Cessationism and Unbelief

Luk 20:27-40
Sadducees Ask About the Resurrection
27 There came to him some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection, 28 and they asked him a question, saying, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29 Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30 And the second 31 and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32 Afterward the woman also died. 33 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife.”
34 And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35 but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36 for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37 But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38 Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him.” 39 Then some of the scribes answered, “Teacher, you have spoken well.” 40 For they no longer dared to ask him any question.

Let me explain the context of this passage. Jesus came to Jerusalem, knowing that He ought to be crucified according to Scriptures. And He started rebuking the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Sadducees openly in front of everyone. In order to trap him in his words, they used several strategies by sending spies. One such strategy is found here.

I don't want to go into the details of this passage. Even with a cursive reading of this text, we can know the reason why Sadducees were asking this question. It is not because they wanted to know about issues related to marriage and divorce but to show that their worldview of 'no afterlife' is correct. Only with their worldview, they thought that the above apparent contradiction could be resolved.

Jesus answers them in two ways. One by showing the correct view of marriage (v.34-36), and also by exposing the logical fallacy of 'no afterlife'(v.37-38).

Likewise, cessationists believe in 'no revelatory gifts' after apostolic era because most of them have empiricism as their worldview. Very prominent cessationists of our age like John MacArthur, R.C.Sproul etc are all empiricists and believe that classical apologetics is better than presuppositional apologetics. So with this worldview, they interpret scripture.

One prominent argument for cessationism is lack of reliable empirical evidence. But we know that science and empiricism is fallible, so we don't need empirical evidence for believing in revelatory gifts. Click here to read about science and its fallacies.

The other argument is, miracles were performed for the attestation of the message of the gospel, that it is from the Lord. But we see that in many instances, Jesus and apostles were preaching and teaching without performing any miracles. And there are may other reasons why revelatory gifts were performed. Apart from attestation of the message, they were also performed out of compassion (Mat 15:32) and also for the edification of the church (1Cor 12:7).

Sadducees believed in one falsehood and with that falsehood they interpreted the scripture. Likewise cessationist believe in the infallibility of senses and they interpret Scripture. Both of them commit a very similar error.

Let us therefore stop being like a Sadducee and start believing in Scriptures. Miracles have not yet ceased. Only faith in miracles has ceased for some Christians.

If you have liked this, you can also read Miracles and Medicine

Hope and Perseverance in Trials - My thoughts on George Smiley

Recently, I watched a movie 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', an espionage film based on a novel. Though I didn't like the worldview of the movie as a whole, yet one character which was admirable for me is George Smiley. George Smiley is described as a boring, melancholic, clumsy man with an expressionless face. Though he was an efficient and a honest field officer, yet he was looked down even by his subordinates. In-spite of all his achievements, he was thrown out of the secret service along with his superior officer. On top of this, he had a very problematic wife. Yet, he sincerely proceeded in the unofficial task for which he was entrusted with. I was wondering the reason for his perseverance in his honesty. I think he would have believed that truth will win one day.

Dear Christian, are you feeling lonely because you are loosing friends since you are faithful to God? Are you depressed because of the trials which you are facing for the sake of your righteousness? Are you not popular in your college because of the right choices you have made? Have you been denied the promotion you deserve because of your honesty? Hear the blessed words of our savior.

Jam 1:2-4
Testing of Your Faith
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
(ESV)

Rom 5:3-5
3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
(ESV)

Beloved Christian, rejoice in your suffering because suffering produces endurance, hope, character and steadfast love for the Lord.

1Pe 1:6-7
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
(ESV)

Our blessed Savior uses temptations to test our faith. Only those who love the Lord truly will endure trials. If you are still trusting the Lord for your faith even in the midst of these trials, then your faith is genuine. Not only suffering is used to test your faith but also for your sanctification.

Christian, do you think you are unjustly suffering for all these trials? Remember the words of our Savior.

Jn 15:20
20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master. ’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
(ESV)

Again this is a sign that you are in the Lord. The reason the world is opposing you is because the world is evil. Just like how evil Karla persecuted Smiley for his honesty, you will also be turned down by the world because it is vile. Also remember that your temptations has been measured by God so that you can endure it.

One day we all will be glorified since we have partaken in the afflictions of Christ.

Jn 16:33
In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
(ESV)

In the end, Smiley won. Honesty triumphed. If a secular movie can give positive hope for righteousness, how much more should we be hopeful of the promises of our Lord? Let us therefore trust in the Lord's faithful words in the midst of our sufferings.

Heb 11:26
26 He (Moses) considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.
(ESV)

Let us also be like Moses and other heroes of faith and steadfastly look forward for a greater reward in heaven. May God bless you all.

Let the little children come to Jesus!

I was talking to a friend of mine, a Christian, who was recently blessed with a boy. We were discussing about the age to start teaching a child the precepts of God. Many of us think that we should wait till the child starts developing sense organs to teach Scriptures and other abstract things pertaining to mind. Aristotle says human mind is 'Tabula rasa' i.e. our mind is empty when we are born. We tend to observe things through our sense organs and learn from them. This view is the most common theory of mind in our secular science.

Humans are different from animals because we are the only creatures in this universe with rationality. Rationality presupposes prior knowledge based on propositions. Without propositions, our mind cannot use logic to analyse. Our process of thinking involves such analysis of propositions using logic. So if our mind is empty, we wont be able to think. If we cannot think, then we end up being an animal. So this Aristotelian theory of empty mind is false and illogical.

I have already explained in my previous post about the fallacies of senses. You can find it here.

So if our mind is not empty at birth, then what propositions do we have when we are born?

According to Scripture, man is dichotomous in nature, ie material and immaterial component.

Gen 2:7
7 then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
(ESV)

Ecc 12:7
7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
(ESV)

Mat 10:28
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
(ESV)

We also know from scripture that human beings are created at the time of conception (Psa 139:13). And all men are sinful from the womb (Psa 51:5). Reformed theology calls it as 'total depravity'. As Ecc 12:7 says, when we die, our body will be left behind in the earth whereas our spirit will be taken to heaven. Rev 6:9-10 and the parable of Lazarus and rich man also implies that though our body would be in the earth after death till glorification, our spirit will be in heaven worshiping the Lord without any usage of our sense organs.

Worshiping God involves thinking. In order to think, we need to logically analyse propositions. If we would be able to worship God without sense organs (since our physical body will be left behind in earth till glorification), then it means that we can worship God even without any requirement of senses.

So coming back to the discussion. When can we teach Scripture to our children? I believe we can start teaching them from the time of conception because as discussed earlier, sense organs are not required for thinking. And bible also says that men are totally depraved from birth. There are biblical examples like John who were filled by the Holy Spirit even at the time of conception (Luke 1:15). Other examples are Jeremiah and Samuel, who were serving the Lord at a very early age. So if God can anoint a person and make him born again even when he is at womb, it is our responsibility to teach Scripture and the gospel even when they are at womb. Jesus himself says that the work of Spirit in regeneration is like wind blowing (John 3:8). We won't see the wind, but we know when it blows. So why wait? Parents better start preaching to your children asap.

Man and his gods

Psa 115:2-8
2 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in the heavens;
he does all that he pleases.
4 Their idols are silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
5 They have mouths, but do not speak;
eyes, but do not see.
6 They have ears, but do not hear;
noses, but do not smell.
7 They have hands, but do not feel;
feet, but do not walk;
and they do not make a sound in their throat.
8 Those who make them become like them;
so do all who trust in them.
(ESV)

People have differences. They differ in their physical appearances and also in their thinking. The chance for similarity in our thumbprints is one in 1 billion. Such is the diversity of mankind. Likewise, men have so many gods to worship. Though there are finite number of established religion, yet individuals differ in many way in their form of worship. They may even belong to same religion.  Some Hindus believe there are many gods, whereas few others say there is only one god. Yet they all will call themselves as Hindus. This type of diversity is found in all religions. I was wondering the reason why such diversity exists.

Men are inherently sinful. Instead of loving the one true God of the universe, they loved darkness. They want to please their sinful desires. Yet they want to appear as if they are worshipping gods. So they make their own gods. People, who want to be rich, worship lakshmi, god of fortune. I am just giving one example. As the psalmist says in verse 8, their gods represents their worldview, their thoughts and their motivations of life. Some are so evil that they know that their evil worldview will not allow them to worship god, so they call themselves as atheists (Rom 1:21-23). But they are also worshipping their atheistic beliefs like evolution etc.

There are people who call themselves Christians, yet in their actions there isn't much difference from their counterparts. Some Christian teachers preach that God knows only to bless and they will get worldly blessing if they become Christians. So people who want to become rich will start worshipping their jesus.

There are others, especially among Christian doctors who say that the duty of a Christian doctor is to be a medical missionary and practice health care in the areas of need. They tend to justify their worldview by saying Jesus healed the sick and delivered people from sickness.

There are Christians who say that we should be perfect in our profession and we should excel in our career even at the expense of our family and personal life. They justify their worldview by saying God is perfect.

Like how the Psalmist says, their idolatry is due to their sinful desires. They have become like their gods because their thoughts are like them. If we truly want to worship God, then instead of us creating a god out of our imaginations, we should be objectively knowing who that God is. The only way from which we can know about God is through Scripture. If we believe in some other way, if we don't believe in all the attributes of God described in scripture, then we are not worshiping the God of Scripture. We may use the words 'Jesus', 'YAHWEH' etc but those words doesn't mean the one true God, if we don't know the attributes of Him.

Num 14:18
18 ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation. ’
(ESV)

Let us examine ourselves whether we are worshipping God or not. If not, search for God from Scriptures. Even famous Christian preachers can be wrong and can be worshiping a false Jesus. Your salvation is at stake if you worship a god who is not of Bible. Turn to Scripture to know God and repent. May God bless you all.

If you have liked this, you can also read What is the greatest need of Man? and What is Freedom?

Temptations

(I gave this sermon on 19-11-2013 in Danish mission hospital Chapel, Thirukkovilur)

Today we are going to look into Gen 3:1-7 as a portion for our devotion.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God actually say, 'You shall not eat of any tree in the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'" But the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. (Gen 3:1-7)

This is a familiar portion which we would have read many times in our life. Still God’s word is alive and active, so let us dig deep and find out the depths of treasure packed in this part of the Scripture.

We know from Gen 1 and 2 that God has created everything, heavens and earth and all that in it and finally He created man as the ultimate crown of creation and all that so far has been good (Gen 1:31). With this in background, let’s see how Satan is tempting Eve in this occasion. Verse 1 says, serpent was cunning when compared to other creations. Let’s look at the question to find out how he was tempting Eve. “"Did God actually say:”  Let us look at this part for now. Notice the word ‘actually’. Through this phrase inclusion in the passage, we see that, Satan has cunningly brought up the ambiguity of God’s word. Did God really say that you will die? Or is He cheating you?  And not only he brought the ambiguity to God’s word but also he clearly wanted to deceive Eve by conveying falsely that God is suppressing them. God is not giving the freedom they deserve. So many times, when we sin, we think obedience to God is like being under slave. But that’s the same deception as Eve faced. But are we really oppressed? Is God not gracious to us? Has He not been faithful to us in our lives? Aren’t we also faithful to God for what we have got? Eve had entire Eden garden for her to enjoy except that tree of good and evil, yet she was not satisfied by it. Are we also like Eve? When we face difficult situation, we tend to think we are let down by God. But God never promised us that difficulties of life will never come. What God has assured is that if we are faithful to Him, He will be with us and deliver us from those trials. Read Exo 18:19, Deu 11:13, 1 Sam 12:14, Deu 4:6-8 to see how God promises His mercies and grace daily in a life of Christian. If God is good and gracious of us, what does He expect of you, Christian? David was not promised by God that he would never face Goliath but on the contrary he was promised that God will be with him even when he is facing Goliath. Are we having the faith of David?

Verse 2-3, we look at this reply of Eve: “"We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden,
but God said, 'You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.'"  If you see Gen 2:17, we look at the commandment of God, “but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”. But Eve added an extra saying they were prohibited from touching it also. She added her own words as a commandment of God. God never said she will die when she touches the fruit of it. Many times, we fall into sin because these ‘extra words’ and traditions of men and think it’s God’s word.  And so many false teachers also make us fall into sin by the same technique. This technique has been continually followed by Satan till now. During reformation, Catholic church said, “Bible + Church Tradition” as God’s word. Luther opposed it and said “Bible alone” is sufficient for godly living and reformation was born because of it. But even now there are false teachers in India, who sell ‘prayers’ for 2000 bucks in the name of ‘prayer partner’. Where is it given in Scripture that we should ‘sell’ prayers for money? Are we like Eve to believe in these ‘extras’? Bible says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. (2Ti 3:16-17)”, Scripture is sufficient for ‘God’s man to be competent and equipped in every good work’.  Jesus said, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." (Joh 14:21). Only those who obey God’s (and only God’s) commandment, he really loves God. This also means that those who obey these ‘extras’ are not loving God.

Verse 4 to 7, where in Verse 5, Satan lies saying “They will be like Gods”. Satan is a liar. And Eve falls for his temptation easily. Here we notice that Eve found that fruit to be a ‘delight’ to her eyes. Many times, sins are too tempting for our eyes. We think that those sins are so nice and good but in reality they are bad and destroy our lives. Are we delighting in those mirages of sinful pleasures and leaving the ‘living waters which will never be emptied’? We see Adam not in the whole plot. But he takes the fruit from Eve and eats. Maybe he would have watched the entire conversation and maybe he would have observed whether Eve dies immediately as soon as she ate the fruit. And he might have ‘scientifically’ concluded that Eve did not die and so he would have also tried a bite of it. But in reality, as God promised, they received the curse and they immediately faced spiritual death and eventually physical death. Are we like Adam, doing sin just because other sinners are ‘enjoying’ life? Are we lying because the other liars are not punished? Are we lazy because our friend is also lazy? Are we thinking that they are not facing the curse of God, so we can also do sin? Let us not forget that their wrath is coming soon (Psa 73)

We find that Adam and Eve failed miserably and fell in the trap of Satan. Thankfully, the Second Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, born as a human in virgin womb, overcame similar temptations of Satan (Mat 4:1-11) like our first parents faced and lived a life of complete obedience and died on the cross facing all the wrath of God for our sins and imputed His righteousness on us, so that we can live forever glorifying God (Rev 4:11). We don’t have first Adam as our spiritual father, but Christ, the last Adam, as our father (1Cor 15:45-50). And He had defeated our enemy Satan in the cross and is now seated in the right hand of Father and ruling all things with absolute authority. We are not serving Satan like our fathers but Christ. We are not slaves to sin but to righteousness. And in righteousness do we have real freedom (2Cor 3:17). Are we free in Christ? Did you really experience the freedom which Christ gives you? If not, repent. Turn to Jesus lest you die as a slave to Satan and sin. May God bless you all.

If you have liked this article, you can also read Overcoming habitual Sins

What can satisfy Tendulkar?

Indians are fond of cricket. Last week, Sachin Tendulkar, one of the India's famous cricketer, retired after playing for Indian cricket club for 24 years. He has a huge fan club all over the world for his style of cricket. Some consider him as one of the finest cricketer ever. He has tons of records under his belt as achievement. For some, cricket and Sachin are synonymous. I would like to share some of the excerpts of his famous last speech before retirement:


" My life, between 22 yards for 24 years, it is hard to believe that that wonderful journey has come to an end, "

It is hard for anyone to end a successful career. There are millions of fans all over the world who are sad that their hero is retiring. If they are sad about the fact that they won't see Sachin playing his fancy shot, we don't know how Sachin would be feeling for the retirement of the sport which he enjoyed playing the most. And cricket is something which has satisfied Sachin till now. But after retirement, he would definitely miss cricket. 

Like Sachin, we also tend to look for something to be satisfied. For some it is financial success, for others it is promotion or even watching a favorite movie maybe. But just like how Sachin felt after retirement, all of us have that feeling of emptiness after we have achieved that end. We may look for infinite satisfaction after achieving that feat. But unfortunately, we won't be satisfied. Those objects has not brought us infinite satisfaction.

"Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man. 
(Pro 27:20)"

God knows about us better than we do, because He created us. The phrase 'eyes of man' is a figurative way to describe about our longings of our mind to get satisfied by something of this world. Those objects of satisfaction maybe getting through IIT/ MBBS, placement in good company, distinction in exams, earning millions of money, marrying the one whom you have loved, promotion in job, getting a sports car etc. Each and everyone of us would have had a caricature of our own as a end for that longing. But we would never be satisfied. Still, we cheat upon ourselves thinking that we are satisfied by it, but in reality we are all broken. Do you want to know the reason why?

"for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

(Jer 2:13)"

No finite things can satisfy man. The verse above describes the need of man to be satisfied by an infinite object. From whom can we get this infinite satisfaction?

"Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." 

(Joh 4:13-14)"

God is good. Since God is good, if He has created us to be satisfied only by an object which is infinite, won't He give the object which we need? He did give, by sending His only son, who is God himself (Joh 1:1) to us, for the sake of us. Jesus, God the son, became human being like us, 2000 years ago, obeyed completely all the precepts, which Holy God required of us, for His children' sake and took on the punishment on the cross, and died, so that His children can live infinitely in the presence of God, glorifying Him forever.

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. 

(Psa 16:11)"

Only in the presence of God, we will find infinite pleasure just as the verse says. To be in the presence of God, we need to become His children. To be His children, we need to be righteous. How can we be righteous in the presence of God? 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 

(Eph 1:7)

Who is called 'the righteous'? Only those who are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ, can be called His children, who will inherit the infinite satisfaction from God. 

What Sachin needs is Jesus Christ, who can give him infinite satisfaction, much more than what he had achieved in cricket. Like him, are you still searching for the infinite object in the world to be satisfied? Do you want to be satisfied with joy and pleasure forever? Come to Jesus. Repent of your sins. Trust in His Name. He is mighty to save. 

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" 

(Joh 7:38)"

If you have liked this, you can also read Gravity and Human life

What is the greatest need of man?

This is the question of this hour? We live in a society which thinks God doesn’t exist.  He may exist in a figment of an individual’s imagination but not a reality. But if that’s the case then why most of us are afraid of demons? I have not seen a single person who watched a horror movie without any sense of spookiness or fear. Why is that so universal? If God doesn’t exist, so does the demons? Why is there a contradiction?
Just like anything else, Bible has got the answer for that.

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, (Rom 1:21-22)”

Paul clearly shows their reason behind this contradiction. It is their foolishness. Though God has shown clearly through the majesty and the intricacy of His creation, yet most of the people refuse to acknowledge Him or give thanks to Him because they are all evil and darkened in their heart.

So we know the reality of the existence of God. But do we need God? If yes, why?

“for In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.' (Act 17:28)”

We need God for everything. Even the breath we take is under His control. God says even the fall of a sparrow is in accordance to His will (Mat 6:26). We need God for our very existence.

It is imperative to that we need God for our very being. If that’s the case then, what does He expect of us?

“The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. (Psa 34:15)”

God demands righteousness from man. Righteousness is defined as being blameless before the Lord (Job 1:8) and complete obedience of His laws.

But because of the fall of Adam, sinfulness has come across the entire human race. We have imputed sinfulness since birth (Psa 51:5). Because of it we won’t be pleasing God or be able to do so by our own (Rom 8:7) Since God is just, He demands punishment to satisfy His justice. God is also infinite and almighty, so he demands infinite and worst form of punishment for the transgressors of His laws. (Mat 25:46). If you slap me, the punishment you get maybe another slap. But if you slap Dr. Manmohan Singh, then you may probably end up in jail. How much more infinite wrath would God demand of our sins?

What is the consequence of it? Eternal death, which is separation from the presence of God into condemnation for our sins (Rev 20:14)

What is the greatest need of man?

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. (Psa 32:2)

David says man can be called blessed only when God does not count his sins. How can Just God count dispose the sins of a man? It is possible when someone else takes the punishment for the sins of His people. He should be infinite to take up the wrath of the infinite God. He should also be Holy and blameless, since he has to be substituted for the sake of his sinful men. He should be none other than God Himself.  God the son, Jesus, (John  1:14)  took on human flesh by virgin birth (Mat 1:23), lived in complete obedience to God by confirming to His precepts (1Pet 3:18) by dying on the cross so that  “he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Cor 5:21). And God showed that He approved Lord Jesus by glorifying Him and lifting Him from the tomb on the third day and now seated in the right hand with all authority under his hand (Mat 28:18-20)

This Jesus now is, not seated in Heaven as a loner begging people to come to heaven, but as a righteous King who demands repentance from sin and trusting in His name.

“Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psa 2:12)”

You people who call yourselves as Christians. Why do you believe in Jesus? Do you think he is a lucky dime that will get you worldly success? Or a mantra for your financial security?  Do you think Jesus died on the cross so that you would become a billionaire? Where is it given in Scripture? Whom do you trust? The Bible or Dr. Paul Dinakaran/Sam P Chelladurai/Joyce Meyer/Benny Hinn/Joel Osteen/T.D.Jakes etc. If you say the latter, then just as those guys give you promises from Scripture, hear what God promises you, really. 

Promises are something which God says will happen for sure if you do something. Since you love money and love those who promote love of money, here are the promises for it from Scripture:

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity. (Ecc 5:10)

"No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (Mat 6:24)”

“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1Ti 6:10)”

And God does prophecies what will happen to you if you continue in this evil. Hear His words:

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. (Jas 5:1-5)

Repent!

If you liked reading this, you can also read Gravity and Human life