Facts about the Future

To Him Who Overcomes

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It is recorded in several places in Scripture that one day there will be an almost complete reversal of the ranking of mankind so that those who are now last will become first, and those who are now first will become last. What is it that will determine a person’s ranking in society at that time?

Matthew 19 records that Jesus said that those who are first will be last, and the last will be first. He had stated this principle earlier in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5) where He said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

There are two groups of people involved in this rearrangement of society. Revelation 21:5–7 describes one group: “ ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done!’ I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.’ ”

Verse 8 describes the other group: “ ‘But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.’ ”

These two groups are again described in Revelation 22:14, 15, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

Revelation 21:5–7 tells us that the one who is promised salvation and an inheritance is the one who overcomes. In the messages to the seven churches (Revelation 2 and 3), every church is given a promise, if they overcome.

Ephesus – “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7

Smyrna – “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” Verse 11

Pergamos – “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.” Verse 17

Thyatira – “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father.” Verses 26, 27

Sardis – “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” Revelation 3:5

Philadelphia – “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.” Verse 12

Laodicea – “To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” Verse 21

The church at Pergamos is known as the compromising church. There are many people today who worship in compromising churches, and to them the Lord is saying that if they overcome, they will be given hidden manna to eat.

What is this hidden manna? We find the story of the children of Israel wandering in the wilderness in Exodus 16. They had no water to drink and no food to eat, but the Lord promised them that He would provide water and send them food from heaven. And the Lord promised each morning for six days a small, round substance, like white coriander seed, like wafers made with honey, that the people were to gather for food. Not knowing what it was, they called it manna which means “What is it?”

What was this manna and what is the difference between it and the hidden manna spoken of in Revelation 2:17? Jesus answered that question for us in John 6:47–51. “Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Of course, the Jews got a little miffed when He said that, and they said, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?” Jesus responded, “My flesh truly is food, My blood truly is drink. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” They were accusing Jesus of teaching cannibalism, but Jesus was using symbolic language. Verse 63 makes it very clear what He was talking about. “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.” Jesus wasn’t talking about literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood. The Bible attributes many names to Jesus and one of those names, found in John 1, is “The Word of God.”

The manna sent to the children of Israel in the wilderness was physical food meant to sustain the body during their wandering. But the hidden manna is Jesus, the true Bread that will give you eternal life if you eat it, and you do this by consuming His word. The word of God is powerful. It is powerful to recreate in a person new life, new desires, a new spirit, a new mind. To consume the Bread of God means receiving Jesus into your life and then living by His word.

When Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted, the devil tempted Him to turn stones into bread (Matthew 4:3, 4). But Jesus’ response was, “… ‘It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” ’ ”

To be in the kingdom of heaven, to have salvation, to live forever, you must eat the word of God, receiving it into your mind and heart, and then living according to that word. If you live according to the word, then you have received the hidden manna, and your life will be changed; you will be given a new name.

These days, there’s not much in a name. Most people name their children after someone famous or an ancestor or a character in a book or movie, because it sounds nice. But from the beginning of earth’s history, a person was given a name because it expressed something about the person. The Bible records some of these names. For instance, Jesu or Jesus means a Saviour or Deliverer. Elijah, that mighty Old Testament prophet, means Jehovah is my God. Daniel, who wrote so extensively about judgment, means God is my judge.

When you receive the word of God into your life, when your life is changed, then your new name will be in harmony with the character that you have developed; and as promised to the overcomer of the church of Ephesus, you will eat again of the tree of life.

Looking at the promise to the church of Thyatira, the Lord said that the overcomer would “rule over the nations with a rod of iron.” We see this in both the Old and New Testaments. Psalm 2:7–9 says, “ ‘I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, You are My Son. Today I have begotten You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron: You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”

Speaking of what would happen at the end of the world, Isaiah 11:4 says, “But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.”

In Revelation 19:13–16, John writes in symbolic language about the Second Coming of Christ, “He [Jesus] was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called the Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 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. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: king of kings and lord of lords.”

There is coming a time when everything in this world is going to be completely reversed. Today, there are people who believe in Christ—the overcomers—all over the world being persecuted, oppressed, and in great difficulty. However, when all things are overturned, they will be delivered, because their names are found written in His book, whereas those who may seem now to have all the power and money and fame, but who are not overcomers, will, when Christ comes, be destroyed.

Those imprisoned, persecuted and in all manner of trouble, but who love the Lord and obey His law, because of the promise given to the people in the church at Thyatira, will fulfill what Jesus said, “So the last will be first, and the first will be last. For many are called, but few are chosen.”

One other thing was promised to the overcomer of the church of Thyatira: “And I will give him the morning star.” Revelation 2:28

This is one of the most wonderful promises in the Bible. Friends, who and what is the Morning Star? Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:19, “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts.”

“ ‘I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.’ ” Revelation 22:16.

Jesus is the Morning Star. If you are an overcomer, you will have the Morning Star in your heart, the character of Christ will become your character.

What are we to overcome, and how do we do it? The Bible makes this very clear. First, John says in 1 John 5:4, that he that “is born of God overcomes the world.” Then he says, speaking of the world, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:15–17

The lust of the flesh (desire for unlawful sexual pleasure), the lust of the eyes (desire for possessions), the pride of life, and the desire for the praise and approbation of men, all are pleasing to the worldly man. However, these are the very things that must be overcome and eliminated from the life of the born-again child of God.

To be an overcomer, one must overcome the world, for everyone who is born of God overcomes the world. But how? “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:7, 8

Paul expressed the same principle in Ephesians 4:27–29: “Nor give place to the devil. Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.”

Both Paul and James say to resist the devil and make no room in our lives for him. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:11, 12, just how to do that. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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.”

And Peter is just as direct, “Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

We do not have to chase after the things of the world nor yield to the temptations put before us. The Holy Spirit can and will give us the power to overcome all of them. Paul dwells upon this repeatedly in his epistles. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.” Romans 8:1–9, first part

Friends, we must seek the new birth experience, to fill ourselves with the Holy Spirit, so that the devil can find no place in us for him to dwell anymore. The Holy Spirit is waiting to create in us a new heart and a new spirit so that we may overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil and that we may have eternal life.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Who Will be Saved and Who Will be Lost

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In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said that in the last days not everyone who wants to go to heaven would be allowed entrance. Many of those who consider themselves His followers would be denied entrance to the kingdom. But what is the deciding factor that determines who will be saved and who will be lost?

The book of Revelation teaches us that heaven is for the overcomer. “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful.’ And He said to me, ‘It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.’ ” Revelation 21:5–7

Those who do not overcome are described in verse 8: “But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

We see something very similar to this in Revelation 22:14, 15. “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.”

Verse 16 tells us, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.” So we see that Jesus Himself is describing these two very different classes of people.

John’s letters to the seven churches, found in Revelation 2 and 3, lay out the Lord’s message to all of His professed followers in the Christian dispensation.

Speaking to the church of Ephesus, he says, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7. The person who overcomes is promised the ability to eat of the fruit of the tree of life.

The tree of life is alluded to in the very first chapters of the Bible. “The Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.’ ” Genesis 2:16, 17

The Lord planted all manner of plants and trees to be food for Adam and Eve to eat, and they could eat of everything, as they pleased, except for the one tree. The Bible tells us in Genesis 3 that the woman, Eve, entered into conversation with a creature that looked like a serpent, but was the devil, called in Revelation a dragon and that serpent of old, in disguise. “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, “You shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” ’ And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.” ’ And the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ ” Genesis 3:1–5

The devil is a liar and always has been (John 8:44). However in this one thing he told the truth—once Adam and Eve had eaten the fruit of the tree, they did know good from evil. But when he told Eve that they would not die, this was a lie, for the Bible does not say that the soul of man is immortal. In fact, it says, “The soul who sins shall die.” Ezekiel 18:20, first part

“[W]hen the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Genesis 3:6. As a result of their disobedience, Adam and Eve were driven from the garden, no longer allowed access to the tree of life, and they along with all of their descendants became subject to death.

After pronouncing a curse upon the serpent, we see God speak to Adam, “He said, ‘Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, “You shall not eat of it”: ‘Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. … In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return.’ ” Genesis 3:17, 19

Adam was terrified when he heard the pronouncement that he would return to dust. “Then the Lord God said, ‘Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever’—therefore the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” Genesis 3:22–24

So Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden that day and not a single member of the human race has been allowed back to eat of the tree of life.

The early generations of mankind would live for a very long time—several hundred years—and unless a person was murdered, such as Abel was by his brother Cain, people lived so long the Bible tells us that there were nine generations alive on the earth at the same time before the Flood (see Genesis 5).

But after the Flood, man’s lifespan rapidly decreased so that by the twentieth generation, instead of living several hundred years, people only lived between one and two hundred years. Within a relatively short time after that, most people lived less than a hundred years until finally, as we find in the Psalms, the term of a man’s life had degenerated to around seventy years of age.

As many people have said, we scarcely start to live until we begin to die. And the truth is, that after sin entered the world, we began a downward slide from birth to death in just a few, short years. However, we have the divine promise that, if we are overcomers, we will once again be allowed access to the tree of life, whose fruit perpetuates life, and we need no longer fear death.

The second church John wrote to, the church of Smyrna, the Lord gave special promises regarding the problem of death. Smyrna was a persecuted church and many of its believers were martyred for the cause of Christ.

The Lord told them, “ ‘Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.’ ” Revelation 2:10, 11

In this world, regardless of whether we are good or bad, whatever our situation is, we all—except those alive at the second coming—will die the first death, because the Bible says, “[I]t is appointed for men to die once, … after this the judgment … .” Hebrews 9:27. But when Jesus comes, all those who are His children—all those who are overcomers—will be raised and given eternal life.

We find a description of this resurrection in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then they who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

All who have died in Christ will be raised from the dead and all who have lived in Christ and are alive at His coming will be gathered to Him. 1 Corinthians 15:53–55 tells us what happens to this group of people: “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?’ ”

But what happens to those who do not die in Christ, those who do not overcome, those who have not chosen to follow Him? “And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’ ” Revelation 6:15–17

Once God’s children have been gathered into the clouds to be with Him and the wicked who are alive are destroyed by the brightness of His coming, Revelation 20 tells us, “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished.” Verses 1–3

In verse 5, the Bible tells us what happens to the wicked who have died before Christ’s coming. It says, “But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished.” So, those who died before His coming, but did not die in Christ, will not be saved. They will not be raised when He returns, and the Bible says they will not live again until the millennium is finished.

If you are part of the first resurrection, verse 6 says, “Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.” Sin and death have no power over you anymore.

At the end of the thousand years, all of the unsaved will be raised.

“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades [the grave] delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Verses 11–15

Friend, if your name is not written in the book of life, you will not have eternal life; but if you are an overcomer, you will not be hurt by the second death. You will be taken to heaven to live with the Lord.

“Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:28, 29

Speaking about those who would be raised to the resurrection of life, Jesus said, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age … and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” Luke 20:34–36

In the day of his great trial and distress, Job looked forward to that time, and said, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth.” Job 19:25

Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, predicted this same event. “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” Jude 14, last part, 15

Paul wrote that when the Lord would come, some would be saved while others would be lost. And writing to Timothy, he said, “Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me at that day, and not to me only but also to all who love His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8

Revelation teaches that eternal life, heaven, and salvation are the reward of the one who overcomes. So what exactly must we overcome so that we can be in the kingdom of heaven?

The Bible is very specific about this. “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them [false spirits], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them. We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the Spirit of error.” 1 John 4:4–6

Then John comes more directly to the point, “Whoever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4

What is John talking about when he says, “He that is born of God overcomes the world?” He explains himself in 1 John 2:15, 16: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”

So what is in the world?

“The lust of the flesh” – the desire for unlawful sensual pleasure.

“The lust of the eyes” – the desire for possessions.

“The pride of life” – the desire for the praise and approbation of men.

Paul summarizes what the flesh causes men to do in Galatians 5:19–21, “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Paul spells out exactly what the works of the flesh are, and over and over again he makes it clear that we must overcome them if we are to be in the kingdom of God. But if we have received the Holy Spirit, something completely different will happen in our lives. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Verses 22–25

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–11

The gospel is the most wonderful thing in the world. It can take people who have been involved in any kind of sin, and transform their lives so that they are no longer a slave to their evil habits and they will receive power to overcome.

“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us that were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? … [K]nowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. … Likewise, you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present yourselves as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.” Romans 6:1–3, 6, 11–14

Friend, there will be only two categories of people when Jesus comes: those who are part of the resurrection to eternal life, and those who are part of the resurrection to condemnation. Which category will you be in?

[Emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Grace or Works?

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The Bible says that a person is saved by grace, but that they will be judged by their works. Can both of those statements be true?

The Bible states that there will be a judgment of the entire world and that God will judge both the righteous and the wicked. Moses wrote about the judgment in Deuteronomy 32, and it is found throughout the New Testament. Prophets and apostles spoke or wrote of the judgment over and over again. It is one of the most prominent teachings in the Bible.

The apostle Paul wrote a lot about the judgment. He had the opportunity to preach about it to the philosophers in Athens. There is an appointed day when God will judge the world. “Because He [God] has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31

On another occasion, he presented the subject of the judgment to the Roman governor Felix. This was a once-and-only-once opportunity to speak to Felix. “After some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.’ ” Acts 24:24, 25. Unfortunately for Felix, like for so many people who procrastinate, that convenient time never came. Felix was given an opportunity that day to forsake his evil ways and to be made ready for the judgment, but he let it go by disregarded.

In this world, it is a judge’s responsibility to pass judgment based upon a set standard by which that judgment is determined. This standard is composed of the laws passed by the local, state and federal governments.

God also has a standard, a law made up of ten commandments (Exodus 20:3–17), and it is according to this law that He will judge the world on the appointed day.

This is described in James 2:10–12: “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.”

James makes this very clear: while there are ten commandments, the Bible speaks of them as one law. So, if a person breaks just one of the ten commandments, that person is a transgressor of God’s law and will be judged according to that law.

God spoke the law with His own voice to the children of Israel, and He wrote it with His own finger on tables of stone. Those tables of stone were given to Moses and placed in the ark of the covenant, in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary.

When God spoke His law to the children of Israel, it was not the beginning or the origin of the law. Man knew from the time sin entered the world that it was not right to kill someone. It was wrong to lie, even all the way back to Lucifer’s campaign of deception in heaven. The Sabbath was established and sanctified at the end of the Creation week and had been observed by God’s people for thousands of years before the law was written down at Mt. Sinai. The children of Israel had spent many years in captivity in Egypt, and during their captivity, they neglected to teach their children about God’s law. This made it necessary for God to remind them of the law they had once faithfully followed.

God wrote the law, the ten commandments, on tables of stone, and it is significant that He did so. Writing with His own finger in solid rock, it showed that the character of His law was permanent, enduring—it could not be done away with. To express the everlasting nature of God’s law, Jesus said, “it is easier for heaven and earth to pass” than for a single part of a letter to pass from the law (Luke 16:17).

This presents to us a problem. We have all broken that law. “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness [transgression KJV].” 1 John 3:4. “[For] all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

So if all have sinned, if all have broken the law, and if all are to be judged by that law, then we all deserve to be judged guilty. Is it possible for us to escape the penalty of our sins?

First, let’s see what the penalty for breaking God’s law is. We find that in Romans 6:23 Paul wrote, “The wages of sin is death.” If the wages of sin were a ten-year prison sentence, then you could pay that penalty yourself. But the wages of sin is eternal, permanent death. Is there any way that we can escape this penalty?

If the penalty for sin is eternal death, then the only way of escape is if someone else pays the price. And that is exactly what Jesus Christ did. “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures … .” 1 Corinthians 15:3. Christ died and paid the penalty for our sins.

However, if we continue in sin, there is no chance that we will receive salvation. Notice what the Bible says: “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil. Though a sinner does evil a hundred times, and his days are prolonged, yet I surely know that it will be well for those who fear God, who fear before Him. But it will not be well with the wicked … . ” Ecclesiastes 8:11–13, first part

We cannot continue to live in sin and expect to be saved. Isaiah speaks to this principle, “Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for the reward of his hands shall be given him.” Isaiah 3:10, 11

We cannot be saved in our sin. There is only one way that we can be saved and that is to be saved from our sins. This was proclaimed before Jesus’ birth. The angel said to Joseph, “You can marry your wife, because, that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she is going to bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus because He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21

How exactly does God save a sinner from their sin? One of the most comprehensive explanations of how God does this is found in the book of Romans. “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Christ Jesus, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:21–26

A scripture like that might cause some people to say, “That just sounds like theological talk. I don’t understand how it works. I don’t understand how or what to do. I can’t explain or understand all that theological language. Can’t you just tell it to me in simple language?”

Yes, the gospel can be stated in very simple language.

The first step is to repent—to be sorry enough for the sins we’ve committed that we turn away from them. “Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a Godly manner. What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.” 2 Corinthians 7:10, 11

Repentance is the first step in salvation, but what is it that makes a person sorry for what they have done? The Bible says that it is the goodness of God that leads a person to repentance (Romans 2).

Since the Bible is clear that all have sinned, then everyone in the world needs to repent. Paul further supports this in Acts 17:30. Speaking to the philosophers in Athens he says, “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent.” Remember, repentance is simply being sorry enough to quit doing the sinful things they do. Genuine sorrow for sin gives no excuse for it. Unlike Adam and Eve who both tried to justify what they had done, the sin will be faced and confessed.

Once we have repented from our sins, the next step is to confess our sins. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. Confession involves not only God, but the individual we have wronged. We must go to that person to confess and make it right. Ezekiel talks about the necessity of making things right in Ezekiel 33:15. “If the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has stolen, and walks in the statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live; he shall not die.” So confession also involves making restitution. If I have wronged someone, and if it is possible to do so, then I must make it right.

Having repented, confessed, and made restoration, one must make a commitment. Remember the story of the Philippian jailor found in Acts 16: “ ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ ” Verses 30, 31

The word “believe” is usually translated and used to mean faith, to believe something enough to make a commitment to it. In this case, you believe in the Lord enough to make a commitment to Him; to believe in Jesus, not only as your Saviour from sin, but as the Lord of your life.

Jesus explained this belief to the Jews in so simple a manner, that none could misunderstand. “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and you do not do what I say?” Luke 6:46. If you make a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ, trusting in Him as your Saviour from sin, choosing to follow Him, then your faith will be accounted for righteousness and you will receive the gift of salvation. Faith is simply trusting in God enough to make a commitment to Him as your Lord, Master, and Saviour; then you just follow Him. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Luke 9:23 tells us, “ ‘If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.’ ” Making a commitment to accept Jesus as your Saviour and the Lord of your life, means denying self.

By denying self, we surrender to the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts to transform our sinful nature so that we can, by the power and grace of God, become like Christ—to ultimately have a Christlike character. “He who says he abides in Him, ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” 1 John 2:6. This means that we will live the way Jesus did.

We are not to simply make a profession of faith or belief. Rather we are to repent, confess, make restitution, and then commit to actually following Jesus. A wonderful promise is given to us when we follow these steps to salvation. “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission [forgiveness] of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

The Bible says that by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body. Baptism by water is a symbol of being baptized by [receiving] the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:16, 17 that when we receive the Holy Spirit, we become a new creation. “Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” The Holy Spirit creates in us a new mind, a new Spirit, making everything new. Then He will enable us to follow Christ in righteous, holy living; something we could never do ourselves.

The apostle Paul explains this all in greater detail in Romans 8:1–14. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” With a new heart, a new mind, and a new Spirit, we are enabled to live a new life, one patterned after Christ’s own life.

This is why the final judgment is based on works. We are saved by grace, but we must then exhibit the corresponding works of a transformed life. Our works are an outward expression of an inward change. Without the transformation of the Holy Spirit, we will continue to live a life according to the flesh and our works will, in the judgment, condemn us, because it will be clear that we have not received the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has said that no one can be in the kingdom of heaven unless they have received the Holy Spirit. “ ‘… Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.’ … ‘… Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.’ ” John 3:3, 5. “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. … But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16, 22–25

We can only receive the Holy Spirit if we choose to follow and obey Jesus. But when we receive the Holy Spirit, when He enables us to live a new life of faith, then in the judgment, when our works are examined, they will not be found to be the works of the old unconverted man, but the works of a life transformed by the saving power of the Holy Spirit. [Emphasis supplied.]

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Is My Name Written There?

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Revelation 22:11 and 12 imply that when Jesus Christ returns the second time, there will have been a judgment court at which all mankind from all ages of earth’s history will have stood before God where their characters have been fixed and their eternal destinies set.

Daniel talks about this same judgment in Daniel 7:9 and 10. “I watched till thrones were put in place, and the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, its wheels a burning fire; a fiery stream issued and came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.”

Today, we keep most of our records in a computer system. However, God uses a far more accurate system of recordkeeping than anything we could devise.

The Bible is very clear that God has record books and that the information contained in these books will determine every individual’s future destiny. Revelation 20:12 says that the “… books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which are written in the books.”

But notice what Revelation 20:15 says: “Anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” My friend, the Bible is saying that if we are going to have eternal life, our names must be written in the book of life.

So we must ask ourselves this most important question: “Is my name in the book of life?”

Solomon, the wisest man to ever live, said in Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14, “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.”

All of our works, everything we’ve ever thought, said, or done is recorded in God’s book. Jesus said, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:36, 37

Concerning our thoughts, 1 Corinthians 4:5 says, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.”

What does it mean to “reveal the counsels of the hearts”? Isaiah explains this in Isaiah 66:18, “I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues: and they shall come and see My glory.”

David also understood this and wrote in Psalm 139 explaining God’s knowledge of the human beings that He made. “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know my sitting down and my rising up. You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether. You have hedged me behind and before, and laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me’ [or cover me], even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and the light are both alike to You.” Verses 1–12

It is clear that no matter where we go, what we do or say or think, God knows it all. As we have read, the record of each person’s life is recorded and one day soon God will ask each of us to give an account of the life that we have lived. Jesus tells us that there is nothing that will not be revealed. “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26

There really are no secrets. We may be able to hide from man, but not God. Every deed known or unknown will be examined in the judgment, and we will be called to account for whether we obeyed God or not.

Luke 10 records the Lord’s appointment of the 70 elders who were sent out two by two to prepare the way for His eventual visit to a number of different places. It was their purpose to spread the good news of salvation offered by Jesus Christ, to heal the sick, and to point them to Him who heals both the body and the soul.

When the 70 returned to Jesus, they came to Him rejoicing because even the demons were constrained by them. When they spoke to the demons in Jesus’ name, the demons were forced to depart. But Jesus said to them in verse 20, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” It isn’t the power to work miracles, or even to cast out demons, that saves us. Jesus said our names must be written in the book of life.

When the judgment has come, Daniel 12:1 says, “At that time Michael shall stand up, the Great Prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time Your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.”

So, is your name written in heaven’s book of life?

But here is another critical question each of us must consider: “Can I be sure that my name will not be blotted out of the book of life?” The Bible is very clear that during the period of time when probation is open and available, right now, names are being added to the book of life, but names can also be taken out of the book of life. What happens that determines if a name is blotted out of the book of life? How can you have assurance that your name is written in the book of life?

Acts 16:30, 31 say, “He brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ ”

Believing something with your whole heart means making a commitment. In this scripture it is saying that if you believe in Jesus with all your heart, then you are making a commitment to Him. Jesus is our Saviour and Deliverer, and if we believe this, then we are accepting Him as such and making Him the Lord of our lives. Making Him the Lord of your life means that you are committing to obey Him. Obeying Him in all that He says and asks will result in your name being written in the book of life.

But how is a person’s name erased or blotted out of the book of life? If obedience is necessary in order to have one’s name written in the book of life, then disobedience can result in a name being removed from it.

“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19–21. So, the New Testament teaches that when you come to Christ, you start to live a new life and your life of sin is in the past. You have been converted, a new creation—created to live a new Christlike life.

This text tells us that before Jesus comes again, our sins will be blotted out and our names will be retained in God’s book. The Old Testament prophets support this. “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins.” Isaiah 43:25. And Isaiah 44:22, “I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”

But, what happens if a person claims to follow Jesus, but continues to live a life of sin? What if he is not converted? He professes to follow Jesus, but his life is not one of obedience and does not reflect Jesus’ character. The result is that when Jesus comes again, instead of his sins being blotted out, his name will be blotted out of God’s book.

“Do not cover their iniquity, and do not let their sin be blotted out from before You; for they have provoked You to anger before the builders.” Nehemiah 4:5

“Let them [Christ’s enemies] be blotted out of the book of the living.” Psalm 69:28

Moses pleaded with the Lord on behalf of the children of Israel who had rebelled and sinned against Him. He said, “ ‘Oh, these people have committed a great sin, and have made for themselves a god of gold! Yet now, if You will forgive their sin—but if not, I pray, blot me out of Your book which You have written.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Whoever has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of My book.’ ” Exodus 32:31–33

Notice, the name of the person who continues in sin will be blotted out of God’s book. But if a person chooses to follow Jesus, their life of sin becomes part of their past. He or she is a new creation, created to live a new, Christlike life.

We all have a case pending in God’s court. If we have made a commitment to believe in and follow Jesus and accept Him as our Saviour, then our sins are blotted out, our name is written in the book of life, and our eternal life begins. On the other hand, if we have made no commitment to Jesus, nor do we accept Him as our Saviour, and continue living a life of sin, then our sins will not be blotted out, but our names will be, and we will miss out on eternal life. We must be saved from our sins if we are to spend all of eternity with Jesus when He comes again.

How can I know that my name will be retained in the book of life and not be taken out? This question is addressed very directly in Revelation 3:5, “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Jesus said the same thing to His disciples. We find it in Matthew 10:32, 33. “Whoever confesses Me before men, him will I also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

If we expect to have our name written in the book of life and for it to remain there until Jesus comes, then we must overcome the world and the flesh. The book of Revelation repeatedly states that the one who will be saved is the one who overcomes.

Who is an overcomer? And what must he or she overcome?

“Whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” 1 John 5:4. If you have been converted and born again as a child of God, if your love and life are given to God, and you are obedient to His instruction and faithfully follow His direction, then you are an overcomer. You will not love the world, nor will you be controlled by your sinful nature (the flesh).

“Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.” Romans 6:6

There are three things that the overcomer must overcome. We’ve already seen the first—the world. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.” 1 John 2:15, 16

Second, the overcomer must overcome the flesh. “And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24. What is the flesh? It is our sinful, carnal, selfish nature. There is only one way to overcome the flesh and that is through the power of the Holy Spirit working a transformative miracle in each life. When this occurs, a person is set free from his or her life of sin.

But there is still a third thing that the overcomer must overcome and that is the devil himself. James 4:7, 8 tell us exactly how that can be done. “Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts you double-minded.”

So, if you want your name in the book of life, and if you want it to be retained there, then you must be an overcomer. You must overcome the world, the flesh, and the devil. And all of this can be accomplished because the Lord will give you the power to do it if you choose to fully and completely give your heart to Him and follow Him.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

The Unanswerable Question Answered

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Have you ever experienced something so unexplainable that you have wanted to ask, “Why?” Many people today do not believe that there is a God because if there were a God, how could He allow such terrible and unexplainable things to happen? A time is coming when we will all have the opportunity to ask, “Why?” and we will find an answer.

In the not-so-distant future, every human being will stand before God and give an account of himself or herself. God has a record of everything that has ever been said and done in this world. He even has a record of the thoughts of all of mankind. All of these things will one day, very soon, be revealed.

Jesus said, “[T]here is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26. Everything that is unknown or hidden today will, in that last day, be revealed.

The Bible tells us that God’s judgment will take place in three phases. This should be familiar to us because in the earthly court system, judgment is also dispensed in three phases:

Investigative – When a person is initially brought before a judge and a jury for a trial. All the evidence that has been gathered against the accused is presented in this first phase. The evidence will either be sufficient to find a person guilty or it will fail to convince the jury and the person will be acquitted, found innocent. If acquitted, then judgment is over. But if a person is convicted, then there are two more judgment phases to face.

Sentencing – A sentence, based upon the severity of the crime, is determined and set.

Executive – The execution of the sentence a person has been given is the final phase. It might be probation, a fine and/or community service, time in prison, or if it is a capital case, a death sentence.

God’s judgment is the same. Our focus in this article will be on the executive phase of God’s judgment. “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades [the grave] delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:11–15

Here we see that this judgment is based on evidence, the things written in the records which God has been keeping since sin entered the world, and by which mankind will be judged “according to their works.” Somehow, Christians have gotten the idea that because they call themselves Christians, they won’t be judged according to what they do or don’t do. This is a terrible error because both the Old and New Testaments are clear that God will judge His people according to their works. Therefore, it is very important that we understand that our names must be found in the book of life and our works must be according to God’s law if we hope to meet God in the judgment and be found innocent of sin.

Looking again at Revelation 20, we see that this is how God will judge the people of the world, too, and that even though they may die in this life, they will be raised up again to face judgment. This judgment will be the second death. All who through sin became the enemies of God will die this second death judgment, when Satan and sin will be completely destroyed (Malachi 4:1). “Root and branch will be destroyed by the fires of the last days. Satan, the great general of apostasy, is the root, and all his workers, who teach his lies in regard to the law of God, are the branches.” Manuscript 58, 1897

“It will be seen that Satan’s rebellion against God has resulted in ruin to himself, and to all that chose to become his subjects. He has represented that great good would result from transgression; but it will be seen that ‘the wages of sin is death.’ Romans 6:23. … An end will be made of sin, with all the woe and ruin that have resulted from it.” The Faith I Live By, 357

This is the execution of the judgment.

Malachi says that God will once and for all destroy sin and Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:26 that Christ will then destroy our final enemy—death. At the judgment, the book of life will be opened and anyone whose name is not found there will be cast into the lake of fire and experience the second death.

Jesus’ second coming brings about this final judgment. The second coming, mentioned hundreds of times in the New Testament, is its keynote. It is also spoken of many times in the Old Testament. The end of all things occurs at Jesus’ second coming. Revelation 19:11–16 describes the second coming of Jesus in symbolic language, “I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 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. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Notice that Jesus is coming back prepared to wage war. As we draw nearer to the end of time, the world will become increasingly wicked. We read this in Matthew 24, in both 1 and 2 Timothy, in 2 Peter chapters 2 and 3, and in Revelation. The Bible repeatedly warns that because of this wickedness, the Lord returns to wage one final battle with sin. “Behold, the day of the Lord comes, cruel, with both wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He will destroy its sinners from it.” Isaiah 13:9

The Old and New Testaments also state that sinners will be destroyed when the Lord returns once again to this earth. And why does this battle end this way? “[T]o give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power.” 2 Thessalonians 1:7–9

Revelation describes this destruction. “Then I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in the midst of heaven, ‘Come and gather together for the supper of the great God, that you may eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of captains, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, free and slave, both small and great.’ And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.” Revelation 19:17–21

Isaiah also describes the end of all things contrary to righteousness. “The noise of a multitude in the mountains, like that of many people! A tumultuous noise of the kingdoms of the nations gathered together! The Lord of hosts musters the army for battle. They come from a far country, from the end of heaven—the Lord and His weapons of indignation, to destroy the whole land. Wail, for the day of the Lord is at hand! It will come as destruction from the Almighty.” Isaiah 13:4–6

The Lord will return to destroy sin and sinners from off the earth. All those who worshiped the beast and his image and received his mark will be killed when the Lord returns. It doesn’t matter if someone is a king or a pauper, if sin is found in their life, if their name is not written in the book of life, they will die. None will be left.

We can see clearly what will happen to the wicked at Jesus’ return. But more importantly, let’s see what will happen to those who have dedicated their lives to doing the will of God; those who have received the Holy Spirit and been transformed into the likeness of Christ—Christians in the truest sense of the word.

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17

“Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep [die], but we shall all be changed—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. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’ ” 1 Corinthians 15:51–54

Paul quotes this prophecy found in Isaiah 25:6–9: “In this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all people a feast. He will destroy on this mountain the surface of the covering cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces; the rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken. And it will be said in that day: ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.’ ”

Being mortal means that we are subject to death. Immortal means we will no longer be subject to death.

The righteous children of God who have died will all be raised to immortality. Those who are living will be made immortal and caught up with those who are raised from the dead to meet the Lord together in the air. Jesus told His disciples just before His arrest and crucifixion, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” John 14:1–3

When Jesus comes, the wicked who are alive on the earth, will all be killed by the brightness of His coming. But God’s children, whether they be dead or alive, will be given immortality and be taken up together into the clouds to meet Him.

“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.

“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection.” Revelation 20:4–6, first part

The wicked will be dead, to be raised again to face final judgement after the millennium. Only Satan will remain alive.

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.” Revelation 20:1–3

Revelation tells us that the devil will be bound to this earth in solitary confinement for 1,000 years. There will be no one to deceive; no one to suffer from his cruelty. And during this 1,000-year period, the saints will review the books, the record that God has been keeping throughout the history of the world. The trial is commenced, the evidence is given. The saints will see that the evidence is overwhelmingly compelling and they must agree with God’s verdict of guilty.

The New Testament is very clear that judgment will be committed to Christ’s saints. “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life?” 1 Corinthians 6:1–3

The saints will judge fallen angels and sinners alike, and will then fully understand why sinners must be destroyed.

It is during this time of judgement that the many unanswered questions that we have asked, will be answered. It isn’t that God cannot or refuses to answer our questions. God has a purpose for all the things that occur in this world and in our individual lives. We do not now see as God sees and therefore, we are unable to understand why things happen as they do. “Why did this happen? Why did God allow that?” They may be unanswered now, but there is no question regarding our lives on this earth that will be unanswerable. We just simply must wait for God’s time to receive the answer. And here, during the millennium, as we look over the books, we will see why things happened the way they did and be satisfied that God, in His love and mercy, did everything just right.

At the close of the millennium, Satan will be set free, the wicked will be raised from the dead, and all will be sentenced. The penalty for their sins: eternal death. No burning forever and ever … just death.

Satan, sin, and sinners—all gone. Having been sentenced for their sins, God executes judgment and all that is sinful is destroyed forever. “God is jealous, and the Lord avenges; the Lord avenges and is furious. The Lord will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies; the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. …

“Who can stand before His indignation? And who can endure the fierceness of His anger? His fury is poured out like fire, and the rocks are thrown down by Him. … He will make an utter end of it. Affliction will not rise up a second time.” Nahum 1:2, 3, 6, and 9, last part

We will soon find out that God always does what is right and best for His children.

“Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!’

“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ ” Revelation 5:11–13

Jesus said He would be back to take us home with Him. For eternity, we will hear again and again the story of our redemption. Questions will be asked and answered. We will sing praises to God and Jesus, His Son.

Are we waiting and longing for His return? Soon God’s children will be changed, the mortal will be given immortality and they will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. From then on, they will forever be with Him. Will you be ready to meet Him on that day?

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Who Must Give an Account?

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Some people believe that when a person dies, life is over for them. Others believe that when a person dies, there will be a future resurrection and then they will have to face judgment. Which view is correct? What is the weight of evidence? Is it true that someday everyone will have to give an account of themselves?

The Bible says that a time is coming when every human being will stand before the judgment seat of God. “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” John 5:28, 29

We read in John 11 that Jesus raised the man Lazarus from the dead. This miracle was not performed in private; in fact, there was a great multitude of witnesses. Lazarus’ sisters, the mourners, and many others who had come to the burial were there, much like we attend our own funeral services today.

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.’ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth!’ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’ Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” Verses 39–45

When Jesus came the first time, He came for salvation. He stated it this way to Nicodemus in John 3:17: “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

But when He comes the second time, the Bible repeatedly states that He is coming to bring judgment. At this second coming, each individual will either be saved or lost; and when the judgment seat is set, every human being will have to give an account of himself to God. From the beginning to the end, the Bible assures us that there will be a judgment.

Paul says in Romans 14:12, “So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.” Peter says in 1 Peter 4:5, “They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” Moses wrote in Deuteronomy 32:36, “For the Lord will judge His people … .” We read in Psalm 9:7 that God “has prepared His throne for judgment.” And Psalm 50:3, 4 says, “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent; a fire shall devour before Him, and it shall be very tempestuous all around Him. He shall call to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that He may judge His people.”

In this world, many believe that they can do wrong and get away with it just because no one knows what they have done. But there is Someone who knows. God knows even the most secret things we do. Solomon wrote about this in Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14, “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether it is good or whether it is evil.” David had something to say about this as well in Psalm 139:1–4, “O Lord, You have searched me and known me.

“You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off. You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.” God understands what you are thinking even before you think it.

Then David says in verses 7–12, “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell [the grave], behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness shall fall on me,’ even the night shall be light about me; indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day; the darkness and the light are both alike to You.”

It does not matter if it is daytime or nighttime, if you are on land or at sea, no matter where you are David says that the Lord knows. God is watching us and keeping record of what we think, do, and say. Jesus talks about this recordkeeping in Matthew 12:36, 37, “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” God keeps a record of “every secret thing that is done.”

God keeps very good records and we find in the Greek New Testament that “Jesus saw their thoughts.” God knows what we do and what we say, but He also can discern our thoughts before they ever become actions or words. Isaiah 66:18 says, “I know their works and their thoughts. It shall be that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come and see My glory.”

We find something very similar in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts.”

When the Bible says, “reveal the counsels of the hearts,” it means that our very thoughts, those that no one has ever known, will be revealed. Jesus said to the disciples, “Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.” Matthew 10:26

In the judgment, every record that God has been keeping, all the things that cannot be hidden from Him—about every person, every society, every church, every nation, every institution, every government, every group of people, and every family—will be made known.

Should this make us afraid of the coming judgment? Jesus says in Matthew 16:24–27, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. For what is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man will come in the glory of His Father with His angels, and then He will reward each, according to his works.”

Notice that the judgment is going to be based upon what we have done in this life. Very many are going to find this distressing when they think of the awful things they have done. They will be wondering what will happen to them. God has been keeping a record of the sins of every individual life and unless that record is expunged, or blotted out, we will be in big trouble.

And that brings us to the gospel, because saving people from their sins is what the gospel is all about. Anything that we have done that is contrary to the law of God must be forgiven and blotted out of our record. John says, “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. The sins committed in the past and their guilt, along with the power sin has over our lives, can all be taken away.

Paul describes this in detail in Romans 3:23–25: “[F]or all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth to be a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed.”

Being saved, however, involves much more than just having our sins forgiven. While it is necessary for our sins to be forgiven so that we will be found worthy for heaven in the judgment, something more is involved in being saved than simply forgiveness of sins. The Bible says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. Romans 6:23, first part, says, “For the wages of sin is death … .” And Hebrews 9:22, last part, says, “and without shedding of blood there is no remission” of sin. Jesus’ death on the cross, the shedding of His blood, paid the penalty for sin, but, 1 John 1:7 tells us, that “if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from every sin.”

Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” John 3:5. If we are not born of the Holy Spirit, we cannot be saved and will not enter into the kingdom of God. That is why Paul was so emphatic about the fact that the judgment is according to works. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10. Our works have no merit to gain salvation, but our works demonstrate the miraculous change wrought by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.

When a person is brought before a judge in an earthly court of law, his conduct is measured against the standard of the law to determine if he has committed transgression. How does God determine whether what we have done is good or bad? He also has a standard against which our thoughts, deeds, and words are measured. This standard is the law of God.

Many decades after Jesus died on the cross, James tells us clearly that God’s ten commandments, His law, is the standard for His coming judgment. “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘Do not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10–12

Here James is quoting the sixth and seventh commandments. Even if you keep the whole law, all the commandments, but one, you are a transgressor, guilty of breaking the whole law. The ten commandments are one law—one law with ten parts—and it is by this standard that we all will be judged when Jesus comes.

Paul, writing in Titus 2:11–14, says, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” And Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8. Here is the reason that Jesus died on the cross—that He might redeem us, save us from every lawless deed, and purify us.

So, there are some questions we should be asking ourselves: Am I being purified? Am I being cleansed from my sins by the blood of Jesus? Am I receiving the Holy Spirit so that I now have a new heart and a new mind?

If we are to have lives in harmony with the law of God, then the answers to each of these questions must be Yes. For if we have not been purified and cleansed, if our hearts and minds are the same old, sinful ones we’ve always had, then we are not in harmony with the government and law of God and we will be in trouble on the day of judgment.

To be in harmony with any earthly government, we must be in harmony with the laws of that government. The same holds true of the heavenly government. Many people today make a profession of Christianity, but they have never been born of the Holy Spirit and are therefore not in harmony with the laws of heaven.

Romans 8:1, 2 say, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” But notice then what Paul says in verses 4–9, 14: “[T] hat the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. … For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

Those who walk according to the law of God and no longer according to the flesh, in the judgment will be judged to be the sons of God. But those simply making a profession of Christianity, who have not been born of the Holy Spirit, who continue in sin, while desiring and hoping to be saved, will be judged out of harmony with God’s government and law and they will be condemned.

Friends, our goal in this life must be to be like Jesus. Christlikeness is the standard of character that we must reach in this life, if we are to be judged worthy of heaven and eternity. We can read this in John 8 and 1 John 3 and in other texts throughout the Bible. “Beloved, now we are the children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” 1 John 3:2

To be ready for Jesus’ second appearing and to be judged worthy of heaven, we must have reached God’s standard of Christlikeness in our lives. This is accomplished only by the wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit. Paul describes those who will make up God’s church on the day of judgment in Ephesians 5:27, “[T]hat 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.” This church is ready to meet the Lord when He comes. “And in their mouth was found no deceit, for they are without fault before the throne of God.” Revelation 14:5

Someone might think that there is no hope for them, but if we commit our lives to Jesus Christ, He can and will work every miracle that is needed so that we can have the character of Christ formed in our lives just as He wants us to have. “Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6

God doesn’t do things halfway. If we will commit our lives to Him today, He will complete the work that He has begun in our hearts, just as He promised.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Peace, When There Is No Peace

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Eighteen hundred years ago, the Bible said that scoffers would say in the last days, “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” 2 Peter 3:4, last part. But actually, the greatest wars, the greatest pestilences and famines, the greatest earthquakes and other disasters, have marked our time, our generation. Scoffers, even today, continue to say that all things will be as they have been from the beginning; but all things, friends, do not continue as they have.

In addition to all these natural disasters and calamities and wars that are to occur in the last days, the Bible predicted, in both the Old and New Testaments, that there would be a great international peace movement. Micah 4:1–5 says, “Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and peoples shall flow to it. Many nations shall come and say, ‘Come.’ ” Notice, the Lord does not say this, the nations of the world are making this call, “ ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion the law shall go forth, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between many peoples, and rebuke strong nations afar off; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. But everyone shall sit under his vine and under his fig tree, and no one shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken. For all people walk each in the name of his god … .”

In 1899, the World Court System was developed with the idea that war would be outlawed. But this world system did not stop wars from happening.

It’s likely that hardly anyone alive today remembers the Kellogg-Briand Peace Pact of 1928. Officially known as the General Treaty for Renunciation of War as an Instrument of National Policy, this international agreement committed the signatory states to not use war to resolve “disputes or conflicts of whatever nature or of whatever origin they may be, which may arise among them.” Wikipedia.com.

Thirty-one nations signed the agreement on August 27, 1928, and the Pact went into effect on July 24, 1929. Once in effect, 25 additional countries entered into the agreement. The Pact remains in force today, however, it did not stop World War II from happening, though declared wars became rare after the end of World War II in 1945.

We talk of peace all the time and the Bible says that in the last days people would be talking peace and safety, while at the same time, there would be war.

“Now it shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow to it. Many people shall come and say, ‘Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; He will teach us His ways, and we shall walk in His paths.’ For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and rebuke many people; they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” Isaiah 2:2–4

Notice, in both Micah 4 and Isaiah 2, the peace movement is phrased in terms of religion. The intent of this peace movement will be that we will learn to do what is right and to follow the Lord, and we will no longer war with one another. We will stop making weapons meant to harm and cause destruction. We will learn to live in peace. We have established a world court and entered into agreements. We have established the League of Nations and now the United Nations. But regardless of what the people of the world are saying and doing in the last days, what did the Lord say?

“Proclaim this among the nations: ‘Prepare for war! Wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up. Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears; let the weak say, “I am strong.” ’ Assemble and come, all you nations, and gather together all around. Cause your mighty ones to go down there, O Lord. ‘Let the nations be wakened, and come up to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; for there I will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, go down; for the winepress is full, the vats overflow—for their wickedness is great.’ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.” Joel 3:9–14

An awesome scripture, the very opposite of what the nations are saying. Let all the mighty men come down. The Bible is very clear that at the end of time the whole world will be gathered for war. While we say we will have peace, there will be war, and multitudes will be in the valley of decision.

So who will we be listening to? “Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Romans 6:16. Have you decided who you belong to and who you will obey?

Many people believe that they belong to the Lord and are obeying Him. They believe they are Christians, Christlike, but when Jesus comes, He will not acknowledge them as His own. They will say they have done all these marvelous things, miracles, healings, prophesies in His name, but Matthew 7:21–23 says that when Jesus comes, He won’t even know who they are. “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Verse 23

“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8. You see, the one that you obey, is the one you belong to, and if you say that you are a Christian, but are living in sin, it is the devil who you really belong to. The Bible calls you the devil’s spiritual child, and it points out in this same chapter what sin is, “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” Verse 4

Today there are multitudes in the valley of decision, trying to understand and make up their minds who they will serve. Some might believe that they will just serve themselves, but selfishness is the root of all sin. If you serve yourself, then you are sinning and, you are on the devil’s side.

The great controversy, the war between good and evil, has been raging since Eve ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Serving God or serving self is what this millennia-long controversy is all about. Will we do just as we please or will we be loyal to God’s government and His law? Because our natural nature is selfish, we will sin and be sinners until Jesus comes unless we make a choice. If we do not decide, then we will be lost for we will simply follow our natural inclination to sin.

In Noah’s day, all the world stood in the valley of decision, but ultimately their decisions were not to accept Noah’s message and go into the ark and be saved; and as a result, every person, except for eight, lost their life, and worse, their soul. When Jesus comes, the majority of the people alive in the world will be lost, all the while hoping and desiring to be saved, simply because they do not now choose to be Christians.

In a Roman dungeon, a short time before his death as a martyr, Paul wrote a letter to a young minister by the name of Timothy. In 2 Timothy 3:1–4 he said, “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”

What an awful list of character traits for people to possess! Who would want to live with people like this? Yet, this is exactly why we will be unable to find peace in this world in the last days. No peace in an individual’s heart, in the family, between the races, between the nations. Without Jesus Christ in our hearts and in the world, there simply is no peace, because we all have the natural, selfish inclination to bear any or all of the character traits listed above.

But notice what Paul further says to Timothy. In the midst of the people of the world exhibiting these terrible traits of character, Paul describes the religious atmosphere as “having a form of godliness.” 2 Timothy 3:5. Outwardly the majority of the people seem to be godly, they make a profession of godliness, they go to church and claim to be Christians, but Paul says they have a “form of godliness, but [are] denying its power” and he tells Timothy to stay away from such people.

Do you know what the power of godliness is? When Jesus was here on earth, He told the Jews that “if you continue in My word … you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” They were quick to reply, having forgotten their slavery in Egypt and their current condition under the authority of Rome, that they had never been in bondage to anyone. But Jesus immediately replied that the one who commits sin is the servant of sin, and the servant does not remain in the house forever (John 8:31–35), meaning, the person who is living in sin will not have eternal life.

But in Verse 36 we find that “[I]f the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” The gospel promises to set you free from sin, to enable you to live a righteous life. This can happen only as a result of being born of the Holy Spirit, experiencing what Jesus called the new birth. It is receiving from the Holy Spirit a new heart and a new mind, the implanting of a new principle of life within us so that we no longer live for ourselves, but we live to honor God and to help our fellow men.

Jesus said, unless this happens, unless the Son sets us free, then we are slaves. The slave to sin does not have eternal life, but the Son and those He sets free remain forever. That is the power of godliness, the power of divinity to set us free, not just from our guilt, because the Lord wants to do more than set us free from our guilt. He wants to set us free from the power of sin in our lives.

Since we are to turn away from those who simply have a form of godliness, but deny its power, we must be able to identify who they are. The apostle John tells us how we may know who is a follower of the Lord and who is not. “Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” 1 John 3:7–10

Laodicea, the last-day church of Revelation 3, is described as lukewarm. Paul said that the people of this church would be listening to doctrines of devils while they claimed to be religious, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.” 1 Timothy 4:1

Think about it, friends. Do we claim a form of godliness while denying the power of the Holy Spirit? Or have we allowed the Holy Spirit to work the miracle of transformation in our lives so that we are not simply making a claim of godliness, but actually living a life of godliness? Are we the people described by the Bible in Revelation 14:12 as the saints of God, the holy people who keep God’s commandments and have the faith of Jesus? Are we those of whom John wrote, “Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city”? Revelation 22:14

Today, we all have a decision to make. We must decide to be born again and to commit our lives to Jesus Christ. As promised, He will send the Holy Spirit to give us new hearts and new minds so that we will live new lives in Him, and then go home with Him when He comes.

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.

Time of the End

by

Facts about the Future Series

Thousands of years ago, the Lord gave man this challenge: “Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, you who have escaped from the nations. They have no knowledge, who carry the wood of their carved image, and pray to a god that cannot save. Tell and bring forth your case; yes, let them take counsel together. Who has declared this from ancient time? Who has told it from that time? Have not I, the Lord? And there is no other God besides Me, a just God and a Saviour; there is none besides Me.” Isaiah 45:20, 21. He gave the same declaration in Isaiah 46:9, 10: “Remember the former things of old, for I am God and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me. Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’ ”

Can we accurately predict the future? God is saying in these two passages from Isaiah that if we think we can, to try it. But the truth is, none of us can. We cannot even predict what will happen next week, much less what will happen a hundred years into the future. But the Bible has been depicting the events of the future and just exactly when they will occur for millennia.

A careful study of the prophecy of Daniel 12 tells us that the last days or the time of the end actually began at the close of the 18th century. “But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Verse 4. It is very clear that knowledge has increased amazingly since the end of the 18th century. People are traveling all around the world, much more so than two hundred years ago.

At the end of the 18th century, there were no cars, planes, or internal combustion engines, so if people went anywhere, they had to walk or travel by horseback or in carriages and wagons pulled by an animal. And if a person wanted to travel to a different country, they would have to sail over the ocean on some type of sailing vessel. There were no telephones, telegraphs, typewriters, or computers, so if they wanted to go to school, they had to do their homework by hand. They wrote letters by hand. In fact, at the end of the 18th century, mankind was still living very much like those in Abraham’s time.

But the Bible says that at the end of time, people would travel much more and knowledge would increase. I have been in several international airports in England, France, Germany, and Holland. These airports are teeming with people traveling to and from places all around the world. A couple hundred years ago, a person was born, lived, and died within a relatively small radius. Only a few people such as the wealthy, soldiers, sailors, and royalty were able to travel extensively. But that has changed here in the time of the end.

We should, however, note that while the Bible predicted all these amazing developments, it has also predicted that terrible things will happen in the time of the end. Jesus said, “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of man be.” Matthew 24:37–39

This is an interesting scripture to think through. Noah spent 120 years building a 500-foot-long boat, on the land, with no place to launch it. During that time, he also preached to everyone in the world of the coming flood and the need for repentance. So how could it be that the world did not know that the flood was coming? They knew he was building a boat. They heard what he was saying and called him an alarmist, a fool, a crazy man, even a lunatic. But still he preached that when the boat was finished, the flood would come and destroy the whole world.

So how could Jesus say in Matthew 24 that they didn’t know that the flood was coming? It was because they did not believe what they had been told. Jesus says that the last days will be just like that. The Bible is more accessible today than it has ever been in the history of the world. People have access to Bible prophecy, but they do not believe what they read. The end of days will be a time of great unbelief.

The world is not interested in knowing that the Bible says that we are living in the last days or that the world will soon come to an end. Like those in Noah’s day, they have been told, they can know, but—what they hear, what they read, what they see—they simply do not believe.

The people in Noah’s day scoffed at him and would not believe that a flood was coming. They had proved to themselves, scientifically, that a flood was impossible. There were no oceans and most of the water was under the earth. The Bible calls them the fountains of the deep. It had never rained; the earth was watered by a dew or mist that came up from the ground and watered everything. It did not appear to them that there was enough water to even cover the earth. They felt that God loved those He had made and would not destroy them. So they did not believe and they did not get on the boat.

Peter talks about this same attitude in the last days, “[K]nowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.’ ” 2 Peter 3:3, 4

And then we read in verses 5–7, “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.”

So, the world was told that the flood would come, but they did not believe. And the Bible says that in the last days the same attitude would exist. Men will know that the world will come to an end, but they will not believe. Consequently, when the world does end, most of the people alive today will not be ready.

Imagine how God must feel. What more could He do? He has given them the Bible as a guide, sent prophets, increased knowledge, but the people of the world will not listen and will choose instead to go on their own way. If you were God, what would you do?

Genesis 6:5 says, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” Evil imaginations and thoughts lead to nothing good. “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.” Verse 11. If the world in the last days is to be like the world in Noah’s day, then we will see increasing wickedness and violence. And as a result of this wickedness, the Bible predicts very clearly that the last days will be a time of great lawlessness. People will keep neither the law of God nor the laws of man.

“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:12, 13. Paul says it a different way in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 and 9, “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until he [the anti-christ] is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.

“The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”

Jesus also said that the last days would be like the days of Lot. “Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot; they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28–30. Life went on as usual, until suddenly great calamity came and the world as they knew it ended.

This is one of the great signs in Bible prophecy regarding the last days. Almost all the world will be living lawless lives, unwilling to keep the laws of God or man, but, when the Lord comes, all those who have practiced lawlessness will be destroyed. “But the rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” Revelation 9:20, 21

There are many Bible prophecies that predict the things happening in the world today. Luke 21 lists several signs that will occur over time, specifically for the last generation.

“There will be great earthquakes in various places.” Verse 11. If you do some research regarding the number of earthquakes over the last hundred years, you will find that earthquake occurrences have increased, not only in number, but also in severity. In fact, in the ten-year period between 1980 and 1990, the same number of major earthquakes occurred as those that occurred between 526 and 1797, a period of almost 1,300 years.

Verse 11 also predicts that famines and pestilences will occur in the last days. Again, in the last hundred years, there have been 56 recorded famines somewhere in the world. Two such famines occurred in Russia and northwest China. Over two million people starved to death in the Russian famine and more than twelve million people died in China. It was said of them both that they were the worst famines in all the history of the world.

A pestilence is a contagious or infectious epidemic that is very virulent and devastating. There have been 90 virulent epidemics caused either by known or new viruses within the last 50 years—as we have experienced over the last two years with Covid-19 and its numerous mutations. The Spanish influenza pandemic of 1918 has been described as, “[t]he crowning tragedy of so many tragic years. At least twenty million people perished.” (The Encyclopedia Britannica).

Joel 1:4 tells us that there will be great destruction by insects. “What the chewing locust left, the swarming locust has eaten; what the swarming locust left, the crawling locust has eaten; and what the crawling locust left, the consuming locust has eaten.” Beginning in the spring of 2019 after Cyclone Mekunu produced heavy rains in the Arabian Peninsula, swarms of locusts developed in Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Oman, Iran, India, and Pakistan. By mid-2020, a new swam had appeared in Paraguay and Argentina in South America, and the travel restrictions implemented as a result of the Covid pandemic has hindered efforts to end this plague.

In the business world, the Bible predicts that in the last days there will be a rapid accumulation of wealth. There are more extremely wealthy people today than ever before in the history of the world. In 1925, there were 207 individual millionaires in America and one billionaire. As of 2021, there are 22 million individual millionaires in America and 630 billionaires. This rapid increase in wealth is described in James 5:1–3: “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.”

The Bible predicts racial hatred, troubles, and uprisings throughout the world, great corruption in world governments, disregard for justice, contempt for authority, increased pressure for religious legislation, and a growing prestige for hierarchical church government in the last days. (See Micah chapters 1–4 and Revelation 13)

There will be a moral breakdown within society and lawlessness (law breaking) will abound. The love of money will become so great that the acquisition of it will be the determined goal of most people. Crime will increase and we are certainly seeing that today in numbers almost beyond imagination.

The seeking of pleasure, perversion in the marriage relationship, immorality of every kind will become (has become!) widespread—an easy accomplishment as knowledge increases and man can travel throughout the world at any time.

Social problems will increase as real spirituality declines. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:1–5, first part

There will be a rebellion against the straight truths found in God’s word. People will demand that their preachers speak only smooth things. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3, 4

And we read in Matthew 24:6, “[Y]ou will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” Whenever you say something like that people will say, “Oh, I know, but there’s always been wars.” Yes, it is true, ever since sin entered the world, there have always been wars. But, there has never, ever been a war like World War I from 1914 to 1918. Regarding this war, Winston Churchill said, “It was different from all ancient wars and from all modern wars. All the horrors of all the ages were brought together. Henceforth whole populations will take part in war. Mankind has never been in this position before.” During World War II, whole nations were engaged in war and taken into captivity. Millions of people died of hunger, starvation, and forced labor, as well as from bombardment, from land and sea and the air. And then war took on an entirely new dimension with the creation of the atomic bomb.

In the midst of this fighting and killing, the Bible predicts that there will be a great international peace movement. All the while the nations are marching to war, they will be talking peace.

But the Bible doesn’t only predict wickedness and destruction. It also predicts that in the last days there will be a small group of people, a remnant, who have been and will be keeping God’s commandments. They are described in Revelation 14:12, “Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus.” When you understand the context of this scripture, you will see that this remnant group is found to exist in the last days, when almost the whole world will be deceived by lawless teachings and false doctrines.

So, we can see in our world today exactly what the Bible has predicted would happen in the time of the end and we are quickly approaching the very last days. We must leave this world and the things in it behind and determine to follow Jesus, accepting Him as our Lord and Saviour, so that we may be included in the remnant; that small group who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus. Are we ready for that last day to come?

Pastor John J. Grosboll is Director of Steps to Life and pastors the Prairie Meadows Church in Wichita, Kansas. He may be contacted by email at: historic@stepstolife.org, or by telephone at: 316-788-5559.