Thu, 1 June 2006 Hello Thanks for joining us for the church growth, mission, and evangelism blog. I ended last month roughly because of the scheduling difficulties caused by getting my son back and forth to Europe. He and his fellow university students in the orchestra and chorus had a wonderful trip and got to perform some great concerts in some historic locations. Another reminder of the joy of a life close to God. I should be back on track with our programing from now on. Let's continue our discussion of peace with God: Our society suffers greatly from loneliness, but we can have a friend in Jesus. Jesus Christ can make life joyful, satisfying, and glorious to you. All over the world are millions of men and women who love and serve Christ. The moment that you accept Him, you are closer to them than you are to your own blood relatives.
First, you must repent, surrender, and commit your heart and life to Christ. Let Him forgive your past sins, and He will take you into His family. If you are lonely today, I beg you, come to Christ and know the fellowship that He brings. With Christ as your savior and constant companion, although alone, you need never be lonely.
There is no loneliness quite as bitter as the loneliness of a backslidden Christian. Yet there is forgiveness for you. As you confess and forsake your sins, your fellowship with Christ will be restored. The loneliest soul of all is the man whose life is steeped in sin. Christ can give you power to overcome every sin and habit in your life; but you must repent, confess, commit, and surrender yourself to Him first.
Jesus was alone. He had come to His own, and His own received Him not. Then all the disciples forsook him and fled. The crowds who had so recently shouted, Hosanna, now shouted, Crucify Him. Jesus was enduring the suffering and judgment of hell for you and me. Hell is the loneliest place in the universe and Jesus suffered its agony for you, in your place.
We have sought to change the world and the laws which govern it, but however we try, the end is always the same. The only thing certain about life is death. None of us can be sure when that exact moment will be, but we are well aware that it may come at any time. The lifespan of the average person does not far exceed the biblical three score years and ten.
The Bible tells us that we have two deaths. The first is the death of the physical body. The second death is the eternal death, hell, the conscious everlasting banishment of a soul from God. The Bible teaches that our soul will live forever in one of two places-heaven or heal. If you are not a Christian, and you have never been born again, then the Bible teaches that your soul goes immediately to a place Jesus called Hades, where you will await the judgment of God.
Life or death is equally welcome when we live in the will and presence of the Lord. If the Lord has chosen me to go to him soon, I go gladly. Please do not give a moment’s grief for me. Don’t say good by, but see you soon, when I will wait for you in heaven.
The teachings of Hell are the hardest of Christianity to receive. Some don’t believe that eternal or everlasting mean forever. The Bible teaches that whether we are saved or lost, there is a conscious and everlasting existence of the soul and personality. There is absolutely no evidence that God intends to give us a second chance! There is hell for every man who willingly and knowingly rejects Christ as Lord and Savior.
We have distinct teachings of Jesus on the subject of hell. Jesus told stories and gave illustrations on the subject and warned men time after time about the folly of living a sinful and hypocritical life here on earth. Will a loving God send a man to hell? The answer is yes, because he is just. Man condemns himself by his refusal of God’s way of salvation. The remedy is personal faith and commitment to Jesus Christ. The man who refuses to believe what God says in His word about heaven and hell awakes in the next life to find that he has been wrong.
Hell is a separation from God. It is a second death, which is described as the eternal conscious banishment from the presence of all that is light, joyous, good, righteous, and happy. If physical death were the only consequence of a life lived apart from God, we would not have so much to fear, but the Bible warns that there is the second death, which is the eternal banishment from God.
A saint has been described as a sinner who has been forgiven. The subject of heaven is much easier to accept than the subject of hell. And yet the Bible teaches both. And since we know that are souls are going to spend eternity someplace, we ought to know something about it.
Our sorrows and problems here seem so much less when we have keen anticipation of the future. In a certain sense the Christian has heaven here on earth. He has peace of soul, peace of conscience, and peace with God. In the midst of troubles and difficulties he has an inner peace and joy, not dependent on circumstances.
Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. The Bible teaches that Elijah and Enoch ascended in a literal body to a literal place that is just as real as
The Bible teaches that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. The moment a Christian dies, he goes immediately into the presence of Christ. There his soul awaits the resurrection when the soul and the body will be rejoined. But the new body that we will have will be a glorious body like that of Christ. It will be an eternal body. We have seen that man’s future is hopeless without God. Thank-you so much for joining us. We value your participation in our church family. Until tomorrow, Pastor Bob Emery PS: don't forget to leave your comments at: bob@thegreatcommissionchurch.org and don't forget to visit the website of our sponsor: www.thegreatcommissionchurch.org Category: Religion -- posted at: 9:10 PM Comments[0] |
