Why I Wanted to Know God – And Still Do

I didn’t always want to know God. In fact, I ran from him for quite some time. All I really understood about him was that he would not tolerate sin. Since I knew I was a sinner, I was doing all I could to avoid him. Like the prodigal son, my ultimate intention was to get away from him if I could.

Then, the Lord God began to make himself known to me, and as I began to understand more about him, I started wanting to know him. Here are several things about this amazing God that caused me to desire to be acquainted with him and why I hope you will too:

1. The Fact that He is Our Creator

Talk about a VIP! There is no one more important than the Lord our God: no King or Queen, star entertainer or athlete, politician, rich person; no one with great beauty or personality could usurp the importance of having a personal relationship with our magnificent Creator. What wisdom is his, what knowledge! “How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out.”

Most adopted children, when grown, will want to know their biological parents because they want to know where they came from and find the answer to: “What makes me tick?” Wouldn’t we also want to know our Creator?

As our Creator, he also wants to help us:

Thus says the LORD who made you

And formed you from the womb, who will help you:[i]

2. The Fact That He Knows Us Best

We are told in the Psalms:

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.

You know my sitting down and my rising up;

You understand my thought afar off.

You comprehend my path and my lying down,

And are acquainted with all my ways.

For there is not a word on my tongue,

But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.[ii]

Understanding that God knows all about us can be daunting if we’re running from him but if we return to him, he will be the first to meet us on the path home.[iii]

I am amazed in the fact that no one knows us completely as the Lord does, yet no one loves us like he does.

3. The Fact That He is Good.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good!

For His mercy endures forever.[iv]

Just how good is God? Nobody has ever found that out yet. But here’s what I do know:

He is kind and gracious to every person in this life no matter if they believe in him or not. “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust”[v] and he “is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”[vi] “He is good to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works.[vii]” “He left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”[viii]

I can tell you something about how good God has been to me. I have never gone one single day without at least something to eat. Some may have but that doesn’t make God any less good. Even those who have experienced great tragedies in life such as the death of a loved one – maybe a child – have still experienced some measure of God’s goodness every day of their lives. I had some days when I questioned whether God was there or if he really cared yet I know that he is and does.

4. I Wanted to Know His Forgiveness

I knew I had sinned and knew God was offended. I knew that I didn’t want to remain on his side of disfavor. I learned that he had paved a way for me to be reconciled to him and justified (as if I’d never sinned) because of Christ’s death in our behalf.

5. The Fact that He Promised us an Eternal Home of Perfect Blessing.

There is no doubt that we live in an imperfect world – a world corrupted by sin. Murder, hatefulness, pride, oppression, evil, pain and death abound all around us. But this is not the end for those who know God. In fact, God’s word tells us that he causes all things to work together for the good of those who know him – to those who are the called according to his purpose.[ix]

He was good enough to send his Son to die on the cross for sinners who had no other hope of forgiveness.

The Most Important Reason

Sometimes we think there is something in us innately which causes us to want to know God but there is not. There is something in us that causes us to want to run away from him and rebel. it is called "sin."

"We love him because he first loved us..."[x]  It was God who pursued after us and drew us to him.

I wanted to know God because he wanted to know me. And because of his eternal love for me, his relentless pursuit of me and the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ, he put something inside me that caused me to want to know him. He gave me his Spirit.

If there is a God, wouldn’t you want to know him? Don’t shut him out of your life with unanswered questions. We will always have those. We can know him by faith in the work of atonement Jesus Christ performed in our behalf on the cross of Calvary.

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[i]     Isaiah 44.2

[ii]    Psalm 139.1-4

[iii]   Luke 15.20

[iv]   Psalm 106.1

[v]    Matthew 5.45

[vi]   Luke 6.35

[vii]  Psalm 145.9

[viii] Acts 14.17

[ix]   Romans 8.28
[x]   1 John 4.19

Will There be a Rapture?

I remember reading Hal Lindsey’s The Late Great Planet Earth as a new Christian decades ago. There was a great tidal wave of excitement at that time about the second coming of Jesus Christ. My heart was thrilled as well. One of the things he talked about in that book was something called the rapture. 

Some Christians today have never heard a message preached on the subject of the rapture. This is partly because many pastors either don’t believe in it or don’t know what they believe. Others don’t preach or teach on the rapture because it doesn’t seem to be a popular doctrine of our times.

Is this a Legitimate Doctrine?

Many of the early Church fathers wrote that Jesus Christ could return at any time which is at the core of teaching in the rapture occurring before the tribulation which Jesus and the Apostles prophesied.[i]

Nathan E. Jones writes: “When Augustine began spiritualizing the Bible, his view of a non-literal interpretation took hold of the church until the Renaissance, obliterating the Premillennial and Pre-Tribulation Rapture views in favor of Amillennialism.[ii]” But Jones lists several Christians through the centuries who wrote about their belief in the imminence of Christ’s return even dating back to the first and second centuries.

I would say that there were millions of Christians in the twentieth century who believed in the imminent (think any moment) coming of Jesus Christ and many still do today. From my perspective it seems that number has diminished in recent times because it seems to no longer be as widely taught.

What Does it Mean?

The teaching of the rapture is a biblical doctrine that says that one day – at any moment – Jesus will appear in the air not only to resurrect those who have died as believers but will also catch up those in Christ Jesus who remain alive.

The biblical Greek word ἁρπάζω (harpazo), in its future tense, is translated “shall be caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4.17. 

The word rapture comes from the Latin word raptura which means to seize or carry off. This was the word used in the Latin Vulgate translation of that same passage.

We who believe in a coming rapture are premillennial which means that Jesus will return to earth before a 1,000 year period of blessedness upon earth in which Christ will rule and reign.

What is the Basis for this Belief?

While there are many supportive passages in the bible as to the teaching of the rapture, here are three major references. These speak of an imminent event in which Jesus catches up his saved ones who remain alive.

Jesus said in John 14.1-4: 

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also."[iii] 

Note the words, “I will come again and receive you unto myself.”

The Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth “We shall not all sleep (meaning die) but we shall all be changed.[iv]” He is saying that not all Christians would die but all Christians would be changed – bodily. The only explanation for this is the rapture.

He continues; “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”[v]

Now, we come to our main passage of the bible in which we may build upon our belief that there will be a rapture. These Christians in Thessalonica were troubled about their fellow Christians who had died. They wondered if they’d ever see them again. The Apostle Paul comforts them by saying:

… the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up (harpazo) together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

Is belief in the rapture necessary for salvation? No! Salvation is ours by grace through faith. But the truth that Christ will come and catch us up helps us to know the comfort of God during times when people are dying. It brings us comfort in distressing times in our lives when we’re under a deep state of trials. It also comforts us to know that God is ultimately in control no matter how bleak things may look at the moment for he is coming to receive us up into his presence for eternity.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,”[vi]

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[i] See Matthew chapter 24; 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and Revelation chapters 5-18 to name just a few.

[ii] Amillenialism means no millennial.

[iii] John 14.1-4

[iv] 1 Corinthians 15.51

[v] 1 Corinthians 15.52

[vi] Titus 2.11-13

What About Hell?

Whatever happened to hell? I have found that people who don’t believe in hell talk more about hell than those who do.

The word “hell” is one of the world’s favorite bywords. I have heard people say, “It’s hot as hell.” I’ve heard some say, “It’s cold as hell.” I’ve heard “hell, yes,” and “hell, no.” Other catch phrases are, “What the hell,” “The hell you will,” “For the hell of it,” and “That’s one hell of a _________ (fill in the blank). Others are so crass as to say in anger, “Go to hell!”

I think people don’t want to think of the reality of a real hell so they find a way to water it down. People want to make it seem fun, thus: “We had one hell of a time.”

Some would like to think that hell would be a nice place to go because “All my friends will be there.”

Christians, however, don’t talk much about hell anymore. It’s taboo. When pressed about what we believe on this subject, we do our best to be nicer than God.

Megachurch pastor, Joel Osteen was asked, “Do you feel like you’re cheating people by not telling them about the ‘hell’ part?”

Osteen’s response was, “No, I really don’t because it’s a different approach. But I say most people are beaten down enough by life. They already feel guilty enough. They're not doing what they should, raising their kids you know, we can all find reasons. So I want them to come to Lakewood or our meetings and be lifted up, to say, 'You know what? I may not be perfect, but I'm moving forward. I'm doing better.' And I think that motivates you to do better."[i]

I’m not saying preachers should talk about hell all the time but there are some problems with what Osteen is saying.

One: People are not saved by “doing better.”

Two: Scripturally, pastors are not afforded the luxury to use a “different approach.” As Paul, we should preach “all the counsel of God.”[ii]

While I believe in a good and merciful God, I don’t believe that his mercy is all conclusive. He is longsuffering but he is not all suffering. I mean – he is not always going to put up with our rebellion. Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?[iii]

So, what about Hell? While the bible doctrine of hell is complex, it is not unclear. Without writing on the subject exhaustively, I will do my best to clarify our understanding of hell as concisely as possible.

The Hebrew word Sheol and the corresponding Greek word Hades are sometimes translated “hell.”

This is the place of the departed dead. The man, described by Jesus, who had been rich while on earth, lifted his eyes up in hell (Hades), being in torments. He was now a beggar asking for only one drop of water.[iv]

In the end times (after the 1,000 year reign of Christ on earth), the bible says that those in hell will be raised to stand in judgment before God. The book of the Revelation tells us that Hades will deliver up the ones who have died and gone there. It then says that death and Hades will be cast into the “lake of fire.” This is the final, eternal hell and is one and the same as Gehenna that Jesus talked about in the gospels. This Gehenna is the final, eternal hell which is the place of eternal punishment for the wicked.[v]

So folks, don’t be ashamed or afraid to talk about hell, and instead of saying “Hell, yes,” let us say “Hell? No. Don’t go there.” Jesus said that whoever believes in him, the Son of God, would "not perish, but have everlasting life." [vi]

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[i]   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjuULMUqT8A

[ii]  Acts 20.27 The Holy Bible

[iii] Genesis 18.25

[iv] Luke 16.19-31

[v]  For an excellent and thorough doctrinal treatise on hell, please read
     http://faithdefenders.com/articles/theology/sheol_hades_gehenna.html
[vi] John 3.16

That One Word We're all Trying to Avoid – "Death"

My coworker is kind of an unusual guy. Right before he leaves work, he often says, “Here is some information you might need just in case I have the big one. Knock on wood.”

Most are not like this. Death is a subject we don’t like to talk about much. Almost everyone wants to avoid thinking about it altogether.

Even more than talking about it, we’re all trying our best to avoid doing it – dying, that is.

A quick look at some articles online read: “How to avoid death,” “The Six Most Common Ways Men Die and How to Avoid them.” “Why Can’t We Prevent Death?” “Ten Ways to Avoid Death by Freak Accident,” and “How to Avoid Dying Prematurely.”

To prevent dying, we try dieting, exercise, meditation, medicine, transplants, vitamins, creams, hot springs, bionics, and now, genetic engineering to name just a few.

It is wise to try and stay healthy and to live as long as we can, but it is unwise to so obsess about death to the point that we become those “who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.”[i]

I remember a time when people would introduce the gospel to others with a question: “Where will you go when you die?” Well, that’s way too abrupt for most of us nowadays. In fact, we don’t usually even use the word “death” much, not even from the pulpit. We would rather say “passed away” or “deceased” than to say that someone died.

Much of this is a result of the fear of the truth – that there is going to be a day of reckoning after death.

The fear of death also stems from not understanding death. Below are some of the common falsehoods about death which causes fear. We also give the correct biblical teaching in contrast.

FALSE BELIEF NUMBER I: DEATH IS THE END

For many, death is the cessation of existence. They believe that death is the end of a person who only had a temporary life. Most people who believe this are individuals who deny or question the existence of God, choosing rather to believe their existence is because of evolutionary happenstance.

Richard Dawkins said, “Don’t imagine for one second you’re going to paradise . . . . You’re going to rot in the ground.[ii]” No wonder so many people don’t want to think about dying.

The Bible however, presents a totally different idea. It presents death as a transfer to a different place and a different realm of existence. It presents death as a departure of the spirit (or soul) from the body but not its extinction. It teaches the immortality of the soul. After death we move on to an eternal destiny – simply put, heaven or hell; brought into the presence and blessing of our Creator or banished from his presence for eternity.

FALSE BELIEF NUMBER II. OUR SPIRIT REMAINS ON EARTH

There is the belief that a dead person’s spirit just hangs around after they’re dead, either haunting or helping those who remain. 

The bible speaks against the practice of necromancy, attempting to make contact with the dead (Deuteronomy 18.10-11). It also speaks of “familiar spirits” which I believe are demons that impersonate someone who has died. That one who speaks at a séance is likely a demon spirit, not someone you love who has died.

FALSE BELIEF NUMBER III. REINCARNATION

Some believe that people come back to earth after dying over and over and over again. They teach that in a former life you may have been a cat or a cockroach then maybe moved up to human existence and finally got recycled into a higher “caste” of human existence. But they teach “Be careful, you might get taken down a notch again … and again.” Finally, you reach Nirvana (extinction or oblivion).

The bible does not teach reincarnation. It teaches the resurrection. The first to be resurrected was Jesus Christ.[iii] The dead in Christ will rise in a bodily resurrection and the dead ones who believe not in Christ Jesus will be raised up bodily to appear before God in judgment.[iv]

After death, those who are saved by God’s grace through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ, will go to heaven.

My dear friend, I don’t want any of us to become morbid, obsessing over death and dying but I want all of us to be willing to give thought to death. It will happen to all of us.

Should someone who isn’t saved by God’s grace fear death? Yes. Death will be no comfort to anyone who is still lost in sin. They can only anticipate a “certain fearful expectation of judgment.”[v]

Do we have to be afraid of dying, going through life trying to avoid the subject in all of our thoughts and words? No, because there is a God who has so loved sinners that he has taken death for us through the cross of Jesus Christ. Now we can say:

Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.[vi]

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[i]   The Bible – Hebrews 2.15

[ii]  https://answersingenesis.org/blogs/ken-ham/2013/09/27/richard-dawkins-uncertain-regarding-death/

[iii] 1 Corinthians 15.23

[iv] Hebrews 9.27

[v]  Hebrews 10.27

[vi] 1 Corinthians 15.54-57

Another Word Gone by the Wayside – "Repentance"

We mentioned that hardly anyone is talking about sin these days. Here is another word not many are using as well – Repentance.

__________________________

Is it better to verbally agree to do something and then not do it, or to say you won’t but then go ahead and do it? Jesus answers that for us.

"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." [i]

God, it seems, is not interested in lip service.

Most Christian speakers or writers don’t hesitate to talk about faith. That’s good; because faith is of utmost importance. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are made righteous in God’s eyes apart from any deed of good works. Praise God!

Nowadays however, many will never broach the subject of repentance, but it’s a subject that often goes hand in hand with faith.[ii]  The prophets of the Old Testament preached repentance, often using the word, “turn.” John the Baptist, Jesus’ forerunner, preached repentance and lost his head. I guess it wasn’t very popular then either. Jesus preached it from the very beginning of his ministry and warned of impending doom for its neglect. It was the message of Peter to Israel on the day of Pentecost.

Repentance means: “…to have another mind, to change the opinion or purpose with regard to sin.” [iii] The Old Testament prophet, Ezekiel said, “Thus says the Lord GOD: "Repent, turn away from your idols, and turn your faces away from all your abominations.” [iv] He also implored, “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.” [v]

God is not discretionary with his command to repent. The subject went out to both the believer and to the unbeliever. According to scripture, God “commands all men everywhere to repent.”[vi]

Faith never happens without repentance. One cannot cling to sin and still embrace the Savior. Our lives apart from Jesus are bent toward wickedness. Only as we turn our back on sin will we turn to Jesus. This does not mean that we are saved by the act of repentance. There is no deed we can do to merit God’s good graces. It simply involves turning our face away from the old life as we turn in faith to the Lord.

The Apostle Paul shows the correspondence of faith and repentance, writing of the church at Thessalonica: “they … declare … how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,”[vii]

Easton says:

The true penitent is conscious of guilt, of pollution and of helplessness. Thus he apprehends himself to be just what God has always seen him to be and declares him to be. But repentance comprehends not only such a sense of sin, but also an apprehension of mercy.

This is true. Without such mercy there would be no motivation to repent. We leave our idols and we turn to God.

But repentance is not actually a human act. Unless God affects it within us, repentance cannot be had. He is the one who turns us from our sins, not we ourselves. He works it within us by his grace.

The fact that we have placed our trust in Jesus and are now saved doesn’t mean that repentance is no longer needed. As God convicts us of sin in our lives, (and, yes, Christians do sin) let us turn away from these sins and turn to the God who loved us and gave his Son for us.

“Repent;” it’s a message of warning and it’s the kind and loving thing to say.

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[i]   Matthew 21.28-31

[ii]  Matthew 21.32; Mark 1.15; Acts 20.21; Hebrews 6.1;

[iii]  International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

[iv]  Ezekiel 14.6

[v]   Ezekiel 18.30

[vi]  Acts 17.30

[vii] 1 Thessalonians 1.9

Forgotten Words that Need Reclaiming – "Sin"

Certain Bible words have become the stepchild of the pulpit and of Christianity in contemporary America and other places in the world. Not always entirely forsaken, these words have nonetheless been designated to the back closet of the back room in the back section of the building. If anyone wanted to know more about them, we preachers might discourage it: “Oh yes, they are there and I’ll have to admit they are valid, but nobody talks about them anymore. They’ve become outdated and don’t fit well into the modern narrative of doctrine anymore, "There are other, more appealing parts of the house we’d rather show you,” we might say.

These neglected words have become antiquated – passé, in our minds and hearts. They’ve become politically, educationally, legislatively incorrect and socially unacceptable. They don’t dominate the media unless with disdain.

Few preach on them. We don’t want to lose good tithers who donate nicely to the church. Few write books on them. Such a book would not sell much. Hardly anyone tweets or goes on Facebook to talk about these subjects. Someone might block us from their account.

What words are we talking about which some would prefer to delete from the lexicon? What words do we need to reincorporate into our thinking, speaking and teaching? Here is the first.

Sin

“Sin,” such a little word, but one which comes with such big consequences. Hardly anyone talks about sin anymore. I remember a time, when I was very young, that preachers preached often on the subject of sin. They preached it hard but with tears.

The bible tells us that our first ancestors sinned against God.[i] It says that the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was “very grievous."[ii] It has much to say about sin:

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”[iii]  

“Jesus answered them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.’”[iv] 

“Sin is the transgression of the law.”[v]

“All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.[vi]” 

“The wages of sin is death.[vii]”

As you read the messages of the great preachers of the past, you’ll recognize a vast difference in their preaching and ours. Jonathan Edwards said:

Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable.[viii]

Charles Spurgeon preached:

Sin is the greatest evil in the universe. It is the parent of all other ills. All manner of evils draw their bitterness from this fountain of wormwood and gall. If a man had every possession a mortal could desire, sin could turn every blessing into a curse; and, on the other hand, if a man had nothing for his inheritance but suffering, and stood clear from all sin, his afflictions, his losses, his deprivations might each one be a gain to him. We ought not to pray so much against sickness, or trial, or temptation, or even against death itself, as against sin! Satan, himself, cannot hurt us except as he is armed with the poisoned arrows of sin. Lord, keep us from sin. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” There is no evil like the evil of sin—deliver us from it, O Lord! [ix]

These great preachers did not just talk of sin in the generic sense, saying things like “we all do it,” as some kind of excuse. They named the prevalent and popular sins of the times in which they lived.

George Whitfield preached a message entitled, “The Heinous Sin of Drunkenness” and another entitled aptly, “The Heinous Sin of Profane Cursing and Swearing.” One of his sermons was on “The Folly and Danger of Being Not Righteousness Enough.”

They did not just stop with the bar or the brothel where unsaved ones gathered but pointed toward the sins of the church as well (which could be one and the same). Dwight L. Moody proclaimed:

I firmly believe that the Church of God will have to confess her own sins, before there can be any great work of grace. There must be a deeper work among God’s believing people. I sometimes think it is about time to give up preaching to the ungodly, and preach to those who confess to be Christians. If we had a higher standard of life in the Church of God, there would be thousands more flocking into the Kingdom. So it was in the past; when God’s believing children turned away from their sins and their idols, the fear of God fell upon the people round about. Take up the history of Israel, and you will find that when they put away their strange gods, God visited the nation, and there came a mighty work of grace . . . The judgment of God must begin with us.[x]

Where is this boldness once seen in our pulpits? Oh, there are some wonderful men of God who still thus proclaim against sin but it seems they are the exception rather than the rule.

Sin is real. It is a serious offense against God that he will judge. There is also a remedy for sin and that is the man who was God and who died as our substitute for sin on the cross and then rose again from the dead – Jesus.

Men of God, called to proclaim God's word, let us faithfully preach the whole counsel of God, and let us not exempt ourselves from the subject of sin!

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[i]     Genesis Chapter 3

[ii]    Genesis 18.20

[iii]    Proverbs 14.34

[iv]    John 8.34

[v]     1John 3.1

[vi]    Romans 3.23

[vii]   Romans 6.23 – this verse adds “…but the gift of God is eternal life
        through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

[viii]  Sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.

[ix]    Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit  Volume 36 
        THE DECEITFULNESS OF SIN NO. 2130

[x]     Dwight L. Moody, Prevailing Prayer (Chicago: Moody Press, 1990), 28.