PREPARING A MANSION

Red Deer Advocate, September 8, 2007. This house seems to have it all, even “a 103-seat movie theatre,” the article says. Don’t you wish you had the money to create your own mansion? Are you worried you might never be able to pull it off? Don’t worry about it. There is coming a day when the earth will pass away “and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3.10.) Maybe you’d like to live in your mansion until then. Never mind that, too. Your life span is only about 70 to 80 years—if you’re lucky. And how many years have you already used up? “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away” ( Psalm 90.10.)

We are soon cut off from the earth, the Bible says. Then we fly away. What’s the point of a mansion, then? Listen, Jesus is now preparing mansions that will last forever for ever lasting souls to live in. “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, ye may be also” (John 14.2, 3.) That’s Jesus speaking. But is Jesus preparing a place for you? That depends. Are you his disciple? I mean, are you trusting him to save you from hellfire? And have you quit the sins people go to hellfire for? Are you clean? Are you sleeping around? Are you being lazy? Are you using the soup kitchen just so you can spend your money on your sins? I want you to get a mansion from Jesus, not hell for your sins. Ask Jesus to save you. You don’t like being called a sinner? But “Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1.15.) I am come to call “sinners to repentance,” he said (Matthew 9.13.)

PYRAMID SCHEMES

The scene above is from The Edmonton Journal, February 15, 1997. Pyramid schemes are still as popular as ever. Schemers continue to invent schemes because people continue to be gullible enough to buy in. About these pyramids, the article says, “The funds promise wild returns…But such schemes collapse when no new investors can be found.” When the thing goes belly-up, late comers to the evil scheme get no returns for their investment.

The typical pyramid scheme exaggerates to a hyper degree the usefulness of an average product, or line of average products. These products are given clever-sounding handles like Mona Vie. The main emphasis to the one buying in is on signing others up, not selling the products he just bought to the public. Getting as many people as possible signed up below you is how you push yourself up the pyramid, where all the big money gets funneled to. The pyramid plan especially tempts persons who want riches without labor.

Now what’s wrong with all this? Exaggeration is lying; promoting exaggerated stuff is dishonest; making easy money off gullible people is robbery; and making money this way is a greedy, lazy species of inactivity. Does the Bible identify pyramid schemers? “He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him” (Proverbs 28.22.) What greater poverty can one come to than hell for a home for committing sins like these? On the American dollar there is a picture of a pyramid with an eyeball on top. This reminds us of the pyramid scheme: resting on money, overseen by an evil eye! These schemes are even popular among church members. In particular are they the rage in charismatic-type churches. If these members are really members of Christ, we expect they soon will, instead of lazily raking in money at the expense of gullible people, “with quietness…work, and eat their own bread” (2 Thessalonians 3.12.) That’s an exhortation by Jesus Christ through his apostle Paul. In fact, “if any would not work, neither should he eat” (verse 10.) Years ago I went to the Word of Life Centre in Red Deer to see if a certain ‘faith healer’ could heal me. When that failed, a man there who had, during this service, laid hands on me to no effect promised to visit me and see me through until I was a healed man. He was receiving, he said, about $5,000.00 per month in the mail for doing nothing. And so he would have all kinds of time to help me out. I never saw him again. You see the spiritual results of getting ahead without effort? Your promises will be as hollow as your pockets are deep. And Jesus will be as far from you as he is from hypocrites.

KILLING TIME

Many Bible verses come to mind as we read this unusual piece of news. Verses condemning laziness, verses urging good works—there are many of these that suit. But two verses from Psalm 90 seem more appropriate than them all. “Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so thy wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” (verses 11, 12.)

What the Psalmist is getting at about God’s anger is the fact that since man is in a condemned state on account of sin, the wrath of God hangs over his head like an axe or guillotine ready to fall from holy heaven to end his days on earth and begin his eternity under divine judgment. “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3.18.) You see how the Old and New Testaments agree? Sure, the first part of the verse (which I left out) says that he that believes on Jesus is not condemned. But I’m not speaking to the believer. I’m looking for sinners unconverted.

Does this kind of preaching surprise you? I’m not surprised if it does. Virtually all we hear nowadays is that “God so loved the world.” You think you’re alright on account of those five words? The rest of the story the fearful pastors will not tell you. And they are more guilty of not applying their hearts to wisdom than all the lazy fools in all the world, and your soul’s blood they are responsible for. They’ve killed a lot of time playing with the Scriptures instead of studying, emphasizing the love of God as if you were in the clear. You are not in the clear. Because your guiltiness reaches up to God, then God threatens to cast you down all the way to hell. No matter how insignificant you feel your sins to be, they have condemned you already. To make matters worse, you have killed time watching TV, playing golf, shopping for stuff you don’t need, or who knows what else. Count your days, the Psalmist is telling you. Don’t presume you have so many left. Next when you are tempted to kill time, apply your heart to wisdom instead. Find that secret Way to avoid God’s Wrath. This Way will remain a secret to you unless you quit idling away your time. Apply yourself to getting wisdom! Even if I reveal the secret: “I [Jesus] am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14.6)—chances are the time-waster will not understand. Can you not at least utter a prayer to God? Ask him to empower you to exchange your time-squandering activity so you can apply yourself to wisdom.

You must get wise to the reality of the power of God’s anger before it overtakes and amazes you! The Psalmist asks, ‘Who knows the power of God’s anger?’ No one can measure it. But those already in hell could tell you a great deal about it.



SAME-SEX MARRIAGE

There are many ‘firsts’ that could be accomplished by the man who would etch his name into history for the public to look back upon some day in remembrance of. One might wish to be the first man to step into a fight in the righteous cause of defending the defenseless. One might wish to be the first man to rush through flames to save a schoolhouse full of children. One might wish to be first on the scene to bear witness to some unexpected marvel. ‘First MP to legally marry same-sex partner’ (Red Deer Life)—this too, in the opinion of many Canadians, ranks right up there as a dignified first to have one’s name sealed to. Already this first is being adored as a courageous, groundbreaking act in the cause of tolerance, equality, and progress. Like feminism’s many firsts, this Idol will no doubt grow to such legendary status as to be hailed as a godlike deed by those debauched quarters of our media.

But in the Farther Future of Eternity this first will be assigned its rightful place and rank. It will be brushed over to the left among the goats, lies, and blasphemy, and then down among the worms and the fire. Woe to those Canadians who go to their graves believing, as the guests did on the dishonorable day in question, that a monster-marriage of two men is “something we need to celebrate”! Can you be ready to meet God when you love wickedness?  

Who was on the guest list for this “history-making event” in August, 2007? Politicians like Liberal Leader Stephane Dion and former Prime Ministers Joe Clark and Paul Martin. Imagine standing before God as a political influence responsible for making legal a lifestyle judged by God to be nothing less than an abomination! Every politician who did not oppose the introduction of same-sex marriage into Canadian law approved it. “He that is not with me is against me,” said Jesus (Matthew 12.30.) And therefore he who takes no stand on Jesus’ side of an issue stands on the opposing, rebellious, ungodly side. The book of Revelation is called “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Revelation 1.1.) Jesus reveals in there that whatsoever “worketh abomination” will have no part in the enjoyment of future glory (21.27.) To support same-sex marriage is to ‘work abomination.’

Who works abominations more eagerly than the church (United) that performed this grotesque ceremony? The Gospel says to turn from sin to be saved by Jesus. The churchgoer who embraces what Jesus condemns proves by this that he has believed a false gospel and received a jesus of Satan’s imagination. Look at the headline one more time. Now Satan was the first antichrist; Cain, the first murderer; Judas, the first apostate disciple. ‘Firsts’ are not always good.

DRINKING AND DRIVING

I have crossed out the guilty man’s name whose tragic offence is reported of in this clipping from The Red Deer Express, May 23^rd, 2007. Would we not like our name crossed out if the guilty party were us? Maybe we could bear to have our name broadcast above such a litany of crimes if only the charges did not include somewhere the words, causing death.

Imagine the shocking realization of having just killed a man! Think about being suddenly hit with the knowledge of this irreversible fact! A man is minding his own business, only to get killed by your indulgence and negligence! How many of us are guilty of the same crime of drinking and driving that took the life of Chi Luu of Red Deer? Was it our cleverness that saved us from killing? Our talent for driving while drunk? Not likely! We know deep down that we were just one factor removed from causing death. If the nite had been just a bit stormier, or our car just a bit clunkier, or the pavement just a bit slicker, then it would have been us!

What will we do about this? Decide not to drive drunk anymore? I hope so. But the frightening thing is that even if we resolve not to drink and drive again, there is a point we reach in our drinking at which we lose our ability to judge and our fear of taking the risk. What then? Do we resolve never to get drunk? I hope so. But what if we are that type of person for whom ‘one drink is one too many and a thousand’s not enough’? Do we drink no more at all? I hope that’s what we do.

The drunk driver in this case is reaping what he sowed. “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6.7.) Even if he is penalized with just a few years in prison, does he not reap in his conscience a continual harvest of guilt? But what if you should find in the end that this man got into the kingdom of heaven and you didn’t? “What an outrage! That’s not fair!” Does my proposition perhaps tempt you to put up exclamations like these into God’s face? But what if the Lord’s salvation is for repenting sinners regardless of their kind of sin, and you refuse the offer that this man accepts? Then for all your careful driving and your measured drinking, the door of heaven shuts you out; and in spite of the criminal’s careless party, he is whisked on through that same jeweled door by the holy angels of God. Does this make you mad? If so, you are the offender now, dear sinner. And your offence is twofold at least: your offence in not feeling yourself a great sinner, and your offensive rejection of God’s offer of forgiveness. The Lord says, “Be zealous therefore, and repent” (Revelation 3.19.)