BIBLE MEDITATION:
Hebrews 9:27; “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgement.”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
I want to start out this message with a story that I read on Facebook that really nailed what I want to get across. This story came from Pastor Terry Shuff and it was shared by Jamie Soo, a Facebook friend. It does absolutely no good to pray for the dead…..
A church visitor asked the pastor, “Can I request a prayer?”
“Sure, what do you want to pray for?”
“My cousin died last week. Pray that God will guide him in the afterlife.”
The pastor asked, “Suppose you’re taking an exam. Should you pray before the exam or after?”
“Obviously, before the exam.”
“Right. When you pray after the exam, it’s like you’re asking God to change the grades. That is not possible because God is a faithful. He cannot change the result. Parallel too, when we die, the exam is over. We can no longer change our destiny. Hebrews 9:27 says, "That we die once and then face judgement." That means, no second chance. I’m sorry for your relative. He can no longer be prayed for. That is why people need to understand the Gospel while they are still alive. They had to accept Jesus as Lord and Savior before it was all over.”
Sinners who believe they can be saved after death will get the greatest shock of their lives. Teach the truth because that’s the only thing that can set people free. John 8:32.
I feel it is necessary to share this message because there is a religious sect of Christianity that teaches that you can pray people into heaven after they die. That is a lie from the pit of hell, which is exactly what Satan wants us to believe. For those of you that don’t know what I’m referring to, it’s called purgatory. If you believe that you can be prayed into heaven after you die, like I said above, you will be very disappointed when you find out that you have been taught a very deceptive lie. We read in Ephesians 2: 8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Everybody is responsible for their own salvation, no one on this blue earth can save you regardless of what you may have been taught. With that being said, no Priest or Pastor can forgive you of your sins, only Jesus can forgive sins. Pastors and Priest that say “by the authority given to me by the grace of God, I now forgive you all your sins.” They can’t forgive sins any more than anybody else can. Sure, we can forgive people that have sinned against us, which we are called to do, but we can’t forgive people for sins that they have sinned against God and His commandments. Keep in mind that there are not only Ten Commandments, there are well over six hundred.
I know, right about now I have ruffled some feathers. So, if you don’t believe what I just told you, then you need to get into the Bible and do some studying on your own. If you dive into the scriptures and do an intense study of the Bible, you will come out a new person and most likely you will be very upset with what you have been taught over the years in the denominational churches of today. The pulpits of today, are spreading a lot false doctrine, but we shouldn’t be surprised because of what the Bible says will happen in the last days. We read in 1 Timothy, 4:1’ NLV version. I don’t usually step away from the King James Version, but this particular message in the NLV version is clearer. “The Holy Spirit tells us in plain words that in the last days some people (Pastors and Priests included) will turn away from the faith. They will listen to what is said about spirits and follow teaching about demons.” Verse 2 goes on the say, “Those who teach this tell it as if it were the truth when they know it’s a lie. They do so much that their own hearts no longer say it’s wrong.” And oh, by the way, deception will play a huge roll in the end times as we read in Matthew, 24:4-5; “And Jesus answered and said unto them, (His disciples) Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” Another verse that I have to share in found in Matthew, 7: 15; “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves”. Our world is full of ravenous wolves, but the only way to know for sure who they are is to read and study the Bible so you know for sure who is teaching truth and who is lying. There are so many verses in the scriptures tied to this message, but rather than me read them all, please get into the Bible and see for yourself what is truth. If you want to take a short cut and get just the verse that apply to this teaching, log onto Google and type in "Bible verse about Deception in the last days." There are hundreds of verses that are very clear with what is happening in our world and where this is all taking us. Another good Google search is “Prophecies in the end days.” You will be astonished at what you read and how we are seeing all these things coming to fruition that were clearing spoken of by the Prophets of Old. Don’t be a fool and believe everything that you are being taught in your sect of Christianity is truth, check it all out for yourself. You will be held accountable for what you believe, and with that being said, do not put your salvation in the hands of any one church leader or religion. I know I mention this quite often but we all need to be Bereans. Let me explain what a Berean is, we read in Acts 17:11 where it says the following, “Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” There’s nothing wrong with listening to certain teachers of the Bible, but make sure that what you are hearing is the truth. Once again, as much as I don’t totally agree with the moral values of Google, it is a good source for looking up certain topics of the Bible for those that don’t like to read.
There is no reason for anyone to remain ignorant of what the Bible teaches. There are quite a few very good websites with exceptional Bible teachers that you can toon into once a week or every day. The one I feel that is the best is “hischannel.com” There are messages about Bible scriptures and then there are documentaries which are very interesting to say the least. And then there are teaches that are dead on with Bible Prophecy and share what is happening today and how the prophecies of old are coming to fruition right before our eyes. All you have to do is watch as the Bible clearly states that we should be doing. I want to share two more Bible verses for you to mediate on. Matthew, 26:41; “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The Spirit is willing, but the flesh is week.” Matthew, 24:42; “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” This is just a couple of verses that tell us to be watching, there are many more.
So, let me end with this bit of information. Until your last breath here on earth, you have a choice to either spend eternity in heaven or hell. God will not make that choice for you, neither can anyone else. The second after you breathe your last breath, you will find yourself in the presents of Jesus Christ or, in the flaming compounds of hell. At that point, your eternal fate has been decided, by you. There will be no if, ands or buts about it. Let me give you an example that everyone should be able to understand. If someone gave you a choice of going to Hawaii or the poorest area of Haiti, and you could make that choice for yourself, would you sit back and hope that you went to Hawaii based on someone else’s decision, of course you wouldn’t, you would pick Hawaii in a heartbeat. So why are you sitting back hoping you will go to heaven based on someone’s teaching, when the Bible clearly states you have the choice. If you are taking the chance that someone will pray you into heaven after you die, I have very bad news for you. You will be in “The Lake of Burning Fire" for all eternity.
So, with all this being said, what will you choose? Will you chose to reject the truth and believe what you have been taught in your sect of Christianity or will you search for the truth for yourself? This is nothing that you should take lightly. Your last breath could come as quickly as tomorrow, we never know when our last day will be. Only Jesus can save, get to know Him personally right now!
May God bless you and take care!
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