Time Is Almost Up. This Is All That Matters :: by Alice Childs

“The night is far spent, the day [Day of the Lord] is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Romans 13:12). All scripture KJV.

There is not much time left. We who have been followers of our Lord Jesus Christ and watchers of Bible prophecy know that we are in the very final seconds before the Church Age ends. With everything in us, many of us who are part of God’s Remnant Church all across this world have been watching, praying, pleading and warning with greater and greater passion, urgency, and intensity “as we see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

There is not anything left to say that hasn’t already been said time and time again. Indeed, our warnings have been shouted from the rooftops, as it were, with greater and greater urgency. The only thing left to say is still the most important thing that can ever be said, and that is the only vital message that has ever been given to fallen man. That message is that mankind is a hopeless and helpless sinner who needs a perfect and righteous Savior.

You see, it is not any particular sin or another that leads one to Hell. There is only one sin that leads a soul to eternal damnation in an eternal Hell, eternally separated from God, and that sin is the sin of rejecting Jesus Christ and His free pardon.

Jesus is the only One who paid in full the infinite penalty for mankind’s sin debt. The only One who could save lost and fallen man, who was “condemned already” and under the “curse of sin,” was God the Son who wrapped Himself in human flesh to become the one and only God/Man, being both fully God and fully man.

Only He was qualified, able, and willing to “become sin” by bearing within Himself the sins of the entire world so that all – anyone who is willing to believe upon Him alone – all who are willing to place their faith and trust in His perfect life, His death on the cross in our place, His burial, and in His bodily resurrection on the third day may, upon their belief, have the righteousness of Christ imputed, transferred, upon them. That all who believe according to the scriptures may be instantly justified, declared “not guilty” just as if they had never sinned, eternally sealed and secured “in Christ” by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

“For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

“In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).

This is the only message that matters, that has ever mattered, and the only message that ever will matter. This message is more important now than ever before because time is running out. The Age of Grace is rapidly coming to an end, and the dreadful, terrible Day of the Lord’s wrath and vengeance is almost upon this God-hating world. We are right there.

There are only two kinds of sinners:

(1) We who are wretched sinners saved by the grace of the Almighty, all-loving, all-merciful God the Father through God the Son, Jesus.

(2) Then there are the wretched lost, still unbelieving sinners who have thus far rejected – who continue to reject the only means of salvation because they refuse to place their faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone. Each of us is in one or the other of those two categories. One is either a sinner saved by grace, or one is a sinner, lost unredeemed, and headed straight for an eternal Hell because he or she refuses to believe the gospel of salvation according to the scriptures.

In which category are you?

Time is almost up. Judgment is coming. In fact, the foreshocks of the coming Tribulation have already begun. Any moment now, the believing Remnant Church, God’s true church, the bride of Christ, will be snatched away from this earth to meet our Lord in the air. This event will mark the end of the Church Age. It will usher in the time of the end – the final seven years of mankind’s history. That countdown will commence with the confirmation of a covenant between an as yet unrevealed global leader and Israel.

Once the Church is gone, nothing will ever be the same again. This is the message that we believers have been pleading with weeping hearts for you to hear and believe.

Please do not wait any longer. The Bible tells us that “today is the day of salvation.”

“(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, And in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)” (2 Corinthians 6:2).

Oh please, please do not continue to harden your heart or turn a deaf ear, or mock those who truly care about the eternal destiny of your immortal soul!

The great evangelist George Whitefield, minister of the Great Awakening during the 1700s, said this: “You blame me for weeping, but how can I help it when you will not weep for yourselves though your immortal souls are on the verge of destruction.”

Dear Reader, I dare not make any presumptions that all who come to this site or read the articles penned here are saved. Only God knows the hearts of those whom He sends to this site. If you are reading this article and you have never called upon the name of Jesus to save you, then let me assure you on the authority of God’s Word that you are not here by accident. If you have found yourself here on this site reading this or any other article published here, it is because the God who “so loved the world” has sent you here and placed these words into your path so that you may hear, perhaps for the first time, or perhaps for the last time, the gospel of salvation.

“For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it” (Isaiah 55:10-11).

So as I close, let me do so by once more giving to you as plainly and as plaintively as I know how, the gospel. This is what you must believe to be saved. This is what you must believe in order to change your eternal destiny from Hell to Heaven. First, you must understand and accept the truth that you are a sinner. You’re not a sinner because you commit sins; you commit sins because you are a sinner. It is what you are inherently. The Bible says that to be saved, one must:

(1) Understand and acknowledge that you are a sinner hopelessly and helplessly lost, cut asunder from God by the “curse” of sin under which all mankind is conceived, and that as such, you are condemned to Hell because of it.

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not one” (Romans 3:10-12).

Here is the bad news that must be accepted and acknowledged.

“For the wages [the eternal penalty] of sin is death [spiritual death, eternally separated from God in Hell]; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

(2) Understand and acknowledge that you cannot do, say, or ever become able to save yourself. You cannot save yourself because even the very best you can do will always “fall short” of the glory of God.

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away” (Isaiah 64:6).

“For by grace [alone] are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works [one’s own merits or efforts], lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

(3) Salvation comes only through Jesus Christ, according to the scriptures.

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

(4) This is what you must believe to be saved:

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4).

(5) Finally, call upon the Lord.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

This is the gospel of eternal salvation, which Jesus fully paid for and which He freely offers as a gift to “whosoever will” believe in Him.

“And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Acts 2:21).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (John 3:16-21).

With all my heart, I implore you, if you have not already done so, come to the cross. It was there that God the Son, in human form, stretched out His hands, nailed to a cross of His own free will and volition. And because He loved us so, He hung on a cross suspended between heaven and earth and took upon Himself the sins of the whole world, thereby offering a free pardon of sin to all who are willing to believe [place their faith and trust in] and call upon Him for salvation. Please, please do not delay. Come to the Savior now before it is eternally too late.

“Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father” (John 10:17-18).

I plead with you, come to salvation now. Time is almost up, and this is all that matters.

alice.joan.childs@gmail.com

 

Stagnant Religion :: By Grant Phillips

When Amos, the farmer turned prophet, spoke on God’s behalf to Israel, the nation was enjoying prosperity, but their spiritual life had become lackadaisical and corrupt. As so often happens, true worship suffers at the hands of material success.

Certainly, there is nothing wrong with success in business or in our personal lives, but when material success is obtained through greed and injustice, God is not pleased. Unfortunately, this was the case in Israel at that time.

As the Lord would say, “Anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see” would agree that we in America are in the same predicament as Israel was at the time Amos prophesied to them.

“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies” (Amos 5:21).

Israel’s “church” services were showy and vibrant. They wore their “Sunday” best, hoping to be noticed by the crowds. Their business and personal dealings with others throughout the week, however, were not pleasing to God, but even so, they proudly displayed their offerings to the Lord of hosts. Unfortunately, though, their offerings were not exactly provided with a humble heart and to the specifications of God’s requirements for sacrifice. In short, they were just playing “church.”

“I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings” (Amos 5:22).

It is obvious that God is quite displeased with their burnt offerings, grain offerings and peace offerings, but they don’t seem to notice or even care. They wanted everyone to see what “they had done for the Lord,” but they were not even giving Him their best, only the leftovers of their life.

“Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps” (Amos 5:23).

Music flows to the rafters as they lift their voices in song, but God is not impressed. How could God not tap His foot at their melodies? Such beautiful voices and precision playing of the musical instruments! “Listen to the crowds applaud me! Surely God is impressed!”

“How terrible for you who sprawl on ivory beds and lounge on your couches, eating the meat of tender lambs from the flock and of choice calves fattened in the stall” (Amos 6:4).

With much success in their businesses, they had become fat, lazy and spoiled. Ego trips had caused their spiritual relationship with God to take a nosedive. While they feasted in the lap of luxury, their souls had become anemic, starving for spiritual food.

As they sat in their seats dressed in their “Easter Sunday best,” waiting anxiously for the service to end, they critiqued the clothing of those less fortunate around them then checked the time on their shiny new smart phones and watches.

“You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David” (Amos 6:5).

Their services were professionally performed and called “worship,” but their hearts were far away from the One they were supposed to be worshipping. Their repetitious choruses wearied the ear of God. Could it be that many of those leading the “worship” service were not even saved?

“You drink wine by the bowlful and perfume yourselves with fragrant lotions. You care nothing about the ruin of your nation” (Amos 6:6).

Material success had made them proud, thinking only of their own physical comforts instead of their less fortunate kindred who were in need.

Their country is about to fall around their ears, but they are so self-centered they are a reminder of Nero, who fiddled while Rome burned.

“The time is surely coming,’ says the Sovereign LORD, ‘when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the LORD” (Amos 8:11).

They were totally unaware that judgment would soon be coming when they would cry out to God, wondering why God would allow this. Some did miss the days of old when the true Gospel was clearly expounded from most pulpits, but now most all the congregants preferred 15-20 minute sermonettes so they could get to the local restaurant ahead of everyone else.

“People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it” (Amos 8:12).

They would look for God, but He would not be found. Many thirsted for real preaching from God’s Word, but it was getting harder and harder to find. Even though many of the local assemblies were filled to capacity, the message was empty and lacking the meat of God’s Word.

After a careful reading of these verses, we can almost hear Amos saying to us, “Thus says the Lord.”

Is it possible for religious services to succeed, drawing thousands of worshippers, while true worship becomes stagnant? It most certainly is, as observed in these few Scripture passages found in the book of Amos.

This should be a loud and clear message to us today, especially since we have become duplicates of the Israelites in Amos’ day.

Thank the Lord, many of our churches come together properly worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ with the right attitude and a humble heart. Unfortunately, many more do not.

Some church gatherings are like walking into a funeral home. One looks around and sees nothing but sad, long-faced “worshippers.” You would think Jesus is still in the tomb.

Then there are others quite adept at entertaining the crowds. They are out for the glory, not for Jesus but for themselves. The strobe lights point to the performers on stage, and the music is loud and lively.

Can God be found in either of these two examples? God has made it clear that He is not there.

What is in the hearts of those in attendance, whether they are leading the service or sitting in the pews? Are they humble before God, or have they just put on their “church face,” which will be quickly removed when they exit the front door?

What is the message coming from the pulpit? Is it the true Gospel or another gospel?

The apostle Paul said in the book of Galatians:

“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different [heteros] gospel; which is really not another [allos]” (Galatians 1:6-7a, insertion mine).

Paul is saying in verse six that he is amazed they are falling for a different gospel other than the true Gospel of Christ. (Heteros means “different.”)

In verse 7a, Paul is saying they are falling for a gospel that is not the same as the true Gospel of Christ. (Allos means “same.”)

Strong Bible-teaching churches do exist today, but they are getting harder and harder to find.

Jesus said,”… However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8)

Jesus is coming soon, and many will not be ready.

Grant Phillips

Email: Phillip5769@twc.com

Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com

Rapture Ready: https://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html