Only Jesus gives you a Future

 When we watch TV, what do we see? When we walk down the street in the city, what do we see?

What do we see in the office, in the hospital, in schools?

People, people, people.

And what is the future of these people?

Millions die every day.

There are countless corpses and the souls disappear, but where do they go?
Communists and atheists do not believe in any supernatural reality, but in reality many are involved in occultism.

Hindus and Buddhists believe they will always come back, but when this planet perishes, they will finally find no place to live. Will this earth last forever?

The insecurity of Muslims is pitiful. If their virtue does not outweigh their sins, they believe they will have to suffer in the eternal flames of hell. They live in constant fear. Who can confidently claim that their virtue is enough to please God.

But there is a good God who loves you infinitely. He has told us in the Bible that He wants to totally forgive all our sins.

But how can a holy and just God let our sins go unpunished? Our sin has poisoned this planet. It cannot go on like this.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NASB95

God has planned a good future for you, but he will not force you to go his way. But if you are fed up with your present life and want to experience God's love, Jesus is ready to be your companion and guide.

Jesus died on the cross to take your punishment for your sins, but he did not stay dead.

Jesus is waiting for your call for help.

‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’ Jer 33:3 NIV

“Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Mt 11:28 NASB95

Mercy and Judgement

 A man took two dogs for a walk. When both dogs were disobedient, he chastised both dogs. He gave one dog a pretty hard punch on the nose, but he only scolded the other dog in a sharp voice.

A passer-by asked him why he was being so unfair. Surely he should treat both dogs equally. The man with the dogs replied that he loved both dogs, but they had different temperaments.

There are some people who never take God seriously except to hear harsh talk about the flames of hell. There are others who respond humbly when they hear only a gentle message about God's love and holiness.

There are those who have been deeply hurt by bullying from the pulpit. Even though they sometimes need to hear about God's holiness, they cannot endure harsh speech without feeling intimidated by the preacher or by God Himself.

There are Christians who need to hear harsh sermons often, and others who need God's gentle reassurance again and again.

There are Christians who have been so hurt by many harsh sermons that they overreact until they no longer want to endure the clear biblical texts about God's judgement.

Whoever believes and is baptised will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mk 16:16 NIV

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Jn 3:18 NIV

They imagine that everyone will end up in God's heaven at some point.

How would the believing Jews feel if they were to face Hitler in heaven one day? How could God be considered just in this case?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. Jn 3:16–18 NIV

God loves us all, without exception and without conditions. We can never earn God's love, but we can accept or reject his grace and forgiveness.

If preachers abuse children, should they be fired?

 In God's heaven there is no sin, no anger, no unkindness, no little lies.
If you are a little sarcastic with your wife, God must forgive you before you are allowed to go to heaven.

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Heb 12:14 NIV

All of us, without exception, are unholy by nature. Those who are sometimes a little lazy need God's forgiveness.
Those who are sometimes unloving or sarcastic need God's forgiveness.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

Jesus was cruelly executed to take our guilt upon himself so that God would not punish us for our sins.

But we must humbly receive God's free gift. God's forgiveness is free and complete, but not unconditional.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Jn 3:16 NIV

We must believe, but that means much more than religious mental assent.

Jesus preached that we must repent and be ready to live a new life with God.

“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mk 1:15 NIV

Faith means trusting God. If you believe in a good doctor, you take the prescribed medicine.

Those who believe in Jesus try to obey Jesus.

But do we all become faultless after our conversion?

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 Jn 1:8–9 NIV

If a Christian acts a little unloving or speaks sarcastically to his family, he should confess his sin.

But if a Christian watches porn, will God forgive that too? Or if he abuses a child?

In the Bible, we see how God also forgives terrible sins, but repentance or conversion does not just mean a short prayer.

King David had a soldier killed and took his wife for himself. He had to confess his sin publicly. In Psalm 51 we see his deep remorse.

But if a preacher abuses a child, and he is minimising his sin, can he simply confess and continue preaching?

Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 1 Ti 3:2 NIV

Some claim that all sins are equal in God's eyes. But this is not the case.

If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.

All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death. 1 Jn 5:16–17 NIV

A significant issue within the Church regarding abuse is that its  theology often suggests that all sins are equal, which can lead to minimising abuse and offering "cheap grace" to perpetrators.(Boz Tschividjian... Christian lawyer.)

Paul preached grace and forgiveness of sins, but when a man in Corinth would not give up a sexual relationship with his stepmother, Paul wrote that he should be excommunicated.

Should preachers who abuse children be allowed to continue preaching? God wants to forgive all sins, but different sins have different consequences.

Judgement. A Dangerous Business

Discernment. Tread Carefully.

Some Christians are quick to judge. This is a dangerous business.

Many Christians are afraid of being taken in by falsehood, but in their zeal, they themselves may judge falsely.

Zealous but mistaken judgement may be just as dangerous as the influence of misguided ministry.

Paul was in his day a radical Charismatic. His critics were zealous for a more conservative interpretation of the Word of God. What did Paul write about them?

1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?— Gal 3:1-5

There is no such thing as new truth, because Jesus is “the way, the truth and the life.”

God’s truth is eternal and unchanging, but He has sent His Spirit to lead us into all truth.

The conservative bible believers in Paul’s day included Pharisees who rejected Jesus. However, there were also conservative bible believers who accepted Jesus but who rejected Paul’s revelation that we are not to live under the Law of Moses.

Paul’s radical teaching was attacked as heresy by sincere Bible believers who said it was new truth and therefore false truth, that is, falsehood.

When we see ministry today which goes outside of our mainstream evangelical understanding of the Bible, there are some who go to one extreme by abandoning their fundamental biblical foundation. 

A good example is the people who like getting drunk in the spirit and have become universalists. They say God is so sweet and lovely, that he could not possibly condemn anyone to eternal punishment.

There are others who react in the opposite way. If they see strange or unfamiliar behaviour or teaching, they immediately assume it is demonic.

Gullible acceptance of every dramatic experience is dangerous. It is dangerous to assume every dramatic manifestation is from God. However, it is also dangerous to assume it is from the enemy.

Judgement based on assumptions is not genuine discernment at all, even if you back up your assumptions with bible quotes.

Consider these Bible stories.

Hosea the prophet said God told him to marry a prostitute. This was surely a violation of biblical principles. God’s people in both the Old and New Testaments are called to separate themselves from intimate fellowship with sinners. If a preacher today did this, would he not be condemned by a chorus of zealous bible believers?

This is an extreme example which shows how dangerous it is to rush to judgement based on preconceived assumptions, even when supported by detailed bible knowledge.

If zealous heresy hunters today studied the life of King Solomon, would they accept his writings as divinely inspired? I am quite sure many would not. What about the sensuous Song of Songs? Was this inspired by the Holy Spirit or by Solomon’s well known extreme desire for women?

Of course, we accept it as Scripture because it is in the bible, but how many of us would have agreed to include it in the bible if we were assessing which texts should be accepted as the Word of God?

What about Samson?

Surely his supernatural feats were manifestations of witchcraft! He was a man of evil character, a man who freely indulged himself with prostitutes and dishonest idol worshipping women.

Didn’t Jesus say: “By their fruits you shall know them.” What fruits of righteousness can we see in the life of Samson?

But the bible tells us that his supernatural strength came from God and that throughout his life, Samson performed supernatural feats by the power of God.

How does that fit in with the mindset of some modern heresy hunters?

God and Climate Change

“Being compassionate means providing a fence at the top of the cliff, not just an ambulance at the bottom.” Fred Nile, Australian Christian politician.
 
I think Fred Nile is speaking about upholding God's ordained social order and moral law to protect us. If you believe in the Bible, it is hard to disagree. 

However, in the current crisis, we should apply this principle also to management of land and water resources. Massive amounts of water have been sacrificed to maximise export dollars, for example in coal mining. We need that water to produce food and fight fires.

Government priorities have been wrong in moral policy but also in land management policy. I avoid the word 'environment' because I am not a Green. We on the conservative Christian side need to do some serious rethinking.

The black and white climate debate obscures inescapable problems. 

Environmentalists focus on overuse of fossil fuels causing global warming. Conservatives say this is a pseudo-scientific hoax designed to undermine capitalism and bring in socialist world government.

But doesn’t the Bible predict environmental disasters in the last days?

And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. Luke 21:11 (NKJV)

If greenhouse gas levels are a problem, why is the focus almost exclusively on use of fossil fuels?

• What about the intensive use of agricultural chemicals?

• What about the progressive degradation of agricultural soils and the dramatic decline in the nutritional content of food produced by modern methods?

Why is there so little discussion of the worldwide decimation of bees and other insects? We need bees to pollinate the plants we must have to survive.

The use of glyphosate-based herbicides worldwide dominates farming in many countries but this chemical is toxic to bees.

• In California, intensive production of almonds is sustained by using these herbicides and also by orchardists hiring bee swarms from beekeepers. Untold millions of these bees are dying but the practice continues.

What about the systematic poisoning of marine life with plastic waste and other chemical pollutants? 

Our current industrial and agricultural systems are not sustainable.

Look at the Middle East, mostly desert. Why? God’s judgement on the enemies of God’s people?
 
Maybe so. But God has also blessed the Persians and Arabs with untold wealth from oil. I am not God. We need to understand that we don't understand so many things.

But what about unsustainable agricultural practices over many centuries? Hard to deny.

However, the Jews in Israel have reversed this process. This is undoubtedly due in part to the blessing of God sending more rain. 

However, the Jews have also pioneered drip feed irrigation and strategic tree planting and no doubt other wise land and water management practices. Why are we just admiring them and not learning from them? Is that biblical?

Perhaps the environmentalists are right. We may be on a one way road to destruction.

Why should Christian conservatives resist this narrative? Why should we be committed to the status quo?

Does Bible prophecy encourage this mind set? Does Bible prophecy encourage us to expect never ending economic growth through deregulated capitalism?
I don’t think so.

Bible prophecy tells us that Jesus will return and set up the Kingdom of God in a time of horror.
On the other hand, there are Christian spiritual leaders with apparently genuine prophetic credentials who say God has raised up President Trump.

Maybe this is true. But that does not make all his policies right.

This world is on the road to destruction, how quickly or how soon, we cannot tell. Bible prophecy clearly teaches this.

If we are on the road to destruction, environmentalism, however sensible, will not save us.

Does this mean we should do nothing to improve environmental management?

The positive example of Israel is a good answer to this question.

The Green lobby focuses on a global approach to climate change. However, innovative land management practices in Israel and parts of Africa have shown that rainfall and climate can be positively influenced at a local or regional level.

This approach does not seem to be central to the agenda of either the Right or the Left in Australia and many other countries.

What we often see instead is a polarised debate which is leading us nowhere.

Do you want to see with the eyes of God?

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." John 8:12 (NKJV)

• If we have the light of life, we can see clearly.
• If we know our bible but are not changed by the love of God, our knowledge is worthless.

Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8 (NIV)

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16 (NIV)

• If this love does not dominate our thinking, we are living in darkness.

Very few people are really blind. Most of us can see with our eyes but what do we see in our hearts? How do we understand what we see?

Three men looked at a prostitute.

• One man looked and desired her. He was looking for sexual excitement.
• A second man looked and saw a bad woman. She was evil and she was under God’s judgement.
• A third man looked and saw a woman who had suffered much. 

He thought of his own little daughter, his wife and his mother. He looked at the prostitute and wondered what suffering and confusion led her into this life. No little girl dreams of a future in prostitution. He saw a woman in need of real love and the mercy of God.

• Jesus of Nazareth thought like the third man and Jesus is the same today. 

• Sadly there are some Christians who think like the second man.

In the same chapter of John’s Gospel we read how religious men brought a woman to Jesus. 

They had caught her in the act of committing adultery. What kind of man would stalk a woman to catch her in the act? But these men thought God would approve of their zeal for morality.They challenged Jesus and demanded the death penalty for the woman.

Jesus was not happy. He loved justice but where was the man she had sinned with? 

• Why should he condemn the poor woman to death while the man went free and the accusers were rewarded for their cruelty and pride?
• Jesus was not only full of love but also full of wisdom. He had the perfect answer.

So when they continued asking Him, He … said to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." John 8:7 (NKJV)

The accusers all retreated in shame.

• If we live in the love of Jesus and let God lead and teach us, we can also think and react like Jesus.

John Dawson was the leader of Youth With a Mission in Los Angeles. 

Like Jesus he did not despise anyone but his heart was set on introducing everyone to the love and mercy of God.

He wanted to reach a man who owned a sex shop, so he made friends with him and met him for breakfast every Wednesday morning. 

• When Jesus did things like this, the religious people in Israel called Jesus a friend of sinners, and it was not meant as a compliment.

John Dawson explained the Good News of Salvation to the man and he understood the message completely but he was still not willing to put his life into the hands of Jesus. 

• Then John had an inspiration from God. He saw the man with the eyes of Jesus and he told the man how God saw him.

This man had the gift of mercy but he was not using it right. He was selling pornography, a kind of comfort but a false comfort. 

Jesus was offering to change him, so he could give true mercy and goodness to people in need. First he needed to receive mercy and forgiveness for himself.

The man changed his mind and asked Jesus to turn his life around.

• Are you ready to see people as God sees them?

• Are you ready to see even yourself through God’s loving eyes?

• God knows about your failures but he sees your potential.

• With Jesus we can even look at bad people with the eyes of love.

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Hebrews 4:15 (NIV) 

We have a wonderful High Priest. He cares for you so much. He thinks about you all the time.

• All his thoughts towards you are kind and loving. 

Your sins cannot stop Him loving you. When He died a terrible death on the cross, He paid the full penalty for all of your sins. 

• He offers you a complete pardon.

There was a man in the USA who was sentenced to death for armed robbery. The President offered him a full pardon but he refused to accept it. The case went to the Supreme Court and the decision was terrible. 

• The prisoner refused the pardon and he was executed.

To receive a pardon required admission of guilt. 

• We are personally responsible for our sins, for our selfishness, for our lapses into dishonesty, for our anger and the way we hurt other people. We are personally responsible for the bad choices we make in life and the way our choices affect other people. 

It is not so difficult to understand this but there is one great sin that we may not be aware of. 

• There is a God who made us. 

He made you and His deepest desire is to love you and for you to know and love Him in return. 

• When we live as if He does not exist, it breaks His heart. He wants to have you back, to love and care for you as His own son or daughter.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16-17 (NKJV) 

We know that our choices affect our destiny. 

The Buddhists and Hindus believe in Karma. What goes around, comes around.

The Bible teaches the same thing. You reap what you sow.

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)

God saw the whole human race digging terrible graves for themselves. 

• He saw them turning their backs on the only source of goodness and love, condemning themselves to frustration and disappointment in this life and everlasting sadness in the next life. 

God also saw people trying to find their way back to Him by trying to be good, by being religious, by fasting and going on pilgrimages, by meditation in search of peace, by worshipping many gods.

God is real and He is who He is. There is only one God and He is the one and only Father of Jesus Christ. 

• He has provided one way back to Himself. He offers you the only key that will unlock the door to Heaven. If you try using other keys, they will not work.

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6 (NKJV)

•  ... "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 

And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26 (NKJV) 

If you keep turning your back on God, there will come a time when God will let you reap what you have sown, eternity without love, without comfort, without peace and without goodness. 

All good things come from Him. 

• Right now you have the opportunity to recognise and accept the love of God. 

He wants to give you a new life, a new start, a full pardon, an eternity of blessing and goodness in loving friendship with Himself. 

Are you waiting for God to show Himself? He is waiting for you to come to Him.

• If you are confused or uncertain about God, ask Him to help you. He loves you and He wants to help you to find Him.