A Question/complaint from my friend – “Why do you call people sinners? I am not a sinner.”

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. “By His wounds you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) TLV

One of my friends who live in my neighborhood complained to me recently and said, “why do you call people sinners?” Then He said by looking at me, “I am not a sinner.” I know there are people who live this way. However, all people are sinners is not my invention or estimation or other Christian’s. It is a universal fact. Bible, the authoritative Word of God, declares all are sinners, and no one is righteous doing the right things continually all the time. (Refer Romans 3:10-18, 1 John 1:8-10). If you are still in doubt, please sit in front of the Television and watch the daily news or surf through the internet. It would not take much time to recognize the fact people are in essence sinners. From babies to old- they all commit sins. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:22-23). The religions like Hinduism, Buddhism, and Muslim also agree to the truth of sin in people and that is the reason why people go to take a bath in some sacred rivers to wash away their sins, visit holy places and do extras dozes of karma to get saved or wash away their sins and their forefather’s sins. However, the simple truth is – washing in sacred rivers, visiting holy places and doing heavy loads of karma won’t get you saved from our sins.

I do not know how my neighborhood friend can claim he is not a sinner. I asked him did you ever lie? Did you ever look at the opposite sex with lustful eyes? Did you ever call another person dirty names? Did you even entertain unclean thoughts in your mind? Did you ever disrespect your parents by words or actions? Did you ever defraud government? Did you cheat another person in your thoughts or actions? What do you do when you are alone? Did you ever covet what belong to others? My neighborhood friend just walked away and said I never did such things. However, he did not stay with me for more conversation.

Dear friend, humankind is called ‘sinners’ because they do sin in one way or another. You may go for a little period in your holly attire and adornments. However, no one in themselves can live in this world without hurting others and God intentionally or unintentionally. The hurt one cause may have different proportions- some are small, and some are big. However, we all fail as long as we live here on this planet earth in this earthly sin-bound body. People in themselves cannot overcome sin. The biggest problem of humankind is nothing other than sin.

However, there is the silver lining in the middle of bad news. Our sin is not the end of it all. In short, you do not need to live under the control and power of sin for the rest of your lives. You do not need to be a slave to it. You can come out of it’s power and control and start living righteously with divine enablement.

Bible says in 1 Peter 2:24, “Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (cross), so that we, removed from sins, might live for righteousness. By His (Christ’s) wounds you were healed.” (TLV)Oh, what a soothing, convincing and convicting Word of God. Reread it. This is the essence of the Gospel, the good news, people all over the world, need to hear.

Enjoy listening to the good news. Christ Jesus bore our sins in His Body on the cross. Christ put your sins in his body on the cross. He went to the cross with your sins on his body to die in your place to fully pay for all of your sins. When you come to Christ and His cross and gaze the wonder of it and acknowledge Him and accept Him as your Lord and Savior, you are removed from those sins that bound you for a long time. You have died to those sins that haunted you. You are separated/removed from those sins with the divine power of the blood of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Your sins are separated from you as far as the East from the west. God separates your sins and caste it down the depth of the ocean so that it will never come back to the surface. From that time onwards, God gives you a new life. You are indwelt by the Holy Spirit of God to guide you. You have the double-edged sword-the Word of God (the Bible), and the power of prayer in the name of Jesus Christ as divine resources and these give you the ability and power to avoid sins on a daily basis. Sin eventually loses its power on you. You are going to sin less and less, and you are progressively being sanctified, purified and transformed by the Holy Spirit and by the Word of God. You would start living for God and His purposes. Moreover, one day you will be taken to heaven to God’s presence. You would be removed not only from the power of sin but also from the presence of sin forever and ever.

Meanwhile, are we talking about a 100 percent sin-free life here on this earth? Not, not at all. However, you are not the same person anymore. You are a new creation created by the power of God with divine resources at your disposal that others won’t have. Your craving for sin is going to diminish and your desire to please God and live for God in righteousness multiplies.

Got a moment for today’s prayer? “Father in heaven, I come to you in prayer. I want forgiveness and freedom from my sins. I know your Son Jesus Christ and the cross you built can receive the toughest stains of my life and wash it away. I trust on the blood of Christ, and I ask Jesus Christ to come to my life. Please make me a new creation from today with your divine resources. In Christ’s name, I pray. Amen.”

Question: I accepted Christ as my savior. I am a believer. But sometimes I wonder whether I am really saved. So how do I know for sure I am saved and have eternal life? Could you provide some help?

Yes, I do agree sometimes we all may wonder whether we are really saved because of our feelings. This could be because of certain failures in our lives. We know that we did not live according to God’s expectations and that cause us to have doubt. May be we gave ourselves to certain temptations. Alternatively, maybe we made a decision not to behave in certain ways or would not do certain things. Then we discover we did exactly that we did not want to do. Then our subjective feelings /experience kicks in doubting our salvation God gave us. In addition, when a believer in Christ fails in certain areas, devil and his agents are also quick in causing us to doubt our salvation and eternal life in the Lord.

First of all, understand we can never be perfect while live on this earth. We have a sinful body inherited from the first parents and the sinful nature inherited is still in us because our body is not glorified as of yet. Because we are born again and now have God’s Holy Spirit is living in us, of course, we would sin less and less as we grow spiritually. Eventually we would start hating sin and live for Him. But still sinless state is not possible here on this earth. (1 John 1:8-10). A believer has both flesh and Holy Spirit in him while the non believer in Christ has only one mechanism which is the flesh. Spiritual growth means we become less and less flesh oriented and more and more Holy Spirit oriented in our choices and decisions. However, we should not base the assurance of our salvation and eternal life in our feelings or experiences.

We should find the truth about our salvation not in our subjective feelings or experiences but on the objective eternal truth of the Bible – the Word of God. Bible says in Titus 1:2 that God, who does not lie, promised the our eternal life. It also says when did He promise this- He “promised before the world began”. Verse 1 says to whom this promise of confidence is given. It says to those God has chosen He gave the truth of this confidence. Therefore, if you are chosen by God before the world began or the beginning of time, then you would come to Christ and accept Him as your savior and Lord in time,  and you have the promise of God, who never lie, that you have salvation and eternal life.

Bible says what God testified in 1 John 5:11-13. Do we know what ‘testified’ means? Per dictionary, it means “give evidence as a witness in a law court.” So God gave evidence as a witness in a law court. What did He testify? It says, “And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.” God testified in the court of Law that God gives eternal life and this life is in His Son, Jesus Christ. Whoever has Jesus Christ, His son has eternal life. A person who does not have His Son, Jesus Christ, does not have eternal life. Now what is having son in our life means? John 1:12 answers this question. It says “all who believed Jesus and accepted Him, God gave the right to become the children of God.” Now if you believed Jesus and accepted Him, you have the Son (Christ), you are the child of God and you are saved and possess eternal life.

Beloved, God promised and He testified so that you will not doubt your salvation and eternal life, if you believed and accepted Jesus Christ as your savior and Lord. Bible also says how salvation happens. Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Jesus died for all of our sins and thereby paid for the punishment of our sins and the He rose again from the dead defeating sin, death and devil. This is the good news called Gospel. If you believe Jesus as Lord and believe He died and rose again for you, you are declared saved and granted eternal life by God in heaven.

God promised it, testified it, and you must not doubt.

One more Bible verse I will show you. Jesus himself said this, “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:28-29). It is Jesus who give you eternal life. You see they shall never no never perish. No one can take you out of His hand. You are held by the strong hand of Jesus Christ. More than that one more assurance. Jesus said, it is His Father, who gives them to Jesus. He is greater than all. No one can take them out of the Fathers hand.

What else you need for assurance of salvation and eternal life? If you accepted Christ as your savior and Lord and believed He died for your sake and asked forgiveness of your sins to Him, then you are saved for ever. Do not let your subjective feelings/experiences doubt your salvation and eternal life. Let the objective Word of God- the Bible- gives the assurance.

One of our problem is this-we prone to think that God loves us less, don’t we? This happens again because of our failures or inconsistencies in life, which we are aware off and of course hate, don’t we? However, the truth is this- nothing shall separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing means nothing. In addition, nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Love of Jesus Christ and love of God is guaranteed on a believer no matter what happens (Romans 8:35-39) because you are purchased by the precious blood of Christ (Colossians 3:13, 1 Peter 1:19, 1 Corinthians 6:20) and sealed by the Holy Spirit of God for eternal life and heavenly inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14). You and I are His own. Our love toward God may diminish due to circumstances and failures. But His love remains steadfast and unchanging and it will never diminish or taken out from a person who trusted in Jesus Christ. Bible says in Romans 8:1 that “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

Be confident, my friend,  and have the full assurance of your salvation and eternal life and do not doubt because you are a believer who called upon the name of the Lord Jesus for salvation. You are saved forever and you have eternal life. I hope this answer helps you.

 

Sam, in this post-modern society, do you still believe God created all?

Yes, I do. I am not going to believe a mere human hypothesis called ‘evolution’ which is one of the most senseless ideas formed by the fallen men and has never been scientifically tested, observed or verified. No person with common sense can accept what the evolution says. We cannot even agree with evolution as a theory. It is not even a theory. There is a distinction between a hypothesis and a theory. A hypothesis is an explanation that is proposed. Then the hypothesis should be tested and observed scientifically on a going basis. To say something is a theory, at least the proposed hypothesis should have been tested well and supported widely based on a long observance, verification, and ongoing testing.

Evolution has never been scientifically verified, tested and not observable. No one lives today, or the people lived in Darwin’s day was present or living at the formation of life in the beginning. Therefore these false ideas of evolution are never adequately observed, verified or even tested. To me, evolution is just a hypothesis that was not substantiated. It is not even a theory. Yet these nonsense thoughts are injected in the minds of our children in schools and colleges. It is wrong, and such a curriculum in schools and colleges must be opposed. It is poisoning the minds of our younger population.

To think one day from non-living matters the living things came up is a ridiculous idea that thinking and rational people cannot wrap their mind around. Life is miraculous. Not just the life but everything we see around us, the land, mountains, oceans, rivers and animal, bird and crawling creatures and all we see up on the sky are miraculous, and only Bible gives answers to our question. It emphatically says God created all. Bible tells us we all, the humans came from one parent – Adam- who was created by God.

When the evolutions say life today was an advancement from a simple bacteria, single-celled amoebas, it demands more faith to accept and believe such unobserved and not scientifically tested hypothesis. To me, faith in God who created all makes just more common sense than believing in evolution. You see finally the question is this. Whom do we going to believe? The Word of God or the word of man? When evolution says the man came out of single cell bacteria called amoeba, remember such a phenomenon of life transfer was never observed or documented anywhere in human history. A repeated phrase can be read in the Bible after the creation of each kind of species by God and that is this, “according to their kinds” (NIV), according to their kind (NKJV) or “each producing offspring of the same kind.” (NLT). What is this means? Particular living creatures -animal, birds, man or whatever may be, it can reproduce only its own kind or offspring of the same kind. A bacteria cannot and would not produce a rat. Monkeys produces only monkeys. A dog produces just its kind or offspring only, which is another dog. No living creature is able to produce another species.

Beloved, there is no verifiable or documented observations ever discovered any time in human history saying monkey transferred to a man or any such things. It is just not there. Evolution is people’s attempt to discredit the truth and existence of the creator God. Moreover, the idea of evolution is supported by the power of the devil behind it. Devil will do anything to discredit God, and these men are just the culprits in his power.

Don’t you think it takes more faith to believe in such a ridiculous hypothesis than believing in God who created all we see? You see Bible says we, humans are made in the image of God, and that is why we are entirely different from any other animal species. Because we are made in the image of God, we have body, soul, and spirit and in the spirit, we can relate to God. Man is a spiritual being. But animals are not. We are not evolved from an amoeba or bacteria. We are not the offspring of monkeys. We are not evolved, instead, the Bible tells the truth that we are fearfully and wonderfully created by God (Psalms 139:14). God knitted us together in our mother’s womb, the Bible declares (Psalm 139:13).

God says in Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” It also gives an account of creation in chapter 1. It will let us know how all we see came into being. Then verse 26 says God created man in His image, according to His likeness… male and female He created them. Bible also says the truth in Psalms 33:6, “By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.”

Beloved, you mentioned we live in the postmodern society. However, it does not matter we live in postmodern or antique civilization, the fact is fact. You see, the fact does not change over time. In contrast, human ideas, opinions and discoveries changes. The evolution hypothesis itself changed its position over the years. However, God’s truth and fact stand firm regardless of the time periods we live in. It stands sure regardless of our national, cultural, educational and language distinctions. God Himself claims I created the earth, man and the whole universe. And He placed God awareness and his stamp in all of His creation and inside us. Listen to what Bible says in Romans 1:20 -since the creation of the world God made known to us His eternal power and divine nature and this we all can understand from the things He made. Look at the sky, stars, life, and nature around us. Look inside us to understand our God-awareness and His seal of ownership inside us. We are people without excuse if we discredit and dishonor God and His truth. Psalms 14:1 says this, Only fools say in their hearts, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and their actions are evil; not one of them does good! The reason why people ignore the existence of God is just that they want to live an immoral and wicked life. They desire to do wrong and do not want to do the right things. Therefore desiring to do and enjoy immoral and wicked things, their foolish heart says there is no God.

A war or battle is going on in human minds. This spiritual war is between the Word of God and just man’s word. It is time to accept the challenge as it is because ultimately it is a spiritual war or battle. And therefore stand firm in the truth of the word of God.

“If a person never heard the Gospel, does God send them to hell?”

Thank you for this very important question.

First of all, let us know some truths abut God and us.

We understand God is fair and just, merciful, gracious, compassionate and love. In addition, God is the true judge, he fairly and righteously judges. Several examples in the Bible shows God hates sins because He is holy and at the same time He loves sinners because He is our creator. Besides, God is holy and no man can keep His moral laws on a going basis.

When we break His moral laws, big or small, then we become transgressors or simply sinners.
This is why the Bible says about all people, “ THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE;
THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS,
THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;
ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS;
THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD,
THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE.” (Romans 3:10-12).

This is the spiritual lesson 101 the Bible teaches us. No one can say I am not a sinner. I have come across people who claim they are not sinners. But you see, the truth is all people broke the moral laws of God in their actions, thoughts, and words. So there is no-one righteous, not even one. You can travel all around the world, and you can look at the history, the Bible declares you will not find one person who is righteous, not even one. All have turned aside and broke the moral laws of God. Bible also says, if any claim to be without sin, he or she is just deceiving themselves, and there is no truth in their claims. Moreover, it says, if anyone claims they have not sinned, then they make God a liar, and His word is not in them. (1 John 1:8-10). Why? Because God says all are sinners and no one is righteous, not even one.

This is why we need a savior. When we come to His Son, Jesus Christ, God applies His shed blood to cover our sins. Also, God gives His righteousness as a garment for us. This is not our righteousness based on works or deeds. This is the righteousness of God gives to us when we come to Christ and accept Him as our savior. Bible says this,” Gospel is the power of God for everyone who believes, to the Jews first and also to the Greek (gentiles). Then it says there, “For in it (in the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” God gives His righteousness or right standing before Him in spite of our unrighteous standing before God in and through the blood of Christ that paid for all our sins.

Now, let me come back to the question. Does God send people to hell?

Remember Abraham asked this question to the LORD, “Far be it from You to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth deal justly?” (Genesis 18:25). The question “Shall not the judge of all the earth deal justly?” is a rhetorical question which immediately demands an answer. Yes, He deals justly and fairly. Now this question in the first book of the Bible is answered in the last book of the Bible called Revelation. Revelation 16:7 says, “And I heard the altar saying, “Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.” You see this is the announcement from God’s temple in heaven that affirms the Lord God, the Almighty is true and righteous in His judgments.

The Romans 1:18-20 says this- God’s wrath comes from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men because they suppress the truth about God in their unrighteousness. It means God revealed Himself or God is evident within them. God made it apparent to them. It says since they have clearly witnessed in the creation of this world,  God’s invisible attributes and divine nature and power,  by looking at the marvelous creation around them. Because God revealed Himself to all people, they do not have any excuse. The real issue is this – Even though they knew God when they looked at the sky, stars and heaven and all the beautiful creation around them, instead of wanting to know more about him, people suppresses the truth about Him. They know God created all in their inner hearts as well, but they suppress that truth and continues in their darkness because they love darkness instead of the light.

This is called the general revelation of God. It is internal and external. The general revelation of God is this- God made Himself known to all people in their hearts by His stamp of God awareness in each one of us. Bible says in Romans 2:14-15 God placed his moral law within human hearts and that is why all nations have moral codes or laws that says lie, murder, cheating, stealing, etc. are condemned. The verse also tells people’s conscience bear witness of God. God placed His GPS inside people. Bible says in Ecclesiastes 3:11 God also set eternity in the hearts of men. All man-made religions are the result of this God awareness in man’s hearts.

The external revelation of God is this -He revealed himself through the creation around us. Psalms 19 says, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God, And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” Also, nights and days reveal God. There is no speech from these creations, but all of it declares the wonder-working hands of the Lord God. Therefore people have no excuse because they know God because God made known Him to all men everywhere. However, the sad truth is they realize God’s existence and turn around and suppress that truth because they like the works of darkness and do not want to come to the light of God. No thankfulness to God, no honor to God, no prayer to God, no desire to know the truth about God after witnessing all these convincing proves around them. No one can deny the truth of God after looking at the nature around them and heavens above them. No one can deny the stamp of God in his or her conscience either.

The truth is this – If someone realizes the truth about God and do not suppress that truth based on the general revelation, God is ready to save them and take them to heaven and would not send them to hell. Why? God will respond if anyone prays I want to know more about you Lord and please reveal you to me. God loves that prayer. Bible incidents prove God will send His Gospel to that person wherever that person may be. Cornelious and Ethiopian high official are examples of God dispatching His servants somehow to the person who wishes to know more about God based on the internal and external general revelations.

What is the conclusion? People end up in hell after their death because of their sins, wickedness and unrighteous life. However, if we acknowledge God’s revelation that makes all of us clearly evident God’s divine nature and divine power and then if we respond accordingly, God will make sure we hear the opportunity to listen to the Gospel of His Son Jesus Christ. Gospel or good news is Jesus died for our sins and that he was buried and rose again for the remission and forgiveness of all of our sins and shortcomings and by accepting His Son Jesus as our savior and Lord we can have intimate fellowship with God and live eternally in heaven with God forever and ever. Isn’t it the good news?

We discussed the general revelation of God.  Now the Bible, the Word of God, and Jesus Christ the Son of God are the special revelations. I heard many instances in recent years that many sincerely seeking Muslims friends had dreams about Jesus Christ. Due to their dreams about Jesus, some of them started searching on the internet and came to accept Christ as their savior and Lord. This is also called special revelation. God can do miraculous work to guide you to know the truth about Jesus Christ so that we do not need to go to hell. However, the basic question is what did we do with the general revelation God gave to us regarding His existence, divine nature, and power?

A very high official of the queen of Ethiopia who was in charge of her treasure was traveling back to his home town from Jerusalem on his chariot; he was reading a book called the book of Isaiah from the Bible. He had a deep desire to know more about the passages in the book of Isiah in the Bible. Philip an itinerary preacher was preaching Gospel in a city called Samaria and had big revival because of his preaching there. Many came and accepted Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord. However, God asked him to leave the revival meetings and immediately go to a lonely place in the wilderness to meet this high official and talk to him and share the good news about Jesus Christ. You can read about this God’s intervention in Philip and this senior official’s life in Acts 8 in the Bible.

Another example is Cornelius. He feared God, and he prayed to God, and he wanted to know the truth about God and prayed continually to God. God specially intervene in his life by sending Apostle Peter to him through a dream. God gave a dream to Cornelius and gave another dream to Peter so that they both can meet. You can read about it in Acts 10. You see Cornelius and high official of the queen of Ethiopia responded to the general revelation and God helped them to find the truth about Him and saved them by forgiving their sins and granting them eternal life in heaven.

Jesus himself said the final verdict. Listen to what he said, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. However, whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.” (John 3:19-21).

My answer is people are going to hell because they want to continue in darkness and do not want to come to light. Whenever the light of God and truth about God is presented to them from internal and external sources, people suppress and ignore the prompting in their mind and continue to stay in darkness thereby they determine their future destiny in hell.

Then there is a second group of people. They heard the good news that God loves them, and they understood God sent His only begotten Son to die in their place for their sins. They also heard by believing in Christ they can get forgiveness and eternal life in heaven. They heard it many times, and still, they do not want to do anything even with the special revelation granted to them. Then what else God wants to do with such people? Jesus Christ came into this world as a fulfillment of over 300 old testament prophecies. God allowed His own Son, Jesus, to die for our sins on the cross, and then they ignore and neglect the greatest gift ever given to them, what else a fair and just God can do other than allowing them to go with their disobedient and stubborn hearts and end up in hell? They choose their own destiny. This is why the Bible is asking this question in Hebrews 2:3-4, “how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders, and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will.”

My conclusion is if a person never heard the good news of the Gospel, which is the special revelation, they will be judged with what they knew about God and how they responded to that general revelation. If a person in a remote area who never heard the good news about Jesus Christ pray to God and say Lord, please show me the truth and I want to obey you, Bible gives several examples that God would reach out to them somehow so that they can hear the good news about His Son Jesus Christ died for their sins. He will do it.

Now, how tragic is the condition of a person who had the general revelation of the creation around them, conscience inside them and moreover was presented with the special revelation of the good news of Jesus Christ? Like the Bible say, “How shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation” fully and completely revealed to them? God was just, fair and loving to reveal them the full truth but still, they decided to walk away and live in their darkness because they loved darkness more than the light of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Jesus said such people will die in their sins. He said, “I told you that you would die in your sins; if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sins.” (John 8:24). If and when a person dies in sin without the Savior Jesus Christ, then there is no way they can live in the presence of the holy God in their sinful state after their death, because they died in their sins with no forgiveness and solution for their sin. The death seals people’s eternal destiny. Bible provides no saving option after death, though people in some belief system pray and do things for the dead. Bible does not reveal anything we can do  after the death of a person. Deaths seals the final destiny.

Beloved, you do not need to die in your sins and face eternity with no presence of the loving God. That place is called the hell. Bible explains how horrible hell is.  I do not have time to explain the horrible place called hell in this article. Jesus talked about hell more than any one else because He does not want us to end up there. With a small prayer, you can change your eternal address from hell to a beautiful and loving place called heaven now.

Pray now.

Prayer time: “Father in heaven, I know you loves me and allowed your Son, Jesus Christ, to die in my place for all of  my sins. I believe Jesus died and rose again and I accept Him as my savior and Lord. Please forgive my sins and give me eternal life in heaven with you. Thank you for saving  me now. In Christ’s name I pray. Amen.”

What are the sheep and goat in Matthew 25:31-46? Was Jesus talking about a future event? Does the passage support work-based entrance into the kingdom? Is there any application for a believer in Christ today?

Thank you for the question. I will answer your questions in the below section.

Sheep and goat.

In Matthew 25:31-46 Jesus said a parable of comparison based on a daily observation. Therefore people could connect easily to what Jesus was teaching. Both sheep and goats are common in the land of Israel. During the daytime, they usually herded together. But when night comes, they both were separated. The sheep can be kept outside because their fur gives them warm during night hours. However, the goats need to kept inside and herded together because they need warm in the night time. The herdsmen separate them in the night hours. This was a daily observation and based on this fact; the Lord is saying a divine mystery or lesson for all of us to learn.

I will first bring to your attention when this event going to happen based on Scripture and at the end, I will also provide a subtle and serious application and warning for believers living today.

Jesus talks about an yet to happen future event.

Jesus said when the Son of Man comes in His glory he comes with all the angels with Him. At that time he will sit on his glorious throne. Therefore Jesus is setting the time when this separation of sheep and goats would happen. The Son of Man comes in His glory, according to Bible, at His second coming to this earth. We need to remember the future timelines that the Bible provides to understand the exact timing of this event.

Bible says we currently live in the church age. In fulfillment of hundreds of prophecies regarding the incarnation of Jesus Christ, He was born into this world on the first Christmas day. Jesus Christ is the Son of God because He was not the son of Joseph, his earthly father. He was not born from Joseph. Jesus developed in the womb of Mary because the Holy Spirit of God came upon Mary and the power of the Most High God overshadowed her and consequently the holy offspring, the Son of God, developed in her womb.

Several promises of the savior were given in the old testament. It clearly said where he would be born, where he would live, what would he do, how would he die, how would be buried and rose again. All these prophecies, more than three hundred of them, were fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Now Jesus said when he was on this earth “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18. Just before his ascension into heaven after his death and resurrection, He promised again that he would send the Holy Spirit to complete the work He has began. He also told the disciples they receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and they would be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. (Acts 1:8-9)

On the day of Pentecost as promised the Holy Spirit came into this world and baptized the believers (Spiritual baptism) into the body of Christ which is the Church. Both water baptism (Acts 2:41)and the spiritual baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13) happened on that day when first 3000 people repented and believed in Christ. From that day onwards church is being planted and grown on this earth. No gates of hades or power of hell would or could defeat the movement and build up of Church per the words of Jesus.

Now the church age will end with the rapture of the church according to several passages in the Bible including 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. Once the church and the then living believers of Christ are taken up or caught up in heaven, then starts the seven-year tribulation period with the appearance of the Antichrist, who is the agent of Devil. (Daniel 9:27 and 2 Thessalonians 2). The darkest and the most horrible time ever experienced will be on this world during those seven years. The first 3.5 years will be somewhat mild. However, the last 3.5 years will be great tribulation. The details can be read in the Book of Revelation beginning from chapter 6. The church and believers in Christ will be in heaven during this time. (Revelation 4 and 5). However, unheard and untold miseries and tribulation will be on this earth.

At the end of the seven-year tribulation period, Bible says Jesus Christ comes in His glory with all his angels and the church in heaven to this earth, and He will sit on his glorious throne and will rule the whole earth for one thousand years. This is the time when numerous old testament prophecies regarding the establishment of the Davidic kingdom on this earth would be literally fulfilled. You see, Jews though Christ would establish the Davidic kingdom when he first came to this earth. Even the disciples expected but later they discovered there is a big gap between the first coming and the second coming of the Messiah. The first coming was to die for our sins and save us from darkness to His kingdom of love. Whoever calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved today from the eternal hell and destruction because Christ came first time to shed his innocent and divine blood for our sins. The second coming is the time of His glorious coming to this earth, and He sits on his glorious throne to rule the whole world. The second coming of Christ into this world is described in Revelation 19:11-21, after the horrible description of the future seven-year tribulation period. The end of the great tribulation is when Christ establishes His earthly kingdom as a fulfillment of numerous old testament prophecies.

This is the time of this parable-after the end of the seven-year tribulation period and just before Christ’s thousand-year rule on this earth. Christ is talking about those who were living in that seven-year period of tribulation and how they would respond to “one of the least of his brothers and sisters” is going to determine their entrance into the Kingdom of God or eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

Let us listen to what He says:
• When the Son of Man comes in His glory with all his angels
• He sits on His glorious throne
• All the nations will be gathered before Him
• He will separate them from one another as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
• He will put the sheep on His right and goats on the left
• The king will say to those on His right, Come, you are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you form the foundation of the world
• For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drinks; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in. Naked, you clothed Me; I was sick; you visited Me; I was in prison, you came to Me.
• The righteous will ask him, Lord, when did we see you hungry, thirsty and so forth
• The king will reply whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters you did for me; I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes, and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison, and you did not look after me.’
• He will say to those on left, depart from me, you who are cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink
• They will also ask the same question, Lord when did we you see hungry, thirsty and so forth?
• Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
• The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Then they will go away to eternal punishment.

The passage clearly says Jesus Christ will gather the nations before him after the seven-year tribulation period before the establishment of the Davidic kingdom on this earth for one thousand years. The Bible calls the period of the Davidic kingdom ‘the Millennium’ which means the thousand year reign of Christ Jesus on this earth (Rev 21). The entrance to the kingdom is based on what the nations did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine. He says “whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Now, who is Christ’s brothers and sisters? Luke reported what Jesus Said in 8:21. It says there, “ But He (Jesus) answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”

Therefore the basis of the judgment is based on the response of the nations to Christ’s brothers. Jesus said his brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it. The Gospel will be preached again in the tribulation period, and in the midst of severe persecutions and sufferings many will receive the word of God and come to the Lord for salvation. They will be persecuted harshly and horribly by the nations of the world because Antichrist rules the world at that time. However, whoever showed mercy and compassion to the believers in Christ (brother and sisters of Christ) would be the sheep who will enter into the kingdom and whoever dealt with Christian harshly and persecuted them will enter into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons.

Jesus is giving a parable based on their daily life observations. You see both the sheep and the goats were used for the sacrifices of people’s sins in the old testament. Various passages say they can use sheep and goats for the atonement of sins. One such passage is the description of the Passover lamb. Exodus 12:4 says, “Your lamb shall be an unblemished male a year old; you may take it from the sheep or the goats.” The point here in the parable is not one is better than the other. The emphasis is on the separation of sheep and goats in the night hours. The King will separate sheep from goat. Those who showed compassion, love and mercy and those who gave provisions for Christ’s brothers, the believers in Christ, are the sheep and they would enter into God’s eternal kingdom, while those who harshly dealt with the followers of Christ and persecuted them will enter into to the eternal fire of hell.

Now, does this parable support entrance to the kingdom through good works and deeds? It is not supporting the work based entrance to the Kingdom of God. If one tries to build salvation based on good works and deeds from this parable, then he or she will be contradicting many of the clear passages of the Bible that teach us the fact that Salvation is not based on any of our works. Plus if salvation was based on our good works, then there was no need for Jesus to come to this earth and die the cruel death in our place to save us and grant us eternal life. Several clear passages confirm our salvation, entrance into the kingdom and eternal life is based on our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Few of these passages are John 3:16, Romans 3, Ephesians 2:8 along with many others. Even this parable proves the fact that entrance into the eternal kingdom is not based on their good works because the King says to the righteous ones in verse 34 “‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.” Even before the foundation of the world, before the creation of this world, before even their birth, God prepared the way of entrance for them. Therefore their entrance into the eternal kingdom was not based on their deeds. However, their good and kind deeds were the evidence of their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember Ephesians 2:18-10 says we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, the Savior. It is the gift of God; not as a result of works, that no one should boast. Then it says, we are created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God had prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Therefore the sheep in this parable showed kindness and mercy and helped “one of these least brothers and sisters of mine (Jesus), you did to Me (Jesus).” The sheep could show mercy, compassion and helped the least ones in their needs because they were also believers in Christ. The Gospel changed their heart. Instead of hardened heart they got soften heart because they genuinely believed in Christ. If they were not believers in Christ, they would not be willing to do such kindness under the evil rulership of Antichrist. Per Paul’s language in Ephesians 2:10, the sheep was re-created in Christ Jesus for good works, and God prepared beforehand so that they would walk in them. Glory to God!

The goat on the left side is those who are not influenced by the message of the gospel of Kingdom during the seven-year tribulation period. Their hearts remained hostile to the least of Christ’s brothers and sisters because the word of God and message of salvation did not change their heart. They hardened their souls to the message, and now they are going to reap what they sow. Although the message was heard, they did not soften their heart to obey the word of God, and their heart remained hard.

Is there an application today?

I believe there is a subtle application from this parable for all of us today who live in this church age, though the passage was directly addressing an event going to happen at the time of the second coming of Christ.

This is that application for today. Am I a sheep or goat?

Many people go to church and claim to be Christians. However, the question is this – is Christ abiding in them? Some of them are not living and walking in the Holy Spirit. Such people who claim to be believers but are not are living not in the strength of the Holy Spirit but by their strength- flesh and muzzle power. There could be goats who herd with the sheep. Such people pretend and fake their faith. Many of them are just hypocrites like the ones in Jesus’s day. They do not have the heart of love, mercy, and compassion of the Lord nor do they want to submit and surrender to the Lord. They are fault finders, accusers, tit for tat people and live like worldly people, but act like spiritual in front of others. Jesus said, “Woe to you Pharisees because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces” They want to pray on street corners and in front of others. However, theirs is a pharisaical heart with no mercy, love or compassion. Sometimes it is hard to distinguish between the sheep and the goat in today’s environment. However, Jesus said you can identify a tree by the fruit it produces. Matthew 7:16-20. Jesus also said “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Is this not a serious statement and a solemn thought from the Lord? Some people whom you see today doing works of miracles like driving out demons and prophecies in the name of Jesus may well belong to this group of goats along with Pharisee minded people who love chief seats, public prayers to show off their piety and respect from others.

words of comfort to widows.

Comforting words to the fatherless and those who lost their spouses. This short video is recorded in response to a request from a world wide Christian prayer group for a special  need in their ministry.

One of our teachbible.org readers, a well qualified young lady,  living in Australia said, “I want to hear God speaking. But how can I know God speaks?” See the answer below.

Thank you for sending this question. Of course, this is an excellent question. People want to hear God speaking, don’t they? Several sincere people asked the same question in the past.

Bible says How God spoke in Hebrews 1:1-2. It says there, “In the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.” This verse tells us in the olden days before the incarnation of Christ, God spoke to our forefathers through God’s prophets and spoke in various ways. But it says in these last days God had spoken to us by His son, Jesus Christ. So listening to what Jesus said is a secret to listen to God. What Jesus taught is described in the Gospels in the New Testament section of the Bible. Jesus Himself said in John 10:27, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” My sheep here means the people who believe in Jesus Christ as their savior and Lord. This tells us if we need to hear God speaking, we should belong to Jesus Christ.

God being an all-powerful God, He can speak to anyone, and we cannot limit his power and ability to communicate. He can talk to anyone He wants to communicate. However, Bible informs us God speaks to us through His word which is the Bible. In the olden days, Abraham, Jacob, Gideon etc. did not have a completed Bible, and God spoke in many different ways. But now we have a completed Bible in our hands which contains all we need to hear God talking. (2 Peter 1:3). Bible says in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” All we need to know for life here and the afterlife are given to us in the pages of the Bible. God continuously talks to us when we read the Bible. Bible contains God-breathed, and God inspired letters so we can get the answer to all our questions, period! Bible is the Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the Word of God appeared in the flesh (John 1:1).

Because God has spoken to us in and through Jesus Christ and in the pages of the Bible, we do not need any other voice today to live a victorious life. Do you want to hear God speaking? Read what Jesus already spoken in the Gospel section of the New Testament and then read the whole Bible to listen to the voice of God. It is true God speaks, and the issue is do we spend the time to listen? Listening happens when we spent time every day in reading the Bible with a prayerful mindset. God speaks and gives daily bread through the Bible, for the well-being of our spirit.

Now, one more thing I would say. You will hear many people who claim God especially spoke to them regarding certain matters. I will be very cautious with such statements. If anyone claim God spoke to them, make sure you compare what they are saying with what Bible says. If you hear something that is not in the Bible or contradicts Bible, then you know it is not from God. Remember Acts 17:11 gives us an excellent practice. It says people in Berea “received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Daily they examined the scripture (Bible) to make sure what they heard sink with what is in the Bible. This way we can avoid many false and deceiving doctrines and teachings.

If you want to hear God’s voice, I would say first of all pray to God that you want to listen to His voice. Then start reading the pages of the Bible. If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your savior, please pray Jesus to save you from all your sins and make you a brand new person. Jesus Christ already paid for all of your sins with His sinless, spotless and divine blood. Upon your prayer, he will forgive all your sins and make you a child of God. Then attend a Bible teaching class in your local church. Make sure you choose a Bible teaching and preaching church that teaches the Bible accurately and systematically.

My dear friend sent me this question- What does the term high places mean in respect of Israel’s idolatry? What is its significance today?

Thank you for the question. When I started typing an answer to this question, it became a long answer with couple of pages. Sorry for this long answer or an article based on this important question. The topic is not that easy to understand without understanding little bit background and then applying to our lives today. Please read below. If you like the answer, please share with others.

Pantheism to Monotheism- Yahweh called children of Israel out of Egypt to fulfill His promise to Abraham.

We can see many references to high places in the Old Testament scripture in the Bible. The LORD God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and sent them to the promised land by His outstretched arm to fulfill His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. In Egypt, the children of Jacob (Israel) multiplied greatly and it was the divine time for the LORD to fulfill his promises to Abraham regarding the land, nation and the worldwide blessings. Although the purpose God called them out and led them to the promised land was to fulfill His promise to Abraham (which was later reiterated to Isaac and Jacob), He had a specific clear-cut expectation about His chosen people in the new promised land, it’s law and worship system. God called them out of a pantheistic culture (worship of all so-called gods) to monotheism (belief and worship of only one God). Monotheism is the basic idea presented in the Pentateuch when Moses, the great leader of Israel, wrote the first 5 books of the Bible. In fact, monotheism is the message of the whole of Bible and not pantheism.

Yahweh stipulated the rule of the people in the land of promise.

God gave them the law that they would practice in the land through Moses in Exodus and repeated to the second generation in Deuteronomy. He also gave the details about their worship and sacrificial system to the tribe of Levy in the book of Leviticus. Moses upon the direction of the LORD said to them, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). The God speaks in the Bible that “I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God but me. (Isaiah 45:5). “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me.” (Isaiah 46:9). “ I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.” (Isaiah 43:11). Pantheistic belief system believes all types of gods. The LORD God called them out so that they can represent the one true God on this earth.
God reminded them many times about the danger of worshipping idols and images. “You saw no form of any kind the day the LORD spoke to you at Horeb out of the fire. Therefore watch yourselves very carefully, so that you do not become corrupt and make for yourselves an idol, an image of any shape, whether formed like a man or a woman, or like any animal on earth or any bird that flies in the air, or like any creature that moves along the ground or any fish in the waters below.” (Deuteronomy 4:15-18)
Now the LORD also said when the children of Israel went to possess the promised land which is the land of Canaan, the land there had multiple gods and the people there worshiped all other so-called gods who were not real or true God. Lord commanded they must not worship the LORD their God in their way. Listen to the commandment of the Lord in Deuteronomy 12:1-7, “These are the decrees and laws you must be careful to follow in the land that the LORD, the God of your ancestors, has given you to possess—as long as you live in the land. Destroy completely all the places on the high mountains, on the hills and under every spreading tree, where the nations you are dispossessing worship their gods. Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places. You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. But you are to seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to put his Name there for his dwelling. To that place you must go; there bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and special gifts, what you have vowed to give and your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herds and flocks. There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you”.
In short, Israel must destroy completely all the high places on the high mountains, break down their altars, cut down their gods and wipe out their names. They must not worship the LORD in their way. This was a fight between the truth and lie. There is only one God who created the heavens and the earth and all in it. The one and true God cannot substitute by any other false man-made gods.
Numbers 33:52 also gives them the same commandment. It says, “Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places.” God did not want Israel to be any part of any idol worship because He is the only one and true God.
It appears before the temple was built by Solomon in Jerusalem according to God’s commandment and thereby all the tribes of Israel can come together and worship God and bring sacrifices in a localized place, there were worship locations in some localized places which is sometimes referred as high places. This practice of worshiping in local high places apparently was not condemned in the Bible at that time. Prophet Samuel used to visit different high places and He built an altar for the LORD God in Ramah. For example, 1 Samuel 9:12-19 tells us Samuel sacrificed in high places. But it appears the high place mentioned here was not part of any idol worship center. Even prior to all this, Genesis 12:6-8 says Abraham built altars to the Lord at Shechem and Hebron. But when Abraham, Samuel and Elijah worshiped the LORD God, these were identifiable places of worship and were apparently devoted to the worship of the LORD God of Israel or built for the purpose of worshipping Yahweh, the one true God of Israel.
In olden times, these localized worship sites were places of worship but later apparently called high places. But there is a difference – the pagan high places were devoted to idol worships and therefore God clearly commanded the children of Israel not to worship the LORD in that way. These pagan places are called high places because these were usually set up in an elevated place and it had a stone pillar or pole made by wood to show these are places of worship. The animals, idols, goddesses, and fertility deities are also worshipped in these high places. The Canaanite god included Baal (lord of earth and rain), Ashtoreth (goddess of fertility and farmers had relationships with cult prostitutes to make sure a good crop fertility in the year), Molech (ammonite god and children were sacrificed there), Chemosh (a Moabite god and children were sacrificed in fire) and Dagon (King Saul’s head was fastened in the house of Dagon).

They failed to obey the commandment of the Lord in its entirety and they were seduced by the pagan high places and what it offers to them for lustful and temporary satisfaction.

Though Israel was commanded to tear down and destroy the false worship system, they did not completely obey this command of the Lord and it became a snare for them. Maybe they were so familiar with the Egyptian idol worship system while they were living in Egypt or maybe idol worship places seduced the children of Israel to visit these places again and again due to the sexual immorality and lustful passions offered and practices in these pagan high places. It is almost apparent that Solomon could not control his sexual passions and that is the reason why he had many foreign wives and they influenced him even to build altars in high places. It was very tragic to think the same person who built the temple of Yahweh later in his life due to his uncontrolled lustful passions ended up building up altars for other gods in these high places. Another apparent reason was the social influence of the land. The pagan altars had feast and festivals and it was easy for the Israelites to succumb to the society’s influence.
The northern kingdom, Israel, had plunged deep into idol worship in high places because of the influence of their first king Jeroboam. The united monarchy under Solomon was divided into two- northern kingdom (Israel) and southern kingdom (Judah)- mainly due to the sin of Solomon. Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, became the king of Judah (2 tribes of Israel) and Jeroboam became the king of the remaining 10 tribes. Jeroboam did not want the people in his kingdom to go down to Jerusalem to worship in the temple built by Solomon fearing he will lose their allegiance. For people, it was a long journey to come down to the temple as well. He built two temples for his state and placed golden calves- in Bethel and in Dan. Calf worship was not new to Israelites but was now re-introduced to them and thereby the high places and idol worship centers became part and parcel of the northern kingdom, Israel. The southern kingdom, Judah, could not restrict the temptation and influence of these high places and immoral worship systems.

Yahweh always saw idol worship as harlotry and resulted in their captivity

The LORD always considered joining with these idol worship system as a harlotry/adultery to Him. It is like a husband-wife relationship. When a man or woman goes outside the marriage and has an illegitimate relationship outside the matrimonial commitment, it is called harlotry. The LORD wanted their full allegiance. By going to these pagan high places and participating in idol worships, the children of Israel provoked the anger and wrath of God, because they were going after man-made gods leaving the truth of one God who created all. God warned them to stay away from these pagan high places through His prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea etc. repeatedly, again and again. There were few kings who tried to destroy the high places and pagan altars in the southern kingdom. But when the next king came to the throne, the practice continued again. The adamant and continuous disobedience of Israel and Judah by participating in these pagan worship system in high places and their on-going interest in such idol worship resulted in the captivity of both northern kingdom (Israel) and southern kingdom (Judah) going into exiles as slaves. The one proud and great city of Jerusalem was in ruin and desolation. Children died in the arms of their mother because of no food and drinks, only pain, crying and weeping left in the city. The result of God’s severe punishment and the bitter and painful experience of evil and suffering due to their sins are portrayed in the Book of Lamentation in the Bible.
However, their deep interest in participating in these idol worship was completely purged out when Judah came back from the Babylonian captivity. Never again we see such idol worship thirst in Israel. They learned the lesson when God allowed them to go through the severe crucible of punishment by a seventy-year exile.

Is high place have any significance for us today?

Jesus said to the Samaritan woman this. A time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem… a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth. God is Spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the spirit and in truth. (John 4:21-24). Therefore, the place is not important in our worship today. It does not mean that you should not have a building where believers can come together and worship Him. You do not need to go to Jerusalem or any so-called sacred places to worship God. Jesus also said in Matthew 18:20 that “where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Hence, when two or three or more gather in His name there is He and we can worship Him in Spirit and truth – with the help of the Holy Spirit and in the knowledge of the truth about God.
If particular place or location does not have any significance for worshipers today, what is the high place incident of the past teach us today? You see what happened to them in the past was this -they were influenced and seduced by the society in which they were living. This seduction originally happened in Egypt even before their exodus and they could not get away from the temptations and seductions these high places offered.
Remember Bible says in James 4:4 “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy to God.”
Bible also says in 1 John 2:16, “ For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world.” Then it says there in the next verse, “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” 1 John 2:17.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Bible says in Colossians 3:5, Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”
I believe, whatever that tempts you, seduce you to be away from the will of God becomes an idol and that is what apparently high places signified today. This could be an illegitimate and uncontrolled sexual passion, living in sexual immorality, greed for money and thereby you send up serving money instead of God who promised to meet all your needs, the high pride of life like the rich man in Jesus’s explanation. He ignored the poor Lazarus who was needy while he lived his life in pomp and luxury. Constantly going after the pleasures of this world, looking for what world can offer you and make you happy instead of looking for how God can make you truly happy and joyful. What is that tempts you and seduces you in this world? High places tempted and seduced the children of Israel due to what it can provide them for temporary pleasure and enjoyment etc. They were asked to destroy it but they did not. We the New Testament believers are asked to “put to death” certain passions and habits of our sinful old lives because Bible says we are crucified with Christ (Romans 6). Romans 6:11-14 says, “Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as ]instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Remember Jude wrote this in his small letter that he was about to write about the salvation we share. But he felt compelled to write and urge us to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. The ungodly people pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign Lord. (Jude 3-4).
Are we holding on the faith that was once for all entrusted to us wholeheartedly? Are we perverting the grace of God into a license for immorality? Are we effectively guarding us against the influence of false doctrines that creeps into our society? Jude says such false teachers are blemishes at your love feasts. Are they eating with you without the slightest qualm- they that feed themselves?
Keep in mind, the term high place is not used in the New Testament. Although the term is not seen, the snare and the potential for failure is vividly understandable in the New Testament books. In short, high places that tempt and seduce us are all around us.  Such high places have the power to ruin and destroy our spiritual life. If we continue flirting with these high places that we have seen above from the New Testament part of the Bible, God’s  judgment can come upon us. This is what Israel’s history solemnly warn us. How much careful we should be to fight the good fight, finish the race and keep the faith that is once for all entrusted to us? How important it is for us to put to death those sins that easily entangles and hinders us to run the race of faith? Especially when we live at this end of the age, Peter reminds us in 2 Peter 3:11, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”

 

WILL THERE BE RAPTURE AS SO MANY IN THE WORLD HAVE TOLD YOU, IS THIS TRUE OR FALSE?

Thank you for a good question. Many have some confusion about this topic for sure. Let me try to help you to understand briefly the doctrine of rapture as found in the Bible. I believe the rapture is a true doctrine found in the Bible. The rapture of the church (all believers in Christ) is a glorious event when all the Christian  believers – those who are already dead and those who are living will be snatched away to clouds and then to heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ before His second coming in to this earth. The main rapture passages are John 14:1-4, 1 Corinthians 15:51-53  and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is the blessed hope of the church as illustrated in the Epistles (For Ex. Titus 2:13). Rapture and the second coming of Christ are two separate events according to the Bible. A careful reading of the Bible shows us one more thing – the rapture of the believers in Christ will happen before the tribulation period. This is called the pre-tribulation position, which means simply rapture will happen before the beginning of the seven-year tribulation period.
I understand true believers have different positions in the matter of rapture or timing of the rapture. Some believe in pre-trib rapture, others believe in mid trip (Middle of the tribulation) or post trib rapture (after the great tribulation). However, I believe “rapture” is the true doctrine in the Bible and it will happen before the great tribulation (pre-trib). The plain reading of the Bible and especially the  book of revelation helps you to come to this conclusion.

The outline of the book of revelation is in chapter 1:19. “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.” What John has seen is chapter 1 (about glorious risen Jesus), things that are (present age -church age 2-3)and the thing that will take place after this (church age) is chapter 4-22. The “blessed hope” of the believers repeatedly found in the epistles are not the hope found in the great tribulation. There is no hope in tribulation, read the horrible things going to happen in this Christ-rejecting world after the rapture of the church. Revelation 2-3 talks about the span of the church history with Christ’s messages for the church. Chapter 4:1 verse says come up here- the church is taken up into heaven (rapture) and chapter 5 church (the redeemed by the blood of Christ are in heaven worshipping God). Many theologians have of the opinion that ‘the twenty-four elders’ in chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation represents the Church. We can understand this based on the reason of their worship.

They fell down before the lamb and sang, “You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood, you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.

You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign[b] on the earth.”
Their salvation from all the tribes, nations and languages is the reason for their worship. Therefore, the church must be in heaven at this point and the believers are worshipping the lamb and God. Another point is this – there is no mention of the word ‘church’ after chapter 5 because the church is absent here in the earth when Christ unleashes his seal, bowl and trumpet judgments on this wicked earth beginning in chapter 6.

One thing the Lord make sure is to take the church away from this earth, the one that is bought by His own precious blood to his side in heaven before He unleashes his wrath on this Christ-rejecting earthy. Ephesians 5:25-27 explains the deep and tender love and care of Christ for the church. It says, there, “Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” In addition, Church is mentioned as the bride of Christ and Christ the bridegroom will never allow His bride to experience the horrible things that are going to happen in this world during the tribulation period. That is not the love of Christ we know about. I have so many things to tell you from the Bible. But in short, a plain and careful reading of the book of revelation and other parts of the scripture will lead you to the conclusion that the doctrine of the rapture is true and it can happen anytime but will be before the tribulation time on this earth. Even in the OT we can see the shadow of rapture in Enoch and Elijah. These are the some of the pre-shadows of rapture in the old testament. Bible shows us a pattern of God protecting his own dear ones before destructions. Lot (Abraham’s nephew) was safely taken out of Sodom before the LORD destroyed that city. Genesis 19:22 says the angel said to Lot, “Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.” The same thing is definitely the blessed hope of His beloved bride, the Church.

Apostle Paul says to his new believers in 1st Thessalonians chapter 1:9-10 “For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” Paul ask them to wait for His Son (Christ) from heaven, who God raised from the dead, and He (Jesus) delivers us from the wrath to come. The wrath to come is the wrath that will come upon on all the earth in the tribulation period. But Jesus delivers us from that wrath to come.

Then he says how Lord is going to accomplish this in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18. This is one of the rapture passages clearly talking about the rapture of the church. He says in verse 18 that thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these verses. As you know there is no comfort in the coming tribulation time period. But we can comfort one another in the fact that believers in Christ will be taken on the day of rapture before the great tribulation. See the outline of the book of Thessalonians. After assuring the rapture of Christ’s believers, in chapter 5, he talks about what is going to happen after the rapture of the church. He says in the very next chapter (5) this, “But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I should write to you. For you, yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.” Did you notice, for when they say, Peace and safety, sudden destruction will come upon them (not on the believers in Christ but on the unbelievers)? They (not us) shall not escape from the coming, sudden destruction time of the tribulation.

Jesus Himself promised to the church in Philadelphia this important statement – “I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth.” The hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth is talking about the coming tribulation period in which all the Christ rejected earth will be severely judged. But Christ promises that He will “keep you from the hour of trial”. It does not say He will keep the church safe in the tribulation. But it says He will keep church from this worldwide trial time.  The church will not be there in that hour on the face of the earth. She will be raptured and then the Lord will deal with this wicked and evil world after the rapture of the church. This is the same way Lord dealt with the sin and wickedness of the people of Sodom, after keeping Lot away in a safe place.

I know this topic could get confused and there are genuine believers who are either side of this argument. However, The Bible and the Holy Spirit will lead you to the truth if you study wholeheartedly.

Even Paul thought that the rapture will happen in his lifetime when he said: “then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Another time Paul included himself in the rapture is when he said in 1 Corinthians 15:52 when he wrote, ” in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” Both times he said, “we” including himself in the rapture incident. This is why we say rapture is imminent. It means there no pre-condition or pre things to happen before the rapture. Bible says rapture could happen any time without the fulfillment of any pre-conditions. Rapture was the doctrine from the very 1st century and it was not an invention later after few centuries as some suggest. If the rapture happens only in the middle of the tribulation or at the end of the tribulation, then it is not imminent which means tribulation should start (as a pre-condition) before the rapture happens. In other words, tribulation should happen before the rapture occurs. But apparently, these passages in 1 Thessalonians and 1 Corinthians proves two things- (1) rapture is taught in the first century (2) it is described as an imminent thing- could occur any time with no pre-conditions attached to it. Paul thought it will happen in his life time according to his writings.
The sudden destruction of tribulation can start immediately without notice, but the fact is the Church, whom Jesus Christ loved and bought with His own blood,  will be taken to safety with Him in heaven before He releases the seal, bowl and trumpet judgment on this earth.