General Articles

Thankfully, God Has Control :: By Dennis Huebshman

Published on: by RR7

 

Psalm 121; “I lift my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out, and your coming in from this time forth, and forevermore.” (ESV – all emphasis mine)

Isaiah 40:8; “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isaiah 40:31); “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

In far too many instances today, people are looking for relief. Problem is, they’re not turning to the One who can give comfort and assurance and strength to carry on. As Psalm 121 above states, “My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” He also created each and every one of us and loves us beyond all human understanding.

John 3:16 is one verse in the Bible that nearly everyone has heard. It states in very plain language that the Father, Creator of everything and everyone on earth and in the heavens, loves each of us so much that He sent a part of Himself as a pathway to eternal life that we would otherwise never have. Then looking to 2 Peter 3:9, He tells us He doesn’t want anyone to fail and end up in Hell but allows all who will do so to repent and be with Him forever.

So many man-made religions have rituals and works that must be completed in order to please whatever deity they call “god.” Our Father made it very plain in Ephesians 2:8-9 that we are saved by grace through faith and not by any act of our own doing. Our requirement is to receive and accept the fact that Jesus paid all that is necessary for us to have an eternal Heavenly Home with Him, and He paid for it in full. We must be open and confess that we know we are sinners (Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23) and cannot save ourselves. However, the Father states that all who call on His Son for forgiveness and to be their Savior will be saved (Romans 10:13).

That is our “gift” from the Father, and to imply that we can do anything to earn or buy our Salvation is a gross insult to His Son’s sacrifice. Jesus could have refused to suffer and die for us, but as John 10:18 states, He gave Himself willingly.

Therefore, is it any wonder that John 3:18 and 1 John 5:12 state that anyone who does not have the Son does not have the Father either? Nor do they have a place in eternity with Him.

What God asks is not hard by any stretch of the imagination, but humans make it difficult by believing there just has to be more to our having a place in Heaven.

God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), and He totally wants all to receive and accept His gift. The unforgivable sin is to take your last breath on this earth without having asked Jesus to be your Savior. Other than that, at the present time, there is no other sin that cannot be forgiven. During the Tribulation, taking the mark of the beast will be unforgivable (Revelation 14:9-11).

This world is turning more evil almost hourly. All the signs given by our Savior, Paul, John, Peter, and others, are in place right here and right now. People are “fainting with fear,” as given in Luke 21:26, because of disease, weather, wars and rumors of wars taking place just as Jesus said they would. For true believers, we don’t like what’s happening, but we have the Hope that our time here is limited. The moment is coming soon when the trumpet of the Lord will sound, and there will be a shout from an archangel. Then, in the “twinkling of an eye,” our human existence on this sin-filled planet will be over (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53). All who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit will be taken up to meet our Savior in the air to be with Him forever.

All who do not have Jesus as their Savior will face a 7-year period of time such as this earth has never seen. At the end of that time, Jesus will put down the “rebellion” and physically rule on this earth from Jerusalem for 1000 years. Whether or not we will be the “army” that comes with Him remains to be seen. If we are, we will no longer be under any influence of any sinful ways, nor be subject to pain, disease or death. We will have the mindset of our Lord and Savior and not be able to be tempted by Satan’s forces.

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

Unbelievers are fearful today, but our Father is not surprised by anything that is taking place. In fact, He has never given up His control but is allowing all the events to take place. Satan arrogantly believes he is in charge, even though he knows what his future will be (Revelation 20:10). He’s filled with so much destructive pride that he will try to influence everyone to turn away from Jesus.

Does the fact that those who have Jesus in their hearts today are being called “haters” surprise anyone? That’s the satanic influence leading the false prophets and antichrists and demons to continue their service to the devil. Right is seen as wrong, and wrong as right, just as Isaiah said it would be in Isaiah 5:20. Some previously Bible-based evangelical churches are staying away from calling out sin, and some are even saying that what God called abominations are somehow acceptable today.

Sadly, just as Jesus said in Matthew 7:13-14, more are accepting the garbage and are on that broad pathway leading to eternal destruction. There have been enough people to turn away from the Savior that it can be said “few” are on that straight and narrow path leading to eternal life.

People want to hear “ear-tickling” messages that do not mention sin nor any need to accept Jesus as Savior. It’s become a “feel-good” atmosphere that Satan is saying that all “good” people will have heaven, and Jesus isn’t necessary to get there. His lies have influenced people all the way from the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3 to today’s culture.

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit will not force anyone to receive and accept the offer of eternal life. Neither will they turn anyone away who calls out to be saved.

The choice is plain, simple and easy to understand for anyone who has the will to believe. Romans 8:1 has already been referenced, and further reading to give the steps to Salvation is found in Romans 10:9-13.

To wait could be a mistake because we don’t know exactly when the Rapture will take place. It is very obvious by all the signs today that it is very close. Jesus said when the signs begin to take place, our redemption is near (Luke 21:28). The beginning started just within the past decade, and the end time events are accelerating.

Take the time right now to call out and trust that God is in control. Ask Jesus to forgive you and to be your Savior. Today would not be too early as the end of this age is imminent.

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.com

 

Study in Hebrews: Jesus, The Great Savior :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

 

Hebrews 2:1-9

“Therefore, we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away. 2 For if the word spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just reward, 3 how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by those who heard Him, 4 God also bearing witness both with signs and wonders, with various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit, according to His own will? 5 For He has not put the world to come, of which we speak, in subjection to angels. 6 But one testified in a certain place, saying:

‘What is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You take care of him? 7 You have made him a little lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, And set him over the works of Your hands. 8 You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’

“For in that He put all in subjection under him, He left nothing that is not put under him. But now we do not yet see all things put under him. 9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, might taste death for everyone.“ (NKJV)

It was necessary for us to explore what would seem to be a moot point last week, that Jesus is not an angel. But it was obviously necessary because God wrote it for us to read, know and understand. Once we have established that Jesus is not an angel, we can now move on with the rest of what He has to say in the book of Hebrews. He begins Hebrews 2 with “Therefore” (based on the fact that Jesus is not an angel; we can now move on; I can teach you some other things). Once again, Hebrews is to saved people, and it assumes that the reader has a sound doctrinal foundation. Let us look at this chapter together.

  • Drifting Away, verse 1

The idea of drifting has to do with a ship that is moving away from its moorings because it is not anchored to anything. The boat does not have to do anything; it is just bobbing with the tide and the movement of the water. The writer is encouraging that we should be anchored to something, and that something is Jesus’ salvation that He offers us freely. If we are not actively tied to the doctrines of the Scripture, we can drift away; not deliberately, not by active rebellion, but by apathy. We just drift with the tide, the winds of change that blow ever so slightly, and soon we are no longer doctrinally sound. We have ‘buts’ for every statement of God’s in the scripture. We add caveats to God’s precepts, and we water down even the very Gospel that saved us.

This is the idea that the writer adds in verse 3; we “neglect so great a salvation.” Soon we begin to doubt the importance and the exclusiveness of the Gospel of Jesus. We begin to think that there are other ways to heaven, and we are no longer adamant about what Jesus said – “I am the Way.” It takes nothing to go to Hell; we are born on the way there. It takes an act of God to change our course. Are you drifting away? Have the doctrines become benign and seemingly tedious? Have we begun to water down the Gospel or add to it with works, and by doing so, stealing the thunder of God’s grace?

The Gospel was spoken by Jesus himself. He is the one who paid for it, He is the one who sends His Holy Spirit, and the one who will hold us accountable for it. But unless we are actively reading, studying and applying the Gospel, the truths of the scriptures, and living them out daily, we will drift away from the absolutes of the Bible, and so on. We will even neglect the very salvation that we have in Jesus and stop sharing the Gospel, or worse, share a false Gospel that is even more destructive.

Not only do we show contempt for Jesus, but we also show contempt for God who confirmed that Jesus was, in fact, the Messiah by miracles and other supernatural events like the Mount of Transfiguration. Then God followed up the miracles by sending His Holy Spirit to indwell us and to empower the local New Testament churches all around the known world at the time. God confirmed that this salvation was the one; this was the special gift from God that all men need to know that is available to all men free of charge. Jesus paid it all, God sanctioned the sacrifice, and the Holy Spirit secures us forever.

God does not take our salvation lightly; He did all He could to make it possible for all men everywhere to be saved. And to this very day, 2000 years or so later, the Gospel of Jesus is still all people need to be saved (see Acts 16:31). Jesus, Jesus, Jesus; there is just something about that name.

  • Jesus’ Humanity, verses 6-9

One of the very important doctrines that God brings to the forefront here is Jesus’ humanity. Jesus is not half man and half God. He is, in fact, 100% God and 100% man. One of the false doctrines of some of the early churches was that Jesus was God but only seemed to be human. This is wrong. Jesus was 100% human. He experienced everything that a human would experience. He was a baby and nursed at his mother’s breast. He had to be carried. He had to be washed. He had to learn how to roll over, crawl, and walk, and He fell as other kids did as well. He had to learn the language and how to speak it. He had to deal with siblings and make friends. Jesus had the whole human experience; He even had to learn how to use the washroom.

Like God, we know that He created the whole universe (see John 1: 1-4). But as a man, He also had the creation under Him as part of the Adamic instructions. Go back and see Genesis 1:25-27:

“God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that crawls upon the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.’ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.” (Berean Study Bible)

Jesus, the man, was under this decree from God as well as being the Creator; He now has the Adamic dominion over the earth and all that is in it as well. Jesus died as a man to taste death for everyone (see Hebrews 2:9). Only a man could do that. God cannot die. Thus, it was essential for Him to come as a man, true flesh; he could bleed, feel pain, suffer and die for you and me. In turn, we get the Holy Spirit, and in us, God lives.

1 Corinthians 3:16, “Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?”

1 Corinthians 6:19, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?”

2 Corinthians 6:16, “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, ‘I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'”

Ezekiel 36:27, “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be