Christ – Auriesville Tubthumper

Hell Yes It’s Real, Part 5

JESUS SAID HELL IS FOR REAL

Christ is the Authority on the Subject

Based on the authority of Jesus Christ we have no choice but to believe that Hell is for real. He descended there for three hours which were the darkest hours known to mankind to date. The place reserved for the lost is prepared. Jesus tells us more about Hell being for real than any other author or speaker.[1] Matthew 25: 31 -43 provides a representative example of how Christ spoke of Hell.

Jesus knew about Hell first hand and spoke about it the most. Jonathan Edwards didn’t invent the concept of Hell. John Wesley or Charles Spurgeon didn’t come up with it either. How about Thomas Aquinas or Augustine, did they invent it? Maybe the reformers of the sixteenth century dreamed it up. No, it was not dreamed up by anyone at all. It is a Biblical doctrine and pretty close to all that is learned about it comes from the lips of Jesus Christ. The early church took the concept of Hell very seriously and we should as well. The church today should take the concept of Hell much more serious than they do because of the frequency that Jesus spoke about it.[2]

Jesus often used the images of fire and darkness to describe Hell. The parable of “The wheat and the tares” holds a very terrifying group of words by the Lord. “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear” (Matthew 13:40-43). We see the “weeping” while they are “cast into the fiery furnace”. A few verses later it comes again, “So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” Matthew 13:49-50).And again Jesus gives it to us, “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire” (Matthew 18:8-9). Again we see Jesus using the images of darkness for a description of Hell, “And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 8:11-12). Just before He died the words were told in another parable, “Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13) and He did it again in another parable when he said, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 25:30). It is clear that Jesus is describing to us a Hell that is for real and a Hell that includes darkness, weeping, and gnashing of teeth which are all common Jewish ways to describe Hell. We need to remember this is real to our fellow humans, this is the real deal, and this stuff has real implications for real people that will have real destinies. This is very important material to consider. Now, the most alarming statement about the duration of Hell comes in Matthew 25 where He delivered the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. It was about the rapture and the final judgment. The sheep represented the believers in Christ and the Goats represented the unbelievers. Jesus divided them up in the two different groups according to how they have lived their lives. If you have clothed the naked, fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirsty you went in the sheep group. If you did none of these things you went with the goats cast into the everlasting fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels.[3]

Jesus told another parable in Matthew 13:48-50. In a very large fishing net were caught all kinds of fish. The fishermen emptied the nets and separated the good fish from the bad fish. They discarded the bad fish for they had no value. “That is another great image of the end of the age. The angels will be separating the righteous from the wicked and the wicked will discarded into the fiery furnace, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 13;29-50).[4]

In the book of Mark Jesus was talking about sinners getting thrown into hell (Mark 9:43-48) Mark quoted Isaiah’s picture of Hell. The place where worm does not die and fire is not quenched. That devouring worm is eating what is already dead and then helped by the unquenchable fire until nothing remains. Whatever is left lasts for all of eternity. (Mt. 25:46)[5] The choice is yours, do you want life or do you want the fiery punishment?

Jesus is Consistent with the Early Jews

The first-century Jews believed in Hell and had a clear view they described. Jesus was a Jew. If Jesus disagreed with the view of Hell provided by his fellow Jews He would have very clearly outlined his differences and place an argument against them. Jesus was never afraid of going against a commonly held Jewish idea. The views of Jesus stand in line with the first-century Jewish pictures of Hell.[6]

Hell is described consistently throughout the New Testament by Jesus and also by nearly all the writers God used to pen His words. Judgment and punishment are consistent pictures drawn by all the writers. Destruction, death, exclusion, banishment, and separation are all words used to describe that awful place. The issue of fire and suffering are included in many of the descriptions, however the predominate and overriding theme is always destruction and punishment. There are three main pictures of Hell that emerge out of the New Testament writings. The nature of Hell is described clearly as punishment, destruction and banishment.[7] Hell shown as punishment affirms that sin is recognized by God as a crime. The destruction picture of Hell indicates that sin is a spiritual death and the banishment shows sin as alienating us from God.[8] The sin is real, evil and wickedness are real, the crime is real, the punishment is real and Hell is for real.

The word gehenna, (translation “Hell”) was used in the Gospels twelve times. The images of fire and darkness are there along with punishment and judgment. Jesus believed just like the early Jews that hell was real and the wicked are headed to that a place of punishment.[9]

Join me next time as I bring this to a conclusion… Click here to go to the next post.

Yes, Hell is for real!

Have a Godly day,

The “Tubthumper”

Click here to go to: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

[1] Edward William Fudge, and Peterson, Two Views of Hell, 37.

[2] Sproul, Unseen Realities, 52.

[3] Chan and Sprinkle, Erasing Hell, 76-81.

[4] Edward William Fudge, and Peterson, Two Views of Hell, 40.

[5] Ibid., 44.

[6] Ibid., 73.

[7] Morgan and Peterson, Hell under Fire: Modern Scholarship Reinvents Eternal Punishment, 142.

[8] Keller et al., IS HELL for Real or Does Everyone Go to Heaven, 605.

[9] Chan and Sprinkle, Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We Made Up, 74.

You Must View God in 3-D, Part 3

The “I AM…I AM” assertion.

When we read the Bible in its entirety we can see there is no doubt Jesus is claiming full equality with the other members of the Godhead. Most specifically one saying speaks volumes for His deity and that saying is “I AM… I AM” which is an implication that He is the one and only God. That He is the self-existent one, identifying Himself with the Old Testament deity, “I am the Jehovah of the Old Testament”.

To be very clear it is important to point out the relationship to this particular saying and the deity of Christ. This saying is clearly showing Christ’s deity and the fact that He is the one God. Leon Morris said, “John’s use of the expression is distinctive. We get nothing like it anywhere else in the New Testament (except for a handful of passages in the synoptics); thus we must recognize that John is using the hallowed expression to bring out the truth that his Master was one with a special relationship to the Heavenly Father, a relationship in which he must be thought of as partaking in the nature of deity, and a relationship which does not compromise the truth that there is but one God.^[1]

One of the most powerful claims Jesus made during His life was “Before Abraham was I AM”. That statement relates back to the burning bush incident with Moses in Exodus 3:13, “And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, what [is] his name? What shall I say unto them?” What we see here is Moses asking God, “What is your name?” And then we see the answer in verse 14, “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.” So He tells Moses, I AM who I AM. God wants him to tell them His name is “I AM”. When Jesus used this name He used the name of the one and only God, the true sovereign Lord. Jesus was making it very clear. He was saying, “Let me be clear, I am the one and only I AM”. So we see that Jesus is naming Himself the very name of God and the Jew’s knew it. They recognized the language. When they heard it they rejected the claim and picked up rocks and they tried to stone Him.

M.M. Ninan writes, “You see in those few words He said, “Ok folks, remember Moses out there in the wilderness? Remember the burning bush? Remember that God? Remember the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? Remember the God who brought you out of Egypt and out of slavery? Remember the God who gave you this land and destroyed all your enemies? Remember the God who said it is punishable by death to claim to be Him? Remember the God who created the entire universe as well as you? Remember the God who says He is the only God? Well, guess what? That is the God I am. That is the God I am claiming to be. No doubts, no questions, no confusion, I AM.”^[2]

Morris in his book, “Jesus is the Christ” tells us that Jesus was using language that accords with deity. He writes “I AM, mostly represents the speech of the heavenly Father or of the Son. The overtones of deity that we find in its use in the Old Testament are not lost when we move to the New.”^[3] Scripture showing this style of deity is found in John 8:18, “I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.”

John 1:1 says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” This verse emphasizes the preexistence of Jesus. Philippians 2:6 shows that Jesus possessed all the attributes of God which includes preexistence.

To further affirm Christ’s deity Colossians 2:9 says, “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” So in Him the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. John 10:30 says, “I and [my] Father are one.”

John 17:5 says, “And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.” Therefore, He had glory with the Father before the world began.

He is the great “I AM”. He is fully God in every respect. Jesus is equal with God; He is eternal with God; He is essential with God; He is God! He is everything.”^[4]

The deity of Christ is confirmed. Warren Wiersbe wrote, “Some students of John’s Gospel believe that our Lord’s words in John 4: 26 and 8:24, 28, 58, as well as 13:19 and 18:5-6 are all “theologically loaded” and affirm His deity as the great “I AM.”^[5]

He is the great “I Am…I AM”.

Continue to the next post and we will review the Holy Spirit in respect of Deity.

Have a Godly day,

“The Tubthumper”

Click here to go back to PART 1 or Here to go back to PART 2

[1] Leon Morris, Jesus Is the Christ (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Publishing, 1989), 125.

[2] M.M. Ninan, “I AM”, Symbols Jesus Used to Explain Himself (Glendale, Wisconsin: Global Publishers, 2005), 9.

[3] Morris, Jesus Is the Christ, 109.

[4] Barry Davis, The Claims of Christ: What Jesus Had to Say about Himself (Bloomington, IN: Writers Club Press, 2001), 11.

[5] Warren Wiersbe, Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ (Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook, 2011), 11.

Finders Keepers, part 3

The last two posts have been about salvation and whether or not one can lose it once they have it. Maybe I should have done this first but lets look at the process.

The logical order of salvation is outlined in these verses of John 6:35-65. Let us review them:

1. The Father draws the un-saved by ‘revealing Christ’ as an attractive and only answer to sin and its end. (6:37)

2. The sinner, (that is us) ‘beholds’ or contemplates this gracious offer from the father. (6:37)

3. The sinner, (us again) ‘determines or decides to trust’ the atoning work of Christ for His salvation. (6:40) Should Christ be rejected at this point it ends the saving process at least temporarily and hopefully not forever.

4. With repentance we the sinners ‘come to Christ’ to be saved. We come for the purpose of salvation. (6:37)

5. We (the sinner) evidence our heart ‘of repentance’ by coming to Jesus. (6:35, 65)

6. We (the sinner) embrace Jesus Christ ‘by faith’ as our Savior. (6:35)

7. The disciple (us again, now saved) embraced by Jesus Christ, ‘never to be lost or cast out’. (6:37, 39)

8. The disciples (we disciples) enjoy a ‘growing intimacy’ with Jesus Christ during our lives. (6:54, 56)

9. We as believers and disciples shall be ‘raised by Christ in the last day’. (6:39, 40, 44, 54)

Here is Jesus talking about the true remnant being raised out of sin to life. A raising up out of the earth to be where He is. The rapture! When will that happen? It is coming sooner than you think. Like a thief in the night He will come and no man knows the hour. If you haven’t been drawn to Christ and haven’t taken the steps to be in Glory with the savior the time is now.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”, (John 3:16)

I saw a great statement the other day in a commentary on Romans by John Phillips, “The gospel message grips the mind, stabs the conscience, warms to heart, saves the soul and sanctifies the life. It can make drunken men sober, crooked men straight and profligate women pure. It is a message sufficient to transform the life of any who believe. It is the power of God unto salvation “To every one that believeth.” It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

We need to turn back to the subject at hand of forever salvation or not. Once we have salvation and I sincerely pray you have not gone this far without securing that between you and Christ, salvation is forever. That is still my position on the matter. Now, neither I nor anyone else can deny that there are several warning passages in the New Testament which seem to imply that there is a possibility of loss of salvation. My satisfactory explanation of these verses is that they apply to false professors of Christianity and not the true believers. You should also be aware of the difference between your standing as a Christian and your state as a Christian. A saved person’s standing is perfect, immutable and guaranteed by the Word of God, the work of Christ and the witness of the Spirit. Our state, as Christians is imperfect, changeable and in a big way, mostly dependent on us. When you are saved you are justified. You have something the world can’t give to you nor can the world take it away. You have peace with God. You can read much about your standing with God and your state with God in Romans chapters 5, 6, 7 and 8. I encourage you to go there and be blessed.

Let me pose two questions for you to think about:

1) If in the mind of God we are already glorified in Heaven, how then could we ever lose our salvation here on earth?

2) If you believe you could lose your salvation, how would you ever know when you lost it?

You can think those over while I continue.

Jesus Christ died and rose again. Christ’s death was our death; His burial was our burial; He died as me! So far as God is concerned, we are already on the resurrection side of the grave and it remains for us to realize this truth and appropriate it, and as to the point I am trying to drive home, victory is assured.

In conclusion for today we are sinners that need to be saved because of CONDEMNATION. We are saved through Christ with JUSTIFICATION. After we are saved we are set aside in SANCTIFICATION. Now we, the saved sinner remain saved through PRESERVATION. “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit”, Romans 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation and salvation is immediate. There is no condemnation and there is no separation. The Bible teaches a whole and eternal salvation, once saved always saved.

Once saved there are seven new things that enable us as believing sinners to remain saved. I will review those seven things as we continue on this subject with more future posts.

The believer has a new position in Christ and experiences fellowship with a new guest because of the new relationship with Jesus. There is a theological description of the believer’s adoption by the Father that explains our eternal security. You will have a good look into each of these points as we continue in the next post at getting to the bottom line of what is called “the believers confidence”.

ARISE, MY SOUL, ARISE by Charles Wesley

Arise, my soul, arise; shake off thy guilty fears;

The bleeding sacrifice in my behalf appears:

Before the throne my surety stands,

My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above, for me to intercede;

His all redeeming love, His precious blood, to plead:

His blood atoned for all our race,

And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears; received on Calvary;

They pour effectual prayers; they strongly plead for me:

“Forgive him, O forgive,” they cry,

“Nor let that ransomed sinner die!”

The Father hears Him pray, His dear anointed One;

He cannot turn away, the presence of His Son;

His Spirit answers to the blood,

And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled; His pardoning voice I hear;

He owns me for His child; I can no longer fear:

With confidence I now draw nigh,

And “Father, Abba, Father,” cry.

Believe and live!

“The Tubthumper”

Join me on the next post as we continue by looking at more evidence leading to “Once saved, always saved”. Click here to go to next post.

Click here to jump to other posts in this series:

Part 1 Part 2 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Finders Keepers, Part 2

The question is on the table. Can we lose our salvation?

This topic will cover several continuing posts so stay with us… People profess Christ and then fall away. What about Judas? In the Gospel of Matthew, when Judas goes to the chief priests, he asks: “What will you give me if I deliver [Jesus] to you?” (Matthew 26:15). This verse suggests Judas betrayed Jesus out of greed. In the Gospel of John, however, after Jesus gives Judas the piece of dipped bread, “Satan entered into him” (13:27). This verse suggests Satan’s spirit entered into Judas and caused him to do evil. Jesus was sitting right next to him and allowed it. We know from scripture that Jesus knew ahead of time it would happen. Was it a choice a Judas made? What about Demas? Demas had been a faithful servant of the Lord, and a trusted companion of the apostle Paul. He served the greatest cause, and he served alongside some of the Lord’s most devoted disciples. It says in 2 Timothy 4:10, “For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.” So Demas chose the world over the Kingdom and deserted Paul in his greatest time of need. All of his time spent with Paul and the other disciples could not preserve him from the wiles of Satan, the lure of the world, and the lusts of the fleshly nature.

They both went back to the world, they went back to sin. Or were they ever saved to begin with?

Is there any assurance of an absolute and permanent salvation? Some say when a person turns away from God after genuinely being a Christian they lose the saving grace they once had. (This is the classic Armenian and Wesley position.) But others say when a person turns away from God and back to the world it proves they were never Christians to begin with. (This is the classic Calvinistic and reformed position.) So one says hey, “They were never saved to begin with.” And the other side says, “No sir, they once had it but they lost it.’ Where do you stand on this issue? There is yet the third position which is that once someone prays to the Lord and confesses their sin with repentance along with an outward profession of faith they are saved and they can never lose it.

But… people profess and then turn away. Sadly I am seeing a lot of it these days. Is it because of dead faith? You will find in the book of James three different kinds of faith. In James 2:14-26, we find James discussing those different kinds of faith, with an emphasis upon that faith which works to the saving of the soul. Those with a dead faith are just pretenders. Their “walk” does not measure up to their “talk”. Is only an intellectual faith and they have never really submitted themselves to God and trusted in Jesus for salvation. Any form of belief that does not result in a changed life and good works is a dead end street. It is dead. Dead, dead, DEAD! What about false faith? It says in 1 John 2:19, “They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” This is what John said about those that turned against Christ. He was making a point. Just like a healthy body keeps poison out of your system and will purge your body of the poison a healthy church or healthy Christian will purge itself from the poison. The insincere become detected and the apostates and revolters and antichrists, they went out, and are made manifest that they were not all of us.

You may be reading all these words about faith and thought we were on some rabbit trail. All this about faith is because a truly saved individual has saving faith. Saving faith causes a regeneration of the person which then becomes manifest in works revealing the fruit of the spirit. Others will know of your regeneration by your fruit. Without regeneration it is morally and spiritually impossible to savingly believe in Christ. “Except a man be born again, he cannot see, he cannot understand, he cannot come to Christ”, (John 3:3; 6:37, 44; 1 Cor. 2:14). Regeneration is the renewing of the heart and mind; and the renewed heart and mind must act according to their nature. This regeneration is the act of God alone. But faith is not the act of God. It is not God who believes in Christ for salvation; it is the sinner. Although it is by God’s grace alone that a person is able to believe, faith is an activity of the person alone. In saving faith we receive and rest upon Christ alone for salvation. It might be hard for you understand this concept that the Bible teaches but it is there. This is God’s way of salvation, expressing His supreme wisdom, power, and grace.

We are portrayed more than once in the Bible as sheep. There is a promise for the sheep. A true Christian, a true saved one, one with saving faith, cannot lose their salvation because of the promise scripture gives us. The shepherd gave his life for the sheep. Please allow me to turn your attention toward Jesus, The Good Shepherd in John. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand”, (John 10:27-28) Please let verse 28 sink in. He gives us eternal life and we will never perish and NEITHER SHALL ANY MAN PLUCK THEM OUT OF MY HAND! He holds us tight to his chest forever. Forever safe Forever saved.

A person that is truly one of Christ’s sheep, born again of the spirit has Christ as the shepherd with his body lying across the sheep-gate protecting and keeping His sheep. God is committed to them and he will never let them be lost.

Just be sure you have that saving faith.

Have your prayer be similar to that of the Psalmist’s:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart;

try me and know my anxieties;

“And see if there is any wicked way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting.”

— Psalms 139:23-24

Believe and live!

“The Tubthumper”

Join me on the next post as we continue by looking at more evidence leading to “Once saved, always saved”. Click here to go to next post.

Click here to jump to other posts in the series:

Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

Your Worst Enemy, Part 2

Part 2… Click here to start at beginning.

People are unaware and ignorant to his devices while this dirty fighting foe uses guerrilla warfare and is on our path every moment pursuing us. He is stalking every part of our households, he is walking the streets of our towns, he is present in many of our churches, he is in our courts and governments, he is seducing and deceiving, ruining body and soul of mankind, men, women and children, he is breaking up our families and sowing seeds of hatred, strife, evil and murder. We see Satan’s damages all around us and yet we remain passive and almost regard them as normal. The power to beat it is close at hand if we would just connect with it.

Satan continually seeks to overcome God’s people by working to break down the barriers that separate us from the world. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) If you haven’t decided to follow Christ and live under His laws then you are servant of Satan. Sorry to have to put it so bluntly but that is the truth. Those with an unregenerate heart have love of sin and a willingness to cherish it and excuse it away. Those that have turned to Christ have a renewed heart and a hatred of sin and should be determined to resist it. When a Christian chooses to keep company with the ungodly and share in the ways of the world they expose themselves to great temptation. Satan is hiding close by and he will work very hard to pull the wool over your eyes. A continual indifference to the world will cause you to become more and more blinded to the assault. We must be different. The world must be able to identify a difference between one who professes to be a child of God and one who does not.

By conforming to the world we have converted our churches to the world. You cannot convert the world to Christ by becoming more like them. We must be different. The more familiar you get with sin the more you will see it as acceptable and you will be lulled into a comfort zone around the master of evil. If we knowingly place ourselves under temptation we will likely fall sooner or later.

Satan works most successfully through those who are least suspected of being under his control. So he goes after those most admired and honored. He uses anyone but specializes in going after the prize. He goes after people with talent, education and culture. These talents and qualities will grace the character of Christians and work in favor of true religion but they must be consecrated to God otherwise they become a powerful weapon for evil. Many a man of intellect and polish has become an instrument of evil in the hands of Satan. Remember the example of Solomon. Solomon obtained the wisdom that earned him the wonder and admiration of the world. Then he turned from his source of strength to rely upon himself and he became susceptible to temptation. This allowed the evil one to use this wise man more effectively to complete the evil mission.

Satan is working constantly to blind you to the fact that you, “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) And another warning, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) And, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11)

Ever since the fall of Adam the enemy has been exercising his power to oppress and destroy all he can. He is preparing right now for his biggest and his last campaign against the church of Christ. Everyone who is seeking to follow Christ and regards themselves as a true child of the King will be in major conflict with this relentless enemy. The more we try to be more like Christ, the more we will be in the cross-hairs of the sights in the attacks of Satan. All of our people that are active in the cause of Christ will be able to join in the testimony of Paul, speaking of serving the LORD with all humility of mind, with many fears and temptations.

Satan attacked Jesus Christ with all he had. He went at Christ with all the subtle temptations he could and the fiercest advances but Christ was repulsed at every conflict. The battles between Christ and Satan were fought on our behalf. The victory of Christ made it possible for us to conquer as well. Jesus Christ will provide strength to all who will seek it. No man can ever be overcome by Satan without giving consent. Satan has no power to control your will. He has no power to force you to sin. He can distress you and he can tempt you or try to confuse you but he cannot overtake you without you giving the willful go ahead. Satan can cause you a lot of agony but he can never defile you. Christ has conquered Satan already. This should give you the courage to fight on through the battle against sin and against the evil one. You have the power to defeat your worst enemy!

Fight on…God bless you all,

‘The Tubthumper’

The Pews are too Hard!

My mother dragged me down the sidewalk each Sunday to church when I was young. She really did drag me and sometimes it was by the ear. I remember each line and crack in that sidewalk on Washington Avenue. I remember the church too. It was a huge old stone Baptist church with massive stained glass windows and a gigantic pipe organ. The pews I had to sit in were just plain punishment. Those pews were solid oak with no pads on them and so hard. No way did I want to be there. I always made that known to all around me. When you see kids fidgeting in church none are as bad as I was. I even got the pastor to stop preaching one Sunday morning. He came down and moved me to the front row. The reverend told me if I moved before he finished I would be in trouble. That got my attention!

My mother made sure her kids got to church. She took us even when we didn’t want to be there. People used to do that you know. I am thankful she did that. I’m sad times have changed. All kids should have the pew experience.

I was exposed to the word of God early and I came to Christ early. I was only a young 10 year old boy but I came to Christ. I was born again! To be born again means that I exchanged my old life for a new life. I was born of the flesh in 1955 and then 10 years after being born of the flesh I was born of the spirit (The Holy Spirit) on August 8, 1965.

I was just a kid and I wasn’t interested in much other than having fun back then. I was probably no different than other kids. I could not sit still very well. I didn’t even have a Bible. Wow, those pews were so hard! There was evidence all around me that God existed. I knew in my heart that it was true and had no doubt. I knew right from wrong. I was just old enough to learn bout Hell and to understand I was a sinner. I understood I was lost and couldn’t save myself no matter how good I could try to be. “For by grace ye are saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).

My mother saw to it that Christian values were taught to us and we had the opportunity to meet God. Of course, those Christian values never saved anyone. It is Jesus Christ that saves us. It is the Gospel. To be born again a person needs to make a choice. I made that choice. I chose Jesus Christ as my savior. It didn’t make those pews any softer but it assured me I would be with Jesus and not in the lake of fire.

It was all very simple for me. In faith I trusted in Christ to save me. I believed!

I am much older now and 48 years have passed since then. I still like to keep things simple though. And for me, salvation is as simple as these two things:

1. We must believe God is there and Jesus was His son and was born the ‘Savior’, died on the cross for our sins and rose again. We must repent and call on Him for salvation and ask for a changed life in Him. Believe and live!

— When I was 10 years old I had no Bible but I knew in my heart God and Jesus existed. I wanted to be with Him and was sorry I was a sinner. I called on His name and was saved!

Don’t let anyone confuse you. Keep the first step of salvation simple.

2. Believe the Bible is the written word of God inspired by Him and delivered through man.

Which comes first? I don’t think it matters. I came to the Lord before I had a Bible and my wife came to the Lord after and through reading the Bible. He will make that choice. You just need to respond.

A tiny little booklet, the Gospel of John, was my Bible for a long time. I love John 3:16 and it is my saving verse. It was the verse I learned while on my knees calling to Jesus for salvation. It is forever burned in my heart, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

So 48 years later I can tell you that life has not been a bowl of cherries and being saved by the grace of Christ probably hasn’t made my life any easier, but I can’t imagine going through life without Jesus Christ.

God has done wonderful things in and for my life. He placed me in the presence of the people that I needed to mold me to the person I am today. He made me who I am. My life has been blessed and I am so very thankful. And He is still working on me.

I can still feel those oak pews on my buttocks.

Jesus Christ came to this earth over two thousand years ago for one purpose: “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). His life was an absolutely perfect life. “In him is no sin” (I John 3:5). Yet He went to the cross to pay the penalty of sin and die for me, a guilty sinner. “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly” (Romans 5:6). “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). He died for the whole world, but He died for me. And He died for you.

It didn’t end at the cross. After Jesus died He rose again from the grave. “He is risen from the dead” (Matthew 28:7). “Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us” (Romans 8:34).

“For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3). This proved Jesus Christ is God, and through Him alone we are saved.

These days, each Sunday I sit in nice padded seats to receive the message from our pastor. I sometimes drift back to the day…

When those pews were so hard…

God bless your day,

“The Tubthumper”