"UNITY is a mirage!"

It is only in the imagination of people who don't know God that "unity" appears to be a possibility.  The only time there was true "oneness," true spiritual unity among those who lived on planet earth, was in the Garden of Eden BEFORE Adam and Eve sinned.  And the only time there will BE unity among all those on planet earth will be following the return of Jesus Christ, after His reign and the final defeat of Satan, after the final judgment, when those who have not believed in Jesus are cast into hell and those who have been saved by GRACE through faith in Jesus enter into the new heavens and the new earth, to live in the presence of God forever in a perfect world of HIS making.  Until then, there will be division.  What we are seeing in our country is sinful division caused by a rejection of His Word, His truth, by those without His Spirit.  Even those of us who have His Spirit still give into temptation and think, say and do things that are contrary to His perfect will.  Unity is a mirage.

I describe in my book, " ... the end.", those who have rejected God's truth, whom He has "given up" to do what they want to do:

"These declare their freedom from the mountaintops, all the while revealing their horrible bondage to sin.  They are spiritually dead and without hope.  They are broken cisterns without water.  And as they go to their destruction, they lead many with them on the broad road that leads to eternal death, while those of us who cry out with the good news of Jesus Christ and call people to repentance and faith in Jesus are declared to be judgmental bigots filled with hate.  Such IS the state of our world and of mankind."

"The end of this world as we know it will bring judgment on many, but it will be a new beginning for some, and the Bible tells us who these are.  They are those who know the true God and who by His grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit within them, confess their sin, trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for forgiveness, and who rest in God's promise of eternal life. 'The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' (Romans 6:23)."

I conclude Chapter 1 with this:  "The 'scoffers' are here, as we proclaim the soon return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Many are being deceived, but in God's Word, the Bible, is truth so powerful that it can change not only your mind about these things, but also your heart toward God, your Creator.  God reveals these things to us so that we who by His grace are born again by His Spirit will be moved to set our hearts and minds on Him and live with hope in this world until the very end."

If you are discouraged, overwhelmed and frustrated, or if you think that we should all be on board the "unity train," realize that light has nothing to do with darkness.  The two cannot "COEXIST."  Darkness cannot exist in the presence of HIS light!  The closer we who believe draw to our Father in heaven, the more divided we will be from those who are going the opposite direction.  "Unity," without Christ, is a mirage.  It is a figment of the imagination of men.  It does not exist, and never will.  Stand for truth ... GOD's truth, and know that to be on HIS side is to be opposed to evil.  The issues before us are rarely a matter of opinion, but almost always a matter of principle, and your choices will be determined by where you get your principles ... from man or from God.

I urge you who believe in the one true God who reveals Himself in His creation, in His Son Jesus Christ, and in His Word to stand firm in His truth.  Do not waver.  For there will come a day when Jesus returns and separates the "sheep" from the "goats" ... a division that will be final, and in that day you will hear the Father say, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34).  Whatever you may be called to endure in this life in this world, it will all be worth it in " ... the end."

To purchase a copy of the book, " ... the end.", send an email to pastorsteve@lighthouse-ministries.org.

 

"God's patience is running out!"

Who will be saved from the judgment God is going to bring upon the earth?  Only those with whom He is at this moment being patient ... which brings me to one of the most misunderstood verses of the Bible:  II Peter 3:9.  Most people THINK the verse says, "God wants everybody to be saved!"  Here is what the verse says, "The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance."

Here is an excerpt from my book, " ... the end.":

"The author of a book entitled, 'Love Wins,' twisted and distorted this verse by asking the question, 'Doesn't God get what he wants?' and then making it appear that what God WANTS is for every human being, without exception, to be saved from His just judgment.  ... If that's what God wants, why won't that happen?  That certainly sounds like a plausible question.  Many in the church today have been taught that God wants to save everyone, but we must choose.  It's up to us!  However, taken in its immediate context, as well as the context of the rest of the Bible, that is NOT what God says ... OR what He wants or 'wishes.'  That comes as a shock to many people, but consider this:  If God truly WANTS to save every human being from His just and perfect judgment, He could come up with a way for that to happen, couldn't He?  After all, He IS GOD!!!

In order to understand the Bible and to rejoice in the salvation God provides to those who believe in Jesus Christ you need to first understand that out of a sinful human race where NO ONE deserves God's grace ('undeserved favor'), where ALL have sinned and fall short of His glory, His perfection, God has chosen SOME to be saved! It is to these that Peter's letters and the rest of the New Testament are written, as Peter says in II Peter 1:1:  'To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ ...'

So in verse 9, when Peter writes that the Lord 'is being patient toward YOU, not wishing that any (of you) should perish, but that all (of you) should reach repentance,' he is speaking to believers!  It is all of THESE that God is being patient toward, and it is all of THESE that He desires should come to repentance and all of THESE who should be saved.  God WILL get what He desires because He Himself will make it happen!  The idea that God wanted all people to be saved and that He tried to save all people but they just wouldn't cooperate presents God as impotent and dependent on mankind to accomplish His purpose.  Nowhere in the Bible is that picture of God presented."

I share this with you today because millions of people have a false hope and a false security that all is well when it isn't!  God's IS being patient with the whole world and mankind in general at this moment, but only those who are born again by the Spirit, who place their trust in Jesus Christ and who now live to serve Him are "safe" from His coming judgment.  It is for these that God is exercising His patience in bringing His final judgment on the earth and all of mankind, "as in the days of Noah," only this time with fire!  

To some in Rome who relied on their "religion" to save them, Paul wrote, "Do you suppose, O man - you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself - that you will escape the judgment of God?  Or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?  But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed" (Romans 2:3-5).

Some console themselves by calling Christians "hypocrites," and they are sometimes right.  Not everyone who claims to be a Christian really is one, and not one of us has yet reached perfection.  But all that means is that ALL those who have not confessed their sin and believed in Jesus Christ for forgiveness and life will perish in hell, whether they are "religious" or not!  That's not very comforting!!  "Misery loves company" will not apply in hell.

There IS a way to avoid God's wrath and that is through faith in Jesus Christ, a faith produced by the very Spirit of God who transforms God's chosen people from the inside out, giving us a new heart, a new mind and a new will, enabling and empowering us to believe and to turn from sin to righteousness.  We can KNOW that what He has begun, He will complete, and we will escape the judgment to come.

Are you "testing" God's patience, or have you come to Jesus for forgiveness?  God's patience is running out and this world as we know it will come to an end.  Your life could end today and what would be your eternal destination?  As people all around us talk about being "safe," few are!  May God open your eyes to see the reality of His coming judgment and give you a new heart, mind and will to repent and believe!!

If you would like to ask questions about what the Bible teaches or purchase a copy of " ... the end.," please email me at pastorsteve@lighthouse-ministries.org.

"How much time do we have left?"

It seems that everyone knows a few phrases or verses from the Bible, but people often take them out of context and are unwilling to consider these phrases or verses to mean anything other than what they have been taught or think they mean.  One such phrase is "we cannot know the day or the time of His coming" ... of Jesus' return.  The actual quote from Matthew 24:42 says, "Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."  Jesus goes on to say, "Therefore, you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect" (Matthew 24:44).

In the first chapter of my book, " ... the end.", I refer to II Peter 3:1-13 as a crucial passage in determining that we are nearing the end.  Peter writes, "First of all, scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.  They will say, 'Where is the promise of His coming?  For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation'" (II Peter 3:3-4).  

I write in my book, "It was not until the late 1800's and early 1900's that 'Zionism,' the idea of a Jewish homeland in the very place God had promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, was even discussed.  And it was not until the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948 that some people began to sit up and take notice.  A few within the Church began to search the Scriptures with renewed zeal, considering for the first time that perhaps, just maybe God's promises to Israel, the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were meant to be taken literally!!  Maybe all the prophecies about the future glory of Israel being restored through the coming of the Messiah to reign, including the coming of the Antichrist, the Rapture and the battle of Armageddon, were actually descriptions of literal events that would take place prior to Jesus' return!!

Since 1948 and the events surrounding Israel, the Jewish people and the rest of the nations of the world, more and more signs spoken of in the Bible appear to be nearing their fulfillment.  And interestingly, the more Christians and the Church talk about 'end times,' the more the 'scoffers,' both inside and outside the visible church, have attempted to distract people by coming up with their own theories of cataclysmic events that may lie ahead, from radical changes in the climate, to weapons of mass destruction, asteroids striking the earth, disease and war and a host of other possibilities.  Even those in the secular world talk about financial ruin causing social chaos or the need for social change to preserve the fabric of society ... whatever is left!

What the Bible describes, however, is not the natural consequences of mankind's activities, but rather, the hand of God guiding the people of the earth and the nations of the world toward His desired end."

We are living today near the end of what some call "the church age." According to God's plan, His promise to Abraham to bless all nations through His promised "Seed," the Messiah, was fulfilled in Jesus' first coming, as the Spirit was poured out and the Gospel proclaimed.  What is happening today in the Middle East, in Russia, China, Turkey and other places ... and what is happening in our own nation this week ... is part of God's plan to align the nations to accomplish His purposes prior to Jesus' return ... to gather His people and to pour out God's judgment upon the rest of mankind.  

The only escape from God's just judgment is faith in Jesus Christ, His anointed King!  While most of mankind lives in darkness, God says to believers, "You are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief!" (I Thessalonians 5:4).  It's time to WAKE UP!  May God use His Word either to awaken your soul or to bring you comfort and encouragement as you place your hope and trust in Him today and live to serve Him.  Jesus Christ is Lord!!

If you would like to purchase a copy of " ... the end." email me at pastorsteve@lighthouse-ministries.org.

"Are you ready???"

What is going to happen in the few days or weeks?  Wouldn't you like to be able to see into the future to know what lies ahead?  The purpose of looking ahead would be and should be to be prepared for what is coming.  That just makes sense.  We all try to plan for the future in one way or another.  Some are saying that we are about to witness dramatic events that will shake our country and the world.  Truthfully, we have already witnessed events that are having a great impact on our nation and that have repercussions all around the world.  Whether it is the virus, the lockdowns, our national election or a thousand other things, life has changed in ways that are perhaps even more dramatic than they did twenty years ago on September 11th, 2001.  So what's next?

I shared back in October, 2020, that I completed the book I had been working on for years:  " ... the end."  In reality it is not "my" book, but rather a compilation of Scriptures with commentary as to why you and I need to know what God says about what is coming upon mankind and upon the earth.  I am writing this blog today to ask you to help me distribute the book and the accompanying study guide to a broader audience.  To date I have sold about 150 copies, but I am praying that God has plans to get it in the hands of more of His people.  This is not about making money, but about getting the truth of God's word into churches all over our country and throughout the world in order to help prepare the true Church for what is to come.  The cost of $15 for the book and $10 for the Study Guide offsets the costs of printing.  We are printing it at the church here at Lighthouse and putting it in spiral binding for easy reading and studying.  The book is 177 pages, printed on 8 1/2 inch x 11 inch paper.  In regular size it would be about 300 pages, so it's not "light" reading.  It is, however, as I said, filled with Scripture from beginning to end, so much of it is not my word, but God's!

In the days ahead I am going to share some brief passages from the book, filled with quotes from God's Word, in an attempt to stimulate interest.  At the end of each post I will continue to let people know how they can order the book and the study guide.  I believe more than ever that many in the visible church are not thinking about "the end" and I am praying that God would use His Word to prepare the "remnant" for the time of tribulation.  In the book I explain that the Church will be called to endure "the Great Tribulation" and that now is the time for God's people to seek wisdom.

So watch for future posts that will include excerpts from the book.  Urge your family, friends and neighbors to purchase a copy.  Think about starting a small group in your church or neighborhood and study God's Word together to see if these things are so.  Pray for the Spirit to give you understanding so that you will be ready to bear witness to Jesus Christ and to stand firm on His truth until He comes.  

I don't know what is going to happen in the coming week, but GOD does!  I DO know what is going to happen in the days and years prior to Jesus' return, because God tells us in His Word.  You and I should want to know all that He has revealed ... no more and no less.  May His Spirit give you a deep spiritual hunger for His truth!  These things are the most practical truths imaginable.  I have seen people gain an understanding of these things and become more confident in what they believe, trusting God in a way they hadn't previously trusted Him.  The study of "end times" need not be a frivolous rollick through a meadow filled with speculation.  God's Word reveals the truth for all who are given eyes to see!

" ... the end." can be ordered by emailing me at pastorsteve@lighthouse-ministries.org.  Begin reading II Peter 3 and I'll continue next time.  And know this:  Whatever happens in the days ahead, our Father in heaven is watching over His children, "and if God is for us, who can be against us?!"

"I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me ... GOD!"

Whom do you believe today??? GOD!!  But how do you know what God says?  His Word. Period.  Often, as I teach and preach God's Word, I remind people that they must not accept anything I say UNLESS it is confirmed in God's Word.  They must do as I do:  pray and ask for wisdom as the Holy Spirit teaches us through His Word.  You cannot "make the Bible say anything you want" when you seek to understand every verse in its immediate context and in the context of the rest of the Bible.  Why is this important??  Because people all around us desperately NEED a reliable source for TRUTH!!!

As Jesus was about to ascend into heaven the disciples asked Him if this was the time foretold by the prophets when God would restore the kingdom to Israel.  Jesus answered, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be MY witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).  

You and I who believe in Jesus Christ in the year 2021 are called and sent to be witnesses of Jesus Christ!  HE is the Way and the Truth and the Life and we know that NO ONE can come to God except through faith in HIM!!  This is the truth we are called to proclaim in the midst of this crazy chaos in which we find ourselves.

Political parties, like denominations, have reached the point where they exist for their own purposes and to promote their own "SELF-existence."  What is happening in the political realm is also happening in the "religious" realm.  People are, and have a right to be, disillusioned.  Ten years ago Lighthouse was still part of a denomination ... a denomination that cared more about its preservation than about the truth!  Rather than take a stand on God's Word, they decided to have a dialogue.  We left.  The denomination will soon cease to exist.  TRUTH is not debatable.  Truth must be proclaimed.  "Witnesses" are called to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth ... with God's help and for His glory.

Since some churches have been closed down we have had an opportunity to minister to some people that we did not previously know, and we hear from many of them similar things.  We are told that they did not know there was a place that was committed to proclaiming God's Word.  Isn't that what the "church" is supposed to be about??  What are the rest of you doing out there????

I was asked this week, "Why are there so many denominations and divisions in the church?"  My answer is that too many in the "church" have turned away from the truth of God's Word, the very thing to which they should be witnessing, and have replaced it with human "wisdom," leaving those who hear them hungry and longing for "a word from God."  So they read the latest book and imagine they will find it, instead of reading GOD's book and understanding what it says.

Know this, the Bible has one message and it all points to Jesus Christ, from beginning to end, and to the coming of His kingdom to earth.  The true CHURCH bears witness to the One who IS the Truth!  I don't know what is going on in our nation, but I DO know that Jesus Christ is ruling at the Father's right hand and all of this will lead where HE says it will lead, to Jesus' return, to judgment for those who do not believe in Him, and to salvation for those who do!

I pray that YOU know the Truth and that you are not being "shaken" from the firm foundation who is Jesus Christ!  As I look at the world I have opinions about a lot of things, but the world doesn't need to hear my opinions; they need to hear the truth!  So as for me, "I promise to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me ... GOD!"

"Speaking the truth ... requires SPEAKING!"

You hear a lot of people in Christian circles quoting Ephesians 4:15 ... well, actually part of it.  The part that is quoted is usually the words that tell Christians to "speak the truth in love."  This is interpreted to mean that we who are followers of Jesus Christ must always speak out of an attitude of love toward others, never raising our voices or expressing frustration or anger.  

II Timothy 2:24-26 seems to go along with this idea:  "The Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness.  God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will."

So what do we do with Matthew 23???  I can't quote the whole chapter here, but Jesus is talking to the crowds that followed Him, among whom were some of the scribes and Pharisees, the religious leaders of the Jews.  Among other things He says, "Woe to you, blind guides ... You blind fools!! ... You blind men! ... Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! ... You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?"

How do we bring these passages together to give us guidance in our lives today as we seek to speak truth and to honor God in doing so?  The answer is not that difficult.  Ephesians 4 is a passage that is speaking to those who are united in Christ and in whom the Spirit of God is at work.  To these Paul writes, "Speaking the truth in love, WE are to grow up in every way into Him who is the Head, into Christ, from whom the whole Body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the Body grow so that it builds itself up in love" (Ephesians 4:15-16).

Within the Church, like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ are to encourage and build up one another by teaching true DOCTRINE.  He is warning against the danger of receiving false teaching and being "carried about by every wind of doctrine."  RATHER, "speaking the truth in love" will build up the Body and help others to mature in their faith.

Secondly, the passage in II Timothy 2 is addressed to a young pastor who is being confronted by those who oppose the teaching of the true Gospel.  God tells him through his mentor, Paul, to be kind and gentle, even enduring evil, praying that God will use his words to lead others to Christ, knowing that if they do not repent and believe they will perish under the just wrath of God.  Whenever we have the opportunity to speak and to share God's truth in the Gospel we must do so with an attitude of humility and gentleness, thinking about the spiritual welfare of those who hear.

As to Jesus' words to the scribes and Pharisees, they were not the only ones who were on the receiving end of Jesus' criticism.  He told Pilate that he had no authority over Him except that it had been given to him from above.  When warned that Herod, the governor of Judea, wanted to kill Him, Jesus told the messengers to "go tell that fox" what they were seeing and hearing.  Jesus was radically honest as He pointed out the sinful actions of those who were opposed to His kingdom and to the truth concerning His kingdom.  We who are His disciples must  likewise be committed to exposing the darkness of those around us who oppose the truth we have been sent into the world to proclaim.

That doesn't mean we should go off on rants and rage on about everything that is going on in our nation and in the world today, but it DOES mean that we must point people to the truth about CHRIST's kingdom and His reign, without hesitation, and with confidence and boldness, pointing out what is evil, what is contrary to righteousness and truth, and declaring that evil will not win in the end, though it may appear to be having victories in many places around us.  

Let me close for today with some verses from Psalm 2:  "Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us burst their bonds apart and cast away their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision.  Then He will speak to them in His wrath, and terrify them in His fury, saying, 'As for me, I have set MY KING on Zion, my holy hill.' ... Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.  Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.  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."

"A Voice in the Wilderness ..."

"A voice cries, 'In the wilderness, prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God'" (Isaiah 40:3).  

God's people needed comfort and hope.  God used the prophet Isaiah to point to what was then a distant future:  "Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5).

In the days of the beginning of Jesus' ministry, God's people needed comfort and hope.  "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'  For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, 'The voice of one crying in the wilderness; Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight'" (Matthew 3:1-3).

Today, God's people need comfort and hope.  We are living in a wilderness, where there is a drought of God's Word.  The prophet Amos wrote, "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land - not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD.  They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the LORD, but they shall not find it" (Amos 8:11-12).  Those words were spoken concerning a specific time in the history of the people of Israel, yet they are applicable to the church today.

We are in the days leading to the return of Jesus Christ to establish His reign on the earth during the Millennium.  The United States and the nations of the world are in chaos, not only because of a virus, but because of lawlessness due to a rejection of God's Word.  False religions have enveloped the nations, including our own, and the "counterfeit church," as in the days of Jeremiah, cries, "Peace, peace," but there is no peace!!

As we head into this new year, it has become obvious already that there can be no unity and peace where there is no proclamation of the Word of God ... the one, true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  To you who believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, YOU are called to be "a voice in the wilderness today," preparing the way for the Lord by proclaiming the Gospel to all, knowing that God will give to some "ears to hear," and they will be saved from His coming judgment.  You must know what God says and believe His Word is found in the Bible, not through some other means or from some other source.  Be careful of those who say they have "a word from the Lord" that does not come from God's Word.

We who know Jesus today know HIS joy, the joy of living to please our Father as we proclaim His truth and stand firm in our faith.  Do not lose heart, for He is with us and will never leave us.  And do not be quiet!  Keep speaking of God's plan and pointing people to Jesus Christ.  HE IS LORD!!!

"Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain.  And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken" (Isaiah 40:4-5).