Today, more than ever, we need to establish a relationship with the Lord God Jehovah, Creator of the Heavens and the Earth. The “nay-sayers” will tell you there’s plenty of time, and besides, there are many ways to Heaven. Some say all religions worship the same god, and Jesus was a good prophet but is not God Himself. Also, the Bible is just a book of ancient mythical stories and is not the true word of God, nor is it relevant today. (ESV – all emphasis mine)

First, for me, the Bible is the absolute true word from our Heavenly Father, as He would waste no time on legends or myths. He cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and what He gives us as the absolute pathway to Him is pure truth.

Two verses about this are: 2 Timothy 3:16; “All scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction and for training in righteousness.” Next is 2 Peter 1:21; “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Of course, it’s obvious that a person must believe the Bible is God’s word, or even the above verses would be foolishness to them. One way to tell if something is true or not is to check the historical records for correctness. Some scholars, far more experienced than I, have stated that during His time on earth, Jesus fulfilled more than 300 prophecies with 100% accuracy. Their calculations state that even if only eight (8) were completed as given, the odds would be 1 in 10 to the 17th power. To fulfill over 300, the number cannot be calculated by human means.

Also, recorded History about the Savior’s time on earth gives proof He actually was here and is more verifiable than even the life of Pilate. Even so, Satan influences many to not accept Jesus.

John 14:6; “Jesus said to him, I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.”

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 3:18; “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 10:30; “I and the Father are One.”

1 John 5:12; “Whoever has the Son, has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

Romans 8:1; “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

And the list could go on and on. Satan will do everything in his power to convince us that this is all bogus. His famous line, “Did God really say?” in Genesis 3 is just as effective today. People would rather believe the lie and enjoy the so-called pleasures of this earth than to be saved and have an eternal home in Heaven. I used to believe people could not be so deceived, but witnessing the changing attitudes over the past decade has convinced me otherwise. And the trend against Jesus is accelerating daily.

Up to about 35 years ago, my life was on the pathway leading to the White Throne Judgment. My belief was that I believed in Jesus but never really called out for Him to be my true Savior. Since then, I have learned that my relationship with Him is more valuable than anything else this earth offers. I am pleased to say my wife believes the same way, and we look forward to our eternity with Jesus.

God is not some bearded ancient person sitting on a huge throne figuring ways He can condemn us. Question: who but a loving, caring Father would send a valuable part of Himself to a sin-filled lost world to be our only perfect sacrifice that He could accept? Man could never meet the requirement of sinless perfection to satisfy our Father’s demand for purity. In fact, when man turned to sin, it’s amazing that the Father didn’t just destroy us.

Next, why would one-third of the Heavenly Holy Trinity agree to come here to be that sacrifice, knowing full well what He would have to endure? In our frail, twisted minds, this would make no sense. However, this is exactly what happened. John 10:18; “No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”

John 3:16-17; “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. 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.” I’ve already given John 3:18, which gives the consequences for refusing to accept the Son. That is the unforgivable sin.

In 2 Peter 3:9, we read, “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.”

And to top this all off, our only requirement is to receive and accept His Son. Ephesians 2:8-9; “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”

Jim Reeves wrote and performed a song, “He Will.” As a young teenager, I had the privilege of attending one of His concerts in my hometown before his death. I still remember the pleasant voice and his wonderful personality. Please enjoy the words, and his version can be heard on YouTube.

1.) He will open up the doorway you never knew was there; He will show you many things you knew not how. He will let you know He listens to your every prayer. He will save you by the mercy of His love.

2.) He will guide you through life’s battles; He will give you power; He will answer when you call Him night or day. He will shine His light upon you in the darkest hours; He will love you and go with you all the way.

3.) He will take you by the hand and lead you as you would a child, down the straight and narrow aisle through Satan’s mill. He will take you when the time is right, and in just a little while, He will love you and go with you all the way.

He will give you life eternal; He Will; He Will.

God will accept all who truly call on His Son to be saved. He will force no one but allows each of us to choose our eternal destiny. Revelation 19:20 and Revelation 20:10-15 give the outcome of Satan and all who follow him. Anyone who would tell you that no one will be in hell forever or that hell is not real has not read and believed these verses (Matthew 15:41). As I said, God does not waste His time on lies and myths.

All the signs today are getting stronger that the end of this age is very near. For true believers, our final chapter here will end. After the Rapture, this world will go through a 7-year tribulation/wrath period of time, followed by the 1,000-year reign of Jesus from Jerusalem (Revelation 20:1-8).

All who will have received and accepted Jesus prior to the wrath will not be here for any of it. We see the signs today, but what is happening is child-play compared to what is coming. Our reservation is made, and God promised He would honor it when that time comes.

It could be at any moment now, so there’s no time to waste. That’s what Satan would like for you to do. Be ready, know that God’s word is absolute truth, and avoid that long line that will be at the Great White Throne. When Paul said it would happen in “the twinkling of an eye” in 1 Corinthians 15:52, he was telling us that we won’t have time to prepare when the call goes out.

Right now would not be too early to receive and accept the Son of the Living God to be your eternal Savior. He will save you – He Will!

Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

 

Psalm 41:9, Matthew 10:4, Matthew 26:14-15, Mark 14:43, Luke 22:47-48, John 6:70, John 13:26

Summary: The last evening Jesus spent with His disciples (John 13-17) had Him showing the act of service towards others by washing their feet. Judas Iscariot’s feet were cleaned as well, but his heart remained dirty and unresponsive to this final outreach of compassion as he planned Jesus’ betrayal.

This year (2022) marks the fiftieth anniversary of the premiere of the film “A Thief in the Night,” one of the first Christian films to present the subject of the last days and how it would impact life as we know it. The quality of the film is primitive by today’s standards, but the story itself made an impact upon those who watched it, which was usually at a local church. It dealt with a young couple who were pretty carefree about life in general until the husband becomes a Christian, starts reading the Bible, and tries to win his unbelieving and skeptical wife to the LORD. He reads about what is to come according to Revelation and does his best to get their friends saved, to little avail.

Then, like a thief in the night, the Rapture occurs, and the wife, named Patty, is left behind, terrified yet refusing to repent. She ends up befriending another young lady who tells her all about Jesus and seems to be an authentic follower of Christ during the growing Tribulation period. The day approaches when people are rounded up to take the mark of the beast, and they go together either to take the mark or have one final opportunity to receive Christ before it’s too late. It turned out that the young lady who had befriended Patty had sold her out to the authorities earlier. As Patty is led to the guillotine, her betrayer looks at her with an evil smirk and says, “Oh, honey, anyone can say they’re a Christian.” The film then abruptly ends with a scream.

That film not only presented the uncertainty of what might happen in the future (and scared a bunch of us who saw it!), but it also had a clear Gospel message, a call to repent and be saved through Christ, and also showed an important lesson about true and false believers. People can fool us, deceive us, and betray us, but nothing gets past the Lord Jesus Christ, who knows the inner workings of the heart and its deceptiveness (Psalm 51:6, 139:23; Proverbs 15:11: Mathew 12;25, 22:18; Mark 2:8; Luke 6:8, 11:7, 16:15; John 2:25).

Judas Iscariot is the ultimate example of one who looked devout, sincere, zealous, outgoing, friendly, and devoted to Jesus, yet when the end came, his true nature emerged. He went out into the night to commit the act of betrayal against the Lord Jesus and shut his heart forever from responding to the numerous opportunities to repent and be redeemed. Even though Jesus knew that Judas was going to sell Him out to the authorities — it was at this final night together with His disciples where Jesus performed the actions of a servant in washing their feet — that He washed Judas’ feet as well in one last act of compassion towards him. The details are recorded by John in Chapter 13.

John 13:2 tells us that the devil had already put into the heart of Judas to betray Jesus. The act of servitude performed by Him (vv.3-5) made no inward impression on Judas. This was an act of compassion on the LORD’S part, showing that it is never too late to repent of our sins, to not act upon the evil, which is in all our hearts, and to receive undeserved yet loving mercy from God (Romans 5:6-11). Judas had witnessed the power of Jesus over the devil and his demons (Matthew 8:32, 9:33, 10:8, 12:28, 17:8; Mark 1:26, 34, 5:13, 6:13, 8:2). He knew that the forces of evil had nothing over the LORD. It would seem that all Judas would have had to do was to ask the LORD to protect and deliver him from these malevolent creatures, but no.

We have to remember that while many people had seen Jesus do wonderful things, not everyone followed Him. The Pharisees hated Him to the point where they said He was doing the work of the devil. In doing so, they damned their souls for uttering this unforgivable act of blasphemy (Matthew 12:31-32; Mark 3:28-30). They even plotted to kill Jesus and Lazarus as well for bringing him back from the dead and leading people away from their influence (12:9-11). This is an unmistakable word picture showing our real attitude towards God and His holy nature that has not changed in the progression of time but has grown even more blatant in these last days (Luke 6:11, 19:14; John 7:7, 15:18, 25, 19:6; Romans 1:18-32, 3:10-18).

John 13:10-11 states that Jesus had cleaned their feet and told them that not everyone in the room was clean spiritually. Judas knew that He was speaking of him, and by this time, even the actions of a loving and gracious LORD made no impact upon his soul. The requests for help, understanding and repentance for what he was about to do were received with inward hatred, coldness of heart, and an indifference that made no impression on him, even as he was to go and perform his deed of betrayal (13:18-30).

There is a conclusion to this tragedy in verse 30: “Having received the piece of bread, he then went out immediately. And it was night.”

Night had settled in the soul of this man who had every opportunity given to him to make a difference in the lives of people, to tell others of the work and person of Jesus Christ, to receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), and to see the Gospel being proclaimed throughout the Roman Empire. He was remorseful for what he did (Matthew 27:3-5), yet instead of hanging himself, he could have run to Jesus, asked for forgiveness, and had a testimony like that of Peter, rejecting and renouncing Jesus yet returning to Him in humility and a broken heart ready to be transformed for the service of the King of Kings. Tragically, this was not the case. Judas walked out into the night with feet cleansed by Jesus Himself yet walked deliberately into hell.

Like Judas, there have been countless numbers of people who have had the opportunity to come to Jesus, to be used for His glory and service. Yet they rejected His offer of love, grace, and mercy (Matthew 11:28-30), instead settling for the dung and mud of this world that the devil disguised as a wellspring of riches, only to find out that what they believed would help them gain the world ended up with a loss of their souls (Matthew 16:26).

We can verbally condemn Judas for this act of treachery. Scripture gives us that reason and the tone it sets for anyone who chooses to walk the same path he did, playing a good game of devotion and discipleship, yet in truth has a hard heart like the soil that does not receive the seed of the Word (Matthew 13:1-9; Mark 4:3-4; Luke 8:4-8). They are the tares among the wheat, similar in appearance, yet are nothing but weeds fit for the fire (Matthew 13:24-30).

There are people like Judas today who will get up and preach, teach, act like, and do the work of a believer while inwardly are only acting the part and at the right opportunity will show their true nature.

We see it today with the positions and acts of ministers and officials who seemed to be solid biblically yet are frauds and charlatans, selling out the LORD for fame, fortune, and amusement in the form of outlandish claims, made-up stories based on experiences and imaginations, and blasphemously using the Bible for a prop and not as the Word of the Living God. They will face the Lord Jesus on the Day of Judgment and hear the terrifying verdict that will expose them and condemn them to an eternal hell (Matthew 7:21-23). They looked like they had clean feet and clean hearts, but like Judas, they had gone out into the night of this world and walked into hell.

All of this is a warning for everyone who has been playing a religious game and putting on a phony front while claiming to be a follower of Jesus Christ. I pray that those of you reading this message will take heed to what I have written, be certain of your calling and election in Christ, and examine yourselves to see if you are really in the faith (Galatians 6::4; 2 Peter 1:10). Let your feet be clean in presenting the Gospel (Romans 10:14-17) as well as your heart. We don’t need any more Judases or anyone else walking into the night, especially as the days grow nearer to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus ends the lesson.

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Donald was born and reared in the authentic “Cajun Country” of southern Louisiana. He is a graduate of Louisiana College (B.A. in History Education/ Biblical Studies, 1984), New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (M.Div. In Christian Education, 1994), and Andersonville Baptist Seminary (Doctor of Ministry, Biblical Exposition, 2000). He has been in the Gospel ministry since 1986, serving as an evangelist, interim and supply pastor, hospital and rescue mission chaplain, high school and college teacher, and pastor in churches in Louisiana and Oklahoma.

In 2018 he began to devote his time to the rich field of internet and social media evangelism and outreach. In 2021 he became a member of the Oklahoma Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists, using his skills as a writer to contribute articles and sermons to websites such as Rapture Ready, Sermon Central, and Inspirational Christian Blogs. He also writes Bible studies and curricula for churches in southeast and central Asia and Africa, the locations of which are anonymous. He can be contacted at: donaldwhitchard@gmail.com for inquiries, information, and speaking/preaching engagements. HIs website is: www.realitycityreverend.com . A copy of his resume is also available upon request.