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Did you know
The
latest statistics shows that 10 out 10
people will die before reaching the age
of 130!
WHERE WILL YOU GO TO WHEN YOU DIE?
The way to find the answer is to ask
yourself - Am I a good person..... that
is good enough to go to heaven?
Most folk would answer yes, aaaaa
maybe I have told a white lie or two but
nothing too serious, like murder!
Well
let's go through a few questions and see
how good a person you are :-)
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1. |
God said - "You shall
have no other gods before
Me." |
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Is God first in your life? Do
you love God above all else?
Many years ago, a man purchased
a T.V. for his children. However
the first evening he arrived
home from work he found that
they didn't even bother to greet
him. They were too busy watching
television. He turned it off and
explained to them that if they
ignored him because they
preferred to watch T.V. they
were setting their love on the
gift rather then the
giver, a wrong order of
affections. In the same way, if
we love anything—husband, wife,
children or even our own
lives—more than we love God, we
are setting our affection on the
gift rather than the Giver,
which is a transgression of the
First Commandment. In fact, the
Bible says that we should so
love God that our love for Mom
and Dad and brother and sister
should seem like hatred
compared to the love we have for
the God who gave those loved
ones to us.
Have you loved God with all your
heart? You be the judge.
Will you be innocent or guilty
on Judgment Day of breaking that
Commandment? I'm not judging
you—I'm asking you to judge
yourself ... before the Day
of Judgment. The sentence for
breaking this Commandment is
death. |
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2. |
God said - "You shall
not make for yourself any
graven image." |
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This means that we shouldn't
make a god to suit ourselves,
either with our hands or our
mind. Is your God the One
revealed in Holy Scripture? If
not, then you have made your own
god to suit yourself—you have
committed the oldest sin in the
Book. For instance have you
made-up a god that did not mind
a "white" lie here and there? He
would be a figment of your
imagination, an "image" which
you shaped to suit yourself.
Scripture warns that no idolater
will enter the Kingdom of
Heaven.
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3. |
God said - "You shall
not take the name of the
Lord your God in vain." |
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Have you ever taken God's name
in vain—instead of using a
four-letter word to express
disgust, you've used His name?
Hitler's name wasn't despised
enough to use as a curse word.
If you have used His holy name
in that manner, you are a
blasphemer and will not enter
the Kingdom of God. |
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4. |
God said - "Remember
the Sabbath Day, to keep it
holy." |
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Have you kept the Sabbath day
holy? |
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5. |
God said - "Honour
your father and your
mother." |
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Have you always honoured
your parents in a way that's
pleasing in the sight of God?
Ask Him to remind you of the
sins of your youth. You may have
forgotten them, but God hasn't. |
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6. |
God said - "You shall
not murder." |
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Jesus warned that if we get
angry without cause we are in
danger of judgment.
If we hate our brother, God
calls us a murderer.
We can violate God's Law by
attitude and intent. |
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7. |
God said - "You shall
not commit adultery." |
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Who of us can say that we are
pure of heart? Jesus warned,
"You have heard that it was said
to those of old, You shall not
commit adultery, but I say to
you that whoever looks at a
woman to lust after her has
committed adultery already with
her in his heart."
Remember that God has seen every
thought you have had and every
sin you have ever committed. The
day will come when you have to
face His Law, and we are told
that the impure, fornicators
(those who have sex before
marriage) and adulterers will
not enter the Kingdom of God.
Punishment for transgression of
this Commandment is the death
penalty. |
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8. |
God said - "You shall
not steal." |
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Have you ever taken something
that belonged to someone else
(irrespective of its value)?
Then you are a thief—you cannot
enter God's Kingdom. |
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9. |
God said - "You shall
not bear false witness." |
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Have you ever told a lie? Then
you are a liar. How many lies do
you have to tell to be a liar?
Just one.
The Bible warns that all
liars will have their part in
the Lake of Fire. You may not
think deceitfulness is a serious
sin. God does! |
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10. |
"You shall not covet." |
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That means we shouldn't desire
anything that belongs to another
person. The covetous will not
inherit the Kingdom of God. |
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Who of us can say we are not
guilty of breaking these
Commandments? All of
us have sinned, and just as
with civil law, you don't
have to break ten laws to be
a lawbreaker, so the Bible
warns, "For whoever shall
keep the whole Law, and yet
stumble in one point, he is
guilty of all."
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A little girl was once watching a sheep
eat grass and thought how white it
looked against the green background. But
when it began to snow she thought, "That
sheep now looks dirty against the
white snow!" It was the same sheep, but
with a different background. When we
compare ourselves to man's standard we
look pretty clean, but when we compare
ourselves to the pure snow-white
righteousness of God's
standard—His Law, we can see ourselves
in truth, that we are unclean in His
sight. That Law is the holy standard by
which humanity will be judged on
Judgment Day.
This may sound strange, but the worst
thing you could do at this point of time
is to try and clean up your
lifestyle—you realize that you have
sinned, so from now on you will keep the
Ten Commandments, do good deeds, say the
right things and think only pure
thoughts.
But should a judge let a
murderer go because he says he will now
live a good life? No, he's in debt to
justice and therefore must be punished.
The Law of God is merely like a
mirror—all a mirror does is show you the
truth. If you see egg on your face, you
don't try and wash yourself with the
mirror; its purpose should be to send
you to water for cleansing. Neither
should you try and wash yourself with
the mirror of God's Law...that's not its
purpose.
The sight in the mirror is not a pretty
one, but if you don't face it and
acknowledge that you are unclean, then
all that "dirt" will be presented on
Judgment Day as evidence of your guilt,
and then it will be too late to be
cleansed.
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Perhaps you think that God
is good and will therefore
overlook your sins. But if
you were guilty of terrible
crimes in a civil court and
said to the judge, "Judge, I
am guilty but I believe that
you are a good man and will
therefore overlook my
crimes," the judge would
probably respond by saying,
"You are right about one
thing; I am a good man, and
it's because of my
goodness that I am going
to see that justice is done,
that you are punished for
your crimes." The very thing
that many are hoping will
save them on Judgment Day,
God's "goodness," will be
the very thing that will
condemn them.
If God is good, He should
punish murderers, liars,
thieves, etc., and Hell will
be their dreadful fate. |
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What a terrible place Hell must be. If
you read in the newspaper that a man
received an R500.00 fine for a crime,
you could conclude that his crime was
insignificant. But if a man received
multiple life sentences, you could
conclude that his crime was heinous. In
the same way, we can catch a glimpse of
how terrible sin must be in the sight of
God by looking to the punishment given
for it—eternal punishment.
Instead of proving their gratitude by
obedience to His will, they use His name
to curse. Their punishment will be just
but severe to the uttermost. Take the
time to read what Jesus said Hell was
like in Mark 9:43-48. Please, look
honestly into the mirror of the Law,
then seek the "water" that cleanses
every sin. If you don't believe what
I am saying about the reality of Hell,
it means you think God is corrupt (that
He hasn't the moral backbone to seek
justice), that Jesus was a liar, that
the Apostles were false witnesses, that
God's promises are nothing but
prefabricated lies, and there is no
greater insult to God than to call Him a
liar. By doing so, you are adding
to your transgressions.
Imagine if you reject the Saviour, die
in your sins and find that what I have
told is the Gospel truth? Then it will
be too late, you will be judged for you
sins.
If that happens, and your eyes meet my
eyes on the Day of Judgment, I'm free
from your blood. I have told you the
truth, but if you choose to ignore it
your blood will be upon your own head...
you will have no one to blame but
yourself.
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Can you see your
predicament? You are guilty
of sinning against God
Himself, and, because you
have a conscience, you have
sinned "with knowledge."
Isn't it true that every
time you lied, stole,
lusted, etc., you did it
with knowledge that it
was wrong? |
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Does the fact that you have sinned
against God scare you? It should. The
Bible says His wrath abides on you, that
you are an "enemy of God through your
wicked works." But let fear work for
your good in the same way that a fear of
jumping out of a plane at a great height
would make you put on a parachute. Let
your will to live open your heart to the
Gospel of salvation.
To make it clear what an incredible
thing God has done for you, let's look
again to civil law: You are standing in
front of a judge, guilty of very
serious crimes. All the evidence has
been presented and there is no doubt
about your guilt. The fine for your
crime is R10 million or imprisonment,
but you haven't two cents to rub
together. The judge is about to pass
sentence...he lifts his gavel, when
someone you don't even know steps in and
pays the fine for you. The moment
you accept that payment, you are free to
go. Justice has been served, the law has
been satisfied, and what's more, the
stranger who paid your fine showed how
much he cares for you. His payment was
evidence of his love.
That's what God did for you,
in the person of Jesus
Christ.
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You are guilty; He paid the
fine 2,000 years ago. It
is that simple.
The Bible puts it this way:
"he was bruised for our
iniquities . . . Christ has
redeemed us from the curse
of the Law being made a
curse for us...God commended
His love toward us, in that
while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us."
It was no small thing for
Jesus to die for us. The
only thing that would
satisfy the demands of
Eternal Law was the
suffering death of the
sinless Son of God.
What love God must have for
you!
He suffered unspeakable
agony, so that you wouldn't
have to be punished for your
sins.
His sacrificial death and
resurrection mean that you
need no longer be in debt to
the Law, and God can now
grant you everlasting life
if you obey Him -- death no
longer has a legal hold upon
those who belong to Jesus
Christ. |
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Two men were offered a parachute while
seated in a plane. The first man was
told it would improve his flight, but
the second man was informed he had to
make a 25,000 foot jump. When the flight
struck severe turbulence the first man
took his parachute off because as far as
he was concerned it didn't improve the
flight. But during the same violent
turbulence, the second man clung tighter
to his parachute. Each man's motive
for putting the parachute on determined
whether or not they would keep it on.
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In the same way, the
reason you should "put
on the Lord Jesus Christ"
should NOT be to find peace,
joy, true happiness, to have
your marriage healed or your
problems fixed, etc. (to
have your flight improved),
but it should be to escape
the jump to come
- because of the fact that
you have to pass through the
door of death -
Then, when the flight gets
bumpy (when problems come)
you won't fall away from the
faith.
What should you then do?
Simply repent and put your
trust in Jesus Christ as
your Saviour and Lord.
Don't
put it off until tomorrow. |
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Would you sell an eye for a million
dollars? How about both for R20 million.
No one in his right mind would. Your
eyes are priceless to you, yet they are
merely the windows of your soul. Your
life (your soul) is of such value; Jesus
said that you should despise the value
of your eye compared to it. He said that
if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it
out and cast it from you, for it is
better to enter Heaven blind than to go
to Hell seeing. In other words,
of all the things you should prioritize
in your life, it's not your health, your
vocation, etc.; it's your eternal
salvation.
Think of a man who has committed
adultery. His faithful wife is more than
willing to take him back, so what is the
attitude in which he should approach
her? It should be one of tremendous
humility, asking for forgiveness, and
determining in his heart never to
even think of committing adultery
again.
If you are not sure how to pray, read
Psalm 51 and make it your prayer. Then
put your faith in Jesus Christ in the
same way you would put your faith in a
parachute. You don't just "believe" it
will benefit you, you actually trust
yourself to it by putting it on.
Then, once you have made peace with God,
read the Bible daily, obey what you
read and pursue fellowship with fellow
believers in Christ by joining a church.
God bless |