(Revelation 21:7) “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and
I will be his God and he will be my son.”
Counting the cost to the Christian
calling is something we all need to consider if we are to become effective for
Christ. For us to become operational in the building of God’s Kingdom we must
see our eternal reward as the ultimate goal of our existence. We must learn to
appropriate this verse to our daily gaits; “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. (Philippians 3:8)
The summons from the
only true and living God must dictate the way we live from here on in. I
realise that this will only ever become apparent when we understand that call;
when we are persuaded that it is God who has called; regardless of our blunders
throughout our lives, if and when God calls will we obediently respond to His
voice. For when we understand that this is the reason we were born, then it
will be well with our souls. Society teaches us to believe in ourselves but God
commissions all to believe in Him; “For the Scripture says, "Everyone who believes in him
will not be put to shame." (Romans
10:11)
When an athlete trains it is a painful process
but they endure their training so that they may be crowned champion. Their goal
is very specific and it is no different for the Christian we must learn to lay
our lives down so that we too may one day reap our reward, which is to hear
Gods approval when we enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. There is a grand
event coming known to us in scripture as the “marriage feast of the Lamb”, a
wedding ceremony. It is very dress specific and only those adorned with the
correct garments will be allowed to partake. It is a celebration reserved for
the bride of Christ and only those who have their names written in the Book of
Life will be allowed to attend. The invitations have been carefully selected
and have not been penned with ink but with a quill dipped in blood of the Lord
Jesus. Those selected for this great event must make Him their prized
possession. In order for this to happen we must learn to walk by faith and
place all our dependency upon the Words of God, THE BIBLE! As it is the treasure
map to that beautiful occasion in a glorious land. Study and then study some
more. Be sure of that which has been charted out and leave nothing to chance. If
you have doubts to whether you will eventually make it into that magnificent
land do not rest until you hear the voice of God speaking clearly to you! It is
one thing to know that God exists but quite another to be personally known by
Him. Are you convinced that you are on that guest register? Are you at liberty
to converse with Him? Are you sure that you have been invited? These are
questions that you need to be answered with total assurance.
Examine your own hearts…
What
is it that drives you? Money, lust, the pride of life, power; the list is
endless or is it the hope that one day you will hear God speak these words
directly to you? “The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he
will be my son.” If this is not your motivation to life then I would
suggest that you rally around those who have that as their ultimate goal and
spend as much time with them as humanly possible. This is where we will be able
to buy the oil for our lanterns that will be needed when our bridegroom returns
to take us home. Without oil in our lanterns we will miss out and that is
something we can all ill afford for it will have eternal consequences. After
now establishing that as imperatively important; what must ring the loudest is
that we’ve been saved from a place of total devastation, we were doomed for
destruction from the time we took our first breath. “BUT GOD”!
Here
is an allegory that should help us understand the intention I wish to
highlight…
A
group of people gathered with eager anticipation as a young woman deep in the
throes of labour, works her way painfully through the process of her brutal
labour pains, in spite of the anguish she now faced and with a clad-iron resolve
she was determined to follow through with a natural birth. Whilst her parents linger
in the cold dull passageway of the labour ward in the deep south of
Johannesburg, and as the father had lived through the Second World War a
thought flashes vividly through his mind, “hospitals always have death written
all over their walls”, and then the reality of what was happening kicked in, “but
not this time!” his thoughts had now become vocal causing his wife to turned to
him, “What”? “Never mind” he muttered, how could he bring up death when they
expected life? As this was a very happy juncture. There were endless
opportunities for this new bundle of joy. The man was filled with glee and was
to soon be a granddad! But not yet for there were still many uncertainties,
would his daughter and the unborn child come through without any complication?
Therefore he continued to pace up and down with great intent hoping that all
would be well with the apple of his eye for she was but a young lass, barely
seventeen. It was an anxious moment and yet it was compressed by excitement.
“Is it a boy or a girl”? An exciting thought all had already considered,
wanting to be the one who could gloat and say I told you it would be a boy.
Then
it happened, they heard it, a babies cry. It was rather comical as they simultaneously
look at each other and laying aside the hospital policies, instantaneously they
all rushed into the room to examine the miracle. Maybe this baby boy would be
the next president or the next greatest prodigy with a golf club in his hand. The
potential endless and full of promise! Words like “cute” and “he is beautiful,
he looks just like you” travelled from person to person filling the room with chatter,
the overtones of joy fanned across the room bringing smiles to all. And then something
outside of the norm happened God allows them to look into the future as He commanded
time to travel forward. Their joy suddenly turns to shattered heartache; a
horror filled vision now became their reality and they were all privy to it; death,
misery and total darkness engulfed with unquenchable flames awaited not only
this little newborn baby but all of mankind and God in His mercy had shown it
to them.
The
reality of it was that all of mankind has been condemned already. We all stand
guilty before a Holy God and Hell with all its fury is our destination. It is
mankind’s lot in life. Try as we may to build Arks like in the movie 2012 or as
we rally together as one united nation, trying with paramount resolve to avoid
the inevitable, the destruction of this planet as we know it, which will
eventually happen. The same fate awaits us all. An eternity of horror
personified! They had seen it and there was no denying it for God had shown it
to them.
The
joy that filled that delivery room was now filled with regret and the remorse
of this accidental conception, conceived outside of the bounds of wedlock was
now forgotten. Although they were practising Catholics and they had done
everything in their power to conceal their sin removing the ridicule that would
come upon the family if it became public knowledge had now dissipated as there
were far more pressing issues on hand. If only this little boy had never been
born was the thought of consensus and then it dawned on then, but what about
us? Doomed for eternity! It was no longer an idea that some jarhead had shouted
from a street corner; “repent for the end is near”! God had revealed the truth
to them and they had seen the end, they now understood the ramifications! They
had grasped it for God had shown it to them! As they limply made their way back
to the vehicles they had arrived in. The drive back to their homes was filled
with silence and remorse for they were all devastated by the reality of it all,
once so oblivious to the secrets of hell but now “eyes wide open” to what was
just over the horizon. “Stop the car”, the father demanded on the fringe on the
highway, it was a perfect position, the car had come to rest in a blind spot, and
he thought that they might be lucky enough to be taken out of their misery and
be steamrolled by a passing truck. What was a man to do? What is a father to
do? Climbing out of the car the man began to frantically pace up and down with
strides of hopelessness; he then looked up and saw a humongous clump of sand
that had been sifted from a gold mine shaft and with his gaze locked onto it he
called out to it, “KILL ME”! He had finally understood that he was “condemned
already” and there was nothing he could do to save himself or his family nor
his newborn grandson. It was a hopeless situation!
“CONDEMNED
ALREADY” was and is the state of mankind and will remain their lot in life if
they do not respond to the only lifeline available…
Pay
very careful attention as it may just help you understand the magnitude of your
predicament and rescue you from it. The Apostle John a spokesperson on behalf
of God; the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob penned these words a long time ago;
“Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already,
because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” (John 3:18)
How
on earth did mankind arrive here? Here was a man who had now understood his
fate, he was in total despair, crying to a hill to fall on him and snuff the
life from him. And then it happen, God mercifully took pity on him and took him
back to the beginning to help him understand…
He
now stood in the midst of a beautiful garden surrounded by absolute
tranquillity, a vast contrast to his previous vision, perfection personified with
harmonic melody from all its wildlife wafting on the back of a gentle breeze bringing
great comfort to him and those in the garden. “Is this how it all started” he
thought? He knew it to be true. At first he grappled with the contrasting
visions and if this is how it began why does it end with such destruction? Walking
through paradise he passed a lion lying down next to a lamb, they seemed
extremely content with their surrounding and there was no aggression evident.
His stride then came to an abrupt halt and he saw a woman conversing with a
serpent, a creature that he was unfamiliar with, it looked like a snake but it
stood upright on its legs, it hissed with a choral lyric to its voice, he could
now hear what was being said, “Did God actually say?” the serpent whispered. And then it dawned on him what was about to
happen. “Stop he shouted, get away from him”! But she was oblivious to his
cries and continued to peer deeper into his trickery unaware of the deception
that was about to take place. If only she knew what she was actually doing, dooming
my new born grandson to an eternity of total hopelessness, “wake up you foolish
woman”, he shouted even louder this time, but to no avail, the lure had worked
and she was now lapping up every word. Satan had ensnared her and there was no
escape, he had won and defied God! That day he won a fight but he will never
win the battle, praise God!
Mr
Harry Casual (the man) finally understood that it was because of this event
that all of mankind have been doomed. Our great grandmother to the power of
who knows the actual number, God Knows, I most certainly don’t! It was all her
doing! But what of our great grandfather, he wasn’t deceived and yet he
followed in the sin of his wife. As selfish as his decision may well have been
the reality of it all is the pair of them doomed all of mankind to fall under
Gods condemnation. Happy-go-lucky (the man) then saw God commission two
cherubim’s, angels like creature with flaming swords commanding them to guard
the tree of life, forbidding sinful intent to eat from it. Death had now been
their sentence, their foolishness had eternal consequences and their eternity
with God had been snatched from them; resulting in God banishing them form
paradise as they knew it. The penalties were dismal! For the first time they
saw thorns sprout out amongst the flower reminding them of their folly.
As
he stood at the foot of that mound of that Sand Hill just off the highway the
man having seen the end and the beginning of time finally understood why all of
mankind had been doomed. The prize of God’s creation, mankind had rejected Him
and yielded to the voice of another created being, the serpent that is the
devil. It finally made sense! The sin of one man had blinded all to the
realities of life and the bigger picture with the warriors of hell keeping us all
from the truth. Driving us to be engulfed with daily activities and giving very
little thought to the hereafter! Sending us into a spiral filled with our own
opinions and with zero recognition for the creator of the heavens and the
earth. Flip, dissect, analyse, or do what you want with the reality of the
truth and we must all eventually arrive at the same conclusion; we all justly
deserve what is coming, JUDGEMENT! Some will still cry, “That is unfair”, but
it is what it is! He knew it to be true for God had shown it to him!
It
was then that the man contemplated running into the oncoming traffic, for what
else was a man to do? But before he could actioned that thought a voice from
heaven shouted, “STOP!” God then took him into a time of Roman rule and he saw
a man crucified to a cross with the onlookers jeering at him, “if you are God
save yourself” they mocked; whilst others curse insults at him and spat upon
him. It was here that the love of God became apparent to Mr Potentially Hopeful
(the man); God’s love had compelled Him to provide a lifeline for mankind; "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) – A love inconceivable to our characters and yet
God punished His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Lord was disciplined on
behalf of sinners, WOW! In other words Mr Thankful (the man) finally understood
that although he was the sinner, someone who was without sin had paid the price
for his sin. His mind now flashed to all the other religions of the world and
the little he knew of them helped him finally understand that they could not
help him as God hates sin and will deal with it and no one will escape His
judgement. If we are tried for our sin and found guilty of breaching even one
of the smallest of God laws we will face His punishment. Hell will be our
eternal destination.
Why do we need to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ? Because he alone paid the penalty for sinners and forgives all who
repent of their sin and believe on His finished work; He paid the fine and that
now frees us of our sin. The fine has been paid and it has satisfied God.
“Jesus in my Place”! But never forget that Jesus Christ the Lord spilt his own
blood so that we could go free and escape the looming devastation that awaits
the devil and his angels.
Therefore
reject the offer on hand and you will end up in that devastating place it is as
simple as that. This is the end for those who reject God’s free grace offer, please pay very careful
attention to it and do not be swayed by the foolish opinions that
those professing to be wise present with no factual evidence. Some say that we
are part of the cycle of evolution and that our genealogy started with the
ape-man; think it through it, use your God given brain, if that be true, why
have we not found millions if not billions of those fossils? The answer is
obvious, it is a LIE! Here is the end of the story for those who reject this
glorious God given offer; “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was
seated on it. From his presence earth and sky fled away, and no place was found
for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and
books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged by what
was written in the books, according to what they had done. And the sea
gave up the dead who were in it, Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in
them, and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done. Then
Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death,
the lake of fire. And if
anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the
lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:11-15) –
Therefore it is clear that there is a book with registered names in it known as
the “book of life” and the only way any individual can avoid the upcoming fate
is if their name is recorded in it and the only way for this to happen is by
repenting and accepting the Lord Jesus’ sacrifice on behalf of your sin. It is
as simple as that!
What
will you do with the mercy that God has offered you?
“For
"everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13)
I
beg you call upon Him and repent…
Signing off
Tyrone
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