Salvation—The Only Victory!
Although another coach is thought to have said it first, Vince Lombardi, the famous coach of the Green Bay Packers team that was considered one of the greatest in NFL history, was credited with saying the following: “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing.”
He pushed his players beyond the breaking point in practice, so they could barely walk to the locker room when finished. When game day came, each player was so full of strength from all that punishing training that they were as strong at the end of each game as when the game had begun. The Packers won game after game to become National Football League champions.
In this game we call life, there is one thing that matters ultimately. A person’s only way to winning the victory that ultimately matters involves one thing.
The ultimate victory–the one that lasts for all of eternity—is wrapped up in salvation of the soul of each individual. Jesus said, “Ye must be born again” in John 3:7, emphasizing the necessity of spiritual rebirth for entering the kingdom of God.
This “winning” isn’t everything. It is the only thing when it comes to victory over sin and the guarantee of having life eternal in the Kingdom of God where only the “saved” will live forever.
To lose in this battle is to suffer the torments of the lake of fire forever. There are no other alternatives upon this fallen planet. The person either remains lost in sin because of their decision to reject God’s only way, or they accept God’s way and instantaneously become a victor forever and ever!
Allurements of this world constantly pull at us. Even those who have accepted God’s way of being born again into His kingdom suffer from these tugs from the fallen nature we were born into in this physical life with. But the other nature –the born-again nature—keeps centered within God’s eternal family all who have accepted God’s grace gift offer. We can never be removed from the Lamb’s Book of Life–from God’s eternal family.
Here is what the great Apostle Paul tells us:
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38–39).
Jesus said the following:
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I 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” (John 10:27–29).
When one accepts God’s way to winning eternal life, we are kept from losing our souls within the flames of the lake of fire. That horrendous place burns forever with lost souls who rejected God’s only way to salvation.
This brings us to that way God offers all of lost humanity. That way is a person. In Him is the grace gift–the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world who takes away all sin from the individual who accepts Him.
That Lamb Himself said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but by me” (John 14:6).
All of humanity (each individual ever born) must believe this or be forever lost –separated from God’s eternal family. The word “man” means humankind. It speaks of both men and women –all of humanity. No one comes to the Heavenly Father except those who believe and accept this gospel truth.
We who have believed also have a tremendous responsibility. That is, we are to be Coach Vince Lombardi-like in saying to the lost that salvation isn’t everything (in life’s journey). It is the only thing when it comes to winning victory for the soul and a place in God’s family forever.
The following truth from God’s Holy Word says it all about the individual who is lost and needs a Savior. It tells us as believers what we must do to “coach” the lost toward the Savior.
Unlike having to work to achieve victory like in Lombardi’s football strategy, we can’t work (do good works in this life) to achieve salvation victory. It is a free gift of grace achieved only by our acceptance of it.
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-14).
Each of those who are already in God’s Kingdom, saved forever through the shed blood of the Lamb, are preachers of the Gospel. This is the Great Commission given by Jesus Himself.
“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Matthew 28:18-20).
We are to tell all the world of the lost that it is Jesus Christ who died on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago. Tell them that He arose on the third day and lives forever to keep all who believe from that horrendous lake of fire where lost souls have died and are burning alive forever.
The magnificent name that is above every name, by which we must be saved, is Jesus Christ.
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31).
—Terry
Is it Yet Another Warning?
Once again, curiosity is building. On my Facebook feed, I’m seeing multiple posts each day about renewed interest in the possibility that the outline of a ship in the mountains of Turkey is indeed Noah’s Ark. Due to the heightened fascination with this discovery in recent weeks, I am revisiting this topic.
I will begin with a little background. In 1959, Turkish army captain and pilot Ihan Durupinar noticed what appeared to be the outline of a large ship near Mount Ararat on the eastern edge of modern-day Turkey. His photos of what appeared to be a large seagoing vessel encased in mud drew worldwide attention, prompted expert investigation, and have attracted thousands of visitors since then. The site bears the name of this pilot.
The Kurds who live near the Durupinar Site claim that Noah’s Ark emerged from the mud because of an earthquake that impacted the area in 1948. According to my research, a strong earthquake in nearby Kumukh, Russia, on June 29, 1948, could’ve affected the area and made the Ark’s outline visible from the air.
In recent months, archaeologists, college professors, and engineers have flooded the Durupinar Site to determine whether Noah’s Ark lies beneath the mud and sediment that has built up over millennia.
In last year’s post, I referenced Rick Renner’s book, Fallen Angels, Giants, Monsters & the World Before the Flood. With the renewed activity at the Durupinar Site, Renner has returned to it and is recording videos from there, which has also piqued my fascination with what’s happening.
Is Noah’s Ark Buried Under the Rubble?
I believe that Noah’s Ark is buried under the rubble at the Durupinar Site. Although many experts have not confirmed it beyond a doubt, the evidence I see strongly suggests that it is the Ark. For many, the evidence will never be enough.
First, the outline of what appears to be the ark matches the length and width measurements recorded in Genesis 6:15.
Second, I have read reports that claim investigators have confirmed this is not a geological formation, but that something manmade lies beneath the mounds of dirt. Imaging reveals the presence of long passageways and a three-tiered structure.
Third, as Rick Renner points out in his book and in recent videos from the area, twenty-six huge drogue stones near the site indicate the presence of a nearby ship, over 500 miles from the nearest body of water. Ancient sailors used them to stabilize ships and keep them from capsizing.
Fourth, there’s the Village of Eight, which is down the way from the Durupinar Site and near a water source. In one of his Facebook videos, Rick Renner visited this village and explained why it is likely the place where Noah and his family settled after the flood. This, along with much other folklore and tradition from the area, suggests this is where Noah and his family settled.
Beyond this evidence, what intrigues me most are the prophetic implications.
Is it Another Warning of the Last Days?
Even if it’s later confirmed that this is not the final resting place of Noah’s Ark, what’s happening at the Durupinar Site has strong prophetic implications. Could even the interest alone be something God is using to focus Christians on what His Word says about the last days?
In His Olivet Discourse about the end times, Jesus warned that life in the last days would resemble Noah’s day. I believe that the probable reappearance of Noah’s Ark is yet another reminder that we live in the time Jesus described in Matthew 24:37-39:
“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”
Our day resembles the preflood era in at least two ways. Just as Jesus warned, the world remains totally “unaware” of the next approaching time of worldwide judgment: the Day of the Lord. For most of humanity, it will be business as usual until the Rapture occurs and God’s wrath again descends upon the earth. Sadly, most Christians also remain oblivious to what lies ahead for this world.
The Lord also said that for most, it would be business as usual leading up to the onset of His coming judgment on the world. Just as His judgment surprised the preflood world, so the arrival of the Day of the Lord wrath will descend on the world “like a thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2).
Do you know that the apostle Peter faulted the scoffers of the last days for overlooking the message of the Genesis 6 flood? In 2 Peter 3:5-6 we read:
“For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.”
What better way to keep us from overlooking the biblical account of the Noahic flood than to focus our attention on the possibility that Noah’s Ark exists at the Durupinar Site in Turkey? Although the coming Day of the Lord will look very different from a worldwide flood, the possibility of the Ark’s discovery reminds us that He will again intervene to judge humanity and fulfill His purposes.
In Noah’s day, God judged the world so as to preserve the integrity of the human race in order that Jesus could become a man and die for our sins. The coming judgment will also prepare the world for Jesus’ arrival and His millennial reign on the earth, which will immediately follow His return.
-Jonathan