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Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall
he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap
corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting. (Galatians 6:7,8) |
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There is an immutable law that operates in the Kingdom of God. It is the
law of sowing and reaping. For every action there is a result. For every
decision there is a consequence. There are no exceptions to this. |
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One of the catastrophic effects of the so-called "dispensation of grace" is
the weakening of this iron law. The believers are not sure to what extent
(if any) they will get back what they have done, especially in the form of
loss of inheritance. They may be rewarded for their good works (some do not
believe even this!) but they never will be punished for their sin. Their
pastors and teachers stand in line to assure them that no Christian need
have any fear of the Judgment Seat of Christ. |
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How terribly incorrect! How terribly destructive of our moral behavior!
First of all, let us assure ourselves that Galatians 6:7,8 (above) is
speaking to Christians. An examination of the text of Galatians will reveal
beyond all doubt that Paul is writing to Gentile believers who were being
seduced by Jewish teachers. These teachers were advising the Galatians of
the need for circumcision if they were to be saved. |
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To the Gentile Christians in Galatia (as well as Jewish Christians) Paul
was saying, "You are going to reap what you are sowing."
To get anything else out of this passage is to willfully distort the
Scriptures. And there are several other passages in the New Testament that
state the same law of sowing and reaping. |
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Notice that we Christians, in terms of our behavior, reap either corruption
or eternal life. We need to think carefully about this because we are apt
to think in terms of Hell and Heaven, not in terms of corruption and
eternal life. The expressions may not be equivalent. |
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Current teaching is that you obtain eternal life when you "make a decision
for Christ" (an unscriptural expression). We do not "make a decision for
Christ." We either come to the Man or we don't. This is no mere academic
distinction. |
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When you come to Christ you get a deposit on eternal life. Then you have to
fight the good fight of faith constantly in order to hold onto this
deposit. If you are faithful in maintaining the life given to you, you will
get the whole bank account when the Lord comes. |
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Eternal life is something you reap in terms of your behavior. It is a
deposit on eternal life that is given when you truly receive Christ into
your personality. The Scripture is clear enough (the parable of the sower,
for example) that you can lose your deposit if you do not obey the
commandments issued by the Apostles of the Lamb. |
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How then do we explain the statements of Paul that salvation is a gift
given to us upon our belief in Jesus Christ? What is all this talk about
reaping what we sow? |
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The explanation is simple and straightforward. Paul, when stressing the
role of faith in both Romans and Galatians, was reacting to those who were
attempting to add the Law of Moses to the Christian experience. In
Galatians the issue was circumcision. |
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Paul resolves the seeming contradiction by showing, in Galatians, that
while he was not under the Law of Moses he was under an infinitely stricter
law. He was crucified with Christ and was now living by the Life of Christ. |
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In this context it makes perfect sense for Paul to emphasize, on the one
hand, the role of faith in Jesus Christ in the plan of salvation; and to
state, on the other hand, that Christians will reap what they sow. |
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To be continued. |
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Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. (II Corinthians 5:17) |
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Christ did not come to excuse our sins. Christ came to make us righteous, holy, and obedient to God. In those areas of our personality and behavior in which we persist in unrighteousness, filthiness of spirit, and disobedience to God, we certainly shall reap corruption in place of eternal life. |
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To ignore this certainty and to maintain the present evangelical posture that God does not see our sinning is to insure a very bleak future for ourselves! |
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You cannot blame your pastor or teacher for leading you astray. You are responsible to search the Scriptures and determine for yourself what is true. It is the future of you and your family we are talking about! |
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Now, let's think for a moment about when we will reap what we have sown. |
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It is true, of course, that even in this life we reap what we sow. |
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If we are not careful with our diet and do not exercise we may get a heart attack. I did! It's no fun! |
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If we are not prudent with our spending we may end up bankrupt. |
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If we behave in an immoral fashion we may contract a dreadful disease. |
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If we smoke we may develop cancer. |
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If we are dishonest we may end up in prison. |
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If we overwork we may have an anxiety breakdown. I had this too. No fun! |
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But these penalties, however painful, are peanuts when it comes to the issue of the Day of Christ. In the Day of Christ we are going to reap what we have sown while in our body. |
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The body is of great importance in the plan of salvation. We will be rewarded or punished in our body. |
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There are numerous rewards that accrue to the believer who pursues the life of victory in Jesus. Many of these are listed in the second and third chapters of the Book of Revelation. They include eternal life, closeness to God, power, authority, freedom from the harm caused by the second death, and finally a permanent position with Christ in His throne. |
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The rewards are summed up in Revelation: "He who overcomes will inherit all the glory of God, and God will be his God and he will be God's son." |
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But we wish to limit ourselves at this point to one aspect of our reaping. It is that of the body from Heaven. |
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Two bodies are involved in the resurrection from the dead. The first body is that which we have now. It shall be raised from the dead. The body of every human being who has lived on the earth will be raised from the dead. |
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The second body is the body from Heaven, of II Corinthians. The body from Heaven is the robe we will be given. It will "swallow up" our newly resurrected body. |
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The point is, what kind of body will our heavenly body be? |
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You are deciding that right now. Your heavenly body is the result of your conduct, whether good or bad. |
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Every decision you make, every action you take, is affecting your body that is being fashioned before the Throne of God in Heaven. |
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If you are developing Christian character, if you are becoming a new righteous creation, then righteousness, holiness, obedience to God, love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, faithfulness, teachableness, courage, self-control, kindliness, generosity, are being added to your robe, your body from Heaven, your crown. |
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To be continued. |
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For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: (II Corinthians 5:2) |
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Unlike our body on earth, our heavenly body will reveal what we are in our inner personality. |
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If you, although a Christian, are not following the Spirit of God, are not becoming a new creation in Christ, then unrighteousness, spiritual uncleanness, disobedience to God, hate, malice, misery, bitterness, impatience, evil tendencies, treachery, stubbornness, timidity, self-indulgence, self-centeredness, self-will, unkindness, selfishness, are being added to your robe, your body from Heaven, your crown. |
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The body that clothes your resurrected frame will reveal all these things to the onlooker. You will be viewed with disgust. Your role in the Kingdom, if you are allowed to enter the Kingdom, will be minimal. |
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You are going to reap precisely what you are sowing today. |
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I hope everyone who reads these words takes me seriously for this is what the Scripture teaches. It's your future we are dealing with here! |
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Here is the perfect justice of God. |
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However, the love of God has made a provision for us. We can wash our robe in the blood of the Lamb. |
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When you confess a sin, as the Holy Spirit guides you, the Lord washes your garment in His blood. |
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Let's say you tell a lie. When it comes to your attention confess to the Lord that you have told a lie. When you take this action the Lord will wash your robe in His own blood. Then it will not appear in your house from Heaven. |
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The Spirit of God will lead you into the sexual fantasies hidden in your heart. Don't be afraid to tell God all that is there (He already knows anyway). But you must confess your imaginations and actions and judge them as sin. When you do God is faithful and righteous to forgive your sin and cleanse you from all unrighteousness. |
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The practice of continuing confession and repentance will lead you at last to the first resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood. |
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Then as God brings you into various situations and you conquer your worldliness, lusts, and self-will through the help that Christ gives you, you will add virtue to your body before the Throne of God—that with which you will be clothed in the Day of Resurrection. |
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However, if you do not confess and forsake your sins your robe will remain filthy. You will be clothed with corruption and filthiness in the Day of Resurrection, not with the incorruptible resurrection Life of Christ. |
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Let the filthy be filthy still! |
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All of us must face God's judgment. We can go through it now by judging ourselves and confessing our sins and thereby attain the first resurrection, the resurrection to life as a member of the royal priesthood. |
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Or we can wait until we die. In this case we will receive in the Day of Resurrection the bad things we have done. |
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We shall be rewarded for the things done in the body and we shall receive the reward in our body. |
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God gave us a spirit and soul. He placed these in a temporary, animal body. If we obey God in all things we will receive our true, eternal body in the Day of Christ. |
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But if we lose control of our soul to the spirit of the world, to the lusts of our flesh, or to the self-will of our soul and spirit, we will forfeit our soul to the enemy and we will be clothed accordingly. |
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To be continued. |
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Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. (I John 3:7) |
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These are iron laws of the Kingdom of God and they are not tempered in any manner by grace, mercy, or God's love. You will trifle with these facts at your peril. |
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Imagine the Day of the Lord, the Day of Resurrection. Your body has been reassembled and then animated with spiritual life, the life by which angels live. |
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You are standing beside your grave, not knowing what to expect. |
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The Lord Jesus comes with your body from Heaven. |
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Perhaps you will see some believers clothed with great mountains of fire and glory, prepared to shine as the stars forever so they may guide people to the rest of God. |
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With what will you be clothed in that moment? |
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If you have done that which is good you will be clothed with a body of life fashioned according to your conduct on earth. If you have suffered you will have in your new body the capacity to govern nations of people. |
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If you have done that which is evil you will experience weakness and darkness. The hold of sin will be strong upon you. You will not be happy at the thought of being close to the blazing light of Jesus, the Divine fire of God. |
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People will turn away from you in disgust. You will slink away to the habitations of those with personalities like yours. |
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What I am describing is real. It will happen some day to you. You cannot be certain that the sun will rise tomorrow morning. But one thing you do know: the moment will come when you stand before Jesus Christ to answer for your conduct on the earth. |
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Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation. (John 5:28,29) |
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And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. (Daniel 12:2) |
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Perhaps many Christians in the United States will become aware that we have misunderstood the role of God's grace and will turn to God and begin to bring forth works in keeping with their repentance. But remember, one runs into trouble if he attempts to tell a child he no longer is going to be given everything he wants and must now be subject to the denial of his desires and other discipline. You will have a howling tyrant on your hands. |
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No doubt the truth that we are not as secure as we thought we were will unsettle multitudes of believers. |
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Perhaps God in His goodness will send the Spirit of repentance on us so that we can successfully manage the idea that the only reliable evidence of our salvation is a new creation that works the righteous works of God. To be sure, interesting developments are ahead of us. |
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But no matter what others do, why don't you go to the Bible and see what it says about the Lord rewarding every one of us according to our works. If you are persuaded that indeed we shall be rewarded according to our works, Christian or not, then go to the throne of grace and tell God that from now on you want to grow in righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. |
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To be continued. |
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Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19) |
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Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: (Matthew 6:19,20) |
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And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29,30) |
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Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21) |
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And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. (Revelation 2:23) |
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And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. (Revelation 22:12) |
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Read carefully the above verses. In your heart of hearts, do you believe these apply to you? If not, to whom do they apply? |
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Even if we throw out the commandments of Christ in the Gospels, as some are doing today because they conflict with the modern definition of "grace," we still have Galatians and Revelation (above) to consider. By no principle of Bible interpretation can we claim that Galatians 5:19-21 was not addressed to Gentile believers in the Roman province of Galatia. |
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Revelation 2:23 (above) was addressed to one of the lampstands of God! |
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The modern teaching is that all these Bible statements are invalid as far as Christians are concerned. We are saved by grace, meaning that salvation is an abstract legal maneuver of God that brings us to a mansion in Heaven independently of our conduct. |
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Our personal belief is that this is absurd. We hold it to be the greatest error in thinking in the two thousand years of the history of the Christian Church. |
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The defining of "grace" as an unconditional amnesty applying to Gentile believers in Christ is a monumental error that has resulted in the destruction of the Christian churches of America. Because the churches do not teach righteous behavior with any great conviction (hoping to fly away any moment in a "rapture") the secular society is drowning in the lusts of the flesh. |
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(By the way, the so-called "rapture" is late in arriving. Multitudes of Christians have been tortured and slain so far in this century, more than in any other century of the Christian Era, statisticians inform us. Sorry, guys, you should have waited for the rapture.) |
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Where are our brains? |
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The moral condition in America is our fault! |
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How do you feel about this? Would you behave differently if you believed you are to be clothed with your own works in the Day of Resurrection? |
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If so, set out to behave differently and the Lord will help you. He loves righteousness! |
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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. (II Corinthians 5:10) |
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The Day of Judgment will be applied to mankind in two separate manners. The first applies to the royal priesthood to those who attain to the first resurrection. They are judged so thoroughly in the present world, and respond to that judgment so correctly, that their sentence is to be raised and rise to meet the Lord at His appearing. There is no further judgment applied to them, as we note in Revelation 20:4-6. The Lake of Fire has no further jurisdiction over them. |
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The second applies to the remainder of mankind, to those who are raised in the second resurrection. They will be judged according to their works. Their sentences will vary all the way from a few stripes to eternal residence in the Lake of Fire. |
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To those who comment that no individual will be saved at the second resurrection because no person can be saved by works we reply that every individual, whether of the Church or of mankind, is judged according to his or her works (note II Corinthians 5:10 above). |
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Christ did not come for the purpose of preventing our judgment according to our works. Christ came to transform us so that our works will merit the approval of God. Any other viewpoint will lead the seeker into the corrupting morass in which evangelicals flounder in the present hour. |
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But isn't it true that Jesus said if we hear His Word and believe in God we will not be condemned? |
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Yes, and this is true of course. The believer who presses forward each day in the moral transformation that is the new covenant is kept without condemnation by the blood of Jesus. Such an individual will find his entire life has become one of judgment as the Holy Spirit guides him in putting to death the deeds of his body. His work has been that of maintaining an unswerving commitment. He or she is an attainer to the first resurrection of the dead. |
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We notice, however, that many believers in America of today are not maintaining an unswerving commitment to Jesus Christ. They are not denying themselves and carrying their means of execution behind Jesus. They are not living by His resurrection power. They are not sharing His sufferings. They do not understand that such is the only true Christian life. |
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"Brother Thompson, how can you say this of most church-attenders in America? How do you know that they are not disciples of Jesus?" |
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By their works! |
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They have been taught that Jesus loves them and has granted to them an unconditional amnesty that insures their eternal residence in Paradise. They behave accordingly. This is an unscriptural program and an unscriptural destiny. |
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Every human being on the earth will be revealed at the Judgment Seat of Christ. The Judgment Seat of Christ began in the first century, according to the Apostle Peter. The Judgment Seat of Christ will end when Christ and His saints sit on the great white throne and judge angels and the world. |
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To be continued. |
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But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; who will render to every man according to his deeds: (Romans 2:5,6) |
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Every person who has lived on the earth, Christian or not, will be judged according to his or her works. As we have noted, the Christian remains without condemnation providing he is following the Spirit in putting to death the deeds of his flesh. The judgment of God is always on the deeds of our flesh. God has made provision for us through the blood of Christ that authorizes and empowers us to judge and put to death through the Spirit the deeds of our flesh. As we do this we are attaining the earlier resurrection, the resurrection of the royal priesthood. |
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It appears that most Christians of our day, having been taught incorrectly, are not putting to death the works of their flesh. They are lying, stealing, betraying their marriage vows, dabbling in witchcraft, gossiping, slandering, causing strife and division (they are not peacemakers), engaging in adultery, fornication, pornography. They are molesting their own children. They abuse their body with drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes. They are covetous, seeking money instead of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. |
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They do not understand the program of continuing judgment that is operating today. They are not appearing before Christ today that their sins may be confessed and cleansed from them. They are under the delusion that God sees them through Christ and they have nothing to fear at the Judgment Seat. |
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We Christians of America are horribly, horribly deceived! |
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We are not showing forth righteousness in our personality. As a result the secular world has no moral light. Judgment is soon to fall on the United States unless the churches repent. |
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The demons fear the coming Day. The Christians do not fear the Day of the Lord. Why? Because they have been taught that how they live does not matter because they are "saved by grace." Thus we have made Divine grace an excuse for our sins. We are not scriptural in this. |
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We have been commanded to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. But we do not fear God and are not trembling at the thought of the coming Day of Judgment. In our filthy pride we are willing to reverence God but not fear Him. |
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We do not know the terror of the Lord. |
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Whatever the rest of the church world does, you can save yourself and your family. Pray, humble yourself, call on the Lord, turn away from your sin. If you will do this the Lord Jesus will come to you. He will help you confess your sins and turn away from them. He will make you a new righteous creation. |
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Then you will have boldness in the Day of Judgment because the love of Christ has been perfected in you. |
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But know of a certainty that if you, Christian or not, do not humble yourself, do not pray, do not call on the Lord, do not turn away from your sin, you will experience agony and corruption in the Day of Christ. |
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It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! |
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