Monthly Archives: August 2017

Man despises cause and effect, but there have always been consequences for sin

God uses everything to accomplish his will. He planted seeds in the Old Testament so the New Covenant would be easier to understand.

As Christians, we pursue the threads in Scripture to gain a deeper understanding of God’s plan and the doctrines that pertain to us.

In Genesis 6, we find rampant sin upon the earth. The minds and hearts of men were consumed with evil (Genesis 6:5). Accordingly, God decided to wipe out all life except what he put into the ark (Genesis 7:1-12).

Noah preached the Word of God while he constructed the ark (2 Peter 2:5). In more than one hundred years, no one was converted except for his family. Then they entered the ark and were the only humans to survive.

The dividing line was righteousness (Genesis 6:5-12). Those who were with God were saved, everyone else was lost. It didn’t matter how kind, loving or generous they were. All that mattered was whether they were faithful to God.

Man despises cause and effect, but there have always been consequences for sin (Psalm 14:1-3; Romans 3:10- 18,23; Ezekiel 18:3-9,19-23).

God works by his own standards. Fickle human standards are completely immaterial to the Lord. When we judge God by fleshly criterion, we are insulting the Father.

When the humans and animals exited the ark, the ship passed out of service (Genesis 8:13-21). Yet, it was not finished.

The imagery of the ark was a precursor for the Church. God built the Church and expects us to do exactly as he commanded (Genesis 6:22; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Corinthians 4:6).

Righteousness is the only standard for being saved from sin today, just like the ark. When we submit to Jesus, we are immersed into Christ (Acts 2:38,42,47; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 12:13).

All who were in the ark were saved. All who are in Christ will likewise be saved (Romans 8:1). Being in Christ was just like being in the ark. We are there by God’s standards and he allows us to remain there because we walk by faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Everyone outside of the ark died. The same will happen to all those who are outside of Christ. Human standards will have nothing to do with that criterion.

The concept of the ark is then found on judgment day. Righteousness will once again be the criterion for salvation. Everyone in Christ will enter heaven, and everyone else will be lost (Revelation 20:11-15).

We may believe there are the lost, the saved, and the good people, but the Lord only sees the lost and the saved. No one outside of Christ will be saved even if they are in religious groups that are sincere and committed to the Lord (Matthew 7:21-22).

Man does not want our eternal destines to be this clearly delineated but has God never made decisions based on what we wanted. And he never will.

Righteousness is our only hope (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:1).

So, come to Christ today!

–by Richard Mansel

Are you unprepared?

Unwilling to Prepare

Many people at the judgment will say to the Lord, “I’ve been a good person.”

Many have never been guilty of what they consider to be serious positive transgressions of God’s commands.
They think they should be admitted to heaven solely on the basis of their conduct. In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees considered themselves good people.

In Matthew 25, the end-of-time pictures Jesus paints were not about people who had been bad, as such. All of the pictures are about people who could have prepared for eternity, but did not. They knew what they needed to do, but decided to leave those things undone.

The five foolish virgins (Matthew 25:1-13) should have known their lamps would likely go out, but instead of preparing for that eventuality, they ignored it until it was too late.

The one-talent man’s problem was that he was unwilling to work (Matthew 25:14-30). He had been given an amount of money that represented an opportunity which he hid in the ground. He was called wicked, not because he was a bad person, but because he was afraid and didn’t want to work.

When Jesus judges the world in righteousness, some will be condemned because they knew there was work to be done, but they just didn’t want to do it (Matthew 25:31-46). These people were not bad; they just failed to do the things Jesus wanted.

Jesus said, “I was hungry and you gave me no meat: I was thirsty and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked and you clothed me not: sick and in prison and you visited me not” (Matthew 25:42-43).

Friends, there is more to being faithful than just avoiding those sins we think will condemn us. Remember what James wrote, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17).

How many will be turned away from heaven who just are unwilling to prepare?

–by John Henson

She was cool, attractive, quick on her feet

Venting

“A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back” (Proverbs 29:11, ESV.).

Back when I was doing undergraduate studies (this goes back some time), I was working at a local television station. I took news off the “wire,” composed it to the teleprompter so it could be read by the newscaster. The young woman who did the news that night was the station’s star — cool, attractive, quick on her feet.

One evening the sound technician was having trouble. Her mike was not on. She spoke engagingly into the camera for several moments, her eyes shining with sincerity and concern about the story she was telling.

Then the word got through — “the mike’s not on” — and she stopped, pursing her lips in annoyance.

They put up the usual notice — “Please stand by, we’re having technical difficulties.” After a moment they thought they had it right, she spoke into the camera again, and presently the director shook his head again.

The mike was still dead. They switched to a commercial break while technicians worked desperately.

But our star had seen enough. She turned to the unfortunate sound man and commenced a prolonged, colorful dressing down. The subjects she covered were wide-ranging and personal, including the circumstances of his birth, the character of his father, and several other exhortations and encouragements.

Unfortunately, the sound man had finally found the problem, repaired it, and our “Lady of the News Desk” was now telling him off on a “live” mike! Several counties and a metropolitan center heard her give her supporting cast a piece of her mind.

Most of us couldn’t afford to give someone else a “piece of our mind.” There wouldn’t be much left for ourselves. Giving “full vent” to our anger — “losing it” completely we might say today — is a great image of someone losing complete self-control.

Remember, the emptier the kettle, the quicker the boil!

by Stan Mitchell