Some Die Once – Many Die Twice [Part 6]
In today’s Part 6 of our series of Blog Posts from our upcoming book titled “One Way or Another Your Eternal Destination is Guaranteed” we will look at the “Urgency of the Decision” and discuss the question, “What is Faith?”
Urgency of the Decision
Cemeteries are filled with bodies of people who “thought they would go to heaven because they sincerely had the notion, ‘I am a good person.’” Being “good” does not get you there. That would be tantamount to being “under the Law” or thinking one could keep all the Commandments. The only One who has ever achieved that is the Son of God Himself. A person needs to have faith by knowing the truth that we can only be saved by a Savior, and by God’s grace. We cannot believe if we do not have that faith to begin with. Our God wants us to know Him, and by knowing Him we also know the truth.
T-Shirt
Here’s a silly little example: Say it’s morning and you’re putting on a T-shirt that has no labels or pictures on front or back, but has a label on the inside just under the neck hem. If you put that shirt on without looking for the label and not knowing for sure if you’re putting it on frontward or backward, you don’t have faith that it is the right way. However, if, on the night before you had spread it out and hung it over the back of a chair, with the neck label in the right position to just grab it and put it on correctly, then you would, have faith to know without seeing.
What is Faith?
We believe by faith, not by sight (because we know.) God wants us to know Him. We cannot have faith in Him without first knowing Him:
Hebrews 11:1
Now faith is the substance [realization] of things hoped for, the evidence [confidence] of things not seen.
2 Corinthians 4:18
While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
1 Peter 1:8
whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoiced with joy inexpressible and full of glory.
and the following references: Romans 8:24-25; Hebrews 11:6; Hosea 4a; 9b; Habakkuk 2:4; Jeremiah 9:3, 6, 24a; 1 Corinthians 1:32; Hosea 6:6a, b
Patience
Believers are thankful that God had enough patience to put up with us for as long as He did, but we have known so many “good” loved ones and friends who did not know God when they died. It saddens us to know we might never see them again, but we have hope that they came to know Him before their deaths. Only God knows the heart.
2 Corinthians 6:2b
Behold, now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
James 5:8b
Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
Revelation 22:7
[The Savior is quoted:] “Behold, I am coming quickly [suddenly]! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.”
Revelation 22:10
the time is at hand.
Faith and Free Offer
During the present-day Church Age which began fifty days after the Lord’s resurrection and ends with Him returning to the air to take up all believers, just prior to the Seven-year Tribulation, it is crucially important to sincerely accept the free offer from the Savior. Otherwise, the torment that follows will be unbearable for unbelievers and nearly so for those who come to believe during that dreadful seven years. The following verse applies to people today who are being persecuted in lawless nations. But if the Church Age believers have been raptured (having been taken up; we will have a detailed explanation at a later time, “The Coming of the Lord”) into heaven, and the Tribulation has begun, and has left you to be persecuted, this applies:
Revelation 2:10
“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Revelation 20:4b
Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
The Mark of the Beast
If you were not a believer at the time of the Rapture and happen to be reading this book, One Way or Another, during the Seven-year Tribulation, what follows is vital information. In Revelation 13, where the Antichrist is called the beast, it is vitally important for your eternal future to consider refusing to take the mark or an embedded chip in your body:
Revelation 13:16
He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their forehead.
Buy or Sell
It would be a difficult decision to not take the mark, because all who refuse it won’t be able to buy or sell anything. Can you even imagine not being able to buy electricity for lights, or heating fuel for your home, no fuel for your car, or no food, no medications, no pet food, not even chicken food or grain for your livestock?
Revelation 13:17
And that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Judgment at the Great White Throne
The individuals who do take the mark of the beast and deny Jesus will also be resurrected—but resurrected to judgment at the Great White Throne and will be thrown into the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; 20:15 Matt. 10:32-33). The beast mentioned in the Scripture below is the antichrist man.The prophecy of this future event reads in past tense since John was writing about the vision which God had given him:
Revelation 19:20-21
Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.
Matthew 10:32-33
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My father who is in heaven, But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before my Father who is in heaven.”
Have Faith even unto Death
Rather than taking the easy way out at that short, temporary time, by taking that mark of the beast, and afterward suffering for eternity, God promises a bright future for those who are willing to not deny Him. John prophesied in Revelation:
Revelation 7:14b-16
“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat.”
In stark contrast to God not taking pleasure in death of the wicked (Ezekiel 33:11), He is pleased with the death of believers who literally commit their lives to Him.
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Weak in the Spirit
One might ask, “Could it be possible in a moment of weakness for a person who’s seeking the Savior to be afraid of dying and deny the Lord with his lips and not his heart?” The Lord knew Simon Peter would do this by denying Jesus three times, but He told Peter to strengthen his brethren when Peter would soon be returned to Him:
Luke 22:31-32
And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
Peter’s flesh was willing but his spirit was weak. He had not yet received the strength of the Spirit of God. The three times when Simon Peter denied Jesus were before the Savior was raised back to life from the dead. After witnessing the resurrected Christ and having received the Holy Spirit, Peter never again denied the Lord Jesus. In fact, from then on, Peter took to zealously spreading the saving Gospel message.
Persecution for your Faith
Evil persecution has taken many Christian missionary lives over hundreds of years; especially in third world countries where the saving Gospel message had not been heard. These faithful believers, because they believed in the Lord Jesus being their Savior, were following Christ’s example and that of His apostles. The missionaries who opted to give their lives did so for what they knew to be true. They knew that they were secure in Christ forever and therefore would be with Him after passing through death. Paul wrote:
2 Corinthians 5:8
We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 4:16
Therefore I urge you, imitate me.
1 Corinthians 11:1
Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
Ephesians 5:1
Therefore be imitators of God as dear children.
Paul wrote of how good it is to be alive to serve the Lord, and how it is even better to be with Him face-to-face in heaven:
Philippians 1:21
For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Die for Your Faith
If our love for the Lord is genuinely and sincerely poured out with all our minds, hearts, souls, and strength, we would be willing to die for Him. John emphasized the enormous value of also dying for others.
1 John 3:16
By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
A believer may find himself in persecution to death for refusing to deny Jesus. If given a chance to make a decision to either deny or keep the Lord, and the believer opts to die, his death would be a sacrifice of thanksgiving for the work that the Lord Jesus Christ did so in His crucifixion and death. In traditional history, this is what Peter and some of the other apostles eventually did. Since that time to today the believer is sure of his destination upon dying for believing in the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8).
Be Prepared
The prophet Amos, quoting the LORD God, reminds us to look ahead and to be ready. Of course, Amos was writing specifically to the Jews, but one must take into account that the things written to Israel were also for our benefit (Romans 15:4):
Amos 4:12b
“Prepare to meet your God, O Israel.”
Much like the decision to accept Christ now; in the event a life-threatening persecution could suddenly come upon us, we must have our response well thought-out in advance to be prepared. We need to be committed to our Savior who gives this advice:
Revelation 2:10b
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Faith and No Wrath
God gives believers a warm welcome home into His heaven. In God’s view, the souls of all His saints who’ve repented and believed are righteous and precious—so very precious that He will not allow them to suffer His furious seven-year wrath and judgment. The Lord Jesus said:
John 5:24
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
1 Thessalonians 5:9
For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Pray that people will come to the saving knowledge of the Truth before it’s too late, and love their children to teach them the Truth. Next Blog Post, on August 22, 2024: “What is Repentance?”
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Resources:
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Gospel Folio Press – William MacDonald – Believers Bible Commentary
Warren Henderson Publishing
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version, unless stated otherwise. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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