John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.

Mark 2:17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

1 Peter 5

¹The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: ²Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; ³Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. ⁴And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away.

⁵Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. ⁶Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: ⁷Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

⁸Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: ⁹Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.

¹⁰But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you. ¹¹To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. ¹²By Silvanus, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein ye stand. ¹³The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son. ¹⁴Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

There are many people in this world today that simply will not believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is not a surprise at all. The Jews didn’t believe Jesus when he walked among them. Most refused to believe and repent after he rose again. Even though the Apostles testified they had in fact been with Jesus after the resurrection, and did great signs as evidence, the people still didn’t believe. Keep in mind that we are not talking about atheist here. The Jews were a very religious people and monotheistic. The problem was in their beliefs concerning Christ.

The Jews were not looking for a self sacrificing Messiah whereby men would be able to kill him and then claim to rise again. They were looking for a King that would destroy the Roman enemies and would reign in Israel upon the throne of David. Even today many Jews continue to reject Jesus as the Christ because of this.

People tend to imagine how they think things should be. When reality doesn’t conform to their imagination they reject it outright. False prophecies and false doctrines originate from these same imaginations of men, whereby they reject the truth. If the religious people will not accept the truth then why would you expect the atheist to? And why would you expect any to readily accept the fact that they are sinners and condemned to hell by a loving God?  Even I find it strange when I hear someone claim that God loves everyone so much, but will destroy them in the eternal fire. Many professing Christians like to quote John 3:16 and leave it there. You shouldn’t do that!

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. ¹⁸He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn the world because the world is already condemned. He already destroyed the world once by flood, because of the wickedness of man. We are told that he is also going to destroy the world again, but by fire. The atheist and many theists have a problem with my writings claiming that I am a judgmental and condemning person. That can’t be further from the truth. Why would I condemn those who are already condemned? That’s not even logical. And if I wanted to condemn them, then why am I trying so hard to save them? Heck, I could just be silent and let them perish. However that would also present a problem for me. I would be guilty of their blood if I did not warn them and I would perish. So they claim I’m hateful to warn them but God claims that I’m hateful not to warn them.

So here’s the situation. Men are already condemned because of their wickedness. Jesus came into the world to save sinners from their condemnation, by changing who they are from within. The key element here though is that they must want to change. They must want to be partakers of the promises which Jesus offered. They must be willing to sacrifice their lives and abandon the cares of this world. Their love for themselves, this world and the pleasures thereof is what has them in bondage and compels them to sin.

Jesus clearly stated that where your treasure is there shall your heart be also. Everyone follows after the desires of their hearts. But people don’t desire what they don’t know about. This is why we have commercials on TV and billboards; to inform the people of what options or products are available. It’s called advertisement. The best advertisement though is word of mouth.

Romans 10:12 For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. ¹³For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. ¹⁴How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? ¹⁵And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! ¹⁶But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? ¹⁷So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. ¹⁸But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. ¹⁹But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. ²⁰But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. ²¹But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.

I have already stated at the beginning of this blog that God does not hear sinners. This means that God will not hear and answer the prayers of the disobedient. There is however one exception to his rule; If any person will repent to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. However, that brings up another dilemma we should all be aware of.

Matthew 7:21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ²²Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? ²³And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. However, not every one who says Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Is this a contradiction or is there a qualifier to found here? There is in fact a qualifier; “but he that doeth the will of my Father”. Paul explained this dilemma very well.

2 Corinthians 7:10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

Repentance is the key. If you are not going to turn away from sinning to obey the Lord, He will not hear your prayer. God looks on the heart. He already knows if you are sincere in repentance or just apologizing. Unfortunately today, people are being taught that repentance is to feel sorry about your sins and ask God for forgiveness. That is simply not correct. Let me show you by example what repentance is.

Matthew 21:28 But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. ²⁹He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went.

Repentance is not just feeling sorrow and asking for forgiveness. It is a change in mind followed by a change in behavior. People are sinners. They are seditious against God. If they will repent to obey the Lord then God will hear their prayers. This is when everything changes because of what will happen at this moment.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

The baptism of the Holy Ghost is only given to those that repent of sinning against God, to obey his commandments. These are the people that will escape the wrath of God which is to come upon the disobedient. Look, I don’t care how religious of a person you may be, but unless you repent to obey Jesus Christ the Lord, you will die in your sins. If you repent then amazing things will begin to happen in your life. You will meet God in this life which changes everything, through the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Why do most believers in Christ know nothing about the baptism of the Holy Ghost? They have never repented to obey the Lord. However, they will believe and obey their pastors. That’s just not what we are called to. We are called to believe and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. We don’t need men to lead us, much less to deceive us.

1 John 2:27 But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Matthew 13:44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Where is your treasure found and what price are you willing to pay for it?

Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. ³⁵For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel’s, the same shall save it. ³⁶For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? ³⁷Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? ³⁸Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Believe it or don’t believe it. The choice is yours!