Author: hillturnfs

People ask me, “Is God really going to send the Jews, his chosen people, to hell?” My answer is, “absolutely.” Let me be clear. Any person, Jew or Gentile, living after the death of Jesus Christ who does not believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came down from heaven to die on the cross for our sins will not see eternal life. Anyone who doesn’t accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then their sins still abide on them. Their sins haven’t been forgiven. One of the spiritual laws of the kingdom of God is the wages of sin is death. Jesus paid our sin debt when he died in our place so we wouldn’t have to die.

Our God is holy and just. For anyone who dies in their sin a just God will condemn them to eternal spiritual death in hell and the lake of fire. There are believing Jews who have salvation but the majority of Jews from then until now view Jesus as nothing more than a Jewish prophet and not the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God. For the last 2000 years all these Jews who have died without believing in Jesus Christ have gone to hell. I know that may sound harsh but when it comes to salvation God doesn’t mince his words. God doesn’t bend the rules or play favorites. The good news is a Jewish remnant will be saved on the last day and those Jews will enter heaven as God’s chosen people to join all the righteous Jews who lived before Christ.

Matthew 8:11 – (Jesus speaking) – And I say to you that many will come from east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 8:12 – (Jesus speaking) – But the sons of the kingdom will be cast into outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

You can see from Matthew 8:11, that Jew and Gentile get to heaven the same way and are treated equally in heaven. God loves Jews and Gentiles the same. God made both. By the same token, Matthew 8:12, makes it clear nonbelieving Jews are sent to hell when they die. “Sons of the kingdom,” is an Old Testament reference to Jews to whom the kingdom of God was originally promised but who will be excluded because they reject Jesus. “Outer darkness” is a metaphor for damnation in ancient Jewish texts. All Jews know that means going to hell. If there was ever any doubt, “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” is Old Testament Jewish terminology that denotes the anguish expressed by those unfortunate souls who suffer eternal torment in hell. God’s original plan was salvation for the Jew first, then the Gentile. The Jews were jealous of their God and thought he was for them alone.

Matthew 10:40-42 – (Jesus speaking) – He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

I’m always on the lookout for heavenly rewards I can earn while on this earth. There’s no shame in that. The Apostle Paul said we should all strive for heavenly rewards. We don’t know what those rewards will be but God doesn’t give junk. Doing good works and especially witnessing for Christ are the primary ways to receive rewards in heaven. Note in Matthew 10:40-42, Jesus is saying anyone who helps a fellow persecuted Christian it will be like helping Jesus himself. I include helping Jews in that category. Jesus says we will be rewarded for our compassion as if the person were a prophet of God. We should always act justly because it’s the right thing to do and if we’re also rewarded for it so much the better.

Did you know God gives his blessing to every believer who reads or hears the words contained in the book of Revelation? Every time you read Revelation you get a blessing from God. How great is that! No other book in the Bible can make that claim. I think it’s a good idea to read Revelation regularly to keep those blessings coming. God wants us to know what’s coming in the end times, which are almost upon us, so we’ll be prepared and watch for the coming of Jesus.

Revelation 1:3 – Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

One of the things that stand out to me when I read the gospels is Jesus picking his disciples. The gospels record six of the disciples being recruited by Jesus with two words, “follow me.” I assume the rest of the twelve were chosen in like manner. I find it odd that they didn’t ask “why” or say, “give me more information.” The disciples didn’t say, “let me go tie up loose ends at home before I join you.” These were prosperous men who owned businesses; wealthy men with homes and families and they dropped everything immediately and went off following a stranger who said two words to them. The Bible doesn’t explain why but it’s not a natural reaction for one person let alone twelve. The fact that all twelve disciples immediately obeyed Jesus’ command is another proof Jesus is God. The disciples may not have even understood themselves why they immediately obeyed.

When Jesus speaks with his, “voice of authority,” all of creation obeys the commands of Almighty God. Some people don’t realize it was actually Jesus Christ who spoke creation into existence and not God the Father. Jesus is the Creator of all things and when he chooses to use his, “voice of authority,” all creation obeys. The heavens, nature, man, everything is subject to God’s authority. Things that are alive, dead or inanimate, it makes no difference. The Bible says nothing is impossible with God. If we had been alive in Jesus’ day and he called us to be disciples we would have obeyed the same way. We wouldn’t have a choice just like the disciples didn’t have a choice. The twelve were compelled to discipleship by God’s, “voice of authority.” The disciples were blessed by God because they were chosen to serve him.

Matthew 4:19 – Then He (Jesus) said to them (Simon and Andrew), “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

Matthew 4:21-22 – Going on from there, He (Jesus) saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets. He called them and immediately they left the boat and their father. and followed Him.

Matthew 9:9 – As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him.

John 1:43 – The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Phillip and said to him, “Follow Me.”

In Matthew we see Jesus rebuke the wind and it is stilled. We see Jesus calm the raging waters of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus condemns a fig tree and it withered before his eyes. This was all done to prove to the Jews that Jesus is God. The Israelites of the Old Testament associated God with the one who could control the wind and the sea and everything in nature so the actions of Jesus was proof to the Jews that Jesus is God.

Matthew 8:26 – Then He (Jesus) arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.

Matthew 21:19 – And seeing a fig tree by the road, He (Jesus) came to it and found nothing on it but its leaves, and said to it, “Let no fruit grow on you ever again.” Immediately the fig tree withered away.

On the last day, when Jesus comes from heaven with his angels and sets foot on the Mount of Olives he will destroy the armies of the world coming against Israel at the battle of Armageddon. In my wild imagination I expected Jesus to hurl lightning bolts at the enemy and rain down fire from heaven. I expected Jesus to cause earthquakes that would swallow up whole armies. The reality is Jesus will destroy the armies of the world arrayed against him by using his spoken word, the same way Jesus caused the creation of the universe. There is nothing more powerful in this world than God’s, “voice of authority.” We’ll be with Jesus and see all these events unfold.

Isaiah 43:13 – From eternity to eternity I am God. No one can oppose what I do.

Revelation 19:15 – Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

After Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit took him into the desert for 40 days of purification before Jesus began his ministry. God has this thing about 40 days of spiritual purification and refining before serving him. We saw this with both Moses and Elijah. While in the wilderness Jesus was tempted three times by Satan. On each occasion Jesus defeated Satan by quoting scripture:

Matthew 4:4 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – It is written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

Matthew 4:7 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – It is written again, you shall not tempt the Lord your God.

Matthew 4:10 – (Jesus speaking to Satan) – Away with you, Satan! For it is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.

Satan is no match for God so we knew this struggle was over before it started. So why did God include this story in his Word? God included this story in Matthew as an example to us on how we are to resist the mental onslaught of Satan and his demons who will oppress us all at some point. Demons are more powerful than we are so God has given us the Bible as a means of protecting ourselves. When we are under spiritual attack from the forces of darkness pray to God for strength and read God’s Word. Quote the Bible to Satan and he will leave you alone because the Bible says so and God cannot lie. According to Matthew 4:6, Satan has read the Bible and can quote scripture. If you are to successfully contend with Satan you need to know your Bible as well as he does. Your very soul could depend on it. Read the Bible daily, study it, meditate on it, and pray, to put on the shield of faith. Arm yourself with the Sword of the Spirit which is God’s Word.

James 4:7 – Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

1 Peter 5:8-9 – Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Ephesians 6:12 – For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Matthew 16:23 – (Jesus speaking to Peter) – Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.

God is real therefore so is Satan. Satan wants to convince us he doesn’t exist and even if he does exist he means us no harm. Satan uses stealth and secrecy to hide his identity. You can’t defend yourself if you don’t know who your enemies are. You can’t protect yourself against adversaries you aren’t even aware you have. Half the battle is knowing who Satan is and that his goal is our destruction. Satan doesn’t attack with a frontal assault. Satan is subtle and uses lies, deceit and half-truths to achieve his goals. When Satan mentally assaults someone he fills them with despair, tells them they are worthless and the only way out for them to escape the pain is to harm others or take their own life.

1 John 5:19 – We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

If anyone commits suicide without accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior then Satan has won. Satan has stolen another precious eternal soul away from God that will spend eternity in hell when it didn’t have to be that way. We have all probably known someone who has taken that route. If you know someone who is susceptible to Satan’s attacks and contemplating suicide be a true friend and guide them to the truth of God’s Word. If you don’t know how to witness for Christ learn how. Witnessing for Christ is a learned skill. This blogsite is about learning to witness for Christ by studying the Bible. In my earlier blogs I go over the witness process step by step. The basic sinner’s prayer to God is all you need and it’s available in my blog, on line, in the Bible, in Christian tracts and numerous other places.

Take a fellow Christian with you if you don’t feel up to the task of witnessing by yourself. Lead the person to this website where they can save themselves or copy some of my material to give them. Your intervention could be the only thing between them and utter destruction. God may have put you in this position just for that reason. It’s a heavy burden to put yourself out and try to save someone’s eternal soul but if we don’t do it who will? Someone loved you enough to lead you to Christ. Can you do less? Forever is very long time so you really have no other choice than to take action or regret it for eternity. Remember, you’re not alone, you’re just the helper. The Holy Spirit will be by your side and he’s the one actually responsible for saving a soul unto eternal life if that person’s heart is ready for the gospel message of Christ.

The most important event in human history was God coming to earth in the flesh in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The pivotal moment was the death of Jesus on the cross because at that exact moment the sin debt was paid for all men, past, present and future. Jesus died a horrible death on the cross, in our place, so that we might live for eternity in heaven instead of forever in the lake of fire in never ending pain and agony, which is where we were all headed because of our sin. All God asks in return for this precious gift of salvation is that we believe he exists and that we accept his Son Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. That’s it! In his love, mercy and grace God is giving us everything; the greatest thing; eternal life in heaven with him simply for believing in him and having faith in Jesus. God is making this so easy for us it’s hard to believe but it’s the truth.

God wouldn’t allow so momentous an event to occur in his creation without making a public announcement to the world and he hasn’t. In the Old Testament God spoke to his people through the prophets so that’s where we find God’s announcement of his coming and the reason for it. The book of Isaiah, chapter 42 in its entirety, contains the words of God himself as he announces he’ll come to earth in person and what he’ll accomplish while he’s here.

Any study of the life, ministry and death of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ should start with a reading of Isiah chapter 42. That’ll get your mind focused on God and his mission as you start to read each gospel. In like manner, any study of Jesus’ life would be incomplete without reading all of Isaiah chapter 53 where God describes in great detail the suffering he will endure on our behalf. After you read each gospel read Isaiah chapter 53. Let it sink in exactly what Jesus went through for us and the pain and anguish it must have caused God the Father. I can’t read Isaiah chapter 53 without shedding a tear and praising God for his mercy.

In his gospel Matthew links the old and new testaments together. Matthew weaves Old Testament prophecy with New Testament fulfillment in such a way that both testaments mesh into one seamless Word of God with the same consistent message of God’s love for us even through there’s a 450 year gap between the last book of the Old Testament, Malachi, and Matthew, the second book written in the New Testament. When Matthew links Old Testament prophecy to his gospel he only references a few lines of that prophecy but his intent was for the reader to go back and read entire text of the Old Testament prophecy for greater understanding. Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel for a Jewish audience who would have been very familiar with the book of Isaiah. For us Gentiles who read the gospel of Matthew it’s critical we go back and read the entire text of any Old Testament scripture the author mentions if we really want to understand this gospel.

For example, in Matthew 12:18-21, the author repeats the first four verses of Isaiah chapter 42 but there are 21 more verses in that chapter that we should also go back and read because God adds so much more information that he wants us to understand. The same thing happens in Matthew 8:17, where the author paraphrases Isaiah chapter 53 and the suffering of Christ. In the entire chapter of Isaiah 53 it’s God himself who describes in much greater detail the suffering Jesus will endure for us. If we don’t go back and read the entire original text of Isaiah chapter 53 we don’t get a sense of the true suffering that Christ went through that we might have eternal life.

If reading Isaiah chapters 42 and 53 doesn’t bring tears to your eyes and make you love Jesus even more then I don’t know what else I can say. Whenever there’s an Old Testament reference in any of the gospels always stop right there and take the time to go back and read it; in addition to the the surrounding verses for better understanding. This is especially important with the gospel of Matthew since it contains so many references to the Old Testament. If you do this every time you read one of the four gospels it’ll greatly increase your understanding and enjoyment of the text. Before reading the Bible, and especially the gospels, it’s a good idea to pray to God for revelation through the Holy Spirit because God’s Word say we can have whatever we ask for in Jesus’ name. Don’t just take my word for it. Do it and find out for yourself that I speak the truth.

A thrill runs through me every time I start reading the gospel of Matthew because I can clearly see the hand of God at work. Matthew 1:1-16, records the genealogy of Jesus Christ going back two thousand years through King David to Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. That’s forty two generations of who begat whom. I don’t believe there’s anyone alive today who has traced their lineage back 42 generations. I don’t even think it’s possible even with current technology like as computers and the internet. Those who don’t believe the Bible is God’s Word have no explanation for how Matthew suddenly had a list of all the ancestors of Jesus other than he made up the names. I know the answer. The Holy Spirit of God gave this genealogy to Matthew who wrote it down for us in his gospel of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.

God does it one better in the gospel of Luke where the genealogy of Jesus is recorded all the way back to Adam, the first man. We’re talking about four thousand years of recorded human history. These were ancient people with no books, no writing of any kind, no written language or even the ability to read if a written language did exist. These people had no paper, no pen and no way to record anything other than by scratching a few marks on a piece of bark. These were nomadic people living in tents and herding sheep. How in the world could people in that day keep track of who their ancestors were? The answer is they couldn’t and they didn’t. Fast forward to our time where I can only trace my genealogy back three generations and I had to peruse Ancestry.com for several hours to find that out. So going back 42 generations or twice that is only possible with divine intervention. The odds of anyone tracing their ancestry back to Adam are so great it’s virtually impossible. What we’re looking at with the genealogy of Jesus Christ is probably the greatest single proof in the entire Bible that God is who he says he is and that the Bible was written by the hand of God.

Isaiah 9:6-7 – For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

2 Samuel 7:16 – (God speaking to King David) – And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever.

It’s clear from scripture that Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is a direct blood descendant of King David and Jesus will rule his kingdom forever. If Israel had not been overthrown as a nation the rightful king of Israel would have been Joseph the carpenter. Jesus was conceived in Mary by the Holy Spirit and Mary was of the bloodline of King David. Jesus, as the adopted son of Joseph, was heir to the throne of Israel both legally and by blood through his mother Mary. Matthew was a Jew writing his gospel for the Jews to prove to them that Jesus was the Messiah and the genealogy of Jesus was a key part of that proof. Another proof to the Jews was showing Old Testament prophecies being fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Over 60 prophecies about the coming Messiah, the Christ, were fulfilled in the life of Jesus and documented as a historical fact. Most important of all, Matthew wrote his gospel of the life and ministry of Jesus to preserve his eyewitness testimony that Jesus Christ is the long awaited King of Israel.

There’s another thing I’d like to point out in 2 Samuel 7:16, that some people miss. We all know at his second coming Jesus will set up his millennium kingdom on earth for 1000 years and Jesus will rule in heaven forever. In the above verse God twice says the throne of King David will be established forever and when God says something twice in the same verse it’s important for us to understand. We assume that King David’s throne will be accomplished through Jesus. While this is true, in the above verse God is speaking directly to King David when he adds the words, “before you,” at the end of his statement about the kingdom. We’re all going to live forever in God’s kingdom but for God to use the Old Testament terminology, “before you,” is telling me King David will be there in a ruling capacity. If God had used the words, “after you,” instead of, “before you,” then King David would probably have no part in ruling the kingdom to come. It’s clear to me that King David’s importance in the kingdom of God has been firmly established by scripture and he will be second only to Jesus himself. As Jesus’ deputy I fully expect King David to oversee day to day operations of the millennial kingdom.

The trinity is one of the hardest concepts for unbelievers to understand about the Christian faith so don’t broach the subject initially when you witness for Christ unless you’re asked about it. There’s plenty of time later to discuss the trinity. The Bible itself doesn’t name, declare or define the triune Godhead as such. This name was given by men to better understand the concept. The Bible just speaks about each person in the Godhead as an accepted matter of fact like it’s no big deal. The Bible takes the same approach when stating the Bible is God’s Word. Each person in the trinity is mentioned often in the Bible and we have to pay attention in order to understand which person is being referenced. Probably the best illustration of the triune Godhead is in Mark 1:9-11, at the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River, where we see all three persons of the trinity present at the same time.

Mark 1:9-11 – It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He (Jesus) saw the heavens parting and the Spirit (Holy Spirit) descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven (God speaking), “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

If anyone ever tells you they don’t believe in the trinity refer them to Mark 1:9-11. We can believe in God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit without knowing everything about them. The same holds true for believing there is one God existing in three persons, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We know God cannot lie and the Bible is the unerring truth of God so by faith we must believe in the trinity even though we may not fully understand it. We won’t have perfect knowledge of the spiritual world until we get to heaven and probably not even then.

Mark 1:23-24 – Now there was a man in their synagogue with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are-the Holy One of God!”

Mark 1:34 – Then He (Jesus) healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and He did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew Him.

Mark 3:11 – And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw Him (Jesus), fell down before Him and cried out, saying, You are the Son of God.”

Mark 5:7 – And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”

In Mark, Jesus has several interesting encounters with people who were possessed by demons. In every instance the demons knew Jesus immediately by name as the Son of God and were fearful of being tormented or destroyed which means they recognized Jesus’ authority over them. Since demons are spirit beings that confirms Jesus is also Spirit. In our physical world we can see and recognize people but we can’t see invisible spirit beings but demons can recognize other spirit beings on either side of the veil. Demons are fallen angels who once served Jesus as part of the host of heaven so, of course, they will recognize Jesus as soon as they see him. These encounters Jesus had with demons are well documented and serve as further proof that Jesus is the Son of God.

Mark 9:25 – He (Jesus) rebuked the unclean spirit , saying to it: “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”

The disciples tried unsuccessfully to remove the demon from this person so they brought him to Jesus. Jesus told them this kind of spirit can only be removed by prayer and fasting. Notice that the demon was deaf so he couldn’t hear the disciples command to come out of the man anyway. Only the Spirit of Jesus could see and know this demon was deaf and dumb and only God’s Spirit and voice of authority could communicate with the demon and cause him to come out of the man. Jesus didn’t need to speak his command to the demon verbally. That was done for the benefit of Jesus’ disciples and those standing nearby so that they would believe and God would be glorified. Demons are much more powerful than human beings and this demon would obey only the command of God himself so the fact that Jesus successfully removed the demon is another proof Jesus is God. When spirit beings like God, the angels and demons look upon us they see more than our physical bodies. Our invisible spirit is like a neon sign to them. They see the real us, our eternal spirit. We each have a unique spirit like nobody else’s in much the same way as our fingerprints are different from anyone else’s on earth. In the spirit world we’ll be recognizable as individuals, who we really are, and not some indiscriminate shimmer of light like some people think.

Mark 1:1 – The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Mark 1:2-3 – “Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight. ‘ ”

Isaiah 40:3 – The voice of one crying in the wilderness: prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

In the Old Testament the title Lord always refers to God (because Jesus wasn’t around yet) whereas in the New Testament the title Lord could refer to either Jesus or God. In Mark 1:1, the author is letting us know his gospel is about Jesus Christ. Mark 1:2-3, is a restatement of Isaiah 40:3, which means John the Baptist is the forerunner of God himself who will physically walk the earth. In the above verse the prophet Isaiah states that the Messiah will be God. Mark is indirectly letting us know in Mark 1:2-3, that Jesus is both Messiah and God by referencing the Old Testament scripture of Isaiah 40:3, to call Jesus Lord. Many places in the Bible acknowledge Jesus as God as an accepted fact the same way the Bible assumes we all know the author of the Bible is God.

When you read the word Jesus in the Bible automatically say to yourself, “Jesus is God.” For the life of me I can’t understand people who say they believe in God but they don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God or that Jesus is God. The Bible says clearly that Jesus is God. There’s only one God but the triune Godhead exists in three persons, God the Father, God the Son who is Jesus Christ, and God the Holy Spirit, who is sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. I know it’s confusing but that’s what proves to me it’s the truth. Anyone making up a fake religion would have come up with something much easier for the the weak-minded to understand.

Malachi 3:1 – Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming, says the Lord of Hosts.

The above verse verifies God is coming to earth himself and will be identified by John the Baptist. The verse says God will physically enter his temple and usher in the new blood covenant which we know Jesus did both of those things. While God doesn’t shout from the pages of the Bible, “Jesus is God!” nether does he try to hide it. For those who have eyes let them read and understand. For those who have ears let them hear and understand.

Exodus 23:20-21 – Behold. I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him.

Jesus sometimes appeared in the Old Testament as an Angel and the capitalization in the above verse means the angel is Jesus. The phrase, “to keep you in the way.” means to save you and, “bring you into the place I have prepared,” means taking you to heaven. Beware means to watch for his coming and, “obey His voice,” means to repent of your sins and accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. By his use of the phrase, “He will not pardon your transgressions,” God is making it abundantly clear that he’ll not be the one forgiving sins but Jesus only. Most importantly, the last phrase in the above verses tells us Jesus is the coming Messiah who will save his people and his other name is God. God saying “My name is in Him,” is simply another way of God saying, “I am Jesus.”

Even in the wilderness God was telling the Israelites that he would one day come to earth in the flesh and save them unto eternal life, although God was referring to the second coming of Christ. The first coming of Christ was primarily to save the Gentiles and set up the kingdom of God on earth. If anyone tells you Jesus is not God please refer them to the Old Testament scriptures of Isaiah 40:3, Malachi 3:1, and Exodus 23:20-21, for their knowledge and understanding. Do it gently so as to not offend. There are dozens of scriptures in the Bible that refer to Jesus as God so it’s not exactly a secret. The problem is most people don’t take the time to actually study the Bible as they should. For those who have eyes let them see and understand. For those who have ears let them hear and understand.

John 10:30 – I and My Father are one.

Matthew 1:22-23 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

If each of us made a list of our genealogy it would ultimately lead back to Adam, the first man. Since God created Adam he is Adam’s father and, by extension, our father as well. Like any father God loves his children dearly. God made all of creation for our benefit. God has given us his Word, the Bible, which is the wisdom of God so that we might know him and the salvation plan he has for us. The Bible is essentially God’s love letter to us. Every book of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation reveals God’s love for us through the revelation of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, coming down to the earth from heaven to redeem fallen mankind from their sins by his sacrificial death on the cross in our place. The Old Testament is Christ prophesied and the New Testament is Christ fulfilled. There are over 1000 prophecies in the Old Testament, over 500 of which have been fulfilled in the New Testament and documented as fact. Over 60 of those prophecies were about Christ and Jesus fulfilled each one which proves beyond any doubt Jesus is the Son of God. This is to prove God is who he says he is and the Bible is the truth of God.

Less than 10% of Christians who attend church regularly have read the entire bible and fewer still actually study God’s Word. How can we get to know God better if we don’t read his Word? How can we please God if we don’t know his commandments and obey them? God’s chosen way to talk to us is through his Word and if we make the conscious decision not to read the Bible we’ve chosen not to communicate with God. How crazy is that? While it’s important for Christians to to read the entire Bible, it’s critical that they read the gospels because therein lies the central theme of the Bible; the whole point of creation and human history, which is the restoration of man’s lost fellowship with God. When Adam disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden that sin was imputed to every person who came after him. We are all born with a sin nature from Adam. We can’t wash the sin away or rub it off or do enough good works to make it go away. We’re branded with this sin and headed for spiritual death in the lake of fire because a just God has decreed that the wages of sin is death.

Our only hope is that a merciful God will save us. God is love and the magnitude of God encompasses a love for us greater than we’ll ever know or fully understand this side of heaven. A love so great that God was willing to step down from his throne in heaven, take on on human flesh in the incarnation of Jesus Christ and die a horrible death on the cross in our place so that we might have eternal life in heaven in his presence. Only God met the qualifications of a sinless sacrifice and only God can impute his righteousness to all men which results in eternal life. God loves us that much! If God loves me enough to die for me I can at least glorify God by reading about the story of my salvation contained in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ as chronicled in the gospel books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Praise God for his love, mercy and grace!

John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Matthew 1:22-23 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

John 1:14 – And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us…full of grace and truth.

Luke 19:10 – For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

John 10:30 – (Jesus speaking) – I and My Father are one.

Matthew 26:28 – (Jesus speaking) – For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

John 14:16 – (Jesus speaking) – I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:23 – (Jesus speaking) – If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.

John 3:36 – He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

John 12:48 – (Jesus speaking) – He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him – the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

As my thoughts turn to God I fully understand my finite mind cannot even begin to comprehend the true magnitude of God. That doesn’t stop me from trying to learn all I can about God. I know a little bit about God now from what he has revealed to us. In heaven I’ll know a lot more about God but even with an eternity to plumb the depths of God I’ll never come close to knowing all that God is and I’m okay with that. God has always existed. Think about the untold billions of years God had to plan creation before he spoke it into existence. Every last detail was thought out and planned from beginning to end before God pressed the start button. God does as he pleases therefore he is never surprised. If you don’t believe in God or you’re unsure what to believe you’re in luck. This is the blog site for you because I’ve investigated all the evidence and it’s an irrefutable fact that God exists, or as God says, “I AM”. Let me refer you to the first fifty or so blogs on this site for those proofs of God. If you have an open mind and are searching for the truth you’ll find it there.

We’re real and our life is not an illusion as some religions suggest. If you want proof just pinch yourself. As far as we know we’re the only intelligent life form in the universe and we live on the only water planet in the cosmos capable of sustaining life. I see only two possible reasons for us to be here. Either we randomly evolved from a single cell life form into a human being comprised of 75 trillion specialized cells organized into specific biosystems all necessary for life to exist and complete with a brain that is the greatest computer in the known universe or God created us and placed us here on earth. The first scenario is a bridge too far for me. The odds against us evolving from the primordial ooze are so high it’s virtually impossible so that leaves us with God as the only logical answer for our existence. The theory of evolution is linear going from the simpler to the more complex. Evolution cannot allow for excess capacity; you evolve only what’s needed to survive. It’s a nice theory but there’s no proof to back it up. Most people only believe in evolution because we’re brainwashed by our education system all our lives to the point where everyone believes the lie. A look at the evidence exposes the lie.

How can evolution explain the fact that man only uses 10% of his brain capacity and how can we explain why human beings developed an excess brain capacity of 90% in the first place? I know the answer. God created Adam with 100% brain capacity but after Adam’s fall from the Garden of Eden and sin entered the world man’s brain usage was reduced by God to 10% of its capacity. Man’s brainpower will be restored to 100% in heaven. Now that we know that God created the universe and everything in it let’s ask the most important question; WHY? We know that God is never wrong, never makes a mistake, never changes his mind and always has a reason and a plan for everything he does. God is the ultimate planner down to the most minute detail and the evidence is in creation itself. There are over 300,000 different species of beetles on earth. That much variety isn’t possible with evolution. Microscopic E. Coli bacteria are propelled by a rotating universal joint that’s a masterpiece of engineering. Biosystems work together as a whole or they don’t work at all so evolution in not a possibility. Who other than God could show this much attention to detail in the natural world? There’s no other logical explanation for what we see in nature other than God created the universe just as he said.

We also know that God created all the millions of angels in heaven at one time and gave them free will. As a result, one third of the angels rebelled against God and there was sin and war in heaven. Lucifer and his fallen angels were defeated and thrown to earth. God then created man and placed him upon the earth with the free will to decide whether to serve God or Satan. This way any rebellion against God will be on earth so that those who go to heaven will enter without sin and will be unable to sin once there. There’s no way God was ever again going to allow sin or war to enter heaven. God has given us his Word, our Holy Bible, so that we can know God and gain the knowledge, understanding and wisdom needed to make the right decision as to our destiny. God gave us our eternal spirit at conception which means we’ll live forever. There’s no turning back for us; it’s now heaven or bust. We need to comprehend fully what that means. A hundred billion years is the blink of an eye in eternity. It’s up to us to decide whether we spend that eternity joyfully in the presence of God in heaven or in pain and agony in the lake of fire along with Satan and his fallen angels. The Bible tells us what we need to know to choose rightly. One last point; our “testing time” on earth to decide whether to serve God ends the moment our heart stops beating. If we haven’t accepted God’s gift of salvation by that time our fate is sealed and we’ll go to hell. There is no do-over or second chance so don’t delay. Now is the time of your salvation! Look up the “sinner’s prayer” on the internet and repeat that prayer to God as soon as possible to ensure your place in heaven. I hope to meet you there some day!

All those Catholics praying to Mary are just spitting into the wind. As the mother of Jesus, Mary is a blessed human being with a special place in heaven. Mary was born into this world with a sin nature from Adam’s fall like all of us were. As a young woman God selected Mary to be the mother of Jesus but that doesn’t make her divine. The early Catholic church adopted a lot of pagan traditions and one of those was mother goddess worship which has evolved into making Mary divine and sinless from birth. This in unscriptural. The Bible says you are to pray to God directly and in Jesus’ name. So if you disobey God and pray to Mary that means your prayers won’t be answered. Your prayers are falling on deaf ears.

In their arrogance and pride, the Catholic Pope and his priests have established the church doctrine of making Mary divine and requiring members to take their prayers directly to Mary. Supposedly Mary receives everyone’s prayers because Jesus is too busy to receive them himself directly. Mary then sorts through the prayers and takes them to Jesus. What a bunch of hogwash! Although Mary is in heaven she’s just a human being like us and has no special ability or capacity to hear the prayers of everyone on earth. In that regard Mary is no different than you or me. If you or I died and went to heaven could we hear the prayers of everyone on earth? No, of course not! Jesus is God and only God can hear the thoughts of every person on earth simultaneously. In addition, how can God be too busy when he’s omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent? A bird doesn’t fall from the sky without God seeing it. In the gospel of Luke Mary says she is the maidservant of the Lord and blessed to be chosen as the mother of Jesus. Mary admits to her lowly state (i.e. a human being) while acknowledging Jesus as her Savior. If Mary were divine she’d not be in a lowly state and she’d have no need of a Savior. The only divine being in the universe is God. It’s blasphemy to call Mary divine and to worship her as such.

Luke 1:46-47 – And Mary said: My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.

By having their members pray to Mary the Catholic church, by intent or through ignorance, has insured that the prayers of the faithful are not heard by God. The Bible says we’re to pray directly to God in Jesus’ name and to go to God for the forgiveness of our sins. God’s Word is perfect and God cannot lie so how did the Catholic church arrive at this unscriptural doctrine? Why are Catholics told to confess their sins to a priest in a confessional booth and ask his forgiveness when the priest himself is a sinful human being? It’s because the Pope has the audacity to usurp God’s power and steal his glory by saying the Pope knows better than God on all issues relating to Christianity. Isn’t it obvious our prayers won’t be heard or answered by God and our sins won’t be forgiven if we disobey the prescribed way to communicate with God on these matters? Why has this happened in the Catholic church? Satan long ago infiltrated and corrupted the Catholic church. In fact, Satan has owned the Catholic church lock, stock and barrel for at least the last 1400 years, Over time, Satan has inspired and instituted virtually every Catholic church doctrine and they’re all the exact opposite of what God wants and commands us to do. Satan likes to fly under the radar and go undetected but with the Catholic church he couldn’t help himself. Satan had to totally corrupt the Catholic church which left his fingerprints everywhere as proof of his existence to those of us who are observant. For those who have eyes, let them see and understand.

I find it amazing that there are 1.5 billion Catholics in the world and they all, for the most part, accept and obey the doctrines of the church when those doctrines are all the exact opposite of what God commands in his Word. I don’t get it. The proof is right there in God’s Word in plain language everyone can read and understand. Now, either Catholics don’t know what’s in the Bible and haven’t read the Bible or they listen to and believe what the Catholic clergy has been telling them about God and they’ve been totally indoctrinated and brainwashed since birth to blindly follow the Pope’s directions. How else can you account for people praying to a human being instead of God Himself? How else can you account for people sitting in a box and asking forgiveness of their sins from another sinful human being who also needs forgiveness? The Bible and our commonsense both confirm that there is one eternal God in heaven who made us all and only God can receive prayers and act on them because he is omnipotent. Sin is disobeying God so only God can forgive our sins because only God can determine who gets eternal life in heaven or hell based on our sins.

Catholics who have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior will inherit eternal life in heaven in the presence of Almighty God. However, those Catholics who disobey God in favor of following the doctrines of the Catholic church established by sinful men full of pride with their own corrupt agenda will lose their reward.

Catholics who pray to Mary and ask priests to forgive their sins gain nothing and offend God. Their sins are still with them and will remain with them until they go to God directly and ask for their sins to be forgiven. Imagine all those Catholics praying to Mary and going to confession thinking all their sins are being forgiven when all the time their sins keep piling up in heaven and when they get to heaven they’re still accountable for that mountain of unforgiven sin because they didn’t go to God directly for forgiveness as he commanded. Catholics who reduce Jesus to a cookie during mass are not really making Jesus Lord of their life. They are just paying lip service to Jesus. Their discipleship to Christ is meaningless so they will lose their reward. Satan has, in effect, handcuffed the Catholic church and all its members and made them ineffective workers in the kingdom of God. Catholics who go to heaven will weep at how the Pope and Satan duped them and they’ll mourn their lost opportunity to have served God while on earth. If you include the Apostle Peter as the first Pope as the Catholic church claims (which I don’t) then Pope Francis is Pope number 266. Mark my words, we’ll all be present on the last day when the vast majority of the Popes will stand in judgment before the wrath of God for leading their congregations away from the truth of God. The first will be last and the last will be first. I’d be surprised if more than a handful of the earlier Popes make it to heaven. The power of the church really started to exert itself over Christianity with the papacy of Gregory the Great (590-604 AD). Absolute power corrupts absolutely. All the Popes after Gregory have continued to support and create unscriptural Catholic church doctrine and ultimately they will wind up being thrown into the lake of fire for their sins.