WHERE DOES THE TRUTH LIVE…  #218

Good Morning, Meetpastordan Readers… Pam and I had the opportunity to spend this past weekend with our dear friends, Gaines and Sandy, at the House of David in Fairland, Oklahoma as we celebrated Yom Kippur together. The House of David “is where Jew and Gentile are united as one man in Messiah”, and what a marvelous experience it was to be in the midst of such a loving, compassionate and committed congregation of Judeo Christians for two days. And to heighten the experience for me, I was honored to be able to fill in for Gaines by sounding the shofar (with about 40-50 other formidable shofar players) at the Friday evening service. That was my first experience with the beast, but I have to admit – in my most humble and objective opinion – I gave a rather impressive “toot”! On Saturday we participated in the solemn immersion ceremony, a time to leave the old woes behind and commit to a new beginning, and Rabbi, Curt Landry, masterfully led us through that Spirit-filled process. It was incredibly moving.  In between events, we enjoyed our host’s spectacular home on Monkey Island, which overlooks Grand Lake, as we bonded and shared our love for Jesus with our friends, includings new friends we met that weekend.  I gotta tell ya…there is no bond greater than that.

No doubt a weekend like we experienced gets us pumped up and excited about who we are in Christ, but it also saddened me when I think of how many people are lost simply because they don’t know the Truth. So many people feel that their own measure of goodness is “good enough” to qualify them for eternal life.  Others hold on to the erroneous idea that if God really is a loving God, then everyone will go to heaven.  Or maybe they just don’t believe that there is such a thing as Hell. “Hell”, they say, “is something the church just made up to keep its flock in line.” (I have to admit, in my previous life that was one of my favorite displays of ignorance as I tried to defend the gospel of Presgrave.) Or maybe some have bought into the culturally popular belief that there are many ways to heaven. On whatever erroneous belief people choose to base their thinking, our culture is fulfilling the fate found in Hosea 4:6, “My people will perish through lack of knowledge.”

As a non-denominational pastor, I (we) believe that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. That does not mean literal, it means “without error.”  In other words, everything that is there is supposed to be there. (Since God’s plan for his Proudest Creation (us) was a relationship with himself, he knew that in order for us to enter into that relationship, he would have to reveal himself to us so we could choose to enter into that relationship.) The Bible was his means of revealing himself to Man, and speaking through Prophets was his means of communicating, as stated in 2 Peter 1:20: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy.  It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.”  And in 2 Timothy we are told that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.  It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.  It is God’s way of preparing us in every good way, fully equipped for every good thing He wants us to do.”  In other words, in the Holy Bible God reveals what he says, what he thinks, what he says and thinks about us, what his standards are, what his promises are, and how we can achieve or attain those promises.  But in order to experience these truths, you first have to open the Book.

God revealed through the Bible his standard for us coming into his presence (eternal life).  First Peter 1:16 tells us: “For he himself has said, ‘You must be holy because I am holy”, and holy means to be set aside for a sacred purpose, to be sin-free.  In other words, we can’t be stained with sin and expect to enter the Kingdom of Heaven because sin spreads, contaminates, destroys and kills.  If you doubt that, just look at the world we live in today.  And remember, this world started out as Paradise.

But the Good News can be found in Romans 5:6,10: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time to die for us sinners.  For since we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son, while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be delivered from eternal punishment by his life “  Romans 8:1-2 confirms this: “So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. The power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death.”

God showed his unconditional love by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. He gave Mankind from Creation to 2017 years ago to wrestle with the issue of Sin (living with the focus on “self” rather than on God), but instead of becoming victorious through our own effort, we became utterly helpless to overcome, as revealed in Romans 5:6 above. God knows we’re weak; we’re only dust.  That’s why Ephesians 1:4-5 tells us: “Long ago, even before he created the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.  And this gave him great pleasure.” In other words, His plan was always to provide a Savior to do for us what he knew we could not do for ourselves. How’s that for a loving God?  And all we have to do is accept his Gift of Grace!

And concerning the subject of Hell, Jesus talked more about Hell and Satan than any other writer in the Bible.  In fact, Jesus himself was tempted three times by Satan when he was in the wilderness. And in John 8:44, when Jesus was talking to unbelievers, he described the Devil: “…He was a murderer from the beginning and has always hated the truth.  There is no truth in him.  When he lies, he is consistent with his character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”   And in John 17:15, Jesus prayed for his disciples “not that they be taken out of this world, but that they be protected from the evil one.”  In Luke 10:14, Jesus told his disciples, “I have given you authority over all the evil schemes of the Devil…No harm will come to you!”  And in Revelation 20:10: “Then the Devil, who betrayed them, was thrown into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet.  There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”  And here’s the bad news…anyone who has not accepted God’s Gift of Grace can expect to join Satan and all other unbelievers in the pit, because as we are told in Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death.”  (spiritual death…eternal damnation-not eternal life)

And concerning the popular myth that there are multiple avenues to heaven; I believe that is espoused by those who are puffed up with pride and believe that they are sufficient without the help of God.  In other words, they have been seduced by the same lie that Satan used to bait Eve in the Garden: “your eyes will be opened…you will become just like God” (Genesis 3: 5) , which loosely translated means, “you can be your own god.” And make no mistake, that thought is irresistible to our human nature, which doesn’t want to submit to anything…especially something that is in the supernatural realm.  But Jesus was aware of this prideful attitude when he stated in Matthew 7:13-14: “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate.  The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who will choose the easy way.  But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.”  Then Jesus went on to reveal THE way to eternal life in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”  To those whose hearts are hardened to the Truth, this last verse is the most challenging verse in the entire Bible!

So you might be asking yourself, “Why would anyone not accept God’s Gift of Grace?”  Well, the answer is clearly presented in John 3:19-20: “The light from heaven came into the world, but they loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. They hate the light because they want to sin in the darkness.  They stay away from the light for fear their sins will be exposed and they will be punished.”  That, my friends, is about as clear as it gets.  But if you are wondering, “where would I find the truth?”  “Jesus told his disciples, ‘If you follow my teachings you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)  All you have to do is open the Book and start reading the four Gospels.

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May God Bless Ya…

Dan Presgrave (a.k.a. Pastor Dan)