He told the king, “This is what the Lord says: Is it because there is no God in Israel for you to consult that you have sent messengers to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Because you have done this, you will never leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!” 2 Kings 1.16
These are the words spoken to King Ahaziah after he sought medical advice because of an injury and he sought not the help from God; but from an idol. People put their hope in the wrong things, which brings me to the upcoming presidential election. Every four years we hear politicians make big promises on how they are going to change lives for the better and we see voters believing and fighting to the death to support their man. Such ought not be. Man needs to trust in God, because humans are limited and could be gone in 60 seconds. Psa 144.4 When a person sins, they don’t have to confess that sin to a priest. Reason being, all Christians are priests, Christians are a royal priesthood. 1 Peter 2:9.
There is no such thing as a group of men selected as priests in the new testament which is the standard for men today. Matt 26:26-29. This is the covenant for which Christ died and is in force till the last day. Heb 1:1-2. And yes, there were priests under the old testament, the Levites were the priests for the nation of Israel, but that age has passed, and we now live under the age of Jesus Christ and the new testament. Heb 7:11. Heb 7:12:19-22. Heb 8:13. Heb 9:11-28. Heb 10:28-29 2 Cor 3:6-8. So, what about when we sin? The new testament teaches that Christians confess their faults one to another and pray one for another. James 5:14-16. Acts 8:18-24.Just go to any faithful member of the church and talk to them about your sin and just pray together; that all its takes. Having priests is not according to the word of God. Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. For the Lord is the great God,the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Today, if only you would hear his voice, “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, where your ancestors tested me they tried me, though they had seen what I did. For forty years I was angry with that generation; I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest. Psalms 95:1-11 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as He was walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man. “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it. And the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me and I ate.” Gen 3:8-13.
Guilt means knowing you are wrong and such was the case with Adam and Eve. Guilt works a good thing because it produces conscience about our bad poor choice. And hopefully it will make us never do the deed again. Anytime you have to hide or cannot look another in the eye; you’re probably guilty of something. Heed the feeling, you can do better. Have you wondered how much longer you have to live? You should if you haven't done so. Because the only way you will avoid death; is if the Lord ends the world by beginning the Judgment Day. 1 Cor 15:51. For it is appointed for men to die and afterwards comes the judgment. Heb 9:27 On the Day of Judgment, death won't exist because it will be time for men to stand before Christ and being rewarded with Heaven or Hell. 2 Cor 5:10.
When men die they carry only their works. Rev 14:13. All material things stay behind but the thoughts and deeds that one has done stands with them though eternality. 1 Tim 6:7 Within the pages of the bible are laws which the Lord expects from men. The life of a person will be examined to see if the life meets the expectation of the scriptures. In other words, people will be judged according to their works. Rev 20.12 In closing, while people buy life insurance to cover their final expenses, it is also a good idea to check out the bible and see if our life are in harmony with what it teaches. Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10.25
This verse is the reason that you often see the faithful going to church. Depending on the schedule, you may see them going every Sunday and also midweek Bible classes along with other gatherings that might be on the church calendar. They believe in the Bible and they want to make sure they support the work of the local church. They might be your neighbors, coworkers, friends, etc. If you don''t attend church at all or do so sparely, I would like you to consider what the Bible teaches in Hebrews 10.25. I suppose there are things you do regularly because everybody has something. But without naming all the things which people may do, let us just say that people do what they do because they believe in that thing. Man lives on God's green earth and gets out of bed every day and goes about life enjoying the things that humans do. Since man enjoys his time on earth; why not give some glory to God? We all enjoy food, shelter, money, possessions, etc.
God has allowed us to be able to obtain such things. It is only right that we acknowledge His goodness toward us. Because if we don?t, we stand the chance of having God take some blessings away from us. Maybe you are a person who have done deeds for the benefit of others; only to have them show no appreciation. Feels pretty bad, doesn't it? Just imagine our Lord and how He must feel because of the unappreciation of man Start showing appreciation for what the Lord has done in your life. And remember, just because God might have done a good deal for you. His goodness toward man is no proof He is pleased with us. God does good for people, simply because He can. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life Gen 3:24
For the one in authority is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer Rom 13:4 Security is a pillar of civilization and we need more security; not less. In both of the scriptures above, we see the first police officer in Genesis which were angels. And the purpose of the police in Romans. Defunding the police or making it hard for them to do their job will lead to the destruction of the communities they serve because there will be no protection available. I hope people wake up and use their heads wisely and quit listening to the bad doctrines floating around out there. The church is a teaching body. The church isn?t a place for fun and frolic. The church isn't the place for electing politicians. The church isn?t the place to help people get a GED. Yet, there are many houses of worship involved in these and many more secular activities that have nothing to do with religion. 1 Tim 3:15
These churches do such things because that is what they want to do. 1 Tim 4:1. The belief that we must have bible authority for all that is done, never crosses the mind of such church leaders. 1 Tim 4:16. 1 Tim 6:3. 2 Tim 1:13. 2 John 9-10 Secular things are fine as long as man engages in such on his time and not the time of the Lord. The church is the blood brought body of Christ and He didn't die on the cross so that men could make the church into a secular body. Acts 20:28. Let the church be the church and let other organizations take care of the rest. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me. John 5:39
These words spoke Jesus, as He encouraged the people to develop the reading of the word of God. Within the pages of the holy writ, are the lessons which will lead people to heaven. But if people don't read the word of the Lord; they won't be pleasing in His sight, nor will they go to heaven. The bible is to be understood and it is to be obeyed. Far too many don?t know God because they don?t seek Him by reading about His life in the Bible. The 66 books in the bible are divided by the old testament and the new testament. The new testament is where men are introduced to and taught by Jesus Christ. By a study of the book of Acts, men are shown the church which Jesus established. The old testament isn't for us today, because it was for the nation of the Jews. By reading the old testament, one can see many things done by the Jews which would be difficult today. But the old testament ceased to be binding with the death of Christ upon the cross and we are left with the much better new testament. |