“Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Hebrews 11:1)

The passage goes on to say, “This is what the ancients were commended for.” It is also, might I add, what the modern man most lacks.

Pity the one who only believes what He can see.

The man without faith is poor even if his outward life pretends riches, for he lives in a world of his own making, devoid of the knowledge of God. How strange to live in a world created by God without knowing God! Is it any wonder why we fumble about blindly feeling our way?

How confident the world acts; how self assured! You don’t have to live long to see that it’s all a sham, a puffing up of the chest to project the image of “having it all together”. Not having eyes to see the unseen, we can only believe in ourselves. How tragic! Looking to ourselves we build all sorts of support structures- all based on what we can see; all based on us. We deify knowledge, philosophy, human wisdom, science, technology; in place of God sits the psychologist along with a host of other “experts” who purport to understand the human condition.

God shoots the whole thing down with a word:

“For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)

The world and it’s support system are considered by God to be utter foolishness!

Looking for answers

There was a time in my life when I looked to the world for answers. I read many self-help books, all the time failing to see that they all had one thing in common: they put man at the center of the universe instead of God.

Through the ages we have made a specialty of making gods out of ourselves; is it any wonder we fail to see beyond our own faces in the mirror? Having enthroned ourselves, and having put the King’s crown on our own heads, we went on to spin deep sounding philosophies that keep us always at the center. Sometimes we may even allow God in our peripheral vision- thoughts of His existence may intrude, but in the end sight wins over faith: We can see ourselves, we can’t see God- we reason that we must be the center of the universe.

Into a world that seeks “proof” God speaks about “faith”. The greatest treasures of life are only accessible by faith!

The day finally came when I saw a little bit of what God saw. He lifted the veil on my heart and I saw the poverty of a life that revolved around me. It was going to take more than a self help book or a trip to the psychiatrist’s office to deal with who I was.

Suddenly the world’s answers seemed pretty shallow and foolish. I found myself agreeing with God- the world doesn’t know what it’s talking about!

“Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Corinthians 1:20)

None of my self help books ever told me that I had a “sin problem” (an important omission since that was my main problem!). My guidance counselor at school never said anything about me needing to be “reconciled to God”. The psychiatrist who gave me tranquilizers to calm my anxious nerves in my early 20′s never told me that Jesus was “the prince of peace” or that my sinful lifestyle could be causing some of my guilt and anxiety. Even if I were to be able to sail through life having riches and health and every desire satisfied (and who can say that!) I’d still be faced with death.  I’d still be faced with the reality that whatever kind of life I was able to make for myself would eventually end- leading me to the ultimate conclusion: There must be more to life than this! This world can give you a lot of things, but after everything is said and done this world’s treasures and wisdom can only take you so far; without faith you can never enter into what real life is.

Real life centers around God; real life does not have man at the center.

If you’re going to enter into this “Life” it’s going to have to be by faith, because God has set things up so that faith is the only way in:

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11:6)

The entrance of faith

The bible says that, “Faith comes by hearing; and hearing by the Word of God.” (Romans 10:17)

As we read and hear the Word of God faith has an opportunity to grow in our heart. Faith itself is a “gift of God” and not something we can boast about. (Ephesians 2:8-10) In the world of faith GOD is at the center and GOD is the initiator. May He open your heart to believe in Him!

“… so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.” (Ephesians 3:17)

The world offers up it’s substitutes for God, but they can never come close to knowing and walking with God Himself. The world will try to tell you that God doesn’t exist; failing to do that it will try to tell you to not make too big a deal out of God. Don’t let the world crush your faith!

“My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3)

The riches of a life lived by faith

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” (Hebrews 11:3)

“All things were created by Him, and for Him.” (see Colossians 1:15)

By far, the greatest riches of a life filled with faith is that we are introduced to, and begin to know the God who created the entire universe.  How can we ever begin to understand life, and our place in it, without knowing the One who created it all?

The entire universe was created by an unseen God- but He has revealed Himself through the person of Jesus Christ.

“All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” (John 1:3-5)

Have you comprehended it? Have you seen the unseen; believed by faith? Even though God came in the flesh in the person of Jesus many could not comprehend it. They could not see who He was even though He was standing right in front of them! For them, as well as for us, the requirement is the same- only by faith can we see that which is hidden; only by faith can we enter into the true riches of knowing the God who created us.

The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” (Psalm 14:1)

As I opened up the paper this morning I noticed the obituaries:

A 14 year girl had died in an automobile accident, and below her was the name of a 97 year old woman who had also died the same day. It reminded me of why the bible says:

“As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For He says, ‘In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.’  I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians 6:1-2)

We have no guarantee of tomorrow, so the bible tells us not to put off the issue of eternity. One may live for 14 years, another for 97- since we have no idea when we will be leaving this world we better make some decisions now, before it’s too late.

The newspaper said the authorities didn’t believe speed or alcohol were involved in the young girl’s accident. Two vehicles collided and her time on earth was done.

The strange thing about life though is that time doesn’t necessarily make us any wiser. The 14 year old could have given her life to Christ, and the 97 year old may not have! In this case I don’t know what decisions where made by the two concerning Christ.

Giving your life to Jesus

One thing I do know is that every day on this planet young people die who have already given their life to Jesus. They came to Jesus and received Him even though they were young. When death came they were prepared.

Thankfully, there are also those who’ve lived full lives of many years who have also “given their life” to Jesus- when death comes they too will be ready.

It’s the ones who never “get around to it” that the bible’s concerned about. Like a voice pleading from eternity come the words:

“I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”

14 or 97- Who will leave this earth first? Don’t be so quick to say you know! In the case of our town both ended up dying and leaving the same day.

It would be wonderful if both did, in fact, belong to Jesus… and they just may have! One thing is certain- a very young woman and a very old woman both left this world on the same day and will face eternity locked into the choice they either did, or didn’t make, concerning Jesus Christ.

Since none of us knows when we will be leaving this world the bible clearly tells us to not put off until tomorrow the single most important decision a person can ever make.

Now is the time to make decisions about eternity. What if tomorrow never comes? We can be sure that for everyone of us there will be a tomorrow that doesn’t come- we will wake up in a place outside of this world and be faced with heaven or hell as our final destination. How wonderful, whether we are 14 or 97, if we find ourselves in heaven! How tragic and horrible to be faced with hell for eternity because we never received Christ as our Lord and Savior; because we never gave a thought to what would happen after we die.

Here are just a few of the things Jesus says about eternal life:

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

 “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though He dies…” (John 11:25)

“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise Him up at the last day.” (John 6:40)

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.” (John 3:36)

Give your life to Jesus today

Since you have no idea what the span of your life will be, why would you ever put off such an important decision? I hope today will be the day you give your life to Jesus!

For more information please read, “Heaven, Hell and Eternal Life”.

“Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.”  (Acts 2:2)

I’m not content with a “sound from earth”- I want to hear “a sound from heaven”.  If the early church had never heard that sound I wonder where we’d be today?  I’m not talking about some of the weird stuff going on today that passes for a sound from heaven.  I don’t recall reading that the early church barked liked dogs, rolled around the floor in uncontrollable laughter, had gold dust falling from the sky or anything like that.  What I’m talking about has nothing to do with this sort of thing at all-  I’m not interested in going to revival meetings where men prance around and make big shows of the “power of God”, creating a spectacle of themselves and the church.  But I do want to hear a sound from heaven…

Jesus speaks from, and of, eternity- and that is what we so desperately need today.

You can take the supernatural circus, I don’t want it.  You can take the coffeehouse “cultural faith”-I’m really not interested in that either.  I’m tired of hearing about a “social gospel”, a “cultural gospel”, and that we’re here to “create beauty” through the arts and on the earth.  Whatever happened to the eternal gospel?  Can someone please tell me about heaven, hell, sin and redemption?  Who will stand up to preach the cross, tell of Jesus’ blood, and preach to win souls?  Will someone please give me that gospel- the one I see saints laying down their lives for in the Book of Acts?

I honestly feel sorry for those who are seeking God and have to wade through the mess of Christian blogs and churches that offer up this pathetic, watered down, twisted mess!  Oh, I know there are some who still faithfully preach the cross and are focused on eternity… but I remember a time before there were hundreds of thousands of blogs with everyone’s religious opinions; a time when the world was a much easier place to navigate.  There has always been bad doctrine, but there’s never been an explosion like what we’re seeing today of confusion and doctrinal error.  We can thank the internet for that- it was the perfect vehicle to usher in every unbiblical belief under the sun and spread it around the earth.  It has given a voice to people who probably never should have been speaking in the first place because they were never called by God to do so.

In the bible men were actually “called by God” to speak and act as God directed- they were sent out by Him, and anointed by the Holy Spirit.  I’m not sure many Christians worry about that today, we just all assume we should speak our mind.  And that’s the problem… I’m tired of hearing the sound of people speaking their minds-  I want to hear a sound from heaven!  I want to hear from those who are called, who speak by the Holy Spirit and cause us to focus on eternal things.

Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

The man who hears a sound from heaven, who hears Jesus, speaks of eternal things.  There’s a famine of the Word of God today, a famine of hearing from heaven, and because of that, not many people are talking about eternity.  Are we so focused on earthly things simply because we’ve never had a revelation of the glories of eternity?  Have we heard “a sound from heaven”, or are we just parroting the world we live in?  The Christian’s focus isn’t to be about earthly things!

“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.  For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (Colossians 3:1-4)

See, it’s not about the arts, it’s not about Christian music, it’s not about Christians getting involved in politics, it’s not about social justice, it’s not about some culturally driven faith, it’s not about a prosperity gospel where God makes us all rich, it’s not about gold dust and holy laughter… it’s not about all this stuff and so many more of the things we’ve been told it’s about.  This world is passing away along with all the things we think are so important.  I’m really tired of sitting in a church (like I did a couple weeks ago) and being told that we should be focusing on this earth.  I don’t appreciate being told that D.L. Moody got it wrong with his notion that this world was a sinking ship, and that we needed to get as many saved as we could before it went under.  Wrong?  Moody got that wrong??  God help us-We need an army of Moody’s!  We are in a desperate hour when the ship is sinking and the Captains of the ship are out taking the world for a pleasure cruise!  We should be on a rescue mission but we’re out “creating beauty”.  Moody said, “You don’t polish the brass of a sinking ship”.  If we could only see what Moody saw- this world is passing away.  He heard a sound from heaven, saw the sinking ship, and tried to bring as many as he could to the safety of eternity in Jesus Christ while they still had a chance to be saved.

Twenty-six years ago, when I was just turning 24, I also heard a sound from heaven.  I heard the Spirit say, “You can be born again!”  I got a glimpse of eternity and saw the world (and myself) for what it was- dead in sin and without God.  I grabbed hold of Jesus with everything I had, and as I looked into His face I began to be changed from one degree of glory to another.  The thing I’d been looking for my whole life was Jesus!  Like the old hymn says,

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.”

Do we see what we’re doing today in the church?  Do we understand where this embracing of the world system is taking us?  Does Jesus really want your eyes off of Him and off of heaven? Does He want you “polishing the brass” of this sinking ship, or looking to eternity?

“For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.” (Hebrews 13:14)

I hope I will stir some of you to think about this.  Read your bible and ask yourself honestly what the focus of the early church was on.  Read Acts and ask yourself if you’re focused on eternity like that?  Are you wanting to reach the lost like they were?  Has it dawned on you and alarmed you that this world is quickly passing away?  Does eternity fill your vision?  Maybe it’s time to sit in your upper room, read your bible, pray, and wait on God until you hear a sound from heaven!

“He’s God’s only forgotten Son
Pushed away by a world gone wrong,
For there’s never a thought
Of the love that He brought
And no thanks for the things that He’s done

He’s the treasure of God’s own heart
To a world living in the dark,
And if they only knew
Even had just a clue
Their denial would tear them apart…”

Do you need any more proof of the reality of sin than that God’s only begotten Son could be so easily laid aside and forgotten?  The world goes on from day to day with barely a thought that it lies under the judgment of God, oblivious to the obvious… we will all one day die and have to face Him.  What’s even more startling though is God’s made a way of escape for all of us and we ignore it:  He sent Jesus to free us from the certain judgment that awaits us, and we don’t even care!  Tell me that sin isn’t real!

Deception and blindness is at the heart of all sin; Adam and Eve succumbed to it in the garden (Genesis 3) and we’re still blinded to this day.  The serpent told Eve, “You will not surely die”.  If there was ever a one trick pony, it’s the Devil.  He hasn’t changed a word since his original lie, and we keep falling for it… hook, line and sinker.

Do you want to know if sin has actual power?  Ask yourself what sane man would willingly board a bus to hell when God is offering a ticket to heaven free of charge?  The very Creator of the universe sent His Son into the world to rescue you from an eternity in hell and you don’t even care? I don’t need anymore proof of the blinding power of sin than that!  God’s Son comes to forgive you, and wash away your sin, and you toss Him aside because you have better things to do with your life than mess around with “religion”?  I hate to say it, but you’ve been blinded to the greatest love the world has ever known!

“The god of this age (the devil) has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”  (2 Corinthians 4:4)

The greatest thing that’s ever happened to this world was the entry of Jesus into it.  Do you know Him?  Are you living for Him?  Is He forgotten, or loved by you?

If you’re seeking, go here.

If you’re wandering away from the truth, go here.

“Why did a Holy God
even give us another thought?
He could have held His breath
and the world have died-
Adam by Eve’s own side.
and that would have been the end.”

I heard a preacher recently thunder the wrath of God.  Actually he was very soft spoken, but His words carried the message of God’s judgment.  I’m not totally against that either.  You’ll find that I talk about these things in many of my posts.  There are biblical truths that have been largely discarded, and the message of God’s holiness, wrath, and judgment is almost completely absent in today’s church.  These are truths that need to be taught again.  Scripture teaches, “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God”  (Hebrews 10:31)  The NASB version puts it this way:

“It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

I wonder how often you hear that preached today?  It is the truth, and it’s something we need to remember and take very seriously.  Our God is holy and we better be careful to never forget that.  I won’t mention names, but there are some who have appeared and taken up that message, and taken it up very strongly.  You can find their videos on YouTube, their messages on various blogs, and maybe you’ve even gotten an email or two from a friend who’s been shaken by the gravity of what they’ve heard, and it’s caused them to sit up and evaluate their relationship with God.  I think that’s a good thing.  If the bible is telling us that it’s a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God while we go about acting like it’s no big deal to encounter Him, we’ve got a problem!

But I would like to mention another problem:  If we get so focused on the message of God’s judgment and wrath that we forget His mercy, we have an even bigger problem!

“He could have held His breath
and the world have died-
Adam by Eve’s own side.
and that would have been the end.”

God could have ended everything with Adam and Eve.  He could have withheld His breath and their sin would have been the last human sin He ever had to deal with, but He didn’t do that.  What does that tell us about God?  It tells me that His heart of mercy is greater than His desire to send judgment.  It tells me that His love is higher on the ladder than His wrath:  God will find a way to send mercy, and remove judgment, even if it means Him paying the highest price.  He proved that to us by sending His Son as a sacrifice who would bear the penalty for our sins, taking upon Himself the wrath we deserved. 

A return to holiness preaching

Yesterday while listening to a revival preacher in a church we were visiting I heard 1 1/2 hours about God’s judgment, wrath, and displeasure with sin, but God’s answer to our sin problem was never really presented!  I was left with the feeling that God could, and would, smote me for my disobedience and that I “better get right with God”.  The way that I was “to get right with God” was by repenting of my sin.  (More on that later…)  Furthermore, I was told (along with everyone else in the room) that when I stood before Him, if I hadn’t gotten rid of all my “blots and blemishes” I wouldn’t have a prayer in the world of getting into heaven and would be cast straight into hell!  Over and over we were told of our need to be righteous and to live right.  We were reminded that God hates our secret sin.  We were reprimanded for not truly being His disciples if we failed to live correctly, and warned that we would ultimately be found to be fakes and cast out by Jesus with a word:

“Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

You could hear a pin drop!  And rightly so.  Where do you hear anything like this preached today with any kind of seriousness?  There are tons of places in the bible that warn of self deception, sin and God’s wrath, so why don’t we ever hear any of these things being preached? Many in the church are waking up to the fact that just calling oneself a Christian doesn’t cut it.  Just praying a prayer to “get saved” doesn’t cut it…  So we’re beginning to hear the other side:  God is a holy God and wants us as His children to be holy.  Preaching holiness is scriptural and we need it… but…

Working my way to heaven?

Somewhere during this preacher’s message I began to get concerned however.  Where was Jesus in all this?  The gospel was never really mentioned!  It was all about me “getting right” and I couldn’t help but think, “Man! Without Jesus, I have no righteousness.”  It was all about me repenting, all about me being a disciple, all about me getting rid of my own “blots and blemishes”, all about me “getting my robe clean”.  Hold on!  I thought Jesus was my righteousness.  I thought Jesus clothed me with His robe of righteousness.

“It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”  (1 Corinthians 1:30-31)

The most serious error of all!

As much as I truly believe there needs to be a return to holiness preaching and “walking as Jesus walked”, we need to be careful that we don’t fall into the most serious error of all:  Forgetting Jesus!  After everything’s said and done, the only way we can stand before a Holy God is to be hidden in Christ.  He alone is our righteousness.  The most serious error of all is to forget that fact.  Like my wife said later as we sat in the parking lot discussing this… “I could scrub and scrub my robe all day long but it still wouldn’t be clean enough.  I would still have so many stains…”  Exactly!  You can’t scrub your robe clean enough to stand before a Holy God.  If you think you can, you still don’t understand just how Holy He is, (or how sinful you are!).

Hearing this “preacher of righteousness” reminded me of a few things:

1. God’s mercy triumphs over judgment.  The fact that the human race continued after Adam and Eve proves that fact!  He could have ended the whole thing right there.  Don’t get so focused on His wrath that you forget His mercy!
2. Even so, we need to preach about God’s wrath and judgment because those things are very real too.  God sent a flood, and He tells us that the present world we live in will be destroyed by fire.  We should be telling people the whole counsel of God, and talking about God’s judgment is part of that.
3. Don’t exchange one error for an even bigger error:  God’s Word tells us over and over again that we are to live holy lives because our God is holy.  Omitting to teach and practice this truth is a serious error.  However, in our zeal to reclaim the truth of holiness we need to be careful that we don’t commit an even more serious error.  Jesus alone is our righteousness, and He alone is the reason we will be able to stand before a Holy God.  If we forget this truth we have made the most serious error of all! 

We are not saved by our works, we better very careful that we don’t give people the impression that we are!

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!  As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!”

(Galatians 1:6-9)

There’s one thing worse than not preaching holiness… it’s failing to preach that ultimately Jesus alone is that holiness for us.  No matter how hard we try, no matter how holy we get, if we don’t realize that Jesus alone is the only way to stand before a holy God, we’ve made the most serious error of all!