Friday, July 28, 2006
Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758)
Enfield, Connecticut
July 8, 1741
--Their foot shall slide in due time.--
Deuteronomy 32:35
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. -- The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 72:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."
It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"
Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. -- "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.
There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.
They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."
All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."
God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.
Application
The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. -- That world of misery, that take of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. -- And consider here more particularly,
Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isa. 66:15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25,26,&c.
How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generality persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. -- And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. -- And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."
Enfield, Connecticut
July 8, 1741
--Their foot shall slide in due time.--
Deuteronomy 32:35
In this verse is threatened the vengeance of God on the wicked unbelieving Israelites, who were God's visible people, and who lived under the means of grace; but who, notwithstanding all God's wonderful works towards them, remained (as vers 28.) void of counsel, having no understanding in them. Under all the cultivations of heaven, they brought forth bitter and poisonous fruit; as in the two verses next preceding the text. -- The expression I have chosen for my text, their foot shall slide in due time, seems to imply the following things, relating to the punishment and destruction to which these wicked Israelites were exposed.
That they were always exposed to destruction; as one that stands or walks in slippery places is always exposed to fall. This is implied in the manner of their destruction coming upon them, being represented by their foot sliding. The same is expressed, Psalm 72:18. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction."
It implies, that they were always exposed to sudden unexpected destruction. As he that walks in slippery places is every moment liable to fall, he cannot foresee one moment whether he shall stand or fall the next; and when he does fall, he falls at once without warning: Which is also expressed in Psalm 73:18,19. "Surely thou didst set them in slippery places; thou castedst them down into destruction: How are they brought into desolation as in a moment!"
Another thing implied is, that they are liable to fall of themselves, without being thrown down by the hand of another; as he that stands or walks on slippery ground needs nothing but his own weight to throw him down.
That the reason why they are not fallen already and do not fall now is only that God's appointed time is not come. For it is said, that when that due time, or appointed time comes, their foot shall slide. Then they shall be left to fall, as they are inclined by their own weight. God will not hold them up in these slippery places any longer, but will let them go; and then, at that very instant, they shall fall into destruction; as he that stands on such slippery declining ground, on the edge of a pit, he cannot stand alone, when he is let go he immediately falls and is lost.
The observation from the words that I would now insist upon is this. -- "There is nothing that keeps wicked men at any one moment out of hell, but the mere pleasure of God." -- By the mere pleasure of God, I mean his sovereign pleasure, his arbitrary will, restrained by no obligation, hindered by no manner of difficulty, any more than if nothing else but God's mere will had in the least degree, or in any respect whatsoever, any hand in the preservation of wicked men one moment. -- The truth of this observation may appear by the following considerations.
There is no want of power in God to cast wicked men into hell at any moment. Men's hands cannot be strong when God rises up. The strongest have no power to resist him, nor can any deliver out of his hands. -- He is not only able to cast wicked men into hell, but he can most easily do it. Sometimes an earthly prince meets with a great deal of difficulty to subdue a rebel, who has found means to fortify himself, and has made himself strong by the numbers of his followers. But it is not so with God. There is no fortress that is any defence from the power of God. Though hand join in hand, and vast multitudes of God's enemies combine and associate themselves, they are easily broken in pieces. They are as great heaps of light chaff before the whirlwind; or large quantities of dry stubble before devouring flames. We find it easy to tread on and crush a worm that we see crawling on the earth; so it is easy for us to cut or singe a slender thread that any thing hangs by: thus easy is it for God, when he pleases, to cast his enemies down to hell. What are we, that we should think to stand before him, at whose rebuke the earth trembles, and before whom the rocks are thrown down?
They deserve to be cast into hell; so that divine justice never stands in the way, it makes no objection against God's using his power at any moment to destroy them. Yea, on the contrary, justice calls aloud for an infinite punishment of their sins. Divine justice says of the tree that brings forth such grapes of Sodom, "Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?" Luke 13:7. The sword of divine justice is every moment brandished over their heads, and it is nothing but the hand of arbitrary mercy, and God's mere will, that holds it back.
They are already under a sentence of condemnation to hell. They do not only justly deserve to be cast down thither, but the sentence of the law of God, that eternal and immutable rule of righteousness that God has fixed between him and mankind, is gone out against them, and stands against them; so that they are bound over already to hell. John 3:18. "He that believeth not is condemned already." So that every unconverted man properly belongs to hell; that is his place; from thence he is, John 8:23. "Ye are from beneath:" And thither he is bound; it is the place that justice, and God's word, and the sentence of his unchangeable law assign to him.
They are now the objects of that very same anger and wrath of God, that is expressed in the torments of hell. And the reason why they do not go down to hell at each moment, is not because God, in whose power they are, is not then very angry with them; as he is with many miserable creatures now tormented in hell, who there feel and bear the fierceness of his wrath. Yea, God is a great deal more angry with great numbers that are now on earth: yea, doubtless, with many that are now in this congregation, who it may be are at ease, than he is with many of those who are now in the flames of hell.
So that it is not because God is unmindful of their wickedness, and does not resent it, that he does not let loose his hand and cut them off. God is not altogether such an one as themselves, though they may imagine him to be so. The wrath of God burns against them, their damnation does not slumber; the pit is prepared, the fire is made ready, the furnace is now hot, ready to receive them; the flames do now rage and glow. The glittering sword is whet, and held over them, and the pit hath opened its mouth under them.
The devil stands ready to fall upon them, and seize them as his own, at what moment God shall permit him. They belong to him; he has their souls in his possession, and under his dominion. The scripture represents them as his goods, Luke 11:12. The devils watch them; they are ever by them at their right hand; they stand waiting for them, like greedy hungry lions that see their prey, and expect to have it, but are for the present kept back. If God should withdraw his hand, by which they are restrained, they would in one moment fly upon their poor souls. The old serpent is gaping for them; hell opens its mouth wide to receive them; and if God should permit it, they would be hastily swallowed up and lost.
There are in the souls of wicked men those hellish principles reigning, that would presently kindle and flame out into hell fire, if it were not for God's restraints. There is laid in the very nature of carnal men, a foundation for the torments of hell. There are those corrupt principles, in reigning power in them, and in full possession of them, that are seeds of hell fire. These principles are active and powerful, exceeding violent in their nature, and if it were not for the restraining hand of God upon them, they would soon break out, they would flame out after the same manner as the same corruptions, the same enmity does in the hearts of damned souls, and would beget the same torments as they do in them. The souls of the wicked are in scripture compared to the troubled sea, Isa. 57:20. For the present, God restrains their wickedness by his mighty power, as he does the raging waves of the troubled sea, saying, "Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;" but if God should withdraw that restraining power, it would soon carry all before it. Sin is the ruin and misery of the soul; it is destructive in its nature; and if God should leave it without restraint, there would need nothing else to make the soul perfectly miserable. The corruption of the heart of man is immoderate and boundless in its fury; and while wicked men live here, it is like fire pent up by God's restraints, whereas if it were let loose, it would set on fire the course of nature; and as the heart is now a sink of sin, so if sin was not restrained, it would immediately turn the soul into fiery oven, or a furnace of fire and brimstone.
It is no security to wicked men for one moment, that there are no visible means of death at hand. It is no security to a natural man, that he is now in health, and that he does not see which way he should now immediately go out of the world by any accident, and that there is no visible danger in any respect in his circumstances. The manifold and continual experience of the world in all ages, shows this is no evidence, that a man is not on the very brink of eternity, and that the next step will not be into another world. The unseen, unthought-of ways and means of persons going suddenly out of the world are innumerable and inconceivable. Unconverted men walk over the pit of hell on a rotten covering, and there are innumerable places in this covering so weak that they will not bear their weight, and these places are not seen. The arrows of death fly unseen at noon-day; the sharpest sight cannot discern them. God has so many different unsearchable ways of taking wicked men out of the world and sending them to hell, that there is nothing to make it appear, that God had need to be at the expense of a miracle, or go out of the ordinary course of his providence, to destroy any wicked man, at any moment. All the means that there are of sinners going out of the world, are so in God's hands, and so universally and absolutely subject to his power and determination, that it does not depend at all the less on the mere will of God, whether sinners shall at any moment go to hell, than if means were never made use of, or at all concerned in the case.
Natural men's prudence and care to preserve their own lives, or the care of others to preserve them, do not secure them a moment. To this, divine providence and universal experience do also bear testimony. There is this clear evidence that men's own wisdom is no security to them from death; that if it were otherwise we should see some difference between the wise and politic men of the world, and others, with regard to their liableness to early and unexpected death: but how is it in fact? Eccles. 2:16. "How dieth the wise man? even as the fool."
All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment. Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do. Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail. They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done. He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.
But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow. The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape. If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good. I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me. Oh, my cursed foolishness! I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."
God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. God certainly has made no promises either of eternal life, or of any deliverance or preservation from eternal death, but what are contained in the covenant of grace, the promises that are given in Christ, in whom all the promises are yea and amen. But surely they have no interest in the promises of the covenant of grace who are not the children of the covenant, who do not believe in any of the promises, and have no interest in the Mediator of the covenant.
So that, whatever some have imagined and pretended about promises made to natural men's earnest seeking and knocking, it is plain and manifest, that whatever pains a natural man takes in religion, whatever prayers he makes, till he believes in Christ, God is under no manner of obligation to keep him a moment from eternal destruction.
So that, thus it is that natural men are held in the hand of God, over the pit of hell; they have deserved the fiery pit, and are already sentenced to it; and God is dreadfully provoked, his anger is as great towards them as to those that are actually suffering the executions of the fierceness of his wrath in hell, and they have done nothing in the least to appease or abate that anger, neither is God in the least bound by any promise to hold them up one moment; the devil is waiting for them, hell is gaping for them, the flames gather and flash about them, and would fain lay hold on them, and swallow them up; the fire pent up in their own hearts is struggling to break out: and they have no interest in any Mediator, there are no means within reach that can be any security to them. In short, they have no refuge, nothing to take hold of; all that preserves them every moment is the mere arbitrary will, and uncovenanted, unobliged forbearance of an incensed God.
Application
The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. -- That world of misery, that take of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you. There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up.
You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation. But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it.
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock. Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies. God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end. And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope. There are the black clouds of God's wrath now hanging directly over your heads, full of the dreadful storm, and big with thunder; and were it not for the restraining hand of God, it would immediately burst forth upon you. The sovereign pleasure of God, for the present, stays his rough wind; otherwise it would come with fury, and your destruction would come like a whirlwind, and you would be like the chaff on the summer threshing floor.
The wrath of God is like great waters that are dammed for the present; they increase more and more, and rise higher and higher, till an outlet is given; and the longer the stream is stopped, the more rapid and mighty is its course, when once it is let loose. It is true, that judgment against your evil works has not been executed hitherto; the floods of God's vengeance have been withheld; but your guilt in the mean time is constantly increasing, and you are every day treasuring up more wrath; the waters are constantly rising, and waxing more and more mighty; and there is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, that holds the waters back, that are unwilling to be stopped, and press hard to go forward. If God should only withdraw his hand from the flood-gate, it would immediately fly open, and the fiery floods of the fierceness and wrath of God, would rush forth with inconceivable fury, and would come upon you with omnipotent power; and if your strength were ten thousand times greater than it is, yea, ten thousand times greater than the strength of the stoutest, sturdiest devil in hell, it would be nothing to withstand or endure it.
The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being made drunk with your blood. Thus all you that never passed under a great change of heart, by the mighty power of the Spirit of God upon your souls; all you that were never born again, and made new creatures, and raised from being dead in sin, to a state of new, and before altogether unexperienced light and life, are in the hands of an angry God. However you may have reformed your life in many things, and may have had religious affections, and may keep up a form of religion in your families and closets, and in the house of God, it is nothing but his mere pleasure that keeps you from being this moment swallowed up in everlasting destruction. However unconvinced you may now be of the truth of what you hear, by and by you will be fully convinced of it. Those that are gone from being in the like circumstances with you, see that it was so with them; for destruction came suddenly upon most of them; when they expected nothing of it, and while they were saying, Peace and safety: now they see, that those things on which they depended for peace and safety, were nothing but thin air and empty shadows.
The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider, or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times more abominable in his eyes, than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours. You have offended him infinitely more than ever a stubborn rebel did his prince; and yet it is nothing but his hand that holds you from falling into the fire every moment. It is to be ascribed to nothing else, that you did not go to hell the last night; that you was suffered to awake again in this world, after you closed your eyes to sleep. And there is no other reason to be given, why you have not dropped into hell since you arose in the morning, but that God's hand has held you up. There is no other reason to be given why you have not gone to hell, since you have sat here in the house of God, provoking his pure eyes by your sinful wicked manner of attending his solemn worship. Yea, there is nothing else that is to be given as a reason why you do not this very moment drop down into hell.
O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is provoked and incensed as much against you, as against many of the damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it, and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any Mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you ever have done, nothing that you can do, to induce God to spare you one moment. -- And consider here more particularly,
Whose wrath it is: it is the wrath of the infinite God. If it were only the wrath of man, though it were of the most potent prince, it would be comparatively little to be regarded. The wrath of kings is very much dreaded, especially of absolute monarchs, who have the possessions and lives of their subjects wholly in their power, to be disposed of at their mere will. Prov. 20:2. "The fear of a king is as the roaring of a lion: Whoso provoketh him to anger, sinneth against his own soul." The subject that very much enrages an arbitrary prince, is liable to suffer the most extreme torments that human art can invent, or human power can inflict. But the greatest earthly potentates in their greatest majesty and strength, and when clothed in their greatest terrors, are but feeble, despicable worms of the dust, in comparison of the great and almighty Creator and King of heaven and earth. It is but little that they can do, when most enraged, and when they have exerted the utmost of their fury. All the kings of the earth, before God, are as grasshoppers; they are nothing, and less than nothing: both their love and their hatred is to be despised. The wrath of the great King of kings, is as much more terrible than theirs, as his majesty is greater. Luke 12:4,5. "And I say unto you, my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that, have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear: fear him, which after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell: yea, I say unto you, Fear him."
It is the fierceness of his wrath that you are exposed to. We often read of the fury of God; as in Isa. 59:18. "According to their deeds, accordingly he will repay fury to his adversaries." So Isa. 66:15. "For behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire." And in many other places. So, Rev. 19:15, we read of "the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God." The words are exceeding terrible. If it had only been said, "the wrath of God," the words would have implied that which is infinitely dreadful: but it is "the fierceness and wrath of God." The fury of God! the fierceness of Jehovah! Oh, how dreadful that must be! Who can utter or conceive what such expressions carry in them! But it is also "the fierceness and wrath of almighty God." As though there would be a very great manifestation of his almighty power in what the fierceness of his wrath should inflict, as though omnipotence should be as it were enraged, and exerted, as men are wont to exert their strength in the fierceness of their wrath. Oh! then, what will be the consequence! What will become of the poor worms that shall suffer it! Whose hands can be strong? And whose heart can endure? To what a dreadful, inexpressible, inconceivable depth of misery must the poor creature be sunk who shall be the subject of this!
Consider this, you that are here present, that yet remain in an unregenerate state. That God will execute the fierceness of his anger, implies, that he will inflict wrath without any pity. When God beholds the ineffable extremity of your case, and sees your torment to be so vastly disproportioned to your strength, and sees how your poor soul is crushed, and sinks down, as it were, into an infinite gloom; he will have no compassion upon you, he will not forbear the executions of his wrath, or in the least lighten his hand; there shall be no moderation or mercy, nor will God then at all stay his rough wind; he will have no regard to your welfare, nor be at all careful lest you should suffer too much in any other sense, than only that you shall not suffer beyond what strict justice requires. Nothing shall be withheld, because it is so hard for you to bear. Ezek. 8:18. "Therefore will I also deal in fury: mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity; and though they cry in mine ears with a loud voice, yet I will not hear them." Now God stands ready to pity you; this is a day of mercy; you may cry now with some encouragement of obtaining mercy. But when once the day of mercy is past, your most lamentable and dolorous cries and shrieks will be in vain; you will be wholly lost and thrown away of God, as to any regard to your welfare. God will have no other use to put you to, but to suffer misery; you shall be continued in being to no other end; for you will be a vessel of wrath fitted to destruction; and there will be no other use of this vessel, but to be filled full of wrath. God will be so far from pitying you when you cry to him, that it is said he will only "laugh and mock," Prov. 1:25,26,&c.
How awful are those words, Isa. 63:3, which are the words of the great God. "I will tread them in mine anger, and will trample them in my fury, and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment." It is perhaps impossible to conceive of words that carry in them greater manifestations of these three things, viz. contempt, and hatred, and fierceness of indignation. If you cry to God to pity you, he will be so far from pitying you in your doleful case, or showing you the least regard or favour, that instead of that, he will only tread you under foot. And though he will know that you cannot bear the weight of omnipotence treading upon you, yet he will not regard that, but he will crush you under his feet without mercy; he will crush out your blood, and make it fly, and it shall be sprinkled on his garments, so as to stain all his raiment. He will not only hate you, but he will have you in the utmost contempt: no place shall be thought fit for you, but under his feet to be trodden down as the mire of the streets.
The misery you are exposed to is that which God will inflict to that end, that he might show what that wrath of Jehovah is. God hath had it on his heart to show to angels and men, both how excellent his love is, and also how terrible his wrath is. Sometimes earthly kings have a mind to show how terrible their wrath is, by the extreme punishments they would execute on those that would provoke them. Nebuchadnezzar, that mighty and haughty monarch of the Chaldean empire, was willing to show his wrath when enraged with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; and accordingly gave orders that the burning fiery furnace should be heated seven times hotter than it was before; doubtless, it was raised to the utmost degree of fierceness that human art could raise it. But the great God is also willing to show his wrath, and magnify his awful majesty and mighty power in the extreme sufferings of his enemies. Rom. 9:22. "What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?" And seeing this is his design, and what he has determined, even to show how terrible the unrestrained wrath, the fury and fierceness of Jehovah is, he will do it to effect. There will be something accomplished and brought to pass that will be dreadful with a witness. When the great and angry God hath risen up and executed his awful vengeance on the poor sinner, and the wretch is actually suffering the infinite weight and power of his indignation, then will God call upon the whole universe to behold that awful majesty and mighty power that is to be seen in it. Isa. 33:12-14. "And the people shall be as the burnings of lime, as thorns cut up shall they be burnt in the fire. Hear ye that are far off, what I have done; and ye that are near, acknowledge my might. The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites," &c.
Thus it will be with you that are in an unconverted state, if you continue in it; the infinite might, and majesty, and terribleness of the omnipotent God shall be magnified upon you, in the ineffable strength of your torments. You shall be tormented in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and when you shall be in this state of suffering, the glorious inhabitants of heaven shall go forth and look on the awful spectacle, that they may see what the wrath and fierceness of the Almighty is; and when they have seen it, they will fall down and adore that great power and majesty. Isa. 66:23,24. "And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh."
It is everlasting wrath. It would be dreadful to suffer this fierceness and wrath of Almighty God one moment; but you must suffer it to all eternity. There will be no end to this exquisite horrible misery. When you look forward, you shall see a long for ever, a boundless duration before you, which will swallow up your thoughts, and amaze your soul; and you will absolutely despair of ever having any deliverance, any end, any mitigation, any rest at all. You will know certainly that you must wear out long ages, millions of millions of ages, in wrestling and conflicting with this almighty merciless vengeance; and then when you have so done, when so many ages have actually been spent by you in this manner, you will know that all is but a point to what remains. So that your punishment will indeed be infinite. Oh, who can express what the state of a soul in such circumstances is! All that we can possibly say about it, gives but a very feeble, faint representation of it; it is inexpressible and inconceivable: For "who knows the power of God's anger?"
How dreadful is the state of those that are daily and hourly in the danger of this great wrath and infinite misery! But this is the dismal case of every soul in this congregation that has not been born again, however moral and strict, sober and religious, they may otherwise be. Oh that you would consider it, whether you be young or old! There is reason to think, that there are many in this congregation now hearing this discourse, that will actually be the subjects of this very misery to all eternity. We know not who they are, or in what seats they sit, or what thoughts they now have. It may be they are now at ease, and hear all these things without much disturbance, and are now flattering themselves that they are not the persons, promising themselves that they shall escape. If we knew that there was one person, and but one, in the whole congregation, that was to be the subject of this misery, what an awful thing would it be to think of! If we knew who it was, what an awful sight would it be to see such a person! How might all the rest of the congregation lift up a lamentable and bitter cry over him! But, alas! instead of one, how many is it likely will remember this discourse in hell? And it would be a wonder, if some that are now present should not be in hell in a very short time, even before this year is out. And it would be no wonder if some persons, that now sit here, in some seats of this meeting-house, in health, quiet and secure, should be there before tomorrow morning. Those of you that finally continue in a natural condition, that shall keep out of hell longest will be there in a little time! your damnation does not slumber; it will come swiftly, and, in all probability, very suddenly upon many of you. You have reason to wonder that you are not already in hell. It is doubtless the case of some whom you have seen and known, that never deserved hell more than you, and that heretofore appeared as likely to have been now alive as you. Their case is past all hope; they are crying in extreme misery and perfect despair; but here you are in the land of the living and in the house of God, and have an opportunity to obtain salvation. What would not those poor damned hopeless souls give for one day's opportunity such as you now enjoy!
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield, where they are flocking from day to day to Christ?
Are there not many here who have lived long in the world, and are not to this day born again? and so are aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and have done nothing ever since they have lived, but treasure up wrath against the day of wrath? Oh, sirs, your case, in an especial manner, is extremely dangerous. Your guilt and hardness of heart is extremely great. Do you not see how generality persons of your years are passed over and left, in the present remarkable and wonderful dispensation of God's mercy? You had need to consider yourselves, and awake thoroughly out of sleep. You cannot bear the fierceness and wrath of the infinite God. -- And you, young men, and young women, will you neglect this precious season which you now enjoy, when so many others of your age are renouncing all youthful vanities, and flocking to Christ? You especially have now an extraordinary opportunity; but if you neglect it, it will soon be with you as with those persons who spent all the precious days of youth in sin, and are now come to such a dreadful pass in blindness and hardness. -- And you, children, who are unconverted, do not you know that you are going down to hell, to bear the dreadful wrath of that God, who is now angry with you every day and every night? Will you be content to be the children of the devil, when so many other children in the land are converted, and are become the holy and happy children of the King of kings?
And let every one that is yet out of Christ, and hanging over the pit of hell, whether they be old men and women, or middle aged, or young people, or little children, now hearken to the loud calls of God's word and providence. This acceptable year of the Lord, a day of such great favour to some, will doubtless be a day of as remarkable vengeance to others. Men's hearts harden, and their guilt increases apace at such a day as this, if they neglect their souls; and never was there so great danger of such persons being given up to hardness of heart and blindness of mind. God seems now to be hastily gathering in his elect in all parts of the land; and probably the greater part of adult persons that ever shall be saved, will be brought in now in a little time, and that it will be as it was on the great out-pouring of the Spirit upon the Jews in the apostles' days; the election will obtain, and the rest will be blinded. If this should be the case with you, you will eternally curse this day, and will curse the day that ever you was born, to see such a season of the pouring out of God's Spirit, and will wish that you had died and gone to hell before you had seen it. Now undoubtedly it is, as it was in the days of John the Baptist, the axe is in an extraordinary manner laid at the root of the trees, that every tree which brings not forth good fruit, may be hewn down and cast into the fire.
Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives, look not behind you, escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed."
Friday, May 26, 2006
Legalism
If defending scripture and doctinal integrity are vices-then it's a sin I won't repent of. Perhaps you and I might define legalism differently..Any attempt to be Justified or Sanctified by one's own works.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Was Jesus Married?
Monday, February 27, 2006
What if you died Today?
Imagine that you died today,
That you stood before God
And God asked you,
"Why should I let you into heaven?"
What would you say?
This is an important question, isn't it?
If You Want to Answer it Correctly Then You Must Think About Several Things
Be sure that you know what God is like. God created you and is your rightful owner. God is loving, merciful, and kind. But we often do not think about the fact that God is holy. The Bible says that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) This means that God is perfectly holy. God always does what is right, and His laws are perfect. God never makes a mistake. God never approves of or ignores evil. Because God is holy, He hates all sin. (Psalm 5:5) Anything that is sinful or wrong cannot even come near God -- it would be burned away by His holiness. The Bible says that God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." (Habakkuk 1:13; "iniquity" is another word for "sin"). God is so holy that the Bible compares Him to a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)
God's holiness is an awesome thing. The Bible says, "who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For thou only art holy." (Revelation 15:4) This pure, holy God who hates sin is your Judge. The Bible says, "Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?" (1 Samuel 6:20)
God's holiness is the opposite of our sinfulness.
Everybody admits that they are not perfect. We all know that we have done some bad things in our lifetime. But most people do not understand what the Bible teaches about sin.
What is sin?
The Bible says that "Sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4). In other words, sin is rejecting or disobeying God's laws. We sin any time we do not do what God wants us to do. If we disobey God's laws, then we sin. If we fail to do the good things God commands us to do, then we sin. Some people think sin is only really horrible things like murder, adultery, getting drunk, or robbing a store. These are sins, but the Bible says that we sin when we disobey any of God's laws. The Bible also says that our attitudes and thoughts can be sinful -- so things like pride, lust, selfishness, greed, and hatred are sins, too.
Here are a Few of God's Laws Have You Broken Any of Them?
"Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matthew 22:37) This means that God must be the most important thing in your life.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:39) This means that it is not enough to put up with other people. God commands us to love them.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." (Exodus 20:7) This means that we cannot use God's name in a joking way or to curse with.
"Thou shalt not steal." (Exodus 20:15) Even stealing little things is a sin.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." (Exodus 20:16) Telling lies and deceiving people are sins.
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill will be in danger of judgment; but I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22) This means that feeling hatred or strong anger toward someone is usually a sin.
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) This means that lust is a sin.
If you did one sin every day, in ten years that would add up to 3,650 sins. In forty years, you would be guilty of 14,600 sins. And this is if you did only one sin a day!
This is why the Bible says that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) The Bible also says "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) Is there such a thing as a righteous man who never sins? The Bible says, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar." (1 John 1:10) It is true that no one is perfect. But the Bible teaches that we are not even close to being perfect! All of us have broken God's laws many, many times. All of us are guilty sinners.
Stop and think for a moment. How many sins have you done in your lifetime so far? 100? 1,000? 10,000? More than that?
WHY DO WE SIN SO MUCH?
The Bible says we sin over and over again because we have a sinful heart (or, as some people call it, a sinful nature).
Just like it is the nature of a fish to swim and it is the nature of a bird to fly, it is the nature of a human to disobey God and reject His laws. This is the source of our sin problem. Deep down inside our heart, we really want to sin. We like to sin. That is why we do it so much. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) Have you ever noticed that you do not have to teach a child how to lie or how to be selfish? They will do that on their own! That is because we are all born with a sinful heart. The Bible says that our sins (things like evil thoughts, lying, stealing, cursing, greed, lust, and pride) come "from within, out of the heart of men." (Mark 7:21-22)
Because we have a sinful heart, we refuse to let God be the Boss of our lives. We do not want anyone -- including God -- telling us what to do. We want to live our life the way we want to. We want to be the boss of our lives. We might believe in God, and we might even go to church or get baptized or sing songs about God, but we do not want Him to run our life. Either we do not want to obey God, or we will only obey God when it is easy. We do not care about God. We all have this attitude, and it comes from our sinful heart.
God created us and is our rightful owner. He demands that we love Him, obey Him, and live the way that He wants us to live. It is a serious sin if we will not let God be the Boss of our lives and if we insist on running our lives the way we want to. If we say, "God, You won't be my Boss! You won't tell me what to do! I'll do whatever I want to with my life, and I'll live my life the way I please!", isn't this just as serious as slapping God in His face?
Do you have a sinful heart? Is God the boss of your life?
Because God is Holy He Must Judge All Sin
God cannot ignore our sins or pretend like our sins never happened. Because we have broken God's laws, we deserve God's punishment. Look at these Bible verses:
"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
"God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalm 7:11)
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4)
"The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
A holy God must judge sin. If God allowed our sin to go unpunished, He would be saying that sin is okay. God will punish all sin because He is a God of justice.
We all know that this is fair. What if a murderer stood before a human judge and the judge knew that the murderer was guilty. What would you think if the judge just let the murderer go free? He would not be a very good judge, would he? He would be a bad judge! A good judge must punish people who are guilty -- he cannot just forget or ignore their crimes. In the same way, a holy God must judge all sin. When God punishes people for their sins, He is only giving them what they deserve.
The Bible says "it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) You will stand before God one day. You have broken God's laws many times. You deserve God's punishment. The Bible uses the word "wrath" (which means "anger") to describe God's punishment. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." (Romans 1:18) "The day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it." (Isaiah 13:9) When you disobey God and reject His laws, the Bible says you "treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." (Romans 2:5)
If God judged you for your sins, what would you deserve?
Here Are Some Common Mistakes That People Make About Heaven
Some think, "Yes, I have sinned, but I've done many good things in my life. My good deeds will make up for my bad deeds. I'm good enough to get into Heaven." This kind of thinking is wrong. The Bible never says that good deeds can pay for sins. Only the shedding of blood takes away sins. (Hebrews 9:22) The Bible says "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) This means that our good deeds are not very good when we compare them to God's holiness. Our good deeds still come out of a sinful heart that refuses to let God be our Boss. That is why they are not better than "filthy rags." When the Bible says "a man is not justified by the works of the law," (Galatians 2:16) it means that our good deeds or good works can never take away our sins and get us into Heaven.
Some think, "I'm not really bad. I'm not as bad as some people. So God won't judge me too hard. I'm good enough to get into Heaven." But God does not judge based on how we compare to other people. He judges by how we compare to His perfect standards of holiness. Maybe you are more kind or more honest or more religious than most people, but that does not matter. God will punish all sin. You need to ask yourself: Have I broken God's laws? Have I refused to let God be the Boss of my life? What do my sins and disobedience deserve?
Some think, "I'm doing the best I can. God will let me into Heaven because I'm doing my very best. And I'm going to try harder." The Bible never says that God will let you into Heaven if you do the best you can or if you try harder. Doing your best and trying harder can never take away sins. But have you really done the best you can? Do you always love God with all your heart? Do you serve God as much as you should? Do you do all the good things that you know you should do? None of us have done our very best!
Many think they are saved because they belong to a certain church, because they were baptized, because they attend church regularly, because they pray, or because they have had religious feelings. The Bible does not teach this. Things that we do, like joining a church or getting baptized can never take away our sins. Only God can take away sins!
You understand sin and God's holiness correctly when you realize that you can never be good enough to deserve to get into Heaven.
King David was a man in the Bible that God was pleased with. David knew that he was a sinful man. (See Psalm 51) David also knew that God is a holy Judge who hates sin. David prayed, "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified." (Psalm 143:2) David knew that he would be in big trouble if God judged him for his sins and gave him what he deserved. "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Psalm 130:3)
Your sins are so many, and God is so holy, that you could never be good enough to get into Heaven. You can never earn or deserve God's forgiveness. There is nothing you can do to get into Heaven because you cannot erase or get rid of your sins. You have broken God's laws many times. You have refused to let God be the Boss of your life. Because of your sins, God's wrath is upon you. You are in big trouble! If you ever stand before God and He judges you for your sins, you will get what you deserve: everlasting punishment in Hell.
Has the fact that you have disobeyed God many times ever really bothered you?
These are important questions because you can only come to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness if you know that you are a guilty sinner. Jesus said, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32; see also Luke 18:9-14) Jesus is saying that you must realize how serious your sin problem is before you can be forgiven. If you are not convinced that you are a guilty, lost sinner, then Jesus will not forgive you.
GOOD NEWS
God Himself Made a Way For Our Sins to be Forgiven
God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth 2,000 years ago. Jesus was both God and man at the same time. Jesus did many miracles while on earth. He taught us how God expects us to live. Jesus never sinned and always obeyed all God's laws perfectly. Most importantly, Jesus came to earth to die for our sins.
Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and crucified. As the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, the sins of all God's people were put on Him. Jesus Christ bore or carried our sins in His body. The Bible says that "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6; "iniquity" means "sin") The Lord Jesus "His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree." (1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 1:3-4)
As Jesus hung on that cross, God poured out His holy punishment for sin on Him. Jesus did not deserve that punishment because He never broke God's laws. But He was carrying our sins, and God gave Jesus Christ the punishment that we deserved. He became our Substitute who died in our place. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all the sins ever committed by God's people. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)
This proves how much God loves us. The Bible says, "God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8; "commendeth" means "demonstrates" or "proves")
Jesus's death was a sacrifice for our sins. Because Jesus is God, His sacrifice was big enough to fully pay for all those sins. Jesus did not just pay for some sins -- He paid for all the sins of God's people. Jesus Christ satisfied the demands of God's holiness and justice. That is why the Bible says that Jesus "taketh away the sin of the world," that Jesus "shall save His people from their sins," and that Jesus is "able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." (John 1:29, Matthew 1:21, Hebrews 7:25)
Jesus did not stay dead. God raised Him back to life, proving that Jesus fully paid for all the sins of God's pelple. He then returned to Heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ will come back to earth some day to judge the world. Though we cannot see Him, Jesus Christ is alive today. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16) The Lord Jesus Christ today has all power in Heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:18) The Bible says that "Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living." (Romans 14:9) Lord means Master, Boss, or Owner. Jesus Christ is our Savior, but He is also our Lord. "God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11) People today who disobey, ignore, or reject Jesus Christ are rebelling against the Lord and Ruler of the Universe! You must bow before Jesus and give Him your whole life!
Do you remember the two parts to our sin problem? First, we have done many sinful things. Second, we have a sinful heart or nature that causes us to keep on sinning. The Lord Jesus Christ takes care of both parts of our sin problem. This is what the Bible means by "being saved" or "salvation." It is true that God saves people from Hell, but being saved also means being freed or rescued from living a life of sin.
First, all your sins can be forgiven. Because God fully punished sin when He poured out His punishment on Jesus Christ, there is no need to punish sin again. That is a debt or a bill that is already paid. "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) Second, the Lord Jesus can change your sinful heart. This change makes you want to live a holy life -- you do not want to sin and you want to please God in everything you do. Jesus can make you into a new person! This is why the Bible says the "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Coming to Jesus Christ to be rescued from your sins produces big changes. All your sins are forgiven. You receive a new heart. God accepts you as a child in his family and becomes a Father to you. You are justified, or declared righteous, in God's sight. It is like starting your life all over again -- or, as the Bible says, being born again. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
Has your sin problem been taken care of by the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know that you are totally forgiven of all your sins?
There is nothing that you can do to have your sins forgiven and to receive a new heart. You do not earn God's forgiveness by being good. The Bible teaches that God gives this as a gift to guilty, undeserving sinners like you and me. Being saved or rescued from your sins requires God's grace. Grace means "blessing or gifts that someone does not deserve." The Bible says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) It also says that through Jesus Christ "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7) The Bible also says that we are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24; "justified" means "declared right with God") How does someone become a Christian? Only through God's grace.
The Bible says there are two conditions we must meet to receive this grace.
We Must REPENT of Our Sins
God "now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30) The Lord Jesus Christ said, "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3,5) "Repent" means to be so sorry for your sins that you stop doing them. When you repent, you realize that your sins are evil and you feel bad about them. (2 Corinthians 7:10-11) Someone who repents hates their sins; they do not keep on doing them! When you repent, you must make two turns: you must turn away from your sins and you must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ to obey Him. Our biggest sin is that we do not want God to be the Boss of our life. To repent means to turn around and go the opposite way: we now make the Lord Jesus the Boss of our life and we live the way He wants us to.
Is there some sin in your life that you will not give up? Repenting is a matter of ALL or NOTHING. If you will not stop doing your sins, then you cannot be forgiven. God only saves people who really repent.
Jesus said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24) This is what repentance is: we say "no" to our old way of living and our sins, and we follow Jesus Christ. Our old life of disobeying God is over.
Do you feel so sorry for your sins that you will stop doing them?
We Must Have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) You must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to rescue people from their sins, and that His death on the cross completely pays for sin. You must believe that Jesus Christ has the power to save you from your sins. You must trust the Lord Jesus Christ to take away your sins and change your heart.
When you sit in a chair, you trust that chair to hold you up. You prove you have that trust when you put your full weight on the chair. If you sit on the chair but hold on to something else, then you prove that you do not really trust the chair. In the same way, you must trust or put your full weight on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must rely on Him and Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins. If you think that God will let you into Heaven because you were baptized, or because you belong to a certain church, or because you are living a good life, then you are not really trusting Jesus Christ. All your hope must be in Him. You cannot hold on to anything else.
It is not enough to believe the facts about Jesus Christ. The devil believes all the facts about Jesus Christ, but he is not forgiven. (James 2:19) What is the difference between the Devil's faith and the faith that results in salvation? Real faith is always mixed with repentance Real faith means you surrender to Jesus Christ. If you have real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will love Him, you will obey Him, and you will live the way He wants you to live.
Some years ago, a preacher talked with a young girl about giving her life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The girl admitted that she was not a Christian but said that she wanted to become one. The man asked her, "Why do you want to be saved?" The girl answered, "Please, sir, I don't want to live a life of sin." That girl had the attitude of a person who is ready to be saved: they do not want to disobey God any longer.
If you have ever had a checking account, you know what a "blank check" is. Signing a "blank check" is dangerous, isn't it? If you sign a check but do not fill in the amount, someone else can fill in any amount they want to (and it might be all the money you have!) Repenting of your sins and having faith in Jesus Christ is like giving God a "blank check" with your life. You say, "God, You take my whole life. I will do whatever You want me to do. You are my Boss from now on." That is what real faith is!
God's forgiveness is a free gift. If you repent and have faith in Christ, however, you will have to change many things. The first thing the Apostle Paul said after God saved him was "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6) If God saves you, that will be your attitude. You will have to give up things you have done all your life and begin doing things that you have never done. You must live your life the way God wants you to, which means you must live according to His rules. (Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15-16) You must find a church where the Bible is taught and be a faithful part of that church. (Hebrews 10:25, 1 John 3:14) Friends and family members may laugh at you. Being a real Christian is not easy. Jesus Christ said that coming to Him will cost a great deal. He said, "Whosoever he is of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be My disciple." Before you come to Christ, you must "count the cost" -- be sure you are willing to stick it out! (Luke 14:25-33) This is what true faith includes. But it is worth it because the Lord Jesus Christ is worth it. Jesus is worthy of all you could ever give Him. Jesus Christ deserves your whole life.
Will you repent of your sins?
Will you have faith in Jesus Christ?
Will you give God a "blank check" with your life?
Being saved from your sin is something between you and the Lord Jesus Christ. No church or preacher can save you. You will have to talk to Jesus Christ yourself. There are no "magic words" or special prayers that you should pray. You must seriously, honestly cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot see Him, but he is alive today and hears you. Jesus Christ has all power in Heaven and earth; He (and He alone) has the power to save you from your sins!
If you are serious, you can be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ will hear you. The Bible says "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) The Lord Jesus Christ said, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37; "in no wise" means "by no means" or "never")
If You Reject Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Then You Will One Day Face Him as your Judge
We will all die one day and stand before God. The Bible says that God's wrath or anger is upon those people who refuse to obey the Lord Jesus Christ and refuse to trust Him for the forgiveness of sins. (John 3:36) Those people will face an everlasting punishment in Hell. (Revelation 20:11-15, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) God's people -- those who repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ -- will live forever with God in His holy Heaven. (Revelation 21:1-22) But everyone will live forever in either Heaven or Hell.
What would happen if you died tonight and stood before God for Judgment?
If God judged you for your sins, where would you spend eternity?
Nearly 3,000 years ago, God said, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) That is a great promise! If we really search for the Lord with all our heart -- if we are really serious -- then we will find Him. But if we do not search for Him with all our heart -- if we are not serious -- then we will not find Him.
Isn't it time you really got serious about God?
If you believe that God is real, then shouldn't He be the most important thing in your life?
Few things in this world are really a matter of life and death. Your relationship with God is that serious. Today is the day that you need to repent of your sins and trust Christ to save you. You may not have tomorrow.
How Can I Know if I am a Christian Already?
Religious feelings and miraculous experiences are not enough. Walking the aisle and shaking the pastor's hand does not make someone a Christian. Many people who have been baptized are not real Christians. Membership in the best church in the world does not make someone a Christian. "Praying through" on a mourner's bench does not necessarily mean that you are saved. You can know many things about the Bible and not be a Christian.
The Bible tells us how we can know whether or not we are really saved. The book of 1 John contains several "tests" that show whether God has truly saved someone or not.
Here are a few of the Bible's tests:
"By this we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, "I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:3-4)
Real Christians keep the Lord's commandments. Of course, Christians do sin. But real Christians are determined to obey God in all areas of their life. People who are not Christians frequently disobey God. They often do not care about God's commandments.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3; "grievous" means "burdensome" or "difficult")
Real Christians want to obey God. They enjoy obeying God. People who are not saved find it very difficult to obey the Lord's commands.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)
Real Christians live for the future world, not this one. They reject many things that this world does. People who are not Christians find it very hard to give up the joys and pleasures of this world. When given a choice, non-Christians choose the world instead of the things that God approves of.
"He that doeth the will of God abideth forever." (1 John 2:17)
Real Christians do or obey God's will, which means that God is the Boss of their life. People who are not Christians are their own bosses and they run their own lives. People who are lost often disobey God's will or simply do not care about God's will.
"He that doeth righteousness is righteous .... He that committeth sin is of the devil ... whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin .. whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God." (1 John 3:7-10)
Real Christians do righteous things over and over again. The pattern of his life is one of holiness. Someone who is not a Christian does wrong things over and over again. The pattern of his life is one of disobedience to God's laws.
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." (1 John 3:14)
Real Christians love other Christians. That is why real Christians are always faithful members of their local church. Christians enjoy being with other Christians, so they see going to church as a privilege and not a duty. Non-Christians either do not attend church or go to church only once in a while.
"By this we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit whom He hath given us." (1 John 3:24)
Real Christians have the Holy Spirit living in them. This is why they find spiritual things interesting and they enjoy studying the Bible. People who are not saved do not have the Holy Spirit. The Bible is often boring to them and hard to understand.
"Whatever is born of God overcommeth the World." (1 John 5:4)
Real Christians have victory over sin. They can break bad habits and see real change in their life as they pursue holiness. People who are not Christians often cannot break bad habits.
Do You Pass These Tests?
Be honest. If you do not pass these Bible tests, then you probably are not a Christian and have never been saved. Jesus said there will be many on the Day of Judgment who think they are Christians but are not. He said, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father, Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23) What is the mark of someone who is really saved? Jesus said that he "doeth the will of My Father , who is in Heaven." In other words, he obeys God and lives a life that is pleasing to God.
Make sure that you really are a Christian!
That you stood before God
And God asked you,
"Why should I let you into heaven?"
What would you say?
This is an important question, isn't it?
If You Want to Answer it Correctly Then You Must Think About Several Things
Be sure that you know what God is like. God created you and is your rightful owner. God is loving, merciful, and kind. But we often do not think about the fact that God is holy. The Bible says that "God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) This means that God is perfectly holy. God always does what is right, and His laws are perfect. God never makes a mistake. God never approves of or ignores evil. Because God is holy, He hates all sin. (Psalm 5:5) Anything that is sinful or wrong cannot even come near God -- it would be burned away by His holiness. The Bible says that God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." (Habakkuk 1:13; "iniquity" is another word for "sin"). God is so holy that the Bible compares Him to a consuming fire. (Hebrews 12:28-29)
God's holiness is an awesome thing. The Bible says, "who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For thou only art holy." (Revelation 15:4) This pure, holy God who hates sin is your Judge. The Bible says, "Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God?" (1 Samuel 6:20)
God's holiness is the opposite of our sinfulness.
Everybody admits that they are not perfect. We all know that we have done some bad things in our lifetime. But most people do not understand what the Bible teaches about sin.
What is sin?
The Bible says that "Sin is the transgression of the law." (1 John 3:4). In other words, sin is rejecting or disobeying God's laws. We sin any time we do not do what God wants us to do. If we disobey God's laws, then we sin. If we fail to do the good things God commands us to do, then we sin. Some people think sin is only really horrible things like murder, adultery, getting drunk, or robbing a store. These are sins, but the Bible says that we sin when we disobey any of God's laws. The Bible also says that our attitudes and thoughts can be sinful -- so things like pride, lust, selfishness, greed, and hatred are sins, too.
Here are a Few of God's Laws Have You Broken Any of Them?
"Thou shalt love the Lord, thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." (Matthew 22:37) This means that God must be the most important thing in your life.
"Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." (Matthew 22:39) This means that it is not enough to put up with other people. God commands us to love them.
"Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain." (Exodus 20:7) This means that we cannot use God's name in a joking way or to curse with.
"Thou shalt not steal." (Exodus 20:15) Even stealing little things is a sin.
"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." (Exodus 20:16) Telling lies and deceiving people are sins.
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill will be in danger of judgment; but I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of judgment." (Matthew 5:21-22) This means that feeling hatred or strong anger toward someone is usually a sin.
"Ye have heard that it was said by them of old, Thou shalt not commit adultery; but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:27-28) This means that lust is a sin.
If you did one sin every day, in ten years that would add up to 3,650 sins. In forty years, you would be guilty of 14,600 sins. And this is if you did only one sin a day!
This is why the Bible says that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) The Bible also says "there is not a just man upon earth, that doeth good and sinneth not." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) Is there such a thing as a righteous man who never sins? The Bible says, "If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar." (1 John 1:10) It is true that no one is perfect. But the Bible teaches that we are not even close to being perfect! All of us have broken God's laws many, many times. All of us are guilty sinners.
Stop and think for a moment. How many sins have you done in your lifetime so far? 100? 1,000? 10,000? More than that?
WHY DO WE SIN SO MUCH?
The Bible says we sin over and over again because we have a sinful heart (or, as some people call it, a sinful nature).
Just like it is the nature of a fish to swim and it is the nature of a bird to fly, it is the nature of a human to disobey God and reject His laws. This is the source of our sin problem. Deep down inside our heart, we really want to sin. We like to sin. That is why we do it so much. "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) Have you ever noticed that you do not have to teach a child how to lie or how to be selfish? They will do that on their own! That is because we are all born with a sinful heart. The Bible says that our sins (things like evil thoughts, lying, stealing, cursing, greed, lust, and pride) come "from within, out of the heart of men." (Mark 7:21-22)
Because we have a sinful heart, we refuse to let God be the Boss of our lives. We do not want anyone -- including God -- telling us what to do. We want to live our life the way we want to. We want to be the boss of our lives. We might believe in God, and we might even go to church or get baptized or sing songs about God, but we do not want Him to run our life. Either we do not want to obey God, or we will only obey God when it is easy. We do not care about God. We all have this attitude, and it comes from our sinful heart.
God created us and is our rightful owner. He demands that we love Him, obey Him, and live the way that He wants us to live. It is a serious sin if we will not let God be the Boss of our lives and if we insist on running our lives the way we want to. If we say, "God, You won't be my Boss! You won't tell me what to do! I'll do whatever I want to with my life, and I'll live my life the way I please!", isn't this just as serious as slapping God in His face?
Do you have a sinful heart? Is God the boss of your life?
Because God is Holy He Must Judge All Sin
God cannot ignore our sins or pretend like our sins never happened. Because we have broken God's laws, we deserve God's punishment. Look at these Bible verses:
"The Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord." (2 Thessalonians 1:7-9)
"God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day." (Psalm 7:11)
"The soul that sinneth, it shall die." (Ezekiel 18:4)
"The wages of sin is death." (Romans 6:23)
A holy God must judge sin. If God allowed our sin to go unpunished, He would be saying that sin is okay. God will punish all sin because He is a God of justice.
We all know that this is fair. What if a murderer stood before a human judge and the judge knew that the murderer was guilty. What would you think if the judge just let the murderer go free? He would not be a very good judge, would he? He would be a bad judge! A good judge must punish people who are guilty -- he cannot just forget or ignore their crimes. In the same way, a holy God must judge all sin. When God punishes people for their sins, He is only giving them what they deserve.
The Bible says "it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment." (Hebrews 9:27) You will stand before God one day. You have broken God's laws many times. You deserve God's punishment. The Bible uses the word "wrath" (which means "anger") to describe God's punishment. "The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men." (Romans 1:18) "The day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and He shall destroy the sinners out of it." (Isaiah 13:9) When you disobey God and reject His laws, the Bible says you "treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God." (Romans 2:5)
If God judged you for your sins, what would you deserve?
Here Are Some Common Mistakes That People Make About Heaven
Some think, "Yes, I have sinned, but I've done many good things in my life. My good deeds will make up for my bad deeds. I'm good enough to get into Heaven." This kind of thinking is wrong. The Bible never says that good deeds can pay for sins. Only the shedding of blood takes away sins. (Hebrews 9:22) The Bible says "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." (Isaiah 64:6) This means that our good deeds are not very good when we compare them to God's holiness. Our good deeds still come out of a sinful heart that refuses to let God be our Boss. That is why they are not better than "filthy rags." When the Bible says "a man is not justified by the works of the law," (Galatians 2:16) it means that our good deeds or good works can never take away our sins and get us into Heaven.
Some think, "I'm not really bad. I'm not as bad as some people. So God won't judge me too hard. I'm good enough to get into Heaven." But God does not judge based on how we compare to other people. He judges by how we compare to His perfect standards of holiness. Maybe you are more kind or more honest or more religious than most people, but that does not matter. God will punish all sin. You need to ask yourself: Have I broken God's laws? Have I refused to let God be the Boss of my life? What do my sins and disobedience deserve?
Some think, "I'm doing the best I can. God will let me into Heaven because I'm doing my very best. And I'm going to try harder." The Bible never says that God will let you into Heaven if you do the best you can or if you try harder. Doing your best and trying harder can never take away sins. But have you really done the best you can? Do you always love God with all your heart? Do you serve God as much as you should? Do you do all the good things that you know you should do? None of us have done our very best!
Many think they are saved because they belong to a certain church, because they were baptized, because they attend church regularly, because they pray, or because they have had religious feelings. The Bible does not teach this. Things that we do, like joining a church or getting baptized can never take away our sins. Only God can take away sins!
You understand sin and God's holiness correctly when you realize that you can never be good enough to deserve to get into Heaven.
King David was a man in the Bible that God was pleased with. David knew that he was a sinful man. (See Psalm 51) David also knew that God is a holy Judge who hates sin. David prayed, "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified." (Psalm 143:2) David knew that he would be in big trouble if God judged him for his sins and gave him what he deserved. "If Thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Psalm 130:3)
Your sins are so many, and God is so holy, that you could never be good enough to get into Heaven. You can never earn or deserve God's forgiveness. There is nothing you can do to get into Heaven because you cannot erase or get rid of your sins. You have broken God's laws many times. You have refused to let God be the Boss of your life. Because of your sins, God's wrath is upon you. You are in big trouble! If you ever stand before God and He judges you for your sins, you will get what you deserve: everlasting punishment in Hell.
Has the fact that you have disobeyed God many times ever really bothered you?
These are important questions because you can only come to the Lord Jesus Christ for forgiveness if you know that you are a guilty sinner. Jesus said, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance." (Luke 5:31-32; see also Luke 18:9-14) Jesus is saying that you must realize how serious your sin problem is before you can be forgiven. If you are not convinced that you are a guilty, lost sinner, then Jesus will not forgive you.
GOOD NEWS
God Himself Made a Way For Our Sins to be Forgiven
God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, came to earth 2,000 years ago. Jesus was both God and man at the same time. Jesus did many miracles while on earth. He taught us how God expects us to live. Jesus never sinned and always obeyed all God's laws perfectly. Most importantly, Jesus came to earth to die for our sins.
Jesus Christ was nailed to a cross and crucified. As the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, the sins of all God's people were put on Him. Jesus Christ bore or carried our sins in His body. The Bible says that "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities ... and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." (Isaiah 53:5-6; "iniquity" means "sin") The Lord Jesus "His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree." (1 Peter 2:24, Galatians 1:3-4)
As Jesus hung on that cross, God poured out His holy punishment for sin on Him. Jesus did not deserve that punishment because He never broke God's laws. But He was carrying our sins, and God gave Jesus Christ the punishment that we deserved. He became our Substitute who died in our place. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all the sins ever committed by God's people. "Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." (1 Peter 3:18)
This proves how much God loves us. The Bible says, "God commendeth His love toward us in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8; "commendeth" means "demonstrates" or "proves")
Jesus's death was a sacrifice for our sins. Because Jesus is God, His sacrifice was big enough to fully pay for all those sins. Jesus did not just pay for some sins -- He paid for all the sins of God's people. Jesus Christ satisfied the demands of God's holiness and justice. That is why the Bible says that Jesus "taketh away the sin of the world," that Jesus "shall save His people from their sins," and that Jesus is "able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him." (John 1:29, Matthew 1:21, Hebrews 7:25)
Jesus did not stay dead. God raised Him back to life, proving that Jesus fully paid for all the sins of God's pelple. He then returned to Heaven. The Lord Jesus Christ will come back to earth some day to judge the world. Though we cannot see Him, Jesus Christ is alive today. He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. (Revelation 19:16) The Lord Jesus Christ today has all power in Heaven and earth. (Matthew 28:18) The Bible says that "Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that He might be Lord both of the dead and living." (Romans 14:9) Lord means Master, Boss, or Owner. Jesus Christ is our Savior, but He is also our Lord. "God also hath highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow ... and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11) People today who disobey, ignore, or reject Jesus Christ are rebelling against the Lord and Ruler of the Universe! You must bow before Jesus and give Him your whole life!
Do you remember the two parts to our sin problem? First, we have done many sinful things. Second, we have a sinful heart or nature that causes us to keep on sinning. The Lord Jesus Christ takes care of both parts of our sin problem. This is what the Bible means by "being saved" or "salvation." It is true that God saves people from Hell, but being saved also means being freed or rescued from living a life of sin.
First, all your sins can be forgiven. Because God fully punished sin when He poured out His punishment on Jesus Christ, there is no need to punish sin again. That is a debt or a bill that is already paid. "The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all sin." (1 John 1:7) Second, the Lord Jesus can change your sinful heart. This change makes you want to live a holy life -- you do not want to sin and you want to please God in everything you do. Jesus can make you into a new person! This is why the Bible says the "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Coming to Jesus Christ to be rescued from your sins produces big changes. All your sins are forgiven. You receive a new heart. God accepts you as a child in his family and becomes a Father to you. You are justified, or declared righteous, in God's sight. It is like starting your life all over again -- or, as the Bible says, being born again. Jesus said, "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)
Has your sin problem been taken care of by the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you know that you are totally forgiven of all your sins?
There is nothing that you can do to have your sins forgiven and to receive a new heart. You do not earn God's forgiveness by being good. The Bible teaches that God gives this as a gift to guilty, undeserving sinners like you and me. Being saved or rescued from your sins requires God's grace. Grace means "blessing or gifts that someone does not deserve." The Bible says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9) It also says that through Jesus Christ "we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace." (Ephesians 1:7) The Bible also says that we are "justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:24; "justified" means "declared right with God") How does someone become a Christian? Only through God's grace.
The Bible says there are two conditions we must meet to receive this grace.
We Must REPENT of Our Sins
God "now commandeth all men everywhere to repent." (Acts 17:30) The Lord Jesus Christ said, "except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:3,5) "Repent" means to be so sorry for your sins that you stop doing them. When you repent, you realize that your sins are evil and you feel bad about them. (2 Corinthians 7:10-11) Someone who repents hates their sins; they do not keep on doing them! When you repent, you must make two turns: you must turn away from your sins and you must turn to the Lord Jesus Christ to obey Him. Our biggest sin is that we do not want God to be the Boss of our life. To repent means to turn around and go the opposite way: we now make the Lord Jesus the Boss of our life and we live the way He wants us to.
Is there some sin in your life that you will not give up? Repenting is a matter of ALL or NOTHING. If you will not stop doing your sins, then you cannot be forgiven. God only saves people who really repent.
Jesus said, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." (Matthew 16:24) This is what repentance is: we say "no" to our old way of living and our sins, and we follow Jesus Christ. Our old life of disobeying God is over.
Do you feel so sorry for your sins that you will stop doing them?
We Must Have FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ
"Being justified by faith, we have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 5:1) You must believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died on the cross to rescue people from their sins, and that His death on the cross completely pays for sin. You must believe that Jesus Christ has the power to save you from your sins. You must trust the Lord Jesus Christ to take away your sins and change your heart.
When you sit in a chair, you trust that chair to hold you up. You prove you have that trust when you put your full weight on the chair. If you sit on the chair but hold on to something else, then you prove that you do not really trust the chair. In the same way, you must trust or put your full weight on the Lord Jesus Christ. You must rely on Him and Him alone for the forgiveness of your sins. If you think that God will let you into Heaven because you were baptized, or because you belong to a certain church, or because you are living a good life, then you are not really trusting Jesus Christ. All your hope must be in Him. You cannot hold on to anything else.
It is not enough to believe the facts about Jesus Christ. The devil believes all the facts about Jesus Christ, but he is not forgiven. (James 2:19) What is the difference between the Devil's faith and the faith that results in salvation? Real faith is always mixed with repentance Real faith means you surrender to Jesus Christ. If you have real faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will love Him, you will obey Him, and you will live the way He wants you to live.
Some years ago, a preacher talked with a young girl about giving her life to the Lord Jesus Christ. The girl admitted that she was not a Christian but said that she wanted to become one. The man asked her, "Why do you want to be saved?" The girl answered, "Please, sir, I don't want to live a life of sin." That girl had the attitude of a person who is ready to be saved: they do not want to disobey God any longer.
If you have ever had a checking account, you know what a "blank check" is. Signing a "blank check" is dangerous, isn't it? If you sign a check but do not fill in the amount, someone else can fill in any amount they want to (and it might be all the money you have!) Repenting of your sins and having faith in Jesus Christ is like giving God a "blank check" with your life. You say, "God, You take my whole life. I will do whatever You want me to do. You are my Boss from now on." That is what real faith is!
God's forgiveness is a free gift. If you repent and have faith in Christ, however, you will have to change many things. The first thing the Apostle Paul said after God saved him was "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" (Acts 9:6) If God saves you, that will be your attitude. You will have to give up things you have done all your life and begin doing things that you have never done. You must live your life the way God wants you to, which means you must live according to His rules. (Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 1:15-16) You must find a church where the Bible is taught and be a faithful part of that church. (Hebrews 10:25, 1 John 3:14) Friends and family members may laugh at you. Being a real Christian is not easy. Jesus Christ said that coming to Him will cost a great deal. He said, "Whosoever he is of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be My disciple." Before you come to Christ, you must "count the cost" -- be sure you are willing to stick it out! (Luke 14:25-33) This is what true faith includes. But it is worth it because the Lord Jesus Christ is worth it. Jesus is worthy of all you could ever give Him. Jesus Christ deserves your whole life.
Will you repent of your sins?
Will you have faith in Jesus Christ?
Will you give God a "blank check" with your life?
Being saved from your sin is something between you and the Lord Jesus Christ. No church or preacher can save you. You will have to talk to Jesus Christ yourself. There are no "magic words" or special prayers that you should pray. You must seriously, honestly cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot see Him, but he is alive today and hears you. Jesus Christ has all power in Heaven and earth; He (and He alone) has the power to save you from your sins!
If you are serious, you can be sure that the Lord Jesus Christ will hear you. The Bible says "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13) The Lord Jesus Christ said, "All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out." (John 6:37; "in no wise" means "by no means" or "never")
If You Reject Jesus as Your Lord and Savior Then You Will One Day Face Him as your Judge
We will all die one day and stand before God. The Bible says that God's wrath or anger is upon those people who refuse to obey the Lord Jesus Christ and refuse to trust Him for the forgiveness of sins. (John 3:36) Those people will face an everlasting punishment in Hell. (Revelation 20:11-15, 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9) God's people -- those who repent of their sins and trust the Lord Jesus Christ -- will live forever with God in His holy Heaven. (Revelation 21:1-22) But everyone will live forever in either Heaven or Hell.
What would happen if you died tonight and stood before God for Judgment?
If God judged you for your sins, where would you spend eternity?
Nearly 3,000 years ago, God said, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13) That is a great promise! If we really search for the Lord with all our heart -- if we are really serious -- then we will find Him. But if we do not search for Him with all our heart -- if we are not serious -- then we will not find Him.
Isn't it time you really got serious about God?
If you believe that God is real, then shouldn't He be the most important thing in your life?
Few things in this world are really a matter of life and death. Your relationship with God is that serious. Today is the day that you need to repent of your sins and trust Christ to save you. You may not have tomorrow.
How Can I Know if I am a Christian Already?
Religious feelings and miraculous experiences are not enough. Walking the aisle and shaking the pastor's hand does not make someone a Christian. Many people who have been baptized are not real Christians. Membership in the best church in the world does not make someone a Christian. "Praying through" on a mourner's bench does not necessarily mean that you are saved. You can know many things about the Bible and not be a Christian.
The Bible tells us how we can know whether or not we are really saved. The book of 1 John contains several "tests" that show whether God has truly saved someone or not.
Here are a few of the Bible's tests:
"By this we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, "I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." (1 John 2:3-4)
Real Christians keep the Lord's commandments. Of course, Christians do sin. But real Christians are determined to obey God in all areas of their life. People who are not Christians frequently disobey God. They often do not care about God's commandments.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous." (1 John 5:3; "grievous" means "burdensome" or "difficult")
Real Christians want to obey God. They enjoy obeying God. People who are not saved find it very difficult to obey the Lord's commands.
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." (1 John 2:15)
Real Christians live for the future world, not this one. They reject many things that this world does. People who are not Christians find it very hard to give up the joys and pleasures of this world. When given a choice, non-Christians choose the world instead of the things that God approves of.
"He that doeth the will of God abideth forever." (1 John 2:17)
Real Christians do or obey God's will, which means that God is the Boss of their life. People who are not Christians are their own bosses and they run their own lives. People who are lost often disobey God's will or simply do not care about God's will.
"He that doeth righteousness is righteous .... He that committeth sin is of the devil ... whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin .. whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God." (1 John 3:7-10)
Real Christians do righteous things over and over again. The pattern of his life is one of holiness. Someone who is not a Christian does wrong things over and over again. The pattern of his life is one of disobedience to God's laws.
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." (1 John 3:14)
Real Christians love other Christians. That is why real Christians are always faithful members of their local church. Christians enjoy being with other Christians, so they see going to church as a privilege and not a duty. Non-Christians either do not attend church or go to church only once in a while.
"By this we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit whom He hath given us." (1 John 3:24)
Real Christians have the Holy Spirit living in them. This is why they find spiritual things interesting and they enjoy studying the Bible. People who are not saved do not have the Holy Spirit. The Bible is often boring to them and hard to understand.
"Whatever is born of God overcommeth the World." (1 John 5:4)
Real Christians have victory over sin. They can break bad habits and see real change in their life as they pursue holiness. People who are not Christians often cannot break bad habits.
Do You Pass These Tests?
Be honest. If you do not pass these Bible tests, then you probably are not a Christian and have never been saved. Jesus said there will be many on the Day of Judgment who think they are Christians but are not. He said, "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of My Father, Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." (Matthew 7:21-23) What is the mark of someone who is really saved? Jesus said that he "doeth the will of My Father , who is in Heaven." In other words, he obeys God and lives a life that is pleasing to God.
Make sure that you really are a Christian!
Friday, February 10, 2006
"The Da Vinci Code"-the hoax behind the code
"The Da Vinci Code" - the hoax behind the code
Click here for a German translation of this article
This article is a response to questions that people have asked us in regards to the novel, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. The novel was published in 2003 and has sold millions of copies. The novel, which is fiction, claims that the New Testament of the Bible is false and that Christianity, as we know it today, is radically different from the "original" Christianity. This article seeks to explain that the theory behind The Da Vinci Code, is false.
1. Fiction: Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus.
This claim is the backbone of Brown's novel. The The Da Vinci Code claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, that they had children, and that their descendants included a line of kings in France, as well as some of the main characters in Brown's novel.
Despite Brown's claims, however, there are no historical documents that claim that Jesus was married - not even the "Gnostic gospels" that Brown mentions in his novel. (The Gnostic texts were written a century or more after the New Testament. The Gnostic texts borrow some names and ideas from Christianity but the texts are not Christian and they are not used by Christians.)
The only specific evidence that Brown cites to support this claim of a marriage is a passage from one of the Gnostic texts - the so-called "gospel of Phillip." And that lone piece of evidence actually undermines Brown's claim.
The main problem with the "Phillip" passage is that it clearly shows that even in the context of this Gnostic text, Mary Magdalene and Jesus could not have been married. If you read the passage, as shown on page 246 of the hardcopy version of The Da Vinci Code, you'll see for yourself:
"the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, 'Why do you love her more than all of us?'"
If, in the context of this Gnostic text, the Savior and Magdalene were supposedly married, then why would the disciples bother to ask why he loved her more than them?
Can you imagine a scenario in which a group of men would ask a married man, "Why do you love your wife more than us? And, for that matter, why do you keep kissing your wife?" Such a question wouldn't make any sense. In fact, it wouldn't make any sense even if the two were merely engaged or simply dating.
The only way that the question would make sense in the Gnostic text is if there was no reason for Mary Magdalene to be treated any differently than the men. And the only way that this could be true is if Mary Magdalene was supposed to have the exact same relationship with the "Savior" as did the "other disciples." In other words, only if she was not married, or otherwise intimately involved.
There are other problems with Brown's marriage theory:
• Despite Brown's "translation" of that key passage from the Gnostic gospel of Phillip, the word "mouth" doesn't actually appear in the original text. According to page 49 of The Da Vinci Deception, by Erwin W. Lutzer: "You should know that because of the poor quality of the papyrus, a word or two is missing in the original. The text reads, 'Jesus kissed her often on the [blank].' So scholars fill in the blank with the word mouth, face, or forehead, etc. Actually, for all we know the text might have said 'the hand' or even 'the cheek' since the statement implies that he also kissed his other students – presumably on the cheek as is still done in the Middle East."
• Brown claims that the Aramaic word for "companion" literally meant "spouse." That is not true according to various Aramaic scholars. And, even more importantly, the Gnostic gospel of Phillip was not written in Aramaic. It was written in Coptic.
• None of the Gnostic gospels ever claimed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Even the so-called Gnostic gospel of Mary Magdalene fails to makes such a claim.
• Finally, consider this from page 41 of The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code, by Richard Abanes, in regards to the Gnostic Phillip text: Ironically, if this text does anything, it cuts out the very heart of any assertion about Mary and Jesus being wed. It does so by adhering to one of the basic tenets of ancient Gnosticism, which declares that all physical matter was inherently evil. Consequently, sexual relations were intrinsically debasing! The Gospel of Phillip goes so far as to say that marital relations defile a woman.
2. Fiction: The Gnostic gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls are "the earliest Christian records."
The The Da Vinci Code claims that the New Testament is a forgery and that the Gnostic gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls are the original Christian texts.
This claim, however, is flatly contradicted by an overwhelming amount of scholarship by Christians and non-Christians. Many scholars believe that the New Testament was written during the first century and that the Gnostic texts were written no sooner than the second century. And, the Dead Sea Scrolls don't contain any gospels of any kind. In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain any Christian writings of any kind.
There are four New Testament Gospels, which are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Many scholars believe that these were written during the century in which Jesus lived. The Gnostic gospels are generally believed to have been written later – about 100 to 300 years later. These Gnostic texts borrow some elements from Christianity, including the names of Jesus and his apostles, but these writings are not Christian.
There are major differences between the New Testament Gospels and the Gnostic gospels. The New Testament Gospels contain details about life in the land of Israel during the first century. They also contain several references to Old Testament passages, prophecies and theological concepts. For Christians, the New Testament is the continuation of the Old Testament. In contrast, the Gnostic texts contain very little detail to suggest that their authors had ever been to the land of Israel, or that they were even alive during the first century. And the theological concepts of the Gnostic texts sharply contradict those that are found in the Old Testament.
Consider this from pages 26 and 27 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, by Richard Abanes:
"But were the Gnostic gospels written prior to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Most scholars, Christian and non-Christian, would answer no. They date the Gnostic gospels (for example, those in the Nag Hammadi collection) to about A.D. 150 to 250. Although many of these texts are Coptic translation of earlier Greek texts (that are no longer extant), most scholars agree that the material itself still does not date previous to the mid 100s to the early 200s.
"In other words, the Gnostic texts were written after the books of Matthew (about 65 to 100), Mark (about 40 to 75), Luke (about 60 to 80), and John (about 90). They [the Gnostic texts] were late arrivals, which is one reason why church leaders rejected them. ... These Gnostic gospels not only disagreed with the older [New Testament] Gospels, which were already accepted by Christians, but they lacked authority since their authors were neither a) apostles of Jesus nor b) persons associated with apostles of Jesus. ... No one really knows who wrote the [Gnostic] texts."
As for Brown's claim about the Dead Sea Scrolls - these scrolls were found in 1947, not in the 1950s as Brown mistakenly claims on page 234 of The Da Vinci Code. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain copies and fragments of Old Testament books and various religious and secular writings. But they do not contain any gospels, and they do not contain any references to Jesus. In fact, many of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written centuries before the time of Jesus.
3. Fiction: Christianity stole its ideas and concepts from paganism.
The Da Vinci Code, on page 232: claims: "Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian god Mithras - called the Son of God and the Light of the World - was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 was also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
This sequence of claims has puzzled many critics of Brown's book as to their possible origin, if indeed they have an origin outside of the author's imagination.
Serious scholars who have studied the Mithraic traditions, including Franz Cumont, paint a very different portrayal. They don't mention any death of Mithra, and they certainly don't mention any type of resurrection for Mithra.
Some Christians do celebrate Christmas on December 25 as a time of year to commemorate the birth and life of Jesus. But that doesn't mean that they believe that Jesus was born on that particular date. In fact, the Bible does not mention a specific birth date for Jesus.
For comparison, consider the American holiday called "Presidents Day." The holiday occurs on a day in February, but that doesn't mean that Americans believe that all presidents were born on that particular day in February. Of course not. It is simply a day that is set aside to commemorate American presidents.
As for the claim that the myths known as Osiris, Adonis and Dionysus were born on December 25, I have been unable to track down any scholarly source that actually makes that claim.
In regards to some of the other claims involving Mithra and Christianity, consider the following from page 87 of de-coding Da Vinci: The facts behind the fiction of The Da Vinci Code by Amy Welborn:
"Mithras was a god with many forms. By the centuries after Christ, his cult was primarily a mystery religion, popular among men, especially soldiers. Mithraic studies do not find any attribution of the titles 'Son of God' or 'Light of the World,' as Brown claims. There is also no mention of a death-resurrection motif in Mithraic mythology. Brown seems to have picked this up from a discredited nineteenth-century historian, who provided no documentation for his assertion. The same historian is the source for the Krishna connection to which Brown alludes. There is not a single story in actual Hindu mythology of Krishna being presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh at his birth (see Miesel and Olsen, Cracking the Anti-Catholic Code)."
4. Fiction: The sacred name for God has a paganistic origin.
The Da Vinci Code, on page 309, claims: "The Jewish Tetragrammaton YHWH - the sacred name of God - in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah"
This is perhaps one of the most embarrassing errors within Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The word Jehovah isn't the name for God. In fact, that word doesn't appear in the Bible in either the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or in the Greek text of the New Testament. The word Jehovah is a made-up English word.
The ancient Jews began a tradition that they would not pronounce the name of God (YHWH), as a way of showing respect. Instead, when they read aloud from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), and they came across the name for God (YHWH), they would substitute another word – the Hebrew word for "Lord," which is "Adonah." This is similar to the practice of addressing a king as "Lord," rather than as "king."
Over time, the vowel sounds for the Hebrew word "Adonah" were fused with the consonants for the name of God (YHWH), and a new word was created - "Yehovah." (This hybrid word, which didn't exist until roughly 500 years ago, was often mistakenly pronounced by English speakers as "Jehovah," even though there is no J sound in the Hebrew language).
Therefore, any theory, however ill-intentioned or well-intentioned, that involves either the word "Jehovah" or the word "Yehovah" is completely meaningless, because there is no such word in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or in the Greek text of the New Testament.
Brown, however, isn't the first person to mistakenly think that Jehovah was an actual word. And given the popularity of his novel, he won't be the last.
5. Fiction: The Vatican killed an "astounding 5 million women" during the witch hunts
This is important to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, because in order for novel's storyline to work, the Catholic Church must be portrayed as an evil, oppressive institution that hates, oppresses and feels threatened by women.
But, despite Brown's claims that there were 5 million women burned to death by the Vatican, the fact is many scholars, including those who are not Christian, say that the witch hunts were generally done by local governments and individuals. Many scholarly sources estimate that the number of people killed by the witch hunts is between 20,000 to 100,000. And, some sources estimate that 20 to 25 percent of the victims were men.
Here are some additional details from page 36 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code:
It also should be noted that these persecutions were actually "a collaborative enterprise between men and women at the local level." Adam Jones, professor of international studies at the Center for Research and Teaching Economics (Mexico City), has cited many sources showing that most of the accusations of witchcraft "originated in 'conflicts [that] normally opposed one woman to another.'"
For instance, Jones quotes Robin Briggs (author of Witches & Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft) as saying that "most informal accusations were made by women against other women." In Malevolent Nurture, Deborah Willis of the University of California, Riverside, confirms that "women were actively involved in making witchcraft accusations against their female neighbors." She adds, "To a considerable extent, then, village-level witch-hunting was women's work."
6. Fiction: Emperor Constantine shaped the New Testament.
This is essential to the plot in The Da Vinci Code because it requires that the reader can believe that Constantine replaced the Gnostic writings with what we now call the New Testament. But, Constantine could not have had a hand in shaping the New Testament for two reasons: He wasn't born soon enough and he didn't live long enough. Based on writings from early church leaders, which date from the year 96 through the year 112, 24 of the 27 books that are part of today's New Testament were already regarded by early Christians as being authoritative, a full 213 years before Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. And, the Council of Nicea didn't canonize anything. The canonization process occurred a full 70 years later, on a different continent. In addition, there were several writings by early church leaders, who died long before Constantine was even born, that collectively quote thousands of New Testament passages.
7. Fiction: The Vatican demonized pagan worship.
The Da Vinci Code, page 37: "As part of the Vatican's campaign to eradicate pagan religions and convert the masses to Christianity, the church launched a smear campaign against the pagan gods and goddesses, recasting their divine symbols as evil.... Venus' pentacle became the sign of the devil."
Many people might not realize this, but there is a great deal of historical evidence that shows that pagans tried to eradicate Christianity and that pagans copied Christian symbols and ceremonies in the hopes of surviving the rapid spread of Christianity, especially during the first three centuries after the time of Jesus. During that era, the pagans had tremendous resources, including the support of emperors, who by default, where designated as high priests of pagan religions. Their efforts to eradicate Christianity were remarkably unsuccessful, and Christianity was able to become the first religion to spread to followers worldwide. Even today, it can be argued that Christianity is still the only worldwide religion.
As for Brown's claim about the pentacle, even that contradicts historical evidence. The fact is, many Christians actually embraced the pentacle! "The truth is, during the later medieval era (the 1100s to the 1500s), Christians used the pentagram and pentacle as a reminder of Christ's five wounds (hands, feet, side, back, head). They also used it as a symbol for "the five books of Moses" and "the five stones used by David against Goliath," according to page 32 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code.
There is nothing about a symbol, such as the pentacle or pentagram, that is inherently good or evil. Its meaning depends on who is using it and for what purpose they are using it. Some school teachers will mark a student's homework assignment with a star (a pentacle) to show that the student did excellent work. In this context, there is nothing demonic about the pentacle, it simply represents "stellar" work. But, when the founder of the Church of Satan needed a symbol for his religion during the 1960s he chose to use a pentacle, which he turned upside down. A pentacle, then, is what one makes of it.
So who "demonized" the pentacle? According to some scholars, and according to some modern pagan sources, it was a French occultist who lived during the 1800s. In other words, it was a pagan who "demonized" the symbol.
8. Fiction: Constantine and the Vatican demonized Mary Magdalene and sought to degrade women as part of a "power grab."
These claims are very important to Dan Brown's storyline. The historical evidence, however, strongly contradicts Brown's claim. Mary Magdalene is held in special regard by the Catholic Church, in part because she was the first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the Catholic Church wanted to tarnish the image of Mary Magdalene, and if it was willing to rewrite scripture to do it, then why would it allow Mary Magdalene to be the first person to have witnessed the most important event in all of Christianity, which is the resurrection?
Another problem for Brown's theory is that the Vatican exalts Mary Magdalene – as a saint! In fact, several churches are named in honor of Mary Magdalene, who is also honored with an annual celebration by Catholics.
And if someone can still think that Brown's theory is somehow true, that the Vatican allegedly hates women, then consider its regard for another woman named Mary – the mother of Jesus. And when you're finished contemplating that, apologize to yourself if you even momentarily thought that Dan Brown was on to something.
9. Fiction: "Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans."
Da Vinci Code, pages 232-233: "Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans. Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan's veneration day of the sun."
Actually, long before Constantine was even born, there were Christian writings that made it clear that there was a Sabbath, which corresponds to Saturday, and a "Lord's Day," which corresponds to Sunday. Since the early beginnings of Christianity, Christians had an affection for the first day of the week (Sunday) because this is the day on which Jesus was resurrected. Early references to the "Lord's Day" include Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2, which are books in the New Testament. These were written during the first century and predate the birth of Constantine by more than 200 years! Outside of the New Testament, there are early Christian writings that confirm that Christians celebrated a "Lord's Day" (Sunday). These writings include those by Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis. Both lived during the Second Century (during the 100s), and both had already died before Constantine was even born.
For more on the Da Vinci Code go to my websitehttp://www.frontlineevangelism.com and scroll down for link the da vinci code.
Click here for a German translation of this article
This article is a response to questions that people have asked us in regards to the novel, The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. The novel was published in 2003 and has sold millions of copies. The novel, which is fiction, claims that the New Testament of the Bible is false and that Christianity, as we know it today, is radically different from the "original" Christianity. This article seeks to explain that the theory behind The Da Vinci Code, is false.
1. Fiction: Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus.
This claim is the backbone of Brown's novel. The The Da Vinci Code claims that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married, that they had children, and that their descendants included a line of kings in France, as well as some of the main characters in Brown's novel.
Despite Brown's claims, however, there are no historical documents that claim that Jesus was married - not even the "Gnostic gospels" that Brown mentions in his novel. (The Gnostic texts were written a century or more after the New Testament. The Gnostic texts borrow some names and ideas from Christianity but the texts are not Christian and they are not used by Christians.)
The only specific evidence that Brown cites to support this claim of a marriage is a passage from one of the Gnostic texts - the so-called "gospel of Phillip." And that lone piece of evidence actually undermines Brown's claim.
The main problem with the "Phillip" passage is that it clearly shows that even in the context of this Gnostic text, Mary Magdalene and Jesus could not have been married. If you read the passage, as shown on page 246 of the hardcopy version of The Da Vinci Code, you'll see for yourself:
"the companion of the Savior is Mary Magdalene. Christ loved her more than all the disciples and used to kiss her often on her mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, 'Why do you love her more than all of us?'"
If, in the context of this Gnostic text, the Savior and Magdalene were supposedly married, then why would the disciples bother to ask why he loved her more than them?
Can you imagine a scenario in which a group of men would ask a married man, "Why do you love your wife more than us? And, for that matter, why do you keep kissing your wife?" Such a question wouldn't make any sense. In fact, it wouldn't make any sense even if the two were merely engaged or simply dating.
The only way that the question would make sense in the Gnostic text is if there was no reason for Mary Magdalene to be treated any differently than the men. And the only way that this could be true is if Mary Magdalene was supposed to have the exact same relationship with the "Savior" as did the "other disciples." In other words, only if she was not married, or otherwise intimately involved.
There are other problems with Brown's marriage theory:
• Despite Brown's "translation" of that key passage from the Gnostic gospel of Phillip, the word "mouth" doesn't actually appear in the original text. According to page 49 of The Da Vinci Deception, by Erwin W. Lutzer: "You should know that because of the poor quality of the papyrus, a word or two is missing in the original. The text reads, 'Jesus kissed her often on the [blank].' So scholars fill in the blank with the word mouth, face, or forehead, etc. Actually, for all we know the text might have said 'the hand' or even 'the cheek' since the statement implies that he also kissed his other students – presumably on the cheek as is still done in the Middle East."
• Brown claims that the Aramaic word for "companion" literally meant "spouse." That is not true according to various Aramaic scholars. And, even more importantly, the Gnostic gospel of Phillip was not written in Aramaic. It was written in Coptic.
• None of the Gnostic gospels ever claimed that Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. Even the so-called Gnostic gospel of Mary Magdalene fails to makes such a claim.
• Finally, consider this from page 41 of The Truth Behind The Da Vinci Code, by Richard Abanes, in regards to the Gnostic Phillip text: Ironically, if this text does anything, it cuts out the very heart of any assertion about Mary and Jesus being wed. It does so by adhering to one of the basic tenets of ancient Gnosticism, which declares that all physical matter was inherently evil. Consequently, sexual relations were intrinsically debasing! The Gospel of Phillip goes so far as to say that marital relations defile a woman.
2. Fiction: The Gnostic gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls are "the earliest Christian records."
The The Da Vinci Code claims that the New Testament is a forgery and that the Gnostic gospels and the Dead Sea Scrolls are the original Christian texts.
This claim, however, is flatly contradicted by an overwhelming amount of scholarship by Christians and non-Christians. Many scholars believe that the New Testament was written during the first century and that the Gnostic texts were written no sooner than the second century. And, the Dead Sea Scrolls don't contain any gospels of any kind. In fact, the Dead Sea Scrolls do not contain any Christian writings of any kind.
There are four New Testament Gospels, which are named Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Many scholars believe that these were written during the century in which Jesus lived. The Gnostic gospels are generally believed to have been written later – about 100 to 300 years later. These Gnostic texts borrow some elements from Christianity, including the names of Jesus and his apostles, but these writings are not Christian.
There are major differences between the New Testament Gospels and the Gnostic gospels. The New Testament Gospels contain details about life in the land of Israel during the first century. They also contain several references to Old Testament passages, prophecies and theological concepts. For Christians, the New Testament is the continuation of the Old Testament. In contrast, the Gnostic texts contain very little detail to suggest that their authors had ever been to the land of Israel, or that they were even alive during the first century. And the theological concepts of the Gnostic texts sharply contradict those that are found in the Old Testament.
Consider this from pages 26 and 27 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code, by Richard Abanes:
"But were the Gnostic gospels written prior to the books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Most scholars, Christian and non-Christian, would answer no. They date the Gnostic gospels (for example, those in the Nag Hammadi collection) to about A.D. 150 to 250. Although many of these texts are Coptic translation of earlier Greek texts (that are no longer extant), most scholars agree that the material itself still does not date previous to the mid 100s to the early 200s.
"In other words, the Gnostic texts were written after the books of Matthew (about 65 to 100), Mark (about 40 to 75), Luke (about 60 to 80), and John (about 90). They [the Gnostic texts] were late arrivals, which is one reason why church leaders rejected them. ... These Gnostic gospels not only disagreed with the older [New Testament] Gospels, which were already accepted by Christians, but they lacked authority since their authors were neither a) apostles of Jesus nor b) persons associated with apostles of Jesus. ... No one really knows who wrote the [Gnostic] texts."
As for Brown's claim about the Dead Sea Scrolls - these scrolls were found in 1947, not in the 1950s as Brown mistakenly claims on page 234 of The Da Vinci Code. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain copies and fragments of Old Testament books and various religious and secular writings. But they do not contain any gospels, and they do not contain any references to Jesus. In fact, many of the Dead Sea Scrolls were written centuries before the time of Jesus.
3. Fiction: Christianity stole its ideas and concepts from paganism.
The Da Vinci Code, on page 232: claims: "Nothing in Christianity is original. The pre-Christian god Mithras - called the Son of God and the Light of the World - was born on December 25, died, was buried in a rock tomb, and then resurrected in three days. By the way, December 25 was also the birthday of Osiris, Adonis, and Dionysus. The newborn Krishna was presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh."
This sequence of claims has puzzled many critics of Brown's book as to their possible origin, if indeed they have an origin outside of the author's imagination.
Serious scholars who have studied the Mithraic traditions, including Franz Cumont, paint a very different portrayal. They don't mention any death of Mithra, and they certainly don't mention any type of resurrection for Mithra.
Some Christians do celebrate Christmas on December 25 as a time of year to commemorate the birth and life of Jesus. But that doesn't mean that they believe that Jesus was born on that particular date. In fact, the Bible does not mention a specific birth date for Jesus.
For comparison, consider the American holiday called "Presidents Day." The holiday occurs on a day in February, but that doesn't mean that Americans believe that all presidents were born on that particular day in February. Of course not. It is simply a day that is set aside to commemorate American presidents.
As for the claim that the myths known as Osiris, Adonis and Dionysus were born on December 25, I have been unable to track down any scholarly source that actually makes that claim.
In regards to some of the other claims involving Mithra and Christianity, consider the following from page 87 of de-coding Da Vinci: The facts behind the fiction of The Da Vinci Code by Amy Welborn:
"Mithras was a god with many forms. By the centuries after Christ, his cult was primarily a mystery religion, popular among men, especially soldiers. Mithraic studies do not find any attribution of the titles 'Son of God' or 'Light of the World,' as Brown claims. There is also no mention of a death-resurrection motif in Mithraic mythology. Brown seems to have picked this up from a discredited nineteenth-century historian, who provided no documentation for his assertion. The same historian is the source for the Krishna connection to which Brown alludes. There is not a single story in actual Hindu mythology of Krishna being presented with gold, frankincense, and myrrh at his birth (see Miesel and Olsen, Cracking the Anti-Catholic Code)."
4. Fiction: The sacred name for God has a paganistic origin.
The Da Vinci Code, on page 309, claims: "The Jewish Tetragrammaton YHWH - the sacred name of God - in fact derived from Jehovah, an androgynous physical union between the masculine Jah and the pre-Hebraic name for Eve, Havah"
This is perhaps one of the most embarrassing errors within Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. The word Jehovah isn't the name for God. In fact, that word doesn't appear in the Bible in either the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or in the Greek text of the New Testament. The word Jehovah is a made-up English word.
The ancient Jews began a tradition that they would not pronounce the name of God (YHWH), as a way of showing respect. Instead, when they read aloud from the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), and they came across the name for God (YHWH), they would substitute another word – the Hebrew word for "Lord," which is "Adonah." This is similar to the practice of addressing a king as "Lord," rather than as "king."
Over time, the vowel sounds for the Hebrew word "Adonah" were fused with the consonants for the name of God (YHWH), and a new word was created - "Yehovah." (This hybrid word, which didn't exist until roughly 500 years ago, was often mistakenly pronounced by English speakers as "Jehovah," even though there is no J sound in the Hebrew language).
Therefore, any theory, however ill-intentioned or well-intentioned, that involves either the word "Jehovah" or the word "Yehovah" is completely meaningless, because there is no such word in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament or in the Greek text of the New Testament.
Brown, however, isn't the first person to mistakenly think that Jehovah was an actual word. And given the popularity of his novel, he won't be the last.
5. Fiction: The Vatican killed an "astounding 5 million women" during the witch hunts
This is important to Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code, because in order for novel's storyline to work, the Catholic Church must be portrayed as an evil, oppressive institution that hates, oppresses and feels threatened by women.
But, despite Brown's claims that there were 5 million women burned to death by the Vatican, the fact is many scholars, including those who are not Christian, say that the witch hunts were generally done by local governments and individuals. Many scholarly sources estimate that the number of people killed by the witch hunts is between 20,000 to 100,000. And, some sources estimate that 20 to 25 percent of the victims were men.
Here are some additional details from page 36 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code:
It also should be noted that these persecutions were actually "a collaborative enterprise between men and women at the local level." Adam Jones, professor of international studies at the Center for Research and Teaching Economics (Mexico City), has cited many sources showing that most of the accusations of witchcraft "originated in 'conflicts [that] normally opposed one woman to another.'"
For instance, Jones quotes Robin Briggs (author of Witches & Neighbours: The Social and Cultural Context of European Witchcraft) as saying that "most informal accusations were made by women against other women." In Malevolent Nurture, Deborah Willis of the University of California, Riverside, confirms that "women were actively involved in making witchcraft accusations against their female neighbors." She adds, "To a considerable extent, then, village-level witch-hunting was women's work."
6. Fiction: Emperor Constantine shaped the New Testament.
This is essential to the plot in The Da Vinci Code because it requires that the reader can believe that Constantine replaced the Gnostic writings with what we now call the New Testament. But, Constantine could not have had a hand in shaping the New Testament for two reasons: He wasn't born soon enough and he didn't live long enough. Based on writings from early church leaders, which date from the year 96 through the year 112, 24 of the 27 books that are part of today's New Testament were already regarded by early Christians as being authoritative, a full 213 years before Constantine convened the Council of Nicea. And, the Council of Nicea didn't canonize anything. The canonization process occurred a full 70 years later, on a different continent. In addition, there were several writings by early church leaders, who died long before Constantine was even born, that collectively quote thousands of New Testament passages.
7. Fiction: The Vatican demonized pagan worship.
The Da Vinci Code, page 37: "As part of the Vatican's campaign to eradicate pagan religions and convert the masses to Christianity, the church launched a smear campaign against the pagan gods and goddesses, recasting their divine symbols as evil.... Venus' pentacle became the sign of the devil."
Many people might not realize this, but there is a great deal of historical evidence that shows that pagans tried to eradicate Christianity and that pagans copied Christian symbols and ceremonies in the hopes of surviving the rapid spread of Christianity, especially during the first three centuries after the time of Jesus. During that era, the pagans had tremendous resources, including the support of emperors, who by default, where designated as high priests of pagan religions. Their efforts to eradicate Christianity were remarkably unsuccessful, and Christianity was able to become the first religion to spread to followers worldwide. Even today, it can be argued that Christianity is still the only worldwide religion.
As for Brown's claim about the pentacle, even that contradicts historical evidence. The fact is, many Christians actually embraced the pentacle! "The truth is, during the later medieval era (the 1100s to the 1500s), Christians used the pentagram and pentacle as a reminder of Christ's five wounds (hands, feet, side, back, head). They also used it as a symbol for "the five books of Moses" and "the five stones used by David against Goliath," according to page 32 of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code.
There is nothing about a symbol, such as the pentacle or pentagram, that is inherently good or evil. Its meaning depends on who is using it and for what purpose they are using it. Some school teachers will mark a student's homework assignment with a star (a pentacle) to show that the student did excellent work. In this context, there is nothing demonic about the pentacle, it simply represents "stellar" work. But, when the founder of the Church of Satan needed a symbol for his religion during the 1960s he chose to use a pentacle, which he turned upside down. A pentacle, then, is what one makes of it.
So who "demonized" the pentacle? According to some scholars, and according to some modern pagan sources, it was a French occultist who lived during the 1800s. In other words, it was a pagan who "demonized" the symbol.
8. Fiction: Constantine and the Vatican demonized Mary Magdalene and sought to degrade women as part of a "power grab."
These claims are very important to Dan Brown's storyline. The historical evidence, however, strongly contradicts Brown's claim. Mary Magdalene is held in special regard by the Catholic Church, in part because she was the first person to witness the resurrection of Jesus Christ. If the Catholic Church wanted to tarnish the image of Mary Magdalene, and if it was willing to rewrite scripture to do it, then why would it allow Mary Magdalene to be the first person to have witnessed the most important event in all of Christianity, which is the resurrection?
Another problem for Brown's theory is that the Vatican exalts Mary Magdalene – as a saint! In fact, several churches are named in honor of Mary Magdalene, who is also honored with an annual celebration by Catholics.
And if someone can still think that Brown's theory is somehow true, that the Vatican allegedly hates women, then consider its regard for another woman named Mary – the mother of Jesus. And when you're finished contemplating that, apologize to yourself if you even momentarily thought that Dan Brown was on to something.
9. Fiction: "Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans."
Da Vinci Code, pages 232-233: "Christianity's weekly holy day was stolen from the pagans. Christianity honored the Jewish Sabbath of Saturday, but Constantine shifted it to coincide with the pagan's veneration day of the sun."
Actually, long before Constantine was even born, there were Christian writings that made it clear that there was a Sabbath, which corresponds to Saturday, and a "Lord's Day," which corresponds to Sunday. Since the early beginnings of Christianity, Christians had an affection for the first day of the week (Sunday) because this is the day on which Jesus was resurrected. Early references to the "Lord's Day" include Acts 20:7 and 1 Corinthians 16:2, which are books in the New Testament. These were written during the first century and predate the birth of Constantine by more than 200 years! Outside of the New Testament, there are early Christian writings that confirm that Christians celebrated a "Lord's Day" (Sunday). These writings include those by Justin Martyr and Melito of Sardis. Both lived during the Second Century (during the 100s), and both had already died before Constantine was even born.
For more on the Da Vinci Code go to my websitehttp://www.frontlineevangelism.com and scroll down for link the da vinci code.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
More Moral Repugnancy
by Roger on Thu 12 Jan 2006 12:09 AM PST
In my previous post I noted the injustice surrounding the execution of Stanley Williams. The execution was just, however much of the opposition to it advocated injustice and a form of racism. Part of the problem facing us in our culture today is that punishment has been taken out of the composition of justice. In fact, justice has become such an abused term that I’m not even sure if most people know what it is.
For another example of misunderstanding justice, let’s turn to Judge Edward Cashman’s decision last Thursday: “Claiming he no longer believes in punishment, a Vermont judge issued a 60-day sentence to a man who confessed to repeatedly raping a girl over a four-year period, beginning when she was 7 years old.” (WorldNetDaily)
Instead of punishment, Cashman believes the rapist should be let out of jail as quickly as possible (60 days is the minimum) so that the offender can get therapy. What’s the message? Confess to raping little girls for an extended period of time and you’ll get off with minimal jail time and visits to a shrink.
Where’s the justice? Doesn’t this guy deserve punishment for raping a little girl? The rapist (whose name doesn’t deserve mention) isn’t just sick and in need therapeutic welfare- he did something wrong. More than that, he did something terribly wrong over an extending period of time. Sin incurs a debt, but in this case- no debt is being paid, it’s only being “treated.”
Strider of Verum Serum asks the right question: “Doesn’t our legal system have both sides,…punishment AND rehabilitation/treatment?” It usually does, but in this case the rapist couldn’t get treatment while in prison. Faced with the option of justice or therapy, the judge chose therapy. According to Burlington Free Press, “Cashman said at sentencing that treatment was a greater priority than punishment.”
A lot could be said here about the vacuous judicial philosophy driving this sentencing- that instead of wisely applying the law the judge acted on his personal views. However, I think it’s important to return to the theme: We face a culture confused about justice. In the case of Stanley Williams, injustice was sought against the murdered victims. In the case of Judge Cashman, an injust sentence was pronounced because of a faulty view of justice and punishment.
Friday, December 09, 2005
How to Witness to Family Members during Christmas Season
Last post until after Christmas and by the way, Merry Christmas and have a Blessed New Years.
