Life is not over yet
Mat 12:18 Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. Mat 12:19 He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. Mat 12:20 A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory.
Imagine a never ending life on earth that in spite of all its sorrow and difficulty, people still want to live in it forever as it is. They cling to this life as though the future of their lives depend on it. It is because they do not know what comes after death in most cases. Few prepare for it and the majority just go about their lives, greedily living this earthly life, taking what they can get. The majority of people just don’t know how to respond to this earthly life. Even those who have become Christians find it hard to adjust to an earthly life while trying to live a Godly life at the same time. It seems that there is no settling on this matter of life and death for many of them.
I am convinced that life was meant to be, for those of us who have been given life on this earth. It is not without purpose and reason even though babies who are born have no idea of what they are being born into. The cries of a baby and the tears of an adult bear no difference because of the lack of understanding of what life is all about till Jesus comes into the picture. Inventing life as we go along is a favourite way of living life for many and it has become the fashion to live life the way we see fit. Anything to do with God would be an abomination to most who consider themselves to be free thinkers.
Life can be made up by small groups of people or a majority or even by an individual to mean exactly what they want it to be, irrespective of what the truth is. A person’s reality can be self made based on a perceived reality that emanates from the senses and its needs. Society is based on a loose set of rules that changes from country to country and even segments of society. The rush to satisfy everyone’s needs is the way governments run their business but with hidden agendas of achieving their own ends. All this makes for a very difficult life on earth for many who do not know that this life on earth is the beginning of a greater and better life with God in a place called heaven. The alternative is not pleasant to say the least. It is clear for those who are Christians that hell is real and a place that no one should go to because once in, there is no way out.
So, as long as there is life in a person on this earth, there is hope for a person to come into eternal life through the acknowledging of Jesus as Lord and Saviour and by living a Godly life after that. If the pursuit is anything else in life, then one must consider the dangers of hell. If they choose to ignore it, then only their demise will reveal it to them. There are others who have died to this life (given up) through many sorrows. Their lives are at best a misery with nothing to look forward to. For them life is over. This attitude ranges from the very old and infirmed to the ones who are lost in the despair of depression and tragedy in life that has come unexpectedly to them. The loss of life is so great to them that they just stop living life. This too is a great tragedy. The good news is, “life is not over yet” and so Jesus said; He will not break a bruised reed or quench a smoking flax.
Many who have come to that final phase in their lives, when nothing looks good and it is all dark and dreary around them with no hope, have found God at this stage. Nothing could have helped them except that touch from Jesus. We need that now more than ever. Society is imploding over drugs, alcohol, violence and sexual misconduct that defies the imagination. Our God is watching all this and yet speaking into the situation of each one’s life but many are not listening. Hope is a premium product just now.
When a large portion of the Church has turned its back on true faith and have settled for a false faith based on loose teachings will suffer the consequences of such a faith. Who is to determine this? I believe God determines it by beginning judgement in the house of God first. 1Pe 4:17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? 1Pe 4:18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? No individual who is saved or unsaved escapes the searing of heat of God’s judgment. This judgement is to the one who is saved and walking righteously an approval of his state of being through trials and tribulations. To the other, conviction and destruction when there is no repentance. Do not be fooled. Jud 1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. Jud 1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
As I said, no one escapes this judgment, not flesh or spirit. That is why we need to accept the mercy and grace of God and repent of our deeds. If we have come to the end of our tether, it maybe, it is because of our sin state that we have not yet recognised. If it is not our sin state, it maybe, we our being tested by God to see if we will love Him and obey Him in the most difficult of situations. This is hard to understand at best of times, yet very important to do so. The ways of the Lord are beyond understanding without trust. Trust is the key to our relationship as much as faith is. Faith may help us go along with many of His instructions and waiting on Him but trust will help us to accept the ways of God. Jesus had to trust His God when He was hanging on the cross. Who can understand the cross? It is beyond man’s wisdom but very much within God’s ways and wisdom.
When Jesus came to the earth, He said and did many things that were beyond understanding even by the religious zealots of the time. Even scriptures could not bring to light for them the knowledge and wisdom of God. They had to believe and trust Him for what He said and did. This proved extremely difficult because it was challenging their knowledge of the scriptures and of God. They had come to the very end of their tether (tolerance) and went the other way, which was to crucify the Son of God. This too was in God’s plan. Again, very difficult to understand especially when He wanted to portray His love to mankind. This is the difficult part that even today is difficult to understand based on those who are being lost everyday or being demonised or being left unhealed only to die in spite of many prayers.
To truly trust God and His word, we must submit to His sovereign rule and decision making processes. Many instances explaining this concept of bringing a person or even a nation to its last bit of strength has been given in the Bible for our edification. Shadrach, Mesach and Abed-Nego, along with Daniel in the lion’s den, Israel at the Red Sea with nowhere to go, the death of Lazarus, the journeys of Apostle Paul that ended in shipwreck and the list goes on. It isn’t over till God says it is over. Take heart, God is in the house.
No one it seems has escaped this way of God to bring a person to their knees before saving them. Those who did not bend their knees died miserably like Pharaoh and the Jews in the wilderness. Nations that opposed God and many people who mistook and partook of communion or lied to the Holy Ghost died in similar fashion.
I squirm at the idea that we worship a God who is so without anger or judgement that we dare to tell people that He loves them without condition. I see nowhere in the Bible that He loves unconditionally. If He did, why is there a hell for those who disobey and rebel against God? Surely we are not that foolish to believe that a holy God will tolerate sinners without judgement. Let us not just preach one side of the gospel but let us preach the whole gospel. Truth hurts but it is the truth. Even we as human beings do not tolerate fools gladly, so why do we expect God to? Surely, if we are made in His image, we have His mind as well and that means we should expect to behave in a manner that He did.
By sending Jesus to reveal His motivation of love, He separates for us the side of Him that is wrath and covers us under the blood of Jesus so that He can show us His love though it is with the condition of repentance. John the Baptist came to prepare the way of repentance for Jesus and when he died, Jesus took up the message of repentance. Being at death’s door or even passing from life to death does not stop God from wanting to save us. In His sovereign will God chooses what He does and no one can question Him. Rom 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. Rom 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy. Rom 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Rom 9:18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. Rom 9:20 Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus? Rom 9:21 Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? Rom 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: Rom 9:23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory
Lots of love
Pastor Noble
10/12/17