Man Is Not To Change What God Says

Man does not have the authority to change the will of God on any subject.  There are a lot of false teachings that are being passed off as the truth.  We have been given severe warnings in the Bible concerning any changes we try to make to God’s word.  As we have already seen in Galatians 1:6-9, if we pervert the gospel by changing it, we will be accursed.

     Another such warning comes in the closing verses of the Bible.  Revelation 22:18-19 says, “For I testify unto everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; And if anyone takes away from the words of this book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, and from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”  Additions, subtractions, and substitutions to what God has commanded is disobedient and sinful.  We have a standard today, and we are warned not to add to or take away from it.  These are very stern warnings that should get our undivided attention.

     How much stronger warnings could God give to those who try to make changes to His will when they change immersion into sprinkling, or to change the necessity of baptism for one to receive forgiveness of sins and be saved to their saying that baptism is not necessary for salvation.  God has said plainly that it is necessary.  We do not have the right to dismiss what we do not like.  I cannot think of a more flagrant crime against both God and man than to teach lost sinners, who are wanting to be saved, something different than what God says in the Bible.  To make an impression on them that they are already saved, when God has not promised it, is grievously wrong.

     They also say one’s sins are forgiven and one is saved when he accepts Christ as his personal savior.  They say he can then be baptized later if he wants to in order to join that particular denomination; but as we have already seen, this contradicts what God has said and will cause many people to be lost eternally.  Since many people will not accept what God says, notice what 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12 says, “Because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth.”  Do you have enough love for the genuine truth of God’s word that you will obey it instead of the counterfeit doctrines of men?  If you do not then God has promised to send you a strong delusion that you should believe a lie and be damned.  The false doctrines of men will cause many good people to be eternally lost.  There is nothing worse than causing a person to pass from this life with the false hope of going to Heaven.  Anything that differs from what God says in the Bible is false doctrine which is designed by Satan to cause people to be eternally lost in Hell.

     If you were baptized for some reason other than for forgiveness of sins in order to be saved then you do not have salvation and you are still lost.  Who are you going to follow: God or man?  As our Lord warns us in Matthew 15:14, “And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”  Don’t allow someone, who has added to and taken away from God’s word, to lead you.  Open your eyes and read God’s word for yourself.  Those who have added to and taken away from God’s word will be lost.  If you continue to follow them, then you too will be lost.

What You Need to Do

     In Acts 19:1-5 we have an example of twelve men the apostle Paul met at Ephesus.  They had something wrong with their baptism.  In verses 3-5 we read, “And he said to them, into what then were you baptized?  So they said, into John’s baptism.  Then Paul said, John indeed baptized with a baptism of repentance, saying to the people, that they should believe on Him who would come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus.  When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.”  These twelve men had been taught wrong and thus they could not have been baptized right.  When they found out there was something wrong with their baptism, they made it right. They were then baptized for the right purpose.

     Is there something wrong with your baptism?  You may say no, but if there is, we cannot fool God.  He knows for sure and you will suffer the eternal consequences.  It will be a sad day when you stand before the Lord on the Day of Judgment if you find out there is something wrong with your baptism.  Have you been baptized for the right purpose and in the right way?  Baptism, that is done according to scripture, for the right reason and purpose, is such an easy thing to do.  It is not difficult, at all, to make sure it is done right.

 

Tune in to Him

 

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

(John 10:27, NIV)

TODAY’S WORD from Akuzike Thawe

Right now, there are hundreds of radio frequencies in the air, hundreds of television signals all around you. But, you don’t hear them all. The reason is that you’re not tuned in. If you tune a radio or television to one of those frequencies, then you would pick up the signal. In the same way, God is constantly transmitting to us. He wants to lead us, guide us, protect us and give us insight. But too often, we’re not tuned to His frequency. You have to pay attention to Him and learn His voice. God doesn’t speak to us most of the time out loud. He speaks to us through subtle things. He leads us by peace inside. The best way to “tune in to His frequency” is by reading and meditating on His Word. The more know His Word, the more you know His voice. It’s like when you constantly tune in to a radio station and learn that DJ’s voice, you’ll recognize that voice when you are in a restaurant or at the mall. It’s the same idea. Tune in to God’s Word, tune in to Him and let Him lead you and guide you into victory all the days of your life!

A PRAYER FOR TODAY

Father, thank You for leading me and guiding me in Your truth. I choose to tune in to You, I choose to tune in to Your Word. Help me to hear Your voice so that I can follow Your leading all the days of my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

HOW TO PRAY AND GET YOUR PRAYERS ANSWERED

We all want our prayers answered. But few of us really know how God intends for us to pray. Many of us pray and hope for answers. But God meant for us to pray and get answers. To do this we must know the type of prayer to use in any given situation. We must also know the proper procedure to use. Then we can be assured that our prayers will be answered. 

Jesus instructed us on how to pray. Have we studied the word? Are we confident in coming to the Lord in prayer? Not all prayers can be prayed the same way. There are different rules for different prayers. Like football and baseball. Both are games. But if you mix the rules the games will not work. So we are going to go through the different types of prayer that I have found in the Bible. I have found six. There may be more. But we will learn about these six. They are the most important and the ones most of us use. 

There is a key to getting to God and having prayers answered. 

Jesus gives us the answer. John 16:23 In that day you will no longer ask me anything. I tell you the truth, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. In that day … Jesus was not talking about the day the disciples were together with Him. That day is a future day. A day when He would no longer be with them. A day that was to come, when He would be with the Father. We are living in that day. So this is the way that we should pray. In Jesus name. You see the disciples never prayed while Jesus was with them. If a storm came at sea or people needed to be fed or they needed money to pay the tax with, they just came to Jesus. He calmed the storm or took two fish and fed thousands or told them to catch the first fish and it would have a gold coin in his mouth. They did not need to pray to God. They were living with God. Also notice that Jesus said, “to ask.” What do we do when we ask? We speak. Jesus also speaks of this in Luke 11:2 Jesus said, “When you pray say …” Jesus did not say to think it or to write a letter. He said, to speak. So we must ask for what we want audibly. 

Jesus also told us a condition that we must meet to have our prayers answered. 

Mark 11:24, Jesus says, “When you pray, believe that you receive … and you shall have …” Jesus is asking you to believe in something that you do not have yet. How do we do that? With faith … Hebrews 11:1. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. You see what God wants is for you to believe in Him and His word. This shows God that we believe in Him and trust Him. 2 Cor. 5:7 For we walk by faith not by sight.

How long will it take for the prayer to be answered? 

The speed will be in direct proportion to your faith. Jesus gives us the answer in Matt. 8:13. Jesus told the Centurion “Go your way and as you believed, (or as of your faith) so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour. So you need to constantly build your faith. Romans 10:17 And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 

How do we know that God is listening to us? 

1 John 5:14-15 This is the assurance we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us, whatever we ask, we know we have what we ask of Him. It is that simple. We read the Bible and find if what we are asking is the will of God. We mix that with our faith, ask and we are answered. 

So let us now look at the different types of prayer 
and how God meant for them to operate. 

1) Prayer of Agreement 
Matt. 1819 Jesus said, “Again I tell you that if two of you on earth agree on anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in Heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” 
Jesus is telling you that if you join with another, in agreement, He will be with you. If Jesus is with us, that means that He is agreeing also. So in effect He is also praying with you. This is a very strong prayer. Notice that it says you. It must be something that you all are in agreement on. If you are praying for a third party (Interceding for them) they must be in agreement with you. A prayer can never over ride another’s will. God gave us free will and He will never violate it. 

2) Prayer of Faith (Also called the prayer of Partition) 
This prayer is just between you and God. We will go over again what we said above. Because I want to get this burned into your spirit. This is Jesusâ rules and if you want your prayers answered you must follow them. John 16:23 In Jesus name. And also do not forget to verbaly ask. Luke 11:2 You must use your faith. Mark 11:24, Jesus says, “When you pray, believe that you receive … and you shall have …” To pray it again would mean you did not believe God gave you what you asked for … If you do not believe that God has given it to you … you will not get your prayer answered. You may not have received it yet physically, but in the spirit, if you have faith, you have. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hope for, the evidence of things not seen. First comes faith, we have to believe God gave us this gift, if we do then the substance or gift will follow. Your senses will make you doubt. But don’t confess these doubts. You will receive. The word of God says I have my gift … So I’m standing on the word! God will bring it into the natural … 

The best way to prove this is to read Luke 17: 11-19. Jesus told the lepers to go and show themselves to the priest. They could have said, “are you crazy, that’s a long walk and look at me, I’ve got leprosy all over me.” But they didn’t, they did what they were told. They had faith in Jesus, and started walking toward the priest, (they walked by faith not by sight 2 Cor. 5:7) and as they walked, they were healed. One came back to say thanks. Jesus said, “Your faith has made you whole.” First we have to have faith and trust Gods word. Then God brings the evidence of things hoped for into our life. Simply if we do not trust God’s word, He is not going to answer our prayers. 

3) Prayer of Consecration & Dedication 
Jesus is praying to the Father. Luke 22:42 Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will but your will be done. Jesus did not want to go to the cross. But He would honor the Father’s will as to what He should do. 

You never pray if it be your will when you know the will of God. This will nullify your prayer. People do it thinking that they are being submissive. They are being stupid and do not know what God’s will is. Right off they are telling God that they do not have faith in His promises that He made to them. They are saying, that they may or may not come true. If it does not come true, then it was not God’s will. I can tell you now it will not be answered. Because they are not acting in faith. 

So you only pray if it be your will. When you do not know the will of God. Here is an example: A minister knows that he is called of God. But he does not know where God wants him to go. He can pray where ever you want me, I will go. I will go to China or anywhere. Not my will, but your will be done. 

4) Prayer of Praise and Worship 
Luke 2:20 The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all that they had seen. They had seen the baby Jesus. 

Here you are not asking for anything, you are just telling God that you love Him and thank Him for all He has done. Of course you use faith. Because without faith, how do you know there even is a God or that He heard you? 

5) The Prayer of Intercession. 
A) In the natural praying for others. Here are two examples: 1) Jesus uses this to tell the disciples how to pray to help others. Matt. 9:37-38 Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest therefore, to send out workers into His field.” Jesus, is asking God for more help so that He might save more people. So He is interceding for the unsaved. So that they may be saved. 2) Also when Peter was put into prison. Acts 12:5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the Church was earnestly praying to God for him. We later find that God sent an Angel to set him free. 

B) In your spirit with the Holy Spirit. This is the highest level of intercession. Here we join forces with God to intercede for ourselves or others. This can only be done if you are filled with the Spirit and speak in tongues. Romans 8:26-27 The Spirit helps us in our weakness, we do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He searches our hearts, knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. 

Here is where our real power comes from. The Holy Spirit which knows the mind of Christ, knows what is happening to us and to other saints. So when we are praying in the Spirit we are many times praying intercession prayers for ourselves or for other Christians, maybe in another part of the world that need God to intervene for them. So a saint that is filled with the Spirit goes through life much easier than one who has not been filled with the Spirit. Because God is running interference for us and solving problems before we even get to them. 

If you are filled with the Spirit many times you will feel like you must pray. Right now! You have to stop and pray in the Spirit. You do not know why. But the Holy Spirit does. It could be that a missionary is being attacked in Africa, and Jesus needs someone to intercede for him. Here you are being used to the fullest in the body of Christ. 

The Holy Spirit has the full authority to pray in this manner as you have invited Jesus into your heart and received the Holy Spirit as part of yourself. 1 Cor. 6:17 He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit. So He is free to jointly pray with our spirit to enable God’s work to be done here on earth. Thank you Jesus! 

6) The Prayer of Binding and Loosening. 
Matt. 18:18 I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven. Here Jesus is telling us that whatever we as Christians do in His name here on earth, it will be carried through by the Father in Heaven. 2 Cor. 1:20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through Him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. 

Praise God! And Thank Him for His son, Jesus! 

*His Spirit, helps us and guides us. Romans 8:26 *Combined with the promises of God, make us more than conquerors. Romans 8:37 *We as Christians have been given the power of Jesus to be His Body here on earth. 1 Cor. 12:27 & Eph. 1:22-23 *We may cast out Demons. Lay hands on the sick to be healed. We may use His name and His authority. Mark 16:17 & Luke 10:19 *He has not left us alone. No, He has joined with us as one Spirit. 1 Cor. 6:17 *We may go in confidence knowing that we are sons and daughters of God. 1 John 3:2 *And that we can always come to Him in prayer and be heard. 1 John 5:14-16 
**Thank you Jesus!*

CHRIST HAS PAID OUR PENALTY

We have all sinned, and the penalty had to be paid in order for God to be just. Christ has paid that penalty. Romans 5:6-10 says, “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life”. It is such wonderful love for God and Christ to have paid our penalty. 

Also, we read in I Peter 3:18, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.” Yes, Christ is the just, who had to die for us the unjust, so that it would be possible for us to be brought back to God. He was the righteous dying for us the wicked. “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He was the innocent taking the punishment for us the guilty. He accomplished for us what we could never accomplish for ourselves. He paid the debt for us that we could not pay. If man had not been guilty of sin, there would have been no need for Christ to have died on the cross. All accountable people are guilty of sin. But with Christ dying on the cross, God has a way to forgive man and still preserve His own justice and righteousness. Because of the death and suffering of Christ for us, God can now be just in saving us. If our goodness could save us then it would not have been necessary for Christ to come into this world and die for our sins. 

The only way that man can be saved is through Christ. There is no other way. John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: No one comes to the Father except through Me.” The only way we can get to God is through Christ. We also read in Acts 4:12, “Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” We cannot be saved by relying on Mohammed, Buddha, Judaism, Hindu gods, denominationalism, or any other false religion. Neither can we devise our own system of “Christianity” as is being done today and expect it to save us. Only Jesus Christ can specify the conditions for our salvation, because He paid our price and is our only Saviour. 

Christ went through much suffering for our sins. It is beyond our imagination what He endured. Christ came to this earth for the purpose of dying for our sins. There are many Old Testament prophesies that foretell the inevitable death of Christ. For example 700 years before it happened we read in Isaiah 53:5-6, “But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed….and the Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Christ’s death was no accident, because this was in God’s eternal plan to redeem man. 

Christ in his omniscience, fully knew what was soon going to happen. In Matthew 20:17-19 we read, “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again”. Christ went there willingly to die for us. 

Christ was both divine and human. The human part of Christ dreaded his death on the cross as much as we would if we were on death row. He fully knew what was going to happen. When Christ was in the garden of Gethsemane with His apostles the night before His crucifixion, we read in Luke 22:41-44, “And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and knelt down, and prayed, saying, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done. Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground”. Yes, Christ was dreading the horrible death that He was about to endure for you and for me. 

Also, we read in I Peter 2:24, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed.” Jesus has personally paid the price for our sins, so that we can be made righteous before God. When a person is made righteous, by obeying God’s plan to save man, God will then save him. 

The human side of Christ knows how we feel. He had the same feelings, the same sorrows, the same fears, and He experienced pain just like we do. He fully knows what it is to live a human life. On the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to point a finger at Christ and say, “You just don’t know what it is to live as a human.” Yes He does. The dread, the fear, the sorrow, the mocking, the humiliation, the spitting, the pain of scourging, and the crucifixion were all dreaded by our Lord. It hurt Him as much as it would us. Jesus did not deserve such treatment, but He endured it for our sakes, taking our punishment, in order that God could be just in saving us. He was the innocent dying for us, the guilty. 

Crucifixion on a cross is the cruelest form of torture that has ever been devised by man. There is nothing worse. Our Lord hung there in pain and agony for six long hours in a slow death, enduring punishment, so that God could be just in saving us. What wonderful love beyond description that God and Christ have for us. Do we have the same love for Them which is shown by our obedience to Their word?

Confessing Christ

Jesus wants us to confess Him before men. In Matthew 10:32-33 He says, “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in Heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in Heaven.” If we deny Christ we are going to be lost. We must not be ashamed to confess to other people that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus says in Mark 8:38, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when he comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.” If He is ashamed of us, this means we are going to be lost. 

There are several examples of people confessing their faith in Christ in the Bible. One is found in Matthew 16:16-17, “Simon Peter answered and said, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God Jesus answered and said to him, ‘Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in Heaven.'” Christ was well pleased with Peter’s confession and He will be with ours also. 

In Acts 8:36-37 a man asked the question, “‘See here is water. What hinders me from being baptized?’ Then Philip said, ‘If you believe with all your heart you may’. And he answered and said, ‘I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.'” Here we see we must believe with all our heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and not be ashamed to make that confession to others before we are baptized. Would you be willing to confess to others that you believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God?

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE: SPEAK LIFE!

Death and life are in the power of the Tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof ,Proverb 18:21. When u speak Gods word over any situation, there is a change in the realm of the Spirit ; the word produces what it talk about , if its for healing , prosperity,finances or grace,those words will produce after their kind. So keep the word of life on your lips at all times;remember,death and life are in the power of the tongue. You got a sound cord n as you speak forth Gods word you create ur life the way you want, so refuse to be defeated or threatened by the devil. God has given us power and Dominion over all things, 1John 4:17 as He (JESUS) is, so are we in this world . Refuse to be poor,sick,broke or defeated in Jesus Name. 1John 4:4 says Ye u re of God,little children,and hv overcome them:because greater is JESUS that is in you, than Satan that is in the world. YOU HAIL FROM GOD; ur origin is in God; there4 u re not ordinary anymore, u re supernatural and extra ordinary in Christ Jesus and you are in the same class with Him. You are from above and all things are under ur feet in the name of Jesus Christ. This is ur year of Greatness and dream big because u serve the bigger God.

DOING GOD’S WILL

 

The Bible must be our only authority in religion if we want to please God and go to Heaven. People must give up all the various false doctrines that propagate the many different kinds of denominations and go back to only the Bible. There were no denominations in the New Testament times and there would be none today if only the Bible was taught and practiced. There would only be the Lord’s one true church, the church of Christ. 

How then do we make sure that we are among the few who are saved and not among the many who are lost? Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness”. If you believe and call Jesus, “Lord, Lord”, you are still lost if you have not done what God says. If we are not obeying God, we are practicing lawlessness. If we ever hope to go to heaven, we must do the will of the Father. This is the only way. Not the will of men, but God’s will. Not our own will, but God’s will. Just because we call Jesus our Lord, this will not save us. 

We cannot go to Heaven by just calling Jesus, “Lord, Lord”. Jesus says in the above scripture, on the Day of Judgment, many will be pleading with him, calling him Lord, Lord, and reminding him of the many wonderful works they had done in His name, but He will say unto them, “I never knew you, depart from Me you who practice lawlessness”. Why? Why? Because they had not done the will of the Father in heaven. Oh, they thought they had, but they hadn’t. They had done their own will or the will of men in their many differing denominations. This will be the worst thing that will ever be said to an individual, when the Lord on Judgment Day says to the majority of people, “I never knew you; depart from Me”. The majority of people will be told this and be punished forever in Hell. There will be no appeal to this decision. There will be no second chance. We have to get it right the first time. 

These people in the above scripture seemed to be honest, but they were honestly mistaken as the majority of people are today. The people seemed to be sincere. There will be many surprised but lost people on the Day of Judgment who thought that it doesn’t really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. To believe this is to believe a lie of Satan. If it doesn’t matter what you believe, then it doesn’t matter if you believe at all. Apparently many were good people, because they had “done many wonderful works”. But they had not done the will of the Father who is in heaven. Man generally wants to do things his way and he doesn’t really care what God thinks. We cannot obey God without doing what God says to do, when God says to do it, how God says to do it, and for the reason God says to do it. Nothing is more important than pleasing God by doing His will so that we can go to Heaven. 

We learn from the above scripture, that we don’t go to Heaven by doing the will of men, or by doing what we think is right. The only way we can go to Heaven is by doing the will of the Father, and that will is found right in our Bibles. Do we really know what the will of the Father is so that we can be sure of going to Heaven? This is too important a matter to assume we do know or to take someone else’s word for it. One must know what the will of God is before he can obey it. Do you really know what the Bible says that God wants us to do in order to be saved? 

What must I do to be saved? This is a very important question. Many people would answer this question in many different ways. The many different denominations give many different and conflicting answers. Only God’s way is correct. The Bible is the only reliable source we can go to for our answer, since it is our soul that will be lost if we follow man’s advice. Our obedience to Christ is a very serious decision and must not be taken lightly. It must be on the Lord’s terms as laid out in the scriptures and not on our terms. 

We have already seen in Matthew 7:13-14, 21, only few will be saved, and many will be lost, and only those who do the will of the Father can go to Heaven. We read in 1 John 2:4, “He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” “A liar” is pretty strong language. A person is lying to himself and everyone else who says he knows and loves God, but does not keep God’s commandments. We know that a liar cannot go to Heaven (Revelation 21:8). 

We must do all of God’s will, so that we can go to Heaven. There is no other way. We must do all of what God has commanded us. Our Lord says in Matthew 28:20, “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” We must do all things God has commanded us. We cannot pick and choose and take a verse out of context but we must take all of what the Bible says. We cannot be pleasing to God by dreaming up our own plan of salvation as to how God is going to save us. We must follow His plan and only His plan if we expect Him to save us. Our salvation in Heaven is too great to lose, because if we don’t go to Heaven we will spend forever and ever in a burning Hell. Many people don’t really believe this, but they all will one day. 

No single condition, that God imposes, can be ignored. God has no non-essential commands. When we don’t obey a command of God, we have just broken it. Many people think that God will save them, no matter if they follow God’s specific instructions on what they must do to be saved or not. We must obey God by doing what God says to do, when God says to do it, how God says to do it, and for the reason God says to do it. What then is God’s will, so that we can go to Heaven and not have to endure eternal punishment forever and ever?

GOD’S WARNING

Christ, who is all knowing, tells us that many people are going to be lost, but only few are going to be saved. In Matthew 7:13-14 He says, “Enter by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”. Now this gets my attention. According to the Bible the majority of people will be lost. Sadly the majority of people still walk the wide road of sin into eternal damnation. We must take this warning from God at face value. The Lord says only a few people will be saved. 

How few can few be? In 1 Peter 3:20 (KJV) we read, “When once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water.” The conservative estimate of the number of people on the face of the earth in the days of Noah is two hundred million (200,000,000) people. But only eight (8) out of the estimated two hundred million (200,000,000) were saved. Not very good odds. Even though the Bible says in 2 Peter 3:9 that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish”. Jesus says in Matthew 7:13-14 concerning eternal life in Heaven that “there are few who find it”. The vast majority of people will spend forever and ever in the eternal fires of Hell that will never be extinguished. Why? The vast majority of people are not really interested in going to Heaven, but you are or you wouldn’t be studying this course concerning your eternal salvation. 

There are only two roads to eternity and we are on either one or the other. According to what the Lord says, only few will make it to Heaven, but the vast majority will be lost in eternal punishment. This is both frightening and sad. I don’t consider myself selfish, but I certainly want to be among the few who are saved, don’t you? We make the choice ourselves as to where we will spend eternity. We are free moral agents. This is how we differ from the animals. We have been made in the image of God. Genesis 1:26 says, “Then God said let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”. Also in Genesis 2:7 we read, “And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul”. Yes, we posses a soul that will live forever and ever in either Heaven or Hell. 

God does not want anyone to be lost, but the choice is ours. In 2 Peter 3:9 we read, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance”. God does not want us to go into eternal punishment. He is not going to force us to serve Him; otherwise we would be mere robots. 1 Timothy 2:4 says concerning God, “Who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth”. It is God’s will that all be saved, but we know that is not going to happen. We have already seen that only few are going to be saved in Heaven and the majority are going to be lost forever in Hell. 

Also, as the verse says, before we can be saved, we must “come to the knowledge of the truth.” Jesus says in John 8:32, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” What is the truth that will make us free? In John 17:17 Jesus says, “Sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth.” So only the instructions contained in the word of God is the truth that will make us free so that we can go to heaven. 

What is your eternal destiny? If you miss Heaven, you will be thrown into the eternal fires of Hell. One of the saddest things about going to Hell is the fact that it could have been avoided. The majority of people will be lost in spite of what the Lord has done. A person who goes to Hell is his own worst enemy. Hell is not what God does to us, but Hell is what we do to ourselves. If one ends up in Hell, he only has himself to blame.

JUDGEMENT DAY IS COMING

There is a day coming in which we will all stand in judgment before the Lord. “And as it is appointed for men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). We have two appointments, which we will definitely keep: death and judgment. These cannot be cancelled. When we draw our last breath our eternal destiny is sealed. We don’t know when we will die. We might drop dead of a heart attack or stroke in the next few minutes or be killed in a car wreck today. Life is uncertain. Judgment day is certain. There is no way to escape it. All of us will be there for this final appointment. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done in the body, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11). No one will be excluded from the Judgment. Every person, who has ever lived, that is now living, and who will ever live, will stand before the Lord and be judged. 

We do not know when Judgment Day will come. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness” (2 Peter 3:10-11). We must be very serious about the Judgment. When God decides to end time, “the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9). “For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written ‘As I live says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God’. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10-12). 

What will the judgment be like? “Then I saw a great white throne, and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things written in the books…And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire…The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and false prophet are. And they shall be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:11-12, 15, 10). Being cast into the lake of fire with the devil is not very good company to be with forever and ever. Is your name in the Book of Life? Are you sure? Your eternal destiny of either Heaven or Hell will be determined by whether it is there or not. 

The Lord is omniscient. He knows all things. “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account” (Hebrews 4:13). The Lord will make no mistakes in the Judgment. “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil” (Ecclesiastes 12:14). We can have no secrets from God. He knows everything about each one of us. 

There will be only a few people saved, but the vast majority will be condemned to the everlasting fires of Hell. Our Lord tells us to “Enter the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). At the Judgment there will be two groups of people, the vast majority who are lost and the few who are saved. In which group will you be? 

In the Judgment it will be determined where we will be spending eternity, whether in Heaven or Hell. Concerning Judgment Day Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then I will declare to them, I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness” (Matthew 7:21-23). Many will be shocked and terrified to learn that their sincerity, good works, and prayers will be to no avail if they have left out the essential component of obedience to God’s will. It is very wise to obey the will of God and only the will of God. No human creed written by men or convention of men will do us any good, but will only cause one to be eternally lost in Hell. God will not accept any of our excuses. Being religious is not enough, doing good works is not enough. We must submit to the obedience of God’s will, and not our will, or else we will hear the Lord say, “I never knew you, depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23). The Lord’s judgment will be final. There will be no appeal. 

God will not accept anyone who is a member of any of the many denominational churches established by men. Jesus says, “Every plant which my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted” (Matthew 15:13). Jesus has only promised to save His one church (Ephesians 5:23), the only one He purchased with His own blood (Acts 20:28). All the foolish and false doctrines that men have devised in “handling the word of God deceitfully” (2 Corinthians 4:2) will cause billions of people to be lost forever in the burning fires of Hell. The only standard of our judgment will be God’s word as found in the Bible. Jesus says, “the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). 

There will only be two verdicts: either 1) “I never knew you, depart from Me”…”you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 7:23, 25:41), or 2) “Well done, good and faithful servant…enter into the joy of your Lord” (Matthew 25:21). Our number one priority in this life is that we must be prepared to meet the Lord in judgment. If we miss Heaven and end up in Hell we can only blame ourselves. We chose to be there. There will not be a second chance. We have got to get it right the first time. The only thing that matters in this life is obtaining a home in Heaven; nothing else is as important. “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12)

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