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DEATH
The last thing you will do
is die, yet few ever give a thought to what will result from that last act.
It will be profitable for the funeral director, and your heirs, but how will
it affect you?
You don't know? You've
never thought about it? Since it is inevitable, and the results eternal,
don't you think you should think about it, and prepare for it?
Men have many opinions as to
what follows death, but here is what God says. "It is appointed unto men one
to die, but after this the judgment" Hebrews 9:27. There are, however, two
judgments: the judgment seat of Christ, and the great white throne, Romans
14:10; Revelation 20:11.
The judgment seat of Christ
is for believers, its purpose being to bestow an eternal reward proportionate
to the measure of service rendered to Him during the individual’s life on
earth.
The judgment at the great
white throne, however, is for unbelievers, its purpose being to determine the
degree of punishment to be suffered eternally in the lake of fire
proportionate to the sinfulness of the life lived on earth. Those arraigned
at that terrible throne will be they whose names are not written in the book
of life, Revelation 20:15.
Is your name written there?
To have it inscribed in that book all you have to do is admit that you’re a
sinner without one shred of righteousness; believe that Jesus Christ loved you
enough to die in your stead, for your sins; and believe that in response to
that admission and faith God will pardon all your sins, and receive you into
heaven.
There is, however, a limit
to the time in which you may avail yourself of God’s pardon and gift of
eternal life, as it is written, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man,”
Genesis 6:3; “He, who being often reproved hardens his neck, shall suddenly be
destroyed, and that without remedy, Proverbs 29:1; “Beware lest he take thee
away with his stroke: then a great ransom cannot deliver thee.
Trust Christ as your Savior
today. Tomorrow may be eternally too late.
******
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THE LAST MESSAGE
Dear
Reader,
For
most of the 33 years I've lived in Fairfield I've published these weekly Bible
messages, but now age has made it necessary for my wife and me to move into a
retirement community in another area, so this will be the last message.
It may
be also the last time anyone will warn you of the need to prepare to meet God,
as it is written, "My Spirit shall not always strive with man.... He, who
being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that
without remedy" Genesis 6:3; Proverbs 29:1.
For the
last time therefore, here is all you have to do to save your soul from hell
and fit it for heaven:
(1) Admit that you're a
sinner without any righteousness, Romans 3:9-12; John 3:3,7;
(2) believe that Christ
loved you enough to die in your place for your sins, John 3:16;
(3) believe that in response
to that faith God will pardon all your sin and receive you into heaven, John
3:18,36.
I've
published these Gospel messages through the years because I care about your
soul. I pray that that care won't prove to have been wasted.
Very
sincerely,
Jim
Melough.
******
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500 YEARS BEFORE PALM
SUNDAY....
...
Zechariah foretold that Christ would ride into Jerusalem on "a colt the foal
of an ass" Zechariah 9:9, and Daniel prophesied that He would then be executed,
Daniel 9:26, while David foretold His crucifixion, His desolate cry, His
thirst, the gambling for His clothes, Psalm 22:1,15-18, and His resurrection
Psalm 16:10; Acts 2-27-31.
Daniel,
however, added an important detail: the date of that ride into Jerusalem would
be 173,880 days from the signing of the decree ending the Babylonian
captivity. It was!
Is it
just coincidence that these prophecies have been so exactly fulfilled?
God
instructed the prophets to write so that men might take heed and be saved from
hell and fitted for heaven, warning them that Christ will return to execute
judgment against all who have failed to trust Him as Savior. The exact date
of that return isn't given, but all the signs indicating its nearness have
already been fulfilled.
He
could come today. How will you meet Him? As your Savior, or as your Judge?
******
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TRAGIC FLIGHT TO
LONDON
On Friday April 30, 1999 a friend of mine flew to
London to visit her sister.
Upon arrival she got up to retrieve her bag from the overhead compartment, but
dropped in the aisle - dead!
How different was the end of
that flight from what she had expected! I wonder what she would have done
differently had she known how it would end. She had been warned many times of
the need to prepare to die, but death came suddenly, leaving no time to
prepare.
You too could die
unexpectedly, suddenly, with no time to prepare, your shock of horror being to
find yourself in hell instead of heaven because you failed to accept Christ as
your Savior while you were on earth. God warns, "Prepare to meet thy God,”
Amos 4:12; “for you know not what a day may bring forth,"
Proverbs 27:1; and again,
"Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation" 2 Corinthians 6:2.
Tomorrow may be too late.
Tomorrow could find your
friends shocked by your sudden death, but you the most shocked at the terrible
consequences of having died without being born again through faith in Christ
as your Savior.
******
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30 PIECES OF SILVER
520
years before Christ it was prophesied that He would be sold for 30 pieces of
silver, and the money given to the potter, Zechariah 11:13.
The God
Who gave that prophecy declares that all who die without having been born
again, John 3:3,7, will be excluded from heaven, and consigned to eternal
torment in the lake of fire, Revelation 20:15.
You may
have been baptized, confirmed, become a member of a church, etc., but only the
new birth will take you into heaven.
Can you
remember, how, when, and where you were born again? If you can't, but still
believe that you're going to heaven, you're deluded. You can no more enter
heaven apart from a second birth, than you could have entered this world
without a natural birth. God warns all men, "Ye must be born again." He was
right, not only in what He prophesied of Christ, but in everything He has
foretold.
Why do
you think He will be wrong in what He says concerning you?
******
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THE CROWD WAS WRONG
They
said Columbus would sail off the edge of the earth; they laughed at the Wright
brothers' attempts to fly; they booed Wagner's music; they called Westinghouse
a fool; and Lincoln, a country bumpkin.
The
crowd was wrong, but it cost them nothing.
Today,
however, and wrong again, they disbelieve a Bible they haven't read, and laugh
at the need of a new spiritual birth to save men from hell, and fit them for
heaven, but this mistake will cost them their souls!
If
you're one of that crowd, call and I'll give you proof only a fool would
reject, that the Bible was written by God, not men.
If
you're not one of the skeptics, and want to save your soul, admit that you're
a sinner, believe that Christ loved you enough to die in your place for your
sins, and that in response tot hat faith, God will pardon all your sin and
receive you into heaven.
******
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A CHRISTMAS GIFT
Among
the gifts you will receive this Christmas there is almost sure to be something
you wouldn't be caught dead wearing, or something that you need even less than
a second head. Yet you wouldn't dream of offending the giver just because his
gift reflected poor taste or thoughtlessness. When a gift is refused it is
rarely because of the unsuitability of the gift, but rather because there is
something wrong between the giver and the intended recipient. I'm sure
therefore that it is neither intent to offend the Giver, nor unsuitability of
the gift, that has led you to refuse the gift that God is offering you, not
just at Christmas, but every day. Why, then, do you refuse God's gift?
Among
those you will accept this Christmas will be some given by people whose
motives you know to be ulterior - a company anxious to keep your business; an
acquaintance trying to place you under an obligation, etc. God however has no
ulterior motive. He offers you His gift, not because He needs anything from
you, but because He loves you, and because He knows how very desperately you
NEED His gift. "The wages of sin is death: but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ our Lord," Romans 3:23. Unless you accept this
priceless gift, your soul must exist in a state of torment for ever, for those
who refuse God's gift of life MUST accept the wages of sin - death. That
death however is more than just the decease of the body: it includes also "the
second death," that is, consignment of body, soul, and spirit to the eternal
torment of the lake of fire, Revelation 20:10-15.
It is
almost two thousand years since that night when the shepherds on the plains of
Bethlehem received from the angel the announcement of Christ's birth, "Unto
you is born this day a SAVIOR, which is Christ the Lord," Luke 2:11. That One
Whose birth was heralded by angels is the same One Who, thirty-three years
later, hung on a cross at Calvary, taunted by men, dying in your guilty place,
bearing the penalty for your sins. It was His death, not His birth, that made
atonement for sin; and He willingly gave His life in exchange for yours. It
is because of His death that God can offer the gift of eternal life.
Will
this be another Christmas when, under the form of observing Christ's birthday,
you will accept all gifts except that one which cost Him His life, and which,
if still refused, will cost YOU the eternal loss of your soul? Would you
refuse from an earthly friend a gift which he had purchased for you with his
son's life? How, then, can you dare to contemplate the day when you must meet
God, when you will have to explain why you refused His gift? "How shall we
escape if we neglect so great salvation?" Hebrews 2:3.
You
will make this the happiest Christmas you've ever known if you will accept
God's priceless gift by simply believing that when the Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary it was in your place, for your sins. THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH.
THE GIFT OF GOD IS ETERNAL LIFE. You MUST choose one; and by refusing the
gift of life you are choosing the wages of sin - DEATH.
******
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JORDAN AND THE DEAD SEA
Multitudes who profess to have been born again, can give no convincing
testimony as to how, where, and when their conversion occurred.
Many of
them have been deluded into believing that belief in the historicity of Christ
is saving faith. It isn’t.
One may
believe everything about Christ, but if he doesn’t also believe that it was
his sins that required Christ to die, he is not saved.
It is
unimaginable tragedy to go through life mistaking an intellectual knowledge of
Christ for conversion, only to discover with horror, and too late for remedy,
that “Jordan” has ended in the “Dead Sea” instead of heaven.
******
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THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE
The
first Christmas tree was unique. It had neither lights nor ornaments, yet it
attracted a multitude which included the political and religious leaders of
the city outside which it stood.
Upon it
hung one solitary gift. It was Calvary's cross, and on it hung God's
priceless Gift to the world, His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
At
Christmas attention focuses on Bethlehem's manger, but the incarnation is only
half the Christmas story.
Calvary
is the other half, for the Child Who lay in the manger became the Man Who hung
on the cross, to save men from hell and fit them for heaven, for as
Bethlehem's manger is only half the Christmas story, so is physical death only
half the story of death.
There
is a second death: consignment to eternal torment in the lake of fire, of all
who reject God's Gift, Revelation 20.
How is
He accepted?
(1) admit that you're a
sinner without any righteousness.
(2) believe that He loved
you enough to die in your stead for your sins, and that in response to that
faith, God pardons all your sin, and will receive you into heaven.
To
refuse His priceless gift is to offer God the supreme insult, and damn your
own soul. By receiving Christ you'll have the happiest Christmas of your
life, and in addition a happy eternity.
I
sincerely wish you both.
******
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ONLY ONE MORTAL
SIN
There is pardon for every sin except that of dying without having been born
again, that new birth occurring the moment you are willing to …
(1) admit
that you are a sinner without any righteousness,
(2) believe
that when Christ died it was in your place for your sins,
(3) believe
that God’s response to that faith is to pardon all your sins and receive you
into heaven at the end of life’s journey.
The Bible makes it crystal clear that there is no possibility of changing your
state once you die: you will be in heaven or hell for ever.
You say, It’s too easy. Surely I must do something besides believe in Christ
as my Savior.
The Bible says, “By grace you are saved through faith ... it is the
gift of God: not by works, lest any man should boast” Ephesians 2:8-9,
“Not by works of righteousness” Titus 3:5.
To die without having been born again is to trample “underfoot the Son of God”
and to count His blood “an unholy thing,” Hebrews 11:29, something God will
never forgive.
******
