The Lost Mandate of Heaven, Part 1D [Ideas Series, #4]

1 Thessalonians 1:9

"For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;"

As stated previously, the word repentance is used to express the spiritual transition from sin to God.

Do not mistake penitence for repentance. They are NOT the same. Penitence signifies pain, grief, distress, rather than a change of thought and purpose. Thus Latin Christianity  has been corrupted (the Catholic Church being the main perpetrator) by erroneous thought of presenting grief over sin rather than abandonment of sin as the primary idea.

Repentance is that change of a sinner's mind which leads him to turn from his evil ways and live under the grace that Christ provides for all who believe in Him (Rom. 8:1-10). The change wrought in repentance is so deep and radical as to affect the whole spiritual nature and to involve the entire personality. The intellect must function, the emotions must be aroused, and the will must act. Each person needs to understand sin as unutterably grievous; recognize the divine law as perfect; and acknowledge that he himself comes short or falling below the requirements of a holy God due to sin (Job 42:5,6; Psalms 51:3; Romans 3:20, 23).

There may be a knowledge of sin without turning from it as an awful thing which dishonors God and ruins man. The change of view may lead only to a dread of punishment and not to the hatred and abandonment of sin (Exodus 9:27; Numbers 22:34; Joshua 7:20; 1 Samuel 15:24; Matthew 27:4).

There is a type of grief that issues in repentance and another which plunges into remorse. There is a godly sorrow and also a sorrow of the world. The former brings life; the latter, death (Matthew 27:3; Luke 18:23; 2 Corinthians 7:9,10). There must be a consciousness of sin in its effect on man and in its relation to God before there can be a hearty turning away from unrighteousness. The feeling naturally accompanying repentance implies a conviction of personal sin and sinfulness and an earnest appeal to God to forgive according to His mercy (Psalms 51:1,2,10-14).

The whole sacrificial system was intended only to point out the infinite mercy of God to fallen man, in his redemption by the blood of the new covenant. What a picture! Mercy is a matter of the heart; that is, God's heart. It can be said that the heart of the Lord is mercy.

An Illustration

Suppose you go home, and you find that while you have been at work, your child has gone to your private drawer and stolen $5 of your money. You go to him and say: "Did you take that money?" "Yes, I took that money," he replies. When you hear him saying this without any apparent regret you won't forgive him. You want to get at his conscience; you know it would do no good to forgive him unless he confesses his wrong.

Suppose he won't do it. "Yes," he says, "I stole your money, but I don't think I've done wrong." The mother cannot, the father cannot forgive him, unless he sees he has done wrong, and wants forgiveness.

Reader, can't you see you're in the same predictament as that little child? Yes, you are! Are you troubled by that thought? Sinner, why don't you repent?

A test: Is it your sin that stands between you  and Christ?

It isn't, really. It's your own will. That's what stands between the sinner and forgiveness. Christ will take all your iniquities away if you will let Him. But, you've got to humble yourself before the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and admit you're a sinner and ask for pardon. Men are so proud that they won't acknowledge and confess before God.

Don't you see on the face of it, if your boy won't repent you cannot forgive him, and how is God going to forgive a sinner if he doesn't repent? If God allowed an unrepentant sinner into His Kingdom, there would be war in Heaven. You cannot live in a house with a boy who steals everything he can lay his hands on. You would have to banish him from your house, right?

 

A Consideration of the Local Incarceration Rate

Facts about Washington State Offenders in Confinement

Number of Prison Facilities ..................................................................................12
Number of Work Releases Facilities..................................................................16

Total Offenders in Confinement ..................................................................17,838
Offenders in prison ..........................................91.9%.................16,391
Offenders in work release................................. 3.8%....................... 679
Offenders in out-of-state rented beds ............ 0.0%............................ 0
Offenders in in-state rented beds.................... 4.3%....................... 768

Prison and Work Release Operational Capacity ..................................16,837
Total operational capacity in prisons ........................................16,158
Operational capacity in work release capacity .............................. 679

Percent of Population to Operational Capacity
Total Prison Confinement Percent of Operational Capacity.................. 101.1%
Work Release Percent of Capacity ............................................................. 100.0%

Gender
Male.....................................................................................................................92.6%
Female .................................................................................................................. 7.4%

Race
White ...................................................................................................................71.6%
Black....................................................................................................................18.8%
American Indian .................................................................................................. 4.3%
Asian...................................................................................................................... 3.7%
Unknown/Other................................................................................................... 1.6%

Hispanic Origin.....................................................................................................11.6%

Average Age............................................................................................................. 37.8

Citizenship
United States .....................................................................................................94.7%
Mexico................................................................................................................... 2.7%
Other...................................................................................................................... 2.6%

Length of Sentence
Less than Two Years ........................................................................................15.7%
Two to Five Years ..............................................................................................23.9%
Five to Ten Years...............................................................................................20.4%
Over Ten Years ..................................................................................................24.8%
Life with the possibility of Parole or Release………. ...………………………...11.6%
Life without Release........................................................................................... 3.6%

Avg. Length of Stay for Offenders Released in the past year........ 23.8 mo


As you can see, most of the offenders are very young men, for the most part. The majority of them (12,308 persons to be exact) serve 2-10 years. Does it break your heart that these men and women might leave the prison without knowing who Jesus Christ is? They're in there no doubt for their wrong doing. But, have you stopped to consider that Jesus died for them, too? Did anyone visit them or write them or mailed them a Gospel tract? If they received Christ as their Lord & Saviour in prison, do you wonder whether or not they'll be discipled by someone in their community once they are released so that they stay on the straight and narrow? Do you think someone out there cares about them? And, how many of them did not get connected to a local New Testament, Bible-believing church once released?

The worst kind of bondage is sin. There is no prison worse than it because it goes with you anywhere you go. To be sure, nothing can be done to liberate you from sin than the blood of Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 36; Heb. 9:22).

Suppose the Governor of Washington finds a great number of criminals in prison, and he goes and says: "I feel bad for those prisoners. They cannot stay in jail any longer." Suppose some murders have been committed, and he says: "I am tender hearted, I can't punish those men." and he opens the prison door and lets them all out. How long would that governor be in his position? Wouldn't your blood boil and you'd be calling out for justice? Men would be the first to raise their voice against that governor. These men would clamor, "These murders must be punished or society will be imperiled; life will not be safe!"

And what about God's justice? Do you think He wants justice for men's sins? Oh, indeed He does!

Yet people believe that God will ignore men's sins. Just glance up Calvary's way. The Judge of the world did not look away at all. Reader, He hates sin, but loves you (Jn. 3:16). It is a hard way that Jesus Christ took for your sins, Friend. Don't go on under that delusion that you can keep on sinning (Num. 32:23). You can't. It is a lie of the devil. I tell you, the Word of God is true, and it tells us "Except a man repent" there is not one ray of hope held out for you.

Now let me say this: You are in a position to be reconciled to God right now. You are not in a position to deny this reconciliation a week, a day, an hour. God tells you now. In five minutes, for all you and I know, you may be in eternity.  Life is but a mist. So now God calls you to repent, and all your sins will be taken from you. May God help you to turn and live.

I Want to Turn From Sin and Live Right!

Sources: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia; Oxford English Dictionary; Strong's Dictionary; WA State Dept. of Corrections Statistic and Report - Quarterly Fact Card (March 31,2012)

For Whom Do You Grieve?

Proverbs 24:11-12
"If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?"


I encountered an interesting article on grief and loss on the internet the other day. The discussion centered around the source of people's grief. And the question came up: For Whom Do You Grieve? There were poignant and touching comments made. I'm including some of them here, hoping that it will cause you to ask yourself that very question.

Rebecca J.
He lays in Plot 190 A-1 in the Garden of Eternal Life Cemetary, the man in prearrangements explained and provided me with a map. His headstone is black granite with the words, “Beloved Husband and Father” etched into it in all caps and in a classic font. A life summed up in only four words. It is a single headstone, not the double kind with the wife’s name engraved on the right side, just waiting for her to die. I was glad I didn’t also have to see my mother’s name, the reminder that one day she too would die. After sixteen years, soft grass had grown over his plot, but today, was hidden by snow. My tears made it difficult for me to read, but there I stood. Plot 190 A-1. It had been sixteen years since I stood in that spot, in my only dress, staring at the audience of my father’s friends and business acquaintances. Short of breath, I dropped to my knees and let the snow seep through my jeans. I laid down on the wet earth, resting my cheek on top of the snow, imagining my father’s rotting bones six feet below. He was in a maple casket, his bones decaying inside his best suit. I wondered what his body looked like, if the skin on his face had turned to leather, or if his bones protruded from his rotten flesh. I wondered what stench filled the casket. The smell of death, I imagined, the formal-dehyde slowing fading away. His body has been locked inside that casket for sixteen years. Sixteen long years of being fatherless. Sixteen years, six feet below the soft grass and cold snow. I sat up and punched the hard, winter ground. He was supposed to teach me how to make asparagus soup the morning he died.

Reader, even in the everyday-ness of life, death visits a loved one. Can you imagine that your one last conversation with the one you love could be about the minutae and routineness of life? If you knew that it would be the last time both of you would speak to one another, how would your conversation change? The Bible says, "And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" (Heb. 9:27). But, there is One who is risen. There is only One who can save. Christ alone is the Hope of Glory (Col. 1:27).

Grady Mc.

The father no one even told me about until I was 40 years old which was several years after he died. Although I always ‘knew’ something wasn’t right because I didn’t look at all like my brother, sister or the man who was supposed to be my father, they held onto their well rehearsed stories until it was too late for me to look a the person whom I probably most resemble in the world. So I grieve the man I never knew and the loss of the family who kept the secret for all those years. I imagine how different our relationships would have been & how different I might be if I would have been let in on my own life.

Relationships are the most valuable possession people have. Your very first relationship with your family will impact you - positively & negatively - in your future interactions with others, from friends, spouses, co-workers and the world at large. If you look at how Isaac and Rebekah raised their twin boys, Jacob and Esau, it was unhealthy because each parent had their favorite (Gen. 25:20-34). Probably Grady's parents meant well, but now he is left with more questions than answers. I won't even pretend to know what it's like to have unresolved grief like Grady's. But, this I do know: Christ is our Comforter and peace (John 14:26-27) and will never forsake us or abandon us (Heb. 13:5).

Jen S.

I grieve for children who have been abused, ignored, unloved. I grieve for those who are waiting for a family to call their own, to love them like no one has. A family to make them feel safe, and allow them to smile and have dreams. They are waiting, waiting for someone to say “You are good enough for me to invest in. You are good enough for me to love. You are not broken, you are not unlovable.”
I also grieve for those who are stuck where they are. They have no voices loud enough to get help. They might not know that they need help, because this is reality, this is what happens in families. I grieve for those who are waiting to be rescued. And I’ve learned that it is not enough to grieve. My silent grief, inside my comfortable house will not do the rescuing. I must move, I must act, I must be a part of the rescuing.

Our true Rescuer is Jesus Christ because what profits a man if he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul (Mark 8:36)? There's a hymn that entitled, "Rescue the Perishing". Consider these lines -

Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying,
Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;
Weep o'er the erring one,
Lift up the fallen,
Tell them of Jesus the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing,
Care for the dying;
Jesus is merciful,
Jesus will save.

Dear Reader, are you rescuing the persishing with the Gospel of peace? If not, why not? I pray that you will be moved by the entries to reach out to a lost and dying world. People are hurting. They need to know that Jesus Christ cares for each soul out there. Jesus died on the Cross and is the embodiment of John 3:16.

If you aren't saved then, Friend, I need you to make a decision right now that you can't overlook or postpone. Jesus Christ is the Son of God who died for your sins. Without Him, you are condemned to go to hell. Please consider the weighty matter before you. Choose wisely, choose Christ.

Click here: Jesus, Rescue Me Now!

In the Beginning, Anew

Matthew 28:6

"He is not here: for he is risen, as he said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay."

I have a friend I haven't seen anymore. Her home is in Los Angeles, but she lives in her head inside a dream. Other friends tried calling her to see if she can come out. And, help her lose the down that she's found. Unfortunately, she cannot be reached. Friend, what if your world should fall apart? Will you implode, too?

Think about a time when your heart was broken because your expectations were dashed and your world fell apart. That is exactly what happened to the women who came to Jesus' tomb. They had put all their hopes in Him as Israel's promised Messiah and had given Him their love and devotion.

Now He was dead.

Can you imagine the sudden change in their emotions and outlook when an angel told them He had risen? Hope sprang to life again. Even though this event happened 2,000 years ago, the empty tomb still holds a message for us. Like these women, we can be dramatically changed when we consider the ramifications of Christ's resurrection. It should affect how we live from this day forward.

Jesus' resurrection proves that there is life after death. So many people today think that earthly existence is all there is. But this belief robs life of purpose and meaning. God created us as eternal souls, and Jesus demonstrated that death is not the end - much more awaits us.

The empty tomb also gives us hope and dispels our fears about death. We have One who has gone before us and shown us what's ahead. Those who trust Him as their Savior (Rom. 10:9-10) will be resurrected to new life just as He was.

By accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, you begin your life anew that very moment. In a way, it's your own Genesis 1:1; that is, God creates you through the blood of Jesus to be a new creature. Consider II Corinthians 5:17-18,

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;"

And, Romans 6:4 goes even further: "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life."

Thus, walking - not sitting, resting or convaslescing on a mountain top - but walking in the newness of life is what we're called by Christ to do. To be sure, we are to walk all the days of our life in the Spirit (Gal. 5:16) and redeem the evil days (Eph. 5:16) with the Gospel of peace (Rom. 10:15).

None of us know what day the Lord will call our name, signaling the end of our earthly life. Yet we do know that He has promised to prepare a place in heaven for us (John 14:1-3). Death is not the end, but simply the stepping into eternity and beginning the greatest adventure of our lives: Coming home to Christ.

Dear Reader, one day you will die (Heb. 9:27). When that day comes, where will you be spending eternity? Are you going home to Christ?

Settle it now! I Want To Spend Eternity With Christ!

Oh, for the wonderful love He has promised,
Promised for you and for me!
Though we have sinned, He has mercy and pardon,
Pardon for you and for me.

Come home, come home,
You who are weary, come home;
Earnestly, tenderly, Jesus is calling,
Calling, O sinner, come home!

(portion of this posting is courtesy of Dr. Charles Stanley)