Paul spoke of some who would “believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth" in 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12. Just as weeds will grow in a garden as well as flowers, if not better, so, too, will a false gospel sprout and take root. Each hearer must, therefore, be cautious and critical in his examination of every idea and doctrine urged upon him. Jesus admonished His listeners to "beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees" in Matthew 16:6. Let us subject all religious leaders and their words to the same scrutiny today.
All who stand in need of salvation today are just as Cornelius of old was while he stood before Peter in Acts 10. Although an Angel warned him of his need for instruction and conversion, Cornelius still needed to send for Peter to "hear words…whereby you and all your house shall be saved" (Acts 10:22; Acts 11:14). Cornelius gave certain evidence of a ready heart when he told Peter, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded you of God” (Acts 10:33).
May God help us to have more of the attitude of the boy Samuel, who said: “Speak, Lord; for Your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10).
God has blessed you with yet another opportunity to come to Him. Are you going to reject Him again? As the Hebrews writer states it,
“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again He sets a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’“ (Hebrews 4:6-7)
If you continue to reject the words of Christ, you will remain cut off from God. When one is cut off from God, you are dead in your sins, and the dead cannot help themselves. Only God can raise the dead. The Apostle Paul once looked out over his congregation in Ephesus just as Ezekiel looked out over his congregation in the valley of dry bones. Paul saw a congregation of dry boned people. “Remember,” he wrote, “that you were at that time separated from Christ, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12) Cut off from God and His word, there is no hope and where there is no hope there is only a dry, meaningless existence. Life is just a series of uphill struggles and then you die. To the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
May the Lord bless you and your family!
All who stand in need of salvation today are just as Cornelius of old was while he stood before Peter in Acts 10. Although an Angel warned him of his need for instruction and conversion, Cornelius still needed to send for Peter to "hear words…whereby you and all your house shall be saved" (Acts 10:22; Acts 11:14). Cornelius gave certain evidence of a ready heart when he told Peter, “Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things that are commanded you of God” (Acts 10:33).
May God help us to have more of the attitude of the boy Samuel, who said: “Speak, Lord; for Your servant hears” (1 Samuel 3:10).
God has blessed you with yet another opportunity to come to Him. Are you going to reject Him again? As the Hebrews writer states it,
“Since therefore it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly received the good news failed to enter because of disobedience, again He sets a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David so long afterward, in the words already quoted, ‘Today, when you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’“ (Hebrews 4:6-7)
If you continue to reject the words of Christ, you will remain cut off from God. When one is cut off from God, you are dead in your sins, and the dead cannot help themselves. Only God can raise the dead. The Apostle Paul once looked out over his congregation in Ephesus just as Ezekiel looked out over his congregation in the valley of dry bones. Paul saw a congregation of dry boned people. “Remember,” he wrote, “that you were at that time separated from Christ, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:12) Cut off from God and His word, there is no hope and where there is no hope there is only a dry, meaningless existence. Life is just a series of uphill struggles and then you die. To the Thessalonians, Paul writes, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
May the Lord bless you and your family!
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