The End of the World

Posted on by korgrocker

“The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.”
1 Peter 4:7 NLT

This is a sobering verse, with a theme that Peter repeated in 2 Peter 3:10, “But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment“. Will the earth as we know it end soon? The answer is that we really don’t know what “soon” means. To us humans “soon” means in the next few hours or days. But certainly no longer. But as we know, God lives without our time system. Instead He will do what He has promised to do at just the right time.

There is an expectation in the Bible that one day the world as we know it will cease to exist. This is because one day God’s grace will be replaced by His judgement. We live in a moral universe and the sin and evil that is endemic in our societies will have to be accounted for. There are a series of events that the Apostle John wrote down, and which form the book of Revelation, the last book in the Bible. If you wish to find out more what these are, please read my devotional book “The End Times” (author Adrian Clark), available on Amazon. But we’ll pick up the narrative in Revelation 20. 

The devil will be chained and incarcerated, and the saints, including those whom were martyred for their faith, will rule and reign with Christ on earth for a thousand years. John’s vision included the explanation that these dead people were brought back to life as the first resurrection; the resurrection of everyone else was not to happen until after the thousand years were up. Satan was then released from his prison and he made a last attempt to conquer God and His people. But to no avail – he and his armies were defeated by fire from Heaven, and he ended up in the “fiery lake of burning sulphur”, a place of eternal torment (Revelation 20:10), joining his proteges, the beast and the false prophet. 

Revelation 20 ends with the events we call the Great White Throne judgement. We read in John’s account, “I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books … And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:13,15). But when we turn the page, we find an amazing event – the new Heaven and Earth. But more on that in my book.

Peter exhorts his readers to “be earnest and disciplined in your prayers”. But he doesn’t say what those prayers should consist of. Knowing what is to come must, by its very essence, focus the minds of us pilgrims. We must keep short accounts with God, ensuring forgiveness for the sins we might commit. We must, with clarity of thought, examine ourselves. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:5, “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith”. David, the Psalmist, wrote the prayer, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” (Psalm 139:23-24). We must pray appropriately, knowing that “the end of the world is coming soon”. 

Dear Father God. We can never thank You enough for Your grace. All we can do is to fall on our knees before You in worship. Amen.

The Judge

Posted on by korgrocker

“But remember that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead. That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭4‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We start with the “they”. These are the people who were guilty of slandering their “former friends” just because they believed the Good News about Jesus. These “former friends” were living a life of debauchery, blissfully unaware that one day “they will have to face God“. But we pilgrims know, of course, that it is not just these particular individuals who were at risk. Everyone one day will give an account of their lives to God. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 14:11-12, “For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God.” Jesus, replying to an accusation that He was casting our demons by power from the devil, said, “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”” (Matthew 12:36-37). Another verse of truth from Paul, “For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body” (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Peter wrote a strange thing, in that he said the Gospel “was preached to those who are now dead”. In those days Jesus was expected to return before the current generation had passed away, so perhaps Peter was clarifying the salvation status for those who had apparently died prematurely. In our days we still expect the imminent return of Jesus, but God’s timing is exact and the Second Coming won’t happen until the right time. In the meantime we pilgrims march on in obedience to Jesus, sharing the Gospel with those around us. But for all I know this blog may never be read, because its publication will have been overtaken by Divine events.

So the question to be answered is where we all stand before God. We can be counted in the “former friends” group, which will probably make up the majority, or we are one of those who heard the Good News, believing it and applying it to our own lives. There are no other categories of people. No third group made up of people who consider that they have lived a good life, and therefore believe that they are worthy enough, through their own efforts, to enter Heaven. As Paul wrote, “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23).

Peter wrote “that they will have to face God, who stands ready to judge everyone, both the living and the dead“. We know that this is the case from what the Spirit revealed to the Apostle John, and as he recorded it in Revelation 20. A “great white throne” appeared with “One sitting on it” (Revelation 20:11), an event so terrible that even the earth and sky “fled from His presence”. But there was no hiding place for anything in creation on that terrible day. We read what is to happen in Revelation 20:12, “I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books.” And there was only one possible verdict – guilty – except for those whose names were recorded in a Book containing the names of all the repentant believers in Jesus. Revelation 20:15, “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire.”

Thankfully, believers will not have to face that awful event, and we pilgrims share our stories of God’s saving grace with those around us, in the hope, the expectation even, that the Holy Spirit will bring salvation to all those He has called.

Dear Father God. We pray for our family and friends, that they also will desire to see their names written in Your Book of Life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
‭‭

Personal Account

Posted on by korgrocker

“So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For the Scriptures say, “‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord, ‘every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will declare allegiance to God.’” Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.”
Romans 14:10-13 NLT

This is a scary thought. Paul wrote, “Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God”.  Will that mean that over our lifetimes God is keeping a balance sheet of all the good we have done, and comparing it with all the lies and wickedness, and if the total at the bottom comes out with a plus sign, we will be ok? Sorry, but that is not how it will work. Just one negative entry will be enough to condemn us to an eternal life of misery. Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you”. We read about this judgement day in Revelation 20, 11-15, “And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds. Then death and the grave were thrown into the lake of fire. This lake of fire is the second death. And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”. So on this judgement day, there will be lots of books. Each person will have his own volume, or volumes, detailing every act they had done in their life. Jesus said that every deed includes every idle word spoken, and He also gave a few more details of deeds in the parable of the Sheep and the Goats, that we can read in Matthew 25, which ends, “And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46).

All these Scriptures are enough to make us depressed because the implication is that no-one will be good enough to enter God’s presence. There is no way that we humans can behave in a way that appears righteous to God. But there is a ray of light embedded in these Scriptures. “And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire”. There is a Book that records the names of everyone who is righteous in God’s sight. And the challenge of how we get our names there depends on our individual choice and God’s grace.

First of all we have to say that most people don’t want to be bothered with such a thought, putting it all down to myths or fanciful feelings. After all, they say, no-one has returned to validate these verses in the Bible. Our scientists cannot empirically measure the reality of such a Book, so it can’t be real they say. You won’t find a copy in the local reference library either. Other people have decided that they don’t want to go to Heaven anyway, their thoughts based on mistaken views of God and what Heaven will be like. After all, they think what is the point of spending their time in worshipping a God who they don’t know, and who they have probably wrongly blamed for much of the evil that we can see in the world around us. Not deliberate thoughts logically applied, probably, but that is their intent.

On the first day of Pentecost, Peter preached a powerful sermon and we read this in Acts 2:37, “Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?” Peter’s timeless and profound answer was, ” … Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). If anyone wants to ensure that their names are written in God’s Book of Life, then this is where they must start. They must “repent of [their] sins and turn to God“. By the way, that must have been some day, because we read in Acts 2:41, “Those who believed what Peter said were baptised and added to the church that day—about 3,000 in all“. Modern evangelicals make an altar call, inviting people to “give their hearts to Jesus”. That is in there of course, but, sadly, they often omit the first step – repentance of sins.

We pilgrims follow Jesus because only He is the Son of God. We echo Peter’s words, recorded in John 6:68, “Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life“. Only by following and obeying Jesus will we ensure our future in Heaven. And when we get to stand before God, He will proclaim us “Not Guilty”, because when He sees us He sees Jesus, pure and sinless.

Dear Father God. We thank You for Jesus and all that he did for us. Amen.

The Great White Throne

Posted on by korgrocker

“And I saw a great white throne and the one sitting on it. The earth and sky fled from his presence, but they found no place to hide. I saw the dead, both great and small, standing before God’s throne. And the books were opened, including the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what they had done, as recorded in the books. The sea gave up its dead, and death and the grave gave up their dead. And all were judged according to their deeds.”
Revelation‬ ‭20:11-13‬ ‭NLT

The Apostle John had no respite, no time to rest, in the vision given to him. It was relentless, one scene after another unfolding before him. He had just witnessed the devil and his proteges, the beast and the false prophet, consigned to the fiery lake, to be tormented forever. But that scene cleared from before him and was replaced by a “great white throne”. It was occupied by God Himself. A raft of emotions must have crossed his mind. Joy at seeing his God. But a great sense of foreboding as he watched the earth and sky trying to hide from God. This isn’t looking good, he must have thought. A feeling of sadness came upon him as he observed a crowd, apparently limitless, gathering before the throne. Everyone who had died was there. It didn’t matter where they had died, or where they had been buried, because there was no escape. 

I suppose the question has to be asked – what about any people still alive at this point? I don’t think there were any, because the earth was trying to escape from God’s presence. And all of God’s people would by now have been in Heaven.

John saw a vast library of books, including the Book of Life. And you can just imagine the scenario. A name was called out and the person stood there trembling with fear. All his or her deeds were read out for everyone to hear. Jesus gave a warning to His disciples, which we can read from Luke 12:2, “The time is coming when everything that is covered up will be revealed, and all that is secret will be made known to all”. The person thought that all their wicked deeds had escaped public scrutiny. Those thefts that they thought had not been seen. The indiscretion with the man or woman in the office, their spouse at home. The images found on the internet late at night. The blasphemies and rejection of Jesus and His grace. All read out. The list of deeds came to an end. It wasn’t good listening. And it was followed by a pause before the cry from the throne went out, “Guilty!” 

Folks. I don’t want to be in that number, before God’s throne of judgement. And I don’t want my loved ones, my neighbours, my workmates, to be there either. We all need to embrace God’s gracious love while we still can. No-one knows when this momentous event will take place. But happen it will. And there is only one way to avoid it. Jesus said in John 14:6, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” In John 10:28-29 we read, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.” It is only through Jesus that we can enjoy God’s presence for ever. That must instil within us a sense of urgency. We must tell all the people that we know. And persevere in praying for them. For we know that our God will answer these prayers because He is faithful.

Dear God, how can we thank You enough for Your free gift of salvation through Jesus. We praise and worship You today. Amen. 

The Burning Lake

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulphur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”
Revelation‬ ‭20:10‬ ‭NLT

The armies of the earth have been destroyed by fire. A sad end to man’s rebellion. They will of course be present at the second resurrection, and the consequences of this we will see, in a future blog, that it will not end well for them. Fire will be with them for all eternity, not just for the brief moment when they, and their fellow soldiers, were incinerated. But in today’s verse we see that the devil is seized once again. He seems impervious to his own limitations, and his inability to avoid God’s judgement, even though he must have known it would come to this. Look at the sequence of events. He was thrown out of Heaven. He was defeated at Calvary. He was incarcerated in the bottomless pit. And now he has been assigned to his final home – the fiery lake of burning sulphur. And in his vision John saw that the devil would be tormented, along with the beast and his false prophet, forever. Without any rest or parole. But he can never claim he didn’t know what would happen to him.

The devil overreached himself. He thought, in his arrogance, that he could take God on and win. Have we pilgrims ever met anyone who is so full of themselves, apparently impervious to their own limitations? They think that they are someone when, in reality, they aren’t?  But isn’t it strange – we can see this character trait in others but not ourselves. The Apostle Paul reminded the Romans of this in Romans 12:3, “Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us”. Paul said we should assess ourselves honestly, but how do we do that? One piece of Scripture that has helped me greatly on my pilgrimage through life is Ephesians 4:22-23,“throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes”. Personal deception is part of our old sinful lives. Through the renewing that comes through the Holy Spirit, we get the help we need to evaluate ourselves honestly. 

Jesus described hell as being dark, and full of wailing and gnashing of teeth. At the marriage feast He found that there was someone not wearing the right wedding clothes, and he was removed from the banquet. We read in Matthew 22:13, “Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’”‭‭ Jesus gave a graphic description of the eternal regret that an unrepentant person will experience – in darkness and deep sorrow. But in John’s vision in Revelation 20, as we will see in a future blog, those whose names are not recorded in the Book of Life will be joining the devil, the beast and the false prophet in the lake of fire. Either way, though, eternal separation from God in a place of torment, shows how seriously God views sin and wickedness. We must view it the same way, particularly in our own lives. And pray for our loved ones, that they too will take advantage of God’s love in this season of His grace.

Dear Lord. In humble gratitude we thank You for your grace and love. Amen.

Book of Life

Posted on by korgrocker

“And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation. And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand. Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful.” 
Revelation 13:7-10 NLT

We are spending a second day considering these verses from Revelation 13. “God’s holy people” were having a hard time, with the devil and his minions waging war against them, conquering them, imprisoning them and murdering them. But the scriptures describing John’s vision continue with a reference to those who weren’t Christians. John described them as being those “who belong to this world”. But surely that applies to everyone who lives on Planet Earth, whether Christian or not. Well, actually, it doesn’t. Because the word “world”describes the societal secular values with their anti-God bias.

A person of the world in the context of these verses is someone who is not one of “God’s holy people”. And we know exactly who these people are because their “names were not written in the Book of Life”.  So what is this Book? There are references throughout the Bible to a register kept in Heaven. Every one of God’s children has his or her name recorded in it. Jesus once said to His disciples, as recorded in Luke 10:20, “But don’t rejoice because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered in heaven.” Moses was recorded as having a conversation with God about the Israelites’ bad and sinful behaviour. This is how the conversation went, “But now, if you will only forgive their sin—but if not, erase my name from the record you have written!” But the Lord replied to Moses, “No, I will erase the name of everyone who has sinned against me.” (Exodus 31:32-33 NLT). In the Book of Revelation, the register is referred to as the “Lamb’s Book of Life”. (Revelation 21:27). So it is fair to assume that all of God’s holy people, Christians in the true sense, will have their names recorded in this register in Heaven. 

But those people whose names are absent from the “Book of Life” are not off the hook. Everything they do is recorded, also in a book. And there will come a day when these books are opened in God’s presence, but more about that when we get to Revelation 20. By default, those people who are not God’s people will be considered to be worshipping the beast. Though that does not necessarily mean that they set up an idol representing the devil and run a pseudo-religious service of worship to it, it does mean that they accept and endorse the world governmental system of which they are a part. A system a.k.a. the beast. It is a black and white scenario. Mankind is allocated into one of two kingdoms – God’s or the devil’s. There are no other options. And the gulf between these two kingdoms is getting wider and wider. Our verses today from Revelation 13 describe the ultimate position where the gulf between the two is almost impossible to bridge.

Once again, we face into the situation that we must pray without ceasing for our loved ones and those in our communities, for our leaders and our society. We pray that God’s grace will continue and that His love will touch them and draw them away from the kingdom of the devil, the kingdom of darkness, into God’s kingdom, the Kingdom of Light. We remember how we made that transition and share our testimony of grace with those whose ears are open to hear our message. 1 Peter 2:9-10 – “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.” 

Dear Father God. We thank You once again for Your love and grace, for we are now Your very own possession. Help us to share our messages of hope with those around us. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Clothed in White

Posted on by korgrocker

“Yet there are some in the church in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes with evil. They will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. All who are victorious will be clothed in white. I will never erase their names from the Book of Life, but I will announce before my Father and his angels that they are mine. “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.“”
Revelation‬ ‭3:4-6‬ ‭NLT

What comes to our minds when we read about being clothed in white? The image of a TV evangelist perhaps, a man wearing a white suit. Another image is of a beautiful bride wearing an expensive creation of white lace and finery. White is a symbol of purity. And if we want to be counted among the “victorious” then we had better get used to the idea that we will be clothed in white, and it will be a garment whiter than any man-made product. The popular image is that a white garment will be some form of gown; Jesus is mostly portrayed in artist impressions as wearing a shoulder to ground loose-fitting robe. In Mark 9:3, we read, “Jesus’ appearance was transformed, and his clothes became dazzling white, far whiter than any earthly bleach could ever make them“. There will be something about the whiteness of our garments that will surpass anything we can imagine today. In his book The Great Divorce, C S Lewis describes the inhabitants of Heaven as being the solid bright people, exuding a dazzlingly white purity contrasting with the wispy dark and evil wraiths that were the ghosts on a day trip from hell.

But however we imagine what our Heavenly clothes will be like, of one thing we will be sure – they will be white. That is, of course, assuming that we don’t sully them with dirt that has stuck there through our contact with an evil world. It seems from these verses that the inhabitants of Sardis were already wearing their white Heavenly clothes, because Jesus warned them not to get them dirty. And in a sense we too are wearing our garments of white. Thankfully there is a process there for laundering. Our humanity sadly acts like a “dirt magnet”, our worldly behaviour soiling our white garments far too often. And only repentance and forgiveness, with washing in the blood of Jesus, will restore their whiteness – Isaiah 1:18 reads, ““Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, I will make them as white as snow. Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool”“. Only Jesus can restore the whiteness of our garments.

We also read that Jesus will never erase our names, the names of the victorious, from His Book of Life. What is this Book? It contains the names of everyone destined for Heaven. And we really do need our names to be there. The implication from today’s verses is that perhaps the names of some can be erased from it. Some people believe that once written in the Book of Life, the name can never be erased, regardless of subsequent behaviour, because it’s written in spiritually indelible ink. Others believe that those who fall away from the faith, who allow their clothes to be soiled by evil, and who reject God, will find that their names will disappear. But whichever viewpoint we believe, we really do need our names to be written in this Book of Life. Personally, the thought that a person can come to faith in God, confessing their sins and obtaining His forgiveness, with their names recorded in the Book, only to then live their lives in a sinful way, turning their back on God, but still expect their names to remain in the Book, is a somewhat bizarre assumption. But that’s just my opinion.

Jesus said He will never rub out the names of His victorious ones, removing them from His Book of Life. And more, He said that He will announce them publicly in the vaults of Heaven. Before God and the angels. I can imagine the scene. A doorway into Heaven opens up with Jesus waiting there, ready to announce my name. A hush descends on Heaven as God and the angels all wait to see who this is, who is about to come through the door. And Jesus, beaming away, His arm around my shoulder, announces my name before the gathered assembly. He then declares that I am His, an overcomer, victorious and with my name recorded in His Book. Wearing spotless, dazzlingly-white clothes. Is that a scene too far-fetched and too good to be true? Perhaps. But if the angels have a party every time someone is saved, then can we imagine what it must be like when that saved person finally reaches Heaven? We read in Luke 15:10, “In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents“. 

So, fellow pilgrims, we must learn from the church in Sardis. Once again we have found a church where some are faithfully following Jesus, but others have fallen away, still going through the motions but the connection with their wonderful Heavenly Father has been lost. We too must be careful we fall into the right camp, wherever we worship. And we must be careful to keep our Heavenly clothes clean and white.

Dear Lord. We are so grateful for Your encouragement in our daily walks with You. Please help us to stay close to Your cross, worthy servants of the Living God. Amen. 

Book of Life

Posted on by korgrocker

Charge them with crime upon crime;
do not let them share in your salvation.
May they be blotted out of the book of life
and not be listed with the righteous.
Psalm 69:27-28

David is bothered by his enemies again. And he spends time and ink in thinking and writing about what he would like God to do about them. “Let their eyes go blind”; “Pour our Your fury”; “Let their homes go desolate”; “Pile their sins up high”. Such sentiments appear in David’s thoughts. And he finishes this section appealing to God, that He would erase their names from the Book of Life. 

The Book of Life. A book where God writes down the names of His righteous ones. His sons and daughters. All those who, through Jesus, have an inheritance in Heaven. References to the “Book of Life” appear in both the Old and New Testaments. There are preconditions to having our names recorded in this Heavenly Book. Those who have overcome evil, those who don’t practise idolatry and dishonesty; those who are not sinners or unrighteous – these are all qualities that will ensure our names will be recorded. But why is it the Book of Life? I suppose another name would perhaps be the Register of God’s People. Or perhaps “Afterlife” would also be an appropriate reference. But whatever we call it, it is of paramount importance that our names are written in it. Imagine how we would feel, standing at the pearly gates, hoping to gain entry into Heaven, perhaps seeing people we have known waiting for us, but being turned away because our names are not written in the Book of Life.

There is only one way to ensure that our names are recorded. And that is through Jesus. It is through our acceptance that we have sinned, have repented of those sins, and that we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. In Romans 10:9-10, the Apostle Paul wrote, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” So there you have it. If your name is not written in the Book of Life, don’t waste any time. My name is there. How about yours?

Helicopters

Posted on by korgrocker

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:8 NIV

Behind the trees this morning I heard the sound of a helicopter. First in the distance a popping noise and then, as it got closer, a swishing sound . It then appeared through a gap in the trees. So I looked it up on the “Flightradar24” App (if you are interested in flying then this is a great app to get and it’s free!) and was told that it was an “Airbus Helicopters AS355” but no information about where it had come from or where it was going was available. Of course, it must have started somewhere, and there will be a time when it has to land, if only to refuel. But the relevant data about its origin and destination was missing. 

The helicopter could be seen and heard but I couldn’t tell where it had come from or where it was going. In today’s Scripture, Jesus uses the analogy of wind. It can be heard but we don’t know where it came from or where it is going. It’s the same with our natural lives, we don’t plan either our origin or destination. That is, of course, unless we embrace the teaching of Jesus in John 3. But it is “sad but true” (to quote the title of the Metallica song) that most people seem unconcerned about their destination in life. They obviously cannot do much about their origins, but they can take steps to ensure the right destination.

In His discussion with Nicodemus, the Jewish leader who crept into Jesus’ presence after dark, Jesus explained the need for a spiritual birth. He said, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5-7). So by being born again, we can determine our spiritual origins, and this starts us on the right journey through life. But how can we be sure that we are on our way to the right destination? We have a choice. We can either spend eternity with the devil and his demons in hell, or we can spend eternity with God and His angels in Heaven. A wrong choice and a right choice. A wrong destination and a right destination. And we can make the right choice by believing in Jesus, God’s only Son, to forgive us for our sins. On a cross at a place called Calvary He took upon Himself all our sins and gave us in exchange His righteousness. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21. And by being righteous in God’s sight we are assured of a future with Him in eternity.

So as Christians, we have an origin and a destination, and the spiritual App equivalent of Flightradar24 will record our journey between them. Not more “N/A” against the points of origin and destination. We have been born again through the Spirit of God, and assured a future in Heaven through our salvation. Our flight plan has been recorded in God’s Book of Life.

If you are unsure of where you are going and want to know more, please message me. It could be the most important decision you have ever made.