1 John 5:13; “ I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
ENCOURAGING WORD:
In this world in which we live, if you ask someone if they are going to heaven, some will say, "Yes, I believe so" and some will say "I don’t know." Let me start out with those that say, yes! When they say yes, then I will ask then why they believe that they are going to heaven. The number one answer is, because I’m a good person. Then I like to ask them, you say that you are good, but the question is, “by whose standards are you good? Let’s hear what the Bible has to say about this.
Romans 3:10-18; “As it is written: “There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.” “Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;“ The poison of asps is under their lips”; “Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destruction and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Wow, I would say based on the scriptures that I just read, nobody is good enough to go to heaven on their own merits. Let me ask you a series of questions. Let’s go through the ten commandments.
#1) Exodus 20:2; “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. “You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Is there anything in your life that you put before God/Jesus Christ? I would be willing to bet that at least 95% of all those that call them selves Christians have something or someone in their life that means more to them than Jesus Christ. I think that 95% is being very conservative. Anything that you cherish in this life that is more important than your love for Jesus Christ is breaking this commandment. Fill in the next sentence, The most important thing in this life to me is _______. Anything that you put in this blank space is another god. Boat, car, house, family or anything else that you value more than your relationship with Jesus Christ is your god.
#2) Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.”
These first two commandments along with commandment #3 all tie into the same category, but the second commandment really hits the nail on the head when it comes to carved images, or anything else made with human hands. No idol made of wood, stone or plaster is God. Idols are deaf, dumb, blind, and powerless. If you belong to a church that has any statue, pictures or anything else that supposedly represents a religious figure such as May, the Pope, anyone of the Disciples, or even Jesus Christ, it is an idol made with human hands, and you are guilty of this commandment. Don’t just brush this off, this is serious. The Catholics removed the second commandment from their list of ten because they are extremely guilty of this commandment. Then they take the last commandment and break it into two so as to have ten commandments. I’ll cover that commandment a little later. That should wake you up if you follow the catholic faith. The only symbols that should be accepted in a churches are crosses, without Jesus hanging on them, or a dove. But even these should not be worshipped. The cross is symbolic of the crucifixion and death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. It should not be kissed or bowed down to as an item of adornment. The Dove is symbolic of peace, the peace that only comes from God above. Keep in mind if you wonder what an idol is, it is anything made with human hands. The only person that should be worshipped and idolized is Jesus Christ, anything other than Jesus Christ is an idol.
#3) Exodus 20:7; “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.”
This verse does not just cover vulgar language, it goes much deeper. Of course, swearing is the number one culprit of this commandment, but if you claim to be a Christian, you better live like it. If you say that you are a Chrisian, and then live a sinful life style, you are guilty of this commandment. You are using the name of God in vein, then in reality, you are a "Christian in name only". CINO! The biggest problem with this offense is this, if you tell people that you are a Christian and then live a sinful life style, you are in a sense misrepresenting what a Christian should be, and you are giving a false presentation of what a Christian should be to thsoe that are watching you. In other words, those that are not Christians might get the idea that they can willfully sin and still be saved. If you are going to live under the banner of Christianity, you better live like it. That doesn’t mean going to church once a week and then fall into your sinful way of living the rest of the week. Now, don’t get the idea that some people never sin, we all sin every day, what I am referring to is living a sinful lifestyle. Here is a list of those offenses.
1 Corinthians 6: 9-10; “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
If you are living in anyone of these life styles, don’t expect to spend eternity with Jesus Christ. You need to repent right away, turn from that sin and get right with Jesus Christ.
#4) Exodus 20: 8-11; “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
This commandment was taken way of context by the Pharisees and Sadducees back in the days when Jesus walked the earth. They accused Jesus of working on the Sabbath day, but Jesus quickly clarified what this commandment declares.
We read this in Mark 2:27-28; “And He (Jesus) said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath: Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath.”
In Mark 2:27 as we just read, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” This statement was in response to the accusation made by Pharisees and Sadducees the that Jesus’s disciples were breaking the law regarding resting on the Sabbath when they walked by some fields and plucked heads of grain.
When the Pharisees accused Jesus’s disciples, Jesus referred them to an example from the Old Testament. David was once in need of food and was given consecrated bread that was technically only lawful for the priests to eat The holy bread had served a practical need of God’s anointed (David) and his followers, just as, in Jesus’ day, the grain served a practical need for God’s anointed (Jesus) and His followers. David and his men had not acted sinfully in eating the showbread, and neither were Jesus’ disciples acting sinfully in picking heads of grain on the Sabbath. Jesus concludes, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath". His response to the accusing Pharisees contains two important teachings. First, the Sabbath was intended to help people, not burden them. In contrast with the grueling daily work as slaves in Egypt, the Israelites were commanded to take a full day of rest each week under the Mosaic Law. Pharisaical law had morphed the Sabbath into a burden, adding restrictions beyond what God’s law said. The act of picking a head of grain and munching on it as one walked along a field should not be considered “harvesting,” as the Pharisees tried to categorize it. The disciples had not broken God’s law; they had only violated the Pharisees’ strict interpretation of the law. Jesus reminded the Pharisees of the original intent of the Sabbath rest.
Second, Jesus is Lord even of the Sabbath. What does this mean? Another way to express the idea is to say Jesus is in charge of the Sabbath. He is God in human form, and He created the Sabbath day. As the One who wrote the law, Jesus certainly has oversight over how the law is to be enforced. The Pharisees had lifted their own rules to the level of God’s, placing onerous burdens on people, and they ended up rebuking the Lawgiver Himself. The same thing that the Roman Catholic Church is doing. They are placing laws and restrictions on their followers that are no written in the Bible. Remember what Jesus said about the Pharisees,
John 8:44; “You (The Pharisees) are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.”
If you are a follower of the Raman Catholic Sect of Christianity, I’ll let you think about this one. I believe the modern day hierarchy of Roman Catholicism are also the modern day Pharisees and Sadducees. Just my opinion, but one I believe followers of Catholicism better think about. The Bible pretty much speaks for itself. Jesus is also the Lord of the Sabbath in that the Sabbath pointed to the rest Jesus provides. Jesus became our rest when He did all the work necessary for our salvation. He fulfilled the Law and the “Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes” We rest, spiritually, in Him; He has secured our eternal blessing. As believers, set free in Christ, we are not judged by whether or not we keep the Sabbath day. Instead, we follow the Lord of the Sabbath, Jesus Christ. We find our rest in Him, and seven days a week are filled with worship of Him, not just the Sabbath.
#5) Exodus 20: 12; “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.”
This commandment should be self-explanatory, however, in today’s society we are teaching our youth not to honor an elderly person, including their parents. Our government is undermining our right to raise our Children the way we feel is right. They are taking away our history, and teaching them the ways of Socialism. When I was young, when we addressed an adult, it was always, Mr. and Mrs. so-and so. That was our respectful way of honoring that elderly person. We never called them by their first name. The youth of today have no idea what it means to “Honor your father and your mother, or anyone else for that matter." Parents have no right to discipline their children. If a parent does discipline their children with a spank on the butt or a slap upside the head, the child can turn them in to the authorities and risk being fined or sued. The lack of discipline is the reason that our children are the way they are today. They can get away with murder because there is no disciplinary action. Because of this, we are heading into a very dangerous future here in America if we don't turn it around. Unless something changes drastically, our nation will fall and deteriorate from the inside out, as we can see is already heading that direction. It’s interesting that the Bible says that in the end days, we will live in a lawless society, and we can also see that in the days in which we live. It seems as if the laws only apply to the general public, not those in authority. If it applied to those in our government, the jails would be full of government officials that have obviously broken the law. Some have even gotten away with murder. This is a result of taking discipline out of our schools and society in large. It’s obvious that the more money one has, the less the law applies to them.
#6) Exodus 20: 13; “You shall not murder.”
The first thing one may say is this. I never murdered anybody. Oh yah, let’s hear what Jesus has to say about this.
Matthew 5:21-22; “Murder Begins in the Heart. “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.”
I personally know a few people that have murdered me according to the verse above. I have to believe that every one of us has been angry with someone in our lives at one time or another. So, that would pretty much put all of us in that category. We are all guilty. Remember, these are the Words spoken by Jesus Christ. Are you going to argue with Him, if so, good luck.
#7) Exodus 20:14; ““You shall not commit adultery.”
Here is another one that most people will say that they are innocent of. Once again, let’s hear what Jesus has to say about this.
Matthew 5:27-32; “Adultery in the Heart," “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.” “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’ But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.”
Men, are you convicted yet. If you say “No” then you are guilty of Commandment #9 which we will get to soon. Women, this applies to you also. If you dress in an inappropriate way and cause a man to fall into lust, you are just as guilty of this sin as he is. You may dress anyway you want to, but know this, you will be held accountable for every man that looks at you with lust. Where this really angers me is when I see young ladies dressing like they should be "street walkers" coming to church dressed like they do. If you can’t dress appropriately, stay home. You are doing the works of Satan in Gods house. Ladies, men are week in this area, so help them out by dressing appropriately. Men always get accused of being the ones that cause an adulterous situation, but women, you are just as bad or even worse in these days in which we now live. The way most women dress, I’m not sure what they are advertising. In other words, if you’re not in the business, then don’t dress like it.
#8) Exodus 20:15; ““You shall not steal.”
Have you ever taken something that is not yours. Once again, I’m pretty sure that we are all guilty of that at one time or another in our lives. Even if it was something very small, it is still stealing. Another area of stealing is this. If you pay for something at a super market or some other business and the clerk gives you too much money back, you should return it if you are aware of it. Sure, we often just put our change in our pocket without counting it, that is not stealing. Also, if you take something by accident without paying, you need to go back to where you took it and make it right. In other words, if you knowingly take something or receive something that isn’t yours, it is stealing. This also applies to stealing someone’s idea. How many people got rich because they stole someone’s idea that they had no right to take. There are many ways of stealing that go far beyond what this commandment says.
#9) Exodus 20:16; “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.”
First of all, let me clarify who your neighbor is, it is everybody. This commandment is most obvious in our society today especially in our government. We are in an election year and all we hear are from our candidates and social media are false accusations about the opposing party. One is much worse than the other, but to avoid argument, I’ll let you think about it. Not only in our government, but everywhere in society we see false accusations made by businesses, companies, and just about every aspect of our society. The most harmful lies are coming from the pulpits of America where so called Christian Pastors and Priests are watering down the Gospel and lying about the truth of Salvation. The churches that are most guilty of this are what we refer to as the Mega Churches, which also includes Catholicism and Lutheranism. Listen to what the Bible says about this.
2 Timothy 4:3; “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will gather up for themselves teachers;
We are there, but the only way for you to know for sure is to read the Bible for yourself. If you have never read the Bible, then you have no right to criticize those that have. If you are interested in reading the Bible and understanding it, I’m going to share with you what you need to do before you start reading. Before opening the Bible, pray,
“God, help me understand your Word, God, please help me to know Jesus. God, please help me become more like Jesus.”
Now, open your Bible. If you are sincere and truly give your life to Jesus and ask the Holy Spirit into your heart, you will begin to understand the Bible and you will then be well on your way to knowing Jesus personally and understanding the truth. If you decide not to read the Bible, then once again, you have no right to argue with anyone who has read the Bible. If you choose to trust your Pastor or Priest for your salvation…good luck. When you stand before Jesus Christ and you get judged based on what you learned from your Pastor or Priest, don’t use the excuse, that is what your Pastor or Priest taught you, it won’t hold up in Gods court. You will be responsible for what you believe regardless of who you trusted to tell you the truth. Don’t you think it would be wise to learn what the Bible teaches since eternity is a long time. Eternity is forever regardless of what you have been taught in your sect of Christianity.
#10) Exodus 20:17; “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
First of all, this is the commandment that Roman Catholicism breaks in two to get ten commandments. They break it down to say,
(Number Nine) You shall not covet your neighbor's wife.
(Number Ten) You shall not covet your neighbor's goods.
They have rewritten Gods law to fit their own agenda and what they want to live by. Let me share with you one of the last verses in the bible. We read in; Revelation 22:18-19; “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”
I would have to say, Roman Catholicism is very guilty of this warning. Now if you want to argue, take it up with Jesus Christ, these are His words, not mine.
Now, let me explain the meaning behind commandment "Number Ten." Covet means lust for, or hunger for, or wanting something that someone else has. Once again, we are all guilty of this one. How many times does a man wish he had someone else’s wife, or vice versa. How many times does someone have a really nice home, car or boat, and we wish we could have one. The reason that this is a sin is because we are telling God that we are not happy with what He has given us. Everything that we have, has been provided by God. Why some people have many riches and some live in poverty, we’ll never know, but God knows. One day we will find out and then we will understand everything. Until then, we have to trust that everything that He is doing in our lives is working our for the good as we read in, Romans 8:28; "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." We need to praise God for everything that He has given us, whether it is much or very little.
Now, let me explain why I went through all these commandments in detail. It is to let us all know that we are all sinners in need of a Savior. Whether we’ve sinned a little or a lot, it’s still a sin and God will not allow sinful man to enter His Kingdom. So, without forgiveness from God, we would all be eternally dammed in the Lake of Burning Fire. So now, at this point the question that you may have is this. What can I do then to be saved if every sin that I committed I would be judged for. I’m glad you asked. There is only one way. Sin has to be dealt with and because we are all sinful, we cannot pay for our own sins. If you think you can, good luck.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11; “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
Ephesians 2:8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.’
Ephesians 5:5; “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.”
God cannot and will not allow sinful man to enter into His Kingdom, sin has to be dealt with and there is only one remedy for sin. Good works will not do it. As it says in Ephesians 2:8-9; For by grace you have been saved through faith.
I’ll end with what I started with; How can I know if I am saved? I’ll end with these following verses.
1 John 5:13; “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.”
Notice it says, "you may know", not, "you may think," so if anybody tells you that you cannot know if you are going to heaven or not, it is another lie from the pit of hell. The mainline denominations don’t know if they are going to heaven, because they think it is by works that you are saved, and they will never know if they’ve been good enough. If you follow this doctrine, let me says this, you can never be good enough to go to heaven on your own merit. Read again Ephesians 2:8-9.
Acts 16:31; “They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
Once again, it says you will be saved, not you might be saved.
Romans 10:9-10; “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation.”
Now, words alone will not save you, notice it says, believe in your heart, this is an act of being born again and once you are truly born again, you can know that you are saved, and nobody can take that away from you.
John 10:28-29; “And I (Jesus) give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.”
This is saying that even you can’t pluck yourself out of Gods hand once you are saved.
I’ll end with this. I know that I ruffled a lot of feathers, but I did it because of my love for my friends and family. If you choose to despise me because of what I shared, I’m sorry, but I am called to tell the truth. Here is what God has told me. John 15:18; “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”
What did the world do you Jesus Christ for sharing the truth? They crucified Him on a cross of wood, yet, He made the hill on which it stood!
I can live with it, because I know that one day I will be with Jesus Christ and that day could be soon. Only through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, can we be saved. Any other way will end up in the Lake of Burning Fire!
My deepest prayer is that all those that I know and love will be in heaven with me. I will not be responsible for their salvation by not sharing the truth with them. If you wnat to go to heaven, you can know for sure that you are. If you don't care, then you will most likey find yourself on the wrong end of righteousness and you will be judged accordingly.
May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, as we do for you, so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever.”
I pray that this message reaches the hearts of those that I love, and many others that God needs to reach. May God bless you in all you do and Take care!
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