December 31, 2006

• You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free part 2 by Pastor Don

  Continuing from Friday’s Bible study.

  Romans 8:5-6 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

  The peace of God that passes all understanding. So many believe that once we accept Jesus into our lives that everything will be chilled out and there will be no more problems, but that is not true. As we grow in Christ, we change, and that change affects our outlook. The world and it’s problems remain, but we are not as affected by it.

  Today many pastors are trying to solve peace. Pastor Don marched in the 60′s, and things didn’t get better. We can’t do it. We can’t get the world market together to reach peace. Jesus even told his followers that there will not be peace, people will say, “Peace, peace” but there will be no peace. The church has lost its way, the function and purpose of church is salvation. Jesus told us to go out and make disciples of all the nations – he didn’t say, go out and make world peace. No one can participate in trustful peace until they are right with God. Jesus is our peace. We are to identify disciples and hold them to God’s commandments, then we will have peace.

  Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.

  THAT is how we identify disciples, that they are led by the Holy Spirit and we see the fruit of the Spirit (love) in their lives.

  Romans 8:15-16 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear; but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.

  That’s what we have to rely on and trust, more and more that it is not just ourselves who receive the Spirit of adoption, but other people as well.

  The next verse is the key that many do not know.

  Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

  The problem is that every saint and believer has not yielded themselves to verse 18. Yes, with physical suffering, God wants us to be healed, but He does not promise us a life without pain and suffering. When we yield to this and realize that our time on earth is but a twinkling of an eye, we then die to ourselves, and then the glory of God shines out through us. Others will detect this glory of God when we become yielded to Verse 18.

  We need to get to the place as a believer that, when compared to the World, we see that the truth is in Jesus Christ who supplies all our needs. When He comes again, His politics will be the only political system. When we receive the truth about Jesus, obeying His commands we will see that abiding in Him is better than anything that the world can give us.

  2 Corinthians 4:16-17 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

  The truth is that this is a goal that is achievable, even when we don’t believe it. There is a place of faith that says, I can’t pay the bills, but I can get a job. God does not want us to be stupid. He wants us to walk in His wisdom on the earth.

  Romans 8:26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

  Because of our relationship with Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit we shall know the truth and the truth shall make us free. We are sons and daughters of God by adoption so we have the witness of the Spirit of God. When we are uncertain what step to take, the Spirit Himself will make intercession for us, and will reveal the truth to us in our behalf. There are times when the God of the universe will have someone else intercede for us when we are in need of prayer.

  John 16 talks about the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who will reveal the truth to us as we need it. Our behavior will exhibit the truth, and by obeying the directives of the Holy Spirit we gain true liberty. Sometimes the directives do not make sense to our conscious mind.

  John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

  What a wonderful promise God gives us, that if we come to Jesus, He will not cast us out. That means anybody who comes to Him.

  John 6:38-40 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up on the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up on the last day.

  What a promise for us! That we stand with Him Spiritually and get to know Him. That He doesn’t cast away, when we call on the name of the Lord, we will be saved. We are not to judge who will or won’t be saved – God decides that, and we are going to be surprised about who is and who isn’t in Heaven.

  Not everyone wants to spend eternity with God, and God gives us the desires of our heart. If we curse God, if we refuse the gift of salvation, it will grieve God, but He will honor that request. He gives us the free will to choose.

  Someone asked when is the last time that we can make a choice, do some make a choice after death. Pastor Don pointed out that the safest thing we can do is make a choice before we die, that we do not know what happens after death.

  Pastor Don’s brother legally died at one point, and then was revived. He came back describing how he was being dragged to the gates of hell, heard a voice saying, “Stop, he’s mine.” and then coming to in the hospital. He then chose a life that served God.

  But we cannot count on everyone having such a choice once we die. We need to make our choice now. But God is a just judge, and it is He who will decide where a person spends eternity. If we are not judged by Jesus, if we reject Jesus’ sacrifice for our sins, we will stand before the great white throne of judgment and be judged by God. God will decide if the person goes to Heaven or is cast into the lake of fire based on how they obeyed His commands on earth.

  We must encourage people to make their decision for Christ before death.

  Hebrews 9:27 And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. The finality of death is that death is final. Some people are revived after being labeled “dead” but that is then not the real death, once we die in the physical we are dead.

  We need to view this verse in context, so we read Hebrews 9:26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

  Jesus came 4,000 years after the creation of the earth to put away sin by sacrificing Himself.

  Hebrews 9:27-28 And it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

  The sacrifice of Jesus was the replacement for the Temple worship and yearly sacrifice of the Jews for the atonement of sin. When we accept His sacrifice for us, then our sins are covered by His shed blood eternally. We cannot remedy our sin by the determination of man. When we refuse to accept His sacrifice for us we come to spiritual death. We need to realize that there is just one life for us to make our decision. We are not going to be reincarnated, the end of our life – physical death, will lead to spiritual death if we do not accept the sacrifice of Jesus.

  Acts 10:36-38 The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ–He is Lord of all–that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.

  Jesus is a just judge, for He came down to earth and lived in an earthly body just like us, but without sinning once. He showed us that it was possible to live a life in the earth that does not have sin, so we have no excuse for the sins that we have committed.

  We need to accept God at His word, that there is no other way but through accepting Jesus, we cannot know where God draws the line between salvation and the lake of fire at the great white throne judgment. Where the rubber meets the road here on earth is what choice we make- Do we accept Jesus?

  The Bible covers history (former and future) for 7000 years, and we live on earth a mere 60-90 or so years. We are playing for eternity. We don’t know what happens in anyone elses’ eternity, we just know ours and that is determined by what choice we make now. If you haven’t chosen Jesus to be your Lord and savior, do not wait – now is a good time to ask Him to come into your life. I guarantee that if you do that you will not regret your decision and it would be a resolution with eternal consequences.

  Romans 10:9-10 That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

  Hope you have a blessed New Year.

  Heather

  • 8:41 am
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