like in character each day? Are we trying? Are we even thinking about it? I find myself thinking more and more about Jesus and it really is a joy. Maybe it's because time is growing short, maybe it's because I have finally begun to realize that this is what God wants for me in my life. Whatever it is I'm enjoying it and with the help of the Holy Spirit will continue to enrich my life with His Gift. I don't think we can ever get too much of the Good News. To know that He is everywhere and that He is at my side every second of every day as He is with all of His children, is truly a glorious thought. Meditate on that thought for a while, let it sink in and enjoy it. He is with you, now and always. Jesus said, 'Lo I will be with you always.' Not sometimes, but always. Imagine, if you will, we are always in His presence; awesome. This is a time of trying to do what He wants us to do and we have help. His character manifests itself in us in accordance to the time we allocate to the Holy Spirit to help us develop. He's willing, are we? In 2^nd Corinthians 3:18, Paul says, "But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." Putting this in another way, as we let the Holy Spirit work within us we become more and more like Him and reflect Him more and more. This is a lifetime process and is the reason we are here. Ephesians 4:12-13 tells us helpers are provided to help us grow in Christ until the day when we will be like Him with Him.. If that isn't a glorious future, I don't what is. It is a wonderful thing to know what life is all about, to know why we are here and where we are going and the help we have until we get there.

 

If you have yet to make a decision for Jesus, I pray that you seriously consider His plea to believe in Him, to believe in the reason for the crucifixion and to believe that He rose from the dead and reigns with His Father in Heaven until He comes back again for us in all His glory.

 

In the meantime, "Let no man deceive you with vain words; for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. Be not partakers with them." Ephesians 5:6-7.

 

A note of interest for you: Some 800 years before the crucifixion, the Psalmist, David predicted the death of Jesus, the Messiah by means of crucifixion. What is more startling then that is the fact that this was a means of Roman, not Jewish form of execution. The Lord has made it so easy for anyone to know Him, simply by reading His Word. Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart." In other words it has the power to reach deep within each one of our personalities and to judge our innermost thoughts. As God was, is and always will be, so is His Word.

 

I remain your friend and servant, Nick                                                Number 15

Sermon On the Net

Who's right?,,,,,,,,,,What's right,,,,,,,,,,Am I right or am I wrong?

 

Hi Everyone:

 

I pray this letter finds you all in good health, both spiritually and physically. Bunny and I are doing fine. The three questions above are simple enough but yet very profound in their ramifications for each of us. We are all aware technology inundates us with information so much so that it is actually overwhelming at times. Whatever you want to know can be found somewhere. It is so much easier, today, to gather and spread information and the speed at which it can be disseminated is awesome.

 

The reason I am telling you things you already know involves those three questions. I just finished reading a book, as part of my research, called Fast Facts on False Teaching, written by Ron Carlson and Ed Decker. It is worth stopping any reading you might be engaged in at the moment and read this one. I am going to highlight some of its content but you need to read it yourself. You may not have heard of the authors until now but I promise you will know who they are. Their work is an answer to the following questions:

 

1)      Is Atheism right?

2)      Is Buddhism the true religion?

3)      Is the theory of Evolution right?

4)      Are Freemasonry and the Masonic Lodge  right?

5)      Are Hinduism, Yoga and Reincarnation right?

6)      Is Islam right?

7)      Are Jehovah Witnesses right?

8)      Is the Korean messiah, Sun Myong Moon right?

9)      Is Mormonism right?

10)  Is the New Age movement right?

11)  Is Prosperity theology right?

12)  Is Transcendental Meditation right?

13)  Are Satanism and the Occults right?

14)  Is Judaism right?

15)  Is Roman Catholicism right?

16)  Is Biblical Christianity right?

17)   

These are many questions, indeed, and each one needs an answer if we are to know who or what is right. The authors of the book I mentioned give us the benefit of their research in 255 pages of worthwhile reading on each of these subjects, except Judaism. Please remember they said these were fast facts probably meaning much more could have been written. I have no intention of trying to duplicate their work; instead I will attempt to point out a basic truth for each one.

 

Each one was instigated or created by a person who claimed to have had a revelation from God. I don't know and perhaps the authors don't either, the origin of Atheism, but for an Atheist to be right would mean that he or she would have to possess an infinite knowledge to know the absolute. As Ron Carlson stated, that person would have to be God Himself. Buddhism was created by Sidhartha Gautama, a man. Evolution is a theory created and perpetrated by men such as Darwin. The chapter on evolution is hilarious, a must read. Freemasonry and the Masonic Lodge was created and expanded upon by a man. Hinduism is man made. Islam was created by Muhammad, a man. Charles T. Russell created the Jehovah Witnesses, again a man. Sun Myung Moon claims to be the messiah. Mormons claim Joseph Smith as their founder. The New Age movement, in my opinion, was created by Satan using multiples of people over time. Transcendental Meditation's founder was Maharashi Mahesh Yogi. Judaism is based on the Old Testament, not necessarily in its entirety, because if they believed everything in the Old Testament they would not have any difficulty accepting Jesus as their Messiah. Roman Catholicism has the Pope, a man. There is a common thread in all of the above and that is all of their doctrine is man made with some using those parts of the Bible that suit their purpose.

 

Finally we come to Biblical Christianity whose origin is God. One might say that I am taking liberty and being boldly presumptuous, Well you are right. The evidence I present to you is contained in a book called the Bible, written by 40 different authors over a span of 1500 years, without one word of contradiction. What verdict do you think would be rendered in a court of law? One point I must make here is that Biblical Christianity's doctrine is taken from the entire Bible, without exception; and adding nothing and taking away nothing. I don't know of any work that has the credentials of the Bible. People listen to and many believe the media, television, movies, etc. My goodness, believe in and spread the Good News; this is what God wants and it makes Him happy.

 

Am I right? The last question each one must answer him or her self. I pray you are right because eternity is a long, very long time.

 

I remain your friend and servant, Nick                                                 Number 14