The god of this World

Transcription

1 The god of this World Luke 18:8 When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? The truth is that you are an eternal, immortal created being. You are on a journey that will go beyond the time frame this body allows. The essence of life comes down to who you have trusted in, placed your faith in, regarding life after death. This journey offers two choices. One journey is the way to heaven based on the One True God, and His instructions explaining the only way we can come into His heaven. This God preaches the Doctrine of the Few (a remnant). He says to us in His word that only the few will find their way to Him; even though He wishes that all people would come to Him for Salvation. As believers we understand that there is a God who IS The Truth. That revelation comes to us through His Holy Scriptures (Judeo/Christian Bible) and nowhere else. There are many more religions on the earth and many more gods who claim to speak to us but they are the voices of the god of this world. In 1Timothy 2: 3-5 it says God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth. God provides everyone innumerable chances while we are physically alive to come to saving faith in Him. Salvation is not about a second chance after death, but about chances every day we live. Jesus told a parable in Luke 16:19 about Lazarus, the rich man who was speaking from hell asked Abraham to warn his 5 brothers about hell so they would not end up there...and Abraham replied They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them. But Lazarus said, No Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead they will repent! But Abraham said to Lazarus, if they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead. The point that Jesus is making is that we have Scripture, the dependable Word of God to put our faith into; not the words of Men based on emotions, opinions and rationalizations that reflect our will and our human standards of righteousness. The same way that God Breathed into Adam and made him a living being with soul and spirit; is the same way that Scripture is alive and able to save each of

2 us today. Scripture represents defendable Facts that are rooted in History, Science, Archeology and Prophecy. The only basis on which we can judge the many voices we hear calling to us from the gods of this world is to understand these facts. The other journey is the way of the many to heaven. The term many represents the Doctrine of the Many people represented by the god of this world and his created pantheon of many gods. The god of this world claims that All will find their way to heaven, regardless of the god they believe in. Each of these gods has a Gospel. The One True God said there is only one way to avoid eternal punishment and enter into His kingdom of heaven. While the other god of this world says there will be no punishment at all and that all will come into his heaven. The question is whether you can truly know the real God and His stated purpose for your life here. Has God communicated to you, if so in what way, how can you know what He said is real? Are there more than One of Him, does He provide you information so you can recognize the path to Him. How many gods and ways are there to heaven? We are going to think together, just you and I. The very first thing we have to do is build a bridge between our mind and our heart. For this bridge to be solid it must be built first in our mind. We are beings with reason and intellect and it is important to use those two gifts that will give us both wisdom and discernment of the True God and His Gospel of Salvation (getting into heaven), while recognizing the false gods whose paths will lead us to hell. I have seen too much Blind Faith that comes from the Heart, were we use emotions to subjectively place our faith into something or someone that is not true. Only when a bridge begins from our mind to our heart can we trust that we have found The Truth to place our faith in. Forming the bridge between my mind and heart You are fortunate, if you re a believer in Jesus the Christ, because the title phrase of this message the god of this world, has meaning to you. But if you are not a believer in the revealed Son of God, the Christ, the Messiah of Israel then you are among the many and your not one of the few that God refers to as the Remnant, those that will be in His heaven. Hopefully when were through you will understand who the god of this world is.

3 People travel through life s journey putting their faith in themselves, their emotions, or the words people who they respect. People listen to the opinions of people who speak words without knowledge because everyone s opinion has merit there is no ONE Truth, a standard that never changes by which we can compare ourselves too. This message has to do with wisdom and discernment; two critical qualities that apply not only to your physical life but especially to your spiritual life. I m not spiritual you might say, well your wrong, even an Atheist follows a religion, albeit a religion of one. The gods all around us. God has planted eternity in the hearts of men Eccl 3:10 TLB As finite human beings we are all aware that we will not live forever. We tritely say there are two things we can count on, Death and Taxes. You can get out of paying taxes but we all have an appointment with death. Within each of us is the knowledge that there must be more than this life. We recognize that there has to be a higher power. We each have this desire to worship something greater than ourselves; although most of us go through this life worshiping only Ourselves trying to fulfill all our desires.. We look at the world around us, a world in which mainly bad news forms the rhetoric every evening on television. A world where comedy is at its best when at the expense of others. We blame God (whoever God is?) for every problem we have individually and as a nation. We blame God for the evil, either creating it or letting it happen. If we truthfully look inward we will realize that we lack compassion, love, mercy, selflessness towards our fellow human beings. We do not take responsibility for the wrongs we have committed towards others. We have within us great capacities for evil. We do not as humankind need any outside source to blame for our problems. We need only to look within ourselves. The Devil Made Me Do It is just a copout. When our problem s become too great for us to solve it is then that we cry out from within to something, or someone higher than us to god. But the god we cry to is not unique and powerful. We cry out to a god made in our own image who responds to life as we would.

4 When your religion is made up of the words of men, and in the image of men, your religion has a problem. The many gods of Christianity. What kind of statement is that from a believer in Jesus, Gods Son, The Christ and the Messiah of Israel? I believe it is a fair statement that can be justified easily. Christians worship Jesus, but which Jesus there seems to be many. Christians believe in God but do not believe in His Word, given to us in the Old and New Testaments. The majority of pastors are now being taught in liberal theological seminary s that Gods Word should not be taken literally. They teach that God didn t know what He meant when He wrote Scripture. In fact God didn t write Scripture, it wasn t inspired, its up for interpretation, its stories are not real in time and history and you can spiritualize or allegorize everything you do not understand and make it fit your own theology. I am amazed at the variety of voices that come out of the Church. There are many false gospels being preached within almost every denomination of the so called Christian Church by Liberal Pastors, Ministers, Reverends and Priests. Galatians 1: 6-9: Perversion of the Gospel 6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed! These men are false teachers, they are current day Pharisees whom Jesus called the blind leading the blind into a pit.

5 The TRUE God has been lost in the noise. Today the simple but TRUE Gospel that Saves Us has become very difficult to find. There are many gospels out there now, but only One Saves and ALL the remaining variations proclaimed by churches will damn people to hell. One thing I know I can promise you is that God will not be mocked, nor will He remain silent in your life. Currently the God of the Bible is not the god of this world. The god of this world has created a pantheon of gods in the form of world religions made in man s image. All are vastly different and do not represent the same god let alone the TRUE GOD of the Bible and His Saving Gospel. My point is that the god of this world has now infiltrated the church. The church has come away from its moorings and is now being tossed too and fro from every wind and doctrine. Its anchor no longer fastened to the foot of the Cross. Its buildings sit on sinking sand instead of the huge rock, PETRA, the rock of the Gospel on which Christ said He would build HIS Church. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 That time has now appeared, people s ears itch for truth, but only listen and obey the truth that fits their wants and needs. The two things that all people need now more than ever are wisdom and discernment. Without those two working in your spiritual life, how will you ever be able to know the True God and His Only Saving Gospel? It is your responsibility before God to be a SEEKER, to dig deep into His Word to find His Truth that saves. The Lord calls us sheep. If you've ever done a study on sheep you'd find that we humans have a lot of their characteristics. Sheep desperately need a Shepherd they can trust. They are followers, sheep cannot recognize the cliff they are going to walk over, and sheep are stubborn. The Lord said that His sheep hear His voice. That means we can recognize His Voice. Today the only place we will hear the Lords voice is through the pages of Scripture no where else.

6 On the mount of transfiguration when Jesus revealed His Glory, Peter immediately started talking about building tabernacles. God actually had to interrupt Peter from spouting off his plan..."this is my SON LISTEN to Him! A short time later when Jesus said He would soon die for the Sins of the world, Peter said no, not you.jesus turned to Peter and said Get thee behind me Satan. Well meaning Peter unknowingly was speaking for Satan. Peter is a picture of all of us, we have trouble listening. We listen to other voices that do not belong to God. We want what we feel is best for us. God no longer speaks to us as individuals as some think. Now He speaks to us in His Word...the Scriptures. The Scriptures represent the only Truth there is. And yes we need to compare everything people say and do to the Holy Scriptures. We were created by God with intellect and reasoning capability, but until we become born again that capacity is dead in sin...its flawed. We have no spiritual wisdom or discernment. We are guided by a faulty guidance system that relies on our emotions and our need to rationalize everything based on our opinions which are not valid because they are viewed through our emotions. God says, we lack spiritual wisdom, knowledge and discernment that only HE gives us after we are given a new heart, a new circumcised heart by the Holy Spirit at our new birth...when we are Born AGAIN. Everything you need to find the Truth and be born again, God has provided for you. The choice is yours to invest the time to find it. If you seek Him with all your mind and heart He will open your eyes to see the Truth so you will not be deceived into living a lie. With all the latter said, allow me to let The One True God as revealed in the Old and New Testament Scriptures introduce you to the god of this world Satan. Satan and his fallen angels appear to everyone in this world as an angel of light. They appear to all people who do not have discernment and wisdom, everyone missing that bridge between their mind and heart. Satan s Beginning: Ezekiel 28:12- You had the seal of perfection, Full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every precious stone was your covering from the day you were created.you were the anointed cherub who covers you were on the Holy mountain of God; you walked in the midst of the stones of fire, you were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until unrighteousness was found in you and you sinned. Your heart was lifted up

7 because of your beauty and you corrupted your wisdom by reason of your splendor. Isaiah 14: 12 How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! You have said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly I will ascend above the heights of the clouds I will make myself like the MOST HIGH. Satan s Work: 2 Corinthians 4:4 The god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God 1 Peter 5:8 Be on the alert, your adversary, the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Ephesians 6:12 Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Satan s End: Isaiah 14:15 You will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit. Those who see you will gaze at you, they will ponder over you saying, Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook the kingdoms, who made the world a wilderness and overthrew the cities. Ezekiel 28:18 Therefore I have brought fire from the midst of you, it has consumed you and I have turned you to ashes on the earth, In the eyes of all who see you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you. You have become terrified, And you will be NO MORE. Every being God has made whether Angelic or human will remain immortal for eternity. Each will spend eternity in either Heaven or Hell.with the exception of Satan his judgment is to be NO MORE.

8 Satan s Effect on YOU: 2 Corinthians 11:14 Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. John 8:44 (Jesus said of Satan) He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him, Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10 Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders. And with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. Mark 13:22 For false Christ s and false prophets will appear and perform signs and miracles to deceive the elect- if that were possible. When God told Moses he was going to die, Moses gathered Israel together one last time to speak to them for God. Moses reviewed the mighty works of God in their lives, then he prophesied two ways the Nation could go. Both required a personal choice. Israel could choose life or Israel could choose death. Like Israel we too have the same choice. Israel only had the incomplete Word of God to make its decision on. We have the complete Word of God to make our decision. Yet we mainly choose to hear the love, mercy and compassion of God preached. Rarely do we choose to hear of His other side. The side of Gods Holiness, and His Righteous Anger and that He is coming to Judge Sinners. The Bible is clear when it says do not fear the one who can slay the body, but fear the one who can cast soul and body into hell. Jonathan Edwards once preached a sermon called Sinners in the hands of an Angry God you and I do not want to be in the hands of an angry God. We are living in the end-times, the last days as described in Bible prophecy. We have the Holy Spirit within us. YET, God speaks of the end times when He will give the world over to THE GREAT DECEPTION...this deception will be so great that if it were possible even the very Elect (you and I) would be taken in by its miracles, signs and wonders. These miracles, signs and wonders will point to the

9 Anti-Christ who will be possessed by Satan. His miracles, signs and wonders will seem real to us because they appeal to our heart, our emotions, and our ability to rationalize everything in accordance with our desires. The Lord also speaks of multitudes standing before Him in judgment, who will believe their works were good enough for them to get into heaven. They will say Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name perform many miracles? And then I (Jesus) will declare to them, I never knew you; DEPART from ME, you who practice lawlessness! Are you prepared for the coming GREAT deception? The only place we can find Truth, Wisdom and Discernment is in Gods revealed Truth to us in the Holy Scriptures... everything must be compared to Scripture. Without saving faith that you have received by first building that bridge we spoke of earlier between your mind and heart.you will not be able to STAND ALONE and weather the coming final storm. If all you have is blind faith that comes from the heart, faith that is subjective, faith that is emotional, faith that comes from the gods of this world then the winds of this Holy Storm will pick you up like chaff and take you before the True God for judgment and then damnation.forever. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. The time of false doctrines began the moment Jesus Ascended into Heaven. The Epistles written by Paul, Peter and the Apostles battle for the Truth that Jesus left us, against false truths given by Satan s angels of light, the false teachers representing the gods of this world. God warns us about these false teachers in Jude1: But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

10 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. 16These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. 17But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. 22And of some have compassion, making a difference: 23And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. 24Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, 25To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. People s ears itch for truth but only listen and obey the truth that fits their wants and needs. Consequently people are blown about by every false wind and doctrine and the false teachers. I keep coming back to the two things that all people need now more than ever, wisdom and discernment. Without those two working in your spiritual life, how will you ever be able to know the True God and His Only Saving Gospel? Satan s fallen angels appear as an angel of light to both believers and nonbelievers, to everyone that does not have discernment, and wisdom, everyone

11 without that bridge between their mind and hearts. There are many levels of maturity of believers. Do not assume that we all have the same ability to discern truth from error. There are many Jesus out there and many gospels. Gospel s that appeal to our emotions and our need to understand God only through His Love and Mercy but at the same time neglecting His Holiness, Righteous Anger, and Judgment, where by He will send Sinners to hell. God is Sovereign. He acts according to His plan, His will and purposes Not ours. Isaiah 29:16.You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be considered of no more account than the clay? Shall the thing that is made say of its maker, He did not make me; or the thing that is formed say of him who formed it, He has no understanding? The best example of a clay pot shouting back at God is Job. Author Phillip Yancey expressed it best when he paraphrased Job as saying You don t know what it s like out here! Job was most brazen, flinging to God this accusation: Do you have eyes of flesh? Do you see as a mortal sees? Of the many reasons for the Incarnation, surely one was to answer Job s accusation: Do you have eyes of flesh?...for a time, God did. Job 38 God Speaks to Job 1Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, 2"Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? 3"Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me! 4"Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, 5Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? 6"On what were its bases sunk? Or who laid its cornerstone, 7When the morning stars sang together And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

12 8"Or who enclosed the sea with doors When, bursting forth, it went out from the womb; 9When I made a cloud its garment And thick darkness its swaddling band, 10And I placed boundaries on it And set a bolt and doors, 11And I said, 'Thus far you shall come, but no farther; And here shall your proud waves stop'? God's Mighty Power 12"Have you ever in your life commanded the morning, And caused the dawn to know its place, 16"Have you entered into the springs of the sea Or walked in the recesses of the deep? 17"Have the gates of death been revealed to you, Or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? 18"Have you understood the expanse of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. 19"Where is the way to the dwelling of light? And darkness, where is its place, 21"You know, for you were born then, And the number of your days is great! 22"Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, Or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, 23Which I have reserved for the time of distress, For the day of war and battle? 24"Where is the way that the light is divided, Or the east wind scattered on the earth? 25"Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, 26To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, 27To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout? 28"Has the rain a father? Or who has begotten the drops of dew? 29"From whose womb has come the ice? And the frost of heaven, who has given it birth? 30"Water becomes hard like stone, And the surface of the deep is imprisoned. 31"Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades, Or loose the cords of Orion? 32"Can you lead forth a constellation in its season, And guide the Bear with her satellites?

13 33"Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, Or fix their rule over the earth? 34"Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, So that an abundance of water will cover you? 35"Can you send forth lightnings that they may go And say to you, 'Here we are'? 36"Who has put wisdom in the innermost being Or given understanding to the mind? 37"Who can count the clouds by wisdom, Or tip the water jars of the heavens, 38When the dust hardens into a mass And the clods stick together? Job 39 God Speaks of Nature and Its Beings 1"Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Do you observe the calving of the deer? 2"Can you count the months they fulfill, Or do you know the time they give birth? 3"They kneel down, they bring forth their young, They get rid of their labor pains. 4"Their offspring become strong, they grow up in the open field; They leave and do not return to them. 13"The ostriches' wings flap joyously With the pinion and plumage of love, 14For she abandons her eggs to the earth And warms them in the dust, 15And she forgets that a foot may crush them, Or that a wild beast may trample them. 16"She treats her young cruelly, as if they were not hers; Though her labor be in vain, she is unconcerned; 17Because God has made her forget wisdom, And has not given her a share of understanding. 18"When she lifts herself on high, She laughs at the horse and his rider. 19"Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? 20"Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. 21"He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons.

14 22"He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword. 23"The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin. 24"With shaking and rage he races over the ground, And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet. 25"As often as the trumpet sounds he says, 'Aha!' And he scents the battle from afar, And the thunder of the captains and the war cry. 26"Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, Stretching his wings toward the south? 27"Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up And makes his nest on high? 28"On the cliff he dwells and lodges, Upon the rocky crag, an inaccessible place. 29"From there he spies out food; His eyes see it from afar. 30"His young ones also suck up blood; And where the slain are, there is he." Job 40 Job: What Can I Say? 1Then the LORD said to Job, 2"Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? Let him who reproves God answer it." 3Then Job answered the LORD and said, 4"Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? I lay my hand on my mouth. 5"Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; Even twice, and I will add nothing more." God Questions Job 6Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said, 7"Now gird up your loins like a man; I will ask you, and you instruct Me. 8"Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified? 9"Or do you have an arm like God, And can you thunder with a voice like His? 10"Adorn yourself with eminence and dignity, And clothe yourself with honor and majesty.

15 11"Pour out the overflowings of your anger, And look on everyone who is proud, and make him low. 12"Look on everyone who is proud, and humble him, And tread down the wicked where they stand. 13" ( Hide them in the dust together; Bind them in the hidden place. 14"Then I will also confess to you, That your own right hand can save you. God is not mute, His Word speaks to us through the prophets. God also speaks through His Son, the Word made flesh, through the human larynx of a Palestinian Jew Jesus the Christ Yeshua the Messiah. It is natural for you and I to want everyone we love to go to Heaven, but that will only happen if our loved ones accept Jesus while alive. If they die without being saved, there is no second chance according to the Word of God. People will say, in trying to justify their dead loved ones who died without Christ, that only God knows the true heart of everyone. They are right; here is what God says about everyone s heart prior to accepting His Son as Savior: WE ARE SINNERS: Gen 8:21 The intent of man s heart is evil from his youth. WE CANNOT SAVE OURSELVES: Isa 64:6 All our righteous deeds are like Filthy garments. WE WILL BE JUDGED AFTER DEATH: Dan 12:2 Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt.

16 THERE IS A HELL: Isa 66:23-34 All mankind will come to bow down before me, says the Lord. Then they shall go forth and look on the corpses of the men who have transgressed against Me. For their worm shall not die and their fire shall not be quenched and they shall be an abhorrence to all mankind. God sent the promised Messiah of Israel, His Son to die for our sins to make us clean, righteous and ready to enter heaven. Jesus said faith in HIM is the ONLY way to get into heaven His Name is the only Name given among men by which we can be saved. Jesus spoke to us when He lived and walked on the earth about Heaven, Hell, and the future all the information about those topics spoken by Him were written down by the Apostles specifically so we would be able to have Wisdom, Discernment and Knowledge of His Truth and not rely on the words of men or the experiences of men or our emotions. God has made the Gospel simple and clear in His Word to us. It is through Faith Alone, In Christ Alone that we have Salvation by believing that Christ Died for our Sin s, was Buried, Resurrected and then Ascended to Heaven. That simple Faith must be acknowledged by us while alive in this body, not after we die. When we physically die the Bible says we are Absent from the body.present with the Lord and then the Judgment. The judgment mentioned is one of rewards for believers and damnation for unbelievers. We do not get a second chance after we die.but God s mercy and grace are new to each of us every day that we live. He is a God of many chances if we but learn to listen to His Voice spoken only to us in the Words of Scripture not through the words of men and their experiences. I stand on every jot and titt le of the Word of God. Not because I come from a line of Jews, but because it s the Inerrant, Inspired, GOD Breathed Word of God to ALL of Mankind. In this world we see through a glass dimly and without the light from the lamp of Scripture to guide me I will not only get lost, but be lost for eternity. As believers we are to speak to each other with Love, Mercy and Compassion I have tried my best to do that. But we must always speak the Truth as we know it according to Scripture.

17 Who Do YOU say that YOU are? You and I as Christians stand on a firm foundation of faith. We do not place our trust for salvation and heaven into myths or fairy tales or theories. Christianity, our faith in the Life, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Messiah is based on FACTS, facts that are affirmed in History, Archeology and Science. As a Believer in Christ this should be You re Answer Who am I? I am a child of God; Jesus is my Savior, my Lord, and my King. I was given to Jesus by God as a love gift. I am one of His sheep. How did I get here? God said in Psalm 139 vs 13 that He knew me before I was in my Mothers womb. God said in Romans 8 vs.29, that whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become a believer in His Son Jesus. What am I to do here on earth? I am to live out the Great Commission : To make disciples of all nations, teaching people about the word of God; telling all the Good News of John 3:16. Where am I going when I die? Because Jesus died for my sins and He was resurrected, and He is alive today; I too will live forever with Him in heaven because I repented of my sins and accepted Him as my personal Lord and Savior. Now, like the Apostle Peter, YOU too will be able to answer Jesus question...who Do You Say That I Am? LORD You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus said of Himself: (Ps. 40:7; Heb. 10:7) In the volume of the book it is written of me. You will find Him in the Prophets, the Psalms and the Proverbs. He is there hidden in the Messianic Prophecies of the Old Testament. And He is revealed to us as Jesus in the New Testament.

18 He is also in you if you have a personal relationship with Him: Note the dwelling place of God in you. Not near us. Not above us. Not around us. But in us. In part of us we don t even know. In the heart no one else has seen. In the hidden recesses of our being dwells not an angel, not a philosophy, not a genie, but GOD the Holy Spirit. While there is still time and you have breath LISTEN TO HIS SON. 1. The Church asks The Lord: Matthew7: 23 Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform miracles?...and then I will declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness. 2. The Lord asks You: Matthew 16:15, But who do YOU say that I am? Christ the Son of the Living God!. And Peter said, You are the Luke 18:8 When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth? Who s Voice are You Listening To?

19 God said This is My SON Listen to HIM! Jesus came to Earth to save sinners. Jesus is the ultimate evangelist. Your only purpose here in this life is to come to know Him as your personal savior. And then you are to get into the battle for the hearts and minds of lost people. Remember what the Bible says about the unbelievers, and have compassion. [T]he god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians 4:4). They are futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart [is] darkened (Romans 1:21). They are dead in [their] trespasses and sins ; they walk according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience ; and they are by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-3). Many people attend a church Few are committed to being the church. Throughout time it has always been about the MANY and the FEW. God help us consider the wonder of it all; that YOU determined that YOU would rather go to Hell on our behalf, than live in Heaven without us. AMEN and AMEN ernie