A Good Start

A friend of mine, a good brother in Christ, told me yesterday over the phone that he’s going into home hospice later today (Wednesday). After years of treatments for his cancer, he told me he’s just tired of the fight. He’s tired of seeing the emotional drain on his wife. He just plain tired.

In the past, I’ve heard that same word from others being killed by that demonic disease.

He told me he’s not afraid of death. In some ways he’s looking forward to it. He knows he’s going to meet his savior and be welcomed into His eternal kingdom where he will live forever without pain while he awaits his beloved wife and children and grandchildren to meet him there.

This morning, as I was thinking about my friend – my brother – I found myself asking myself: “How would I respond if I were the one going into hospice today?”

I thought about that for a short while – actually only a few moments – before I answered my own question.

I’m not afraid of death either. I don’t want to leave my wife or my children, but I am not afraid of death. Why is that? Because I have every trust and confidence that God is honest. There is not a sliver of doubt in my mind that God has never, will never, can never lie to me. And so, when He said, “I am the resurrection and the life he believes in Me will live, even if he dies; And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die” – Yes, I believe that.

I remember Dan. He was one of the first Christians I’d ever known to die. When I stood by his hospital bed and asked him what it feels like to know he is dying, he told me what I have never forgotten. He looked at me, placed his hand on the bedrail on top of mine, and quoted 2 Timothy 4: “From life to life. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course. I have kept the faith. And now there is a crown of righteousness awaiting me.”

If I were to enter hospice today and die tomorrow, I know that I also will enter my eternal home to be forever with my Father, my Savior, and the Holy Spirit, who has been my guide all of my life. I know that to be true because, as I said, I know God is honest. And He has promised me, and all those who love his Son, eternal life immediately upon our death.

 

Immediately upon our death.

 

I could cite the applicable Scriptures, but I suspect many of you already know of promises such as Philippians 1:21-24 and 2 Corinthians 5:6-8.

And so, Reader – what about you? Surely, you’ve known people who have died, but have you given much thought to your OWN eventual death? It was Solomon who wisely said, “It is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of everyone; the living should take this to heart. (Ecclesiastes 7:2)

 

Reader, what about you? Have you taken your inevitable death to heart? Have you taken your ‘impending death’ to heart – impending because you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. A car accident, a fall, a stroke . . .. Anything could happen to any of us at any time. Our lives are held together with mere breaths.

 

So, what about you? Are you confident that you could say to God on that day: “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course that You gave me. I have kept the faith”?

 

I hope so. But if not, then perhaps this short note can be a wakeup call for you. As the Lord God said through Isaiah the prophet: “Turn to me and be saved, all the end of the Earth. I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22)

And if you don’t quite know how to ‘turn to God’ – confession, repentance, and a turning away from your sins is a good start.

Your Face

   

During the Lord’s wilderness temptation, St Luke tells us Satan “led Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.” (Luke 4:5)

I don’t understand how that happened. My finite mind cannot conceive of the supernatural unveiling of all the future kingdoms that were yet to come. I do not understand how that works – but I don’t have to understand how that works. I only need to know that it happened in the realm of the supernatural.

But here’s something to think about:

Did you ever wonder why Jesus stayed on that cross when He could have simply turned His eyes toward the Father, and 12 legions of angels would have swooped to His rescue? (See Matthew 26:53)

Perhaps – and this is simply my unprovable speculation – perhaps while our Savior was hanging on that cross, the Father showed His Son in a moment of time not the future kingdoms of the world, but the Father showed the Son . . . MY face.

And YOUR face.

And the faces of every man and woman, boy and girl yet be born – and each of whom would be doomed to an eternal lake of fire if Jesus called for those 12 legions of angels.

Yes, perhaps Jesus stayed on that cross because in that moment of time He saw your face, and mine – and the faces of everyone else who, as yet unborn, would desperately need His self-sacrificial love.

 

Think of that the next time you look in the mirror.

Rich Maffeo
maffeo.richard@outlook.com 

Blog: www.inhimonly.blogspot.com 

Be Prepared

Christians have been looking for and expecting Lord’s imminent return since the days of the apostles. Many New Testament texts indicate that even the apostles were fully expecting the Lord to return at any time. For example, James, addressing the Christians of his day, wrote: (James 5:7-9) “Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until it gets the early and late rains. You too be patient; strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near . . . behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.”

 

In his first epistle, Peter wrote: (1 Peter 4:7) “The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.”

 

St Luke records these words of the apostles just before Jesus ascended back to the Father: (Acts 1:6) “So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 

 

As I shared last week, it ought to be clear from Scripture that faithful followers of Christ WILL NOT be subject to the wrath of God that He WILL bring on a globe of unbelieving men and women who reject God's offer of forgiveness of their sins through obedient faith in His Son, Jesus.

 

So terrible, so deadly, so horrific will be that time that the Lord Jesus said, “Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.” (Matthew 24:22

 

But while I believe Christians will be saved from the GLOBAL wrath of God as described in texts of scripture such as Revelation chapters 6-18 – our Lord has made no promises that we will be spared global persecution by non-believers. Indeed, Scripture makes it very clear that we should EXPECT persecution. I’ll talk about that later in this message.

 

Closely aligned with this subject of global persecution of Christians is the subject of the sudden removal of the Church from planet earth. In this instance, the Church carries the meaning St Paul used to describe it in the first chapters of Ephesians and Colossians – the entire Body of Christ, and not limited to only a small group regardless of their label.

 

The sudden removal of the Church is called The Rapture of the Church. The belief in the Rapture is held by many Christians – BUT it is also rejected by a large swath of Christians, as well. One of the texts which seems to suggest a sudden removal of God's faithful sons and daughters is found in 1 Thessalonians 4:15-17) - “For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.

 

Now, my purpose today is not to spend a lot of time talking about the Rapture, whether it will occur, or the timing of the Rapture – whether it will occur before the seven years of global tribulation, in the middle of those seven years, or it will occur after the seven years.

 

Such questions are not the focus of today’s message. What IS the focus of this message is the troubling reality that world events are racing across the theological landscape at such speed that I feel it necessary to remind all of us – myself included here – in how we must, must, must prepare ourselves for what is certainly coming to American cities and towns.

 

On October 6 of last year, no one expected Israel’s mortal enemies would the next day suddenly swoop in like carrion vultures and rape, mutilate, and murder innocent Jews living on the border of what is called Palestinian territory.

 

On March 13, 2023, no one expected Satan’s servants to kidnap more than 100 Christians in Northern Nigeria. But the next day saw the sudden invasion of terrorists into their community.

 

On November 4, 2017, no one expected another of Satan’s children to walk into the First Baptist Church in Texas the next day and murder 26 Christians and wound another 20. But it happened suddenly.

 

As I said a moment ago, world events are racing across the theological landscape at such speed is that even those who know nothing about prophecy sense there’s something happening on planet earth. And it is very unsettling.

 

Many evangelical theologians believe the Rapture is a Biblically accurate doctrine. But – and this is very important to our safety – there are also many theologians who do NOT believe there will be a rapture of the Church before the tribulation and world-wide persecution. And that means one of these groups of Christians is wrong.  

 

Let me repeat that for emphasis. One of these groups of Bible-believing Christians is wrong. And because one of these groups is wrong, I am obligated to Christ – and to you – to err on the side of extreme caution and to warn us to prepare for the worst.

 

Just as local, state, and federal governments have established websites for people to access and to learn how to prepare for natural disasters such as floods, earthquakes, and massive fires, so also God has given humanity a source to access and to learn how to prepare for the persecution that is coming to the entire Church.

 

Corrie Ten Boom, former prisoner in a notorious Nazi concentration camp, spoke of meeting she had with a Chinese church leader after the Communist take-over of the country. He told her: “We have failed [our churches]. We should have made the people strong for persecution, rather than telling them Jesus would come first. [We should have told] the people . . . .how to stand when the tribulation comes, to stand and not faint.”

A report by the Family Research Council stated that between January 2018 and September 2022 there were nearly 400 attacks on individual churches across 45 U.S. states and Washington, D.C. Those acts include vandalism, arson, gun-related incidents and bomb threats. The report also stated: "There is ample reason to be concerned about rising hostility to Christianity by a Western culture that increasingly rejects Judeo-Christian values.  

Anyone paying even marginal attention to the news channels understand how our freedom to speak freely about Christ and sin and righteousness is no longer welcome on many of our public schools, colleges and universities – and most certainly not in halls of government. And do not think for a moment that anti-Christian persecution will not devolve into imprisonment on fabricated charges of sedition against the government.

 

As I have said only briefly, many Christians in the west expect the Rapture to save them from fiery persecution. But such a DANGEROUS idea is not only unbiblical but is easily proven false by a plethora of not only New Testament scriptures, but also by Church history, right up to this present moment. Talk to the Christians in North Korea about how they will escape bloody persecution. Or those in China, Iran, Egypt, Nigeria, and other nations throughout the African continent.  The streets of those nations are saturated with the blood of the martyrs.

 

How dare we be so naïve and so willfully ignorant of scripture and Church history to think that Christians in American and other Western nations will not experience wide-spread bloody persecution?

 

Which brings us now to the crux of my message: How then will we prepare for terrible persecution?

Listen a moment to the Lord Jesus on this subject: Luke 21:34-36 “Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap; for it will come upon all those who dwell on the face of all the earth. But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

I’ve often spoken in the last few years on this subject of preparation – most recently some of you may remember when I preached a series last year on the Armor of God of Ephesians chapter six. Today I want to build on that message with some additional – and yes, overlapping – suggestions to prepare us for what I believe is the inevitable persecution of American Christians.

First – and by far what I think is the most important, never forget this ultimate truth: Our loving Father is omnipotent AND He is utterly sovereign over every event of life. If we are going to successfully continue with Christ through persecution, then we must first and foremost know that absolutely critical point: God is omnipotent and sovereign. That means what He opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. As He tells us through Isaiah chapter 51: “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies . . . . that you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, who stretched out the heavens and laid the foundations of the earth, that you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor as he makes ready to destroy?”  (Isaiah 51:12-13)

 

Let me repeat that statement for emphasis: Our loving Father in heaven is utterly sovereign over every one of our life events – including what He permits to test our faith with fiery trials. St Peter (among other New Testament writers) addressed this in his first epistle: (1 Peter 4:12-13) “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.” 

 

Point number two: The time for spiritual laziness is long past. The strength of our faith must be rooted and nourished in God’s word. There are no other viable and effective options. “Faith comes by hearing,” St Paul wrote to the Christians at Rome, “and hearing comes by the word of Christ.” (See Romans 10:17)
 
So, are you faithfully reading or listening to God's word? If not, why not? Are you memorizing portions of God's word? If not, why not?

 

PLEASE, do not be lulled into complacency or into a deadly sense of security by listening to false teachers – regardless of their degrees, the sizes of their congregations, or their popularity. Solomon tells us: “Go to the ant, O sluggard, observe her ways and be wise, which, having no chief, officer, or ruler, prepares her food in the summer and gathers her provision in the harvest. How long will you lie down, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep?” (Proverbs 6:6-9)

 

The time to start CONSISTENLY reading, meditating on, AND memorizing scripture is NOT when you need to have scripture hidden in your heart. Do you realize if you memorize only ONE NEW VERSE of scripture every week – ONE VERSE – you will have memorized 52 NEW verses a year from today?

 

Third: EXPECT persecution. Such a plea and warning is not what you will hear in most churches today. But there was good reason the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write to his first century readers who were enduring severe persecution those words I quoted a few minutes ago about the fiery trials.

Persecution can take many forms and many degrees – from simply being ridiculed for our faith, all the way to the extreme of torture and death for our faith. The degree to which any of God's true children suffer persecution will depend entirely on what our omnipotent and sovereign God permits into our lives. But be certain of this promise: He will never permit any of us to be tried beyond our ability through Christ to endure (see 1 Corinthians 10:13).

 

I plead with you: Do not give a moment’s credence to liars – regardless of their titles, position in the Church, or the size of their churches – liars who deceive their congregations by telling them God will never send hardship to His children. In other words, they think Paul was wrong when he wrote, “It has been GRANTED to us not only to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but also to suffer for His sake.” (Philippians 1:29). And Paul was wrong in this text: “All those who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”  (2 Timothy 3:12)

 

And Jesus didn’t know what He was talking about when He said: (Matthew 10:21-22) “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

But there is yet one more important point I need to make before I close. In the 13^th chapter of Revelation, the Lord highlighted the appearance of what theologians call the unholy trinity: The Dragon (who is the devil), the Beast (the Antichrist), and the False Prophet. Here is a portion of chapter 13 that speaks of the Antichrist and his false prophet. John writes:

 

Then I saw a beast (the Antichrist) coming up out of the sea [I.e. the mass of humanity]. . . And the dragon [e.g. Satan] gave him his power and his throne and great authority . . . It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them . . . Then I saw another beast (i.e. the false prophet) . . . [Who] performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform . . . And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead, and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

 

Listen, PLEASE. Just because a person works miracles DOES NOT always mean that person is from God. Remember the magicians in Pharaoh’s court. Rather, what does the ‘miracle worker’ teach about Jesus? If it is not His full deity and simultaneous humanity, if it is not about His historical virgin birth, sinless life, atoning death, His resurrection, and His promised literal return – do not follow that lying miracle worker.

 

The supernatural danger every Christian faces today from virtually every corner of society ought to be clear to anyone paying attention to the spiritual, medical, political, financial, and educational deceptions rising like an unstoppable tsunami just outside our doors. The time is long past for Christians to hold a ‘church as usual’ approach to our walk with Christ. We must not – MUST NOT – let ourselves be caught off guard for what may be coming to the faithful in America. As our Chinese brothers and sisters tragically learned in years past – expecting the Rapture to rescue us from this impending horror can prove to be a most DEADLY error.

 

Whatever may happen and whenever it may happen – it will likely come SUDDENLY. And we each need to be preparing ourselves for such an eventuality.

 

I believe these strategies I’ve shared with you today will help all of us – myself and Nancy included – to stand firm for Jesus even in the worst of times. Please, I beg you, take them to heart. The time is rapidly growing short.

 

 

Bring it into 2024 - Part Three

Three weeks ago, as we entered 2024, I brought a message from the 20^th chapter of the Book of Acts, specifically verses 17-24. The text gives us St Luke’s account of Paul’s message to the Ephesian clergy. Here is part of what he told them:

 

“I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God.” (Acts 20:17-24)

 

We’ve spent the last two weeks looking at some of the elements of the ‘gospel of God's grace’ – such as His unchangeable holiness, His forgiveness, His defeat of Death itself and why He does not give us what we deserve for our sins – which is eternal death.

 

I want to conclude this series today by looking today at only three more aspects of God's grace: His grace to spare us from the wrath He will inflict on all humanity at the Judgment Seat of Christ; His grace that results in the reconciliation of ourselves with His utter holiness; and finally, He grace that has moved Him to prepare for us an eternal dwelling.

 

First, it is His grace that will spare every faithful Christian from His wrath of eternal Judgment resulting in an eternity in the Lake of Fire.

 

I need to say that again as clearly and as unequivocally as I can: If you are a child of God through your faith in the sacrificial atonement Jesus purchased and SECURED for us with His death and resurrection, then you will NEVER experience even a moment of God's wrath that He brings on a humanity that has rejected His salvation.

 

Why not?  Because God spent His wrath in full on Jesus. No wonder Jesus cried out from the cross: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). It was at that moment that Jesus BECAME sin – your sin and my sin. It was at that moment that Jesus experienced the rejection of the Father – the rejection that you and I now will never, ever experience.

 

It was on that cross that Jesus fulfilled for all who call to Him as Lord the prophecy of Isaiah 53: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all . . .Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin . . . the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.”

 

Listen: There IS a final Judgment for the wicked. And those whom God judges to be damned will spend eternity in that Lake of Fire – regardless of what some theologians, clergy, and people in the pews might like to think otherwise. And as to the Judgment Seat, here are only a few of the many, many warnings to humanity:

John the Baptizer warned the hypocritical clergy coming to him for baptism: (Matthew 3:7-10) “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance . .  . The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

St Paul warned the Christians in his first letter to the Christians at Corinth:  (1 Corinthians 6:9-10) Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

 

In his second letter to that church, he wrote: (2 Corinthians 5:10) “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ . . .”

 

 

But on the other hand, listen for a few moments to a few texts in which God PROMISES that the Christian will be spared God's wrath: (John 3:36) “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

 

(Romans 5:8-9) “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.” 

 

(1 Thessalonians 5:9-10) “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him.”

 

The gospel of God's grace – the good news of God's grace – informs us that the Christian has nothing to fear from God's wrath because through Christ, He has reconciled the Christian to Himself.

 

The New Testament defines reconciliation as the restoration of harmony between people who are at enmity with each other. I’ve preached on this subject of reconciliation in recent weeks, and I do it again now for both emphasis AND reminder of what our merciful and gracious God – who is ALSO a Righteous Judge – what He did on Calvary to execute His justice against the sinner while at the same time embrace that sinner in His mercy.

 

First, this reminder: Our sins put us at enmity with God. Our sins create an irreconcilable barrier between us and the Holy God. He tells us through Isaiah 59:2 – “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear.” And through James 4:4 “You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

 

But because God CHERISHES you and me, He provided for the execution of His sinless Son to be our sacrificial atonement – to take our place as our substitute. If we will believe in that atonement with obedient faith, the unbridgeable gap would be bridged, and the obedient follower of Christ would have everlasting life. We become RECONCILED with our Creator. We are placed now and forever in a state of harmony.

 

Listen to Romans 5:1, 8-10 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ . . .  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.”

 

Is it any wonder the hymn writer cried out in worship: My sin—oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!— My sin, not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more, Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

 

And finally for this point, listen to Ephesians 2:1-6 – “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world . . . and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

 

Listen, please. We must remember that ALL Christians are each a ‘temple of the Holy Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 6:19). And with that truth in mind, we must also know that we cannot be at any more harmony with Christ, than to have his Unchangeable, Immutable, Pure, and Perfect Holy Spirit living inside of us.

 

If that does not demonstrate the faithful Christian’s harmony with our God, then nothing can demonstrate that joining of sinner-saved-by-grace and our Holy Creator. And again, this harmony is not provided to us because WE deserve that harmony. It is given us ONLY because of God's grace that restores our relationship through the sacrificial death of His son Jesus.

But we have to now move on for the sake of time to the next feature of the gospel of the grace of God. That is: He is preparing a place in heaven for the believer.

 

We must make no mistake about this point: The unbeliever is marching toward the grave. He knows he cannot escape it. He or she might delay the inevitable with modern medicine or technology – but they still know they are marching inexorably toward the grave.

 

The Christian, on the other hand, is marching inevitably and inexorably AWAY from the grave. Listen to the apostle Paul (Romans 6:3-5): “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection.”

 

The Christian – and ONLY the Christian – has already been buried with Christ. As a consequence, we are now, every day, moving further and further from the grave and closer and closer to our eternal, resurrected life.

 

Let me reiterate that point and remind us of the points already addressed:  Because the Christian has escaped God's wrath because Jesus substituted Himself for us on that cross to receive the wrath WE deserve; And because God has placed the Christian in complete harmony with Himself through obedient faith in Christ, THEREFORE, God is – right now – preparing a home for each of His blood-bought children.

 

Listen to this familiar text from John 14:1-3, “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.”

 

I used to think of that verse as referring to the Lord’s call for the entire Church to meet Him in the clouds – as St Paul described it in 1 Thessalonians 4.

 

I’m not sure why I thought of it that way, because while it IS true that one day – soon, I hope – the Trumpet of 1 Thessalonians 4 will sound, and the dead and the living will be all caught up together to be forever with the Lord – while THAT is certainly true, it is EQUALLY true that Jesus is preparing an individual home for individuals whom He can call at any moment of any day – including today.

 

This promise of the gospel of God's grace in preparing a place for us in heaven is directed (as with each of the components of God's grace) only at the faithful Christian. These features of the gospel of God's grace do not apply to the persistent and willful sinner who lives in unbelief of the gospel.

 

For them there is only one destiny after their death toward which they are all moving. God has included Revelation chapters 19 and 20, which solemnly warn of the Lake of Fire – God has included those chapters not only to warn the unbeliever of his terrible destiny, BUT to also PLEAD with the unbeliever to avoid that destiny by repenting of sins and obeying the gospel of God's grace. I know I’m preaching to the proverbial choir, but the choir – AND I, as well – needs to hear this again and again, as do those outside the church:

 

Notice God's appeal to ancient Israel: (Ezekiel 18:30-32) “Repent and turn away from all your transgressions, so that iniquity may not become a stumbling block to you. ³¹ Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? ³² For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live.”

 

Peter, speaking to the very religious clergy and laity on the Day of Pentecost, when they asked him what they should do, he responded:

 

“Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” (Acts 2:38-40)

 

Indeed, the first recorded words of Jesus in Mark’s gospel were: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

 

As every faithful follower of Christ knows, ‘repentance’ is not a one-time action. It MUST be a daily, ongoing humbling of ourselves before our holy God.  As He tells us through St Jonh’s pen: “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. (1 John 1:8-10)

 

The gospel of God's grace is so very much more expansive than I have been able to adequately describe in the messages of the last three weeks. We have looked only very briefly at His unchangeable holiness, His forgiveness, and His defeat of Death itself. Today we also looked at His grace which has spared us FOEREVER from the wrath He will inflict on all humanity at the Judgment, and at His grace which has reconciled Himself with sinners. And finally – and only for the sake of time – we looked at His grace which moves Him to prepare for us an eternal dwelling.

 

I close this message with this word:  ALL the features of the gospel of God's grace are applicable ONLY to those who are His children through their obedient faith in Christ. How, one might ask, do we become God's children? Repent. Be baptized. Live a holy lifestyle in accordance with His commandments.

 

I chose this song sung by Josh Groban to close today’s message. The lyrics are applicable to everyone in this sanctuary. Here are some of the lyrics:

 

My Confession

 

I have been blind, unwilling
To see the true love you're giving
I have ignored every blessing
I'm on my knees confessing

I have been wrong about you
I thought I was strong without you
For so long, nothing could move me
For so long, nothing could change me

 

Now I feel myself surrender
Each time I see your face
I am captured by your beauty
Your unassuming grace
And I feel my heart is turning falling into place
I can't hide it now, hear my confession