The end of all things is near

“The end of all things is near” (1 Peter 4:7)

   The Bible is one incomparable book which speaks about both the beginning and end of all things. Now if I should list out the things which are revealed in the Bible and explain how and when those things have begun and are going to end, this message will extend into a voluminous book. It would be both impossible and unnecessary within the premises of our present purview.

   The Bible speaks about the beginning of sin in human life. The great fall of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden is the beginning of human sin. The sin which had its beginning in the lives of Adam and Eve will come to an end only through the manifestation of the power of the blood of Christ. Every other problem we face as individuals and as a race has its roots in the fall of Adam. Our problems are innumerable. The world is full of problems today. We have problems like unemployment, inflation and uncontrollable epidemics like cancer and AIDS. And we have the problem of racial discrimination which results in war. These are the problems we are facing as a race. We have some individual problems too. Each one knows his/her own problems. Some of us are facing financial problems and some have problem keeping their family intact. Most of the individual problems result in indigestion, acidity and insomnia. No one is really happy in this world; even millionaires and their children are attempting suicide. There’s no peace in the hearts of the people and in the families. These are all the vicious fruits of the original sin in the Garden of Eden.

   But we have good news! The words in 1 Peter 4:7 “the end of all things is near” may sound like an announcement of the doomsday. But it is also a positive announcement of the happy end of this world. When God says that the end of all things is coming, He means that even your problems will come to an end. Jesus, the God of the Bible, can put an end to your sleeplessness. He can put an end to all your physical ailments and sufferings. Jesus came to this world to put an end to all the problems which the devil brought into the human race through the sin of Adam and Eve.

   My dear brothers and sisters, are you living as a slave of secret faults? (Psalms 19:12). Jesus is able to put an end to the misery of double life in you. The devil is the beginner of all human problems and Jesus is the mighty God who ends all human problems and sufferings. Whatever your problem is just talk to Jesus about it and that is the end of your problem.

The ultimate truth

  God is the author of all true science but the devil uses and misuses the science for his own evil and destructive purposes. Devil cannot create anything but can only use what God has created. John 1: 9 tells us that the true light comes into the world and enlightens every person. Because of the enlightenment caused by this divine light there is so much of scientific advancement.

   One of the important branches of modern science is the study of human anatomy. Today we have much information about the different glands in human body. There are so many glands in human body which produce different kinds of chemical fluids which in turn create certain desires and attitudes in us.

   The modern biological science tells us that some people are hyper sexual because of the hyperactivity of certain glands in their body. Certain hormones in the body create the desire for physical sexual relation. If the concerned glands do not function properly and the required hormones are not present in the body, the person becomes frigid and disinterested in sex. The doctors inject the required hormones into the bodies of such people. By and by there is an increasing conviction in the society that glands are the root cause of the individuality of the person.

   But this is only half truth and half truth is more dangerous than a total lie. It is true that glands mould and shape one’s individuality but it is also true that the individuality and the determinate will of a person also rules and guides the conduct of the glands!

   We know that fans create breeze. When fans are rotating they create breeze. But sometimes there is a power cut or the fans are switched off. A powerful natural breeze comes into the room and the blades of the fans are moved and they begin to rotate, though at a low speed. This is a good illustration of the interdependence of human character and human glands.

   When the glands function we have certain desires. But when deliberately oppose those evil desires with our determinate will and intelligently try to create holy thoughts and desires in our minds even our own glands will turnaround and cooperate with our mind. This is the way a Christian must cultivate holy thought life and holy conduct. Praise God that we even have the Holy Spirit to help us in this holy exercise. This is the ultimate truth of the whole matter. May God help us to understand and be guided by truth.

Learning about God

Learning about God

   God is invisible. He is not within the grasp of five senses of human beings. How, then, can we know Him? This is the biggest question in the area of theology. Philosophers around the world, down through the ages, have tried to explain God. With all the explanations, God is still unknown to mankind. God is a mystery and difficult to comprehend.

   Yet we cannot give up our desire to know Him. We exist because of Him and for Him. He made us with a purpose; unless we know that purpose and live up to it, our existence would be meaningless. Unless we know God, we cannot know His purposes for us. Hence our desire is to know Him. Knowing God is most difficult and essential in human life.

   How do we know God? There are various means through which God reveals Himself to us. Firstly we know God by observing the nature. Nature is an expression of God's attributes. Romans 1: 20 says "God's invisible qualities, both eternal power and His divine nature have been clearly seen… in the things that God had made".

   Secondly God reveals Himself through His written Word, the Holy Bible. Every other religious holy book contains a part of the truth about the creator. But the Holy Bible is God's inspired Word and is the ultimate authority on all spiritual issues. Where other books differ with the Bible, the Bible is to be preferred as the only reliable testimony of God. Those who want to know God must know the Bible.

   Thirdly there is the human conscience. One's own conscience is the voice of God, the mouthpiece of God, implanted in the human soul. Our conscience tells us what is right and what is wrong. Even when we think of God our conscience tells us which thought is right and which concept is not right.

   Then the final and the most wonderful revelation of God is His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the final revelation of God and His character. He is the visible image of the invisible God. By looking at Jesus and meditating upon His words and His deeds we know what God is like.

   We cannot know God unless we approach Him through Christ. Any claim saying that someone knew God without accepting Jesus as Lord, is a false claim. Every person who is thirsty to know God must come to Christ.

   Come to the Lord Jesus Christ, read God's holy Word and then study the nature under the guidance of your conscience - this is the right way to acquire the correct knowledge of God. May the Lord give you the wisdom to make the right decision! God bless you

The Secret of Success

The Secret of Success

   These are the days of tough competition. In the field of business there is an ever growing competition. So many children of God are finding it difficult to survive and succeed. Even the educational pursuit has become very tough and full of competition. Students, businessmen and employees and every other section of the society are facing difficult times.

   My dear brother and sister this may be your story; you may be making attempt after attempt and loosing every time. Whoever you are and whatever your profession is or whatever ambition is, you may be facing disappointment every time. You may be a job seeker making every possible attempt but never being selected. I have a good news for you! The Bible guarantees success and prosperity. You need not be the looser, you need not be an unsuccessful person.

   The Bible speaks of an amazing person in 1st Psalm, 3rd verse. It says, "he will be successful in all that he does", what a wonderful promise! What a life to live! I think that is the best promise in the Bible. God says that you'll never be unsuccessful. He promises that you'll succeed in all your attempts. What more can we expect from God? What must we do to inherit this wonderful promise?

   Nothing too difficult! God asks to do something very simple and easy! We must rejoice in the Law of God and meditate upon the Law day and night. That is all God wants from us. We must love the word of God and meditate upon the word of God continuously, day and night.

   Please do this and see what God will do for you. Begin each day reading the Bible. And before you go to bed, read the Bible. And throughout the day whatever you are doing let a section of your mind be fixed upon the holy Word of God. As long as your mind is thinking of the Word of God you'll not commit sin. You'll be able to face and overcome any temptation. You'll know the mind of God and the will of God for your present situation by meditating upon the Word of God. If your heart is filled with the Word of God, it will be easier for you to be guided by Holy Spirit in every situation and in all that you do. If you are filled with the Word and led by the Holy Spirit, you'll automatically do the right thing in every situation. You'll always speak the right word and do the right deed.

   When you do the will of God always, defeat will become impossible for you. God promises your success in all that you do. All God's children must be successful and prosperous. This will glorify God and bless the whole world. It is my sincere prayer that you should be successful in your life. Take hold of this wonderful promise of God. May God bless you.

Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition

“Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition”. (Matthew 15:6)

   They are two major forces that form the ideology and trends of human society. One is the Word of God and the other is tradition. Among these two the latter is more popular than the former. A great majority of people want to follow the tradition.

   What is tradition? Tradition is what the most respected and elderly people of former generations have felt, taught and passed on to their future generations concerning all the vital issues of human life. Tradition is all the opinions and beliefs of highly respected people of yester generations put together.

   Every nation and race has its own traditions and so does the Jewish nation. God had specially blessed the nation of Israel by giving them His glorious Word! In spite of having the Word of God with them, the Jews have formed their own tradition.

   The Jews have not only formed their own traditions but have also nullified the Word of God for the sake of their traditions. The teachings of the leaders of the Jewish society were at sharp variance with the Word of God. On many issues the commandments of the Lord were very clear but the Jews were ignoring and deliberately breaking the Law of God saying that the tradition teaches otherwise.

   This is the general tendency of all the children of Adam. The human tradition and the Word of God are always opposed to each other. Whenever a man of God brings the Word of God to their notice, people brush it aside and say “the elders have taught us otherwise. The elders cannot be wrong. We want to follow the tradition”. People always prefer to follow the tradition rather than the Word of God.

   But very rarely something unconventional happens. Suddenly someone has an encounter with the God of the whole universe. He/she becomes angry with the whole situation. He joins with King David and declares “Indignation grips me because of the wicked, who have forsaken your law”. (Psalm 119:53)He/she will be pleasantly surprised to discover that there are God’s chosen few who share the same feelings. This is the remnant of God who make a firm resolution and set out to walk a new way to nullify the human tradition and lift up the Word of God.

   In every generation we find these two classes of people. The majority lives to nullify the Word of God for the sake of their own traditions and the blessed minority lives and strives to nullify the traditions for the sake of the Word of God. My dear brother and sister, to which class do you belong? Better stand by the Word of God and God’s minority! May God give you the wisdom and courage to do so!!

And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?

“And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed?” (Hebrews 3:18)

   If we carefully study the Scriptures we will understand that there are two different ‘Canaan’s. One is earthly and the other is heavenly. Abraham lived for sometime in earthly Canaan and from there waited for the heavenly ‘promised land’ (Hebrews 11:10). We, the New Testament believers must follow Abraham’s example. We must inherit the earthly ‘promised land’ and then wait for the heavenly ‘promised land’.

   What is the earthly ‘promised land’? The Scripture plainly teaches us that the anointing and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is the ‘promised land’ we have to inherit while we are still living on earth. Ephesians 1:14 tells us that the Holy Spirit is the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption”. If the earnest is paid, it guarantees that the transaction will definitely be completed. In the same way the presence of the Holy Spirit in us guarantees that in due time we will surely enter our eternal promised land.

   We must acknowledge the fact that the Holy Spirit is essentially God and is our Emmanuel in this dispensation. We must believe that every born again Christian believer has the indwelling Holy Spirit. We must also understand and believe that the anointing of the Holy Spirit something more than the simple indwelling Holy Spirit. We must understand that our heavenly Father wants each and every one of His children to be anointed by the Holy Spirit. The anointing of the Holy Spirit and the gifts of the Holy Spirit are not meant just for the Pentecostals. The anointing is for every child of God. It is a tragic fact that many denominations are systematically brain washing their members into believing that the anointing of the Holy Spirit is unnecessary and outdated. Apostle Peter declared on the day of Pentecost-“For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call” (Acts 2:39).

   These days every denomination and church is expecting to be caught up into the mid air when our Lord returns and live in the heavenly Canaan for all eternity. Of course it’s good to have such a hope but our hope is justified only if we have inherited the earthly Canaan first. Those who are anointed by the Holy Spirit have a more sure foundation for their hope of Rapture. May God bless each one of us to come to the earthly Canaan which is the precious anointing of the Holy Spirit!

The Word was God……..Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made

“The Word was God……..Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made” (John 1:2, 4)

   Primarily the portion of this Scripture is speaking about the process of creation. The Bible is telling us that all things were made by the Word of God. The Scripture is telling us among all the things that were created; nothing was made without the Word of God. Through Him all things were made. Here the pronoun ‘Him’ refers to the Word of God.

   The Word of God is the most important thing in the whole universe. The importance and significance of the Word of God can never be over emphasized. King David says in Psalm 138:2 “You have magnified Your word above all Your name”.

   Psalms 111:9 says “holy and reverend is His name”. While it is true that God’s name is holy and to be superlatively revered, the Word is exalted above the whole name of God. God made everything by His Word. Psalms 33:9 says “For He spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast”. Whenever God wanted to create something, He simply spoke! God’s almighty Word came out of His blessed mouth and accomplished what God wanted. That is the divine modus operandi.

   God has not changed! He works even today in the same way. Even today God does everything by His Word. When He wants to save the perishing souls, He speaks. When He wants the saved people to be perfected, He speaks the Word. When He wants His children to grow, He speaks. In order to work out the restitution of all things in the church, God speaks. When He wants to prepare the church for the coming of the Lord Jesus, He speaks.

   The only difference is that today God speaks through His anointed servants, His prophets. This generation has become a generation of mockers. The Bible says “there shall come in the last days scoffers” (2 Peter 3:3). These days we see people scoffing at the men of God who preach the Word of God. They always try to point out some flaws in the lives of the men of God. Men of God are men and not gods. They are men of course but not ordinary men. They are men- OF GOD.

   God is speaking through the men of God in this generation. And those who recognize the Voice of God and receive it and obey with due reverence will receive all the spiritual and material blessings. Blessed is the person who doesn’t scoff at the message of God proclaimed by His anointed prophets. May God give us the wisdom to recognize His Voice!