Series

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

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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.

What Can We Depend On?

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Is there a dependable way to tell the difference between truth and falsehood? You certainly cannot trust what people say or what they profess to be. What is the one thing, the only thing that you can depend on more than your senses?

Today there is a belief that everyone in the world eventually will be saved, but nowhere do we find such an assurance in the Bible. In fact, Jesus Christ Himself taught just the opposite. In the Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many that go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:13, 14. Jesus said that the way that leads to eternal life is narrow and few will go that way, but He is also saying that the majority of people in the world will go down the broad road, which leads to destruction.

Luke 13:24 says, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.” The reason is because they cannot take their sinful desires, pleasures, and ambitions with them.

People are in danger of being deceived by teachers of falsehood who are telling them that they don’t need to take such a narrow road, that the broad way will still end up all right. Jesus knew that these deceivers would rise up and seek to draw people away from the narrow path, telling them that they could take the broad road and still have eternal life, so He immediately gave the warning that there are people in this world who intend to deceive: “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them.” Matthew 7:15–20

Notice how we can tell the difference between truth and error: “We are not bidden to prove them [false teachers] by their fair speeches or their exalted professions. They are to be judged by the word of God.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, 145. When we read the context of this verse, we find that it is a strict warning against listening to spiritualist manifestations or supernatural apparitions, or people claiming to speak for the dead or being spirits of the dead. But look what Isaiah 8:20 says, “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

So what is the one and only thing we can depend on more than our senses? It is the word of God.

The wise man Solomon said in Proverbs 19:27, “Cease listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.” What message are we listening to? Is it a message that leads us to fear and reverence God, to love Him, and obey His commandments? If we do not feel the weight of the moral law, if we make light of any of God’s precepts, if we break one of the least of His commandments, we will have no place in heaven, and our claims to be religious teachers will be without foundation, because the teachings that encourage disregard and disobedience of God’s law originate with the prince of darkness, the enemy of God.

So, not all who call themselves Christians are actually Christ’s people. “[S]uch are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.” 2 Corinthians 11:13–15. Paul is saying here that there are false apostles who pretend to be teachers of righteousness and apostles of Christ, but they actually are serving another master. Jesus says the same thing in Matthew 7:21–23. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ ”

Note, these people call Jesus, “Lord” and themselves His children. These are not people who just come and sit in the pew at church; they are Christian workers. They have “prophesied” in His name and believe they have the Holy Spirit and the gift of prophecy. They have “cast out demons” and worked many miracles in Jesus’ name, and yet He says, “I never knew you.” How can that be?

God’s word, the Bible, tells us that there is a great spiritual battle going on in this world between two supernatural forces. Christ is one of these supernatural forces, but there is another. This force is Satan, and while his methods sadly have met with much success over the millennia, he still has lost battle after battle in this spiritual warfare. Now he has decided to join the winning side and present himself as Christ.

The Biblical word antichrist simply means someone that stands in the place of Christ. Satan is coming to stand in the place of Christ, and anyone serving the antichrist will believe that they are serving Christ. The apostle Paul is very clear on this point, “I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!” 2 Corinthians 11:3, 4

Paul fears that teachers will come teaching a different Jesus than he and others have taught, and as a result, the people would receive a different spirit, all the while believing they were receiving the Holy Spirit. Paul says they will preach a different gospel and they will bring to you a spirit that we did not bring to them. So what is this different gospel?

The gospel as taught by Jesus will set a person free from the power of sin in their life. He that “… commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not remain in the house forever, but the Son remains forever. If therefore the Son shall make you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:34–36, literal translation. The apostles preached this gospel.

We find that Paul preached this gospel in chapters 6 and 8 of Romans. John preached it in 1 John 2:3, 4: “Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, ‘I know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” John, considered so loveable and so soft-spoken, did not mince words when speaking to those who claim to be a Christian, but choose to live in violation of the law of God. James is just as clear, “For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble [offend] 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

The people of God in the last days are those who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12), but friends, there are many who are in great danger today of thinking that they are Christians while living in sin, and we must be vigilant lest we become like them.

In this world, we are accustomed to doing things mostly right or just right enough to get by, but that is not God’s way. Remember what we found in James 2? “Whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” A person cannot be a New Testament Christian unless they follow Jesus all the way. Jesus says in Luke 14:33, “[W]hoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” We cannot take any of the riches or material things of this world into the kingdom of heaven. Only one thing can be taken from this life to the next and that is our character. Everything else we possess here will be burned up. God will create a new world for His children to live in.

New Testament Christianity gives a person victory over their besetting sins and the power to live a new life. So, a person who claims to be a Christian, but is living a life of sin, is in reality a lawbreaker. These are the people who believe they are Christians and are following Jesus, and yet believe they can break God’s law. They will expectantly come to Jesus believing that they are saved, waiting to hear the words “Well done,” but instead they will hear, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matthew 7:23, last part

They believe they are serving Christ and have the Holy Spirit, and that they are following the gospel, but imagine what a terrible shock it then will be to hear Jesus say He doesn’t know them, because they have instead been serving another Jesus, following a different gospel, being led by some other spirit. There are many people today, as there were when Jesus first spoke these words, who want eternal life, but to them, the price seems too great. Obeying Jesus in everything will cause them to suffer some kind of a loss in this world. We find this described in the story of the rich, young ruler (Mark 10:17–22).

As Jesus closed the Sermon on the Mount, He gave a forceful illustration describing the future destiny of all. “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” Matthew 7:24–27

Do you see the difference? Does your life conform to what Jesus has said or not? Seven hundred years before Jesus came to this world, Isaiah said “The word of our God shall stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8. And many years after the Sermon on the Mount was preached, Peter quotes these words from Isaiah: “But the word of the Lord endures forever. This is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.” 1 Peter 1:25

When you receive the gospel, you are building on the sure foundation that will last forever, the one and only thing you can depend on, the word of God. This is what the world needs. Whoever builds on it is building upon Christ, and in receiving His word, we receive Christ, the only steadfast and sure foundation. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.” Matthew 24:35. The great principles of the law of God, the very nature of God Himself, are enshrouded in the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:11, “No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And Peter said in Acts 4:12, “[T]here is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This is the only foundation upon which we can securely build. Building on Christ is obeying His word. He says that if we obey Him, we will be like the man who built his house on the rock, and when the storm came the house did not fall. But if we hear what He says to do, and do not obey, then we will be like the man who built his house on the sand and when the storm came, his house was utterly destroyed.

Holiness is the result of surrendering all to God and doing His will. Jesus places the salvation of man, not upon profession merely, but upon faith that is made manifest by works of righteousness. Doing, not merely saying, is required and expected of the followers of Christ. It is through action that character is built (James 1:22–25).

There are many people today who want to be followers of Jesus Christ, but they don’t know how to start. They know very little about the Bible. There is darkness all around them, and they do not know how to find the light. No matter how little a person may understand about God’s word, it is necessary only to ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. We must choose to obey and follow Him. We must set our hearts to obey Jesus Christ and acknowledge Him as the Lord of our lives. The more we follow Him, even if we only know a little, the more light will come. As we build on God’s word, our characters will be made after the similitude of the character of Christ. The path of the righteous, the path of the just, is like a shining light that shines more and more unto the perfect day.

Jesus is the living Stone, the sure Foundation. His life is imparted to all who build upon Him and do His words. Peter said, “[Y]ou also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house … .” 1 Peter 2:5. And Paul said, “[I]n whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord.”  Ephesians 2:21. The living stones become one with the Foundation because a common life dwells in all. That building cannot be overthrown. Every other building built on any other foundation will fall. If we build our characters on human ideas, opinions, forms, and ceremonies, then our building will be destroyed by the fierce tempests of temptation.

But right now, today, before the tempest comes that will end this world’s history, the Lord says, “As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn, from your evil ways! For why will you die?” Ezekiel 33:11.

Do you desire to be a follower of Jesus? The Lord wants to save us and He will save us if we are willing to turn to Him and follow Him with all our heart.

[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.

The Broad Road Or The Narrow Road

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Some people believe that it is easier to be saved than to be lost. And others believe that it is easier to be lost than to be saved. Which is it?

We find the Golden Rule in Matthew 7:12. Jesus said, “Whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them.” Immediately after giving this Golden Rule, He said in verses 13 and 14, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult [restricted] is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” This was surprising to the people when Jesus told it to them, but continues to be just as surprising to people throughout history.

The Golden Rule excludes all pride and self-seeking, attributes that are allowed on the broad road that leads to destruction. If you want to enter into eternal life, you must climb the narrow road. There will be few on the narrow road, because the multitude will choose the broad, downward path.

The broad road is characterized by worldliness, selfishness, pride and self-seeking, dishonesty, and moral abasement. Almost the entire human race can take this road. It has plenty of room for anyone to have an opinion, doctrine, or teaching that they choose, and enough space to follow any inclination, and whatever their self-love would require. Because of our sinful human nature, there is no need to have to search for the broad road. It seems that we know right where to find it, and the broad road gives us plenty of latitude to do as we please and as our nature leads us to do.

On the other hand, the road that leads to eternal life is narrow and not as easily found. The entrance is narrow and the entire road is restricted and difficult. Clinging to any besetting sin, we will find that the gate is too narrow to go through. Our own ways, our own will, our own inclinations, evil habits and practices must be given up, or we will be unable to follow the narrow road.

If we want to follow the Lord, we cannot serve ourselves. The road to heaven—the narrow road—is too narrow and steep for a person whose life is centered in his or her own ambitions, who seeks the world’s opinion and seeks to follow the world’s standard. It is too steep for the sinful, lovers of pleasure to climb. The Bible says that in the last days there will be people that love pleasure more than they love God, but those people will not be in the kingdom of heaven.

Toil, patience, self-denial, reproach, and poverty were the lot of Jesus Christ when He was here on this world. He endured what the Bible calls “such hostility from sinners against Himself.” (Hebrews 12:3), and it is this same walk that we must walk on the narrow road if we are to enter into the paradise of God.

However, while it appears that the narrow road is the difficult path and the broad road is the easier path, we must remember that the broad road is deceptive. It is a road that leads to death, with much pain and grief, and many penalties, sorrows, and disappointments. Because we feel “free” when we walk the broad road, free to do what we want, say what we want, be what we want, we heedlessly march down the broad road with a purpose. But because of God’s love for us, He has made it hard for the headstrong to obliviously destroy themselves. Satan makes the broad road seem attractive, exciting, but remember that he is a liar and deceit is his specialty. The longer one walks the broad road he or she will soon find bitter remorse, cankering care, pain, and sorrow. It may seem that our selfish plans will achieve flattering prospects and that life is one enjoyment after another, but it will soon become clear that happiness is poisoned and because of the sin in our lives, everything will be wrecked. Thus, that which started out as joyful becomes despairing. Notice what the Bible says in Proverbs 13:15, last part: “But the way of the unfaithful is hard.” Isaiah said, “ ‘There is no peace,’ says my God, ‘for the wicked.’ ” Isaiah 57:21. How often do we think one way, but discover it is not what we thought it would be? The Bible says, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 16:25. The broad road seems more attractive at the beginning. There is nothing to give up to travel that road, but eventually it leads to a terrible destination.

But concerning those who choose to go up the narrow way, Proverbs 3:17 says, “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” The Christian life seems restricted at the start. “[This] life is a life of constant conflict. … Every act of obedience, every deed of self-denial, every trial bravely endured, every temptation resisted, every victory gained, is a step forward in the march to eternal triumph.” Ye Shall Receive Power, 357. The Lord has made the road that leads to eternal life plain so that even a terrible sinner need not miss it. The person who is willing to practice righteous and holy living can walk up the narrow road because they are willing “to lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily besets” him or her (Hebrews 12:1). Access is secured for all who want to go through and no soul need ever say, “God does not care about me.” If we take Christ as our guide, laying aside our sins and walking through the narrow gate, He will lead us safely.

The person not yet on the road to eternal life may see it as a rough and steep climb. There may be pitfalls. He or she will have to toil and fight when there is no fight left in them. They may become discouraged, but if they are following Jesus and obeying His word, they will not fail of reaching the desired haven at last. You see, Jesus Himself walked up that way and has smoothed the path for all who follow in His steps. All the way there are wellsprings of joy to refresh the weary and one can find peace, even in difficulty and tribulation. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:4, last part, “I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful … .” Why? Because, the One whom the soul loves, the One that we follow, walks unseen beside us, and at each upward step, we can discern more distinctly the touch of His hand. “The path of the just is like the shining sun [star], that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.” Proverbs 4:18

The Jews thought that the Messiah would come and give them victory over the Roman Empire and set them up as a great nation, but Jesus disappointed their hopes in the Sermon on the Mount. He had not come to overthrow the world’s great kingdoms or to make Israel a great, worldly kingdom. He told them that He had come to reveal to them the character that is the true glory of His kingdom, offering them not the promise of earthly dominion, but to place before them the opportunity to be one with Him in character and love. He assured them that it would be their supreme desire and worth their sincere effort. He was not calling them to battle against the Roman Empire, but rather to fight the battle against self and to win. He said, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many … will seek to enter and will not be able.” Luke 13:24

Yes friends, there will be many people who will seek salvation, but will not find it. Many will be lost, while hoping and desiring to be saved. Paul encourages us in 1 Timothy 6:12 to “Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life.” And Philippians 1:30 says, “Having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.”

“The Christian life is a battle and a march. In this warfare there is no release; the effort must be continuous and persevering. It is by unceasing endeavor that we maintain the victory over the temptations of Satan. Christian integrity must be sought with resistless energy and maintained with a resolute fixedness of purpose.

“No one will be borne upward without stern, persevering effort in his own behalf.” Reflecting Christ, 312

The field of battle is the human heart. We must struggle against evil within—sinful thoughts and desires, actions and words. The greatest battle that has ever been fought by any man, is the surrender of self to the will of God, the yielding of the heart to the sovereignty of love. The victory over self must be gained if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven. The Bible promises salvation only to those who overcome, but while we must overcome the wickedness that is our natural nature, it is by grace alone that we receive salvation. Salvation can be enjoyed only by those who have been forgiven of their sins and have received the grace of Christ. You must have not only a title to heaven, which the sacrifice on the cross of Calvary provided for you, but you must be fit for heaven and being made fit is the result of this great battle with self. That is why the Bible says that without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14, last part). Victory, then, is gained by our choice, but not by human power.

The old nature, the will of the flesh, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. The hereditary tendencies, the former habits, must be given up. If we determine that we are going to enter this spiritual kingdom, then we find that the powers and passions of the unregenerate nature, aided by the forces of the kingdom of darkness are arrayed against us. Selfishness and pride rise up in the heart and attempt to make us stand against anything that would show them to be sinful. We cannot of ourselves conquer these evil desires and habits that strive for the mastery inside. We cannot overcome the mighty enemy who holds us captive. Only God can give us the victory. The Lord desires us to have the mastery over ourselves, to be in control over our own wills and our own ways, but He cannot work in our hearts and change us without our consent and cooperation.

“The victory is not won without much earnest prayer, without the humbling of self at every step. Our will is not to be forced into cooperation with divine agencies, but it must be voluntarily submitted. … The will must be placed on the side of God’s will. You are not able, of yourself, to bring your purposes and desires and inclinations into submission to the will of God; but if you are ‘willing to be made willing,’ God will accomplish the work for you … . For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, 142, 143

Second Corinthians 10:5 says, “[C]asting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Is our every thought brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ? “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” Philippians 2:12, 13. This is the reason that so many people who want to take the narrow road do not make it; they turn away from the conditions by which alone they would be able to go through the narrow gate.

There are many today who are traveling down the broad road, but they are not fully satisfied with the path they are walking on, wishing they could break away from the slavery of sin. They look toward the narrow gate and try in their own strength to break some of their evil habits or sinful practices, but  because of their weak but sinful nature, selfishness, love of the world, pride, and unsanctified ambition, they hesitate, falter, and turn back. They would have to renounce their own will, their chosen objects of affection, but this they cannot do. They desire to do good, they even make some effort to do it, but they do not have a settled purpose to secure eternal life, because it would cost them everything.

The only hope for us is to choose to surrender our will to God’s will, hour by hour and day by day. We must be willing to be made willing. We must choose to cooperate with Him. We cannot retain our natural, sinful self and expect to enter into the kingdom of God. If we ever wish to attain holiness, it will be through the renunciation of self and the receiving of the mind of Christ. Pride and self-sufficiency have to be crucified. So the question is simply this: Are you willing to be brought into perfect conformity with the will of God and make the necessary sacrifice to go through the narrow gate and up the narrow road to salvation? The Bible says, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?” Amos 3:3. If there is a point on which we and God do not agree, whose mind should be changed?

The Bible tells us of Jacob who came to the great crisis in his life and turned aside to pray. He was filled with one overmastering purpose—he wanted to be transformed in character. He knew that he had lived a very sinful life, and we can read about many of these sins in the Bible. We are told that while he was pleading with God, it seemed to him that an enemy came, placed his hand upon him, and all night he wrestled and fought with what he thought was an enemy who he believed intended to take his life. When his strength was nearly spent, just before the dawn of the day, it was revealed that he had been fighting “the Angel of the covenant.” The Angel put forth His divine power and, at one touch, Jacob was disabled. He was wounded and helpless, but he fell upon the breast of the Angel, pleading for a blessing. He said, “… I will not let You go unless You bless me!” Genesis 32:26, last part. He received the answer to his prayer because he was persistent and determined. He was willing to give up everything so that his prayer could be answered. The Bible says, “Let him take hold of My strength, that he may make peace with Me; and he shall make peace with Me.” Isaiah 27:5

We must be determined and commit our whole heart if we are going to be saved in the kingdom of heaven. We must pray, “Lord, I choose to surrender myself to You, and to follow You all the way.” God will answer your prayer just as He did Jacob’s. God will provide you with the power needed to enter at the narrow gate and walk the narrow road all the way to eternity. Decide now.

“Lord, whatever happens, I surrender my will to You. I choose to follow You all the way, and seek always to do Your will.” [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.

Do Unto Others

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He who is guilty of wrong is the first person to suspect wrong in someone else. When human beings start accusing, they are not satisfied with simply pointing out the supposed defect in somebody else, but will resort to coercion to force others to comply with their ideas about what is right. This is what the Jews did in the time of Christ.

In Matthew 7:1, Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” When men try to earn salvation by their own works, they inevitably are led to pile up human exactions as a barrier against sin. When they see that they fail to keep the law, they devise all manner of rules and regulations of their own to obey and they esteem these higher than the law or even in place of the law. All this turns the mind from God and toward self, and as a result the love of God dies out in the heart, and with it perishes love for our fellow men. This system of human intervention, with its multitudinous exactions, meant to make people good, will always lead its advocates to judge those who come short of the prescribed human standard. This develops an atmosphere of selfish and narrow criticism, stifling noble and generous emotions, and leading men to become self-centered and judgmental.

The Pharisees were of this class. Ungrateful for the great privileges that God had given them, they left their religious services without any sense of their own weaknesses. Instead, they were filled with spiritual pride, believing their thoughts, feelings, and knowledge made them better than others. Their own attainments became the standard by which they judged everyone else. Putting on a garment of self-dignity and self-righteousness, they mounted the judgment seat to criticize and condemn others.  Jesus referred to the prayer of the Pharisee found in Luke 18:11, where he said, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” The people partook of this very same spirit. It intruded upon the conscience and they began to judge one another in matters that should have been kept between the soul and God alone.

It was in reference to this spirit and practice of judging in matters of conscience that Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.” There is no true standard or ideal except that of God’s law and standard of perfection. It is man’s distortion of God’s standard that results in man setting himself up as the standard, putting forth his opinions, view of duty, and interpretation of scripture as the criteria for everyone else in the world. Man condemns others because they do not come up to his standard of ideals. And he criticizes them, presuming to know their motives, which he cannot truly know, and passes judgment on them.

The apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:5, “Therefore 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. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” Paul also says there is coming a time when everyone in the world will be judged: “We must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ … to receive a reward for deeds done in the body.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

Jesus said that there is coming a time, according to God’s providence, when everything that has ever been done in this world will be known (Matthew 10). He knows the hearts of mankind, the secret motives that drive them to do what they do, and say what they say. But as human beings, we cannot read the heart. We ourselves are faulty and unqualified to sit in judgment over others because we can only judge by the outward appearance.

God knows the secret springs of action, and He will judge righteously and compassionately. Paul again brings a rebuke to those who are entering upon the judgment seat in Romans 2:1: “Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.”

Notice, those who condemn or criticize others are also guilty themselves because they do the same things. In condemning others, we pass sentence upon ourselves, and God declares that this is a just sentence, accepting our own verdict. The sin that leads to the most unhappiness is the cold, unforgiving, critical spirit that characterized the Pharisees. When the religious experience has no love in it, the sunshine of Jesus’ presence is not there. No matter how active we may be in the service of Christ, that zeal cannot supply the lack of love.

We may have a wonderful keenness of perception to discover the defects of others, but anyone who seeks to discover these and expose them is a hypocrite. We must first cast out the log in our own eye (Matthew 7:5). When men indulge in this accusing spirit, they will not be satisfied with pointing out what they suppose is the defect in another. If milder means fail to make someone what they think he or she ought to be, they will, as far as lies in their power, force others to comply with their ideas of what is right.

This is exactly what the Jews were doing in the days of Christ and the apostles, and it is what the Christian church throughout history, whenever she has turned away from Christ to follow her own way, has done. When the church has found itself destitute of the power of love, it has relied on the strong arm of the state to enforce its dogmas and execute its decrees. Understand that, and you will understand the secret behind all the religious laws and legislation that have ever been enacted; you also will know the secret of all persecution from the days of Abel to our own time.

Jesus Christ does not use these methods. He does not drive men to be righteous; instead He seeks to draw all men to Himself. Only by love does He compel us to do what is right. Paul says, “The love of Christ constrains us.” It is love that persuades us, causes us to act. But when the church seeks the support of a secular power, it is plainly evident that the church is devoid of the power of Christ, the constraint of divine love.

Today, in the whole world, Christianity must be constrained by the love of Christ to have His character inside. This alone drives us to do that which is right for Christ. When we take upon ourselves His yoke of obedience and service, no one will have to crack the whip over us to make us do what is right. Jesus says that if we need anything, we need only come to Him and ask for it.

In Matthew 7:7–11, Jesus says, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!”

Jesus does not specify conditions. If we feel our need enough to ask, the Lord promises to hear. Are we hungry for His mercy, do we desire His counsel, long for His love? If we ask in faith and contrition, we will receive. The Lord has pledged His word and it cannot fail. When we ask for the blessings we need so that we might perfect a Christlike character, the Lord assures us that we are asking according to a promise that will be verified. No matter that we may be terrible sinners, we can cry out to Him asking for His mercy and compassion and He will answer.

We do not have to be holy or fulfill some condition before we can come to God because the Bible says there is no one like this. We come as we are, but we must understand that God does not intend to leave us as we are. If we desire Him to cleanse and purify us from our sin, recognizing the utter helplessness that makes His redeeming power a necessity, then we present our need, and our need will be fulfilled.

Job 22:21, first part, says, “Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace.” In 1 Chronicles 28:9, last part, when David was talking to Solomon just before his death, he said, “If you seek Him, He will be found by you.”

The Holy Spirit is the greatest gift that God can give us. All good things are contained in this gift. In fact, the Creator Himself cannot give us anything greater or any better. When we ask the Lord to send the Holy Spirit to dwell in our lives, we are asking Him for a gift that will bring with it every other gift we need. When we ask the Lord to pity us in our distress and to guide us by His Holy Spirit, He will never turn away our prayer.

The Bible asks the question that if a child comes to his or her parent for food, would a parent turn the child away? The question is asked with the belief that the parent would not turn them away, because in this world, there are exceptions. But it is true that some human parents know how to give love and good gifts to their children. So then we can believe that God knows how to, and will, provide the needs of His children. God will never turn away from a longing and needy heart. To people who have felt in their distress that God was not mindful of their need, the Lord has told them, “Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, and my Lord has forgotten me.’ ‘Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands.’ ” Isaiah 49:14–16. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, we were inscribed on the palms of His hands. The Lord says, even though a human parent may forget, I will never forget.

Every promise in the word of God, therefore, brings us subject matter for prayer. They show us what we may pray for. It is our privilege to claim these promises through Jesus. We need only come to Him in faith, confession, and repentance, asking for our sins to be forgiven, and He has promised to forgive (1 John 1:9). We may not only acknowledge our need for forgiveness of sins, but our need for spiritual help, strength, and salvation.

We are perfectly free to come to Him with any temporal concern—financial difficulties, need for food and clothing, shelter—whatever our need is, we are invited to come and ask for it. However, we must remember that in claiming these promises, we also claim God as our Father, acknowledging that we are His children, and have given ourselves to His work. It is to these that Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness …” that He gave the promise, “Ask, and you will receive.”

Jesus said, “… [W]hatever you desire that men should do to you, you do even so to them.” Matthew 7:12. This is known as the Golden Rule. In this text Jesus teaches us that we should not be concerned with what we receive, but rather with what we give. The standard of our obligation to others is found in what we ourselves would regard as their obligation to us were our situation reversed. In our association with others, we need to put ourselves in their place, to enter into their feelings, difficulties, and disappointments, their joys and sorrows—identify with them, and then treat them in the same way we would want them to treat us.

This is the true rule of honesty and courtesy, the genuine expression of the law. Jesus says in Matthew 22:39, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the substance of the teaching of the prophets, a principle of heaven, and everyone who is fitted for the holy companionship of heaven will have developed it in their life before they are allowed to go there. The truest illustration of the Golden Rule is seen in the life and character of Jesus Christ. When we study His life, we see not only softness and firmness, but beauty and sweetness flowing from His very presence.

This same spirit is to be seen in His children. If Jesus is dwelling in the heart, then we will be surrounded with a divine atmosphere, a fragrance of purity. No one who genuinely understands what constitutes true Christian character will fail to manifest the sympathy and tenderness of Jesus Christ. The influence of His grace softens our hard hearts and gives us a heaven-born sense of delicacy, a true sense of propriety. As with all gifts and blessings of this life, whatever we have that our fellows do not have obligates us to those that are less favored. Are there people around us who are sick, widowed, orphaned, fatherless? Are we treating them in the same way that we would want them to treat us?

The Golden Rule teaches, by way of implication, the very same truth that Jesus taught in Luke 6:38, last part, where He said, “For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Whatever we do to others, whether it is good or evil, will surely react upon ourselves, whether in blessing or in cursing. Whatever we give, we will receive again.

The earthly blessings that we give to others are often repaid in kind. What we give often does come back to us, even in this world. All gifts are repaid in God’s eternal time of reckoning, both good and evil. Any person who has been free to condemn or discourage or bring hardship upon others, will, sooner or later in his own experience, be brought over the same ground where he has caused others to pass. He will feel what he has caused others to feel.

The Golden Rule is the standard of Christianity. Any religion that leads men to place a low estimate upon those whom Jesus estimated to be of sufficient value to surrender His life on the cross is not a Christian religion. Any person who expresses a careless disregard of the needs, sufferings, and rights of his fellow man is not a Christian and is proving themselves to be a traitor to Jesus Christ. It is because men call themselves Christians while denying His character in their life, that Christianity today has so little power in the world and the name of the Lord is blasphemed.

Friends, we need to ask ourselves, especially if we call ourselves Christians: Is my religion real? If our Christianity is real, we will manifest and practice the principle of the Golden Rule in our lives.[All 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.

Seek Ye First

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Some people believe that their prayers have merit. If this is so, then it could easily be concluded that the longer the prayer, the greater the merit. But is it true that if a person prays long enough, their prayer will have enough merit to atone for sin, or are eloquent prayers just idle words?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said: “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” Matthew 6:5, 6

In these two verses, the Lord is not telling us that we should not pray in public. Jesus Himself prayed in public many times. Rather, He is teaching that a private prayer should not be made public. In our private devotions, our prayers are to reach the ears of no one except a prayer-hearing God. No curious ear is to hear the burden of our private petitions.

Jesus said, when you pray, go into your room, have a place for secret prayer. He had select places for communion with God. In fact, it was because He so often went to Gethsemane in the evening to pray that Judas Iscariot knew where to lead the soldiers when he betrayed Him.

We also need to have a private place, however humble, where we can be alone with God. Jesus said, “Pray to your Father who sees in secret.” In the name of Jesus, we may come into God’s presence with the same confidence that a small child comes to a parent. We do not need a man, a priest, or pastor as a mediator. Through Jesus, we may open our hearts to God as One who knows, loves, and hears us.

In the secret place of prayer, where no one but God sees or hears, we are free to pour out to Him the most secret and hidden desires of the heart, and the Father has promised that He will hear. Remember, He is a Father of infinite love and pity and He never fails to answer the cry of human need. He will speak to us when we take time to talk to Him. In James 5:11, last part, it says, “ [T]he Lord is very compassionate and merciful.” He waits with unwearied love and pity to hear the confessions of the wayward and to accept their penitence.

In the same way as a mother watches for a smile of recognition from her beloved child, He wants us to understand how earnestly and tenderly His heart yearns over us. He wants us to bring to Him our trials, our sorrows, our troubles, our wounds, our weaknesses, and our emptiness, and He will supply all of our needs (Steps to Christ, 100). The Bible teaches that no one who comes to Him will be disappointed.

Psalm 34:5–10 tells us how the Lord answers the prayers of even the humblest of His children: “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Oh, fear the Lord, you His saints! There is no want to those who fear Him. [T]hose who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

When we come to the Lord in secret and tell Him our needs, and plead with Him for help, we will not plead in vain, because Jesus said, “… your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” If we make Jesus our daily companion and friend, we will realize, that although we cannot see it, the powers of the unseen world are all around us. By looking to Jesus, we will become assimilated to His image and the result will be an increase in piety, purity, and fervor.

In Matthew 6:7, Jesus said, “And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.” The heathen, then and now, look upon their prayers as having merit in and of themselves to atone for sin. If they could become holy by their own efforts, they would have something in themselves for which to rejoice, some ground for the boasting. This idea of prayer is the outworking of the principle of self-expiation, which actually lies at the foundation of false religion. The Pharisees adopted this pagan idea of prayer, and it is by no means extinct, even in our time, even among some who profess to be Christians.

When we pray using set, customary phrases, and the heart feels no need of God, we are just offering up words of the same character as the vain repetitions of the heathen. Nobody wants to talk to a friend who is just mumbling set words and phrases in their mind, but their heart is not in it, and this type of prayer is not acceptable to the Lord either.

Prayer does not atone for sin. It has no virtue or merit of itself. All the eloquent words that we might command are not equivalent to even one holy desire. So the most eloquent prayers can be worthless, idle words if they do not express the true sentiments of the heart. Praying from an earnest heart, expressing the real wants of our soul, the same way that we would ask an earthly friend for a favor and expect that it would be received, we have then prayed a prayer of faith, and we trust that prayer will be answered.

God does not need our ceremonial compliments. But the unspoken cry of a heart that is broken and subdued with a sense of sin and utter weakness and helplessness, will find its way to the Father of all mercy.

As He continued to talk about the Christian life, Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” Matthew 6:24

Notice, He did not say you should not serve God and mammon. He says, you cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is a Greek word that simply means real estate, money, property, wealth, material possessions. Jesus is saying you cannot serve God and material things. In other words, no one can occupy a neutral position. There is no middle class who neither loves God nor serves the enemy of righteousness. If we do not give ourselves completely to God, the facts of the matter are, we are completely under the control of another power, listening in our minds to another voice whose suggestions are of an entirely different character.

If we attempt to give God only half service, we are actually placing ourselves on the side of the enemy as a successful ally of the hosts of darkness. When men claim to be Christians, soldiers of Christ, but then engage with the confederacy of Satan, they actually prove themselves to be enemies of Christ instead of His friends as they profess to be.

We are talking about a battle for the mind and heart, not just about outward words or behavior. The strongest bulwark of vice in our world is not the terrible life of some abandoned sinner or degraded outcast, but the life which appears virtuous, honorable, and noble, fostering one sin, indulging one vice. When there is someone struggling with a terrible temptation, the example of such a person is one of the most powerful enticements to sin. Thus, a person who claims to be a Christian but indulges one sin, is used by Satan to be a stumbling block to others so that they not only stumble in this life, but may even forfeit eternal life.

The apostle John talks about this problem in 1 John 2:15, 16, saying, “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.”

Jesus says that we should not allow ourselves to be caught up in the sum and substance of our lives—making a living, making sure we have food to eat and water to drink, a home and clothing to wear—but instead we must be careful to seek first the kingdom of God. This is a better, higher way to live, so that we are not pressed down all the time, just trying to survive. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:31–33, “[D]o not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Jesus was opening to them the treasures of heaven, but the people who were listening to these words were still anxiously waiting for Him to announce that He would set up an earthly kingdom. Uppermost in their minds was how a connection with Him would best advance their prospects in this new kingdom. Interestingly, that is the same question many people ask today. What church can I go to that will best advance my worldly interests, my professional or business interests?

Jesus is trying to show us that in making the things of this world our supreme anxiety, we will become like the worldly people around us, living as if there were no God whose tender care is over all His creatures. Jesus said, the nations seek after these things, but your heavenly Father knows what we need (Luke 12:30) and He tells us instead to “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

In other words, Jesus is telling us that He has come to open to us a kingdom of love, righteousness, and peace. We must open our hearts to receive this kingdom and make its service our highest interest. Even though it is a spiritual kingdom that He offers us, we are not to fear that the needs of this life will be uncared for. If we give ourselves to God’s service, the One who has all power in heaven and earth will provide for our needs.

This does not, however, release us from the necessity of effort. Jesus does not say we have nothing to do, that God just hands us whatever we need. He said, “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.” Matthew 6:26. How does the heavenly Father feed the birds? Does He put the food in their mouth? Absolutely not. He provides the food, but they have to go and find it.

In the same way, God provides for the needs of all of His children in this world, but that does not release us from the necessity of effort. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said to Adam that he would eat bread, the product of his personal effort from that day forward. As Christians, Jesus teaches us that we are to make Him first, and last, and best in everything. We are not to engage in any business, or follow any pursuit, or seek any pleasure that would hinder the outworking of His righteous character in our lives. Everything we do is to be done with this as our uppermost and first interest.

Friend, God’s everlasting arm encircles every soul who turns to Him for aid, however feeble that soul may be. Poverty or wealth, sickness or health, whether educated or uneducated, simple or wise, all are provided for in the treasures and promises of His grace.

The Bible tell us that the precious things of this world are going to pass away, but the soul that lives for God will abide with Him. The apostle John says, “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.” 1 John 2:17. If we learn to lean on God for wisdom, seeking Him for direction, if we commit our lives to Him, He will not only be our comfort and hope in this world, even amid loss and affliction, but in the world to come He will welcome us to an everlasting home. “ ‘For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed.’ says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” Isaiah 54:10

For this reason, because God cares for everyone who turns to Him for help and shields them and protects them, we do not need to live a life of worry. One of the biggest health problems in the western nations today is depression brought on by continual anxiety and worry. When on this earth, Jesus lived a dignified life in all its details by keeping before men the glory of God and subordinating everything else to the will of His Father. If we follow His example, He gives us the assurance that all things needful for this life will be added.

He does not promise that we will have the luxuries of life, but He does promise that what we will have in the future world will far exceed anything we could have here. For now, what is promised is what you need, not necessarily what you want. Since we are assured of this promise, if we commit our lives to Him, we will have no need to worry. Jesus says, “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6:34

If you have given yourself to God to do His work, you do not need to worry or be anxious about what is going to happen tomorrow, because the One whose servant you are knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10). The events of tomorrow, which are hidden from our view today, are open to the eyes of Him who is omnipotent. If we decide we want to manage our own life without His aid, to take matters into our own hands, if we want to depend on our own wisdom for success, then we are taking upon ourselves a responsibility that belongs to God, and thus are really putting ourselves in His place. As a consequence, we may well experience anxiety and apprehend danger and loss.

But, if we really believe that God loves us and means to do us good, we will be able to cease worrying about the future because we will have placed out trust in God as a small child trusts a loving parent. Our troubles and torments will then disappear, for our will is swallowed up in His will.

While Jesus is promising us this kind of help for today, He does not promise us that He would bear the worry, or anxiety, or burdens of tomorrow. Instead He said to Paul, and to us, in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My grace is sufficient for you … .” Like the manna that He gave the children of Israel in the wilderness, His grace is bestowed each day for that day’s need. One day alone is ours and during this day we are to live for God.

Just this one day, we must put our hand in the hand of Christ, and trust Him with everything in our life—our purposes, our plans—casting all our care upon Him. He says, “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. “In returning and rest shall you be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” Isaiah 30:15

Dear friend, if you seek the Lord and are converted every day, if you will of your own spiritual choice be free and joyous in God, you will find peace and joy in His service, and an eternal home with 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.

In Danger of Hell Fire

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If a person cherishes a spirit of malice and unkindness, he is cherishing a spirit that will result in hatred and a desire for revenge. This is why the Bible says that a person who hates his brother is a murderer and cannot hope to have eternal life. The question is, how can this spirit be removed or changed?

Across the Sea of Galilee from where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount was the land of Bashan. This land, filled with wild gorges and wooded areas, had for a long time been a favorite lurking ground for criminals of all descriptions. Even in Jesus’ day, there were reports of frequent murders and robberies committed in the area. People thought that if Jesus was teaching the law, He would have a stern rebuke for the people committing these crimes. They were shocked when He quoted the sixth commandment that says, “You shall not murder,” and showed that the commandment applied to them.

The people of that time cherished bitter hatred against the Romans and other people of their own country who did not in all things conform to their ideas. They were contentious and passionate, and so Jesus said to them, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ [an empty-headed, vain fellow] shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ [a person who has abandoned himself to wickedness] shall be in danger of hell fire.” Matthew 5:21, 22

Actually, many of the most accurate and ancient manuscripts leave out the words “without a cause.” The text would then read: “I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council.”

This spirit of hatred and revenge is at the basis of murders. It originated with Lucifer, the leading angel of heaven. His name became Satan, which means adversary, devil, or slanderer. This spirit led him to put to death the Son of God. The New Testament is very clear, the person, the intelligence that was behind the crucifixion of Jesus, was not just the Jewish leaders or the Roman government or Pilate, but an influence of supernatural forces. The devil wanted to destroy the Son of God, so he engineered and programmed the whole event. The heavenly universe saw and knew exactly what was going on, but the people of the earth did not know or understand.

So, as with the devil and many in ancient Israel, whoever today cherishes malice or unkindness is cherishing the same spirit and its fruit will be death. The revengeful thought is the seed that once grown or unfolded, produces the evil deed. The Bible says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15

In the gift of His Son, given for our redemption, God has shown how high a value He places on every human soul. He gives no one permission or liberty to speak contemptuously about another human being. It is true, having eyes and ears, we will see and hear of faults and weaknesses in other human beings. But God claims these as His property, first because He created them, as we find in Psalm 24:1, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.”

But human beings are doubly His because He purchased them back by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ. So, since all human beings were created in the image of God, even those that have been most degraded by sin, we are to treat one another with respect and compassion. When we study the life of Jesus, we find that He treated even His persecutors with politeness and courtesy.

Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount that God will hold us accountable if we speak contemptuously about anyone for whom Jesus laid down His life. The New Testament also is very strict about this principle. Notice what it says in 1 Corinthians 4:7: “For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”

Paul says that everything you have received is from God, so why do you talk as if you produced something on your own? Paul also says in Romans 14:4: “Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand.”

We are not to speak contemptuously of any human being no matter how degraded they are because of a life of sin. We are not to condemn our brother or sister as someone who is beyond the reach of salvation, as though they cannot be saved. If we pronounce judgment on someone else and say that we believe they cannot be saved, Jesus says that we are in danger of hell fire ourselves. The book of Jude provides us with an example of how we should talk and treat our fellow human beings. “Yet Michael [one who is like God] the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ‘The Lord rebuke you!’ ” Jude 9. Jesus did not bring a railing accusation against the devil. If He had, He would have placed Himself on Satan’s ground for accusations are the weapon of the wicked one. Revelation 12:10 says, “Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.’ ”

This scripture calls Satan “the accuser of the brethren.” Jesus did not bring an accusation against the devil; He left it for His Father to decide the condemnation and judgment of the devil. We are to follow His example. When we are brought into conflict with the enemies of Christ, for He still has many enemies in this world, we are to say nothing with a spirit of retaliation, or anything appearing to be a reviling or railing accusation. If we stand as a mouthpiece for God, as all Christians should, then we should not utter words that even the Majesty of heaven would not use when contending with the devil. We must leave with God the work of judging and condemning.

The love of God is a positive, active principle, a living spring ever-flowing out to bless others. If the love of Christ really dwells in our hearts, we not only will refrain from cherishing evil against our brother or sister, or speaking in a contemptuous way to them or about them, but we will ever and always seek to manifest love for them. In Matthew 5:23, 24, Jesus said, “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” In other words, don’t even go to church to worship the Lord in public until you have made things right with the person that you have wronged. We cannot expect to be able to express faith in God’s pardoning love if we are indulging an unloving spirit.

If, when we come before God, we remember that someone else has something against us, then we are to leave our gift of prayer, thanksgiving, or freewill offering, and we are to go to that brother or sister with whom we are at variance, and in humility confess our sin and ask them to forgive us. If we have in any manner defrauded or injured them, we are to attempt to make restitution. This has been a principle in the Bible from the most ancient times.

Ezekiel 33:15 says, “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, if we have unwittingly borne false witness against a brother or sister, if we have misstated their words, if we have injured their influence in any way, we need to go to those with whom we have conversed about them and take back all the injurious misstatements.

If Christians would do this in matters of difficulty between Christian brothers or sisters, if instead of laying them before third parties we went frankly and honestly to speak directly to them to make things right, in the spirit of Christian love, how much evil might be prevented. How much bitterness, would be avoided, and how closely Christians would be united in a bond of brotherly love (Hebrews 12:15).

As Jesus presented His sermon, the Jews prided themselves on their morality and they looked with horror upon the sensual practices of the Romans and other nations. But when Jesus showed them that the sixth commandment had to do with what was in the mind and heart, not just in the action, He also revealed something shocking about the seventh commandment. He said in Matthew 5:27, 28: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” When the thought of evil is loved and cherished, even secretly, it shows that sin still reigns in the heart.

He who finds pleasure in dwelling upon scenes of impurity, he who indulges the evil thought and the lustful look, may behold in the open sin the result of what he has been thinking. The Bible is very clear that all human beings are tempted in this world. But temptation does not create the evil that is revealed; it only develops or makes manifest that which was already in the heart, although it has been hidden. The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.” Proverbs 23:7. “For out of it [the heart] spring the issues of life.” Proverbs 4:23, last part

To prevent a physical disease from spreading to another part of the body and destroying the life, a man would submit to having a part of his body, an arm or a hand, amputated. How much more should a person be willing to surrender whatever imperils the life of his soul? In Matthew 5:29, 30, He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.”

This is a spiritual principle: whatever endangers the soul must be given up. If we are looking at something that endangers our souls, then we must stop looking at it. If we are handling something that endangers our souls, we must put it away. If where our feet take us is somewhere that endangers our souls, we must stop going there, because, through the gospel, souls that have been degraded and enslaved by Satan, by sin, are to be redeemed and are to share the glorious liberty of the sons of God. God’s purpose is not just to deliver us from the suffering that is the inevitable result of sin, His purpose is to save us from sin itself.

The gospel purifies, transforms, and sanctifies the soul that has been corrupted and deformed. It is to be clothed in “the beauty of the Lord our God.” Psalm 90:17. It is “to be conformed to the image of His Son.” Romans 8:29. The Bible says that “ ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.’ ” 1 Corinthians 2:9. In fact, eternity alone can reveal the glorious destiny to which every man and woman may be restored.

If we are going to reach this high ideal, whatever causes our souls to stumble must be sacrificed. It is through the will that sin retains its hold upon us. Often it seems to us that if we surrender everything to the Lord, we will be maimed, or crippled, or unable to do the things we have been planning to do. But it is through the surrender of the will to God, represented by Jesus as the plucking out of the eye or the cutting off of the hand, that we are freed from sin’s grip.

Jesus says it is better to enter into life, even if we are maimed or crippled, than to continue in sin and lose our souls. You see, God is the fountain of life and we can only have life as we are in communion with Him. Sin separates us from God and if we are separated from God, we may exist for a little time, but it is inevitable that we will die. The only way that we can truly live is when we surrender to the Lord as our Master and Saviour, and through that surrender we will receive what the Lord wants to give to us.

If we refuse to yield our will to God, if we cling to self and sin, then we are choosing death because sin is going to be destroyed (1 John 3:8), and we will be destroyed along with it.

Friend, what will be your destiny? You have a choice to make. Will you forsake your sin and live, or will you hang on to it and be destroyed?

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.

I Came to Fulfill, Not Destroy

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Many people today are very confused about what the word love means. They think it refers to sexual passion or a wonderful romantic feeling, but actually, it is a spiritual condition that multitudes of people have not experienced.

There was a time when Moses, the man of God, made a request of the Lord, “Show me Your glory.” Exodus 33:18. The Lord said that he would be allowed to see as much as it was possible for him to see and live (Exodus 33, 34). In Exodus 34 when the Lord answered his prayer, it says, “And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ‘The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.’ ” verses 6, 7, first part. So the Lord on this occasion told Moses what His character is like. The Lord clearly articulated the principle of the kingdom of heaven when He gave the children of Israel His law upon Mount Sinai. That law is an enunciation of the principle of love.

The Bible says repeatedly that the person who has love in his heart will keep the ten commandments (1 John 5:2, 3; Romans 13). The giving of the ten commandments was a reiteration to the children of Israel and to all the peoples of this earth, of the law that governs the kingdom of the heavens. This law was ordained in the hand of a Mediator. It was spoken by Him who has the power to change the hearts of men to bring them into harmony with the divine principles.

God had revealed the purpose of giving this law to the children of Israel before He gave it to them on Mount Sinai (Exodus 22:31). The Lord said to Israel, “You are to be holy men to Me.” The Bible says that no one can see the Lord, and no one can have eternal life if they are not holy (Hebrews 12:14). Without holiness we can never see the Lord.

The trouble was, and still is, that Israel did not perceive the spiritual nature of the law. It was seen as a series of things to do or not to do. Notice what the apostle Paul says in Romans 7:14: “For we know that the law is spiritual.”

Too often Israel’s professed obedience was simply an observance of forms, rituals, or ceremonies and not the surrender of the heart to the sovereignty of love. When Jesus Christ came to this earth, He represented to men what God is like in His character, His work, and His teachings, His holiness, His benevolence, and His paternal attributes. At the same time, He presented to them the worthlessness of mere ceremonial obedience. But when He did these things, the Jewish leaders did not understand what He was talking about, thinking He dwelt too lightly upon the requirements of the law, when He actually was setting before them the foundational principles on which the law is based.

Since these rulers were only looking at the externals and not at the principles underlying them, Jesus was accused of trying to overthrow the law. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus revealed in unmistakable language that this was not at all His purpose. He says in Matthew 5:17, 18: “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.”

Notice that it is Jesus Christ, the Creator of mankind, who is speaking. The Bible says very clearly that He created the world and upholds everything by the word of His power. He gave the law on Mount Sinai. He declared that it was not His purpose to set aside any of the precepts of the law, not even the smallest part of a letter of the law. When we study science or nature, whether something under a microscope or something in the heavens through a telescope, we know that everything in the natural world is under a law. Upon obedience to these natural laws, the order and the harmony of the natural world depend.

In the same way that there are laws that govern nature, there are also great principles of righteousness that control the lives of all created beings. And upon conformity to these righteous principles, the well-being of the entire universe depends. Before this world was ever called into existence, God’s law existed. The angels of heaven were governed by it and for the inhabitants of the earth to be in harmony with heaven, man also must be obedient to the divine statutes.

Psalm 103:20 says that the angels obey God’s commandments. To man in Eden, Christ made known the precepts of the law. When Jesus came to earth, He made it clear that His mission was not to destroy the law, or even part of it. His purpose was, by His grace, to bring man back into obedience to the precepts of the law of God. The beloved apostle John, who listened as Jesus spoke these words on the Mount, writing many decades later under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, described this law as a perpetual obligation saying, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” 1 John 3:4, and that whoever commits sin transgresses also the law. He makes it very clear that this law is not some new commandment. This law existed from the beginning (1 John 2:7), at creation, and was later reiterated on Mount Sinai.

Study the book of Genesis, and you will find that the people of that time understood the ten commandments and knew that to violate those principles was wrong and worthy of death. They called the breaking of these principles sin. I encourage you to read through the book of Genesis and write down every time one of the principles of the ten commandments is mentioned.

So speaking of the law, Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17. He uses the word fulfill in the same sense that He said to John the Baptist, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness [that is, fulfill the measure of the law’s requirement, to give an example of perfect conformity to the will of God].” Matthew 3:15

In the Old Testament we see the prophetic mission of the Messiah was to magnify the law, to make it honorable (Isaiah 42:21) and to show mankind its spiritual nature, to present its far-reaching principles and to make plain its eternal obligation. We see that Jesus does this in His sermon. He names the different commandments and shows that they extend not merely to outward observances, what you do or don’t do, but also to the heart and mind.

When we look at the character of Jesus, we see there a divine beauty, of whom the most noble, the most gentle among mankind are but a faint reflection. Concerning His character, the wise man Solomon wrote in prophecy concerning Him, that He is “chief among ten thousand. Yes, He is altogether lovely.” Song of Solomon 5:10, 16

When David saw Him in prophetic vision, he wrote, “You are fairer than the sons of men.” Psalm 45:2. Jesus is spoken of in the New Testament as the express image of the Father’s person, the brightness of His glory (Hebrews 1:3). And the self-denying Redeemer, throughout all of His pilgrimage of love on earth, was a living representation of the character of the law of God. To keep the law of God in its purpose and intent from the heart is to reveal the character of Jesus Christ. He said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments.” John 15:10. He also said, “I do always those things that please Him.” John 8:29

Jesus made manifest in this world what heaven-born love is like and how it reveals itself. Christlike principles underlie the principles of the ten commandments. He said, “[T]ill heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle [that is, part of a letter] will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:18. In His own life and character, He showed the unchangeable nature of God’s law. He proved that by His grace God’s law can be perfectly obeyed by every son and daughter of Adam. He said, “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” Luke 16:17

Jesus proved and taught that the law of God, the ten commandments, are unchangeable and will last forever. He did not teach that the law would be repealed or lose any of its authority, or that He had come to do away with it because the law of the Lord is perfect and it cannot be changed.

So long as heaven and earth continue, the holy principles of God’s law will remain.

It is impossible for sinful men, in themselves, to meet the standard of the law’s requirement. The apostle Paul said, “[T]he law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.” Romans 7:14. That is why you and I need the gospel. That is why Jesus came as our Redeemer. It was His mission, not only to pay the price in His own body for our sins, but to make us partakers of His divine nature (2 Peter 1:3, 4). It was His mission to bring us back into harmony with the law that governs the entire universe.

When we forsake our sins, when we choose to quit breaking God’s law and come to Jesus, and we see and accept Him as our Saviour from sin, as the Lord of our life, then the law is not done away with, but exalted. He then gives to us the Holy Spirit and enables us, by His grace and power, to live a life that is in harmony with His law. The apostle Paul says in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” How is the law established? When a person repents of his sin and chooses to forsake it, he realizes that he needs to come into harmony with the law that governs the whole universe of God, and Jesus gives him the Holy Spirit, enabling him to keep that law (Romans 8). Hebrews 10:16 says, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them.” But you must take care, because if you receive the Holy Spirit and do not obey God, then you are insulting the Holy Spirit.

Now it is true that the systems of types and ceremonies that pointed to Christ as the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world would pass away at His death, but the principles of righteousness embodied in the ten commandments are just as unchangeable as God’s throne. Not one command has ever been annulled. Not one precept has been changed. Those principles were made known to man in paradise as the great law of life and those principles will exist unchanged in paradise restored. When Eden again blooms on the earth, God’s law of love will be observed by all.

Think of this: the seventh commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” It is one of the most widely broken commandments all over the world today. But even before the ten commandments were ever given, the people in the time of Genesis knew that it was wrong to commit adultery.

Joseph was a slave manager in Potiphar’s house, and the Bible says, “It came to pass after these things that his master’s wife cast longing eyes on Joseph, and she said, ‘Lie with me.’ But he refused and said to his master’s wife, ‘Look, my master does not know what is with me in the house, and he has committed all that he has to my hand. There is no one greater in this house than I, nor has he kept back anything from me but you, because you are his wife. How then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?’ So it was, as she spoke to Joseph day by day, that he did not heed her, to lie with her or to be with her.” Genesis 39:7–10

As a result of his refusal to commit adultery, Joseph was thrown into prison. He would rather go to prison an innocent man than commit adultery. He said, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9

The Bible says that in heaven, God’s word is forever settled (Psalm 119:89). Nobody in heaven has any question about God’s law. Psalm 111:7, last part, 8, says, “All His precepts are sure. They stand fast forever and ever, and are done in truth and uprightness.”

Psalm 119:152 says, “Concerning Your testimonies, I have known of old that You have founded them forever.” If you really love God, you will keep His commandments. The apostle John says, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1 John 4:7, 8

How do you know that you really love God? First John 5:2, 3 says, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

The same problem existed in the days of the apostle John that we see in the Christian world today. People said that they loved God, but they hated their neighbor and they did not keep His commandments. John says in 1 John 3:7–11, “Little children, let no one deceive you [on this point]. 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. For this is the message that you heard from the beginning.”

Oh, friend, is the love of God truly in your heart today?

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.

Persecution and Character Development

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Some people are persecuted because of their wrong-doing and others stir up resentment and opposition by their extreme or rigid ideas. But some people are persecuted because they have done what is right. Sounds strange, doesn’t it?

In Matthew 5:10, Jesus gives the last of the beatitudes in the Sermon on the Mount when He says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” In the previous beatitudes, Jesus has been describing the development of Christian character, but in this last beatitude He instead describes what would develop in the world once a person becomes Christlike. And it is indeed a strange reception that is accorded them. You might think, when you first read the gospel story, that a person with the character described by Jesus, one that is gentle, who loves righteousness, and is merciful, pure in heart and is a peacemaker, would be welcomed everywhere by everyone. But Jesus said that it would be just the opposite.

He declared that if you climbed this ladder of spiritual growth, it would lead to opposition and persecution; that a genuine Christian character would stir up enmity and hatred on the part of those in the world who do not have these virtues. The Bible gives abundant evidence that such is the case.

The apostle Peter says, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world” (1 Peter 5:8, 9). So the development of a genuine Christian character would engender enmity, persecution, and hatred as Jesus predicted.

Character development produced by the experience of a person who has followed these first seven beatitudes arouses the enemy of all righteousness. He is especially incensed when those who climb this ladder reach the blessed realm of purity of heart, with a vision of God that qualifies them to become peacemakers to other alienated and troubled souls. This makes the prince of strife and confusion furiously angry with these ambassadors of peace, and he makes war upon them. His fiercest anger and his most relentless persecutions will be manifested against the remnant church just before Christ returns.

Revelation 12:12 says, “… rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.” Then verse 17 says, “And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest [or the remnant] of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

The reason that genuine Christians are persecuted, as seen in 1 Peter 1:1, is because they are strangers and pilgrims in the earth. Paul, in describing the faithful people of God in past ages, said, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13). Genuine Christians are not citizens of this world. They are living in a land which Satan, the great adversary, claims as his, as its prince and ruler. The devil is called in the Bible the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4 KJV). “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning” (1 John 3:8).

Sin is the breaking of God’s law (1 John 3:4). As long as you live in sin, the devil will give you comparative rest because you are part of his kingdom. But when you choose to renounce the kingdom of Satan and follow Jesus Christ, obedient to the laws of heaven, the devil is very angry because he has lost you as one of his subjects. That results in his satanic wrath and persecution, and from that, no real Christian can escape. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He also said in John 15:20, “ ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”

You have to remember that you must forsake all sin if you are going to be a peacemaker, because it is sin that disturbs our peace. When you decide to forsake your life of sin and follow Jesus Christ, and you receive the Holy Spirit, then you begin to live a new life. You have transferred your citizenship to heaven by choosing to follow Jesus Christ and acknowledging Him as your Lord and Saviour.

This persecution foretold by Jesus was not limited just to the disciples to whom He was speaking or to others at some other certain time. Paul says, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Just as Christ loves righteousness and hates lawlessness (Hebrews 1:9), Satan loves lawlessness and hates righteousness. And in this rebellious world we live in, vital holiness will provoke hatred and opposition because holiness is a disturbing element. The light of truth always exposes the darkness of error. It sweeps away the black mantel that covers the sins of the ungodly and it makes manifest the necessity of change, the need for reform. This revelation may be welcomed by some, but it is resented by those who want to cling to their sins.

To Nicodemus Jesus said, “He who believes in Him [that is, in Christ] is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed” (John 3:18–20). That is the very same problem the Christian has faced in all ages; the same problem that Jesus Himself faced. Those who are not willing to forsake their lawless deeds begin to war against the truth and its advocates and hatred against truth and godliness is manifested by persecuting those who are sanctified by the truth.

If it is true that all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution, why is there comparatively little persecution in Christendom in the western world at the present time? The book of Acts and the epistles of Paul tell us that in the time of the apostles, the church of God suffered great persecution. Some of the epistles of Paul were actually written from a Roman prison. After the time of the apostles in the second and third centuries, there was persecution of the Christians by the pagan Roman Empire that lasted for more than 200 years.

Again, during that long period of history known as the Dark Ages, persecution raised its ugly head and millions of Christians were martyred in many parts of the world. In the 16th century during the Reformation and again during the revivals in the time of John Wesley, there was persecution of the church. Persecution has appeared whenever there has been a revival of primitive godliness. And the reason that there is so little persecution in the modern church today is because vital godliness is lacking.

Notice what Jesus says to the church that would live in the last epochal period of Christian history: “ ‘I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit [spew] you out of My mouth. Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing”—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments [raiment], that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me’ ” (Revelation 3:15–20).

Do you understand what has happened? The church has compromised with the world and conformed to worldly standards so that there is very little vital godliness in the church. Christianity has become popular with the world and therefore awakens no opposition. A church that has lost its first love, that has become lukewarm in its affection for both God and man, could hardly be expected to arouse the hatred of the enemy. He is so very well satisfied with the present spiritual condition of the church because he knows that few of its members have climbed the beatitude ladder.

But when there is a development of primitive godliness, a revival of the faith and power of the apostolic church, there will be a revival of persecution. The enemy will become aroused as soon as the church begins to awaken from its slumbering condition. However, we must always remember that Jesus said, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake” (Matthew 5:10).

This persecution is not because of a person’s own wrong-doing or the natural consequence of their own course of conduct. There are many today who think themselves martyrs, and are anxious for persecution, and will follow a course that brings persecution upon themselves. They are not happy unless they are creating resentment and stirring up opposition; this is especially true of certain extremists and fanatics. Jesus is talking about the persecution that results from a person being personally righteous.

When Jesus was here on earth, He said that He was rejected and persecuted because He was not of the world, because He was different from the world. His godly life was a rebuke to sinners, and it made them angry. They hated and persecuted Him because He was righteous, and it exposed their unrighteousness. He was insulted, maligned, reproached, and finally murdered, not because they could find evil in Him, but because they could not. In fact, at His trial, Pontius Pilate said three times, “I find no fault in Him at all” (John 18:38).

Jesus says that His followers would receive the same treatment for the same reasons. Being like Christ they would be different from the world, and somehow, difference will always awaken opposition. The life of a genuine Christian, his very presence, is a reproof and rebuke to those who are selfish and proud. This makes them feel uncomfortable and arouses in them enmity and resentment. This last beatitude is the only one that Jesus enlarges upon. And He emphasizes its importance with this statement found in Matthew 5:11 and 12, literal translation: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets which were before you.” Jesus explains in these verses what He means by persecution for righteousness’ sake. He enumerates some of the forms in which the persecution would come and He emphasizes the greatness of the reward.

Sometimes when someone is persecuted, we tend to sympathize with them. We might be inclined to pity ourselves if we are being persecuted and ill-treated by others. But Jesus offers His congratulations to those who are persecuted. He declares that those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake should rejoice. This is true, because it is an evidence that they actually are the children of God, and thereby have become a menace to Satan and his kingdom.

So persecution is often evidence that a person is climbing the ladder of spiritual growth, traveling the highway of holiness that leads to the Holy City, the celestial city of God. Jesus assures us if we are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, that we have the kingdom of heaven and should rejoice. He also tells us that we can rejoice because of the company that we are in. All those who have gone before you—the prophets, the apostles and many other godly Christians—were persecuted and the brunt of Satan’s attacks.

All of the prophets were opposed and persecuted and many suffered martyrdom because they were holy men of God acting as His spokesmen (2 Peter 1:19–21). It is the fate of prophets and sages to be rejected because the world will not bear rebuke. When we study the life of the apostles, we find that all except one of the 11 apostles died for their faith and that one, John the Beloved, suffered banishment to the Isle of Patmos. Many millions of Christians were persecuted and martyred during the pagan Roman persecutions. And many millions more, during the Dark Ages. If you are persecuted, remember Jesus says that you are in the company of the best people that have ever lived. To join the company of the persecuted, therefore, is cause not for sorrow, but for rejoicing.

Another cause for rejoicing is that persecution is one of the best of all purifiers and character developers. When we study Christian history, we find many times that the church has always been in its purest and most godly state while passing through persecution, and at such times, had its greatest power. Why? Because godliness awakens opposition and Christian character develops faster and becomes more vigorous under the strain and opposition of being persecuted. Godliness always precedes persecution, and persecution then performs an important part of burning out the dross and perfecting Christian character. The two blend together. Persecution increases with the increase of godliness. If you want to be ready to meet Jesus Christ when He returns to this world, you must be willing to follow Him through evil report as well as good report.

Revelation describes those who are ready to meet Jesus when He comes. John was asked, “ ‘Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?’ And I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ So he said to me, ‘These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb’ ” (Revelation 7:13, 14).

If you want to be ready to meet Jesus when He returns, you must be ready to go through, by His grace, the great tribulation. The Bible is very clear that before Jesus comes again, there will be a time of trouble in this world such as has never been since there was a nation. And we are rapidly approaching right now that time described in Daniel 12:1. Now is the time for us to prepare to go through the great tribulation and to be ready to meet the Lord when He returns.

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.