End of the World Predictions

Hell is Real!  Heaven is Real!  On a day of judgement some time in the future, God will sit in judgement on all who have ever lived.  Some will go into everlasting life in heaven and others into everlasting damnation in the lake of fire.  Jesus spoke more of hell and judgement than he did of heaven.  People like to avoid the issue of what happens when you die but Jesus wouldn't let it rest.  He regularly told people that there would be a day of judgement where God would separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25). 

There is one God who is creator of all, who rules over all and by whose power sustains all things.  Through the Holy Scriptures, God has revealed himself to mankind as Father, Son and Holy Spirit: one God in three persons who are co-equal in a triune godhead.  God is all powerful, all knowing, all present.  He is Holy which means that he is both just and loving.  The Bible says that God is both "a consuming fire" and "love".   In his justice he demands sin be paid for.  In his love he paid for it himself.  More on this under the title of "Salvation" below.

Jesus Christ is God in the flesh.  He existed before time and creation but God's appointed time he came to earth in human form as the Son of God, born of the virgin Mary who rejoiced in God her Saviour at the marvelous thing he had done.  Jesus did not cease to be God during his earthly ministry but for us and our salvation, did not use his divine power so that he might offer up himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sin.  Jesus suffered in every way as we do - except sin.  The pain he experienced on the cross was as real as the two criminals dying beside him.  Jesus came to die as a sinless sacrifice on a cross so that the penalty for sin might be paid for and sinners might gain and victory over death, the curse of sin.  Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross.  God made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.  When Jesus died, he experienced death fully as a man.  On the cross he was rejected by the Father since, although he did not sin, he had become sin for us, bearing the penalty for our sin on the cross.  After three days, he rose again.  He then appeared to many of his disciples giving them various proofs of who he was.  Jesus then ascended into heaven and will come again in bodily form to judge the living and the dead.  Jesus is the King of kings, the Lord of lords and the Prince of Peace.  One day, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

The Holy Spirit is not an impersonal force but a personal and equal member of the one triune godhead: Father, Son and Spirit.  He is the promise of the Father, sent by the Son to live in ALL who repent and believe the gospel.  In this regard, the Holy Spirit is a gift who is not earned neither does he have to be asked to come into the believers life.  God made a promise that the Spirit would be sent to dwell in all believers and he keeps that promise every time someone repents and puts their faith in Jesus Christ and his death as payment for their sin.  It is the activity of the Holy Spirit as he joins himself to the human spirit which brings regeration, cleansing and new birth to the repentant sinner.  He is the guarantee of our eternal salvation.  He is the counselor, the comforter and the one who leads us into all truth; the truth that sets us free; truth that is centred in Jesus Christ who is Truth, and in his Word of God which is truth (John 17:17) and which is the Sword of the Spirit.  The Holy Spirit gives power to live a holy life and to be God's witnesses in this world.  Yet the Spirit's presence and activity in the believer's life can be grieved and quenched by sin.   The Spirit also convicts the world of sin, righteousness and judgement.

The Bible, the Holy Scriptures, is the Revelation of God himself.  It is therefore the Inspired Word of God.  This means it is Authoritativie, Infallible and completely Trustworthy.  Because of this, we are to trust and obey it.  But the Word of God is more than a manual for life.  It is the eternal Word of the one and only living God; Jesus being the Word made flesh.  The Holy Scrptures are living and active, sharper than a two edged sword, diving the very soul and spirit of each person, judging the very thoughts and attitudes of their hearts.  The Word of God is is the spiritual sword by which Christians fight in a spiritual war against the evil without and the sin within.   All mankind is like grass, they wither and die, but the Word of the Lord, endures forever.  We are commanded to live by God's word, we are not to add to God's Word or  take away from God's Word.  Anyone who claims to speak with the authority of God must be judged by God's Word.  God's word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path.  It is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.  A sign of the end times before Christ returns, will be doctrines of demons, lies that claim to be from God but cannot in fact be backed up by God's Word.  Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free".  He also said, when praying in Gethsemane, "Your Word is truth".

God created a perfect world and the people he first created, Adam and Eve, were perfect.  God gave them free will so that while God was and is, Sovereign over all, they still had sovereignty over their own lives.  They were not robots programmed to do only what God told them to do.  God created people for a relationship in which they were free to choose to return his love.  Sin came into the world when they whole world when they disobeyed God and took fruit from a tree he had forbidden them to take from.  NOTE: it was the only tree they were forbidden to touch - and they touched it.  At that moment, through that one sin, the curse of death entered the world and mankind has been powerless since in the battle against sin.  That is, until Jesus came and died to save us from the wrath of God against our sin.  It is important to note that we do not just sin, but we also have a sinful nature.  People are not naturally good.  We are naturally sinful.  You don't have to teach young children to do evil - they do bad thigs naturally - you have to teach them to do good!  But doing good, won't get you into heaven!!!

Salvation from the penalty of sin is by grace alone and through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-10).  Good works will not save anyone.  No one will get to heaven by his or her good works.  Check out the Good Person Test.  Each person must individually come to his senses like the prodigal son, humble himself or herself BEFORE GOD, repent of sin (have a change of mind from doing things their way to God's way - acknowedge they are sinful and God along is good), turn from sin and put personal trust in Jesus Christ as the incarnate Son of God and his death as complete payment for all their sin: past, present and future.   A person is not saved by baptism, going to Church, taking communion or the Lord's Supper, praying, doing good, giving money to the poor or to the Church or by any other means except this: a person is saved from the penalty for their sin (damnation to eternal hell in the lake of fire) by God's undeserved grace, through faith in Jesus Christ as God in the flesh and in his death as full payment for their sin.  Jesus  said, "Repent and Believe the gospel." (Mark 3:15) In God's mercy, he does not give the repentant sinner what he deserves - hell.  In God's grace, he gives the repentant sinner what he does not deserve - heaven.    When a person is "saved" they are forgiven, reconcilled with God, made a member of the body of Christ and given eternal life in heaven.

The church is not a building but the spiritual body of Jesus Christ made up of all who have put their personal faith in him: those who have died, those alive now and those yet to be born again into his eternal kingdom.  According to 1 Corinthians 12:13 you become a part of the church, the body of Christ, when Jesus baptises you by his spirit into his spiritual body.  A saint is not a perfect person but the biblical name given to a sinner who repents and puts their personal trust in Jesus Christ and his death as payment for their sin.  As Christians, we have access to the Father, by the Spirit, through the Son.  We are citizens of heaven but have a mission while still here on earth to live a holy life that honours the sacrifrice of Jesus for our sins and witnesses to others of the way of salvation through the cross.

The devil (Satan, Lucifer) is a fallen angel already damned to the lake of fire.  He exercises limited power in this world but is not to be underestimated in the damage he can do to the church and neither is he to be blamed for the sin that Christians or the lost commit.  He loves it when the church gets hit by friendly fire, especially when they retaliate.  It helps his cause.  He is masquerades as an angel of light and his chief weapon in fighting the church is lies!  Jesus is the truth.  The devil is a liar and the father of liars.  The Bible says that all liars will have their part in the lake of fire.  Every lie we believe, act on and live out, keeps us in spiritual bondage.  The answer is the truth.  Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."  In Gethsemanae, he prayed that the Father would protect his disciples by the truth, then he said, "Your Word is truth" (John 17:17).  Before the return of Christ, the devil will deceive many with lies.  That's why Christians need to take regular time to read, study and live out God's word.  The best way to protect yourself from lies, is to know the truth!   Satan will not be running hell or the eternal lake of fire (Revelation tells us that hell is thrown into the lake of fire).  Eternal firie was originally created for the devil and his angels - as punishment!  However, on judgement day, he will also be joinned by wicked people whom God will condemn to eternal punishment in the lake of fire.

Hell is Real!  Heaven is Real!  On a day of judgement some time in the future, God will sit in judgement on all who have ever lived.  Some will go into everlasting life in heaven and others into everlasting damnation in the lake of fire.  Jesus spoke more of hell and judgement than he did of heaven.  People like to avoid the issue of what happens when you die but Jesus wouldn't let it rest.  He regularly told people that there would be a day of judgement where God would separate the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25).