Psalm 73:25-26, 1 Corinthians 10:31

Summary: This is the first in a series of contemporary teachings based upon the Catechism by Charles Spurgeon for his congregation in 1855, when he was twenty years old and the new pastor of Park Street Baptist Church.

Notice, I did not use the term “a guide” in the title. The letter “A,” besides being the first letter of the alphabet, is also used in sentences, conversations, personal rants, varied writings, and the endless barrage of opinions and ideologies to indicate that there are several solutions and guides to the meaning and purpose of life. The world and its diverse population are ever ready and willing (sometimes) to offer advice, viewpoints, and ideas that clash with each other. There are so many voices with so many worldviews that we have reached a point where we are uncertain if what we hear, see, or read is more folly than fact.

Now, before you say to yourself, “Why bother reading what this guy is trying to say?” and then head over to another website, podcast, video, or do something surprising like turning off the computer and reading a book or watching TV – take a few moments to read further and see where I am heading. What I am about to post is NOT my take on defining right and wrong, good and bad, or sacred versus secular. My opinion on the state of the world does not matter, and neither does yours. The ideas and ambitions of humanity fall short of truth, absolute standards, and the real meaning of life, both here and beyond.

I want to show you that there is but ONE sure and certain source of information, inspiration, direction, wisdom, certainty, purpose, meaning, and guidance that is ignored, scoffed at, and detested by a world that cries out for truth, yet when faced with it, does everything in its power to silence and destroy it. Truth hurts and heals. It is not a pacifier to give to someone whose feelings have been hurt and must face their problems, be challenged to solve them, and not sit in the corner and whine about “unfairness,” “offense,” or some such excuse for immature behavior and reaction. The source of absolute truth and standards is set apart from fickleness and emotional constructs.

The guide to the meaning and reason for life confronts pride, self-centeredness, and the ludicrous ideas that we are the “masters of our fate and the captains of our soul.” That belief goes the way of the wind once you take your final breath and everything you thought, believed, and worked for is soon a forgotten existence, a wisp of memory, and a source of oblivion. The “course corrections” provided by this fallen world do nothing but produce spiritual shipwrecks with eternal consequences.

Let us look at the question that everyone asks themselves and among other people in the attempt to get a straight answer. This question is the foundation for our existence, and the answer is one that you may not like, but it is the unchanging and absolute truth.

The question is: “What am I here for, and what is my reason for living in the first place?”

All right, so these are two questions rolled into one, but they both cover an essential issue that needs to be addressed if we are to have ANY direction or solid guidance in this adventure called “life.” Here is a more “formal” version of the question:

“What is the chief end of man (humanity)?

In other words, what is our real reason for being here? You know you have asked yourself this question at some time in your life. Admit it. We are not here just to take up space or sit around and waste our lives. We are here for some purpose, and it is not simply to “be happy” or build up our “self-esteem,” whatever that means. When we are the center of all that there is, it gets both boring and irritating. Life is not all about YOU. Pride and ego kill your personality and opportunity to do better than what you are doing now. We have all sat on the throne of the kingdom of “ME” for too long.

Now that you have read this far, may I now offer you the answer to the question? Here it is, like it or not:

The chief purpose of man is to ENJOY GOD AND GLORIFY HIM FOREVER!

THE guide to this adventure called life starts with the fact that we are NOT alone and that it is God Almighty who has provided you with the ability to work, breathe, and think. He is the ONE who provided you with a mind, body, and soul –not to waste or ruin—but to use as a gift of thanks and honor to Him. Get a Bible (that book you have that is sitting somewhere in your house collecting dust) and read the following verses:

“Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do ALL for the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31, KJV).

“Who have I in heaven but You? There is none upon Earth that I desire beside You. My flesh and my heart fail, but GOD is the strength of my heart, and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26, KJV).

Do you KNOW God? Do you know ANYTHING about Him in the first place? Allow me to direct you to a couple of websites that will help you get the answers:

www.gotquestions.org

www.peacewithgod.net

Take it from here. In the next post, LORD willing, I want to tell you about the Book meant to guide us in life and what it teaches. I look forward to meeting with you soon.

(This is an adaptation of a series compiled by the great British preacher of the 18th century, Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), who, at twenty years old, became pastor of Park Street Church in London. He immediately set forth to put together what we would call a “catechism” or a series of questions and answers designed to help new and experienced followers of the Lord Jesus Christ know what and why they believe the core doctrines of the faith.)

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https://drwhitchardteaches.org

 

This world is rapidly heading to the end of this era. Paul tells us about this in 2 Timothy 3:1-5: “But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (ESV – all emphasis is mine.)

Paul wrote all this between 64 and 67 A.D., almost 2,000 years ago. Yet this scripture comes very close to describing today’s world completely.

In Matthew 24: 5-8, Jesus told us, “For many will come in My name saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and this will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of birth pains.”

Jesus gave all believers hope in Luke 21:28: “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

Before going further, I am not setting any definite dates or times as to when the end comes and the Rapture takes place. This will also be the lead-in for the ultimate antichrist to come forth. Jesus stated in Matthew 24:36 & 44: “But concerning that day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels of Heaven nor the Son, but the Father only…. Therefore, you must also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

James 4:13-15: “Come now, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there, and trade and make a profit.’ Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time, and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ‘If the Lord wills, we will live and do this and that.’”

The messages about going up in the Rapture to meet Jesus in the air, and then to be with Him forever, are not for any specific people but for all who would receive and accept Him. Jesus stated in John 10:16, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd.”

Even though the Jews are God’s chosen people (Genesis 12:1-3), Jesus came to be the perfect, sinless blood sacrifice for everyone on Earth. There are no works that anyone can do to earn or buy our way into Heaven, and even God’s chosen must receive and accept Jesus or be lost forever.

In Philippians 3:8-9, we’re told, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus My Lord. For His sake, I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

Colossians 3:11: “Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 fits in right here. “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.”

Will L. Thompson (1847-1909) wrote a marvelous hymn in 1904 that reflects how we should view our relationship with our Savior. It’s titled “Jesus Is All the World to Me.”

1.) Jesus is all the world to me; my life, my joy, my all; He is my strength from day to day; without Him I would fall. When I am sad, to Him I go; no other one can cheer me so. When I am sad, He makes me glad; He’s my Friend.

2.) Jesus is all the world to me, my Friend in trials sore. I go to Him for blessings, and He gives them o’er and o’er. He sends the sunshine and the rain; He sends the harvest’s golden grain. Sunshine and rain, harvest of grain, He’s my Friend.

3.) Jesus is all the world to me, and true to Him I’ll be. Oh, how could I this Friend deny, when He’s so true to me? Following Him I know I’m right; He watches o’er me day and night. Following Him by day and night, He’s my Friend.

4.) Jesus is all the world to me; I want no better Friend. I trust Him now; I’ll trust Him when life’s fleeting days shall end. Beautiful life with such a Friend; beautiful life that has no end. Eternal Life, Eternal Joy, He’s My Friend.

John 15:4-5: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing.”

For all who truly believe that the Bible is the true word given to us by the Father through Holy Spirit-inspired writers, the above scriptures definitely dispute those who are proclaiming there are many ways to Heaven without Jesus.

John 14:6 followed by Acts 4:12 leaves no room for doubt. (John) “Jesus said to him, I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” (Acts) “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.”

We are warned in 1 Peter 5:8-9, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.”

There are areas in the world today where it’s being reported that anyone who claims Jesus as their Savior is being severely persecuted. In some areas, it actually leads to martyrdom. Even in America, there are signs of a turning away from the true word of the Lord to false prophets who “tweak” God’s word to soothe those with “itching ears” (2 Timothy 4:3).

To become a member of the Savior’s flock, we must first realize and admit that we are all sinners (Romans 3:10, Romans 3:23, and Romans 6:23). We must believe that Jesus came to this earth as a human to be the only perfect, sinless blood sacrifice that the Father could accept.

As a sinless human, He died, was buried, and then raised from the dead three days later. He ascended back to Heaven, and will come again to take all who will have received and accepted Him up to meet Him in the air to keep us from the coming wrath/tribulation (1 Thessalonians 1:10, 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10, and Revelation 3:10). All who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21, and Romans 10:13).

Prior to Calvary, the Father allowed blood sacrifices from bulls, goats, birds, and other means as a temporary measure to receive forgiveness. When the Savior shed His blood on that cross, it reached back to the beginning of Earth’s time to those who were in God’s will, and up to the moment of His death.

Hebrews 10:4 & 14: “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. For by a single offering, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

A-B-C: Admit; Believe; Call. This is found in Romans 10:9-13. It’s our true pathway to having Jesus as our Eternal Savior. As stated, it doesn’t apply only to a particular group of people, but to everyone on Earth.

Two points here: all who truly ask for forgiveness and for Jesus to be their Savior will be forgiven. His blood can reach everyone. It must be done, though, before taking your last breath on this earth.

Second, when it states “Confess with your mouth” in Romans 10:9 and 10, this does not eliminate anyone who happens to be mute. Our Father hears our thoughts as if spoken aloud. Whether with your mouth or your mind, verse 13 is absolutely true. “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Today would not be too early to become a part of the Savior’s precious flock. Tomorrow could just be too late. The Father will not force anyone to accept His Son, but will accept all who receive and accept Him.

Right now, Satan is trying to tell you not to worry as you’ve got plenty of time. The thing is, he knows his fate is the lake of fire forever, as given in Revelation 20:10, and he is trying to pull as many souls away from the Savior as he can before then. Hell is not temporary, and there are no pardons for all who end up at the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15.

The Judgment all true believers are looking forward to is the Judgment Seat of Christ in 2 Corinthians 5:10. No one is condemned at this event, as we will gain or lose rewards for what we did while on Earth. The final outcome is still eternity in Heaven with Jesus, our Lord and Savior.

Jesus could have changed His mind at any time and decided we weren’t worth the pain and suffering He knew He would have to endure. However, as a part of the Triune Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – He has a love for us that we can barely comprehend. He even knew that more would reject than accept Him (Matthew 7:13-14). However, He willingly came to be sure His true flock has a way to always be with Him. (John 10:17-18).

As with everyone, I am not perfect, and as long as we are on this earth as humans, we will still sin. The Father gave us the pathway to forgiveness in 1 John 1:8-10. With everything our Savior has done for us, I can declare nothing less than “Jesus Is All the World to Me!!”

He is calling out for all of us to receive and accept Him. The most important decision you will ever make is to become a part of His flock of saved souls. Today would not be too early.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus

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