brianhenryblog

So what is the true church’s responsibility? Or, as believers, what is our responsibility?

You may say, well:

*We are here to worship the Lord, and that is true.

*We are here to live godly lives, and that is true.

*We are here to minister, and that is true. 

But all of those things we will do perfectly in heaven. We will worship perfectly. We will love perfectly. We will obey perfectly. We will serve perfectly. 

So then why does the Lord leave us here on the earth? The answer is because there is one thing that we are to do on earth that we will not do in heaven, and that is to proclaim the Gospel to sinners. We are to evangelize!

That is why the church was left in the world. Jesus gave us the Great Commission. It is not merely the great suggestion; it is our commission, and that is the reason we are here. Evangelism is not listed anywhere as a gift, nor an exclusive activity for the man of the cloth to perform. It is a command and as believers called to be evangelists we are to:

* Go to the lost – Mark 16:15 “Go into the world, preach the Gospel to every creature.”  

*Tell the Lost – Romans 10:14 “How are they to call on one they have not believed in? And how are they to believe in one they have not heard of? And how are they to hear without someone preaching to them?

*Compel the lost – 2 Corinthians 5:13-14 “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. Luke 14:23 And the master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.”

*Beg/ persuade the lost – 2 Corinthians 5:20 “We beg you on behalf of Christ, we beg you, be reconciled to God.”  

More than any other single passage 2 Corinthians 5:17-21, best defines for us our responsibility as believers in a world of dying sinners who are headed into eternal punishment. This is a passage that is just rich with insights into our responsibility. So let’s look at verse 18.

“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Now, in this very important passage, we see the word “reconciled” five times. This is the heart of our responsibility as a Christian. God has called us to preach the Word of reconciliation, as it says at the end of verse 19, the message of reconciliation. At the end of verse 18, He says He’s given us the ministry of reconciliation. 

God is the reconciler. He does it by forgiveness. He does it through faith, and it’s possible because the Lord Jesus took the full payment for sin. So God is just. Every sin that all believers have ever committed through all of history has been paid for at Calvary. Now, God can look at you and me and see His Son. He looked at the cross, He saw you. He looks at you, He sees Christ.

This is the staggering, stunning reality of the Gospel. This is the heart of Solo Evangelicum. Can we just obey it and get the message out to the both the religious and pagan lost?

Tu me dis de le croire, mais ce que je dois croire ?

* Croire et acceptez que vous êtes un pécheur.

* Croire et acceptez vous êtes aliéné de Dieu et devez vraiment se repentir et se détourner du votre péché.

* Croire et reconnaissez sont « condamnés déjà » et avez besoin d’un pardon.

* Croire et accepter que vous avez besoin de se repentir (tournez le dos du péché) et produisent des fruits de l’obéissance.

* Croire et acceptez que Jésus prit ton châtiment sur la Croix comme votre remplaçant et qu’il attend de vous pardonner.

* Croire et accepter que la justice de Dieu a été satisfaite par le fait que Dieu a ressuscité Jésus… d’entre les morts. 

* Croire et reconnaissez que les éléments de preuve que vous êtes vraiment un croyant que vous produisez des « fruits de l’obéissance. »

C’est ce que vous croyez. C’est l’Évangile. Et quand vous croyez que par la foi, tout simplement faire confiance à Dieu, lui, dans sa miséricorde prend la justice de Jésus-Christ et il attribue à vous parce que vos péchés ont été crédités au Christ quand il est mort sur la Croix.

2 Corinthiens 05:21 car Dieu l’a fait Jésus à être péché pour les USA qui ne connaissait aucun péché ; que nous pourrions faire la justice de Dieu en lui.
Si vous avez un désir dans votre coeur à croire, le meilleur moyen de savoir comment est de prier tout simplement et discrètement dans votre cœur :

« Dieu, je veux Jésus Christ. Je reçois de lui maintenant. Je ne veux pas mourir dans mon péché. Je veux aller là où vous êtes. Maintenant, je me repens de mes péchés, je tiens à vous suivre et obéir à vous et votre mot. S’il vous plaît enregistrer mon âme perdue. Amen. »

Si vous faites cela en la foi faisant confiance, il va entendre que la prière et votre vie seront transformées en un instant. Si votre foi est faible, demandez-lui de vous aider à croire. Si vous avez besoin de plus informations lire l’Évangile de Jean et demandez à Dieu de vous enseigner la vérité du Christ.

You may well ask me what am I supposed to believe?” BELIEVE WHAT?

*Believe,Admit, and Agree you are a sinner.

*Believe, Admit, and agree you are alienated from God, and must truly repent and turn from your sin.

*Believe, Admit and Agree that you are “condemned already” and need a pardon.

*Believe, Admit and Agree that you need to repent (turn your back from sin) and produce fruits of obedience.

*Believe, Admit and Agree that Jesus took your punishment on the cross as your substitute, and is waiting to pardon you.

*Believe, Admit, and Agree that God’s justice was satisfied by the fact that God raised Jesus…from the dead. And when God raised Him from the dead He was saying, “I am satisfied.”

*Believe, Admit and Agree, that the evidence that you are truly a believer is that you produce “fruits of obedience.”

That’s what you believe. That’s the gospel. And when you believe that by faith, simply trusting God, He, in His mercy takes the righteousness of Jesus Christ and credits it to you because your sins were credited to Christ when He died on the cross.

2 Corinthians 5:21 For GOD hath made JESUS to be sin for US who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

If you have a desire in your heart to believe, the best way to know how is to pray simply and quietly in your heart:

“God, I want Jesus Christ. I receive him now. I don’t want to die in my sin. I want to go where you are. I now repent of my sin, I want to follow you, and obey you and your word. Please save my lost soul. Amen.”

If you do that in faith trusting, He will hear that prayer and your life will be transformed in a moment. If your faith is weak ask him to help you to believe. If you need more information read the Gospel of John, and ask God to teach you the truth of Christ.

What is the Rapture?
How many times have you heard the ignorant and uninformed respond that the word Rapture is not even in the Bible? 
I’ve heard that so many times, I wonder if anybody really studies anymore, or if they just parrot what they’ve heard someone else say in some religious academic setting. The English word rapture is not in the Bible, that’s true. But neither is the word Bible, or Trinity or Infant Sprinkling. The rapture passages are John 14, I Corinthians 15 and I Thessalonians 4.
The Latin translators of the Bible used the word ‘rapturo’ – the root of the English word ‘rapture’. In our Bible, the same Greek word, harpazo, is translated ‘caught up’ which means ‘to seize upon with force’ or ‘to snatch up’. At the rapture, those who are in Christ (dead or living) will be changed into new glorified, immortal bodies and then we are “caught up” into the air to meet the Lord. 
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
1 Corinthians 15:51-52 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 
 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

 
The Rapture is for those who are In Christ
The rapture is exclusively for those who are in Christ – those who have repented and accepted His death on the cross to redeem them – whether they are dead or alive, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.  
1 Corinthians 12:13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
The rapture is not for the nation of Israel as a whole, or the inhabitants of the earth who have rejected Jesus as their Savior (Messiah) – they are not in Christ. Some people will turn to Christ during the Tribulation and become “tribulation saints”, and they will be beheaded for their faith. The rest of the unsaved do not recognize Jesus until He comes back to the earth “to smite the nations” at His Second Coming (Rev. 19:15).

 
We meet the Lord In The Air
Jesus’ feet do not touch the earth when He comes to take us to heaven. We (those who are “in Christ”) will meet the Lord in the air. The Rapture is characterized as a ‘translation coming – the dead in Christ will rise with resurrected bodies, and we who are alive will be changed in a moment.

 
Has anyone been caught up before?
Yes, God has removed individuals from the earth for His own particular reasons. He will continue to catch up those whom He chooses at the appointed time.
Enoch
Genesis 5:23-24 23And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: b24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.
Hebrews 11:5 5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
Elijah
2 Kings 2:11 11And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven..
The two witnesses
Revelation 11:12 12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them..
Jesus
Acts 1:9 9And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight..
Jesus was taken up to heaven to allow for the Holy Spirit to come indwell the believers at Pentecost (John 16:7).
Before leaving, Jesus promised that He would return to Earth to take His people to be with Him. He said, “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (John 14:1-3,)

Evolution is a biological impossibility. Consequently we’re left with no alternative but creation. Evolution cannot occur.

Every living thing has a DNA code, every living organism has a genetic code programmed with the exact information to produce, preserve and repair that living thing. It has no less than that necessary information and no more than that necessary information.  

The genes in every organism limit that organism to what it is. It cannot be less than it is, and it cannot be more than it is. There is no genetic information to transform it into something other than what it is. The Bible talks about kinds of living things that can reproduce after their own kind. And that essentially is saying the same thing. There can be variations within a kind, but not anything beyond that.

Science has tried to tell us that evolution is a process called mutation, that living organisms have the capacity to mutate, simply means to change. But you need to understand this: Mutations do not change the nature or the kind of any living organism.  

They don’t make it anything other than it is. What mutations involve is always a loss of existing information. There is never a gain of information. Mutations never add new genetic information. Mutations therefore do not work toward an upward evolutionary process. Mutations are not a mechanism for upward evolutionary process.  

Dr. Werner Gitt, a director and professor at the German Federal Institute of Physics and Technology, answered this question: Can new information originate in a living organism through mutations? And this is his response.

“Mutations can only cause changes in existing information. There can be no increase in information and, in general, the result of mutations is injurious. New blueprints for new functions or new organs cannot arise. Mutations cannot be the source of new information,” 

Consequently evolution cannot occur; it is a biological impossibility!

So how was the Sunday sermon? Was there any call for repentance from your pulpit? Was repentance even mentioned? Did the message of the man of the cloth convict you, or was it just another “feel good” message? What about “hell” was the word even uttered?
Let’s do some catch up!
Jesus spoke more about hell than anyone else in the bible! In fact he spoke more about hell than everybody in the bible combined. And he defined it as conscious, eternal punishment. Our Lord Jesus believed in eternal hell. He continually spoke about hell and He warned sinners to escape hell, to avoid hell, to avoid this horrible reality.
Yes! Jesus was a hell fire preacher. When we talk about salvation we have to use that word! The word has to be used because we are talking about rescue. Salvation is a word that means deliverance or rescue, and the question is…. saved from what?
The contemporary kind of corrupted Christianity offers many psychological and material substitutes for hell. They would say:
Jesus wants to save you from financial loss, or
He wants to save you from purposelessness, or
He wants to save you from anxiety, or
He wants to save you from poverty, or
He wants to save you from failure. Or
He wants to save you from sickness, or
He wants to save yo from disappointment.
NO! NO! NO! He desires to save you from hell! From fiery hell, the lake of fire that is eternal. The message of Scripture is that salvation is a rescue, from a real place called Hell!
So then, how are you born again, saved and how do you escape hell and enter heaven.
Believe!! Believe what?
*Believe that you’re a sinner, believe you’re in a desperate situation, you’re desperately alienated from God and must truly repent and turn from your sin.
*Believe that you have no hope of reconciliation and you will in this life live godlessly and in the next life you will suffer eternal torment.
*Believe that you are “condemned already” and need a pardon.
* Believe that God sent His Son into the world in the form of a man to die as your substitute.
* Believe that Jesus took your place and that He took the full fury of the wrath of God upon Himself and He is waiting to pardon you.
*Believe that the affirmation that God’s justice was satisfied by the fact that God raised Jesus…from the dead. And when God raised Him from the dead He was saying, “I am satisfied.”
That’s what you believe. That’s the gospel.
That’s Christianity. 2 Cor 5:21 “For he (GOD) hath made him (JESUS) to be sin for (US) who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”
The BENEFACTOR – is GOD – it’s all His plan, it comes out of His love.
The SUBSTITUTE – is JESUS CHRIST, who took your place, the perfect God/Man. He knew no sin, but was declared sinful with your sin.
The BENEFICIARIES – all of us for whom Christ died, those who will believe.
AND THE BENEFIT – you receive the righteousness of God credited to you as if you were equal to Jesus Christ in holiness. You are DECLARED holy, and some day you when you receive a glorified body, will be made holy.
My prayer is that if you are merely playing church, you will stop, and believe, repent, and put your faith in Jesus Christ in full obedience!

What Kind of God……?
 God is a relentless Savior. He weeps over the lost. He weeps through the eyes of the Old Testament prophets. He weeps through the eyes of His own Son.
He has no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but He does rejoice in the salvation of sinners. This is heaven’s joy. We are told by the apostle Paul concerning the character of God, these words: ”
“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  
With the Orlando tragedy in mind many are asking, IF GOD IS A GOD OF LOVE AND HE CAN STOP THE DISASTER IN THE WORLD, WHY DOESN’T HE? What kind of God, people ask, calls for the complete extermination of the Canaanites? What kind of God brings death, opens up the ground, swallows people? What kind of God allows disasters, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, wars, crime, disease? But that’s not really the question. Death is inevitable in a fallen sinful world.
The question rather should be is what kind of a God lets sinners live. What kind of a God allows the sinner to sin and sin and sin and sin knowing that the wages of sin is death and “the soul that sins shall die”? God has the right at any moment to step in and take the life of every sinner the first moment they are born, the first breath they take, for they bring into this world their fallenness inherited from Adam.  
So what kind of God lets sinners live? What kind of God lets the rain fall on the just and unjust? What kind of God lets them enjoy the beauty and the wonder of His creation? What kind of God is so patient and forbearing as to demonstrate that He is, by nature, a Savior of all men on a broad sense in that He lets sinners live, that is, He shows His saving nature by saving them physically and temporally from what they deserve when they deserve it?  
The only answer to that is a God who is, by nature, a Savior. What kind of God says to Adam, “In the day you eat, you die,” and Adam lives over 900 years? A God of patience and compassion. That is God who is our Savior. He is the Savior of all men in a broad sense, temporally and physically, but especially is He a Savior of those who believe, spiritually and eternally. And why does He save? Why does He want to lead sinners to repentance and salvation? For this is His joy. Why else would He give His Son so as to redeem us with His death?  

Уверены ли вы, что попадете после смерти на небеса?
Друг мой! Позвольте задать вам самый важный вопрос на свете, от ответа на который зависит чем будет полна для вас вечность – радостью или тоской. Этот вопрос – получили ли вы спасение? Речь идет не о том, хороший ли вы человек и принадлежите ли вы к какой-нибудь церкви, а о том, получили ли вы спасение? Уверены ли вы, что попадете после смерти на небеса?
Бог говорит, что для того, чтобы попасть на небеса, нужно родиться свыше. В Иоанна 3:7 Иисус сказал Никодиму: „…должно вам родиться свыше”.
В Своем Слове Бог дает нам план как родиться свыше, то есть, как получить спасение. Его план прост. Вы можете спастись прямо сейчас! Как же это сделать?
Прежде всего, друг мой, вам необходимо понять, что вы – грешник. „Потому что все согрешили и лишены славы Божией” (Рим. 3:23).
И поскольку вы грешник, вы осуждены на смерть. „Ибо возмездие за грех – смерть” (Рим. 6:23), то есть вечное отделение от Бога в аду.
„И как человекам положено однажды умерать, а потом суд” (Евр. 9:27).
Но Бог так сильно возлюбил вас, что послал Сына Своего единородного, Иисуса, взять на Себя ваши грехи и принять за вас смерть. „Ибо не знавшего греха (Иисуса) Он сделал для нас жертвою за грех, чтобы мы в Нем сделались праведными пред Богом” (2 Кор. 5:21).
Иисус был должен пролить Свою кровь и умереть „…потому что душа тела в крови” (Лев. 17:11) „…и без пролития крови не бывает прощения” (Евр. 9:22).
„Но Бог Свою любовь к нам доказывает тем, что Христос умер за нас, когда мы были еще грешниками” (Рим. 5:8).
Хотя нам и не дано постичь, как это произошло, Бог говорит, что наши грехи были возлохены на Иисуса, Который умер вместо нас, то есть заместил нас. Это истина, ибо Бог не может лгать.
Друг мой, „…Бог ныне повелевает людям всем повсюду покаяться” (Деян. 17:30).
Это покаяние не что иное, как изменение сознания, в результате чего человек соглашается с тем, что он грешник и понимает, что сделал для нас на кресте Иисус.
В Деяниях 16:30-31 стражник из Филипп спрашивает Павла и Силу: „Государи мои! что мне делать, чтобы спастись? Они же сказали: веруй в Господа Иисуса Христа, и спасешься…”
Просто верьте в Него, как в Того, Кто взял на Себя ваши грехи, умер вместо вас, был погребен и воскрешен Богом.
Его воскресение является абсолютной гарантией того, что верующий, принявший Иисуса как Спасителя, имеет вечную жизнь.
„А тем, которые приняли Его, верующим во имя Его, дал власть быть чудами Божиими” (Иоан. 1:12).
„Ибо «всякий, кто призовет имя Господне, спасется»” (Рим. 10:13).
„Всякий”, значит и вы. „Спасется”, значит не возможно или вероятно спасется, а спасется безусловно, наверняка.
Разумеется, вы понимаете, что вы грешник. Покайтесь прямо сейчас, где бы вы ни были, и вознесите в молитве свое сердце к Богу. В Евангелии от Луки 18:13 грешник молился: „Боже! будь милостив ко мне, грешнику!” Помолитесь и вы: „Боже, я знаю, что я грешник. Я верю, что Иисус умер за меня на кресте. Я верю, что ради меня Он пролил Свою кровь, умер, был погребен и воскрес, и сейчас я принимаю Его как моего Спасителя. Благодарю Тебя за прощение моих грехов и за даннвй мне по Твоей милости и благодати дар спасения и вечной жизни. Аминь.”
Доверьтесь Господу и Его Слову и получите спасение по вере. Веруйте, и спасетесь. Ни церковь, ни какая-либо организация, ни добрые дела, сами по себе вас не спасут. Помните: спасиние дает только Бог и другого пути к спасению нет!
Божий план спасения прост: вы грешник и поэтому, если вы не верите в Иисуса, Который умер за вас, вы проведете вечность в аду. Но если вы верите в то, что Он – ваш распятый, погребенный и воскресший Спаситель, вам будут прощены все ваши грехи и вы получите по вере Его дар вечного спасения.
Вы говорите: „Не может быть, чтобы это было так просто”, но это просто! Так говорит Слово Божье. В этом заключается Божий план. Друг мой, поверьте в Иисуса и примите Его как своего Спасителя прямо сейчас.
Если вы не поняли Божий план до конца, читайте эту брошюру снова и снова, пока все в Его плане не станет для вас ясным. Ваша душа дороже всего мира.
„Ибо какая польза человеку, если он приобретет весь мир, а душе своей повредит?” (Марк. 8:36).
Обретите уверенность в своем спасении. Если вы повредите своей душе, вы не попадете на небеса и все потеряете. Пожалуйста, позвольте Богу спасти вас прямо сейчас.
Божье могущество спасет вас, сохранит ваше спасение навсегда и наделит вас способностью жить победоносной христианской жизнью. „Вас постигло искушение не иное, как человеческое; и верен Бог, Который не попустит вам быть искушаемыми сверх сил, но при искушении даст и облегчение, так-чтобы вы могли перенести” (1 Кор. 10:13).
Не доверяйтесь своим чувствам, ибо они переменчивы. Полагайтесь только на Божье обетование, ибо оно неизменно. После того, как вы получили спасение, для дальнейшего духовного роста вам необходимо ежедневно молиться – это ваш разговор с Богом, читать Библию – это разговор Бога с вами и свидетельствовать, то есть говорить о Боге и для Бога.
Кроме того, вам необходимо креститься, чтобы в знак повиновения Господу Иисусу Христу публично засвидетельствовать свое спасение, и незамедлительно стать членом какой-либо основанной на Библии церкви. „Итак не стыдись свидетельства Господа нашего Иисуса Христа…” (2 Тим. 1:8).
„Итак всякого, кто исповедает Меня пред людьми, того исповедаю и Я пред Отцем Моим Небесным” (Мат. 10:32).

A well-known scientist, an atheist, and a very decorated scientist named Herbert Spencer, died in 1903. In his scientific career he had become noted for one great discovery. He discovered that all reality, and all that exists in the universe can be contained in five categories:

time, 

force, 

action, 

space and 

matter. 

 
Herbert Spencer said everything that exists, exists in one of those categories: time, force, action, space and matter. Nothing exists outside of those categories. That was a very astute discovery and didn’t come until the nineteenth century. Now think about that. Spencer even listed them in that order: time, force, action, space and matter.  
That is a logical sequence. And then with that in your mind, listen 
to Genesis 1:1.  
 “In the beginning,”. that’s time. 

 “God,”                   that’s force.

 “Created,”             that’s action. 

 “The heavens,”.    that’s space

 ” And the earth,”   that’s matter.  

In the first verse of the Bible God said plainly what this atheist didn’t announce until the nineteenth century. Everything that could be said about everything that exists is said in that first verse. Now either you believe that or you don’t. You either believe that verse is accurate and God is the force or you believe that God is not the force that created everything. And then you’re left with chance or randomness or coincidence, and the weak unverifiable theory of evolution that could be summarized as:

NOBODY + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

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A jelly-fish is a pretty and graceful object when it floats in the sea, contracting and expanding like a little, delicate, transparent umbrella. Yet the same jelly-fish, when found on the beach is a mere helpless lump, without capacity for movement, self-defense, or self-preservation. Sadly, It typical of much of the religion of this day, of which the leading principle is, “Just love everybody, don’t worry about basic doctrine, it’s just too divisive.

It’s easy to spot a jellyfish Christian or, or man of the cloth. They care more about what others think about their traditions than the truth of scripture.

 To use contemporary language, a jellyfish Christian is one who just won’t declare his beliefs. Nor is he willing to pay the cost for them. He professes to follow Christ, but when he is called upon to pay the price, he compromises, either redefining the Christian faith or denying it altogether.

Sadly, there are many jellyfish Christians and preachers today. If we are not careful, we can subtly become one too. We begin to compromise, shift our positions, or hide our beliefs in embarrassment and, we begin to pressure others to do the same.

Jesus, however, was no jellyfish, nor did he produce jellyfish followers, but disciples who would pick up their cross and die, literally. Matthew 10:34-39 

There are millions of religious people “tossed to and fro, like children, by every wind of doctrine; for example, Rick Warren’s “forty days of purposelessness,” and smiling Joe Osteen’s , “your best life now.”

Scripture mandates us to “preach the word, in season, and out of season” very clearly, but most of all to obey it without apology.