How Theology Can Harm Scriptural Understanding

Matthew 24:10-13 (ESV) "And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved."

Do you have a strong allegiance to a particular set of doctrines or theology? Are you a staunch Arminian or a dedicated five point Calvinist? Are you a severe Molinist or a Wesleyan? In my theological studies as a Christian in ministry I've learned a great deal about both Calvinist theology, mainly from Liberty University, and also a great deal on Arminian theology, mainly through Olivet and the Salvation Army.  

I've been very dedicated to my theological systems in the past. But today I no longer hold as closely to a particular theological system. Why? Because as time passed, I realized that as I studied the scriptures, I was beginning to cancel out scripture passages that didn't fit with my theology. 

I'll give you a very basic example. This is a common scripture, directly from the mouth of Jesus: "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:14-15 NIV.

Now, this plainly says a clear truth, if we as followers of Jesus do not forgive others when they sin against us, if we hold resentments and unforgiveness in our hearts, then our sins will not be forgiven. 

But both core theological camps would throw up their arms at this simple scripture.  Calvinists would say hey, that can't be true because our tulip says that you can't lose your salvation. So they cross out that scripture.  Arminians would say hey, we believe in grace through faith alone, the only way you can lose your salvation is through falling away, rejecting Christ!  So it gets crossed out twice.  

I found myself doing this regularly.  As we were studied salvation at Liberty university I found myself quite befuddled by the fact that John 15 said something very simply, that you must "remain in me" and if you don't, you'll shrivel up, and be tossed in the fire and burned.  But I found myself the only person in the class really asking the question, doesn't this impact our salvation?  

Let's look at another example.  A classic scripture, very well known and often discussed, Matthew 25:31-46:

"31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”"

This scripture is clearly telling me that if I don't feed the hungry, cloth the naked, invite in the stranger, and the visit the sick and in prison, and instead I live selfishly and don't do those things, I'm going to eternal punishment.

Now, both camps would scream at the top of their lungs, "Your preaching a works gospel!"  I'm not preaching a works gospel.  All I did was read what Jesus said in an important teaching, and give the obvious answer to it.  But both camps cross out this scripture too, because of rabid dedication to theological systems, instead of dedication to the scriptures.  I mean, look at it, it's in the Bible.  It's right there in black and white.  It doesn't fit into our theological systems.  Yet there it is, plain and simple.  Now many will try to bend themselves into theological pretzels to try to explain about scriptures like Matthew 25, and John 15, and many others.  But I'm not willing to be dishonest about it, I'm taking a plain reading, in it's context, and in the greater theological context, and it's still right there.  It's the word.  And I won't paper it over with man made theological systems.

That's the point today.  Hold loosely to your theological system.  Let scripture upset your neat theology.  Don't paper over scriptures that contradict, even cores of the theological system. Because it's just dishonest to do that.  God is real.  His scriptures are true.  What fate awaits us if we paper over God's word for the sake of our theology and doctrine?  

And this is where the dastardly charge of legalism comes in.  You know it's quite interesting that so many reformed preachers and pastors think of this issue of legalism as such a dangerous key concern for our day and age.  Maybe back in the 50s and 60s I might've agreed.  I mean, have you taken a look around lately? Do you see a lot of legalism in the church?  I don't.  I see a great deal of antinomianism though. Antinomianism is the idea of just getting saved and then never changing how you live at all. But this is not about legalism.  It's just about reading the scriptures and taking their plain meaning. 

This really is to me the chief heresy of our day and age.  It's the heresy of papering over the scriptures for the sake of assurance of salvation.  We cancel out all the requirements of Christian living because they make us uncomfortable.  We cancel out the various concerns like forgiveness and being forgiving, serving the lost, carrying the gospel, and willful sin because we don't want to offend anyone. We don't want anyone to worry that they might not be saved.  We don't want anyone to suffer under fear and concern for how their living needs to change.  

But that's exactly the problem in our modern faith.  We don't really live it out. And our churches are dying as a result.  We want everyone to feel comfortable so we heap grace up to the sealing and we don't preach holiness, and what is the result? We have believers who don't evangelize. We have believers who care nothing about sexual sin. We have believers who come to church to get something instead of to give. And can we really blame them? We've taught them that no matter what they're saved, and they should be good because, well, just because. But the scriptures recognize the motivation of concern for our salvation. We have a holy concern for how we live it out.  And though we hate this idea today in our modern ideology, we need the fear of God (1st Peter 2:17).  We need to tremble before a holy God.  But nobody wants to hear that today.  They just want the ear candy, and love love love.  

Of course God loves us.  He loves us so very much.  But he insists we live differently.  And yes, it does affect our salvation.  So we have to be very careful how we live, in holiness, not in sin, or we will lose all we've gained, and go to a place away from God, in outer darkness. That is just a fact.  I'm not trying to be mean, or hurt anybody. I'm just writing what the Bible says.  If it doesn't feel good, well, I don't care.  Sometimes the truth is painful.  So be it. 

Now I can cite as many scriptures as I want.  But any number of scriptures won't convince those who are dedicated to a theological system of doctrines and not the truth.  Trust the scriptures my friends.  Be cautious of the theologians.  We need our spiritual leaders today.  We need to honor them. But if they're feeding us all candy, we need to get some meat and potatoes on our own.

Now recognize this basic truth: No action, no good work can wash away a single sin.  Not even one.  Only the blood of Jesus Christ can wash away sin. So never, ever, ever, ever put good works in the place of Christ.  

But do recognize that our lack of repentance and holy living can certainly harm our salvation and cut us off from Christ.  

I really see now that the modern church paints salvation as a broad highway, but that is simply not accurate. Salvation in Christ Jesus is a narrow road (Matthew 7:13-14). 

We really are in the last days and we need to seek God ourselves.  We need to study the scriptures ourselves and learn the truth ourselves.  We can't necessarily trust authors, writers, bloggers, and theologians to give us the unvarnished truth.  Don't trust me either.  Examine the scriptures for yourself. Trust Jesus.  Trust God.  Trust the scriptures and what they say.  God be with you. Amen. 

Related Posts:

1. The Army of God will have Victory after Victory
2. The Church of Laodicea & The Church of America
3. How Holiness Theology Transformed My Understanding of Christianity
4. Fasting and Prayer: Why You Should Fast Twice a Week
5. An Investigation of the Biblical Concept of Hell
6. Why Do I Exist? A Quick Look at the Human Life
7. What is the equation that shows us how to inherit Eternal Life
8. How to Repent of all Sins in your Christian Life
9. God will Uphold His Army: Standing on the Truth
10. To Those Who Overcome: How to Be Free from all Sin

A Corrections Officer Who Lived Micah 6:8 in Prison Work - Guest Post by John Stephenson

Correctional Work as a Christ Follower 

I spent the majority of my working career as a Correctional Officer with my Provincial (State) Corrections Division. After attending University I worked in the business world.

I had a period when my use of alcohol and drugs caught up with me. I had an 8 to 10 week binge that started in Halifax, Nova Scotia and ended in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I had traveled about 2,200 miles. That motivated me to seek treatment and deal with my addictive behavior. This was in the summer of 1973. I entered a Rehab Program at The Salvation Army and 3 months into it came back to faith in God, and became a Salvation Army Soldier in January 1974.

Coming off the program I took a temporary fill in position as Science Resource Specialist at a High School for a couple of months while the incumbent was off sick. When they returned I started working as Counselor/Chaplain and Evening supervisor at The Salvation Army Men’s Social Services Hostel in Winnipeg.

During that time I started dating a woman who was a lifelong Salvationist and we got engaged and married. We entered Training College in 1975 and were commissioned in 1977. We left TSA a few years later and worked for a Presbyterian Church in Canada for a few years, mainly on a Northern Mission field before returning to Winnipeg. 

It was just after that I took a position with Manitoba Corrections as a Correctional Officer. I worked at the Winnipeg Remand Centre (Pretrial Detention). I had wanted a Probation Officer role but they weren't hiring for that at the time. Little did I know that I would spend 20 plus years working in institutional corrections.

So I then began to experience a world that was dark and different. As a new CO1 I was tested by both staff and inmates. Staff, knowing I had been a Minister and a Salvation Army Officer were leery thinking I was a bleeding heart liberal. Inmates tried to pull the wool over my eyes for the same reason.

But I saw an opportunity to effect how Inmates were treated in Correctional facilities. I also saw an opportunity to affect how staff dealt with Inmates and how they viewed inmates, often times, as less than human.

I resolved to try and practice what one of my favorite verses said in the Bible. Micah 6:8 (NCV):

“The Lord has told you what is good. He has told you what He wants from you: ‘Do what is right to other people, love being kind to others. And live humbly, trusting you God.’"

This verse speaks of compassion, mercy, and justice. It was my goal to live this out in my duties. Staff saw that I could deal with violent inmates and hold my own in an environment where use of force was often needed. Inmates saw that I treated them as humans who mattered. In fact I often joked that their job was to be a criminal while mine was to make sure they stayed in jail and behaved while there.

So how did a brand new CO1 do that? One example came from one of the duty assignments that two staff had during the working shift-Coffee and Cleaning…you and your partner saw to the Inmate Trustees who swept, mopped and cleaned that jail, did the laundry and distributed the coffee between meals to Inmate locations. I noticed that many of our trustees were being fired or thrown into segregation and figured out through talking to them and watching that many had no idea of how to sweep and clean properly. So I began asking each new trustee if they knew how to sweep, mop, do laundry and took time to show them how to. All of a sudden the function was being done properly.

It did not take long for the message to get around to inmates that I , while tough and demanding, actually was willing to teach them, and would take time to talk with them and give them suggestions.

They noticed I was different. Staff took notice as well, including our Shift Managers. But it didn’t become an issue because they realized that in a fight situation or a code call that I could hold my own. Our facility was a dangerous one with issues regarding safety and health. Not just for staff, but also for inmates.

It didn’t take long before I was trusted by both staff and inmates. In fact within a year and a few months, I was elected President of the Corrections Component covering the jail, a youth facility, and component chair for the full provincial corrections component.

As a result I ended up as Operations Coordinator for that facility with CO4 rank within 3 to 4 years of my start. I was then tasked by Corrections Division and our Superintendent to coordinate the building process of a new standalone Remand Centre and to create a new method of Inmate Supervision.

Balancing the need for staff safety and providing safe housing for inmates in an environment that included Correctional Officers, providing case management, and counselling as well as Security was like walking a tightrope at times but it worked.

Along the way in those first 8 years of my career in Corrections both staff and inmates picked up on the fact that I was a believer. 

No, I didn’t tell them you need to get saved or else but I practiced and lived Micah 6:8. I tried to show compassion and mercy, even when disciplining inmates, and as a manager disciplining staff. And it worked.

I can remember as a CO1 being on a Hospital Escort with another CO1 when he asked me why did I even talk with him, and treat him as a friend when I knew he was going straight to hell due to his lifestyle of drugs, booze, and sex. My answer was: "You're my friend." I ran into this guy at a funeral 2 years ago-almost 30 years after that day, and he believes in Jesus.

I also remember being on mercy seat duty at a Divisional Congress here in Winnipeg. It was a Sunday evening meeting when a guy off the street came to the mercy seat. I recognized him! 

I knew that I had to deal with him rather than some of the others on mercy seat duty. He was a regular prisoner who on almost every occasion when he came into jail was a major security problem, and fought staff constantly. I knelt and prayed with him, talked with him, and all of a sudden he was a friend. The next few times when he came in to jail I never had an issue with him. 

Many years later when I was Jail Security Operations for the Division I was at Headingly Gaol in the basement gym and off in a corner I could see him using weights. He noticed me, put down the weights and headed over. Staff tried to intercept him. I told them not to-just watch. He reached where I was, put his arms around me and hugged me thanking me for what I had done years before. That turned into a teaching moment for me when I turned to the staff there, and explained what happened and why.

And today as a 68 year old retiree I am convinced that we need more Christians working as Correctional Officers. It is the influence and attitude that comes with faith and following Micah 6:8 that can impact a criminal and bring change as well as impact staff to realize that inmates are humans who are no different in their needs than ourselves.

Biography of John Stephenson

I was born in New Waterford on Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia on 24 May 1950. I was brought up Roman Catholic and was active as an Altar Boy through to about 17. I was being recruited by a couple of Orders of Priests and our Diocese to be a Priest.

I started University in September 1967 under the Regular Officer Training Plan with the goal of being an Officer in Canada’s Military. Finished University in 1971. While at University I get heavily involved in the Hippie Movement of the late 60s as well as Radical Politics and Student Activism. As well I became a user of illicit drugs (LSD, Marijuana, Hashish, Magic Mushrooms et al) as well as alcohol abuse .

Eventually dealt with my straying from faith and my chemical addictions in 1973 after a 10 to 12 week 2,000 mile drug and alcohol binge. This also meant coming back to faith in God and joined The Salvation Army. Got married attended Training College (1975-1977). My wife and I were commissioned and ordained in 1977. Eventually resigned and worked for PCIC as a Minister and Missionary in a far Northern Isolated area for a few years.

Started working for Manitoba Justice-Corrections in 1984.

Retired in 2005 as Chief Correctional Officer working for Director of Institutional Corrections as Jail Operation Specialist.

Have 4 children and 4 grandchildren.

Presently a member of living Hope Community Church of  The Salvation Army in Winnipeg where I serve as Vice-Chair of Ministry Board , teach Bible Study , and serve as Chair of Social Services Advisory Community Board of The Centre of Hope.

Waking Up in the Dream - Epic Poem

Star light, glorious

Moon light, the mystery of God’s hand

The warmth of the day, a breeze

In awe of this undertaking.

Living dreams in a reality in which I’m awaking,

Confusion, hard metal surfaces,

Grit and grime, rust and faded paint

Yellow tint of the cat tails along the highways

One day eyes opening,

Discovering a touch of light

That penetrates within me

It becomes part of me,

I am transformed

the grit and grime washed away

set as a heir of an empire

named as a person of great worth

marked with the symbol

property of God

I have a mission

A calling

No longer a slave to the consumerist nightmare

No longer a freak show repeating disaster

Instead a light in the darkness

A prince of the king

A chariot of fire

On a mission, in a battle,

Carrying a torch in the city,

A rally cry for the provision of the many,

A caring mention of something better,

A light to the cities beyond us, ever crumbling,

Yet the battle rages within,

Between what I used to be, and Who I am now,

I want to speak up, I want to shout from the rooftops

But I’m so afraid to say something,

Distracted by the limelight, distracted by this life,

So many people living lives for selfish pleasure

Outside the valley of broken dreams

I want to shout come home to Jesus

But there’s a trembling within,

Lakes, rivers, and streams

Chariots of fire over the valleys

The roaring of the people in their rejection

Of the beauty of the one behind the mountains

A trumpet blast upon the air waves

It echoes across the broken cities

Terror and rejoicing join in the air

As a son makes ready those he loves

He’s coming sooner than we think,

The clock is ticking,

I can see the clocktower overlooking the cities,

The people walk around in their apathy

Looking at their smart phones,

Looking at the reflection of themselves in the bean downtown

Selfies, selfies, and modern ideologies,

Despairing children in broken homes,

And endless lines of people at the counter,

Waiting for their products and purchases,

Living do they realize,

Dying mighty they recognize,

That to live is to die, and to die is to gain,

The whole world in Jesus Christ,

The living gospel proclaimed,

I see a people rising up around me,

One by one, day by day,

In no great rush, but steadfastly and determined,

A great holy army, rising up,

Proclaiming the mighty gospel

Doing great deeds in the name of Jesus,

The Holy Spirit reigning in a great awakening,

That brings this hallowed out shallow miserable generation,

To the feet of the cross, where he lay dying,

Nailed to the tree he did so willingly,

And the world was changed that day, forever and always,

This generation brought home,

This generation opening into the gates of heaven,

God’s people rising up,

Could it be?  Could it really come? 

Or is it just a dream?

I see brilliance in the eyes of God’s mighty people

Here comes the end time army,

Bringing these people, to the open arms of Jesus,

To wash them, save them, give them hope, a future, holiness, eternal life.

I’m a part of this,

Someone pinch me,

I’m living in a dream,

This dream, too good to be true,

I have to pinch myself,

Sometimes I do,

And I think I might wake up in a hospital bed, a near dead junkie,

Who was having a dream, the best possible dream he could have,

But it turned out Jesus came into my story,

And turned that dream into reality,

And now I live, I’m a live, born again, and part of a holy, Spirit-filled end times salvation army waiting for the return of the Lord Jesus!

 Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Amen.

Jesus is Literally Alive Right Now

Audio Message:

The disciples were terrified. They hid together in their dwelling in Jerusalem, trembling with fear. They didn’t know if roman soldiers or temple guards might burst through the doors at any moment and arrest them all. They might all die, just like Jesus died, scourged with whips, and nailed to wooden blanks. They didn’t know what would happen.

But something was strange about how Jesus died. There were a series of strange reports. There was an earthquake while Jesus was on the cross, and before the earthquake there had been 3 hours of darkness, from noon until 3. The two women who went to the tomb said they saw Jesus there, and he was alive. But most of them didn’t believe it. Rumors spread that the cloth barrier that separated the holy of holies in the temple had been torn in two from top to bottom, the massive quilt barrier that separated the people from God in the temple, at the very moment Jesus died.

What was happening? What was going on? Would you turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 24, and we’re looking at verses 36-48. And we see Jesus has been crucified, and his followers are in hiding.

Two of the disciples had just arrived. And they tell the story of how they walked on the Emmaus road and were talking to a fellow traveler on the road. They talked for some time, and then they realized that the man walking with them was Jesus! And then he suddenly vanished. What a strange story!

Then Jesus suddenly appears right in front of all of them. And he says “I’m alive! It’s me!” The disciples are terrified and they think they’re seeing a ghost. He shows them his hands and feet. He tells them that he is no ghost, he is real. He shows them his hands and feet, the holes where he was pierced in his flesh. Those wounds would never fully heal, never. Think about that, what God himself was willing to do for you and me.

Jesus did something eternal for us. Today he bears those same marks. He still has the hole in his side where the spear was driven into his abdomen. And Jesus is alive. Jesus is alive right now!

And He is hard at work. He is hard at work in many beautiful ways. He’s active in the world through his body, the church, which is you. He’s active in heaven, the reality beyond this world, where God lives.

He is actively interceding for us, that is, talking to God on our behalf, and asking for God the Father to have mercy on us who are in the world. Jesus is also active preparing our dwellings in the eternal city of God, which will come down out of heaven when God remakes the world.

Why then are we so often like the disciples? Why are we so afraid? We often fear and misunderstand what God is doing in our lives. Just like the disciples didn’t understand that Jesus intentionally went to the cross for the purpose of being a sacrifice for our sins.

It’s scary when things go wild in our lives. We often don’t understand what’s happening. Especially when something terrible happens. But often it’s a blessing in disguise, even if simply for the fact that it’s molding us into the image of Christ.

The disciples must’ve thought it was over, Jesus had died. And that was it. But it doesn’t end there. It’s the same in our lives. We think it’s over, but it isn’t over.

Yet we so often doubt God. Why do we doubt? Why did the disciples doubt Jesus? I mean they could see him and touch his hands and feet. He was right there in the room, yet they were still doubting.

We often have the same problem today. We’ve seen how Jesus has transformed our lives. We’ve seen how Jesus has changed the lives of our loved ones. We’ve seen it all. Yet we still doubt.

I suppose it’s natural to doubt the supernatural. We don’t naturally see things like resurrection, or miracles. But it’s really not that difficult when you think about it. I mean, think about it, God made the world from nothing. Everything we see. How hard is it then for Him to resurrect Jesus from the dead?

In any case, it’s wise to consider all the facts in a situation. So I’d like to share with you three quotations from prominent thinkers about the resurrection of Christ:

First we have a quotation from Timothy Paul Jones: “The central claim of the NT is that Jesus was physically resurrected after being crucified. If this claim arose from decades of embellishment instead of historical truth, then Jesus is dead, the apostles were liars, and our faith is worthless (1 Cor. 15:14–17). But evidences from the first and second centuries reveal that eyewitness testimony about Jesus emerged rapidly and circulated reliably. The NT texts relied on testimonies from apostolic eyewitnesses, and all of these texts were completed while the eyewitnesses were still alive. That’s why we can declare with confidence: Don’t worry; I read the book. He didn’t stay dead.”

Our second quote comes from Nabeel Qureshi, a muslim man who converted to Christianity:

“After studying the historical origins of the Christian faith, I came to these conclusions: that Jesus died on the cross is as certain as anything historical can be; that he rose from the dead is by far the best explanation of the events surrounding his death; and that Jesus claimed to be God is the best explanation for the immediate Christian proclamation of Jesus’ deity. Putting it all together: Jesus claimed to be God, and he proved it by rising from the dead. The case for Christianity is powerful.”

Finally, we hear from William Lane Craig a Christian apologist:

“When we turn to the Gospels, we find multiple, independent attestation of this burial story, and Joseph of Arimathea is specifically named in all four accounts. On top of that, the burial story in Mark is so extremely early that it’s simply not possible for it to have been subject to legendary corruption. When you read the New Testament, there’s no doubt that the disciples sincerely believed the truth of the resurrection, which they proclaimed to their deaths. The idea that the empty tomb is the result of some hoax, conspiracy, or theft is simply dismissed today.”

Those are really powerful historical evidences for the resurrection. Atheists often try to make it seem like we Christians believe in some legendary myth, but any real historian knows the Christian faith is rooted deeply in history.

But let’s continue forward in the text. I want to direct your attention to verse 44, where Jesus plainly tells them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

Jesus is saying, essentially, I told you this would happen. This was the plan all the way back to four thousand years earlier, when it was promised that one in the line of Adam would crush the head of Satan. Everything in the Old Testament was pointing forward to the coming of Jesus, Genesis, Exodus, every book, it all points to Jesus.

Look at verses 46 through 48. This is really powerful:

46 Jesus said “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.48 You are witnesses of these things.”

I want to direct you toward the word “repentance” in verse 47. Jesus could’ve easily said, “this message of faith.” But he used the word repentance. And this is the number one thing that I’ve learned at the Salvation Army officer’s training college. The issue of holiness. I don’t think I really understood repentance and holiness before.

We serve a holy God, who commands us to repent of our sins. What does it mean to repent? To repent means we turn away from sin and live the way God wants us to live. If you don’t remember anything else we’ve talked about today, remember this: You must live a holy life to get into heaven. If you have any active sins in your life, they are a threat to your eternal soul. I never understood this is the past. But it’s a fact. We can’t be cavalier with sin. Sin will lead us to hell.

Jesus is essentially telling his disciples: This is the plan. I died on the cross, I was resurrected on the third day, and now the plan must move forward. Repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all the nations. People will be washed in my blood, to be made holy, and their lives will be changed completely. And that’s exactly what has happened over the last two thousand years. The message of the gospel has spread across the face of the Earth, from Jerusalem, across Europe, down into Africa, to the east, to the north, and today here in north America, and if you think about it virtually every nation on the planet has heard the gospel. It’s changed billions of lives. Jesus’ plan is being fulfilled.

Jesus is alive right now! He is in heaven. And the ultimate culmination of history is when Jesus Christ returns. I truly believe that Jesus Christ will return, very very very soon. I believe he will almost certainly return in my lifetime.

It's been nearly six thousand years exactly since God created mankind in the garden. The word says that one day is like a thousand years to the Lord. Could it be that we’re in the six day right now? Could the return of Christ be at hand? Of course no one knows the day and the hour. But with all we see happening in the world, Christ is coming very soon. He is coming for a spotless and blameless church, a church without sin.

Just like the disciples, we often tremble in fear, at what we see happening in the world around us. We can’t imagine how things could change or get better. Just like the disciples, we often doubt Jesus power. But then Jesus walks in that door, and stands in our midst, and reminds us powerfully: Here I am. I’m alive right now. And you are my disciples. When Jesus appeared to the disciples they went from men and women whimpering in fear to mighty proclaimers of the resurrection willing to die for their witness of Christ. We are all such witnesses. Friends, I may never see you again. I’ll be sent out somewhere in 49 days, to minister. But remember friends, Jesus is alive, He will help you, so live zealous service in true holiness, and freedom from sin.

Stay on fire for God. Live out your faith in Christ. Because Christ is alive right now. And he is coming, indeed he is at the door. So be holy, as he is holy. 

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