In an earlier article we were told that Jesus Christ would one day return to set up His kingdom, but what if an imposter comes and claims to be the Messiah? Actually the Scriptures warn of that exact thing. In fact, there will be many anti-Christs or false messiahs. Jesus gave a very clear warning about this in Matthew 24:23-27: “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
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Jesus Christ’s warning is very clear. These false christs and false prophets will even do amazing signs and wonders in order to trick people, but when the true Christ comes, there will be no doubt who He is. His coming will be as quick and powerful as lightning lighting up the whole sky from one horizon to the other. There will be no speculation on if He is the Messiah or not, because there will be no doubt.
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Although there will be many anti-Christs, there will be one specific anti-Christ called the beast who will rise to preeminence in the last days before the real Christ returns to earth again. “Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.” Revelation 13:18 A score is 20, so 3 score would be 60. 600+60+6=666. That is the number of the Anti-Christ.
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As was shown earlier, these false Christs and prophets would be able to do signs and wonders. Let us be reminded that the ability to do the unexplainable is not proof that someone is from God. Even Pharaoh’s magicians were able to copy many of the things that God gave Moses the power to do. This beast and his false prophet will as well deceive people with wonders. Revelation 13:13-18: “And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
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The fact that there are false messiahs should concern us. Jesus Christ is the true Messiah. He gave His life for us, but the beast would like to take your life from you. When Jesus was on this earth, He told His followers, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.” John 10:10-11
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Make sure you trust the true Christ before it is too late. What if the false christ comes along and deceives you instead? 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10: “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
Friday, November 28, 2008
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Gabby's Ground Rules
Fall has always been a busy time of year for me. When I was on the farm, harvest time meant late and sometimes all nights in the field. We wanted to get things done before the weather turned bad. Then when I spent a few years as a contractor, I found myself facing similar deadlines as I desired to finish outside work before the bitter cold of winter set in. Now as a pastor, I get to work from a nice heated office most of the time. Now that is not the reason that I went into the ministry, but it does have its perks.
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Still, I have that desire to get things finished up outside before the snow flies. One of my goals this fall was to have the garden all tilled up and ready for winter. Once this goal was met, I sat back with a sigh of relief. The feeling inside of me was actually more than relief. As I looked at the deep black dirt of the garden, all tilled and ready, I felt a sense of pride. Of course the familiar Proverb says that pride goes before a fall. This actually comes from Proverbs 16:18 which says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” I should have known better, I have preached against pride.
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So how could tilling up the garden possibly humble a man? I would like to introduce you to Gabby Groundhog. No I did not kill him as I worked in the garden, but I should have called him before I planned to dig. I heard the ads on the radio about Gabby’s Ground Rules: always make the Iowa One call before you dig. I did not. Furthermore, I had decided to make the garden a bit bigger, and tilled up an area that had not been tilled before, and that is where the phone line was. Yep, not only had I taken out our phone service, but I had cut the line to our neighbors across the alley as well. My wife enjoys reading the “Great Goofs” sections in the back of my handyman magazine, and she tried to make me feel better by reminding me of what others had done.
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We found out later that the line was only seven inches deep, and some have tried to make me feel better by saying that it should have been deeper. That did not help as I went to bed that night realizing what I had done. By the time I realized my mistake, it was around 10 p.m. so it was too late to call for repairs and I had no idea how many others were without a phone. I went to bed feeling really guilty. I told my wife that I would feel better in the morning once I was able to call the phone company and admit to them what I had done. I was up early and called the phone company and listened to a recording that said they would open at 7:30. I called then, reported what had happened, and immediately felt better.
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I had learned long ago, that confession is the best way to deal with guilt. Now cutting the phone line was not a sin. Iowa law does not even require the Gabby call for gardening. Still I felt bad about it until it was taken care of. How much more shouldn’t we feel that way about sin and our relationship with God. Proverbs 28:13 warns, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
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Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to fix phone lines. He did not even die in order to make all our problems go away, but He did die to take care of our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9.
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I feel good knowing the phone line is fixed, but I feel even better knowing that all my sins have been fixed. I no longer have to worry about the penalty or guilt of sin. Anyone who has truly surrendered to the Lord, trusting Christ alone as Savior, can truly say, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12. That is why I am able to sleep at night.
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Still, I have that desire to get things finished up outside before the snow flies. One of my goals this fall was to have the garden all tilled up and ready for winter. Once this goal was met, I sat back with a sigh of relief. The feeling inside of me was actually more than relief. As I looked at the deep black dirt of the garden, all tilled and ready, I felt a sense of pride. Of course the familiar Proverb says that pride goes before a fall. This actually comes from Proverbs 16:18 which says, “Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.” I should have known better, I have preached against pride.
-
So how could tilling up the garden possibly humble a man? I would like to introduce you to Gabby Groundhog. No I did not kill him as I worked in the garden, but I should have called him before I planned to dig. I heard the ads on the radio about Gabby’s Ground Rules: always make the Iowa One call before you dig. I did not. Furthermore, I had decided to make the garden a bit bigger, and tilled up an area that had not been tilled before, and that is where the phone line was. Yep, not only had I taken out our phone service, but I had cut the line to our neighbors across the alley as well. My wife enjoys reading the “Great Goofs” sections in the back of my handyman magazine, and she tried to make me feel better by reminding me of what others had done.
-
We found out later that the line was only seven inches deep, and some have tried to make me feel better by saying that it should have been deeper. That did not help as I went to bed that night realizing what I had done. By the time I realized my mistake, it was around 10 p.m. so it was too late to call for repairs and I had no idea how many others were without a phone. I went to bed feeling really guilty. I told my wife that I would feel better in the morning once I was able to call the phone company and admit to them what I had done. I was up early and called the phone company and listened to a recording that said they would open at 7:30. I called then, reported what had happened, and immediately felt better.
-
I had learned long ago, that confession is the best way to deal with guilt. Now cutting the phone line was not a sin. Iowa law does not even require the Gabby call for gardening. Still I felt bad about it until it was taken care of. How much more shouldn’t we feel that way about sin and our relationship with God. Proverbs 28:13 warns, “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”
-
Jesus Christ did not die on the cross to fix phone lines. He did not even die in order to make all our problems go away, but He did die to take care of our sins. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9.
-
I feel good knowing the phone line is fixed, but I feel even better knowing that all my sins have been fixed. I no longer have to worry about the penalty or guilt of sin. Anyone who has truly surrendered to the Lord, trusting Christ alone as Savior, can truly say, “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” Psalm 103:12. That is why I am able to sleep at night.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
The King is Coming
By the time many of you read this, yet another election cycle will have come and gone. As we listened to the debates and the political adds, it quickly became apparent that no man is able to solve all the problems that this world, or this country, or even this county faces. In fact, as we go to vote, we often fear that those elected may actually make the problems worse. I am writing this on election morning, so I do not know who has won the races.
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What would happen, if instead of electing a group of imperfect humans to oversee our affairs, we could just have God as our King? What if He came down to earth and ruled it? Those who understand how just, fair, honest, loving, and merciful God is would actually look forward to that idea. Those who hate the idea of living under God’s standards of right and wrong would fight against that idea. Well, to a certain extent, that represents the spiritual battle that is happening in our world right now.
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The King, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth around 2000 years ago. At that time, many expected Him to set up a kingdom and to rule the world. That is what they expected the Messiah to do when He came. Instead of setting up the kingdom, He began first by proclaiming the kingdom. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matt. 9:35. The word gospel, means “good news”. Luke 8:1 emphasizes the good news of the message of Christ’s coming kingdom. And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,.
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The good news of the gospel is really the good news of the coming kingdom of our God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, He preached the kingdom and told how to get into His kingdom. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3. We are born again by putting our complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:3 is in the same chapter as John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In Matt. 4:17, Christ made it clear that we must repent because the kingdom was near. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
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The message of the coming kingdom is the message we are to proclaim. Even as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father), He said, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” and “for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever.” The kingdom is to be a priority. In Luke 12:31, we are told to be more concerned with the kingdom of God, than with our physical needs, “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
-
Christ spent much of His time here on earth speaking of His coming kingdom. Christ will one day return to set up that kingdom, and when He does, He will decide who is allowed in, and who will be cast out. That is why His message of “repent for the kingdom is at hand” is so important. That is why we as well need to proclaim the news of His coming kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 makes it clear, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
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As we saw in John 3:3, you must be born again to enter the kingdom. The scriptures are clear that not everyone will enter. In fact, few will. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt. 7:14. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. Luke 13:28. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Eph. 5:5.
-
I have some good news, the King has come, and He is coming again. I also have a warning- except you repent and are born again, you will not be ready when He returns.
-
What would happen, if instead of electing a group of imperfect humans to oversee our affairs, we could just have God as our King? What if He came down to earth and ruled it? Those who understand how just, fair, honest, loving, and merciful God is would actually look forward to that idea. Those who hate the idea of living under God’s standards of right and wrong would fight against that idea. Well, to a certain extent, that represents the spiritual battle that is happening in our world right now.
-
The King, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth around 2000 years ago. At that time, many expected Him to set up a kingdom and to rule the world. That is what they expected the Messiah to do when He came. Instead of setting up the kingdom, He began first by proclaiming the kingdom. And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. Matt. 9:35. The word gospel, means “good news”. Luke 8:1 emphasizes the good news of the message of Christ’s coming kingdom. And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him,.
-
The good news of the gospel is really the good news of the coming kingdom of our God and Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. When He came, He preached the kingdom and told how to get into His kingdom. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. John 3:3. We are born again by putting our complete trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. John 3:3 is in the same chapter as John 3:16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. In Matt. 4:17, Christ made it clear that we must repent because the kingdom was near. From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
-
The message of the coming kingdom is the message we are to proclaim. Even as Jesus taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father), He said, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done,” and “for thine is the kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever.” The kingdom is to be a priority. In Luke 12:31, we are told to be more concerned with the kingdom of God, than with our physical needs, “But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
-
Christ spent much of His time here on earth speaking of His coming kingdom. Christ will one day return to set up that kingdom, and when He does, He will decide who is allowed in, and who will be cast out. That is why His message of “repent for the kingdom is at hand” is so important. That is why we as well need to proclaim the news of His coming kingdom. 2 Timothy 4:1-2 makes it clear, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”
-
As we saw in John 3:3, you must be born again to enter the kingdom. The scriptures are clear that not everyone will enter. In fact, few will. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt. 7:14. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. Luke 13:28. For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Eph. 5:5.
-
I have some good news, the King has come, and He is coming again. I also have a warning- except you repent and are born again, you will not be ready when He returns.
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