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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Listen and Really Listen

Whoever has ears to listen should pay attention!" Mark. 4:23

I am the Lord, that is My name; And My glory I will not give to another, Nor My praise to idols. Isaiah. 42:8

The will of God is so the cause of all things, as to be itself without cause, for nothing can be the cause of that which is the cause of everything: when we ascend to that, we can go no further. Therefore we find every matter resolved ultimately into the mere sovereign pleasure of God, as the spring and occasion of whatever is done in Heaven and earth.

The only reason that can be assigned why the Deity does this or that, is because it is His own free pleasure so to do" (from the pen of the author of "Rock of Ages" and other well-known hymns, in his "Observations on the Divine Attributes": 1750). Such teaching as this, alone preserves the Divine independence and presents the true God in His unrivaled freedom and supremacy, unhampered by anything within or without Himself.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways,” declares Yahweh. Isaiah. 55:8

Behold, I have told you ahead of time! Matthew. 24:25

God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative. For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification], Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves]. And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin], Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it). For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one, And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another--men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution. And so, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God or approve of Him or consider Him worth the knowing, God gave them over to a base and condemned mind to do things not proper or decent but loathsome, Until they were filled (permeated and saturated) with every kind of unrighteousness, iniquity, grasping and covetous greed, and malice. [They were] full of envy and jealousy, murder, strife, deceit and treachery, ill will and cruel ways. [They were] secret backbiters and gossipers, Slanderers, hateful to and hating God, full of insolence, arrogance, [and] boasting; inventors of new forms of evil, disobedient and undutiful to parents. [They were] without understanding, conscienceless and faithless, heartless and loveless [and] merciless. Though they are fully aware of God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them themselves but approve and applaud others who practice them. Romans. 1:18-32

I tell you, unless you repent, you too will all perish. Luke. 13:3


(the true gospel:

The Lord Jesus Christ is truly ALIVE!!

And it is appointed for men to die once, but after that to face judgment, (Hebrews 9:27NKJV)

WHAT MUST I DO!! To be saved?

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30 NKJV).

You must repent. This means a complete change regarding sin. There must be a change of mind. You must admit that you are a sinner, a rebel against a holy and loving God. There must be a change of heart — genuine sorrow and shame at the vileness: and filthiness of your sin. Then you must be willing to forsake it and change the direction of your life. God challenges people to prove their repentance by their deeds (Acts 26:20). You must do this. God will not forgive any sin you are not willing to forsake.

Sin is [TRANSGRESSION] against God's Perfect Holy Moral Law. (you are Guilty!!)

(read:

Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV).

(REPENT ~ read on:

Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:29-32 NKJV).

(REPENT ~ read on:

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God (I Corinthians 6:9, 10 NKJV).

(REPENT ~ read on:

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. (2 Timothy 3:1-5, 7 NIV)

To repent is to go in a new direction, seeking wholeheartedly to live in a way that pleases God. Repentance does not save, yet no sinner ever was or ever will be saved without it. None but Christ saves—but an impenitent heart cannot receive Him.

How can I get right with God? How can Christ become my Savior?

As a result of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:6), every part of man—his mind, will, emotions and flesh—have been corrupted by sin. Because of man’s sinful nature, he does not and cannot seek God. He has no desire to come to God and, in fact, his mind is hostile toward God (Romans 8:7). God has declared that man’s sin dooms him to an eternity in hell, separated from God. It is in hell that man pays the penalty of sin against a holy and righteous God. This would be bad news indeed if there were no remedy.

All the Bible’s teaching points to the death of Jesus. Neither his perfect life nor his marvelous teaching nor his powerful miracles are the focus of the Bible’s message. These are all important, but above all else Jesus came into the world to die. What makes his death so important? The answer is that he died as a Substitute, a Sin bearer and a Savior. Jesus the Substitute. This demonstrates the love of God. Sinners are guilty, lost and helpless in the face of God’s holy law, which demands punishment for every sin. How can they possibly escape God’s righteous wrath? The Bible’s answer is this: God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). As part of an amazing rescue plan God the Son volunteered to take the place of sinners and bear the just penalty for their sin. The sinless Son of God willingly suffered and died for them, the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18).

Jesus the Sin bearer. This demonstrates the holiness of God. There was nothing ‘faked’ about Christ’s death. The penalty for the sins of others was paid in full by the death of God’s sinless Son. As he hung on the cross he cried out, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ (Mark 15:34). At that terrible moment God the Father turned his back on his beloved Son, who then endured the penalty of separation from God.

All men are under the fierce just wrath of God because of their vile wickedness. Someone had to drink down that wrath. Jesus on that tree bore the guilt of his people and stood in their law place. Then all the holy just hatred, wrath, judgment, and justice of God like blinding white light came crushing down on the head of Christ. Have you never read — And it pleased the Lord, YAHWEH, to crush his Son — to grind him to powder (Isaiah 53). Notice how this shows God’s perfect holiness. All sin, every sin, must be punished — and when Jesus took the place of sinners he became as accountable for their sins as if he had been responsible for them. The one man who lived a perfect life suffered the double death penalty of the guilty.

Jesus the Savior. This demonstrates the power of God. Three days after his death, Christ was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). He gave many convincing proofs that he was alive and he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him (Acts 1:3; Romans 6:9). In raising Christ from the dead, God powerfully demonstrated that he accepted his death in the place of sinners as the full and perfect payment of sin’s penalty and as the basis on which he can offer a full and free pardon to those who would otherwise be doomed to spend eternity in hell.

You must have faith in Christ. First of all, this means accepting that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matthew 16:16) and that Christ died for the ungodly (Romans 5:6). Secondly, it means believing that in the power and love Christ is able and willing to save you. Thirdly it means actually putting your trust in Christ, relying upon him and him alone to make you right with God. Your proud; sinful nature will fight against abandoning trust in your own ‘goodness’ or religion. Yet you have no alternative. You must stop trusting in anything else and trust only in Christ, who is able to save completely those who come to God through him (Hebrews 7:25).

If God has shown you your need, and given you this desire, then turn to Christ — and do it now! Ideally, pray aloud to him; this may help you to be clear about what you are doing. Confess that you are a guilty, lost and helpless sinner, and with all your heart ask Christ to save you, and to take his rightful place as the Lord of your life, enabling you to turn from sin and to live for him.

The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved and that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:9; Romans 10:13). If you truly trust Christ as your Savior and acknowledge him as your Lord, you can claim these promises as your own.

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance (Matthew 3:8 NKJV).

~copy, paste and share Christ's message~

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