09.17.09

J.A. Matteson

Now if anyone of the common people sins unintentionally in doing any

of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, and becomes guilty….

Leviticus 4:27

As Scripture testifies, God is holy, and consequently by necessity in accordance to His own character a future time of reckoning will come to pass when the wickedness of men will be judged by Him who is altogether righteous.  The sons of Adam walk about on the face of the earth and their existence is feeble before the eyes of Him with whom they must give an account.

Spiritually blind and deaf, and unbeknownst to them, their daily wanderings are chronicled perfectly; indeed, every dark thought entertained in the inner recesses of the mind is known and captured, each careless word spoken in haste recorded and preserved, all their wicked deeds motivated by pride, greed, and avarice will by laid bare before the Lord of Glory, before the eyes of Him with Whom all must give an account.  Blissfully ignorant of immanent peril the sinner stands naked and condemned before His judge (Jn. 3:18), vulnerable, and his moment-by-moment existence is by the mercy of the Lord, “Yet how often is the lamp of the wicked snuffed out? How often does calamity come upon them, the fate God allots in his anger? How often are they like straw before the wind, like chaff swept away by a gale?” (Job 21:17-18).

Sinner, you have suppressed the reality of your plight, denying any awareness of the certain doom and destruction which awaits you (Rom. 1:18).  You know in your heart—your conscience bearing witness—you are guilty of transgressing the righteousness of God—your defiled mind is still able to convict you of wrong, but you muse to yourself that all appears to be going well, you continue to prosper in every way and even enjoy good health, and your past acts of wickedness have not been exposed by others or met with divine retribution, you have convinced yourself that your deeds have gone unnoticed.  Foolishness!  Be reconciled to God today.

Do you not know that with every breath you are storing up for yourself divine wrath, for the day of divine retribution is near where the fury of the Lord of Hosts will be unleashed against you?  Hear the Apostle, “because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when His righteous judgment will be revealed’ (Rom. 2:5).  As an ant in the path of a tornado or a gnat at ground zero of a nuclear blast you will be obliterated in an instant, mercy will be withheld, your pleas will be unheard, and your eternal demise sealed, “But since you rejected Me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out My hand, since you ignored all My advice and would not accept My rebuke, I in turn will laugh at your disaster; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.  Then they will call to Me but I will not answer; they will look for Me but will not find Me.  Since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord….” (Pr. 1:26-29).

In your ignorance you have repeatedly transgressed the Law of God throughout your life, and on judgment day claiming ignorance of the Law will not be an adequate defense as the righteousness of the Lord demands that justice be metered out in order to preserve His holiness.  By grace the Lord sent forth His Son, Jesus Christ, in the likeness of sinful flesh, Who suffered and died for sinners as their substitute with the wrath of God poured out on Him, as a result all who look to Him in faith as their sin bearer will be passed over when the fury of the wrath of God is revealed, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners….” (1 Tim. 1:15).

On judgment day you can either stand before God and attempt to defend yourself—in which case you will be judged guilty and consigned to hell; or, you can fall at the foot of the cross and have the Advocate, the Lord Jesus Christ, plead your defense before the Father, in which case you will be acquitted of your transgressions and spend eternity in heaven.  The time is near and the choice is yours, choose wisely dear friend, be saved from this perverse generation, cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ this day and your sins will be removed from you as far as the east is from the west.  And turning to Christ in faith the grace and peace of God fill your heart to overflowing.

Copyright (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (”…the word of our God stands forever….” Isa. 40:8).

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1. Focus on the “decision,” not conversion. Then they’ll remember their own “wise” choice, not Christ’s work on the cross.

2. Skim over the gospel and push the prayer. The actual gospel is simply too offensive.

3. Please your listeners with positive assurances; don’t confuse them with the whole truth. Tell them what they want to hear, not what they need to hear.

4. Emphasize God’s goodness, not His justice or holiness. Talk about his love, not His legal requirement that demands sacrifice for sin. Let them think they are headed for heaven no matter what!

5. Describe Jesus as Savior, not Lord of our lives. Promise His blessing but, by all means, ignore His warning about “counting the cost!”

6. Don’t mention sin, guilt, hell or wrath. No need to offend them with the whole dreadful reason why they need the Savior.

7. Whatever you do, never mention Judgment Day. Too distasteful! You could lose both friends and financial supporters.

8. Add some humor or rousing music. Lighten things up. Don’t sound too sober or serious.

9. Don’t mention repentance until they’ve repeated a “sinner’s prayer.” Then your project won’t be aborted by sudden doubts or reservations.

10. After they pray “the prayer,” celebrate “their” achievement, not God’s grace. Be sure to praise the deceived sinner, not the God they don’t know that they don’t yet know.

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“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:8

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.
James 1:17

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Hebrews 13:8

As mentioned previously, everyone who comes to salvation in Christ comes in the same likeness, and that is as a guilty sinner condemned to the wrath of God against sin. This is not the opinion of any man, but of God, for He gave His Law that everyone should stand guilty before Him, leading all who believe to the saving grace of Christ crucified (Rom 3:19 , Gal 3:24).

What is more, as guilty sinners before a Holy, Righteous and Unchanging God, we must be totally aware of His attitude towards man in His fallen, wicked and unrepentantly sinful state.

God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.
Psalms 7:11

For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, Nor shall evil dwell with You. The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You hate all workers of iniquity. You shall destroy those who speak falsehood; The LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
Psalms 5:4-6

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

These references to Scripture are not intended to beat up sinners with, nor is the descriptive list in the verse above an exhaustive one, intended to point self righteous fingers at some particular sin or another. Rather these passages have been included to show that, regardless of how righteous we may be in our own eyes, we are sinners before God, and have no right to enter His presence and Kingdom whatsoever. If we are to do so at all, it is solely by His hand, by His choice, and by His provision. For He is a Just and Righteous Judge who cannot overlook our sinfulness, for to do so would be to deny the very Justice He promises.

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He.

From this place of accepting the true character of God Almighty revealed through His Word, and understanding that He is not the One who is ever going to change, the whole Gospel message begins to make sense. For it is only when we begin to understand these things, that we can begin to see the reason God had to do something to save us, rather than just change His mind towards us, which in itself would mean that He is no longer unchanging, which in turn would bring His Eternal Perfection into question.

The amazing thing about the Gospel is that through Jesus Christ the Messiah, we have revealed to us Almighty God who so loved those He has created, He sent His own Son directly into creation to bridge the gap between the perfection of God and sinful man. By His own will, and through His own blood, Jesus Christ paid the price acceptable by God, that would clear the penalty of sin for all who would choose to accept this sacrifice, and put their trust in Him.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
John 3:16-18

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26

Therefore through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, a divinely planned exchange takes place, wherby the penalty for sin that is rightfully ours is placed upon the shoulders of Christ instead, and the Righteousness of Christ is imparted to us as if it were our own. This is the miracle of the Gospel message, and is found absolutely nowhere else!

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
2 Corinthians 5:21

To even begin to understand our salvation in Christ then, we must come to terms with the true nature and character of the Unchanging One we dare to call Father. For we cannot truly claim to come into an intimate and personal relationship with God the Father without recognising Who He actually is. Nor can we claim to stand in His presence without acknowledging the enormous price that was paid upon the Cross by His own Son, in order to cleanse us from our sin and declare us to be justified before God in the first place.

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J.A. Matteson

“And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.” Revelation 20:12

Two dreadful occasions await the unrepentant wicked at death: a definitive tribunal judgment and conviction before Almighty God, and being cast away for all eternity from the presence of God to suffer the indescribable anguish of hell, “And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment” (Heb. 9:27). And in as much as eye as not seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of men the blessed wonder of all that God has in store for the redeemed in heaven (1 Cor. 2:9), neither has it truly been understood to the fullest extent just how unimaginably horrible hell will be for the wicked.

Beloved, the terse language of the Scriptures and especially that by the Lord Jesus Christ ought to serve as a strong warning and convincing proof that no man should dare trifle with it and that the administration of the Gospel is urgent to the hearing of all in danger of perishing. As for the redeemed they will stand before the judgment seat of Christ where each pilgrims work will be evaluated by the Lord Jesus Christ, faithful service being recognized and rewarded (2 Cor. 5:10).

The unregenerate, however, will stand before the Lord Jesus Christ at the great white throne of judgment and all of their wicked deeds laid naked, serving as the basis for their just condemnation (Rom. 2:5). All who rejected the salvation offered in the Lord Jesus Christ will stand before Him condemned (Jn 3:18-19)—the educated and ignorant, the wealthy and poor, the charitable and stingy, the politically powerful and the weak, the moral and immoral, the religious and impious—all will stand individually before God Almighty and hear the piercing indictment of their eternal sentence of doom, their sins itemized one by one, the foremost and eternally damning sin being unforgivable; viz., the sin of unbelief in the Son of God as the spotless Lamb of God and the rejection of His vicarious substitutionary death atoning for sin on the cross, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

On judgment day saints will have The Advocate, Jesus Christ the Righteous, Who will plead their pardon before the Father, these being justified by faith in the Lord’s atoning work on their behalf, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). Woe to the prideful man who brashly contends that he is righteous apart from the imputed righteousness found only in the cross of Jesus Christ, he is utterly deceived and by his boasting a deceiver of the simple, deluded in mind and worse than a charlatan, a diabolical fraud, for he has denied that “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Diabolical is the teaching the Emergent Church movement that denies Scripture pertaining to the penal substitution of sin laid upon the spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 Jn. 4:10; see also Rom. 3:25; Heb. 2:17; 1 Jn. 2:2)—it is the foundation of the Gospel. These fail to understand that apart from the shed blood of Christ they are still in their sin, justly condemned, twice dead, and in danger of hell fire.

Apart from the vicarious substitutionary death of Christ there is no hope, only a sure consignment to eternal darkness. These delusional teachers will not have The Advocate by their side to defend them for they have denied the very work He performed that they might be saved. By their words and deeds they are enemies of the blessed cross of Christ.

Copyrigtht (c) 2009 Immutable Word Ministries (”…the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8)

(Reproduced with permission)

Originally posted 2009-06-21 17:43:32. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Mark 8:34

Self-determination constitutes the foundational bitter fruit of the Adamic nature and left unbridled it is the ruin of men. Here in the Lord’s injunction lies the central issue by which all men are held responsible before their Creator;’ viz., the Lord Jesus Christ has spoken, will I trust in Him and believe that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose, or will I call Him a liar by shrinking back through disobedience?

Certainly as the First cause the Lord has decreed from eternity past the outcome of all things and He often employs Secondary causes, human action or inaction, to bring them about. While certain aspects and workings of Providence have been make known to man, such as His moral Law found in the Ten Commandments, some of His eternal decrees remain cloaked according to the wise counsel of His own will. The Lord Jesus Christ knew that the decree of His Father for Him was the cross, and that the Father would utilize secondary causes—the evil within fallen men—to bring about that which He had decreed from eternity, and that He would do this in such a way that men were responsible for their evil acts, God in no way be author to them, “this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23).

The omniscient glorified Lord Jesus Christ spoke to apostle Peter after His resurrection and shared with him God’s decree regarding the future manner of his death by crucifixion, “Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go” (John 21:18).

The old hymn “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” aptly describes the mindset pleasing to the Lord where pilgrims obediently follow their Lord trusting that whatever comes to pass is ultimately for their good and the glory of God. A failure to understand this results in a disobedience which may incur divine correction, “And the LORD appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights” (Jonah 1:17). It is not the pilgrims business to attempt to direct the Lord’s decree regarding his service on earth. Rather, faithful servants of the Lord seek the mind of Christ with a view toward complete obedience, leaving the outcome to their loving Lord who causes all things to work together for their good; delayed obedience is immediate disobedience and partial obedience is complete disobedience.

For the Lord Jesus Christ the endurance of the cross encompassed far more that physical pain and death, are horrible as they were; it also brought public shame and humiliation to the Servant of the Lord of Hosts. The sons of Adam are opposed to the message of the cross, it is foolishness and a stumbling block, and as the Chief Shepherd was ridiculed for proclaiming the kingdom of God and repentance, how much more are His servants who bear His name and likeness?

Beloved, to deny yourself is to obey the Lord Jesus Christ to the best of your ability and release the outcome of your faithfulness to His providential care, even if the path leads to shame and death. Indeed, faithful servants die daily and many are publically ridiculed. If you believe that all things work together for your good then you will obey completely, if not you will rebel, and if that is the case then repentance of your sin is in order.

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries (”…the word of our God stands forever….” Isa. 40:8).

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Originally posted 2009-10-17 03:17:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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02.19.10

J.A. Matteson

“But as he was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.’”

Acts 24:25

As pilgrims labor to broadcast the gospel in the world, responses to it are unpredictable and diverse.  It is not the disciple’s business to know whom the Lord has appointed to eternal life, to know whom He foreknew before the foundation of the world, who He by grace decreed would be effectually called to faith, and whom He will sanctify by His Spirit for glory.

In as much as the Lord is sovereign in salvation, taking the initiative in redemption, so it has pleased the Lord of heaven to save certain men—those who believe, for all men are responsible to respond in repentance to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and those who reject it seal their own fate.  As was his pattern the Apostle Paul outlines the gospel before Felix, carefully delineating the Law of God’s righteousness, regeneration and the sanctification resulting in self-control, and the resurrection of the dead with the final judgment of the righteous and wicked including their respective eternal dwelling places of heaven or hell.  The same message of grace that works to soften the hearts of those whom eternal life has been decreed has the opposite effect—hardening—in those for whom the Lord has purposed to pass over, leaving them to themselves.

In Philippi the response by Paul’s jailer was an unpredictable softening, “And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, and after he brought them out, he said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:29-31).  While shackled that evening, God’s ambassadors patiently shared with their jailer the Gospel of righteousness, self-control, and judgment unaware of the condition of the soil in which their seed was sewn, but assured of the promise of the Lord, “So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it” (Isa. 55:11).

In contrast to the reprobate who die in disbelief, Paul and Silas understood that the elect would believe their message and turn to Christ in repentance, for it was for the sake of the invisible elect or chosen that they labored tirelessly, “For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory” (2 Tim. 2:10).  And to this end Paul recounts his trials and tribulations of love on behalf of the elect who believed and those who would be awakened to believe, “Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep.  I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.  Apart from such external things, there is the daily pressure on me of concern for all the churches” (2 Cor. 11:24-30).

But the pilgrim must not conclude that an initial rejection of the gospel indicates a person is ordained to death, for Saul (Paul) was acquainted with the gospel and his response was to persecute the people of the Way.  Yet the Lord had an appointed time when He would confront the proud Pharisee to humble and convert him as an instrument for His glory.  Therefore, beloved, as long as a man has breath he is not beyond the reach of the redemption which comes by the grace of God.

Felix is mentioned once more in chapter 25 and there is no mention of him ever turning to Christ in repentance either in Acts or the rest of the New Testament.  Had he been converted it is likely the event would have been recorded as a testimony to the world and an encouragement to the Church.  Yet it appears he went the way of Judas Iscariot, Balaam, and Pharaoh, men of depraved minds who rejected the grace of God in Christ Jesus, deriding the Law of God, puffed up arrogant dogs whose condemnation was known before the foundation of the world, for whom the darkest and hottest reaches of hell were reserved, whose destruction was decreed before time began in response to their rejection of the Truth, “’A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence’; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed” (1 Pet. 2:8), and “…God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?” (Rom. 9:22).

What can be said in response to the marvelous and terrible mercy and judgment of God?  Merely this: to those who name the name of Christ Jesus let them make their calling and election sure by daily seeking Him in humility and repentance, and let those to whom the message of salvation comes not harden their hearts and perish in their contempt for and disobedience to the gospel of the grace of God.

Copyright (c) 2010 Immutable Word Ministries (”…the word of our God stands forever….” Isa. 40:8).

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