Brenda Greyvenstein.
Psalm 116:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants.
Don’t all “Good people” go to Heaven.
How do you define “Good”?
What is your definition of a good man?
Perhaps it is someone who keeps the commandments.
Do not murder.
Do not commit adultery.
Do not give false testimony.
Do not steal.
Jesus spoke to a rich man who fitted into this category and he said that something was still lacking in his life.
Is anyone good in God’s eyes?
Mark 10:17.
As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. Good teacher, he asked, what must I do to inherit eternal life?
Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No one is good, except God alone.
You know the commandments: You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother. Teacher, he declared, all these I have kept since I was a boy.
Jesus was wanting to know on what basis this man was calling him good.
No-one is good except God.
When Jesus was called good teacher he asked why do you call me good.
It’s no wonder Jesus asked this question as we tend to call people good very often.
I myself have heard it at many of the funerals I have attended or conducted regardless of whether the person accepted Christ as Saviour and repented of sin.
He was a good man.
This is how God views mankind.
Romans 3:10-18.
There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips.
Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
Jesus himself said this about us.
Matthew 7:11.
If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
Our idea as humans of what is good and what is evil is very different from what God says is good and what is evil.
Modern psychology states that man is inherently good and that a person’s upbringing or environment is what is responsible for how they turn out, but God’s Word paints a very different picture of the state of humankind.
What is truth?
What is fake news and who decides what is true and what is not?
For a few hundred years The Bible was regarded as the truth and it was the foundation of law in the civilized world. It's teachings revolutionized pagan kingdoms, bringing to an end cannibalism and practices like sati and infanticide and slavery. In recent years though, you can be fined or fired from your employment or even go to jail for quoting certain parts of the Bible.
At one time not long ago you could ask a new mother if she had given birth to a boy or a girl, but nowadays you must wait until the child is 4 or 5 years old and then ask them if they want to be a boy or a girl, or perhaps both.
What is truth?
This is the so called truth propagated by the liberal media and politicians and backed by the social media giants who have elected themselves as the ones who can decide for us what is true and what is false and what we can say or not say.
Isaiah 5:20. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
A bad man goes to Paradise.
Luke 23:39-43.
One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us! But the other criminal rebuked him. Don’t you fear God, he said, “since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. Jesus answered him, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.
God can’t help people who think that they are good.
1. The thief on the cross realised that he was a sinner.
Mark 2:15-17.
Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, Why does he eat with such scum?
When Jesus heard this, he told them, Healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.
Jesus said this to the religious leaders.
Matthew 5:20.
But I warn you unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!
Matthew 21:28-32.
...I tell you the truth, corrupt tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the Kingdom of God before you do.
For John the Baptist came and showed you the right way to live, but you didn’t believe him, while tax collectors and prostitutes did.
And even when you saw this happening, you refused to believe him and repent of your sins.
2. The Thief on the cross took responsibility for his sin.
Luke 23:41. We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.
Genesis 3:13,14. And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from? The man said, The woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? The woman said, The serpent deceived me, and I ate.
All too often people will lay the blame for their actions at someone else’s door
Blaming others.
Adam blamed Eve and blamed God. Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat? It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit
Eve blamed the serpent. Then the Lord God asked the woman,
What have you done?
The serpent deceived me
Now you may say I don’t believe in the Genesis account of creation and Adam and Eve, I believe in Evolution.
Hasn’t science disproved the Bible (Evolution)?
A. The Creationist believes in one miracle working God who is the designer of all we see
B. The evolutionist does not only believe in one miracle, but countless miracles.
Supposedly nothing became something, and exploded 13.6 billion years ago, and the miracles did not stop there, life was created by a very fortuitous lightning bolt that stuck a primordial pool resulting in the creation of a single cell bacteria (The DNA content of which would fill two 500 page books)
To explain this miracle, without a designer is absolutely impossible, as in the so called simple single cell there are millions of motors that are responsible for the manufacture of the proteins that are the fuel for the cell.
Hasn’t science disproved the Bible (Evolution)?
If a cell, which cannot be seen with the naked eye, by the way, was 20 km in diameter, then one of these motors (Which spin at 600 rpm) would stand 1 meter high. Adding to this, each motor consists of 31 separate parts. Each one of these parts have to be present simultaneously for the motor to function.
But still the miracles carry on, and with the magical wave of the million year wand, life progressed through so called lucky mutations that added information to the DNA (Something that has never been scientifically observed, all mutations observed, even beneficial ones have led to a loss of information)
Hasn’t science disproved the Bible (Evolution)?
Then finally, even more amazing than the kiss of a princess turning a frog into a prince, you have a man, and with another injection of “Richard Dawkins luck” a woman as well, to procreate and keep the species going.
Then to add the finishing touch to this wonderful fairy tale, they have the earth as a home, with just the right size and gravitational pull that we can walk, and just the right amount of oxygen in the air to breathe, without any poisonous gases to spoil this evolutionary paradise, and an endless water source to sustain and nourish their lucky planet. And they lived happily ever after.
I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU BUT I DON’T THINK THAT I AM THE ONE WITH BLIND FAITH
Accepting responsibility for your sin is vital.
The Prodigal son. Luke 16:20-24.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.
3. He acknowledged who Jesus is.
Lord remember me when you come into your Kingdom.
Jesus never looked like a King, in factHe was bloodied and naked, but God opened the eyes of the thief, just as we saw in the case of Peter who we have just looked at, and he realised who Jesus was.
3. He acknowledged who Jesus is.
Jesus isn't a way, He is the way.
Acts 5:12.
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.
Galatians 2:21.
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
4. He confessed Jesus openly with his mouth.
Matthew 10:32,33.
Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
4 Vital things.
Do you realize that you are a sinner?
Do you take responsibility for your sin?
Do you realize who Jesus is?
Do you confess your faith in Him openly?
Religion is man in his goodness trying to reach God.
Christianity is God in His Goodness reaching out to man.
Don’t be deceived into thinking that you can push God away until you are on your deathbed.
FAMOUS ATHEISTS' LAST WORDS BEFORE DEATH.
CAESAR BORGIA—Italian nobleman, politician, and cardinal: "While I lived, I provided for everything but death; now I must die, and am unprepared to die.“
THOMAS HOBBS—Political philosopher: "I say again, if I had the whole world at my disposal, I would give it to live one day. I am about to take a leap into the dark."
FAMOUS ATHEISTS' LAST WORDS BEFORE DEATH.
THOMAS PAYNE—The leading atheistic writer in American colonies: "Stay with me, for God's sake; I cannot bear to be left alone , O Lord, help me! O God, what have I done to suffer so much? What will become of me hereafter? I would give worlds if I had them, that The Age of Reason had never been published. 0 Lord, help me! Christ, help me! No, don't leave; stay with me! Send even a child to stay with me; for I am on the edge of hell here alone. If ever the Devil had an agent, I have been that one.“
SIR THOMAS SCOTT—Chancellor of England: "Until this moment I thought there was neither a God nor a hell. Now I know and feel that there are both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty."
VOLTAIRE—famous anti-Christian atheist: "I have swallowed nothing but smoke. I have intoxicated myself with the incense that turned my head. I am abandoned by God and man.” He said to his physician, Dr. Fochin: “I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life." When he was told this was not possible, he said “Then I shall die and go to hell!" His nurse said: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.”
VOLTAIRE—famous anti-Christian atheist: "I have swallowed nothing but smoke. I have intoxicated myself with the incense that turned my head. I am abandoned by God and man.” He said to his physician, Dr. Fochin: “I will give you half of what I am worth if you will give me six months of life." When he was told this was not possible, he said “Then I shall die and go to hell!" His nurse said: “For all the money in Europe I wouldn’t want to see another unbeliever die! All night long he cried for forgiveness.”
ROBERT INGERSOLL—American writer and orator during the Golden Age of Free Thought: "O God, if there be a God, save my soul, if I have a soul!"
DAVID HUME;
DAVID HUME;
NAPOLEON BONAPARTE;
SIR FRANCIS NEWPORT;
CHARLES IX;
DAVID STRAUSS;
JOSEF STALIN;
ANTON LEVEY—Author of the Satanic Bible and high priest of the religion dedicated to the worship of Satan. One of his famous quotes was: “There is a beast in man that needs to be exercised, not exorcised”. His dying words were: "Oh my, oh my, what have I done, there is something very wrong. . . there is something very wrong.”
Compare the last words from those atheists facing death without Christ with the following words from men of God concerning death:
Compare the last words from those atheists facing death without Christ with the following words from men of God concerning death:
THE APOSTLE PAUL: “O death, where is thy sting?”
KING DAVID: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no Evil.”
Lastly, JESUS CHRIST said: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
God’s gives grace to the humble.
In Pursuit, author and evangelist Luis Palau writes:
Thank God his grace isn't "fair." A couple of years ago, one of my nephews (I'll call him Kenneth) was near death. He had AIDS. During a family reunion in the hills of northern California, Kenneth and I broke away for a short walk. He was a hollow shell, labouring for breath.
"Kenneth, you know you're going to die any day," I said. "Do you have eternal life? Your parents agonize. I must know."
"Luis, I know God has forgiven me and I'm going to heaven."
For several years, since his early teens, Kenneth had practiced homosexuality. More than that, in rebellion against God and his parents, he flaunted his lifestyle.
"Kenneth, how can you say that?" I replied. "You rebelled against God, you made fun of the Bible, you hurt your family terribly. And now you say you've got eternal life, just like that?"
God’s gives grace to the humble.
"Luis, when the doctor said that I had AIDS, I realized what a fool I'd been."
"We know that," I said bluntly, but deliberately, because Kenneth knew full well that the Bible teaches that homosexual behavior is sin. "But did you really repent?"
"I did repent, and I know that God has had mercy on me. But my dad won't believe me."
"You rebelled in his face all your life," I said. "You've broken his heart."
Kenneth looked me straight in the eye. "I know the Lord has forgiven me."
"Did you open your heart to Jesus?"
"Yes. Luis! Yes!"
God’s gives grace to the humble.
As we put our arms around each other and prayed and talked some more, I became convinced that Jesus had forgiven all of Kenneth's rebellion and washed away all his sin. Several short months later he went to be the Lord at age twenty-five. Says Palau, "My nephew, like the repentant thief on the cross, did not deserve God's grace. I don't either. None of us do. That's why grace is grace- unmerited favour.
James 4:6-10.
But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says:
“God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.”
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail.
Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.
Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations are taken from the NIV:
THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™
Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations taken from the NASB:
New American Standard Bible®,
Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Used by permission. (http://www.lockman.org)
Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV:
Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.