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Why Some People Will Perish
2 Thes. 2:10-12 - "…and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. NASU
If you want to avoid getting in trouble with God then have a love for the truth or His Word. We can see that Charlie Kirk had a love for the Word of God or truth and yet it cost him his physical life. Why did it cost him his life? The answer is because the coward who shot him hated hearing the truth. It has been said there are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true. There are plenty of people who don't want to believe the Word of God, but I can tell you this killing people who do believe will not make it any less true. So all you have to do is look around and you will see plenty of people who do and do not believe the Word of God is truth. What is really important is what do you believe?
John 4:23-24 - "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth ; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. "God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." God is seeking us to worship Him in "spirit and truth". The only way for us to find out what it is that God wants from us is to study the New Testament. If you say you are a worshipper of God then you will listen to Jesus. Jesus is very clear that God will not accept any type of worship. One's worship must be done in the spirit and according to His Word, which is "truth". In John 18:37 - "…Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice." This was Jesus speaking to Pilate. Right after Jesus says this Pilate asks Him that question that many still ask today: In verse 38 - Pilate said to Him, "What is truth?" And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews and said to them, "I find no guilt in Him.
Revel. 21:8 - "But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." The apostle John states in the book of Revelation that the following types of people will be sent to the lake of fire and they are 'the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars,…" Cowardly comes from the Greek word "deilois" which means timid or faithless. Unbelieving comes from the Greek word "apistois" which means disbelieving or without Christian faith. Abominable comes from the Greek word "ebdelugmenois" which means to be detested. Your actions will make you detestable in the eyes of God. Murderers come from the Greek word "phoneus" which means to slay or the unlawful killing of a person. Whoremongers come from the Greek word "pornos" which means prostitute. Sorcerers come from the Greek word "pharmakeus" which means a drug or spell-giving potion. Idolaters come from the Greek word "eidololatres" which means a worshipper of images. Liars come from the Greek word "pseudesin" which means deceitful, erroneous or untrue. If in your lifestyle you are practicing the things above you will be guaranteed to be an adversary of God and therefore will find yourself ending up in the lake of fire. The apostle Paul gives us a list of things not to participate in also. Gal. 5:19-21 - Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. The key word to understanding these verses is "practice" in the Greek it is "prassontes" which means to perform repeatedly or habitually. It doesn't mean you do them once or twice. It means that these are apart of your lifestyle.
I encourage you today to be a friend of God and not one of His enemies. Believe the "Truth" about Jesus and become one of His disciples. Think About These: It is pretty hard for the Lord to guide a man if he hasn't decided which way he wants to go. God still speaks to those who take time to listen. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Philippians 1:1, 21-24 - To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi,… For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. NASU
He saw the Philippian Christians as "saints". The Greek word used here is "hagiois" and it has the meaning of being "sacred and pure" and the reason this is true is because of where they are located. They were in Christ Jesus according to verse 1 - "To all the saints in Christ Jesus…". They were not "saints" because they had done anything great. They were "saints" because they had been baptized into Christ. Paul said it this way in the book of Romans - Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? If you have been baptized into Christ then you should see yourself as a "saint". As I sit and write this Pump Up my mind shoots ahead and reminds me I will be leading a group of saints to Philippi next April. If you are interested our group would love to have you go with us.
Paul saw living as a good thing for the Christians or Saints who were alive because he could spiritually help them grow in their faith. But as for his own death he saw this as an advantage for him because he would be going to be with Christ. Paul stated it this way, "… For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." When you become a follower of Jesus Christ you can also consider yourself to be a "saint" and when "saints" die this is a good thing because "saints" go to be with Jesus. Paul says, "…and to die is gain." You will also notice Paul desired to depart or die and be with Christ because this was better than living here - "…having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better;…" A person who follows or lives for Christ doesn't have to be afraid to die. We can have the assurance of Paul that dying will bring us to a place of great rewards. We can say, "I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, for this is very much better." I found the Greek word for "desire" to be interesting. It is "epithumia" and this word is translated 36 out of 38 times as "lust or covet" and twice it is translated "desire". Jesus "desired" to eat the Passover with His disciples in Luke 22:15 and Paul "desired" to die and go be with Christ. Have you ever thought about dying like Paul? When your time comes to physically die I hope you will see it like Paul as a good thing. Your death will actually be a "gain". I pray you will see your death as a time when you will depart and be with Christ which is going to be way cool. Think About These: It isn't death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live. Everyone dies, but not everyone lives. The apostle Paul said it best, "For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain." Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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