Matthew 11:27 and Luke 10:22; “All things have been handed over to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father; and no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.” (ESV – all emphasis is mine)

There are people today who are being led to believe there are many ways to Heaven, and you don’t really need Jesus to get there. It’s amazing to me that some previously Bible-preaching evangelical churches are changing the word of the Father to suit their own needs and to keep seats and collection plates full. Their word does not coincide with our Heavenly Father’s word. Some are even calling relationships that our Father calls abominations as all of a sudden being okay. Personally, I will rely on what the Father has provided, not man’s false interpretations.

Probably the most recognized Bible verse is John 3:16; “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” This is a wonderful promise from the Father, but He goes on in the next two verses with further explanation.

“For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world; but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” Our Heavenly Father knew from the beginning that sinful humans could never offer a perfect blood sacrifice to satisfy His need for absolute perfection. He allowed sacrifices of bulls, goats, and birds as a temporary measure for forgiveness, but those sacrifices had to continue at regular intervals and special occasions to be in His will.

John 3:18 ties it together; “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

John 3:36 affirms this with, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Looking at Hebrews 10:4 and 10:12-14, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until His enemies should be made a footstool for His feet. For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

In 1 John 2:2, we’re told, “He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” A dictionary definition of “propitiation” is to satisfy the wrath of God against sin. To turn away God’s wrath or to offer a sacrifice that appeases God’s just judgment and righteous anger against us and our sin.

As stated earlier, only a part of our Heavenly Father Himself could be righteous enough to offer a sacrifice that could cover our sins, and as Psalm 103:11-12 tells us, “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear [respect] Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us.” This applies to all who have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior.

Two verses totally dispel the “many ways” theory, and one was given by Jesus Himself. John 14:6; “Jesus said to him, I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Peter proclaimed in Acts 4:12, “And there is Salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

John tells us in 1 John 5:10-12, “Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning His Son. And this is the testimony that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

There are two judgments, and all humans will attend one or the other. The one I am looking forward to is found in 2 Corinthians 5:10: The Judgment Seat of Christ. This is for all who received and accepted Jesus as their Savior, and it will be to determine if we gain or lose rewards for what we have done on this earth. This judgment is not the one that condemns anyone to the Lake of Fire, which was prepared for Satan and his demons (Matthew 25:41).

The other judgment will be for all those from the beginning of time who were out of the will of God before Calvary and all who refused to receive and accept His Son from Calvary to the end of time left on this earth. That’s Revelation 20:11-15;

“Then I saw a Great White Throne, and Him who was seated on it. From His presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged by what was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Please understand that our Heavenly Father does not want anyone to fail and be condemned forever. We’re told in 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” He will force no one to receive and accept His Son but truly would like us to choose Jesus.

Also, we’re told in Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29, Hebrews 6:18, and Titus 1:2 that our God cannot lie. After all, why would He? He is the creator of all that is, and He loves us very much.

God also knows no one will be sinless as long as we are in these fallible human bodies. Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23 all tell us we are all sinners deserving eternal punishment, but then along comes Ephesians 2:8-9, which gives us our most important promise from the Father. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”

This is not a totally free ride. There are some simple steps we must follow and agree to in order to become a part of our Savior’s precious flock. Romans 10:9-13 gives the steps: “because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, ‘Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.’ For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Someone may say that a person who cannot speak, for whatever reason, cannot confess with their mouth. Please remember, God knows our every thought, and using our thoughts to “speak” to Him is the same as speaking out loud. He looks at our hearts and knows when we are sincere or not.

Just observing all that is taking place in this world today, we could say that Jesus’ message in Luke 21:28 is here right now. He had just given a message as to what would be happening near the end of this age, just before the tribulation, and ended with, “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your Redemption is drawing near.” Everything He spoke of started just about a decade ago and has been moving faster and faster toward our hearing the Trumpet of God sound and a shout from an archangel (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). At that time, all who have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior all over the world will be taken up to meet Him in the air.

This is God’s promise to keep us from the wrath/tribulation that is coming upon this earth. That will be the worst seven-year period of time that has ever been here. Those promises are located in 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10. There will still be opportunities for people to call out and be saved during that time, but the outcome will most likely be martyrdom. We pray daily, and even several times a day, that all our loved ones and acquaintances have Jesus as their Savior now and will avoid that terrible time.

A very simple statement from long ago goes, “Know Jesus – Know God; No Jesus – No God.” It is absolute truth, and as promised, “All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Today would not be too early to make that call. We are not promised tomorrow. Hope to see you at Home.

Shalom ‘b Yeshua Hamashiach! – Peace in Jesus the Messiah!

huebshman46@gmail.com

(Also, see raptureforums.com Home/Featured Articles)

We have looked at the Lord Jesus Christ, the center of all Bible prophecy, and His mission of redemption. The bulk of prophecy focuses upon Him as well as the future of the nation of Israel. The Scriptures describe Israel’s unstable relationship with GOD in a series of rebuttals and condemnation for their unfaithfulness to Him and His commandments. We also read in the Scriptures that God desires His chosen people to come back to Him in a state of repentance and renewal of obedience and love toward Him and one another. There are periods of national and individual spiritual revival, but also periods in Israel’s history where God’s plea to His people falls on deaf ears and hard hearts.

Despite the warnings from His prophets, along with His personal intervention, there was little change in the conduct of the Israelites as the years passed. There were periods of reprieve under the reign of godly kings such as David, Hezekiah, and Josiah, but also periods of rank and defiant unbelief combined with a false formalism of worship during the times of Ahaz and Manasseh. God will not be mocked, however, and will bring about events to honor His Holy character and name. He did so by allowing the kingdoms of both Israel in the north and Judah in the south to fall into enemy hands as punishment for their wickedness.

Any nation that forgets God is bound for destruction, within and without. By the way, America is no exception.

The Bible focuses a great deal of attention to the fate of the southern kingdom of Judah, which began to decline in power and authority around the year 605 B.C. when the first wave of its citizens was sent to Babylon under the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II. This first group of exiles included Daniel, then a young man who was to serve as an aid to the Babylonian king and be one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. One of the other men whom God had called to His service was a priest named Ezekiel. His time of ministry took place during the early years of the Babylonian Exile (593-570 B.C.). His visions from God showed the decline, fall, and restoration of the people of Israel. His older contemporary, Jeremiah, witnessed this when the kingdom of Judah finally fell in 586 B.C. and the nation was no more.

The time in Bible History known as the “exilic period” started in 605 B.C. when the armies of Nebuchadnezzar defeated the army of Egypt, led by Pharoah Necho at the Battle of Carchemish. This victory secured the kingdom of Babylon as a major player on the world stage. Babylon established Judah as a “vassal” kingdom, which meant that Judah had to pay annual monetary tribute to them or face severe consequences if they dared to disobey.

After the death of the godly king Josiah, ironically at the hands of Necho, Josiah’s descendants turned back to the ways of their idolatrous ancestors, disregarding God and persecuting the prophets (Jeremiah 7:26, 36). King Jehoiakim (608-597) degraded the spiritual life of the nation (Jeremiah 7:1-15) and proved to be nothing more than a petty tyrant (Jeremiah 22:13-15). He foolishly decided to rebel against Nebuchadnezzar but died before the Babylonians could take action against him.

The next ruler, Jehoiachin, reigned for only three months before he surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:8-17; Jeremiah 22:24-30; Ezekiel 19:5-9). Nebuchadnezzar pillaged Jerusalem and took thousands of notable citizens back with him to Babylon.

It was at this time when Ezekiel began his ministry among the exiles (Ezekiel 1:1). Like Isaiah before him, Ezekiel witnessed a vision of the glory of God and His angelic host, who are at His bidding. They are described as glorious beings with their appearance conveying the holy magnificence of the LORD. The wheels he describes are symbolic of God’s war machine as He exercises righteous judgment upon a stubborn people. This vision of God’s glory is known as a “Theophany,” specifically an image of the pre-incarnate Lord Jesus Christ. Upon witnessing this vision, Ezekiel falls on his face in awe and wonder. Here is where he gets his prophetic calling from the LORD. He is to preach to the people, although they will respond with stubbornness and reluctance to heed God’s Word. (Are we any different?)

Ezekiel’s responsibilities as a prophet are given in Chapter 3, vv.17-21. These words apply to anyone whom God has entrusted with the spiritual well-being and care of the people. They read as follows:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore, hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from me: When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked life, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way; he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.

“Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered, but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall truly live because he took warning; also, you will have delivered your soul” (NKJV).

These verses do not imply that we lose our salvation because we fail to warn someone to repent or perish, but it should awaken us to the fact that whether we are ministers in a pulpit, teachers behind a lectern, or any job where we are to be a light in the darkness, we cannot and must not remain silent or coerced into submission and fail to present the Gospel to everyone with whom we come into contact (Mark 16:15; 1 Peter 3;15). We will all be held to account by the LORD for what we did and did not do in terms of obedience and trust in His Word (1 Corinthians 3:11-15; 2 Corinthians 5:10). None of us are exempt, and that should stop us in our tracks, repent, and ask God to forgive us of allowing the things of the world and our own self-centeredness to come before His divine will.

God has an encouraging Word to anyone who does turn to Him:

“But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him, because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?’ says the LORD God, ‘and not that he should turn from his ways and live? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies, says the LORD God…. Therefore, turn and live!'” (Ezekiel 18:21-23, 32b, NKJV).

The apostle Peter reflects this same concern when he wrote:

“The LORD is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, NASB).

The central theme of the Bible is the call from God to turn away from our sins and embrace the saving grace and mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. Salvation is freely offered to anyone who comes to Christ. No one is ever turned away (Matthew 11:28-30; John 10:28-30). Is this the message you are hearing from your pastor, trusted friend, or anyone who cares for the welfare of your soul? If not, I plead with you as a minister of the Gospel to turn from your sins and surrender your life to Jesus Christ (Romans 10:9-10, 13; 2 Corinthians 6:2).

I want to be certain that this Gospel message is to be read and shared by as many people as possible. Not for the sake of my ego but for the sake of those who need to hear this glorious message of salvation before it is too late (Hebrews 9:27).

donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

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