Titles of the Articles
- ARE WE HERE TO HAVE FUN AND ENJOY ONGOING SATISFACTION?
- EARTH WAS CREATED FOR HABITATION BY HUMAN CREATURES WITH PHYSICAL BODIES.
- WHERE DO WE FIND GOD IN THE WORLD TODAY?
- THE MOST ASTONISHING STATEMENT EVER MADE
- THAT PLACE WE CALL THE MIND
- THE LIVING AND THE LIVING DEAD
- SEVEN BILLION PEOPLE WOKE UP THIS MORNING
- OUR ACTIVITIES ARE PRECEDED BY OUR WORDS
- LIVING IN ETERNITY WHILE ANCHORED IN TIME
- A THOUGHT FOR EVERY DAY
- ONLY THE REDEEMED SHALL LIVE
- THE FINAL FOCUS OF ATTENTION
CONCLUSION:
ARTICLE 1.
Are we here to have fun and enjoy ongoing satisfaction?
Most members of the human race will confer that life is not a bed of roses. Total happiness merely interjects on occasion while hardships, disappointments, conflicts and tragedies seem to take centre-stage in life.
We all want and seek the good things in life. During our childhood years our parents, by providing all our needs and most of our wants have, by doing so, shielded us from the harsh realities of life. And so the expectations of childhood innocence rapidly transforms into apprehension of what the real world holds in store when we reach adulthood. We soon discover that money and happiness are bosom buddies, but that this positive drowns in a sea of negatives within a world that is spinning crazily from the human onslaught imposed upon it.
That human onslaught comes in the form of personal or collective greed leading to conflict, war, poverty, famine, destruction and death. While this is the global scenario playing out between the nations of the world we, as individuals, conduct our own little acts of self-gratification within the relationships we have with family, colleagues and friends. It is clear that we certainly do not live in a happy world and that the reason for this lies within the human element.
Are we supposed to have joy, peace, material abundance, physical health and happiness for the duration of our lives and is this world the perfect platform to ensure the existence of such blissful proportions?
All our accomplishments in life are of no consequence – whether we die young or old. What is certain though is that all of it remains within the consciousness of our souls as we pass on and we either enter a state of remorse or a future filled with joy untold in the spiritual realm in which we find ourselves for eternity. This final destination will have been determined by us as individuals prior to our departure from Planet Earth.
This may raise eyebrows and perhaps also raise the ire of some, but what if you were to be told that blissful living is totally out of the current design for human existence upon the Earth? We have not been placed here to live out lives of Utopian joy, abundance, wealth, health and peace.
We have been placed here for the sole purpose of seeking and finding salvation from the condition of the world and from our very own fallen nature. We have no other reason to be here. Absolutely nothing else touching our lives – our upbringing, our education, our experiences, our memories, our emotions, our relationships – is of any importance or consequence. And to further bring home this point, let it be known that human life is a waste of time unless the abovementioned salvation is appropriated. To reiterate, there is absolutely no other reason for the existence of human life. This may sound harsh, but one might as well be dead before one is born if this salvation is not attained, for what lies ahead in life here and beyond the grave is a living death itself, without that salvation.
For children life might be about their weekly allowance and game playstations. For young adults life might be about money, drugs, music, rock stars, tattoos, fashion trends, fast cars and being held hostage to the internet. For older people life might be about movies, soap operas, justifying their self-importance and other forms of worldly self-gratification. All of these things are nothing more than death warmed up and when the elderly look back at their lives they can do nothing else but nod in agreement and wait for the end while repeatedly exclaiming, “What was it all about?!”
Many may ask, “If this is the case, why did God continue to insert the Spirit of Life into the body of every human being entering this world through the womb if He had omniscient awareness that their lives would be a waste of time as He had no intention for them draw any satisfaction from life whatsoever?” This is a valid question – for it would certainly appear that God had given life solely for the purpose of assigning everyone to the pit of hell, but not before allocating to each a foretaste of it on Earth.
Perhaps a full reply to this question deserves a lot of space, but suffice to say that the Sovereign Creator and Ruler of the Universe, in His wisdom, allowed for the procreation of the human race until the very last one appointed to be born, was fulfilled. God sees the end from the beginning and He knew from the beginning exactly what would transpire during the period from start to finish. He knew that man would fall and He knew that man would have to be saved – the man that He created in His own image, for His pleasure and with whom to have fellowship while providing for every need in abundance. This included health and everlasting life.
But man was deceived by Satan and lost everything God had placed in store for him. Man now possesses the nature of Satan, having lost his divine birthright when the satanic curse fell upon him. And man became totally blind within the sphere of spiritual death in which he now finds himself, having passed on this condition to all the generations that followed the very first to be transformed from Life to death in the Garden of Eden. Yes, for a very brief period we had it all. And ever since then the life of man became a holding cell for death row.
Life is but a vapour and if we do not enter into the salvation planned by God from the very foundation of the world, then that life is totally worthless and meaningless. What is the key to the appropriation of this salvation? It is our God-given freedom of choice. It’s a matter of hearing, believing and using that free will to receive that salvation to everlasting life.
Although salvation is accompanied by the restoration of our birthright by which we may enjoy its benefits (God’s favour and protection) while we still occupy Planet Earth, earth itself is scheduled for a makeover (to put it mildly) and this re-creation is upon us right now. And then the freedom of choice, either way, will have its entrance to its assigned realm of reality.
Is it possible to experience peace, joy and happiness during our brief stopover on this planet? Yes, of course, but only if we are reconciled to God and become doers of his Word. Reconciliation not only sets us free, but it also gives us knowledge of a future well worth looking forward to.
The reality check is that whatever one is doing right now is a total waste of time and a needless waste one’s life if this Truth is not heeded. We can turn it around by making time to stop at the Cross of Jesus Christ, the place where eternal life begins for those who receive Him as Lord and Saviour. We have the key (our free will) to make it happen. It’s late – very late.
“Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.” (Eccl. 12:13,14)
ARTICLE 2.
Earth was created for habitation by human creatures with physical bodies
The birthplace of every human being is Planet Earth, which is God’s spiritual workplace for every inhabitant for an appointed time.
You are a specially-created, physical human creature designed to live on the earth.
Physical human beings exist nowhere else but on Earth.
Without a visible physical body you cannot take up space on earth. You start becoming visible in the womb before making your entrance. You cannot come into existence any other way.
You are a walking, talking spirit inside a physical body living on the Earth.
On Earth you are of no value to God without the spirit inside your physical body.
God needs your spirit to be on the Earth and your spirit can only be on the Earth if it is inside a physical body.
When your physical body ceases to function, your spirit departs from the Earth because it no longer has a physical body within which to operate.
Jesus works through your spirit by the power of the Holy Spirit, that’s why He said we are to walk and live in the spirit.
Faith is of the human spirit and not of the human body, but you need your physical body through which to do the works of faith. If your physical body is dead, there can be no faith to do the works. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.” (James 2:26)
God gave dominion (custodianship) over the Earth to man. Jesus was and still is the Word of God, but He had to enter Earth as a physical human being in order to live among us. Jesus was fully human and fully God.
For the purpose of legally entering and living on Earth as a human being, Jesus put aside the attributes of His divinity. It is for this reason that He had to be anointed of God like any other human being – the difference being that He was without sin – for He was God in the flesh.
Jesus – God manifested in the flesh – had to be like us because spiritual death was instituted by man and only a man without sin could reverse spiritual death. “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1Cor. 15:22)
God did not redeem your life so that He could immediately transport you to heaven. God kept you bound to the earth so that He could redeem others through you.
You are of no value to God if you are apathetic concerning His desire to reach others through you. God’s work through you is known as your works. “For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.” (Matt. 16:27
Should you have no interest in God until the day you pass away, you might as well just eat, drink and be merry – and await your fate, which will be this, “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt. 25:30)
Once you’ve been redeemed you no longer live by your own faith, but by His faith. Therefore, you are required to boldly step out and unashamedly share the good news of Jesus Christ. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)
Having His faith means you have unshakeable, pleasing faith. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Heb 11:6)
Your salvation and Christian faith is not a private matter. It is for public distribution and notification. Once you depart from the Earth you will want to hear these words, “…Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. 25:21)
Your human life is but a stopover on Earth. God requires you to give an account of your words and deeds while you were on stopover. “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:12)
So, considering all of the above, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” (2Cor. 13:5)
Now hearken to that; all those without Christ are considered to be reprobates, but are allowed to keep on breathing air in this world in the hope that they would have a change of mind before it is too late.
Life on Earth for a human creature clothed with a physical body is an existence put into place by God and for God, otherwise, “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:6)
Don’t be fooled by a seemingly smoothly-tarred road ahead of you in this world without Christ. It leads to a very hot place.
If you are happy to be living on Earth without acknowledging God on a 24/7 basis, then live with the fact that God will acknowledge you only once, in this manner. “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matt. 7:23)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John 3:16-18)
ARTICLE 3.
Where do we find God in the World today?
The world at large is under the mistaken impression that God is silent and nowhere to be found. Here is proof that He is seen and heard each and every day.
A reasonable and valid question from a child would be, “If God created everything, then why do we never hear from Him or see Him?”
How do we answer such a question?
It is true that God dealt directly with individuals during Old Testament times and we also hear modern-day testimonies by people who have had encounters with Jesus by means of visions or outer body experiences (OBE’s), but it is believed that we do not have God, in person, addressing the world en masse directly. And surely, such a presence would certainly leave no doubt as to the reality of God and it would answer every child’s question concerning His whereabouts.
Perhaps we should look at the whole picture and then come to a conclusion.
IN THE BEGINNING
A short summary would tell us that God created man in His image, meaning that God created man within His Being – just like you and I would create a garden layout within our being (mind) and then physically go and lay out that garden. The difference is, God is a life-creating Being and the life of man was created in Him (His image) in the same way that He created angels.
God then formed the physical body of man from the dust of the ground. This body was lifeless, it had no consciousness, no individuality and, therefore, no personality. All of these attributes were contained in the spiritual make-up of man created within God’s image where it remained until God released it into that lifeless, physical form by blowing it into the “nostrils” of the first man, Adam. Only then did man become a living soul – the crown creation of God, after His likeness.
We are told that God created man for His pleasure and fellowship, but this fellowship was broken when man disobeyed and chose fellowship with Satan. To this day, man is in fellowship with Satan, hence the depraved condition of man and his environment.
The penalty for this broken fellowship with God was death and eternal spiritual separation from God. It was a human being that broke this fellowship and it was going to take a human being to restore this fellowship. But no ordinary human being could ever accomplish this. Man was irrevocably sentenced to death because of sin running through his veins.
FELLOWSHIP RESTORED
God, in human form, entered Earth as Jesus Christ – a human being – the One who was going to present Himself to fallen man as the new Adam – One who was without sin and, therefore, qualified to take the penalty of sin upon Himself and die in the place of man. When Jesus Christ died on that Cross we all died on that Cross. He was the sacrificial lamb for man. But before He went to the Cross He declared the Good News of man’s redemption through Him. “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1Cor.15:21,22)
Could it be any clearer than this?
Because of one man (the first Adam) all men died. And because of one man (the last Adam, Jesus Christ) all men were once again made alive and reconciled to God. In 1Cor. 15:4 we read that “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” to man.
Being without sin, Jesus was able to perform healings and miracles in demonstration of what all men without sin could do and also the fact that without sin man would be able to live in this world without sicknesses and diseases.
God so loved the man that He created that He simply could not see him perish without the chance of redemption. It was this loving Grace towards man that made God step in Himself to redeem man from death and eternity in hell – the place prepared for Satan and his angels.
FREEDOM OF CHOICE
However, there is a matter of man’s God-given free will. Only those who hear the Good News and have come to realize the truth of their sinful nature and have, in repentance, come to God in prayer in acceptance of what was done on the Cross, are born again into the new life in Christ.
Man used his freedom of choice in the Garden of Eden to walk away from God and to walk in sin and bad health. Now he can use his freedom of choice to return to God and live life abundantly – free of sin and sicknesses and diseases. The Cross of Jesus Christ crushed the power and symptoms of sin once and for all. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” (1Peter 3:18)
That sums up the picture of the relationship between God and man.
THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION
So now we come to the answer to that opening question. Why do we not see God or hear directly from him? The truth is, we see Him and hear from Him all over the world each and every day.
Please pay close attention to this. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;” (Heb 1:1-3)
Jesus was (and still is) the Word of God and as such was – as we see in the above passage – the “express image” of God. In other words, the world saw and heard from God directly when Jesus was here and IS STILL HEARING AND SEEING HIM EVER SINCE THE DAY JESUS SAT DOWN ON THE RIGHT HAND OF THE FATHER.
THIS IS HOW WE HEAR AND SEE
In John 17 we read how Jesus prayed that all those that come to Him should become ONE with “us” – that is, ONE with the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. That prayer was answered and became a reality after Jesus died on the Cross for all mankind. Note that this would apply only to those that would come to Him in repentance and acceptance of the work of the Cross. There are MILLIONS in the world who have become ONE with the Triune God. They are called Christians. The world sees them and hears from them each and every day. They represent the express image of the Living Christ each time they speak to someone about the Good News, but most people reject and even mock what they see and hear from Jesus within these born again human creatures who have become ONE with Him.
And so the world continues on its merry way wondering why they don’t hear from or see God.
There is more. After Jesus rose from the dead – having paid the penalty for our sin – He made a mind-boggling declaration. “Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” (John 20:21)
Imagine that – exactly as the Father had sent Him, WE are now sent to present God to the world – and so the world sees God and hears from Him all day long all over the world.
Let’s not end there. As Jesus is right now, so are we who are born again and have become ONE with God. “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. (1John 4:17)
We are in this world, just like Him, so that the world can hear from and see God.
And when a group of Christians come together in one place, Jesus becomes ONE in them. “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” (Matt 18:20)
THE WORKS THAT CHRISTIANS DO
Further proof that the world sees and hears God every day all over the world can be found in
John 14:12. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
We are here IN THE PLACE OF JESUS and we continue where Jesus left off. However, it is Jesus within us doing the work, for He is alive and well and living inside every born again, Spirit-filled child of God that abides in Christ. “Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.” (John 15:4)
As for Jesus doing the work through us, we find it in Mark 16, starting with
Verse 15. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Verse 16. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Verse 17. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Verse 18. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Verse 19. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
And then we see in Verse 20 the fact of Jesus being the one doing the work through all those sent by Him. “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.”
Indeed, God is seen and heard throughout the world each and every day.
If a Christian spoke to you about Jesus recently, then you’ve seen and heard Jesus.
How did you exercise your free will in this matter – this matter of Life or Death?
ARTICLE 4.
The most astonishing statement ever made
A statement made by Jesus turned the world upside down for many, but for most the world has not moved.
THE WORLD HAS BEEN OVERCOME
The most astonishing statement ever made was when Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
What did He mean by that? It certainly begs an analysis – for it has far-reaching consequences.
THE CAMP OF THE ENEMY
Firstly, what was there about the world to overcome? His statement seems to label the world as a place that needed serious attention, as if the world was an enemy camp – in which case, anyone living in this world was under serious threat of being detected and swallowed up by the enemy. We know that Jesus was sent by God. He had a mission. And by stating that He had overcome the world for us must surely mean that He had accomplished His mission. Perhaps we should look at what God thinks of the world in order to grasp the meaning of this statement.
1 John 2:15,16 reads, “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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”
We see here that the lust of the flesh is of the world. Let’s look at the definition of this. “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contention, jealousy, wrath, selfish ambition, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelry, and the like, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I have also told you in times past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21)
And if the world is an enemy camp, then these “works” must be the works of the enemy and it must have something to do with Jesus’ mission. “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)
That’s it! The works of the devil is sin – and Jesus came to destroy his works, which means he has overcome the world and what it represents.
So, if we are living in the enemy camp – which is the world – and we cavort with the enemy, then we are in an adulterous relationship and no longer in relationship with our Heavenly Father. It actually means that we are living in sin. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4.)
BE OF GOOD CHEER
Jesus said that He had overcome the world and, therefore, we should “be of good cheer”. Obviously, if Jesus had destroyed the works of the enemy, then we should not fear living in the enemy camp, but why leave us here if the world all around us is dancing with the enemy and tempting us to follow suit? Jesus said He had overcome the enemy so that “ye might have peace” and be cheerful about it. What kind of peace can be had living with the enemy?
Well, to put it bluntly, those that are indulging in the things of the world (in an adulterous relationship with the enemy) are going to perish and God does not want them to spend eternity in hell. There’s a reason for it – and that reason is His love for the man he created. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” ( John 3:16)
As for leaving us in the enemy camp, Jesus passed on a mission to us – and that is to convert followers of the prince of this world (the devil) so that they may also inherit the Kingdom of God. We are in this world but no longer of this world – and that is what gives us the peace mentioned by Jesus. The world is waiting for the Good News of Jesus Christ who has overcome the world. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mt 28:19,20)
WE ARE ONE
Those who have stepped over to the Kingdom of God are now one with the Father and Jesus Christ. While still in the enemy camp they will suffer persecution, but they are of good cheer, for they have also overcome the world – through Him.
The prayer of Jesus puts it in a nutshell.
John 17:13-23. “And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”
Are you still in an adulterous affair with the world?
ARTICLE 5.
That Place we call The Mind
The foundation for human behaviour is information. We all grow up simply accepting the information we absorb through the senses of hearing and sight – and then apply ourselves to life accordingly. Some of us add a little thinking of our own, perhaps even questioning the validity of what is considered to be the norm. After all, are teachers, lecturers, professors and scientists not passing on to us (with some added conviction) what they, in turn, heard from someone else? Unfortunately, our own parents pass on to us exactly the same information about life and then send us to schools and universities to entrench those norms.
I am alluding to the most important aspect of our lives as human beings, namely, the function, purpose and location of the human mind.
We’ve been “told” by everyone that the human brain is the organ responsible for generating thoughts and words; that it is the seat of our intellect and emotions; that “brain power” can be developed, placing us in a position to outstrip our fellow human beings in the race for success; that it is the storage location for memory; and that our mind, located somewhere in the brain, is the decision-maker for all our words and deeds.
The most peculiar thing is, although brain researchers and all those dealing with the science of the brain have been propagating these assumptions, none of them have been able to prove this accepted norm. The fact is, they are stumped when it comes to proving what everyone seems to believe about the human brain and openly declare that the brain remains a mystery. And so, research continues. The question is, are they looking for the answers in the right place?
Everyone on this planet deserves a breakthrough in this area. Imagine finding the lurking place for that elusive other 90% “brain power” that we’ve been unable to harness. Imagine the enormity of the exciting consequences should we discover how we really function as human beings. It would be tantamount to starting life all over. Just the mere revelation of this knowledge should make you want to dance in the street as you prepare to tackle the world around you with a new perspective.
I have good news. While others are searching for that elusive 90% (supposedly) unused brain power, it is possible for you to go directly to the seat of the mind within you and find it quicker than anyone else.
We humans regard ourselves as living, physical entities capable of intellectual and emotional expression as supposedly generated by our brain by means of our mind, which, in turn, we presume forms an integral part of the brain. In assured fashion, we would at times go so far as to point at our head with one finger to indicate that we are busy thinking – simply because it feels like it’s all happening up there.
What if you were told that the human brain is empowered by the spirit within you for the sole purpose of controlling the bodily functions of the physical part (including the vocal organs) of our make-up and that it (the brain) has no conscious intellectual or emotional capabilities – let alone contain a memory database? As far out as this may seem, it is fact.
Inside of our human spirit is an area referred to as the heart. This is where it all happens. And this is where the true you is reflected. Your heart encompasses the consciousness and individuality of your human spirit and seats your intellect and emotions. Your personality, in its totality, is located here and it is reflected to the world you live in. How?
Enter the chief executive officer of your heart – your mind. This baby hugs your heart like the mouse to your computer. However, this guy can be mischievous. Like an ethereal roamer around the heart he is supposed to do the honourable thing and reflect the good things of the heart to the world. Your heart contains all the good, as well as bad things that it has absorbed since entering the world. All of your physical senses have gathered information and channelled it to your heart via a conduit, called the brain.
Your physical body is, in effect, your heart’s window to the material world. And the heart of your spirit has an unlimited capacity for the storage of information and memory. This is where dreams and ideas are conjured up and processed based on its massive database of knowledge. The decision-maker, the mind, takes what is in the heart and decides how to portray it or apply it to circumstances.
This “chief executive officer” of your spirit, the mind, acts as the spokesperson for your heart. What this spokesperson says, you get. Your brain stands at attention waiting for instructions from the mind to express the whims of the mind by means of the tongue and physical body. Talk about the power of the tongue. This lad is nothing more than the mouthpiece for the inner mind to the natural world. And now you also know why it feels like all our deliberations take place in that cavity filled by the brain.
Depending on the condition of the mind, it can either be honest or maliciously deceitful. What comes out of your mouth is the voice of the mind of your spirit. Aggression, bitterness, hate, love, joy and peace are all items of knowledge stored in the heart as a result of experiences picked up in our world. Your mind decides what to extract from the heart and present to the world. It can make or break those around you – and it can also make or break you as an individual.
Your heart and your mind are bosom buddies. They are all that you have. They are you. If you renew your mind to take only the good things of the heart, you’ll have a synergy that can conquer and overcome the world – turning war into peace and failure into success.
Guess what? You have discovered where that 90% “brain” power has been lurking all the time and you are now in a position to saddle it and ride it.
Now that you know all of this, go ahead and dance in the street, but not for too long. What will the neighbours think?
ARTICLE 6.
The living and the living dead
The world is swirling in a soup of darkness within which human activity is taking place oblivious to the perils that make up the ingredients.
A BUSY WORLD
All over the world human beings are scurrying around like ants doing their daily thing. They are split into two groups, namely, the living and the living dead. If you have accepted a transfer from darkness into Light then you are amongst the living. If not, then you are amongst the living dead, that is, you are spiritually dead and groping around in the darkness that has you bound. “(God) who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;” (Col 1:13)
The reality of these two groups is clearly depicted in Matt. 8:22. A certain man wanted to leave everything and follow Jesus and said that he would do so, but first wanted to bury his father. “But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead.”
THE PICTURE OF DARKNESS
The whole world lies in darkness. It is an actual place. It is considered a kingdom – the kingdom of darkness. This kingdom has an unseen control centre at the helm of which is a spirit being called Satan. Under his command are millions upon millions of demon spirits that go out amongst the living dead humans with the task of keeping them in darkness and to act upon those who have been translated out of the power of darkness with all the means at their disposal.
The kingdom of darkness also goes under the name of The City of Babylon, which is on the verge of merging with the physical world so that the whole earth becomes one with it in an unstoppable frenzy of evil. When this happens, all hell will break loose.“And the great dragon was cast down, the old serpent, he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world; he was cast down to the earth, and his angels were cast down with him.” (Rev. 12:9)
Satan actually offered the kingdom of darkness to Jesus, proving that this fallen angel was in control of it and its human subjects. “And he led him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. And the devil said unto him, To thee will I give all this authority, and the glory of them: for it hath been delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship before me, it shall all be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him, It is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” (Luke 4:5-8)
Jesus did not refute the devil’s claim to having a degree of power over the world. The “kingdoms of the world” are all the nations of it and the authority (power) over it was “delivered” to Satan by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. In fact, Satan wrested it from Adam by an act of deceit.
THE ACTIVITIES
So what are the activities of the living dead?
The whole world dances to the tune of Satan, not only musically to the beat of rock ‘n roll, rap and heavy metal – underpinned by drugs and sensuality – but also through mind control. Our thoughts are not always our own. Our minds are constantly bombarded by the words of demons who simply impart their suggestions to our spiritual minds to which they have free access. Bear in mind that we are spiritual beings with a physical covering that offers no resistance to other spirits, such as demons. We are spiritually blind and limited to physical interaction with fellow humans, but demons have no such limitations.
The entertainment industry – what we see on our TV screens and in movie theatres – is largely inspired by special demonic forces assigned to concentrate on delivering evil content for our daily consumption. The minds of producers and scriptwriters are being orchestrated by a special contingent appointed by Satan to feed the world with strife, discord, promiscuity, blasphemy and “blueprints” for criminal activities. Soap operas, especially, are designed to brainwash human minds to the point of no return. These daily shows depict conflict, strife, jealousy, hatred, murder, revenge, fornication, wife-swopping and general ungodliness as the norm for human society. All those involved in the execution of these movies and shows, including the actors, have taken ownership of what they do. That is why Satan awards them with Oscars and praise at the various ceremonies for their performances every year.
So blind are those that adhere to the system of the invisible kingdom of darkness that they do not know that it has stamped their lifestyle passports with visible ink, which spells “The American Dream”. And all it stands for has been exported to every corner of the world so that it has become the motto amongst men, compliments of that spiritual city, “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
WE ARE WARNEDYes, whether we believe it or not, we are living in the kingdom of darkness and we are being fed its fare 24/7. The living dead, being oblivious to the truth, love the darkness. “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their works were evil.” (John 3:19)
We are warned not to love the things of the world. “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. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vain glory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” (1John 2:15,16)
It is made explicitly clear that those who love the darkness are enemies of God. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
But we need not remain in darkness. Jesus Christ, who translated us out of the power of darkness into His Kingdom of Light, said, “I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believeth on me may not abide in the darkness.” (John 12:46)
ARE YOU SLEEPING?
The Rapture of the living – to be preceded by a horrific period of tribulation – is a fast-approaching event. The living are awake and are watching and waiting for it. The living dead are asleep and will be caught unawares.
No-one in their right mind should want to live on earth shortly before and immediately after the Rapture to face the wrath of God.
If you are still a member of the Living Dead, then you are fast asleep and you are about to become an unwilling actor in a reality horror movie played out all over the world with no escape.
You will be smack-bang in the middle of a holocaust tsunami with nowhere to run but straight into the clutches of terror, torture and death.
John 3:18 makes it clear that the pit of hell awaits the arrival of the living dead, where former American Dream aspirations turn into a reality nightmare of torment by the very demons that held them captive in the world of darkness while they were on earth. This will be their self-imposed destiny for eternity.
While we are on earth we are given the opportunity to choose between life and death. If we love darkness rather than the Light and we scoff at the idea of the latter, dismissing it as a crutch for the intellectually-impaired and believing Darwin rather than God, then hell is the final evolution level where all fellow-monkeys will shriek and suffer together.
Make a move – from darkness into the Light – while you still have God-given breath in your body, which will place you in alert mode for the Rapture to come.
As writer, I want to make it clear that I, myself, did not make a move from darkness to Light in order to escape the pit. I did it because I realised that I was a member of the living dead and that I, too, was a victim of “he that is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world;” (Rev. 12:9)
Think – and then decide for yourself.
ARTICLE 7.
Eight Billion People Woke Up This Morning
The world is abuzz. People are running to and fro chasing their dreams and seeking pleasure, but missing the point.
GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE
This morning, all over the world, 8 billion people got up to start their day, making it look like a massive Mexican wave because of the respective time zones.
Percentage-wise, the population of the Earth is made up of:-
57 % Asians
21% Europeans
14% Americans (North, Central and South)
8% Africans
And there would be:-
52% women and 48% men
30% Caucasians and 70% non-Caucasians
89% heterosexuals and 11% homosexuals
Regardless of these statistics, all 7 billion people have two things in common. And that is the AIR that they breathe and the BREATH OF LIFE within them. The two are NOT the same. There is something special about the latter.
All I need is the air that I breathe
The AIR that we take in contains the oxygen that our bodies need in order remain functional.
The BREATH OF LIFE is the element that provides consciousness and individuality to our existence as human creatures. And, just as significant, it EMPOWERS our physical bodies to “automatically” maintain the action of breathing in AIR. Therefore, without the BREATH OF LIFE we would not be able to perform the action of breathing.
Have you ever tried speaking while inhaling? You can’t. When you speak it is accomplished by exhaling. The air from your lungs passes over the speech organs to form the words which your MIND decided to publish to the world, but the WORDS that you speak are generated by your BREATH OF LIFE. To be more correct, it is the MIND of your BREATH OF LIFE that formulates the words coming out of your mouth.
Gone missing – Brain Power
It is important to note that the only role your BRAIN plays in this is to take the instruction from your BREATH OF LIFE to mechanically utilize the speech organs for the words about to emanate FROM the MIND of your BREATH OF LIFE. The speech section of the brain “orchestrates” this action.
It should also be borne in mind that the brain is “alive” ONLY because of the BREATH OF LIFE within your physical body. The brain of a dead person is also dead for the simple reason that the BREATH OF LIFE no longer inhabits that dead body. In other words, the necessary consciousness no longer exists within that body. The REAL LIFE of that person, that is, the BREATH OF LIFE, was the consciousness of that body and it “took” that consciousness with it when it departed from that body. In effect, that person is still alive but has moved on to its ETERNAL DESTINY.
Every person born into this world receives that BREATH OF LIFE from God, which makes him a LIVING SOUL. It is, therefore, the SOUL that departs from the physical body upon the demise of the body. No offence or disrespect, but have you ever heard a word come out of the body of a dead person? Our relatives and friends that have passed on are still as conscious as they were when they occupied the Earth. And they are still thinking and speaking, albeit either fearfully or joyfully.
So what is the point?
A top priority decision
Most of the 8 billion people on this Earth still have a decision to make. They have to DECIDE where they want to go to when their physical bodies give in (whatever the cause of it) and their BREATH OF LIFE departs with all the accumulated content of their CONSCIOUS SOULS. If they make no decision, then there is only one place they can go to without the possibility of a redirection. (When it comes to small children the picture is a little different, but it is the subject of another discussion)
Here lies the problem. The vast majority of the 8 billion people are living their lives in nonchalant fashion, perhaps not even aware of the situation and, in actual fact, most are wilfully ignoring this truth until it is too late. Given the fact that their very existence is due to the God-given BREATH OF LIFE within them, one would think that they would make a point of delving into it. There is an URGENCY to listen to and heed the truth.
Dismiss that enemy
There is, of course, a very good reason for our blindness – it is spiritually invoked by an enemy that is holding the world in bondage by plunging it into frenzied activity called entertainment in many different forms and degrees of depravity. This enemy has also instilled into the minds of LIVING SOULS that God is a myth and that embarrassment is attached to the very mention of His Name.
MAKING A DECISION to continue life with unspeakable joy and freedom while still in this world and, most importantly, after physical death, is straightforward. It takes a willing ear, God-instilled faith, and a confession by the MIND of your BREATH OF LIFE while your brain is still in a position to hear from your BREATH OF LIFE and instruct your mouth to utter that confession.
Yes, 8 billion LIVING SOULS woke up this morning. A great many also need to wake up to the Good News of Jesus Christ – and live.
ARTICLE 8
Our activities are preceded by our words
Did you know that you can do nothing without first saying what you are going to do? In fact, you can’t even say anything without saying it first. We are designed to first say and then say or do what we have said.
For instance, you won’t get out of bed in the morning without first saying that you are going to get out of bed. Unless someone throws you out of that bed your body won’t move until you tell it to move. And if someone throws you out of bed your body will end up on the floor simply because you will not have instructed your body to stand up from the bed.
I’m not talking about only the audible words coming out of your mouth. The fact is, your thoughts are actual words spoken within your body by your spirit. Your spirit (the real you) governs your body and your body will do whatever your spirit says it should do. We refer to thoughts as unspoken words. Nevertheless, they are words spoken by your spirit and those words will not come out of your mouth unless your spirit instructs your body to make those words audible outside of your spirit by using the speech centre of your brain and your vocal cords. Note that absolutely no thinking takes place in your brain and there is no such thing as brain power or an intellectual brain. Furthermore, no memory is stored in the brain – the spirit processes and “stores” all memory. When in conversation with someone, your spirit does rapid-fire thinking for lightning-fast release of those words through your mouth. In other words, you are saying it within before saying it without.
Now what has all of this got to do with anything? The words that we speak can have far-reaching consequences to ourselves and those who hear our words.
The words of your spirit are a powerful force. Once your spirit releases those words into the atmosphere of this world you can bring peace or start a war. Think of Adolph Hitler – his words brought about death and destruction. You can send someone to jail or you can set them free by not uttering words that would send them to jail – through the judicial system. Your words can influence an entire nation and either rally it to greatness or bring it to its knees. Likewise, the words of others can either ruin or elevate your life.
The words coming from your spirit and released to the world through your mouth comes from a “database” of information (memories) within your spirit. That information is made up of everything you have ever accumulated in the way of education, experiences and circumstances since the day you were born. The environment in which you live will determine the content of that database. For instance, if you live within a small tribe of people in the desert or jungle without modern amenities or use of modern-world technology, the knowledge base within your spirit would be limited and you would have less of an influence on others and it is likely you will live peacefully with a little bit of bickering thrown in now and again between you and other members of the tribe.
So it should be clear that our surroundings tend to make us what we are and determine the intellectual processes of our inner being – our spirit.
For our spirit to have life it must have come from a source that has life – a creative force. And if that creative force of life is responsible for our existence, then that creative force could not have created us unlike its own make-up, for it has a database of its own and we would have been created according to its own make-up. So we are little gods created after the image of one God. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:” Gen 1:26). “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” (Gen 1:27)
Suddenly, this world had two people (Adam and Eve) with something in common with the creator God. And God gave them a planet over which they should rule and in which they should create. “…and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” (Gen 1:26)
God has a spirit body and so do we – for we are just like Him. However, God gave us an outer covering for our spirit body and He created a gravitational force to “keep us down” – so to speak. Another thing we received from God is freedom of choice – a free will.
Now I’m going to cut a long story short. There would have been no such thing as a Bible – God’s Word to man – if the first two human beings did not use their free will against the God that created them. And because of their iniquity, their offspring (that’s us) became just like them, all because of the addition of that disobedient streak to their database. We now possess that same tainted ingredient within our spirit. In other words, we were born in their image and after their likeness. Here’s proof: “And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:” (Gen 5:3)
And now I’m going to cut the story even shorter. God wrote the Bible using the hand of man to do so and in it He painstakingly described to man what He was like so that we could have something to go by in order to emulate Him and live the way He intended for us. Man has failed miserably, but God had a plan which He meticulously laid out for us in the Bible. He was going to redeem all of us through His Word. He gave His Word the name of Jesus Christ, the very creator of man. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Col 1:16,17)
So why would God want to redeem us? Well, to begin with, His love for us is so great that He strongly desires to share with us all the good things He originally had in store for us. Secondly, He wants to restore to us the ability to think and speak like He does – in His image, after His likeness. Meanwhile, we need to hear the words of Jesus in the Gospels and what He taught His disciples as written in the other books of the New Testament. This will prepare us for a complete change of mind so that we, once again, can make our words and deeds count, thereby creating a better and blessed way of life for ourselves and others.
The Bible tells us that the way we think in our heart (spirit) is the way we are. If we start thinking like Jesus, then we will be thinking like God, for Jesus was God in the flesh (now glorified) and we will do what He was able to do. Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” (John 14:12-14)
Was Jesus ever sick? No, He came to heal the sick. Only when He hung on the cross did He take upon Himself all our sicknesses and diseases. If Jesus removed our sicknesses and diseases, then why do we suffer ill health? It’s a matter of our words. We need to speak like God speaks. How do we do that? In Romans 4:17 we read that “God, who giveth life to the dead, and calleth the things that are not, as though they were.” Hebrews 3:11 saysthe same thing. “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
Having been created in His image and after His likeness, we should be able to do the same, that is, call things that seem invisible or non-existent as if they were real – such as healing. The first Adam disabled our God-like ability and faith to apply this attribute, but the second Adam (Jesus Christ) restored that ability. “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23)
So it is a matter of saying and believing and really meaning what we say. People say things all day long without intent. Remarks such as “go to hell” or “I wish she’d break a leg” are simply malicious, emotional outbursts without an ounce of faith attached to them. Once we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ we need to be real careful of the words we speak or we will get exactly what we say.
Our lives are governed by what we say. And not only can our negative words be detrimental to our own health, but also to the physical condition of others. Do you realise that Jesus never prayed for the sick? He simply commanded sickness to leave, the blind to see, the deaf to hear and the lame to walk. He called “the things that are not, as though they were.”
The same Jesus now resides in you and He expects you to command and He will do the rest. Your commands in line with the words of Jesus will produce miracle signs. “And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)
Note, “the Lord working with them”.
Let the Lord work with you by the words you speak.
ARTICLE 9.
Living in Eternity while Anchored in Time
Every person experiencing life on Planet Earth should look upon their terrestrial sojourn as but a brief stopover. That stopover can last for about 70 years. Sadly, for many, the stopover does not last long at all. What kind of a stopover are we talking about? It is a stopover in a place called time.
If it is a stopover, then the journey must have commenced elsewhere for it to be a stopover. And if it is a stopover, then it must continue in the same place or realm where it started.
Everyone’s journey started in eternity – the realm of no time, the realm where God resides. We existed within the Spirit of the Almighty Creator of the entire universe, including Planet Earth, before we were given a passage to earth. “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee.” (Jer. 1:5)
Our appointed time for the release of our infant spirits into physical bodies for the beginning of our stopover in time was determined by God. To live in time required the addition (covering) of flesh and bone. Speaking of his spirit, Job said, “Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh, and hast fenced me with bones and sinews.” (Job 10:11)
During our stopover the combination of our THOUGHTS, WORDS and ACTIONS become the determining factor as to the direction we take upon re-entry into the realm of no time, the spiritual realm. That spiritual realm is split into the spiritual realm of life and the spiritual realm of death. The latter does not put an end to one’s existence and consciousness as a living entity. The term ‘death’ is merely a description denoting a place of condemnation for eternity in the spiritual realm.
Should our THOUGHTS, WORDS and ACTIONS match the THOUGHTS, WORDS and ACTIONS of Jesus Christ as a result of our submission to and faith in him because of His death and resurrection for the redemption of the human race, then the stopover in time takes on a whole new meaning. In fact, it is no longer a stopover for those of the Christian faith, but rather an early move to the spiritual realm while anchored in time. This means that we become resident in two places at the same time – we are living in eternity while anchored in time.
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us TOGETHER with Christ (by grace ye are saved), and has raised us up TOGETHER, and made us sit TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 4: 2-6)
If we are spiritually seated in heavenly places together with Christ, even while we are physically present on earth, then our conduct, wherever we find ourselves, should be as if we are conducting ourselves right before the sight and hearing of Jesus. “For our conversation is in heaven”. (Phil. 3:20). In other words, when you speak to anyone – whether it is a fellow student, a work colleague or your spouse – you should converse with them as if you are seated right there in that heavenly place, with Jesus overhearing your every word. We should live our lives in constant awareness of this.
This means that our lives are lived both in heaven and on earth at the same time. Therefore, whatever we say is heard, simultaneously, in heaven, between heaven and earth, and on earth.
Did you know that you became one spirit with Jesus and that is why you are able to be there, in the heavenly realm, with him? “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” (1Cor. 6:17)
Our citizenship is in Heaven, but we have a job to do on earth. We are the Body of Christ, which is in Heaven and on earth. We are in SPIRITUAL UNION with Christ for as long as we remain in our physical bodies on earth. Our empowerment comes through the Holy Spirit, Who has placed us in the Kingdom of God. And that Kingdom is within us. This is how we can be both in Heaven and on earth at the same time. We are already seated in Heaven where Christ is and Christ is wherever we are on earth.
Clearly, we are already living in eternity while anchored in time. And the only reason for us being anchored in time is so that we can carry out the commission given to us by Him as per Mark 16:15-20. In reality, we are carrying out our commission from our ‘Head Office’ in Heaven. There is room in the Kingdom for everyone, but not everyone wants to return to their place of origin.
Jesus said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore,” (Mt 28:18,19).
What is the absolute staggering meaning of this statement by the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings? It means that we who are already living in eternity while anchored in time have that same power and authority, “therefore” we are to ”Go” knowing that Christ in us is the Head and we are the Body. Our body is His body – our hands are His hands.
“And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.” (Mark 16:20)
Remember, we are seated “TOGETHER in heavenly places in Christ Jesus” and we are anchored in this place of time for the purpose of “the Lord working with them.” The “them” is ‘us’.
Let’s look at the full picture.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)
If we do not “Go” and actually do what is commanded as per the abovementioned, then the Lord cannot work with us and through us – then those who are currently on a stopover and on their way to a place of spiritual damnation once their stopover comes to an end will have us to blame for their eternal plight.
What then would be the point of us living in eternity while anchored in time? If we do not believe Jesus’ command to us to be possible, then how can we believe anything the Bible has to say? Could there be a reason for us to be doubtful? Yes, it could be one of two reasons or both. The first one is pride and the second one is because our THOUGHTS, WORDS and ACTIONS are no different than that of those still on an ordinary stopover in time.
We need to renew our minds to the truth and be worthy of both our calling and our salvation. “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Rom. 12:2)
Those who are on a stopover in time are in need of Good News. The Good News can only come from those who are living in eternity while anchored in time.
ARTICLE 10.
A thought for every day
People, in general, love reading single verses of Scripture – described as ‘Thought for the Day’ – that they find somewhere to read and meditate on. Supposedly, it is intended to make them feel better about life.
However, there’s one ‘thought’ that rises above every other thought that could possibly enter into one’s mind – and it is the one that matters most.
It is a thought that should follow us wherever we go and it should be the thought that hounds us every minute of the day – while we eat breakfast to start the day, while we wash the dishes, while we drive the car, while we watch television, while we play golf, while we go shopping, while we endlessly chat about nothing with friends and/or family, while we finalise a business transaction and, finally, while we get ready to end the day by going to bed.
It is an all-embracing thought. It contains certain letters of the alphabet that spells out the very bottom line of our existence. This is the thought that will either make or break us. It is the thought that puts everything to rest forever.
Unfortunately, not many take the necessary action to turn that thought into the most sweet-sounding set of words whenever it plays out in their minds knowing that they did something about it and need no longer fear the inescapable ring of truth behind the thought.
Ready for that thought?
Here it is:-
“And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Rev. 20:15)
When will this happen? Well, we all have to die, which means that we should get our name into that book of life before we die, otherwise it doesn’t really matter when it happens. But, happen, it will.
But just for the record, every single person who has died without ensuring that their name was written in the book of life will be raised from the dead to stand before God or, if still alive, will be brought to stand before God on the Day of Judgement for the purpose of hearing the bad news – the very, very bad news.
From where will the dead be raised? To find out, read the verses of Scripture at the end of this article.
There is only one way to get one’s name into the book of life – and that is, in prayer to God, to repent of one’s sins and to invite and receive Jesus Christ into one’s life as Lord and Saviour. Love, peace, joy, humility and wholesomeness are the rewards of having one’s name in the book of life.
Rev. 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
Rev. 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev. 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
Rev. 20:14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
Rev. 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
ARTICLE 11.
Only the redeemed shall live
Why do people choose death rather than life? Perhaps that’s an unfair assumption and question, for most people do not even realise that they are living in death mode. So let’s first define the matter of life and death and take it from there.
As cryptic as this may sound, just being alive is living in death mode. But once life has been offered to a person living in death mode and the choice of life is rejected, then that person will have chosen to remain in death rather than exchange death for life and will have to face the consequences of the decision. The consequence is the penalty of eternal death in the lake of fire in full consciousness for eternity. In other words, the death-mode condition never ceases – it is merely transferred from a place on earth to a place of eternal torment beneath the earth.
Needless to say, every person living in death mode needs to be redeemed, for only the redeemed shall live forever in a glorified state of joy and peace in the new Heaven and new Earth. And that is a fact. There is no getting away from it.
The death-mode condition of the human race made its entrance in the Garden of Eden by courtesy of Adam and Eve, resulting in the imposition of the death penalty by God. In effect, they opted for the lordship of Satan. Humankind could not, and still cannot, pay that penalty and then return from the dead. Only Jesus, who was without sin, could take that death sentence as substitute for the human race and rise from the dead, thereby redeeming all who believe in Him as Lord and Saviour. It is by God’s grace – and His love for the human race He created – that we are saved.
Like it or not if it be told, Satan is the lord and father of every unredeemed person on earth. He is the author of sin and death; the author of strife and discord; the author of jealousy and hatred; the author of unforgiveness and vengeance; the author of greed, genocide, war and destruction. And everyone likes most of the “books” of this author. They eat it; they sleep it and they live it by their words and actions. They cannot help doing so, for it is the very essence of the death mode in which they live.
Many have attentively listened to the Truth – the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the redemption that can only be imparted from the cross and nowhere else – but have stood back, preferring to remain in the throes of eternal death common to those whom they associate with in life. They are afraid that the delusion of the world’s fun and entertainment will make an exit from their lives.
Then there are those who have come to the realisation of the Truth, but have only given mental assent to their conviction for reason of something called self-ism – the bars of imprisonment by Satan. Such people have placed the Truth on the backburner for use as a genie in a bottle whenever in need of some kind of magic from Jesus Christ, which will not come, for Jesus said, “…This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Mark 7:6)
In reality, they want to remain in control of their own lives. This is purely Satan-invoked self-ism. They have a no-one-tells-me-how-to-live attitude, flatly rejecting the opinions of others. Only they are right about everything and no-one dares to challenge them. They do not even realise that they are self-centred, self-seeking, self-interested, self-absorbed, self-important, self-entitled and egotistical. All of this can be encapsulated in one word, namely, self-righteousness. It is purely for this reason that they feel they cannot afford to exchange their own righteousness for the righteousness of God and lose control.
Self-righteousness is a disease from Satan and he delights in those who practice it while they seek “magic” from Jesus. It is clear that “magic” from Jesus can only be attained by having the righteousness of God. “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt 6:33)
This is what God has to say about our own righteousness: “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isa 64:6)
The righteousness of God is a gift and we are actually made the righteousness of God when we hand over our lives to Him entirely. ”For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” (2Cor. 5:21)
Salvation and redemption can only be appropriated if self-righteousness is totally abandoned in heart and in prayer – a prayer such as this:
“Dear God, I now realise that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness and redemption. I believe that Jesus died in my place to pay the penalty for my sin nature and that He was resurrected from the dead so that I may live for eternity, Jesus, please come in to my heart and life and be my Lord and Saviour. Please guide me and grant me wisdom each and every day for the rest of my life on earth and beyond. Amen.”
After having said that prayer, one becomes born again and, believe it or not, one’s spirit becomes one with the Spirit of God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.” (1Cor. 6:17)
It is also at this point that life in death mode ends and the benefits of a redemptive life begins.
And only from this point onwards can the “magic” from Jesus be realised. Being one with Him means one may ask in faith and receive what is requested. “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” (John 15:7)
This article serves not to provide an all-embracing exposition on the matter of salvation and all of its intricacies, but merely to emphasise the need for redemption through the shed blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.
Only the redeemed will remain standing when God’s time table for redemption comes to an end and His wrath begins. Those who continue in self-righteousness and die without redemption before the day of wrath will have judged themselves and will continue in death mode until they stand before the Creator to hear their final judgement. It should be borne in mind that physical death does not end the consciousness of spirit and soul.
Rev. 6:12 “And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;
Rev. 6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.
Rev. 6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
Rev. 6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;
Rev. 6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:
Rev. 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?”
ARTICLE 12.
The Final Focus of Attention
The world’s focus of attention is not where it should be. This is going to change dramatically.
THE CONSUMMATE POINT IN LIFE
With reference to the condition of the world at large, there is a place in the Bible where Paul speaks of his mission. “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” ( Acts 26:18)
The words contained in this “mission statement” of Paul just about sums up the entire purpose of the Bible. The only aspect of the Bible to add to this is the “how” of it all. Paul is describing the fact that humankind is blind to a plight that “sees” total captivity to Satanic rule from which deliverance is required by means of repentance and forgiveness. This is a clear-cut picture of the condition of the human creature called man. Humanity is actually “sitting” in darkness and in the shadow of death. (Luke 1:79) The Bible also describes the world as the “land” and the “valley” of the shadow of death.
Of course, there are millions who have been turned from darkness to light and are known as those who are “sanctified by faith”. They no longer count among the living dead and their new abode is a spiritual realm found within them known as the Kingdom of God. This is a mystery that only they know and understand and of which they can testify.
THE FOCUS OF ATTENTION
Living in darkness means having one’s mind forcibly focused on everything but what the Bible has to say to man. It is like having one’s mind wrapped up by a chain and a lock for which Satan holds the key. Man is first and foremost a spirit and he is spiritually imprisoned by an evil spirit from whom he has to be delivered by the God of all spirits. But man needs to turn his attention from his jailor to his Deliverer who has but one Word for deliverance – and that Word is Jesus.
However, the entertainment media and all the electronic equipment and gadgets related thereto form an industry “manned” by an army of demons under the direction of the dark prince of this world. Teenagers and even very young children are firmly in the grip of these mind-locking devices. And guess who is supplying the equipment? You’ve guessed it – none other than the very parents of these future adults. The latter, in turn, will do even worse than their parents and so further entrench human society in a downward spiral to rock-bottom depravity. Unfortunately for man who loves his slumber within the walls of the valley of the shadow of death, God is – to put it bluntly – about to stop the rot.
How is He going to do it?
THE DISPENSATION OF GRACE
There is a straightforward answer. God is simply going to let His Grace take its course. The only problem is, God’s Grace upon mankind has reached the very end of the line. This means that at any time now God is going to bring about events that will turn everybody’s attention on Him, meaning that man’s FINAL FOCUS OF ATTENTION will be on God. Not a single soul will be able to think about anything else. It’s going to be a matter of GOD, GOD and more GOD – a totally enforced situation. The popular American phrase, “Oh my Gawd!” will reverberate all over the country and Hollywood will think that their patent has been violated. President Biden will be left wondering whether the Defence Department will be able to survive this radical application of God’s Word. And no doubt there will be calls to 911 to report God for Bible punching. However, within days, everybody will have their heads in the Bible to have a preview of what is to follow next.
Many will hope that the Anti-Christ will stop this intrusion from God so that they can carry on with their iniquitous lifestyles. But this is where they will experience the reality of, “If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” (Job 34:14,15)
Indeed, God “In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind” (Job 12:10) is going to do exactly that. For a start, only about 2 billion people will succumb within a short few years as a result of God making His presence felt. But this is only the beginning. Read the Book of Revelation and see for yourself.
Why is God going to “impose” Himself upon man in this way? Well, He said He was going to do so, but we pay no attention to what is written in the Bible. Why do we pay no attention? Here’s the answer, “And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)
And now God is going to force our attention on Him by revealing Himself to us in the shape and form of one Jesus Christ who will be directing operations on earth during God’s attention-getting campaign.
On what is your attention focused in Life?
CONCLUSION:
The Reason for and Purpose of Human Life
Why would God, who is Spirit, create a physical universe within His spirit realm and bring about physical life on just one of the planets and then give a choice between heaven and hell for everyone who has life? What makes Planet Earth so important to God? These questions raise even more questions and the need to know the answers is of vital importance to every human being still breathing air on this planet.
To begin with, we have to understand that God’s spirit realm is the very core of reality and that the physical realm would not have materialised without the existence of the Supreme Being of the spirit realm. And if the physical realm and all of us – as physical creatures – are products of the spirit realm, then our planet is actually ‘hanging’ in the spirit realm and held in position like all the rest of the celestial bodies in the entire universe as clearly explained in the Bible. “Lift up your eyes on high And see who has created these stars, The One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; Because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, Not one of them is missing.” (Isaiah 40:26)
And as far as our own planet is concerned, “He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing.” (Job 26:7)
The point I’m trying to make is that the earth and the rest of the physical universe exist within the spirit realm and are permeated by the spiritual realm. Physical bodies, therefore, present no obstacles for the movement of spiritual entities, such as angels and demons. God, angels and demons have spiritual bodies not unlike our own physical bodies (in appearance) and they can move through our physical earth as if it were no less spiritual than they are.
As mere human beings we find it impossible to believe that the solid physical earth was made from nothing, yet it would appear so when we read Heb 11:3 “Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.”
It is clear that the substance for our physical earth (and the entire universe) came forth out of the creative, faith-filled words of God. And out of that earthy substance God formed the physical body of man. Planet Earth, therefore, came out of the mouth of God and is held together by His word.
It stands to reason that if God had to withdraw his word of creation of the physical universe it would simply disappear – and so would our physical bodies. However, our physical bodies already contain God-given spiritual life, which will return to God. “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33:4) “If he set his heart upon man, if he gather unto himself his spirit and his breath; All flesh shall perish together, and man shall turn again unto dust.” (Job 34:14,15)
What or who is God’s word? God’s word is Jesus Christ, who existed with God as the second member of the Godhead in the eternal realm before He was manifested in the flesh as a human being and only then received the name by which we know Him, as made clear in John 1 and supported by Col. 1:16,17. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.”
It is, therefore, Jesus Christ by whom we all exist and in whom we all exist. Let’s make this abundantly clear. We all exist within the being of Jesus Christ and that is why everything we think, say or do is known by Him. There is nothing about ourselves that escapes Him. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.” (Acts 17:28)
And apart from this we also carry a witness to our words and deeds within our spiritual souls. Our inner spirit records and stores our every thought, word and deed like a video recorder, which simply confirms what Jesus already knows. “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” (Matt. 12:36)
Now to come back to the initial question, namely, why would God, who is Spirit, create a physical universe within His spirit realm and bring about physical life on just one of the planets and then give a choice between heaven and hell for everyone who has life? Firstly, let’s affirm the fact that we, as physical human beings, have spiritual life within us. “The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him.” (Zec 12:1)
Nothing, whether physical or spiritual, could have come into existence without being created by God, who is Spirit. “The earth is the LORD’S, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.” (Ps 24:1) “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Rev 4:11)
Every creature that has life has to have a spirit in order to live. Better still, everything that lives must be a spirit regardless of the physical or spiritual form it has been given by God. Angels, who are spirit beings, were created by God and have spiritual bodies. Likewise, human beings are spirit beings with the addition of a physical body and were created as such by God.
Angels, because of their spiritual make-up, have freedom of movement in the vast spiritual realm (including the space taken up by the earth and all the galaxies in the universe) but they do not wander off independently. They go where their assignment takes them and they certainly are not affected by gravity.
Man, who is no less spirit than an angel, is “stuck” to the earth by the earth’s gravitational pull only because of the physical body that covers his spirit. Man was made to be a terrestrial creature and will remain so while he is in retention of a physical body. Man lives by means of his spirit, but has to express that spiritual life through his physical body. It is perhaps for this reason that he cannot see into the spiritual realm – although God can open his vision to the spirit realm if it is called for. Many people can testify to this.
Now this is important. When man sheds his physical body (when he dies physically) he has no control over the movement of his spiritual body like an angel on assignment would have. Man’s spirit (his real life) belongs to God and is immediately dispatched to either heaven or hell. However, as paradoxical as this may sound, man, himself, assigns his spirit to its eternal destination while still in his physical body and before the latter part of him succumbs. God merely honours his choice – if I may put it that way.
This is a subject for discussion on its own, but I need to bring in here the fact that heaven-bound human spirits will in due time once again have their former human bodies integrated, but in glorified form and have freedom of movement not unlike that of angels.
Man’s consummate purpose on earth has changed completely from what was originally intended. Believe it or not, man’s only purpose is to focus on where he wants to spend eternity and when he has discovered that true purpose he is to live accordingly. In other words, his conduct in life should match up with the requirements of that eternal place. No cynicism intended, but this means that both places – heaven and hell – reserve the right of admission.
So what are the respective qualifications needed for heaven and hell? As far as ensuring a passage to hell is concerned, all one has to do is to ignore God and either ignore or avoid anyone who has anything positive to say about God and heaven and carry on living as if God has nothing do with one’s life. This is a sure-fire qualification for hell. It is a one-way ticket.
Zealously aspiring to live righteously after having been born again through Jesus Christ is all it takes to qualify for a passage to heaven as well as securing accommodation in the new heaven and earth after the current earth is destroyed by fire. This is the ticket we all need and it is only provided at the “strait gate” entrance point.
Unfortunately, there is a grey area. Many have tasted of salvation but have reverted to a lifestyle in total contrast of what is expected of them as Christians. They make reference to their “Christianity” only when it suits the occasion, but they are deceived and no longer possess that “ticket” to heaven – unless they come to their senses and abort their ways.
The daily experiences of our lives are purely incidental. What do I mean by that? Well, our lives have no meaning whatsoever until we find the purpose for our lives and until we do we remain members of the living dead going through the motions of pretending to be alive when we are actually quite dead. Does this sound confusing? Let me put it in plain and simple terms.
As growing children we lived in wonderment of our surroundings and gave thought to only the happy moments we experienced from day to day. When we finally approached adulthood certainly realities became apparent. We discovered that life had many downsides with only a sprinkling of happy moments. As we grew older problems seemed to increase. Money became the core requirement of our lives. Without it we could do nothing. Our comfort zone and personal contentment in life depended on this one commodity. Then there was the other factor – the people factor. People would gossip about you and you would gossip about them. Human relations seemed to be made up of strife, slander, revenge and unforgiveness. We had problems to overcome, sicknesses to deal with and bills to pay while filling our empty moments with various forms of entertainment, such as many hours of television fare and the tapping of fingers on a smart phone device..
Does all of this make any sense and are we just to live this way and then die without explanation for any of it?
Acts 17:24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;
Acts 17:25 Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:26 And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;
Acts 17:27 That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Acts 17:28 For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.
Acts 17:29 Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Acts 17:30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
It is clear. We either start realising that life comes from God and that we need to live that life His way or suffer the consequences. The point is, we cannot do it. It is impossible. We are dead and condemned already, but Christ died and paid that penalty (of death and condemnation) on our behalf – in our place – so that we might live through Him and with Him for eternity.
Repentance means “to change one’s mind”. It is, therefore, a matter of changing one’s mind, accepting and believing this Truth and to make it clear to God that you do. How? By confessing to Him that you believe. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9,10)
The alternative is too horrendous to even contemplate.
The Bible gives a full explanation for all of it and makes it absolutely clear that without Christ we are lost and condemned forever.
The road to redemption by repentance
The following prayer would be an act of repentance.
“Dear God in Heaven, I now realise that I am a sinner in need of forgiveness and redemption. I believe that Jesus died in my place to pay the penalty for my sin nature and that He was resurrected from the dead so that I may live for eternity with you. Jesus, please come in to my heart and life and be my Lord and Saviour. Please guide me and grant me wisdom each and every day for the rest of my life on earth. Amen.”
And the Lord’s response to such a prayer?
“Because you have made the LORD, which is your refuge, even the most High, your habitation; there shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling. For he shall give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” (Ps 91:9-11)
Angels are given charge over us. To think that while you are washing dishes in your kitchen those angels are delighted with your happy face. While you are driving your car those angels can see far ahead of you and take action to avert any mishap. And your boss does not know why he suddenly feels that he should give you a promotion and a substantial raise.
FINIS
The South African Road to Freedom 