My thoughts on 3-24-2018,
As I look around at the world today, the chaos, the hatred, heart break in so many forms, I see numbness; a numbness to ‘sin’ alongside of apathy. Why…because man would rather please themselves rather than God. I see an abundance of sin and we have embraced it and call it good, normal, and acceptable. The problem is we stopped calling it sin. Why? Maybe because we want acceptance from our fellow man so much that we are willing to alienate God from our lives; sadly the only thing that that will accomplish is eternal damnation. We’re looking for ‘fixes’ in all the wrong places.
God clearly tells us what sin is as he laid it out in HIS word.
When people call Christians bigots, hypocrites, hateful, and mean spirited, they do so because they are unwilling to take God at his word. While others jump in with both feet, sin is a gradual state for some. It’s like the frog in the pot, you don’t feel the water getting hot and then it’s too late, you’re dead, or numb. We give sin room in our lives because we don’t want to offend a family member or friend. When we fail to tell people about the love and salvation of Christ, we fail them. When we condone the sin in peoples’ lives, we condemn them to an eternity in Hell. There is only ONE way to heaven and that is Jesus Christ the Lord.
Some people don't even know what some sins are, while others are obvious. There is no sin greater than another. We have all fallen short and need a savior.
Proverbs 6:16-19 “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a man who stirs up dissension among brothers”
From the Ten Commandments we have false worship, idolatry, misusing God's name, violating the Sabbath, dishonoring parents, murder, adultery/sexual impurity, stealing, lying/libel, and coveting. These just scratch the surface. If we examined the meaning of these words we would see much clearer, but we don’t. We all know of the Ten Commandments, but do we know of the other sins that God talks about in the Bible? There are plenty.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor homosexual offenders, nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were.
Galatians 5:19-26 Now the actions of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, rivalry, jealously, outbursts of anger, quarrels, conflicts, factions, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild partying, and things like that. I am telling you now, as I have told you in the past, that people who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Now those who belong to the Messiah Jesus have crucified their flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also be guided. Let's stop being arrogant, provoking one another and envying one another.
No man knows the day or the hour of Christ’s return but he gave us warning signs of the end.
Signs of the End of the Age
Matthew 24:3- 14 While Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately and said, "Tell us, when will these things take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?"
Jesus answered them, "See to it that no one deceives you, because many will come in my name and say, 'I am the Messiah,' and they will deceive many people. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See to it that you are not alarmed. These things must take place, but the end hasn't come yet, because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. But all these things are only the beginning of the birth pains."
"Then they will hand you over to suffer and will kill you, and you will be hated by all the nations because of my name. Then many people will fall away, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and deceive many people, and because lawlessness will increase, the love of many people will grow cold. But the person who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."
The Abomination of Desolation
Mat 24:15-28 "So when you see the destructive desecration, mentioned by the prophet Daniel, standing in the Holy Place (let the reader take note), then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. Anyone who's on the housetop must not come down to get what is in his house, and anyone who's in the field must not turn back to get his coat.
"How terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or who are nursing babies in those days!
Pray that it may not be in winter or on a Sabbath when you flee, because at that time there will be great suffering, the kind that has not happened from the beginning of the world until now and certainly will never happen again. If those days had not been limited, no one would survive. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be limited.
"At that time, if anyone says to you, 'Look! Here is the Messiah!' or 'There he is!', don't believe it, because false messiahs and false prophets will appear and display great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. Remember, I have told you this beforehand. So if they say to you, 'Look! He's in the wilderness,' don't go out looking for him. And if they say, 'Look! He's in the storeroom,' don't believe it, because just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Wherever there's a corpse, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man
Mat 24:29-31 "Immediately after the troubles of those days, 'The sun will be darkened, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken loose.' Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all 'the tribes of the land will mourn' when they see 'the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven' with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud trumpet blast, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to another."
The Lesson of the Fig Tree
Mat 24:32-35 "Now learn a lesson from the fig tree. When its branches become tender and it produces leaves, you know that summer is near. In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the Son of Man is near, right at the door. I tell you with certainty, this generation will not disappear until these things happen. Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear."
No One Knows That Day and Hour
Mat 24:36-44 "No one knows when that day or hour will come—not the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father, because just as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be when the Son of Man comes. In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage right up to the day when Noah went into the ark. They were unaware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That's how it will be when the Son of Man comes. At that time two people will be in the field. One will be taken, and one will be left behind. Two women will be grinding grain at the mill. One will be taken, and one will be left behind.
"So keep on watching, because you don't know on what day your Lord is coming. But be sure of this: if the owner of the house had known when during the night the thief would be coming, he would have stayed awake and not allowed his house to be broken into. So you, too, must be ready, because at an hour you are not expecting him the Son of Man will come."