Those who have the HOPE of salvation PURIFY THEMSELVES of sin and unrighteousness so that they can be FIT for the kingdom of heaven.
We read in 1 John 3:1 “See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him PURIFIES HIMSELF, just as He is pure. 4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 5And you know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin. 6No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.“
There are many believers who try to justify their sin. They have no desire to be pure. The do not know Jesus Christ. They have not met Him. They do not have the hope of salvation. If we hope in Christ then we purify ourselves of all unrighteousness and we seek to be pure and holy as He is pure and holy.
We read in the book of Daniel 12:10 “Many will be purged, purified and refined, but the wicked will act wickedly; and none of the wicked will understand, but those who have insight will understand."
People who have no desire for holiness or purity are wicked. They do not understand. Those believers who want to justify their sin, who call themselves sinners, who say that they are all sinners, they are wicked. They have no understanding because they have not met Jesus Christ and therefor we read in Revelation 22:11. He says:"Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy." 12"Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done."
Are we being purified? Are we making ourselves suitable for the kingdom of heaven? Do we have that HOPE of salvation? Do we want to be like Jesus when we see Him face to face? Are we being purified right now?
There is only ONE God, the Living God, Jesus Christ. He saved me from hell and from sin. I died of a heart attack in 1998 and Jesus Christ let me come back to warn the world that He is alive and that hell is real.
Jesus Christ is ALIVE and He reveals Himself to those who seek Him. He guides me, He teaches me and He supplies in all my needs. Jesus Christ is the ONLY LIVING GOD.
If you seek Him you will find Him. If you do not seek Him you will perish without Him because He will say to many people in that day that they die:"Go away i never knew you." because they never sought Him. They strayed like sheep but in the end they were foolish.
Seek Jesus while you can. He is ALIVE, He speaks and His sheep HEAR His VOICE. They FOLLOW Him. Are you one of His sheep? Do you hear His voice? Do you follow Him? Do you also know the LIVING GOD?
Marriage is a sacred institution from God, a union between one man and a woman. The wrath of God comes of those who disregard, misapply or violate this institution. The curse of God is in the house of the wicked.
Societies and nations that disregard marriage will fall apart. They will be destroyed. Marriage is between one man and a woman. Nowadays people do not care to get married, even Christians, they live together in fornication and adultery. Their children are born out of wedlock. At the same time homosexuals and lesbians fight to get married. The holy institution of God is being violated and that is why society is disintegrating. It is falling to pieces. If you disobey God you will perish. Homosexuals, fornicators and adulterers will not enter the kingdom of God. Those who violate God's institution of marriage will perish. They will not enter His kingdom.
Repent and be holy. Respect God's institution or you will perish.
Jesus said:"All who are weary, come to Me and I will give you rest for your soul." Why is it that many believers are so anxious, uncertain? It is because they have not truly come to Jesus. They do not trust Him. It is because they do not obey Him.
We can only experience the peace and the comfort that Jesus gives if we obey Him, if we follow Him, if we abandon our SELF, deny our self and go after Him. We can only be in His peace if we truly trust Him and seek His kingdom.
Jesus said:"Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all the other things will be added unto you." People are worried about food and clothing, safety, security. They are worried about everything in life but they are not concerned about the kingdom of God. The are not concerned about being pleasing to the Master, Jesus Christ and that is why they do not enjoy His peace and His comfort, His consolation.
What is our attachment in life? What do we keep ourselves busy with? What is our first thought in the morning, our last thought at at night? What are we keeping ourselves busy with. Are we watching the TV? Are we busy with ourselves? Or are we seeking the kingdom of God? Is our mind focused on Jesus Christ?
If we are not seeking His kingdom, if our mind is not on Christ then we cannot be in His peace, we cannot be in His confidence and that is why people are anxious. It is because they are attached to other things and not to Jesus Christ. Their hope is in themselves and they are attached to the things of the world. They are not attached to Jesus Christ. That is why they have no peace, nor rest for their souls.
Are you attached to Jesus Christ? Are you IN Him? Are you living in His PEACE?
Most Christian believers have an illusion of salvation and salvation security. They believe that they are saved and that when they die they will go to heaven based on certain things, based on what they believe, on Bible verses , on what other people have told them, but they have no real relationship with the Living God, with Jesus Christ. There is only ONE WAY to enter the kingdom of God and that is to OBEY Jesus Christ, to DO as He commanded and taught, His words as also recorded in the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Jesus did not promise anybody salvation security. He said that those who endure until the end will be saved. He also said that His sheep HEAR His VOICE, they LISTEN to Him and they FOLLOW Him. People do not like these words, they like an easy security illusion. They prefer an easy back door into heaven, an easy solution. They accept the lies that people tell them and that is why they perish. The only One who can tell us whether we are pleasing to God is Jesus Christ. The only way that we can stay in His will and stay in His confidence is to FOLLOW Jesus every day.
If we obey His words, the gospel that Jesus preached as also recorded in the gospels, then Jesus Christ promised the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth. We have to REPENT, turn away from sin, ACCEPT Jesus into your life, accept Him as your Master and SUBMIT yourself to Him, to His words, to His discipline, STOP SINNING, be baptized in water and SEEK the Holy Spirit that He promised to those who OBEY Him. The Holy Spirit will GUIDE us every day. He will SPEAK to us, He will TEACH us IF we LISTEN to Him, IF we SEEK Him. He will teach us all things. He will give us understanding of the kingdom of God, of things to come. He will teach us more about Jesus so that we can know Him for real but if we do not persist and endure with Jesus, with His Spirit UNTIL THE END we will not have eternal life.
there is not guarantee of of security outside of obedience to Jesus Christ. Jesus warned that not many will be saved. He said:"Strive hard to enter the narrow gate because many will try hard and not be able. We are only secure, safe, as long as we remain in obedience to Jesus Christ, as long as we are lead by and FOLLOW the guidance of the Holy Spirit every day. Nobody else can give you that security or confirmation apart from Jesus Christ Himself, by the Holy Spirit dwelling in you. If you do not have the Holy Spirit you do not belong to Jesus Christ, and if you do not follow and obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit until the end you WILL NOT enter the kingdom of heaven. You might have an ILLUSION OF SALVATION but it is a LIE and in the end it will disappoint.
Jesus Christ is the only way. Those who are lead by the Spirit of God, THEY are the children of God. Those who endure with Jesus until the very end, they will find the narrow door. The others will be TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED when Jesus says to them:"Go away I never knew you, you workers of wickedness."
Are you following Jesus Christ every day? Or are you complacent? Do you have an ILLUSION of salvation and salvation security? WAKE UP and SEEK Jesus. Hear from Him and stay with Him until the very end. Jesus Christ is the ONLY WAY. Follow Him!
Jesus Christ cares for us. He watches over us and He watches us. He knows every thought and he knows every deed. even though we might not be aware of Him, He still cares. He is still watching over us. But if we do not care for Him and we do not watch out for Him to be pleasing to Him in every thought and every deed then He will say to us one day:"Go away I never knew you, you workers of wickedness."
Are we aware that Jesus is watching over us? Or do we ignore Him?
You will find Jesus when you earnestly seek Him. He is not far away. Just go into your room, into your closet, close the door behind you. Go on your knees and pray. Seek Him with all your heart and you will find Him.
Sinners have a taste for sin, they love sin, it is their preference and that is why they are not fit for the kingdom of heaven. At heart they hate God and they love all forms of evil. You cannot educate a sinner to be a child of God
because at heart he is evil and satan lives inside of him.
If you have met Jesus Christ and have accepted Him and are born again, then immediately your taste changes. You want to be clean, you hate filth, you hate sin, you want to be perfect, you want to be pleasing to Jesus because at heart you have become a child of God. If at heart you still have a taste for sin, you are not a child of God, you are just deceiving yourself.
Many believers are not born again. They are miserable and they starve
themselves of those things that they love, immorality and filth, and
sin and all those wicked things. They grieve because they are not
allowed to do those things. There are many of them in the the
churches, many of them are preachers. They re-translate the Bible to
suite their desires to justify their sins because they are sinners,
they love sin. They are sons of the devil and they have no feeling,
no taste for God, they hate Jesus Christ, they despise Him, they are
only fooling themselves. But God understands the heart of the sinner
and if we desire sin and wickedness and if we have a taste for filth
then God helps us in our perversity, then God gives us what we
desire, He gives us the filth that we love and He turns us over to
our desires.
The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 1:21.
“ 21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23and
exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form
of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling
creatures. 24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25For they
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the
creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and
in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the
woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men
committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due
penalty of their error.
28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not
proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness,
greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they
are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent,
arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to
parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving,
unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that
those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do
the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”
They are in the churches, they love sin. They are all sinners. They say:”We cannot stop sinning, we are all sinners, because we love sin and we are going to heaven” but they deceive themselves. They are going to hell. They
are children of satan because they have a taste for sin. They lust
after the things of the world and they lust after sin.
Are you a child of God? Does unrighteousness grieve you? Does sin grieve you? Do you want to be pure and holy? Do you cry for this world that is lost? Do you avoid unrighteousness? Do you avoid sin? Are you seeking purity and holiness? Are you seeking more of Jesus Christ and of His kingdom? Do you yearn for His voice? Or have you got a taste for filth?
Are you born again? Are you a child of God or are you a SINNER? Ask Jesus to give you a new heart or you will perish in you filth that you love. May Jesus bless you.
The world has become a terrible place and people are concerned about their safety. They ask:"Who will protect us?" Many purchase firearms and improve the security of their houses.
Your safety depends on whom you trust in and whom you depend on. If you depend on yourself and on other people you will be disappointed. There is only One person who can
keep us safe and that is Jesus Christ. I speak from experience.
For some time we lived on a farm in a remote area of South Africa. It is an area that is extremely unsafe where farmers get attacked and killed daily. We had no weapons, we did not try to protect ourselves but Jesus Christ protected us. One night Jesus showed me a vision of a huge horse with a rider on top of it at the entrance to the farm but this rider and horse were immensely huge. It was an angel that was keeping watch over us.
Not so long ago I had a dream one night of this person who was helping me but I did not realize that he was that tall. I looked up and I saw that he was about twenty feet tall (7 meters). This person was protecting me and he would shrink himself to the size of a normal man. I said to him:"You are actually a tall guy." He just smiled at me. The purity that I saw in his face I have never seen in a human face. That was an angel of God.
The Lord knows how to protect His own. He sends out His angels to protect and to keep those who belong to Him. Our safety depends on Whom we trust in.
I read Psalm 91
1He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust!”
3For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper
And from the deadly pestilence.
4He will cover you with His pinions,
And under His wings you may seek refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.
5You will not be afraid of the terror by night,
Or of the arrow that flies by day;
6Of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Or of the destruction that lays waste at noon.
7A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But it shall not approach you.
8You will only look on with your eyes
And see the recompense of the wicked.
9For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13You will tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you will trample down.
14“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name.
15“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16“With a long life I will satisfy him
And let him see My salvation.”
In whom do we trust? In people or in ourselves? Or in the Lord? He gives His angels command to protect those who serve Him.
I read from Hebrews 1:13.
"13But to which of the angels has He ever said,
“SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND,
UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES
A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET”?
14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?"
In whom do you trust? Do you trust in Jesus Christ? He is the only One who can protect you. He looks after His servants.
Most people are living under the curse of God. We read in Proverbs 3:33
"The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked,
But He blesses the dwelling of the righteous."
Those who sin and who are wicked are cursed by God. They work in vain because everything that they work for and that the labor for they will lose in any case. They will lose their lives and they will lose their souls.
Their is no lasting happiness in sin and unrighteousness because you are cursed by God. If God is against you, you are doomed but if God is for you, who can be against you?
Are you cursed or are you blessed? Are you living in righteousness, in obedience to Jesus Christ? Are you laboring in vain or do you have an expectation of eternal life with Jesus Christ? Are you walking in His ways and living for His kingdom?
If you accept Jesus Christ and follow after Him, He will guide you out into the wilderness. He will take you somewhere separate, you will go with Him alone so that He can teach you His ways and that you can get to know Him. He is the God of the Wilderness.
When God lead Israel out of captivity in Egypt, He took them out into the wilderness to teach them His ways but they never got to know His ways and they perished in the wilderness. Only their children went through into the promised land.
When Jesus Christ called the apostle Paul he took him out into the wilderness, He took him separate so that He could teach him His ways, so that the apostle Paul could get to know Jesus Christ. We read the words of Paul in Galatians 1:11.
"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."
Paul did not go to the other disciples. He did not go for Bible study. He went alone with Jesus Christ and he received the gospel that he preached through REVELATION, not from books, not from other people. I read further:
"13For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; 14and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased 16to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.
18Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. 20(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; 23but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” 24And they were glorifying God because of me."
Have you been with Jesus in the Wilderness? Have you got to know Him for real? Did you receive REVELATION from Jesus Christ? If you have not been with Jesus, YOU DON'T KNOW HIM. You cannot know Jesus through fellowship with other Christians. You cannot know Him through your bible study. If you have not been alone with Him and were not taught by Him you do not know Him. Jesus Christ is the God of the Wilderness. He is the Teacher of those who seek Him and who follow Him. They are the ones who get to know Him, the ones who follow Him into the wilderness.
I am not talking about a physical wilderness. I am talking about being alone with Jesus, because if you follow Jesus Christ you will be rejected by the world. If you do not go alone with Jesus Christ and be taught by Him you will not get to know Him. You might be among other people, your family, the people that you work with. You will not go out of the world but you will go out of the fellowship of men and get into the fellowship of Christ to truly get to know Him.
Have you been in the Wilderness with Jesus Christ? Have you come to truly KNOW Him?
To repent means to make a u-turn, to go the other way. It does not mean to admit that you are a sinner and then to carry on sinning.
If you want to have eternal life you have to REPENT, STOP SINNING. Jesus Christ said:"Go sin no more." You cannot follow Jesus Christ if you do not REPENT, immediately STOP SINNING. It is not a long term gradual change. It is an immediate u-turn. You were going to hell but now you are following Jesus Christ because you want eternal life AND you get baptized in water for the washing off of your sin because you SIN NO MORE.
After you have repented you are a saint, you are not a sinner any more. If you are still a sinner you never repented. You cannot be a sinner AND a follower of Jesus Christ. If you repent you TURN AWAY from sin and you turn away from running after your own lusts and you go after Jesus Christ, you obey Him , you live your life to please Him. It is an abrupt change. You STOP SINNING and you live righteousness.
The main cause of corruption and destruction, the one thing that will cause many people to end up in hell is LUST. It is the lust of people that drive them to sin. It is lust that causes people to destroy other people, to destroy the world. Lust causes the corruption of the world and of people. The one thing that we have to get rid of if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, is LUST.
I read the words of the apostle Peter in Peter 1:4-11
"For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the DIVINE NATURE, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by LUST."
The world is corrupted by LUST.
Verse 5 "Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. 10Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, YOU WILL NEVER STUMBLE;"
We have to get rid of LUST. We have to control ourselves and focus on Jesus Christ, on doing His will or else our lust will consume us.
The apostle James wrote in James 4:1-10 "1What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? 2You LUST and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. 3You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. 5Or do you think that the Scripture speaks to no purpose: “He jealously desires the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? 6But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” 7Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."
We have to get rid of LUST, of selfishness, of the desires of the flesh that drive men to SIN, to destroy others, to destroy the world, to commit sin, to kill others, to commit adultery, to take that which belongs to other people. Lust destroys people. We have to humble ourselves before the Lord, repent of lust and contain ourselves, practice self-control, focus on Jesus Christ and yearn after Him, desire the kingdom of God and His righteousness and He will add all the things that we need. But if we do not get rid of LUST and escape the the corruption that is in this world through lust we ourselves will be consumed and destroyed, we will PERISH.
Sin separates man from God. We cannot HEAR God, not have any relationship or communion with Him if we have sin in our lives. That is why sinners have no relationship with God and sinning believers also have no communion with God or with Jesus Christ. You first need to get rid of your sin before you can walk with God, before you can hear the voice of God and follow Jesus Christ. That is the reason why most believers do not know Jesus Christ , they do not hear His voice. Jesus said:"My sheep HEAR My voice and they follow Me." If we do not hear His voice it is because there is sin in our lives. We first need to get rid of the sin. You have to REPENT, turn away form sin, STOP SINNING, CUT IT OUT of your life, plead Jesus forgiveness and you must be baptized in water for the washing off of your sin, you must invite Jesus Christ into your life. clean up your life first, open the door and then invite Jesus in. Ask Him to give His Spirit in you to guide you, to be with you, to teach you, then you will hear His voice. If you do not hear His voice it is because there is sin in your life. Sin forms a barrier between us and God. You cannot live in sin and walk with Jesus. You need to be pure and holy. The Holy Spirit does not dwell in a sinful vessel. Sin separates us from God. His sheep HEAR His voice and they follow Him. If you serve sin you cannot serve Jesus Christ. If you do not hear His voice you are not one of His sheep, you are LOST, even though you believe that you are saved. You might quote Bible verses and be religious but if you sin, you will BURN. You will end up in hell because you have no relationship with God.
Repent, turn away from sin, clean up your life, draw closer to Jesus, invite Him in and you will have communion with Him.
The only way to have eternal
life is to physically follow Jesus Christ. Now, you would ask me
whether that is possible today, whether we can really follow Jesus
Christ although we do not see Him. I want to prove to you that it is
possible to follow Jesus Christ today.
The disciples of Jesus Christ
followed Him but before He was crucified He warned them that He
would be leaving them. I read from John 14:1“Do not let your heart
be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. 2“In My
Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would
have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. 3“If I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to
Myself, that where I am, there you may be also. 4“And
you know the way where I am going.”
Verse 16 Jesus said:“I will
ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be
with you forever; 17that is the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know
Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will
be in you. 18“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to
you."
Jesus told His disciples that
He would be physically leaving them but that He would be sending them
a Helper, the Holy Spirit, that He Himself would be coming to them to
comfort and guide them.
Verse 26“But the
Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He
will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I
said to you."
We read in John 15:26“When
the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that
is the Spirit of Truth who proceeds from the Father, He will
testify about Me,"
Jesus Christ promised them
the Holy Spirit.
We read in John 16:5“But
now I am going to Him who sent Me; and none of you asks Me, ‘Where
are You going?’ 6“But because I have said these things to
you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7“But I tell you the truth,
it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to
you. 8“And He, when He comes, will convict the world
concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; 9concerning sin,
because they do not believe in Me;10and concerning righteousness,
because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; 11and
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been
judged. 12“I have many more things to say to you, but you
cannot bear them now. 13“But when He, the Spirit of
truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not
speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak;
and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will
glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to
you. 15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I
said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."
After Jesus was crucified and
resurrected from death He spoke to His disciples again. we read in
Acts 1:4"Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave
Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He
said, “you heard of from Me; 5for John baptized with
water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days
from now.”
6So
when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord,
is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7He
said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the
Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My
witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even
to the remotest part of the earth.”
After this He ascended into
heaven. we read in verse "9And after He had said these things,
He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him
out of their sight.
12Then they returned to
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a
Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had entered the
city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying;
that is, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and
Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14These
all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer,
along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and
with His brothers. "
We read in Acts 2:1"When
the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one
place. 2And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a
violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. 3And there appeared to them tongues as of fire
distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. 4And
they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with
other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.
They received the Holy Spirit
after waiting in prayer. They were all devoting themselves to prayer
and waiting on the Lord and then He baptized them in the Holy Spirit.
The people did not understand what was happening. We read in
Acts 2:37 "Now when
they heard this, they were pierced to the heart, and said
to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brethren, what shall we
do?” 38Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of
you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“FOR
THE PROMISE IS FOR YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN AND FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR OFF,
AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR GOD WILL CALL TO HIMSELF.”
Jesus Christ promised the
Holy Spirit, not only to His disciples but to all those who would
believe the gospel and who would obey Him. we read in Mark 16:15,16
"15And He said to them “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to all creation. 16“He who has believed and has been
baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be
condemned. ,17“These signs will accompany those who have believed:
in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new
tongues; 18they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly
poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and
they will recover.”
We read in the book of Acts
how the disciples went out under guidance of the Holy Spirit and how
these words of Jesus were fulfilled.
Wherever they preached the
gospel of Jesus Christ and people believed and obeyed the gospel,
repented and were baptized in water these people received the baptism
in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that we NEED because we have to
follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be able to follow Jesus
Christ.
The apostle Paul who also
previously persecuted those who believed in Jesus, had a vision of
Jesus on the road to Damascus, after which he repented, was baptized
in water, and also received the Holy Spirit. He received many
revelations from the Holy Spirit and He wrote about the indwelling
Holy Spirit in His letter to the Romans chapter 8.
Verse 9 “However, you are
not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God
dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he
does not belong to Him.“
If a person does not have the
Holy Spirit he does not belong to Jesus Christ, he cannot follow
Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul also wrote in Romans 8 verse 14 “For
all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.“
You NEED THE HOLY SPIRIT, the
Spirit of Christ, dwelling in you to teach you and to guide you. He
promised the Holy Spirit in all those who obey Him. Without the
guidance of the Holy Spirit we cannot make it into the kingdom of
Heaven. Jesus Christ is the WAY the LIFE and the TRUTH and although
He is not physically present here, we cannot see Him, He is SPIRIT
and He promised His Spirit to be in us and with us and to guide us.
If we do not have the Spirit of Christ we have no direction, we are
LOST. We need Jesus Christ. We need His Spirit dwelling in us. The
only way to have the Spirit of Christ is to accept Him, to do what
Peter advised them to do on the day of Pentecost. I read again.
Acts 2:38 "Peter said to
them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the
gift of the Holy Spirit. 39“FOR THE PROMISE IS FOR YOU AND
YOUR CHILDREN AND FOR ALL WHO ARE FAR OFF, AS MANY AS THE LORD OUR
GOD WILL CALL TO HIMSELF.”
Are you serious about
eternity? Are you serious about Jesus Christ? Seek the Holy Spirit
and follow His guidance. Without Him you will not find the way to
eternal life.
Those who follow Jesus Christ are a special people, holy men and women who are different from the world. they are separate.
We read the words of Peter in 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY.
11Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation."
We are to be different. we are the people of God. If we are not like Jesus Christ, we are certainly not His followers.
The apostle Peter also wrote in 1 Peter 1:13
"Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
If we follow Jesus Christ we must be HOLY, we must be different, we must be separated unto Him. we must not defile ourselves with the things of the world. We cannot go to the same places and do the same things. We cannot watch the TV and participate in the same filth that this world delights in. If we follow Jesus Christ our delight is in being holy and pure and in being vessels of honor for His kingdom.
We are a royal priesthood, a special people, a HOLY NATION. Are we indeed holy men and women? Are we separated for the kingdom of God?
The words of Jesus Christ are the words of eternal life to those who OBEY them. Jesus Christ commanded:"Be perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect."
How can we be perfect? How can we know what God requires of us? Jesus Christ gave us His commands and we must obey them. He also sent us the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. If we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and do what He tells us to do we will be perfect. We will DO the perfect will of God. If we follow our own mind, our own perceptions, our own insight and we walk very carefully then we can still go wrong, we can still stumble, but if we follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit we will not stumble, we will never be in darkness.
Most believers do not have the Holy Spirit. Most believers never received the Holy Spirit, they have no desire for the Holy Spirit. They do not know Jesus Christ. Most believers have Bibles and they belong to churches but they do not belong to Jesus because they do not have the Holy Spirit. They do not seek the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ promised the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him, those who repent and turn away from sin, from their own lusts and who earnestly seek to do the will of God, those who earnestly seek the kingdom of God, who press on in and who seek to be pleasing to Jesus, He gives the Holy Spirit in them to guide them to perfection. Without Jesus Christ we can do nothing. Without His Holy Spirit we will not find the WAY.
Have you received the Holy Spirit and do you follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Are you doing and living the perfect will of God? Are you PERFECT like Jesus commanded?
All professing Christians say that they believe in Jesus Christ but very few know Him. Very few have met Him. To very few of them Jesus Christ is real.
Where do you go to for guidance? Do you go to your Bible? Do you ask other people? Or do you ask Jesus Christ? Do you pray and wait on Him until He answers you? Or do you live your life to please yourself and just believe in Jesus Christ?
Jesus Christ is SPIRIT and He speaks to us in our spirit. His sheep, those who truly know Him, HEAR His VOICE, they LISTEN and they FOLLOW Him. They live for Him and they follow the guidance of His Spirit. Without Jesus Christ we can do nothing.
Is Jesus Christ REAL to you? Have you met Him? Do you HEAR His VOICE and do you FOLLOW Him? If you seek Him you will find Him. If you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him. He will reveal Himself to you, but if you do not know Him, when you die He will say to you:"Go away I never knew you, you worker of wickedness."
Do you truly know and follow Jesus Christ? Do you have a REAL relationship with Him?
Those who follow Jesus Christ only have ONE Teacher and that is Jesus Christ, They only follow His teachings, His words as they were also recorded in the gospels Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Holy Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ will remind them of those words that Jesus taught and will also guide them into all truth.
Jesus Christ did not promise us other teachers or other teachings. He promised that He Himself will guide and teach us through the guidance of the Holy Spirit that He promised to those who obey Him. If you listen to and follow other teachings and teachers you will be deceived.
There is only ONE WAY, there is only ONE Teacher, there is only ONE Lord, that is Jesus Christ.
Follow Him and you will never be in darkness. Obey His teachings and He will reveal Himself to you. Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal life.
If you truly know Jesus Christ and you are following Him you will be very careful not to sin. the reason why believers keep on sinning is because they believe that they already have salvation, they believe that they can carry on sinning. They believe the lies that other people tell them. But they themselves have no relationship with Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ does not tolerate sin. No sinners will enter into the kingdom of heaven. If you want to walk with Jesus and have confidence in your relationship with Him YOU WILL NOT SIN, you will not do anything that will affect your relationship with Him. We cannot be pleasing to Him if we sin against Him.
Those people who keep on sinning do not know Jesus Christ. They do not know His voice, they do not listen to Him, they do not follow Him. The psalmist, king David said:"I have kept Thy words in my heart that I will not sin against Thee." If you have the words of Jesus in your heart and you listen to His voice, you will not sin. You will follow Him and you will be very careful to do what he requires of you.
If Jesus Christ is your Lord, you will serve Him and you will make sure that you are always pleasing to Him. Do not be deceived, no sinners will enter into the kingdom of heaven. All sinners will perish unless they repent and absolutely obey Jesus Christ. Stop sinning, seek and do the will of God or you will perish.
You do not need religion. All you need is Jesus Christ. Religion cannot save you. Your Bible cannot save you. Your church cannot save you. Other people cannot save you. Only Jesus Christ can save you. He has been with you all along, from the beginning. He put His laws in your heart so that you will not sin against Him. He gave the breath of life in you. If He takes it away you are no more.
All you need is Jesus Christ. If you seek him, you will find Him. If you go down on your knees, humble yourself before Him and cry out to Him, He will reveal Himself to you, He will become real to you. All you need is Jesus Christ. Without Jesus Christ you can do nothing.
Natural man cannot please God, he has a fallen nature and does therefor not fit into the kingdom of heaven. We need to be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ to be able to fit into the kingdom of heaven. If we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Master, He gives His WORD, His SPIRIT in us to guide us into all truth. He IMPLANTS His WORD in us. Jesus Christ is the Word of God. If we accept Him He will plant His Word in us and we must OBEY that WORD to be pleasing to God and to fit into the kingdom of Heaven.
The apostle James wrote in James 1:19:"But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; 20for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the WORD IMPLANTED, which is able to save your souls. 22But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves."
Jesus Christ gives us His WORD, His guidance in our spirit if we accept Him. He renews us, He makes us new inside. We are born again of the Spirit of God but then we have to OBEY His Spirit Who speaks in our conscience, in our heart. We must RECEIVE that IMPLANTED WORD. He gives it to all those who accept Him. They all KNOW what the will of God is but they have to LISTEN and OBEY. Many know what is right. They know what God requires of them, but they do not obey. Many refuse to listen to that IMPLANTED WORD, that VOICE of the Holy Spirit inside of them that speaks to them. The more that we listen, the more that we are RECEPTIVE for that IMPLANTED WORD, the more we will receive it.
Jesus Christ speaks to every soul. He speaks to every person but not all people are willing to listen. very few are willing to obey Him. Most people go after their carnal nature, they do not obey the guidance of the Holy Spirit that He speaks inside of them. We cannot please God if we live according to our lusts , according to our desires and like the rest of the world. The carnal nature cannot please God. we have to submit ourselves to Jesus Christ, deny ourselves and obey the implanted word, the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking in every person who has accepted Jesus Christ.
Listen and your soul will live. Obey the IMPLANTED WORD, they voice of Jesus Christ in you and you will be suitable for the kingdom of God.
Many people call themselves Christians, they believe in Jesus Christ and they believe that they are SAVED, they believe that they have salvation and if they die they will have eternal life, but these same people have no SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION, they are not in touch with God.
Jesus Christ said:"My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me." If we are not in touch with Jesus, if we do not hear His voice then we are not His sheep, then we do not have any relationship with Him. We need to come into relationship with Jesus Christ. We need to live IN TOUCH with Him.
Jesus Christ said that if we obey Him , He will reveal Himself to us. I read from John 14:21“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
Verse 23“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24“He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me. "
Most Christian believers are not IN TOUCH WITH GOD. They do not know where they stand with Jesus Christ. They do not know Him because they do not obey Him. Sin and disobedience separates us from God. If we are living in sin we cannot have any relationship with God. He does not abide with sinners. Jesus Christ said that Him and the Father abide IN and WITH those who OBEY His commands. Many believers refuse to obey Jesus Christ. They refuse to obey His words. They rather go with people, listen to their preachers, but they don't know Jesus, they don't follow him, they don't obey Him. Jesus commanded that we repent and be baptized in water and then He will give His Holy Spirit in us to guide us into all truth.
Most believers have a Bible, they have a church, they believe they are saved but they have no SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION they are NOT IN TOUCH WITH GOD. They do not hear from God. They are not His sheep. They are lost and yet they believe that they are saved. They believe that they have salvation based on some Bible verses. Jesus Christ will say to most believers the day that they die, He will say to them:"Go away from Me I never knew you, you workers of wickedness." He will say that to many preachers, many people who were very religious. Jesus will deny them because they were never in touch with Him, they just practiced religion.
We cannot follow Jesus Christ , we cannot be part of his kingdom, we cannot do what is pleasing to Him if we are not IN TOUCH with Him, if we are not lead by the Holy Spirit. Most Christian believers do not have the Holy Spirit, they do not know Jesus Christ.
Do you have SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION? Do you know where you stand with God? Do you HEAR His VOICE? Do you LISTEN to Him and do you follow Him? Do you DO what is pleasing to Him? Are you lead by the Holy Spirit? Are you TRULY a child of God? Do you know whether Jesus is pleased with you? Are you IN TOUCH with Him?
Is your relationship with Jesus Christ REAL? Do you truly KNOW Him?
Many Christian believers are controlled and manipulated by satan. They confess to believe in Jesus Christ but they open the door to the evil one. They listen to his lies and they believe in him rather than in Jesus Christ and His words.
Many professing Christians confess that they cannot stop sinning. They believe satan's lies. Jesus Christ said he who sins is a slave to sin and if the Son of God has set you free you will be free and free indeed, but they do not believe Jesus, they rather believe satan. These people follow their own minds and go after their own lusts, they are worldly and they go after the desires of the flesh. They do not really believe in Jesus Christ. They do believe in themselves and they do believe satans's lies. They are only deceiving themselves.
If we truly believe in Jesus Christ and our hope is in Him, then we will believe His words, we will be FREE FROM SIN. We will be dedicated to the kingdom of God and we will live and be like Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ said:"My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me." Most professing Christians will tell you that they read their Bible, they do not listen to the voice of Jesus but they know very well to listen to satan and to follow their own minds .
We have to examine ourselves. Do we truly love Jesus? Are we seeking to be pleasing to Him, or will we one day look back in regret because we did not serve the purpose that Jesus Christ called us for. We were selfishly ambitious, running after our own desires and had no love nor desire for Jesus Christ. Are we being manipulated and controlled by satan because we run after our own desires?
If Jesus Christ is not our desire then we have no hope of salvation. We have no hope of eternal life.
The purpose of religion and religious faith is to lead people to eternal life. There are many false teachers who set themselves up as teachers of God that lead people to eternal life
Jesus Christ did not appoint any teachers. He called disciples and He appointed them as witnesses that will point other people to Him, because Jesus Christ is the only true Teacher of those who will have eternal life.
Jesus Christ said:"One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9“Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10“Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ."
Matthew 23:8
We are to be disciples and follow Jesus Christ. We must take other people to Jesus. we can only take others to Jesus if we know Him for real. Jesus Christ commanded His disciples, I read from Matthew 28:18 “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Those who follow Jesus Christ point others to Him. They are His sheep. They listen to His voice and they tell others that which Jesus Christ has taught them. Jesus Christ is our only Teacher, and He promised the Holy Spirit in those who believe in Him, tho accept Him and who obey His words.
We read in John 16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13“But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14“He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15“All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you."
If you want to learn the truth, stop listening to all these self appointed teachers. There is only One Teacher, that is Jesus Christ and He sent us the Holy Spirit who will guide us into all truth. If we listen to other teachers we will not find the way to eternal life. Jesus Christ is the WAY. Seek Him, LISTEN to Him. He will give His Spirit in you to guide you all the way. Jesus Christ is our only Teacher.
Jesus Christ came to bring eternal life for His sheep. For those who follow Him. Not everybody is the sheep of Jesus Christ because not everybody believes.
Many call themselves Christians but they just believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, but they do not listen to His voice, they do not follow Him. They are not His sheep.
Jesus said:"My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me and I give them eternal life and nothing will snatch them out of My hand."
He was talking about His sheep, those who hear His voice and who follow Him every day. He gives them LIFE and LIFE in ABUNDANCE. He gives them ETERNAL LIFE because they follow Him. He is the WAY and the LIFE and the TRUTH.
Do you FOLLOW Jesus Christ? Do you HEAR Him? Are you one of His sheep? Do you really believe in Jesus Christ?
Most professing Christians are chasing after wind. They are continuously running after new revelations, prophecies and teachings. They don't know where they are going, they are chasing after wind. However, those who are born of the Spirit of God, they are LIKE the wind. You hear it's sound but you do not know where it is coming from neither where it is going because they are led by the Spirit of God. The know the One in whom they believe, they know the One whom they are following. The LISTEN to His VOICE and they DO what He sends them to do. Are you chasing after wind? Are you looking for answers from everybody and from everywhere? Or have you found the Master? Are you born again of the Spirit of God and are you led by the Spirit of God? Are you serving Jesus Christ, the King? May Jesus bless you.
Quitters will not make it into the kingdom of heaven. The one thing that Jesus Christ requires of us is that we endure with Him until the very end.
Never quit following Jesus Christ. Never quit praying. Never stop testifying for Jesus, never stop going after Him. Never stop seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. Never let Him go out of your mind.
Those who endure until the end will receive the prize of eternal life. Those who endure until the end will be saved.
Many believers never start following Jesus Christ. We have to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Jesus Christ every day until the very end, or else we will not win that prize of eternal life.