General Articles

All The Proof in The World :: By Dave Hubley

Published on: by RR10

I have included a special message at the end of this article for those who have reached the point where the burden of evidence that the world is spinning out of control is overwhelming. I hope you will read and take to heart what God requires in order to give His free gift of eternal life as He has declared is His will for all who trust in Him.

We humans have a number of phrases that we like to use when we do not want to face up to what we perceive as unpleasant news or any circumstances that we do not want to acknowledge but we know are looming because we can see them looming. They are now visible not just beyond the horizon but on the horizon. The near horizon.

It is called “being in denial” or, “If I ignore it, maybe it will go away.”

Often, we ignore things until they become a crisis and we are forced to suffer the consequences instead of being proactive and avoiding the resulting trauma.

Depending on what it is, it can sometimes prove to be terminal. These are the conditions in the world under which we live every day.

Sometimes, especially as is happening presently, it is something more disquieting. Not something that is easily identified but more like something that is sensed in the heart.

But now, there is something additional that is influencing our thoughts and minds.

This present time is not a just a physical phenomenon, but it is a spiritual manifestation, and it is resulting in physical and spiritual collapse across society as a whole.

It is manifesting itself in that we see people behaving in a way that can’t be understood in terms we once considered normal. Even the normal terms for “abnormal” fail to adequately define it. We are unable to comfortably explain them away. We can no longer just say, “people have always been like this” as though what is happening now is only a temporary and limited condition by a relative few as was common in the past.

It is a manifestation of evil.

It has become the “new normal” but with an additional twist. It gets measurably worse every day. We can’t bury our heads in the sand deep enough to escape it.

Some might say that it’s only because information travels so fast now that we become aware of these things much more often. But that is not sufficient to explain the “nature” of the behavior or its frequency and level of derangement.

Worse still is the cold-blooded reaction by so many people when they see violence occur right in front of their own eyes. Now, the reaction so often is not horror, but to pull out a stupid smart-phone and record it as it happens. People gather around and watch someone being stabbed or beaten to death. Instead of calling 911, they make a movie.

The Word of God describes this condition very accurately:

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).

“What’s wrong with people?” we hear so often. There is an answer, but it requires eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that will yield to the truth.

Now to the crux of this article.

Why all this ”Doom and Gloom”?

The answer is found in the Bible. It reveals prophetic reality. This is not a temporary period of unrest or some sort of “things will settle down and get back to normal” thing.

This is the progression of digression which God has warned would be the state of the world in the “last days” (see 2 Timothy 3:1-5). The proof of God’s Word is perfect, and His prophetic warnings are now coming into full view and in living color.

Because far too many people in this world are a living fulfillment of (Psalms 14:1 and 53:1). “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’”

“For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles” (Romans 1:21-23). Emphasis added.

As a result of this willful and intentional disobedience, God has begun a process of judgment that is inexorable as He has warned would happen for millennia:

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse” (Romans 1:18-20).

How many people will respond to this empirical proof? How many will seek answers from the only source where they can be found?

How many will turn to God instead of a foundering and failing infrastructure that is called “law and order” but bears little resemblance to either one and that is comprised of far too many who are charged with administering it but are themselves blatant and unrepentant lawbreakers. Criminals and their enablers abound.

God has indicated that people who do not have the discernment and understanding that are His gift to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear what He has proclaimed in His written word are spiritually blind.

“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

“Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” (Isaiah 2:22).

In the above two verses, God offers the answer. Repent and live: Put your trust where it will save your life.

For those who will repent and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, the necessity of God’s judgment becomes understandable, and while it saddens even those who have His promise of eternal life, Jesus promises it will be turned to joy – something mankind has promised to do but has proven it can never do.

“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Emphasis added

God’s prophecies, once future but now history, are empirical proof that the balance of them will also be fulfilled in minute detail. (See the Book of Revelation.)

The “doom and gloom” of God’s Word has a blessed purpose. It is there to remind people that His judgment of sin must be executed, but He has provided a way to “purpose and hope” in its place. Please see the (Special message) below to understand His Way to Salvation that is available to all.

I pray that you will receive Jesus as your personal Savior while we are still in the time of His Grace and Mercy.

The special message I promised you:

For anyone who may read this article and has not trusted in Jesus Christ and therefore has no real hope or peace in your life.

You can have hope. You can have the peace that Jesus has promised to all who have made Him their Lord and Savior. The peace that passes understanding.

It requires that you come before God on His terms and that you do so in your living years.

And what are His terms according to His Word?

  • Genuine repentance (turning to God instead of continuing to reject or ignore Him).
  • Confession of sins (that you are a sinner and acknowledge that to God).
  • That you understand that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
  • To acknowledge to God that you are unable to pay that debt.
  • Belief that Jesus Christ paid your death sentence for you on the cross and rose from the grave three days later, conquering death, just as He promised.
  • To believe that Jesus is the Way, the only Way, that God has established by which humans may be saved from the consequences of their sin and rebellion.

God has made it absolutely clear that there is no one who comes before Him, under His terms, that will be refused.

  • No one: no race, no color, no country of origin, regardless of any previous belief system: no one.
  • No matter what your past sins have been, God can and WILL forgive you because He says He will.
  • Salvation is available to everyone without any exceptions.

If you put all your trust for salvation in Jesus, and Him only, you can follow that prayer up by simply saying, “Thank you, Father God, for hearing my prayer and saving me,” because we can trust Him to keep His Word. He always has. He always will.

“Truly, Truly, I say to you that he who hears My words and believes the One who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned. He has crossed from death to life” (John 5:24).

There are no answers and there is no hope in the world by governments, organizations, politics or politicians. There are only lies and deception. But you can have the Truth and the peace you seek.

The answers are in the Word of God—The Bible. If you ask God, with all your heart, He will hear you.

“And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).

Pro Salvator Vigilans                      

To contact me: canoeman96@gmail.com

Ruth 1:1-21 – The Fall and Rise of Israel :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR10

We took a break from Jesus in the Old Testament, but we are back, and this journey will take us through the book of Ruth. We will take each chapter and explore the lesson or lessons to be learned. In chapters 3 & 4, we will begin to explore the character of the ‘Kinsman Redeemer’ in the person of Boaz, and he will be the picture of Jesus for us.

So, now that you know where we are going, we can journey through the book and enjoy the story.

There is an old song for kids that goes, ‘A little bit of sugar helps the medicine go down.’ I recall getting the polio vaccine in a sugar cube as a young teenager in Barbados. Well, the story of Ruth is a beautiful love story, the Gentile woman who leaves her homeland to come to Bethlehem to care for her mother-in-law. She had nothing, and through the grace of God, she comes into the family of Jesus the Messiah. This is the sugar, but in the depths of this book, there is a lot of medicine for us to ingest. And if we do it, we will grow in many ways and see and appreciate God’s kindness and grace in new ways. I pray that you will enjoy this journey, and maybe we can see some new things together.

We begin the story in verses 1-5, with Elimelech taking his family from Bethlehem to Moab because there is no food. There is great irony here: Bethlehem, where they lived, is called the ‘house of bread,’ and there was no food. They travel back across the Jordan and almost all the way back to Egypt once again to find food.

While in Moab, the two sons find wives, and then they and their dad die. This is a great picture of what happened to Israel as they melted into the pagan world around them. They married Gentile wives and followed their gods. Even the great Solomon fell into that trap (1 Kings 11:1-13). They went to Moab looking for hope; they found more pain and more loss. They went out from Bethlehem full and ended up in Moab with just three widows. Widows were the most lowly people in the world back in those days. They had no men, no money, and Naomi in particular was a stranger in Moab.

In verses 6-18, we see the journey back to Bethlehem. Naomi finds out that God had blessed Bethlehem with bread. She decides that there is nothing here for her in Moab, and she and her two daughters-in-law begin to journey back to Israel. As they are about to leave, Naomi urges the ladies to return to their families and find new husbands (verse 9). She asks God to bless them and deal kindly with them (verse 8).

At first, both ladies are determined to return with Naomi, but Naomi is insistent that they return home; there was no hope in her womb for them, no more husbands to be had, and she encourages them to return to the pagan Moab and find hope there.

How often do we send people out to find hope in our modern Moabs? We have the truth, we have the actual Person of hope, the actual eternal hope, and we are either complacent in sharing the Gospel or indifferent to their needs, and in the same way, we send people away to find hope elsewhere.

The great division of two ‘churches’ (verses 14-17): in one ‘church,’ we have Orpah, who kisses her mother-in-law and returns to her people and her gods. But in the other ‘church,’ we have Ruth, who clings to Naomi, and she declares that she will follow the God of Naomi and live and die where she lives and dies.

There are two kinds of ‘churches’ in our world today: there is one that is ALL religions of religious institutions that either claim no god, multiple gods, add to the Biblical account of God, are blasphemous, err doctrinally, and in some cases, like the SDA or JWs, actually pervert the scriptures and flat out lie about what it says. The other ‘church’ is the one that obeys, follows, and lives and dies for the God of Israel.

The other ‘church,’ Ruth, is the one that Jesus built. The story is here in the Old Testament, and we are seeing it play out. Be wary of churches that decry Israel, that believe that God has moved on from Israel, and that the promises that are promised to Israel have now been put onto the church. This is simply not true.

Our salvation has Jewish roots. Jesus is a Jew; He is of the lineage of Judah, and one day He will reign as a Jewish king on a Jewish throne in the Jewish city of Jerusalem in Israel. I do not know how someone can come to the conclusion that God is done with Israel; He would have to be done with Jesus. The entire Gospel is about a Jewish God-Man who died in Israel, in Jerusalem, was buried in a Jewish tomb, and resurrected in Jerusalem. There is no part of the salvation story that is not rooted in Israel.

Most often, the Orpah ‘churches’ hate Israel or are at least indifferent to the importance of Israel to the future that we are looking for. Jesus will return to Jerusalem (Revelation 19), and in the book of Revelation, the church is not mentioned after chapter 3. But Ruth, she is all in; nothing but death will separate her from Naomi. So, they return to Bethlehem, the house of bread, and the whole city is astonished to see her.

Naomi is a bitter woman. Her name actually means “blessed”; Naomi means “blessed.” But she looks at her past, about 10 years since she left with her husband, and she wants the people who receive her back to Bethlehem to call her ‘Mara,’ bitter. She says that the Almighty had dealt bitterly with her (verse 20).

In verse 13, she says that the Lord’s hand has gone out against me. In verse 21, I went out full, but I came back empty. Yet, there was the faithful and loving Ruth standing next to her.

Israel, for the most part, hates the New Testament church; they hate our Jesus. But if we are to be true to our Savior, the local New Testament church is the most loyal friend that the nation and people of Israel can have. We are the modern Ruth. We are instructed to pray for the peace of Israel (Psalm 122:6). We are longing, like Paul did in Romans 9-11, for Israel to repent and return to God.

There are missionary ministries like Jews for Jesus that take the Gospel to the Jews. You see, we, the New Testament churches, are the grafted olive branches; we are the branches, and Israel is the vine. And one day soon, Jesus will return to restore Israel, as we see in Zechariah 12:10. When that happens, the people cheering the most will be the New Testament churches.

But back to Naomi, she was convinced that God was against her. He had dealt badly with her, and she had no hope. Just call me bitter, not blessed. We live in a world that wants to make up their own identities, but Naomi is called blessed, NOT bitter. In fact, the only person who called her bitter is her. She has no clue that Ruth is the greatest blessing that she has; Ruth is going to show genuine love, grace, and kindness to her. God had not dealt badly with her; He brought her home, He made sure she was not alone, and He had protected her on the journey: two women traveling in a harsh place when women were just chattel. God had brought them home.

All too often, we spend so much time looking at the things that have gone wrong; we cannot see, or we choose not to see, the goodness of God. What are you missing in your life? Are you looking for the goodness of God? Has God put a Ruth in your life? Someone who loves God and loves you for you? Naomi had nothing to offer Ruth, no more sons, no money. Ruth just loved her for her. Do you have someone like Ruth in your life? If you do, stop and thank God for them. Naomi is blessed; she just can’t see it yet.

Israel (Naomi) ran to Moab, lived in Moab, married into Moab, and suffered in Moab, but God brought her back and restored her. And in the meantime, the Gentile church (Ruth) was picked up along the way; this was the plan all along. The Gentiles, you and I, were never an afterthought; we were a part of the plan from the beginning.

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church
70 Victoria Street, Elora, Ontario