"presence of God" Tagged Sermons

THE GOD OF ANOTHER CHANCE

John H Walton in his book “The Lost World of Genesis” writes:
“As complicated as translating a foreign language can be, translating a foreign culture is infinitely more difficult. The problem lies in the act of translating. Translation involves lifting the ideas from their native context and relocating them in our own context.
When we move to the level of culture, the same type of problem occurs. The “very act of trying to translate the culture requires taking it out of its context and fitting it into ours.
(However), the minute anyone attempts to translate the culture, we run the risk of making the text communicate something it never intended.“
Eventually John Walton arrives at the conclusion that:
“We can begin to understand the culture BY BECOMING FAMILIAR WITH ITS LITERATURE.”
In other words, regarding Jonah, we read the story in English and outside it’s cultural context and that’s the reason we read and hear so many different approaches to what God is communicating with this story. Remember, the Bible was never written TO us; the Bible was written to the people that lived during those days when it was written, primarily to ISRAEL.
But the Bible was written FOR us. Jonah was written FOR US, and we can learn the incredible lessons about God and God’s people.
Circumstances are not reliable indicators of WHO GOD IS AND IF HE LOVES US OR NOT. THE ONLY RELIALBE INDICATOR OF WHO GOD IS AND HOW HE LOVE US is to look to Jesus, His life, His death, and His resurrection. That’s exactly what Jesus meant when he answered the religious people of his days WHAT SIGN HE WOULD GIVE THEM. Matthew 12:39-41

The Last Judgment

For 1000 years the Old and New Testament saints will rule and reign with Jesus Christ on this earth. During this time, Jerusalem will be the city of the King. Finally, world peace, which since the fall of man has been promised by many but delivered by no human being, has been implemented by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The Roman Empire was alive and well during those days. It promised the world PAX ROMANA. They promised to eradicate thievery on the highways and piracy from the seas. Most people believed them and felt secure for a brief period of time. Centuries later, the Pax Britannica, the British peace, calmed the world for about a century. It also brought a level of economic prosperity to many nations.
What about today? For a brief period of time after the 2nd world war, the United States of America believed that she can bring calmness and economic prosperity to the entire world. It did not last long. According to the Bible, another world power will arise soon, also promising world peace and an economic prosperity that will last forever. The problem with all these human efforts is the fact that there is only ONE WORLD RULER WHO WILL ACCOMPLISH THIS PROMISED PEACE ON EARTH, and that is Jesus Christ, the creator and owner of the entire universe.
It will be PAX MESSIAH. For that to happen, Jesus will return to this earth, bind Satan and invite the saints to reign with him for 1000 years.
God gave men and women free choice. Such implies the opportunity to choose from at least two options. How can you say you have free choice if you don’t have more than one option? That would not be loving or just, and God Almighty is both and much more.
We all know the story. How the Lord allowed Satan to enter the garden and tempt Adam and Eve, to see if they would freely choose to obey Him. Thats exactly what the Lord will do one more time AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM REIGN.
The 1000 year reign on this earth will conclusively demonstrate that people reject Jesus Christ not so much because of their environment, but because OF THEIR DEPRAVED, FALLEN NATURE.
Listen, not even 1000 years of peace will cleanse humankind of its sinful nature. This final rebellion after 1000 years of peace on earth will tell all creation why Jesus Christ had to die on Calvary. All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. 1000 years of righteous rule cannot eradicate the sin in people’s hearts. Only the crucified and risen Jesus Christ can perform that miracle, and it won’t happen unless WE CHOOSE TO SAY YES TO HIS CALL. That’s the only way we can obtain eternal life.
The Great White Throne judgment is reserved for all those who have chosen to reject God’s offer of salvation. They have refused the grace of God, now they will be judged by the things written in the books. This judgment is reserved for those who said: I do not need Jesus; I can manage just fine on my own. I am good enough. I will stand in my own works, on my own record.
The unbelieving dead will be raised at the end of the millennium to be judged in their resurrected bodies. They will already have died physically, now they will die spiritually.
Physical death means separation, your soul or spirit is temporarily separated from your body. But the second death involves a far worse separation; you will be ETERNALLY SEPARATED from the PRESENCE OF GOD.
Some of them will say: I DON’T BELIEVE IN HELL.
Let me tell you that the CHARACTERISTICS of God necessitate hell:
Justice, His love, and His sovereignty are just some of those.
So, all those who will stand before the final judgment, know exactly why they are there and that they are guilty before a holy God. While most of them have forgotten many of their sinful acts, God’s holy angels have not overlooked a single one of them. They are all written in the books and will be brought before them on that final judgment day.
Some people object to this Biblical truth, saying: If God is all merciful, why is He not giving the people one more chance to receive His mercy, even if they are in hell?
Answer: How can a place devoid of God’s mercy (hell) accomplish what no measure of His grace could accomplish on earth?
If hell could reform those who choose evil, then they could be saved without Christ, who is the sole means of God’s salvation.
Also, God cannot force free creatures to be reformed. Forced reformation is worse than punishment, for punishment honors the freedom and dignity with which God endowed His human creation. Humans are not objects to be manipulated; humans are subjects to be respected. God will respect their free choices.
Listen, the only alternative to eternal punishment is robbing persons of their freedom by forcing them into heaven. This would not be heavenly but instead would be “hell” for them, since they would be trapped in a place where everyone is loving and praising the Only they want most to avoid. Without an eternal separation of evil from good, there would be no heaven, an eternal preservation of good. As we all know, evil is contagious and must be quarantined, like a deadly plague. If God did not eventually separate the tares from the wheat, the tares would choke out the wheat; an eternal heaven necessitates an eternal hell.
And we should never forget, unbelievers prefer to be distanced from God in time. Why should we not expect this to be their chose state in eternity?

God’s Glory In Prophecy

In John 1:14 the people were able to behold the glory of the Father at Jesus’ first coming. When Jesus returns the second time with the same glory of the Father, the glory will be seen by all people. The Sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven just before Jesus will set foot on this earth again. This sign will be the SHECHINAH GLORY.
The greatest manifestation of the Shechinah Glory, especially to Israel, will be in the messianic kingdom. God’s glory will be a visible manifestation in the holy of holies during the millennial kingdom.
The new Mount Zion, described in various parts of the Bible, will be an exceeding high mountain with a 50 mile square plateau on top with the new city of Jerusalem on the south side and the millennial temple on the north side. But over the entire mountain will be the visible manifestation of the Shechinah Glory just as this glory was over Mount Sinai in the Old Testament period.