Because of Their Own Free Will.

Everybody is in Hell because of their own free will. Choose Heaven or Hell now , your eternity depends upon it. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

The Carnal Mind and a New Mind

George Whitfield, the eighteenth century evangelist, was correct when he said, “If the unregenerate man could enter heaven, he would be so unhappy in heaven, that he would ask God to let him run down to hell for shelter.”

How could the enemies of God sit down at the banquet of the Lamb of God?

Universalism wants us to bury our heads in the sand.

The carnal mind is enmity against God all the time.  So why would such a person ever want to be in God’s holy presence?  It is against everything God is for in His universe.  It sets the world system and all it teaches in opposition to the LORD God.

The carnal mind is a “depraved spirit that is set on those things which are not proper” (Romans 1:28).  How would you know one if you saw it?  Romans 1:29-32 says, “Being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.”

It is a dreadful picture of human depravity.  The apostle then declared, “Therefore you have no excuse, every one of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things” (Romans 2:1-2).

There is a day coming when “God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus” (v. 16).  It is not because we do not deserve it.  The Bible testifies that we are all guilty.  “But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds” (Romans 2:5-6).

After a detailed presentation of our sins against us in Romans chapter three, the apostle Paul concludes, “But glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God” (Romans 2:10-11).  “You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?” (Romans 2:23).

How many of us have not wished in the depths of our hearts, “Would to God these sins were not forbidden!”  Spurgeon asked, “Who among us has not been so foolish as to desire that there were no God?”

But neither solution makes the problem go away.  We still stand guilty before God.  “Every carnal mind in the world is at enmity against God.”

The carnal mind declares that by our very nature we are the child of evil.  What part of man was affected by the fall?  The entire man, every part of him – every power, every passion is at enmity with God.  You may say, “Oh, Wil, I am not really that bad.”  God says, “The heart is deceitful above all things.”  It is desperately wicked.

Why would any carnal person want to be in the holy presence of a righteous God? It would mean to be guilty and condemned twenty-four hours a day. We would never be able to escape His holy, hot wrath.  Our sense of guilt would always be a state of awareness.

The only solution to the desperate plight of man is to have a new mind and a new heart.  If we have not experienced a change of heart, our carnal mind will always be at enmity against God.

Our thoughts, our decisions, our behaviors all testify that we deserve God’s holy wrath.  Every person born into this world deserves God’s wrath and damnation.

Because we are guilty sinners, God must provide the solution.  Since the carnal mind is at enmity with God, salvation cannot be by any merit on our part.  It must be by God’s grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  If we are at enmity with God, what merit can we have?  How can we deserve anything from the person we hate?  Therefore, God must step in and rescue us by His grace.

The Spirit of God must lay His hand on you and renew your heart or there is no chance of your entering into heaven.

Jesus Christ can make peace through His blood.  If the Spirit of God has convinced you of your sin as you read this, you can become a new creature, a new person, with a new heart if you will ask Jesus Christ to be your Savior.

By our physical birth we are at enmity with God, but by the new birth we are made His friend.  Our nature must be changed if we are to enter into God’s holy presence.  Here is the most precious promise for every sinner to believe.  “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life” (John 3:14-15).

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006 Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

Is the Challenge Of

Old age is the challenge of stop desiring for things of the earth and long for Heaven where there is no pain and no sorrow of watching friends and family leave of their eternal journey. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

That is Your Heaven

Whatever is your greatest joy and treasure, that is your heaven and your god. 

Charles Spurgeon

The Ascension of Christ

The Gospel of Luke describes the transference of the resurrected body of Jesus from the earth to heaven in Acts 1:9-11.

“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”

The location of the ascension was east of Jerusalem near Bethany. Forty days after His physical resurrection Jesus “was taken up” and disappeared into a cloud.

God raised Christ from the dead “and made Him sit at His right hand in the heavenly places” (Eph. 1:20). He sits “at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb. 1:3).

The ascension made it possible for Christ to enter into His heavenly “glorification” and sit at the right hand of the Father until His enemies are made His footstool (Ps. 110:1).

The evidence for the glorification of Christ and His superiority over the Old Testament saints is His ascension (Acts 2:33-36). When He arrived into heaven He received “the name that is above every name” (Phil. 2:9-11). Jesus is superior to angels, authorities, principalities, powers and dominions because He is the ascended Lord (Heb. 1:13; 1 Tim. 3:16; 1 Pet. 3:22).

The important message for every believer is that even though Jesus is absent physically from the earth, He is still spiritually present with His church. He can be anywhere and everywhere with His followers all the time.

Jesus told His disciples the Holy Spirit could not come until Jesus died, rose from the dead and ascended to heaven (Jn. 16:7). “If I do not go away, the Helper shall not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.”

Without the ascension Jesus would be in one location on the earth, but not spiritually present everywhere. Because Jesus ascended to heaven He is “wherever two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in your midst” (Matt. 18:20). At His ascension He said, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20). Because Jesus is in heaven He is everywhere all the time through His Spirit.

The ascension proves that Jesus really did rise from the dead. Where is the body of Jesus? He is at the right side of His Father seated in power and authority (Eph. 1:20; Heb. 1:30). He is alive.

The ascension gives us a steadfast assurance that the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ was accepted by God the Father as the perfect atonement for sinners. Jesus is in the presence of the Father and no other sacrifice for sin ever needs to be made again (Heb. 4:14; 6:20; 9:24). Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice for sin never has to be repeated (Heb. 1:3; 9:12; 10:12; 12:2). He sits on the throne. His atoning work is finished.

The ascension of Jesus gives us assurance that everything is now complete and one day we, too, will reign with Him in His kingdom. Jesus returned to heaven “to prepare a place for you” (Jn. 14:2). The ascension guarantees the promise, “I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (v. 3). One day every believer in Christ will ascend to be with Him (2 Cor. 5:1-10; 2 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:50-58).

The ascension of Jesus makes it possible for us to go boldly into the presence of God in prayer (Heb. 4:14-16). We have an advocate with the Father (1 John 2:1-2) who has experienced everything we experience in this life. He understands and is always ready to help in our time of need (Heb. 2:17; 5:7-10).Selah!

SELAH! Pause – reflect- just think of that!

Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006

Anyone is free to use this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author’s written consent.

So it Does Not Worry Me

I look around at the world today and see us twirling ever faster towards the rapture so it does not worry me but excites me. Joseph- Anthony: Green

The Heavens Declare

The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord, in every star Thy wisdom shines. Isaac Watts

Confident in This I’ll

Lord, Thou knowest what is best, confident in this I’ll rest, till I dwell with all the blest, and with Thee in Heaven. William Ebel

Glad I hate Traffic Jams.

There is a Highway to Hell while there is a Stairway to Heaven. Glad I hate traffic jams. Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah

When I Wake Up, I Will

Because I have lived right, I will see your face. When I wake up, I will see your likeness and be satisfied. Psalms 17:15 The Holy Bible The New Century Version

I believe the author is describing waking up from the dead and being greeted by the loving arms of our cherished Jesus Christ.

I still do not know whether we go to sleep to awaken at the rapture or whether we go to the second Heaven when we die.

Either way I think satisfied is an understatement. We will be jubilant

Prayer: Oh my precious Jesus Immanuel (God is with us John 15:1-27 ) what sweet bliss it will be to see You face to face as we walk through the garden and share communion together in Heaven. In Your beautiful name I praise You for this ultimate ecstasy. Amen

This photo and article @ Joseph- Anthony a son of Jehovah 2022