Matthew 22:37-40; “And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the Great and First Commandment. And a Second is like it; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these Two Commandments depend all the law and the prophets.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

John 20:28-29; “Thomas answered Him; ‘My Lord and My God!’ Jesus said to him, have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen, and yet believed.'”

Just being in a church building every time the doors are open, singing the songs, saying “Amen” at the end of prayers, and listening to a preacher give what you may believe to be biblical words does not mean a person truly has Jesus in their heart. It becomes a ritual but not a true lifestyle. Going just to get ear-tickling messages and heart-thumping music doesn’t save anyone.

Luke 6:46-49; “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and does them, I will show you what he is like; he Is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house, and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the storm broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.”

No matter what we may believe, without a relationship with the Gentle Shepherd, who gave His life so His flock could have an eternal Home with Him, we are lost. A person may say they believe Jesus and God are real, but as James 2:19 says, even Satan and the demons believe. They just don’t accept Him as their God.

Prayer warriors are invaluable. When someone is praying for another, they are asking that the Holy Spirit reach out and touch the heart of the one being prayed for. It does not mean that the Father will force anyone to receive and accept His Son, but He could very well put an image on a person’s mind as to what eternity will be like without Jesus. We all still have the free will to choose eternal life in Heaven or eternal punishment in the Lake of Fire.

Jesus knew what would be happening near the end of this age, and in Matthew 24:10-12, He states, “And then many will fall away and betray one another, and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.”

The “easy” way is to go along with the world and accept whatever Satan and his demons are putting out. The “hard” way is to go against the grain: accept Jesus the Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, and turn away from all the deceptions. It has become a “ritual” that when someone finds out we follow Christ, we automatically become a “hater.”

To follow the will of our Savior, we are to love everyone, even those who persecute us. They all have an eternal soul, and our prayer is that they will repent and call out to be saved before they pass from this earth. All who do so will be forgiven and spend eternity with the Gentle Shepherd as a part of His flock. We just don’t have to accept any lifestyles that our Heavenly Father calls abominations.

On the other hand, the unforgivable sin right now is to leave this earth without having received and accepted the gift of Jesus, which He paid dearly for at Calvary. This would include “regular” churchgoers who never really ask Him into their hearts and just take up space in the audience.

All who truly believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He really died as a human, and is the only pure sacrifice there is for sin, and that God raised Him from the grave three days later to conquer sin and death for all who would call on Him, they will be saved. (Romans 10:9-13) We are all sinners (Romans 3:10; 3:23) and deserve eternal punishment for this (Romans 6:23). However, when we confess to the Lord that we are lost without a loving Savior, ask His forgiveness, and ask Him to come into our hearts, we will be saved.

Next question; will we be sin-free from then on? Simple answer – No. God knows our human weaknesses, and because of our sin nature, He has provided the means to be forgiven when we do slip and sin. He gave us 1 John 1:8-10; “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.”

The main point is, we make every effort to turn away from habitual sin. When we find that we have sinned, as all of us will do, we confess this to the Father and ask Him to forgive us. He already knows what we have done, but He has promised that He will forgive us, because He understands us better than we ever could.

He also knows that when we leave this earth, either by death or by Rapture, we will be given new mindsets that will not be subject to sin’s temptations ever again. That’s why our old bodies will be purged, and we will have an eternal, immortal body that will not have any of our present issues of aches, pains, and death.

All who refuse to call out to Jesus and be saved will also receive forever immortal bodies, but they will be tormented forever with Satan and his demons (fallen angels) in the Lake of Fire. That’s Revelation 20:11-15. There is no third option, no matter what false prophets may try to tell you.

Therefore, ‘Come Ye That Love The Lord,’ and be saved. This is a hymn written by Isaac Watts (1694-1748) and is very relevant for today.

1.) Come Ye that love the Lord, and let our joys be known. Join in a song of sweet accord, join in a song of sweet accord and thus surround the throne, and thus surround the throne.

Ref.) We’re marching to Zion; beautiful, beautiful Zion. We’re marching upward to Zion, the beautiful City of God.

2.) The hill of Zion yields a thousand sacred sweets before we reach the Heavenly fields, before we reach the Heavenly fields or walk the golden streets, or walk the golden streets. (ref)

3.) Then let our songs abound, and every tear be dry. We’re marching through Immanuel’s ground, we’re marching through Immanuel’s ground to fairer worlds on high, to fairer worlds on high. (ref)

There is an urgency today that is letting us know the end of this age is very near. For the first time ever, all the end-time signs are here at the same time. The Ezekiel 38 coalition is in place, and the “hook,” as given in verse 4, is being set. All three major countries are just about bankrupt, and it’s obvious that little Israel is sitting there with all that wealth just for the taking.

That which was promised would take place is happening daily. There are many who believe this is just foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:18) and that everything is happening as it has since the very beginning of time (2 Peter 3:4). That is part of the “deluding influence” that the Father will send in the Tribulation. Those who have continuously rebelled and refused to turn to Christ as their Savior will believe Antichrist’s lies and worship him instead (2 Thessalonians 2:11).

As stated above, God will force no one to receive and accept His Son’s free gift that is being offered. However, He will turn no one away who truly calls out for forgiveness and asks Jesus to be their Savior. Before any more time passes, if you haven’t asked the Gentle Shepherd to become a part of His precious flock, today would not be too soon. The event known as the Rapture could take place any second, and that’s just about how long it will take (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). In the twinkling of an eye is the term Paul uses, and that is very much less than one second.

Your eternal reservation could be made this very minute, and you would be eternally thankful that you did so. To be left behind to face the worst 7 years this world has ever seen would be a misery beyond description. No one has sinned so greatly that they cannot be forgiven, if they will only ask. No special fees; no special works; just turn your heart over to the Savior for an eternity with Him in Paradise.

Shalom! Peace! Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

I wish I could say that I was one of those smart kids who always loved history. Yet, in one sense, I guess that I did—although perhaps without realizing it.

I was always enthralled with old black-and-white television shows that whisked me to an earlier time that seemed both simpler and, yet, exhilarating. I found many aspects of the past fascinating. I was particularly mesmerized by the Middle Ages—especially as they set the stage for the dawn of the Reformation.

Put a dry history book in front of me, though, and I would have been entirely unenthused—unless, perhaps, it was a volume about the history of sports.

I did love Bible history, though, as well. I remember that in my middle years in Lutheran grade school, my teacher would begin the day by reading an extended passage of Scripture. When he got to the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, I recall listening as though I were following on a horse behind King David. I even scribbled the words “David stories” next to those books in the table of contents of an old Bible.

I had outstanding history teachers and classes in high school and Bible college, and that’s when a formal love of history really began to click for me.

But it was in seminary that I began to think purposely and deeply about the historical nature and background of the Bible. Unlike other religious books, the Scriptures are built upon history in such a way that if Biblical history were not true, then the Bible itself would be invalidated (see, for example, 1 Cor. 10:1-11).

I began to realize what an incredible shame it is when Bible-believing preachers who ought to know better allegorize the details of Old Testament history. In this manner, they commit an injustice with regard to the text that is similar to that of liberal scholars, who deny its historicity. In the end, both negate—whether outrightly or in practice—the literal, grammatical, historical meaning of the text, searching instead for some deeper piety.

My Old Testament professor and theological mentor, Dr. John Whitcomb, modeled an entirely different approach. Dr. Whitcomb spent decades refining his famous Bible chronology charts, [i] and his manner of teaching on historical passages was spellbinding. I found the challenge of putting the pieces of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures together—fixing the sequence of events solidly in my mind, and matching people, actions and dates with precision—to be riveting. I experienced firsthand the velocity of the blessings that flow to those who approach the text reverently and literally.

In this regard, the Apostle Paul stated in Rom. 15:4:

“For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”

I learned to love the Old Testament, and the Hebrew language behind it, in a way that I had not previously imagined.

As I have matured in my theological and ministerial pursuits, I have also grown more deeply in my appreciation for the impact that the Bible has had upon all of history.

Specifically, I find that my interests have run on two parallel tracks: Old Testament and church history—particularly Reformation history, focusing on the 16^th and 17^th centuries and the subsequent development of dispensational theology. I see these interests as complementary. Just as we can learn from the characters and events in Biblical history, so we can learn similarly from church history—but it must be real church history, not a version created out of one’s imagination—using many of the same interpretive tools.

I have shared before how the months of September, October and November are the church history phase of my year. As the wheat is transformed into gold and the geese fly south, I can hear the echoes from the Middle Ages. I sense the darkness about to be vanquished by the light once again.

If you had asked me at six years of age what holiday we celebrate on October 31st, I would have responded, “Reformation Day.” It seems that these impressions that were engraved so deeply on my young mind have forcefully reemerged.

I relish the opportunity to teach through the Reformation once again this year, and I pray that it might work toward the “learning” of all who hear, to increase their “hope.”

What an astounding thing it is to grasp that God is the superintendent of history!

“A posterity shall serve Him.
It will be recounted of the Lord to the next generation,
They will come and declare His righteousness to a people who will be born,
That He has done this” (Ps. 22:30-31).

Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

[i] Dr. Whitcomb produced seven charts, and there are three more in the same set that were done by his colleague at Grace Theological Seminary, Dr. James L. Boyer. For information, see “Charts”; Whitcomb Ministries; n.d.; https://www.whitcombministries.org/charts.html; Internet; accessed 25 August 2022. It should be noted that Dr. John MacArthur bases much of his understanding of Biblical chronology on these famous charts by Whitcomb and Boyer, and gives them credit for the use of several of them on the copyright page—even in the new edition of his famous study Bible. See John MacArthur, The MacArthur Study Bible, 2^nd ed., English Standard Version (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2021), p. iv.