Revival House Fellowship

Revival House Fellowship How to know God by Dan Lirette www.danlirette.ca

Before you begin reading, please be sure to open your internet browser on your computer and type in the following website in your internet browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdmzubd63jo Just imagine for a moment that a drunk driver kills a child while speeding in a school zone. That child is your child. He's been killed by a careless...and drunk...driver. He's caught and stands before a judge and because the evidence testifies against him, he's knows that there's no way out of his crime so he admits his guilt and pleads guilty. Now imagine the judge letting that man walk away scott-free because the drunk driver shows remorse and says I'm sorry. I promise I won't do it again. Would a fair and just judge let that man go based on an attitude of remorse and a promise never to drink and drive again? Of course not. As a matter of fact, if that were your own child who was killed by a drunk driver speeding in a school zone you'd be up in arms if the judge let him go based on an I'm sorry and the community would be calling for the judge to be fired and removed from his position as a judge for letting a drunk driver go free after killing a child. Justice must be served for the crimes one commits. No judge in his right mind would let a criminal walk free without consequence and nor should he. When a law is broken a consequence is the result. Without a consequence the law is powerless to punish lawbreakers and therefore isn't much of a law at all. Now, picture God as being the Judge of all...which He is. How many times have you heard the worn out line God forgives? How many times have you heard people say...and maybe you've said it...that God would never send anyone to Hell because He's a loving and forgiving God? 1

Do you honestly and truly believe that and yet don't believe that a child killing drunk driver should walk away scott-free? Do you truly believe that God, who is infinitely more just and holy than an earthly judge, would let you and I walk away scott free for breaking His eternal laws? Be honest with God and yourself. Do you really believe God is all forgiving no matter what, that there are no conditions to His forgiveness? Remember, a just and fair earthly judge punishes those who break the law... so would God's standards actually be lower than an earthly judge's standards? Of course not. Justice must be served. The Bible tells us that God have us 10 basic commandments. Let's take a quick look at them from the Bible in Exodus 20:3-17 from the easy to read Bible, the New Life Version, and compare our lives to these 10 Laws of God and see if we've kept them all: 1- Have no gods other than Me. 2- Do not make for yourselves a god to look like anything that is in heaven above or on the earth below or in the waters under the earth. Do not worship them or work for them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God. I punish the children, even the great-grandchildren, for the sins of their fathers who hate Me. But I show loving-kindness to thousands of those who love Me and keep My Laws. 3- Do not use the name of the Lord your God in a false way. For the Lord will punish the one who uses His name in a false way. 4- Remember the Day of Rest, to keep it holy. Six days you will do all your work. But the seventh day is a Day of Rest to the Lord your God. You, your son, your daughter, your male servant, your female servant, your cattle, or the traveler who stays with you, must not do any work on this day. For in six days the Lord made the heavens, the earth, the sea and all that is in them. And He rested on the seventh day. So the Lord gave honor to the Day of Rest and made it holy. 5- Honor your father and your mother, so your life may be long in the 2

land the Lord your God gives you. 6- Do not kill other people. 7- Do not do sex sins. 8- Do not steal. 9- Do not tell a lie about your neighbor. 10- Do not have a desire for your neighbor s house. Do not have a desire for his wife or his male servant, his female servant, or his bull or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Looking at the 10 Commandments that God have to all of us, can we honestly say that we've kept them? Let's take a look at the first three commandments to see if we've kept even those ones: 1- God told us to have no other gods other than Him. To have a god other than God is to dedicate and devote your life to something in a way which puts God in second place. Have you been loyal to God and sought God and loved God all of your life or have you put God on the back burner in comparison to your job, family, children, friends, etc? Has God always been your #1 priority? 2- Have you ever formed a god... not just with wood and stone but I mean in your mind? Have you ever imagined that God is anything other than who He Himself says He is? What I mean is, imagine someone called you a thief and yet you've never stolen anything in your life. Wouldn't that be a misrepresentation of who you are? All of a sudden people start spreading that you're a thief and not to trust you and yet you've never stolen. Who you are has been misrepresented by someone and now people believe things about you that simply aren't true. In the same way, have you ever believed things in your mind about God that are only a personal belief or opinion but not based on any fact about God? That's the 3

same as making an image. You're making an image about who God is in your mind based on nothing but personal belief. That's the same as saying that clouds are marshmallows. It's not reality. If you or I believe that God would never send anyone to Hell, we've formed a god in our imagination who simply doesn't exist...because what we believe is based on a personal belief and since God is God it's wise to let God speak for Himself on who He is and what He does. 3- Have you ever used God's Name as a cuss word? You probably have. Isn't it interesting that when you hear people take the Name of the Lord in vain it's always His Name rather than saying something like Oh Buddha! or Oh Mohammed!? God's Name is Holy and is to be reverenced. The Name of the lord is a strong tower and to use His Name in a derogatory manner places the fierce anger of God on our lives. Taking His Name in vain also involves much more than verbal garbage coming out of our mouths. Picture for a moment your own last name. You got your last name from one of your parents... and that name can either be known as a good name or a bad name, depending on what you do in your life. What you do bears weight on your name and your name is attached to your family. Taking your own last name in vain is to live in a way that brings dishonor to your family name. Taking God's Name in vain is to live n a way that completely rejects and neglects Him. Now, considering just these three commandments, is it reasonable to say you've kept them from birth to now? Of course not. You and I would have to be deluded to say we have. God, being the Judge of all and being the only perfect and holy One, isn't an unfair Judge. As a matter of fact, because He's so holy and just He'll judge you and I in a holy and just and perfect way. In Heaven s courtroom, would you stand innocent or guilty before God? Be honest with God and with yourself. Would God truly look at you and say, Well, I guess you've done some good so that outweighs the bad? 4

Would an earthy judge look at the child killing drunk driver and say, You've done some pretty great things in your life... so you're freer to go? No. An earthly judge wouldn't let a man go based on any good deeds done in the past by a man who killed a child while drunk behind the wheel. God wouldn't let you and I go based on our good deeds outweighing our bad deeds...because in the eyes of God, the Perfect Judge, no one's good deeds are good to God. They're only good to other humans. The reason for this is that even the good deeds we do come from a sinful (law breaking) heart. Romans 3:12 says just this: Everyone has turned away from God. They have all done wrong. Not one of them does what is good. No, not even one! Consider this Bible verse in 1 John 3:4 Everyone who sins is breaking God s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. Notice that everyone who sins is breaking God's law. So we see that sin is when we break God's Law and when we break God's Law we sin. In God's courtroom, what's the punishment for breaking God's Laws? Romans 5:12 says this: This is what happened: Sin came into the world by one man, Adam. Sin brought death with it. Death spread to all men because all have sinned. This isn't talking about dying physically... it's talking about spiritual death. That means you're separated from God because of your sins. You have no eternal life in you while you're separated from God. Being dead spiritually means that God isn't your Father, just as 5

Jesus said in John 8:44 The devil is your father. You are from him. You want to do the sinful things your father, the devil, wants you to do. He has been a killer from the beginning. The devil has nothing to do with the truth. There is no truth in him. It is expected of the devil to lie, for he is a liar and the father of lies. The reality is that the devil is the spiritual father of everyone who isn't a child of God. Pretty scary but Jesus said it. So many people today in so many different religions wrap their views up in pretty packages that promise you health, wealth and prosperity and a relationship with the Creator... but sadly each one of these religions is a system of belief trying to be good enough to be pleasing to God yet we've already seen that God is the judge and there aren't enough good deeds we can do to make God pleased with us just as the child killing drunk driver won't escape punishment from an earthly judge based on any past good deeds. Unlike the temporary consequences that the drunk driver will face, those who die in their sins will stand before God to face eternal consequences. No one likes to talk about Hell but Jesus did... so it's an important topic. The Bible says that there are only two places to go when you die: Heaven or Hell. Heaven isn't for good people... it's for forgiven people. Hell has lots of good people in it but none of them were forgiven by God. So don't let your concept of good and bad be the determiner of who gets into Heaven and who is sent to Hell. It doesn't work that way but we'll talk about that in a moment. Hell is where law breakers go. If you've broken the Law of God (which you have) then your place is in Hell: 6

In Luke 13:22-27 Jesus tells you this: Jesus taught the people as He went through the cities and towns on His way to Jerusalem. Someone asked Jesus, Lord, will only a few people be saved from the punishment of sin? Jesus said to them, Work hard to go in through the narrow door. I tell you, many will try to go in but will not be able to go in. The owner of the house will get up and shut the door. You who are on the outside will knock on the door and say, Lord, let us in. Then He will say, I do not know you. Then you will say, We ate and drank with You when You taught in our streets. But He will say, I tell you, I do not know you. Go away from Me. You are sinful. So you see that God, being a just and perfect judge, isn't lower in His standards than an earthly judge; He's not going to let sinful people walk away scott free. That's simply not going to happen just as it wouldn't in any earthly court of law. How much holier is God? There's no comparison. Now, all of that said, let's also make it clear that while you deserve the wrath and eternal punishment of God for breaking His law, you should also know that obeying the Law can't make you pleasing to God just Galatians 5:4 tells us so plainly: If you expect to be made right with God by obeying the Law, then you have turned away from Christ and His loving-favor. You should also know that the Law is meant to show you how sinful you are... it's not meant to save you as Romans 3:20 says, No person will be made right with God by doing what the Law says. The Law shows us how sinful we are. The passage above tells us that the Law of God shows us that (1) we're utterly sinful in God's eyes and that (2) you won't be made right with God by obeying God's Law. So, how can you be made right with God and saved from being separated from God and finally judged by God as a sinful law breaker and then cast into Hell when you die? The answer is Jesus Christ. 7

I'm certain you've heard about Jesus dying on the Cross for you...right? Well, it's not just another pretty Sunday School story. The very fact that Jesus Christ died on the Cross for you is the one and only way you can ever be made right with God. You see, when Jesus died on the Cross He took the punishment you and I deserved which is spiritual separation from God. He literally took your place when He died on that Cross. Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son, took our sins in His own body on the Cross as we see in 1 Peter 2:24 which says He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Because Jesus carried our sins in His Body when He died on the Cross, God couldn't look at Jesus for a short period because God can't look at sin: Isaiah 59:2 It s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore. This shows us that the punishment for sin, spiritual separation from God, was taken on by Jesus Himself. Jesus was separated from His Heavenly Father for a short period so you and I wouldn't have to be. He took our place! In fact, when He was on the Cross He cried out as recorded in Matthew 27:46 At about three o clock, Jesus called out with a loud voice, Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani? which means My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Jesus, God's Son, was abandoned by God for a period of time so you would never again have to be. Jesus took your sins in His own body and was forsaken by God so you could be eternally accepted 8

by God. What an exchange! Instead of you living in spiritual separation from God, Jesus took that on Himself for you. Rather than you having God's anger over your life, Jesus took that anger on Himself when He died for you. Romans 5:6-10 We were weak and could not help ourselves. Then Christ came at the right time and gave His life for all sinners. No one is willing to die for another person, but for a good man someone might be willing to die. But God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Now that we have been saved from the punishment of sin by the blood of Christ, He will save us from God s anger also. We hated God. But we were saved from the punishment of sin by the death of Christ. He has brought us back to God and we will be saved by His life. The very heart of the Bible is found in John 3:16-17 which says For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. God hates sin yet even more than that He hates the fact that sin has you in it's grep. He hates that sin has separated you from Him... because He loves you! It was God who sent Jesus to die for you. It was God who wanted to save you and the only way He could do that was by sending His only begotten Son to die for you. That's love in action. God's Love wasn't only in word... He demonstrated it by sending Jesus to take your punishment: But God showed His love to us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) While you were living your life thinking you were good enough for Heaven but were in reality headed for Hell, God loved you and proved it by making a way for you to be saved from the punishment of sin which is God's fierce anger. God loved you so 9

much He sent Jesus for you. Are you ready to come into the Kingdom of God? Are you ready to go from spiritual death and separation from God to spiritual life and a joining to the God who sent Jesus to die for you? First, the Bible says that you're to repent which means to change your mind about sin. Here's what we read about repenting in Acts 17:30-31 God did not remember these times when people did not know better. But now He tells all men everywhere to be sorry for their sins and to turn from them. He has set a day when He will say in the right way if the people of the world are guilty. This will be done by Jesus Christ, the One He has chosen. God has proven this to all men by raising Jesus Christ from the dead. That's the first thing. We realize that our sins have separated us from God and that we need to change our minds about our sins. We need to turn from our sins in our hearts so that God can change our hearts and give us a love for purity and truth. In 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 we read these words I am happy now. It is not because you were hurt by my letter, but because it turned you from sin to God. God used it and you were not hurt by what we did. The sorrow that God uses makes people sorry for their sin and leads them to turn from sin so they can be saved from the punishment of sin. We should be happy for that kind of sorrow, but the sorrow of this world brings death. So we see that being sorry for our sins has to lead to a change of lifestyle or it's not really true sorrow over sin. To feel bad about something because you got caught rather than because it's sinful isn't real repentance. Real repentance doesn't only avoid sin... it hates sin because sin is what offends God and separates you from Him. Do you want to hate sin because it offends God and separates you from Him or are you merely wanting to avoid sin because you know that there are consequences? That's the difference between real repentance and false repentance. God's desire is that you hate sin. Satan's desire is that 10

you love sin and he doesn't even mind if you avoid outward acts of sin as long as in your heart you love it. The neat thing about all of this is that God Himself will give you the hatred for sin... and that comes by trusting in Jesus which is the next step in turning to God for freedom from sin and God's anger. In John 11:25-26 we read this: Jesus said to her, I am the One Who raises the dead and gives them life. Anyone who puts his trust in Me will live again, even if he dies. Anyone who lives and has put his trust in Me will never die. Do you believe this? Jesus Christ is asking you the same question today: Do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus will give you eternal life if you trust in His death and resurrection? Do you believe that Jesus Christ will instantly forgive you and set you free from sin's power over your life? Only believe. All things are possible for those who believe! Putting your trust in Jesus and what He did on the Cross for you will instantly cause you to become a child of God just as Galatians 3:22-26 tells us: But the Holy Writings say that all men are guilty of sin. Then that which was promised might be given to those who put their trust in Christ. It will be because their faith is in Him. Before it was possible to be saved from the punishment of sin by putting our trust in Christ, we were held under the Law. It was as if we were being kept in prison. We were kept this way until Christ came. The Law was used to lead us to Christ. It was our teacher, and so we were made right with God by putting our trust in Christ. Now that our faith is in Christ, we do not need the Law to lead us. You are now children of God because you have put your trust in Christ Jesus. Then in John 3:16-18 we read: For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son. Whoever puts his trust in God s Son will not be lost but will have life that lasts forever. For God did not send His Son into the world to say it is guilty. He sent His Son so 11

the world might be saved from the punishment of sin by Him. Whoever puts his trust in His Son is not guilty. Whoever does not put his trust in Him is guilty already. It is because he does not put his trust in the name of the only Son of God. By trusting in Jesus, this is what happens instantly: 1- You're made a child of God: Romans 5:10-11 We hated God. But we were saved from the punishment of sin by the death of Christ. He has brought us back to God and we will be saved by His life. Not only that, we give thanks to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have been brought back to God. 2- Jesus Christ comes to live in your spirit: Colossians 1:26-29 This great secret was hidden to the people of times past, but it is now made known to those who belong to Christ. God wants these great riches of the hidden truth to be made known to the people who are not Jews. The secret is this: Christ in you brings hope of all the great things to come. We preach Christ. We tell every man how he must live. We use wisdom in teaching every man. We do this so every man will be complete in Christ. This is the reason I am working. God s great power is working in me. 3- The Holy Spirit comes to live in our spirit and God gives us new hearts: Ezekiel 36:25-27 Then I will put clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will make you clean from all your unclean ways and from all your false gods. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I will take away your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to follow My Laws and be careful to do what I tell you. 4- Our character is transformed: Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things. 5- We'll be given supernatural power to live holy lives: 1 John 2:3-12

4 We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His teaching. Anyone who says, I know Him, but does not obey His teaching is a liar. There is no truth in him. 6- We will be accepted by God and become His friends: Romans 5:1-2 Now that we have been made right with God by putting our trust in Him, we have peace with Him. It is because of what our Lord Jesus Christ did for us. By putting our trust in God, He has given us His loving-favor and has received us. We are happy for the hope we have of sharing the shining-greatness of God. After reading this tract, can you now see that a Holy God won't allow you to enter into His Kingdom and become His child while you're practicing sin and rejecting Jesus Christ? Can you see that your sins have separated you from the very One who created you to enter into a relationship with Him by trusting in Jesus? If so, change your mind about your sins and turn from them in your heart which is called repentance - and put your complete trust in Jesus Christ and what He did for you which is that He alone took your sins and the punishment of your sins on Himself on the Cross - and you'll instantly be made a new person from the inside out just as Romans 10:8-13 says: This is what it says, The Good News is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart. This Good News tells about putting your trust in Christ. This is what we preach to you. If you say with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved from the punishment of sin. When we believe in our hearts, we are made right with God. We tell with our mouth how we were saved from the punishment of sin. The Holy Writings say, No one who puts his trust in Christ will ever be put to shame. There is no difference between the Jews and the people who are not Jews. They are all the same to the Lord. And He is Lord over all of them. He gives of His greatness to all who call on Him for help. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved from the punishment of sin. A prayer asking God to become His child: God, I believe that I'm 13

a sinner who's separated from You and ask that You would accept me as Your child. I turn from my sin and trust completely in Jesus Christ and what He did for me at the Cross when He died. I believe in my heart that Jesus rose from the dead, defeated death, sin and satan and I confess with my mouth that Jesus Christ is the Master of my life from this day forward. I ask that You would forgive me for all the sins I have committed and I ask that You would give me a brand new heart with new desires and new motives. Give me a pure heart that wants to serve and please You all the days of my life. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen. Today is the first day of my New Life in Jesus. I have repented of my sin and trusted in Jesus to save me and I will hereby live for Jesus Christ by the Power of the Holy Spirit until the day I die and go to be with the Lord in Heaven. Name : Date : Now that you have repented of your sin and placed your faith in Jesus Christ, your next step is in water baptism. The Bible says that as soon as we're saved, we're to immediately be baptised and die to our old self and come up out of the water in newness of life by the Power of God: Romans 6:1-4 What does this mean? Are we to keep on sinning so that God will give us more of His loving-favor? No, not at all! We are dead to sin. How then can we keep on living in sin? All of us were baptized to show we belong to Christ. We were baptized first of all to show His death. 4 We were buried in baptism as Christ was buried in death. As Christ was raised from the dead by the great power of God, so we will have new life also. If we have become one with Christ in His death, we will be one with Him in being raised from the dead to new life. Please write to Revival House Fellowship and let us know about your decision as we'd like to assist you in your New Life in Jesus 14

by providing you with free Biblical material to help you grow in your faith. We'd also like to get you connected with a local fellowship in your area where you can meet and bond in the Spirit with like minded Believers who share a passion for Jesus Christ and His truth. Our email address is: info@revivalhousefellowship.com Please be sure to visit our website at www.revivalhousefellowship.com so we can connect with you and get you hooked up into a local church in your area. All Scripture quotations are from the New Life Version. 15