THE WORLD IS COMING APART

  by

Joseph Chambers -

 

2 Peter 2

 

1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.

     There is no doubt but the world is moving to crisis after crisis. It is amazing and scary to watch and listen to the wicked people. The worst of the wicked will call anyone who opposes their wickedness dark names. If you stand for righteousness, do not respond to the wicked in kind. Our duty is to conduct ourselves in the spirit of gentleness and with soft words. Don't be a wimp, but be strong with the truth of Holy Scripture.

 

     The End Of The World was not a strange term to Jesus Christ and the early church. Secularists of our generation have created a mindset that immediately labels anyone using such terminology as a religious nut. The truth is that there cannot be a Biblical New World Order and the glorious kingdom of Jesus Christ until the present order comes to an end. Therefore, the present world as we know it is going to end and a new world begin. Nothing in Scripture is prophesied more clearly. We must rescue this truth and begin again to preach "The End Of The World". Satan is afraid of such truth and, especially, truth that convicts the unsaved. Without question he is the mastermind behind the silence in the church about impending judgment and the "End Of This World."

 

     Early church preaching rings with the shattering message of judgment and the coming darkness. Peter wrote to the believers among the many churches, "But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer." (1 Peter 4:7).

 

     They lived in constant readiness for the kingdom of God to be established and warned that the present world order as they knew it had to end first. Nobody cared too much about worldly goods and building personal empires for they all knew it could be gone in a moment. Some of them sold everything they had and gave to the kingdom for the good of everyone. "And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.   Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,   And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.   And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,   Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet." (Acts 4:33-37).

 

     It was a mindset unknown to today's church because they knew this world was going to end. They actually expected it in their lifetime and wanted their riches to be invested in the eternal kingdom. This was the Lord's intention for His church.

 

     Biblical discipleship will not return to the church until we re-establish the kingdom message. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence." (John 18:36). This world order has to end for the visible appearance of His kingdom to appear. You cannot mix the old with the new unless the new is spoiled and becomes like the old. Jesus' kingdom is presently invisible, a spiritual kingdom in our hearts as we live only for Him, but soon the old will end and His kingdom will begin right here on this earth. He said, "Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth." (Matthew 5:5). That was not some figurative statement, but a clear promise to His own. We will spend at least seven years in Heaven after the Rapture before we share in Christ's establishment of His earthly kingdom.

 

The Signs Are Everywhere: It's Almost Over

 

     Jesus Christ's disciples asked Him a three-part question that promoted some of His most incredible teachings on this subject. Let's look at these three questions. "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" (Matthew 24:3). Jesus had warned them of the destruction of the temple and the coming judgment upon Jerusalem. They asked Him about the time of that judgment, but also about His coming again and what they called the end of the world. The first part was fulfilled in AD 70 when the Romans smashed Jerusalem and ended that great city as a Jewish city for nearly 1900 years. The Jewish people reclaimed the city in 1967 after 1,897 years.

 

     They were very specific in their question about the end of the world and Jesus gave them a specific answer. Notice that He mentioned the end of the world three times in the next eleven verses or the first part of His answer. After speaking of "wars and rumors of wars", he said, "but the end is not yet." Later, He stated, "But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved." He then gave the last of the signs that must occur and stated, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:14).

 

1 John 4

 

1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

     Let me give you the total context of this great reference to the end of the world. Please read it carefully. "And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?   And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.   For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.   And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.   For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.   All these are the beginning of sorrows.   Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.   And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.   And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.  And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.   But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.   And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." (Matthew 24:3-14).

 

Jesus Taught Powerful Truths About The End

 

     The Rapture of the Bride of Jesus Christ needs no sign for us to expect Him at any moment, but there is a multitude of signs that relate to the end of this wicked world order ruled over by the devil. Satan has never been very smart and a Bible student can easily detect His masteries of lies. The environmental movement of the world has affected a large portion of churches and many professing Christians have become wild-eyed environmentalists. Many Pentecostal/Charismatic churches are now full-blown "dominion theology" believers working to establish what they believe is the kingdom of God on the earth. The Book of Revelation is rejected by this crowd as a literal book of the prophetic future because they see it as "doom and gloom." Terrible disappointment is just ahead for anyone who has rejected the "end of the world" truths that represent such a clear message in the Holy Bible. This world order is going to crash and the sounds of that crash will echo to the Heavens.

 

Look at some of the signs Jesus gave in the Matthew 24 teachings we just shared in this article:

 

"Take heed that no man deceive you." Never has there been more false teachings and doctrines flooding the religious world. Many believers have rejected the Bible as the final word on all truth and now they are extremely vulnerable.

 

"For many shall come in My name, saying, 'I am Christ'; and shall deceive many." The new generation of deceivers are quick to fill their dark teaching with a sprinkling of Jesus' name and some of His wonderful truths. Then they mix in their false ideas that destroy and deceive. Nothing is more dangerous than a mixture. It is even worse than total error.

 

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars." Our globe is a powderkeg of fighting, massacre, and civil wars. We have seen so much carnage on the news that it barely gets our attention. India's recent explosion of five different nuclear devices is an excellent measure of the state of world tension. Many noted world analysts are predicting a nuclear war in the Middle East at any moment.

 

"Famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places." The record number of these kind of death-dealing events is no longer a question. Tens of thousands are dying from famine and pestilence. Africa is facing a plaque of the AIDS virus that will certainly continue to spread on a worldwide scale. AIDS, along with many other fatal diseases, fits perfectly the Biblical warning of pestilences.

 

Jesus paused at the end of verse six to warn that the end is not yet. After verse seven, He stated, "All these are the beginnings of sorrow." Everything Jesus stated in verses four through seven has been evidenced to some degree from the time of the early church. Then He describes additional signs that are more pronounced today than ever in church history.

 

"Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted and shall kill you." Our congress has been debating a "Christian Persecution" measure for months because of worldwide persecution of Christians. Right here in America there is a dedicated effort to stop every public reflection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The Hornets basketball team in our city of Charlotte has prayer before each game, but refuses to allow anyone to participate unless they agree not to use the name of Jesus in the prayer. Our city council and county commissioners have faced a constant barrage of evil persons determined to stop prayer in Jesus' name. There is a worldwide spirit of evil hatred against the power and person of Jesus Christ unknown in world history.

 

2 Thessalonians 2

 

7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.

8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,

 

     "And ye shall be hated of all nations for My name's sake." This verse of Scripture must be seen in a double sense. It relates to the Christians because Jesus was talking about believers and to the believers, but He was also talking to Jewish believers. The hatred of Bible-believing Christians is no less pronounced than the hatred of Jewish people. The anti-Semitism that is reflected in the Arab world is more understandable than the anti-Semitism in religious people. There are whole ministries that operate on their hatred of Jewish people.   There is not a more diabolical expression than that which motivates "hatred of Israel." Sure, the Jews as a nation are still in unbelief and are indeed enemies for the gospel's sake. Their unbelief has blinded their eyes to the gospel, but the Scripture clearly warns us to be free of pride and to expect "all Israel to be saved." I believe we are seeing the final expression of hatred for the Jews that will usher in the Antichrist reign. The same Hornets basketball team here in Charlotte that forbids prayer in Jesus' name also forbids anyone praying in Hebrew. Those were the only two restrictions. That would be odd indeed if you did not understand this great teaching of Jesus Christ in Matthew twenty-four. Notice those words again, "Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake." (Matthew 24:9). Of all the religions in the world the only two to be forbidden in the prayer were the two ideas of fundamental Christianity and fundamental Judaism. The only friend Israel has at the United Nations is the United States of America, and Bill Clinton could be the man to change that. At that moment, this Scripture would be perfectly fulfilled, if we could not already count it fulfilled.

 

"And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." This verse speaks specifically of men and women who call themselves apostles, prophets, etc. Our world is suddenly, in the last 10 years mainly, being inundated with so-called prophets and apostles. From what was called the "Kansas City Prophets", we now have thousands spreading religious viruses throughout the church. Any man or woman that calls themselves or allows others to introduce them as a prophet or a prophetess is dangerous. The Lord has always had prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, and miracle workers in His church, but they were men who rejected such titles lest they gather to themselves honor that belongs only to the Lord. We are all servants and whatever our calling may be we have no right to exalt ourselves so that we can then demand an audience of the people. The Lord Himself exalts and debases and we give Him alone the glory. Flee for your life when someone calls themselves a prophet or an apostle. They certainly fit this Scripture perfectly.

 

"And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." This speaks specifically of the great apostasy that we are experiencing at this very moment. "Iniquity" or a better word is "lawlessness" perfectly describes the present church world. The church is full of men and women who believe they are a law unto themselves and will not listen to the "unaltering truth of Holy Scripture." You can quote the words of God that demand separation and holiness and the people will simply say, "I'm not convicted of that" and they believe that settles it. This very term, "iniquity/lawlessness", is a profound image of today's church world and because of this lawlessness "the love of many shall wax cold". You cannot be ready for His return and the end until your will is totally surrendered to His perfect will as revealed in the Bible. If there is an ounce of "lawlessness" in you, then you must find the mourners' bench of repentance and confess it to the King.

 

"But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." It is very evident that the Lord Jesus knew the struggle of the righteous in the times right before the end. Seven times the same idea was recounted to the church in Revelation two and three. "To him that overcometh", etc. was the closing promise to all seven churches representing the church period or dispensation. The apostasy of this hour has convinced a multitude of church members to ignore the Scriptures that teach total discipleship and complete separation from the world. There is going to be some angry church members and children of compromising churches and families when they suddenly realize they have missed the Rapture and are being thrust into the Tribulation.

 

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." It is a testimony to the mercy of God that the last sign and action that He has determined before the end is the preaching of His kingdom. If you are a faithful servant of Jesus Christ, then do not fear that the devil can stop you from proclaiming the truth of the gospel. It is thrilling to me to know that our God will protect the true messengers right down to the moment of the Rapture and the beginning of the end. The last sign before the end is a man of God in the pulpit telling the lost how to be saved.

Luke 21

 

33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.

34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.

35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.

Jesus Was Not Embarrassed To Talk About The End Of The World

 

     If Jesus was willing to freely speak of the end of this age and the final judgment of a wicked world, why should we not speak freely about the same? It is unbelievable how utterly lost is this incredible message to our sinsick world. Hope is quickly vanishing from the political world. Military experts speak of inevitable conflicts and impending dangers. The secular media is more willing to talk about the hopeless future than the church.

 

     We must show the world that the end of this age is at hand. No, we should not set dates or try to scare people for the sake of its effect on their spiritual commitment. But, we must preach the whole Word of God including eternal damnation and the coming judgment of God. God can no more ignore the plaque of sin that grips this world than He ignored it in Biblical history. Sin always has consequences and to preach otherwise is to be a false prophet. This is not a message of doom, it is a message of hope.

 

The End Is Just The Beginning

 

     The "New World Order" that the devil's crowd has fostered is a masquerade and imitation of the real. The real "New World Order" is the Biblical kingdom of Jesus Christ. That kingdom cannot mix with a world ruled by greed, love of money, and love of pleasure. Every principle of this present world order must be judged and eliminated. Then He will establish His kingdom to last forever.

 

     Daniel saw this heavenly kingdom established without human hands. Listen to his description from the vision of Nebuchadnezzar which was from the Lord. "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." (Daniel 2:44-45).

 

     No human hands, no "Kingdom Dominion" preachers, no post millennialist will help establish this kingdom. It will be the supernatural hand of the great God and His Son, Jesus Christ. The most mindless idea I have ever heard from a religious source is the new doctrine of a man-made kingdom. The new kingdom must be established and ruled by the King of kings.

 

     The end of the present world order is the beginning of the glory of this kingdom. After one thousand years of His physical reign in Jerusalem the new Heaven and the new earth will be manifest to the world. John clearly shows that the old must end for the new to begin. He stated, "And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.   And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." (Revelation 21:1-3). The truth about the end of the world is one of the most glorious messages in Holy Scripture. Let's tell the world about it!

CAPTURED BY GRACE

 

By Pastor Mike Taylor

8” For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9  Not of works, lest any man should boast”.  (Ephesians 2:8-9)

When one speaks of God’s grace, it  has been defined as the love and mercy given to us by God because God desires us to have it, not because of anything we have done to earn it, but is the condescension or benevolence shown by God toward the human race. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man being a generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved -that takes the form of divine favor, love, clemency, and a share in the divine life of God.

It is an attribute of God that is most manifest for the salvation of sinners. Christianity holds that the initiative in the relationship of grace between God and an individual is always on the side of God, not man. God pursues us, as we do not pursue Him.
CAPTURED BY GRACE

I just got finished reading a book by David Jeremiah, called “Captured by Grace”. In the pages of this book, Dr. Jeremiah explores the life of Paul, and contrast it with another man who wrote the words of that most beloved hymn “Amazing Grace” John Newton. If you read about the life that each of these men had before they met the Lord of Glory, you would understand how depraved and sinful they were. How deceived each man was.

SAUL WHO BECAME PAUL, THE APOSTLE
Saul of Tarsas was a zealot of the Jewish faith, being a Pharisee, he made it his mission to stamp out this new heretical sect of Judaism, called at the time, “The Way”. We can read the story of Saul  at it’s beginning in Acts chapters 7  of the stoning of Stephen, where Saul is introduced as a man consenting to the death of this young disciple of Jesus Christ , but moving on into into chapter 9,  Saul is on the road to Damascus and the risen Jesus Christ comes to him and knocks him off his horse and blinds him:
3  “And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4  And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5  And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the goads.” (Acts 9:3-5)

I wondered what the word goad meant and what it referred to, or as some translations have it pricks. It is a reference to the pointed stick or metal poker that was used to drive an oxen team to do what you wanted them to do, where  you wanted them to go. You were leading them, but pricking them with this stick, even as the oxen would kick at it. Paul was being  pursued and was being driven to do what God wanted him to do with a spiritual sharp stick.

As you read the story, you have to wonder what went through Saul’s mind when he is confronted by the risen Lord. The same Lord he was determined to stamp out any worship of by persecuting all who were following Him. I just can imagine it destroyed everything he thought he was, or believed up to that point. If he was wrong about this, what else was he wrong about?  He had to meditate on this in his weakened condition. For three days, he took no food or water, being blinded by the intense light that shown about him, as the revelation of Jesus Christ came to him  bodily in His glorified state.

As the story progresses, Paul is healed by a follower of Jesus Christ, one Ananias who God commands him to go to Saul and heal his eyes, by laying his hands on him. From that point on, Saul who changed his name from Saul to Paul, became a zealot for Jesus Christ and Him crucified and there is no other man in the Bible, (save the persecution of our Lord) that was more persecuted, all for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor was there a more a bold tower of spiritual faith and conviction that there was found in Paul, the apostle.

SLAVE TRADER, JOHN NEWTON

Then there is John Newton, a man who had a terrible life. Abandoned as a child, reared in a boarding school that is nothing more than a child prison, lived the life of a sea faring slave trader, guilty of the murder by deprivation of other human beings transported in the squalor of a ship’s bowels, and was at service of every evil he could think of, in word and in deed constantly. If you read the story of John Newton, you wonder how this man ever became known as a pastor of a church in England, a minister of righteousness, and the author of one of our most beloved hymns, “Amazing Grace”. It is a story of about each man, living in the clutches of a sinful, evil life and changed in an instant by one thing, God’s grace and mercy. In this beautiful book mentioned, you discover that they both were “captured by grace”.  God’s grace  lifted them out of the miry clay of a life headed for hell, and set them on a solid rock, a changed man. If you want a book that will touch your mind, soul, and spirit, then this is a good one to read, but back to God’s grace. Why?

WHY DOES GOD CARE FOR MANKIND?

That is the question. Why would God bother with men such as these two, or any man, for that matter, who are prone to sinful ways? Since Adam fell, men have had a sinful nature that separated them from a righteous God who can’t abide sin in His presence. King David wondered the same thing when he wrote in Psalms:
4  “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

5 For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.

6 Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:” (Psalms 8:4-6)
 

In each of these men, whose life I read about in the context of grace, it was God who did the pursuing. David Jeremiah called it the “hounds of heaven”. God was on these men’s trail and they may have felt His presence, a conviction or something in their spirit that they felt they we being stalked. The book envisions  it this way:

“Saul feels the beginning of a chill along his spine. This has happened before—more than once. He roots out the Christians: he does his job: he is reminded of their strange calmness, their—what is the word for it? Some kind of irrational mercy. And always, as Saul is reflectging over the oddity of it all, he hears the ----footsteps.” (Captured by Grace, P. 3)

Of course, this is literary interpretation of what Saul might have felt, but in the moment Saul may have “felt a strange inside feeling that he was the one being pursued, and that someone, or something else was pursuing him. Of course, it’s irrational. What possible sense could it make? He was God’s champion, defender of the faith. He must continue on, root them out, capture them one by one. Capture their faith, capture---yes, that’s the word, their grace.” (Captured by Grace, P.3)

JOHN NEWTON ANAZLYZED

It was the same in comparison with John Newton, a man wallowing in sins of the flesh in alcoholism, , murder, revelry with women and every other word was a blasphemy against God or a curse word. How were these men changed, into the exact opposite of what their life was in the beginning into men of faith, men of passion for Jesus Christ, and followers of the righteousness of God to the end of their days?

It was grace. Such grace can only come from God. It is unmerited, unlimited, and a gift not sought for by anyone. For no matter what we have done, no matter the depth of our transgression, the darkness of our hearts, grace overrules them all. God pursues us relentlessly. He will not give us up, and once He has captured us, He won’t let us go.
Saved a Wretch Like Me

There’s a line in that wonderful, old song, that most of us can sing by memory.
 “Amazing grace, how sweet the sound. That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind, but now I see.”

What do you feel when you sing that line? A lot of people just belt it out and never realize that they are who the writer was talking about. He was talking about himself, and he was talking about you, and talking about me. “A Wretch like me.” Have you ever tried to define what a wretch is? It’s an Old English term, that means a person in exile, a  person who is miserable and terribly lost. As the New York Times wrote in a piece about the morals of this country, “we are a wretched people in need of a road map.” Amazing that the New York Times recognizes the terrible condition that this country, this world for that matter, is in. That road map is the Bible. The Bible speaks of the nature of mankind, in Roman:
11 “There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.
12  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.
13  Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:
14  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:
15  Their feet are swift to shed blood:
16  Destruction and misery are in their ways:
17  And the way of peace have they not known:
18  There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Romans 3:11-18)

That pretty well sums up the condition of most of the people that have turned away from God as the Sovereign of this nation. This is true of the world at large, but even more so than for the USA. We were a nation conceived on Christian principles, founded on our belief in the Ten Commandments of how men are to worship  God and treat one another, no matter what anyone tries to tell you. No other nation has been more blessed, more rich in material favor, and has become the greatest nation on the face of the earth, greater than any nation in all of history. Even the poorest among the people are considered rich by any other nation’s standards.

You might be thinking, “hey, I’m a good person. I don’t do drugs, I don’t run around on my wife, and I go to church every Sunday”. Good for you, but in God’s eyes, you are a wretch and lost, if you depend on your own goodness and morality. We are all sinners in God’s eyes, and wretched by definition, or outcast, exiled, and separated from God. Paul speaks of it this way:
19  “For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one (Jesus Christ) shall many be made righteous.
20  Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound.(to define sin) But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21  That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:19-21)

Sometimes it is said that grace is a five letter word that is spelled J-E-S-U-S.. For Newton’s hymn, the melody embodied the idea, BUT Jesus was the Man.  He was the perfect once and for all, perfect image of grace. John 1:
1  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2  The same was in the beginning with God.
3  All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.
4  In him was life; and the life was the light of men…….
1:14  And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:1-4, 14)
 

God in His mercy, had a loving, deep desire for the work of His hands. He desired a relationship with His creation, as the potter makes a masterpiece by the work of His hands and cherishes this example of perfection. Our heavenly Father longed for a family of people who loved Him. He longs for us, His perfect creation. Going back to Psalms where David ponders why God has a desire for us. Psalm chapter 8:
5 “ For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour.
6  Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands; thou hast put all things under his feet:”(Psalms 8:5-6)

We were intended for honor and glory, but Satan, the usurper managed to deceive our first parents and cause them to choose a different life, by free choice. They chose the knowledge of good and evil, and chose a very different, dangerous world that we now live in. But God in His mercy has extended His mercy and His grace to a creation that is drowning in sin and unable to save themselves. Ephesians:
1 “ And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
2  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
3  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.
4  But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5  Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” (Ephesians 2:1-5)

This is love…This is grace…This is mercy…unwarranted, undeserved, without  merit. God became a man, lived amongst His own creation. Why? Because He knew man could NOT save himself. We were dead. We were killed spiritually by Satan and slaves to sin without hope or any way out in of ourselves. But to reclaim us, Jesus became our kinsman redeemer, whereby a person who has been sold as a slave, as we were sold to a sin filled life, by the act of one man (Adam) and the evil deception by our adversary, Satan the devil, we were reclaimed by one Man, Jesus Christ. Romans:
14 “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.
15  But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
16  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.
17  For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.
19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of One shall many be made righteous.” (Romans 5:14-19)
The Prodigal Son

If there is one story in the Bible that speaks of grace, let  us quickly look at the story of the prodigal son. It’s a much preached about parable that Jesus told. We all know how the story goes. About a young man who wanted to go his own way, to leave his father, and took his portion of the family fortune and went out into the world to live a sinful, riotous life until all his money ran out. Where did it end him? Down in the mud, feeding pigs and longing for the corn husk that they ate.

Until, he came to himself and realized that he must return to his father, and throw himself upon his mercy, and pray for being nothing but a servant, as he deserved nothing more from him. Luke 15:
17  “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!
18  I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,” (Luke 15:17-18)

The parable that Jesus told, its a story about us. This is where all of us are, or were. We were sold under sin and lost within the family of mankind, by inheriting the sin nature of Adam and Eve.. This story is not so much about the son, but of the father, who upon seeing his son coming from afar off, runs to greet him. Realize that during his running to his son, the father had to lift up the mantle of his robe to prevent him from tripping over it’s hem. Thus exposing his bare legs and running with love and compassion  holding that hem. The discards all thought of his being the patriarch in the community and the decorum of Middle Eastern man, but runs with abandonment to the son he had been looking down this road for so long, only now to fall upon his neck and kiss him. The son gave his much rehearsed plea to his father for becoming  part of his servants, and not worthy to be his son. But notice the father’s reply, again Luke 15:
22  “But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:
23  And bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry:
24  For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found. And they began to be merry.”(Luke 15:22-24)

We are that son. God is that father. It’s not so much a story about the guilt of the son, but of the grace of the father. We were dead, but God has made a way for us to come back to him. What is that way, the only Way? John 3,
16  “For God (your Father, my Father) so loved the world,(you and me) that he gave his only begotten Son (Jesus Christ), that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
18  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)

For Paul, is was the realization that he was wretched. For John Newton, it was the realization that he was also a wretched wandering prodigal son. As Paul wrote in 1st Timothy chapter 1:
13  “Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14  And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

15  This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.” (1^st Timothy 1:13-15)
 

For John Newton, who wrote “Amazing Grace”  the words spoke of his blindness, his sin, and the grace he received. It was the same, for both men.. They both were blind, they both were lost, but now they see. And they both were saved by grace. Our loving, heavenly Father gives us all that we need to come to Him in faith. In this, even our faith is given by our God, as He draws us to Him, and all we have to do is reach out in gratitude and repentance for the “wretch” that we are, wallowing in our sin and unable to save ourselves.

36, “But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
37, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.” (John 6:36-37)
 God works even to make sure that His people have the faith they need! God supplies everything except one's decision—and even in the decision a person makes, He keeps poking us in the ribs, shoving us in the back, to move us in the right direction. He does not give up easily once He sets his mind to do something.
8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,” (Ephesians 2:8)

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THESE EXAMPLES?

Are you like any of these three examples? Are you wallowing in sin and lost from being away from the Father who loves you? Does life seem to be a desperate road of being unable to find your way back to where you know you should be? Do you feel that tugging at your heart, and the unrest of your mind? God is pursuing you and won't stop till He captures you. Will it take a blinding light and being knocked from a horse, or being so low that you reside with pigs and eating scraps from someone else’s table, as Newton and the prodigal son did? Or will it be something even worse? Do you understand the mercy and grace that has been extended to all who believe in the only pathway back to the Father who created you? Jesus said:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)

You see, God became a man, as John 1 proclaims. He lived and died 2000 years ago for one purpose and that was to make available to all who believe to receive God’s Amazing Grace But what must you do to receive this grace, this free gift from God who even gives you the faith to even believe that Jesus is the Son of God who was raised from the dead and is alive and standing at the right hand of God the Father, and is soon to come again....maybe real soon..

8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;

9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:8-13)

God's grace and mercy, along with the faith to internalize that grace into your heart and mind is sitting right in front of you. All you have to do is reach out and take the “brass ring” and our God will set your feet upon a “SOLID ROCK” which is Jesus Christ and you will have been captured by Grace to the glory of God our Father. Won't you accept this free offer by coming to Him in repentance of your sins, and confessing with your mouth your need for a Savior....that Savior is Jesus Christ...the ONLY Way back to Almighty God?

This is Pastor Mike Taylor, praying grace and mercy enter into your life through  Jesus Christ, my Lord. Should you need prayer, counseling, or just a listening ear, email me atrealteam1999@sbcglobal.net, or visit me online at www.pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com. God bless you all,

till we meet at Jesus Feet.