The Lord obviously knew when He created free-will human beings that some would rebel. Some would choose a life of sin and never depart from it. This is why there must be judgment.

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         “But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” [John 16:7-11]

REJECTERS OF MESSIAH

          There is a certain class of people who routinely take the Name of the Lord in vain. They use the Name of Jesus like a cuss word. They have no conviction about it whatsoever. They actually take honor in doing this. And pretty much everyone gives them a pass.

         I happened to be watching television a few weeks ago when a quite egregious example of this appeared. I was not watching the show in particular but saw it while flipping through channels. A former talk show host has a show about cars. In this particular episode he had a former well-known national newscaster with him. The former newscaster was driving. All of the sudden out of nowhere he started laughing about something and then let loose with the Lord’s Name in the most incredibly disrespectful manner. The former talk show host said nothing to correct the former newscaster and even chuckled. Though we see this all the time I was truly shocked. I wondered how people could do this with absolutely no conviction whatsoever.

         We also know that the Lord’s Name is fair game for utter disrespect on public television as well. No one may ever say anything even remotely disrespectful about Mohammed or Buddha or the Pope or any other religious figure. If they did they would be immediately censored for a gross violation of the PC code and made to pay. But whoever wants to trash the Name of Jesus can do it all day long with no repercussions. There is no PC police when it comes to Him. The world hates Him. It is the same in movies. When restrictions were lifted on movie content about fifty years ago all manner of vile garbage began coming forth and one thing in particular was the outright trashing of the Lord’s Name. In fact this is where it got its start in its large-scale infecting of the American populace, most of which was Christian. Things have now changed in that regard. The devil has done a great job.

         Now, one must ask oneself: “What kind of people use the Lord’s Name as a cuss word and do it with no conviction whatsoever and even do it as a badge of honor, as if they are speaking of a hated enemy?” While reading an article on a news site a few years ago I was alerted to an uncensored clip available for anyone to see in which a female comedian is talking about the crucifixion and she asks herself something to the effect “Would I do that? Yes! I would crucify Him all over again!” She wasn’t smiling. But the entire audience breaks out in laughter. There is a lot of this. Those particular people make jokes about the crucifixion, They dis the Lord Jesus every chance they get and are often very bold about it. There is no doubt a level of great hatred involved. They may think they are special but when the time comes they will find themselves before the very Person they constantly trash. He will be their eternal Judge. What chance do you think they will have?

THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD

         For those of you who have been reading my latest posts you understand that there was no way the Lord could send the Holy Spirit unless He went away first. Part of going away was becoming the effectual sinless Sacrifice Lamb who would pay for all the sin of the world. Once that process was started He would have to die in order to take care of a few matters that no one before Him had ever been able to do, because everyone else dies as a person who has sinned. The wages of sin is death. But He had no sin. This means death could not hold Him. Even though He died physically He did not stay dead. He had to go through this process to become glorified. Once he completed this He was able to then bless whosoever will with His indwelling Holy Spirit.

         “What is this statement that He said, ‘You will seek Me, and will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come?’”

         Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’” But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. [John 7:36-39]

         From this we know there is a certain mandatory type of believing that will result in being filled with the Holy Spirit. For Christians who are not filled with the Holy Spirit, it is likely because there is a problem with their “believing.” Regarding all those who outwardly reject the Lord Jesus, they have no chance whatsoever to be filled with the Holy Spirit and certainly remain in great need of salvation. As long as they reject the Lord they remain in their sins. Unless they change they will die in their sins. When they come before the Lord in judgment they will be condemned because of their unrepentant sin and rebellion.

THE CONVICTING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

         As we read earlier, the Spirit of God is sent in part to convict us of sin. God is holy. He will not dwell with sinners. He has no personal relationship with sinners. If there is to be a relationship the sinner must acknowledge his or her sin and deal with it. They only way to be rid of it is to come before the Lord in repentance with a contrite heart and want to be delivered and set free. There must be great sorrow for committed sins and a powerful desire to stop. Once one is set free from past sin the indwelling Holy Spirit is made available for a person to have power over sin and no longer be subjected to its power. But this entire process starts by coming to faith in the Lord Jesus.

         Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.

         “He is the STONE WHICH WAS REJECTED by you, THE BUILDERS, but WHICH BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4:8-12]

         The Lord Jesus is holy and pure. Though He is the Creator of the universe and much more importantly, each one of us, He became a Man and lived among us. He never sinned. He kept the Law perfectly. We have a million proofs that He is exactly who He says He is. There is salvation in no other. There is no other way. He is the only Way.

          It is only through Him that our sin can be dealt with. Through His great love and mercy, He has already paid the price. All we must do is acknowledge what He has done on our behalf, come to Him and live for Him. Receiving His Holy Spirit makes living for Him possible. It makes overcoming the power of sin possible. It makes loving everybody possible. Whoever consciously rejects Him or refuses to grant Him the highest honor, however, for any reason, has no chance. He has made it very easy to choose life. The fate of each person is thus completely in their own hands.

STORM CLOUDS

         As you follow the latest news regarding the slow revealing of great sin and corruption, keep in mind that all that sin and corruption was always there but hidden. We may be temporarily unaware of it and most people may be completely blissfully ignorant of it and never know any better. But those who cannot help but notice the effects of corruption and begin doing research to discover its cause also eventually discover much more. This has now been happening on an ever-increasing scale for years. Much is now known. But wheels must turn. And they are turning.   

         Part of Great Awakenings is the exposing of sin.

         We are each given the opportunity to freely confess our sins before the Lord before we are brought up on charges. In His great mercy He always allows us to tell on ourselves and repent, and thus be done with it. For many others, they refuse to repent and will eventually be exposed. Their sin will be exposed. There is no need for anyone’s sin to be exposed otherwise. It is only those who love sin, continue to sin, and refuse repentance whose sin must eventually be revealed.

         There has been great corruption. The revealing of this corruption has started but we have a ways to go. As one case in point, many people associated with Hollywood were always quick to judge others who were trying to live right. Many of those who were trashed were Christians. They were made fun of. Then the big scandal hit and many of those same people were getting slammed. What goes around comes around. The same thing is happening in the government. Massive corruption will eventually be revealed. Those who got away with so much will get away with it no longer. The Lord is shining a light on everything. The perpetrators have no place to hide. Those who will be judged the most severely are those who have judged others so severely and ruined their lives. There will especially be great judgment on those who did their best to destroy morality and the rule of law, who sinned to their heart’s content and greatly violated the law and got away with it. Their actions have done great damage to the country.

         This is also true of so-called Christian leaders who have led their flocks away from the Lord Jesus and refused His leadership and Holy Spirit which would otherwise convict them toward holiness. Bold Christians are rising up and coming forth to do His will regarding this. They honor their Lord.

         “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.” [Matthew 10:24-27] [1]

         © 2018 by RJ Dawson. All Rights Reserved. 

[1] Unless otherwise noted all Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible, © 1960, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.