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"FORNICATION IS A SIN" AUDIO BLOG
SIN NO MORE
"All unrighteousness is sin..." 1 John 5:17
Heavenly Father, thank you for Your many blessings in our lives. Thank You for Your Word, Your Spirit and Your Son. Bless your children. Bless the world. In Jesus' Mighty Name. Amen.
God has shown me that there is a time coming soon when people en masse around the world will be crying out, LIARS, LIARS, LIARS, at the fake news. There will be great celebrations, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. He has shown me that, It Is Happening, now. What is "It"? God’s Will, His Plan. His timeline in this event of His Plan. He is shining His Light, shaking the earth, waking up His children, and exposing the darkness.
Isaiah 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
God is waking up the lost, and the believers, with a Spiritual Revival, and that Spiritual Revival is inside me, and each and every one of you.
We are the Light of God. He is the head, and we are the body; the head tells the body what to do, and the body does it. God gives us good things, so that we are free to serve Him, serve His lost, needy and weary children, all to His great Glory.
Sometime around January 2021 God put heavy on my heart a lack of concern by Christians, and especially "holy people," regarding fornication, also known as premarital sex, or sex between two people who are not married.
Apostle Paul preached in Corinth, where they were well-known for having many prostitutes, and the people worshipped false gods. Some of the people of Corinth were Christians, who thought these things were acceptable, and practiced them freely. Apostle Paul tells them, and us, at 1 Corinthians 3,
16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
17 “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
Our bodies are holy, sanctified, made free of guilt and sin through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we ought not to defile them with sexual immorality. Amen?
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul tells them to “Flee fornication:”
verse 18 "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."
So, Flee fornication. Run don’t walk. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Amen?
More importantly, “he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." We already read in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that our body is not our own; our body is the temple of God, who indwells inside of us, so when we commit fornication, we are sinning against God’s temple. If we strive for God’s blessings, then we need to remember His curses as well.
At 1 Corinthians 7, Paul goes on further to press his point about fornication, or sex outside of marriage. 1 Corinthians 7:8-9.
verse 8 "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."
I have read before that the “burn” Apostle Paul is referring to here is a “burning passion,” which I never really understood, because it is not consistent with the remainder of God’s Word, which clearly says that fornication is a sin:
1 Corinthians 6
12 “Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].”
Everything is permissible for me. In other words, I have free will. But even if I can do it, should I? Does it benefit me, other than immediate gratification? We have become a society, a world, of instant gratification, have we not? I have free will, but I will not let it enslave or control me; I will let God’s Will and God’s power control me. Amen!
Continuing with 1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again because of the sacrifice of the cross].” Amen.
There are many informative commentaries and opinions on what this scripture means. I’m going to quote an excerpt from biblehub.com, from the commentary by Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Quote: Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats.] Meat is a necessity for our present undeveloped life; in the world where hunger and thirst will be no more it will no longer be so. And therefore both it, and the organs formed to digest food will be no longer wanted.
Continuing with the Quote: Now the body is not for fornication] St Paul is led, by the importance he attaches to this point, to treat it first. The abominable licentiousness, or sexually unrestrained acts, of heathen cities in general, and of Corinth in particular had led to a general conviction that the body was for fornication. St Paul contradicts this, and most emphatically proclaims that fornication is distinctly in itself an unlawful act, contrary to the laws laid down by God for man, and calculated to deprive men of the blessings of the Resurrection.” End Quote.
Let me just repeat that part: “Fornication is distinctly in itself an unlawful act, calculated to deprive men of the blessings of the Resurrection.” Ouch!
But our God is good and merciful, and just to forgive if we ask and turn our hearts over to Him. He wants ALL men (and women) to return to Him and be healed, and receive eternal Life. Amen? He is giving us time, and making it really easy for us to see the evil around us, and to listen to Him, hear Him, obey Him, and choose Him, God, the Father, and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
In Romans 1, Paul also preached God's Word to the Romans, about why terrible things came upon them:
Romans 1
25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. [or just]
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate [morally unprincipled] mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”
That is a lot of powerful words right there, words that are alive: Retain God in our knowledge, obey God, or be turned over to a morally unprincipled mind.
Recently, I came to an important realization. What sets Christians apart from the world is not that we love everyone, and God’s Light shines through us. Yes, that is wonderful and true. But, no, what sets us apart is the “morally principled mind” that is instilled in us from God’s Word.
Morals, a moral compass, knowing the difference between right and wrong, are things that many of us take for granted, and we just assume all people have, or most people; I know I did until recently, while chatting with someone online, in the comment section of an online video, they asked me what gave me the right to say that abortion is wrong?
I replied, Common sense; morals: knowing the difference between right and wrong, the Bible gives me my rights, the death and resurrection of God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ, gives me my rights. And, the other person responded with, Morals are a matter of perspective! You can read that blog, "Delight God Today," by clicking here.
Morals are a matter of perspective! THIS is what we are seeing play out around us. You know, I read an article some time ago that said that only 13% of children today know who God is compared to 58% sixty years ago when they removed Him from our schools. This also happens to be when the Big Bang Theory and evolution were proposed. So, not only did they remove God from schools, but they tried to remove Him from our hearts as well.
Thirteen percent of our children are being raised with morals, knowing right from wrong. The line is drawn between right and wrong, good and evil, God and Satan. Choose God because God wins, and He is coming back to the world, back to our nation, back to our schools, and back to our hearts. Amen.
How He is coming back is through shakings, signs and wonders and smoking vapor happening all around us, but also, He is coming back through us, through His Children, His Warriors standing up and speaking out, proclaiming God is the Father and Jesus Christ is our king of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is time to speak out about these hard truths, because the time for the lukewarm Christian has passed. We can no longer be complacent. It is time to awaken from our sleep of spiritual complacency.
So, fornication is a sin, and with sin comes curses and death. God said in Deuteronomy 23:2 "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord."
The definition of a “bastard” is a person born to parents not married to each other, or through fornication. Again, these are not just words. I mean, God gave us marriage so we could avoid fornication, so we could avoid sinning against our own bodies, defiling His temple, and also avoid cursing our own future generations to come.
At 1 John 1, God gave us the Good News about sin, about being forgiven: 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This includes fornication, and bastards. If we repent and pray for forgiveness, God will not forsake us. Hallelujah. Amen.
In Luke 13, Jesus tells them explicitly that confessing our sins does not mean we continue to willfully sin. Jesus says at Luke 13:3 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
I emphasize these concepts mostly because they were difficult concepts for me to understand, so I assume others may struggle with them as well. It took me a while to understand that to “repent” and to ask for forgiveness are two entirely different things. To repent is to "turn away from.” In other words, to sin NO MORE. To live our lives as our forefathers, the apostles, Jesus Christ himself did, righteously, in obedience to and with all glory and praise to God, the Father. Amen.
In contrast, asking God for forgiveness is telling Him that we know we have sinned, and asking for forgiveness of those sins.
And, so, we put the two together, repentance, turning away from sin and turning to God, in obedience, changing our hearts and showing by the way we live that we have changed, and, also, confessing to God the sins of our lives, and asking Him for forgiveness of those sins. And, most importantly, trying with everything humanly possible inside of us not to commit the same sins again tomorrow. Amen? Amen.
At John 5:8, Jesus literally said, Sin No More.
He didn’t say, “Hey man, you’re forgiven forever, no matter what you do. No problem, keep on sinning.” Nope. He said, Sin No More!
John 5:14 "Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you."
Hmm. Sin no more lest a worse thing befall you. That is so sad, because people cannot understand what is going on in their lives. Sin no more lest a worse thing befall you. These are not just words. God provides blessings and curses. Amen.
And, in John 8:11 “She answered, ‘No one, Lord!’ And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.’”
God does not let things happen. Adam and Eve made this choice for us, and now we have a choice to choose God or satan, good or evil. Amen?
Jesus gave many examples of people who claimed to be righteous. Luke 13 is one such instance, from the Amplified Bible
1 “Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you assume that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Now, some Historians note that the Galileans in verse 1 were probably at the Temple offering sacrifices, when Roman Governor Pilate’s soldiers came through and killed them all at the sacrificial altars, and mingled their blood with the slain lambs’ blood at the altars. Pilate wanted more money from the Temple treasury, but the Jews refused, so Pilate sent men dressed as citizens, and armed with daggers, into the crowds, demanding money, and killing whomever resisted.
The Jews who were reporting this to Jesus in verse 1 were implying that they were better than the Galileans because they did not die like that.
Notice that Jesus, in His response to them, repeats verse 3 at verse 5, showing a sense of urgency: "I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Jesus’ answer shows that the Jews who told Him about the Galileans believed that God had permitted them to be killed due to their sins. Jesus was letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that those who died were not necessarily greater sinners, but rather the Jews should themselves repent, turn away from sin, and turn to God, and that if they did not repent, they would all perish as well.
Continuing with Luke 13:6, The Parable of the Fig Tree:
6 “Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any;
7 so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’
8 But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
9 and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
There are a lot of commentaries and opinions about whom the fig tree and the vineyard represent in Luke 13:6, so let’s focus on what we do know from the parable.
It seems as though it is not as important whom the fig tree and the vineyard represent, as it is what God expects from them: In Luke 13:7, God is looking for fruit on the trees. Surely, He will do the same with His vineyard. He has given us a season to change our lives (repent), before the trees that do not produce fruit are cut down. We can see this happening around the world now; the Harvest Has Begun.
But, now, let’s look at Romans 14, to see what kind of fruit God is looking for on His trees and vines:
Romans 14 from the Amplified Bible
6 “He will pay back to each person according to his deeds [justly, as his deeds deserve]:
7 to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.
8 But for those who are selfishly ambitious and self-seeking and disobedient to the truth but responsive to wickedness, [there will be] wrath and indignation.
9 There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [or Gentiles],
10 but glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentiles].
11 For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another]."
So, we can see that those who seek to do good, and sow seeds of righteousness, will receive eternal life, but those who are responsive to wickedness will be subjected to tribulation and anguish. Jesus is not coming back to bring peace; He is coming to bring a sword of division.
I quote this next scripture a lot because I think it says a lot. Jesus tells us many times how to avoid the tribulation and anguish described to come for those who sow wickedness.
Matthew 3 from the Amplified Bible, verse 8 "Change your hearts! [repent] And show by the way you live that you have changed.
verse 9 I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks.
and, verse 10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
Again, He is cutting down the trees that do not produce good fruit. So, sin No More! Produce good fruit, or get cut down. Blessings and curses. The choice is really easy. Amen?
Almost all of God’s words to me over the last few years have been along the same line: Repentance, obeying God, accepting Jesus Christ, Judgment, reaping what we sow, and the Harvest. I mean, that’s pretty much the sum total of God’s Word to us in the Bible. Obey or perish. I really cannot understand how anyone could teach differently, or believe differently. His Word is crystal clear on that subject. Obey or perish. We are special because He gave us His Spirit, His Word, His Son. Amen.
God has been putting a lot on my heart in the last few years. Although it may feel like nothing is happening, that He has forsaken us, that this is the new normal, God has shown me if repent, turn away from sin, and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God WILL give us love, power and a sound mind, and no poison darts from hell will be able to touch us.
God gave us His Spirit, His Word, and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, so that we can overcome this evil world, as Jesus overcame it, and receive life everlasting.
He has not forsaken us; He will never forsake us. This is not the new normal. There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth for people who refuse the Good News of God, and much more celebration for God’s Children.
In Psalm 37, we see that God's children, believers in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which gave us the New Covenant, will not fear the evildoers:
Psalm 37 verses 1 through 6
1 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Look, I know it is hard to see any good in what is happening around us, or in people perishing, but if we are in God’s Word, reading it, storing it in our hearts, then we will know why these things are happening, and that His children will be protected if they repent. THAT is what His Word tells us, repeatedly. He never promises a good time for bad people.
So, we are the people who have faith and are saved. Hallelujah! Amen. God said previously that we have been in a Spiritual War, but, also, that He won, as he always does. Satan will never win, and like the Egyptians at the red sea, the time is at hand for God's judgment upon the wicked.
Hebrews 10 from an easy-to-read Bible:
35 "So don’t lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly.
36 You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you.
37 He says,
'Very soon now, the one who is coming
will come and will not be late.
38 The person who is right with me
will live by trusting in me.
But I will not be pleased with the one
who turns back in fear.'
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. No, we are the people who have faith and are saved."
Listen, JUDGMENT IS NIGH, BUT "THE END IS NOT YET"
Finally, Isaiah. I think Isaiah is one of God’s greatest prophets. He came into his calling as a prophet when he prophesied the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. I mean, the bible is amazing, right?
So, God is calling? Are YOU answering? If not, God says, at Isaiah 66:4 “I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.”
Delight God today, for tomorrow is not promised.
Let’s bow our heads and pray: This prayer is from the Bible, Psalm 51 verses 1 through 19, because no one can say it better than God:
Heavenly, Father, thank you for our many blessings.
Psalm 51
1 “Have mercy upon us, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out our transgressions.
2 Wash us throughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin.
3 For we acknowledge our transgressions: and our sin is ever before us.
4 Against thee, thee only, have we sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, we were shapen in iniquity; and in sin did our mothers conceive us.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make us to know wisdom.
7 Purge us with hyssop, and we shall be clean: wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make us to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities.
10 Create in us a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within us.
11 Cast us not away from thy presence; and take not your holy spirit from us.
12 Restore unto us the joy of thy salvation; and uphold us with your free spirit.
13 Then will we teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver us from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of our salvation: and our tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou our lips; and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would we give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
Hallelujah! Praise God! In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.
God has shown me that there is a time coming soon when people en masse around the world will be crying out, LIARS, LIARS, LIARS, at the fake news. There will be great celebrations, and weeping and gnashing of teeth. He has shown me that, It Is Happening, now. What is "It"? God’s Will, His Plan. His timeline in this event of His Plan. He is shining His Light, shaking the earth, waking up His children, and exposing the darkness.
Isaiah 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."
God is waking up the lost, and the believers, with a Spiritual Revival, and that Spiritual Revival is inside me, and each and every one of you.
We are the Light of God. He is the head, and we are the body; the head tells the body what to do, and the body does it. God gives us good things, so that we are free to serve Him, serve His lost, needy and weary children, all to His great Glory.
Sometime around January 2021 God put heavy on my heart a lack of concern by Christians, and especially "holy people," regarding fornication, also known as premarital sex, or sex between two people who are not married.
Apostle Paul preached in Corinth, where they were well-known for having many prostitutes, and the people worshipped false gods. Some of the people of Corinth were Christians, who thought these things were acceptable, and practiced them freely. Apostle Paul tells them, and us, at 1 Corinthians 3,
16 “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
17 “If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”
Our bodies are holy, sanctified, made free of guilt and sin through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and we ought not to defile them with sexual immorality. Amen?
In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul tells them to “Flee fornication:”
verse 18 "Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body."
So, Flee fornication. Run don’t walk. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Amen?
More importantly, “he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body." We already read in 1 Corinthians 3:16 that our body is not our own; our body is the temple of God, who indwells inside of us, so when we commit fornication, we are sinning against God’s temple. If we strive for God’s blessings, then we need to remember His curses as well.
At 1 Corinthians 7, Paul goes on further to press his point about fornication, or sex outside of marriage. 1 Corinthians 7:8-9.
verse 8 "I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn."
I have read before that the “burn” Apostle Paul is referring to here is a “burning passion,” which I never really understood, because it is not consistent with the remainder of God’s Word, which clearly says that fornication is a sin:
1 Corinthians 6
12 “Everything is permissible for me, but not all things are beneficial. Everything is permissible for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything [and brought under its power, allowing it to control me].”
Everything is permissible for me. In other words, I have free will. But even if I can do it, should I? Does it benefit me, other than immediate gratification? We have become a society, a world, of instant gratification, have we not? I have free will, but I will not let it enslave or control me; I will let God’s Will and God’s power control me. Amen!
Continuing with 1 Corinthians 6:13 “Food is for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will do away with both of them. The body is not intended for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord is for the body [to save, sanctify, and raise it again because of the sacrifice of the cross].” Amen.
There are many informative commentaries and opinions on what this scripture means. I’m going to quote an excerpt from biblehub.com, from the commentary by Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges:
Quote: Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats.] Meat is a necessity for our present undeveloped life; in the world where hunger and thirst will be no more it will no longer be so. And therefore both it, and the organs formed to digest food will be no longer wanted.
Continuing with the Quote: Now the body is not for fornication] St Paul is led, by the importance he attaches to this point, to treat it first. The abominable licentiousness, or sexually unrestrained acts, of heathen cities in general, and of Corinth in particular had led to a general conviction that the body was for fornication. St Paul contradicts this, and most emphatically proclaims that fornication is distinctly in itself an unlawful act, contrary to the laws laid down by God for man, and calculated to deprive men of the blessings of the Resurrection.” End Quote.
Let me just repeat that part: “Fornication is distinctly in itself an unlawful act, calculated to deprive men of the blessings of the Resurrection.” Ouch!
But our God is good and merciful, and just to forgive if we ask and turn our hearts over to Him. He wants ALL men (and women) to return to Him and be healed, and receive eternal Life. Amen? He is giving us time, and making it really easy for us to see the evil around us, and to listen to Him, hear Him, obey Him, and choose Him, God, the Father, and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Hallelujah! Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
In Romans 1, Paul also preached God's Word to the Romans, about why terrible things came upon them:
Romans 1
25 "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. [or just]
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate [morally unprincipled] mind, to do those things which are not convenient;”
That is a lot of powerful words right there, words that are alive: Retain God in our knowledge, obey God, or be turned over to a morally unprincipled mind.
Recently, I came to an important realization. What sets Christians apart from the world is not that we love everyone, and God’s Light shines through us. Yes, that is wonderful and true. But, no, what sets us apart is the “morally principled mind” that is instilled in us from God’s Word.
Morals, a moral compass, knowing the difference between right and wrong, are things that many of us take for granted, and we just assume all people have, or most people; I know I did until recently, while chatting with someone online, in the comment section of an online video, they asked me what gave me the right to say that abortion is wrong?
I replied, Common sense; morals: knowing the difference between right and wrong, the Bible gives me my rights, the death and resurrection of God’s only begotten son, Jesus Christ, gives me my rights. And, the other person responded with, Morals are a matter of perspective! You can read that blog, "Delight God Today," by clicking here.
Morals are a matter of perspective! THIS is what we are seeing play out around us. You know, I read an article some time ago that said that only 13% of children today know who God is compared to 58% sixty years ago when they removed Him from our schools. This also happens to be when the Big Bang Theory and evolution were proposed. So, not only did they remove God from schools, but they tried to remove Him from our hearts as well.
Thirteen percent of our children are being raised with morals, knowing right from wrong. The line is drawn between right and wrong, good and evil, God and Satan. Choose God because God wins, and He is coming back to the world, back to our nation, back to our schools, and back to our hearts. Amen.
How He is coming back is through shakings, signs and wonders and smoking vapor happening all around us, but also, He is coming back through us, through His Children, His Warriors standing up and speaking out, proclaiming God is the Father and Jesus Christ is our king of Kings and Lord of Lords. It is time to speak out about these hard truths, because the time for the lukewarm Christian has passed. We can no longer be complacent. It is time to awaken from our sleep of spiritual complacency.
So, fornication is a sin, and with sin comes curses and death. God said in Deuteronomy 23:2 "A bastard shall not enter into the congregation of the Lord; even to his tenth generation shall he not enter into the congregation of the Lord."
The definition of a “bastard” is a person born to parents not married to each other, or through fornication. Again, these are not just words. I mean, God gave us marriage so we could avoid fornication, so we could avoid sinning against our own bodies, defiling His temple, and also avoid cursing our own future generations to come.
At 1 John 1, God gave us the Good News about sin, about being forgiven: 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This includes fornication, and bastards. If we repent and pray for forgiveness, God will not forsake us. Hallelujah. Amen.
In Luke 13, Jesus tells them explicitly that confessing our sins does not mean we continue to willfully sin. Jesus says at Luke 13:3 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
I emphasize these concepts mostly because they were difficult concepts for me to understand, so I assume others may struggle with them as well. It took me a while to understand that to “repent” and to ask for forgiveness are two entirely different things. To repent is to "turn away from.” In other words, to sin NO MORE. To live our lives as our forefathers, the apostles, Jesus Christ himself did, righteously, in obedience to and with all glory and praise to God, the Father. Amen.
In contrast, asking God for forgiveness is telling Him that we know we have sinned, and asking for forgiveness of those sins.
And, so, we put the two together, repentance, turning away from sin and turning to God, in obedience, changing our hearts and showing by the way we live that we have changed, and, also, confessing to God the sins of our lives, and asking Him for forgiveness of those sins. And, most importantly, trying with everything humanly possible inside of us not to commit the same sins again tomorrow. Amen? Amen.
At John 5:8, Jesus literally said, Sin No More.
He didn’t say, “Hey man, you’re forgiven forever, no matter what you do. No problem, keep on sinning.” Nope. He said, Sin No More!
John 5:14 "Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you."
Hmm. Sin no more lest a worse thing befall you. That is so sad, because people cannot understand what is going on in their lives. Sin no more lest a worse thing befall you. These are not just words. God provides blessings and curses. Amen.
And, in John 8:11 “She answered, ‘No one, Lord!’ And Jesus said, ‘I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.’”
God does not let things happen. Adam and Eve made this choice for us, and now we have a choice to choose God or satan, good or evil. Amen?
Jesus gave many examples of people who claimed to be righteous. Luke 13 is one such instance, from the Amplified Bible
1 “Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices.
2 Jesus replied to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you assume that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Now, some Historians note that the Galileans in verse 1 were probably at the Temple offering sacrifices, when Roman Governor Pilate’s soldiers came through and killed them all at the sacrificial altars, and mingled their blood with the slain lambs’ blood at the altars. Pilate wanted more money from the Temple treasury, but the Jews refused, so Pilate sent men dressed as citizens, and armed with daggers, into the crowds, demanding money, and killing whomever resisted.
The Jews who were reporting this to Jesus in verse 1 were implying that they were better than the Galileans because they did not die like that.
Notice that Jesus, in His response to them, repeats verse 3 at verse 5, showing a sense of urgency: "I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Jesus’ answer shows that the Jews who told Him about the Galileans believed that God had permitted them to be killed due to their sins. Jesus was letting them know, in no uncertain terms, that those who died were not necessarily greater sinners, but rather the Jews should themselves repent, turn away from sin, and turn to God, and that if they did not repent, they would all perish as well.
Continuing with Luke 13:6, The Parable of the Fig Tree:
6 “Then He began telling them this parable: “A certain man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, but did not find any;
7 so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’
8 But he replied to him, ‘Let it alone, sir, [just] one more year until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
9 and if it bears fruit after this, fine; but if not, cut it down.’”
There are a lot of commentaries and opinions about whom the fig tree and the vineyard represent in Luke 13:6, so let’s focus on what we do know from the parable.
It seems as though it is not as important whom the fig tree and the vineyard represent, as it is what God expects from them: In Luke 13:7, God is looking for fruit on the trees. Surely, He will do the same with His vineyard. He has given us a season to change our lives (repent), before the trees that do not produce fruit are cut down. We can see this happening around the world now; the Harvest Has Begun.
But, now, let’s look at Romans 14, to see what kind of fruit God is looking for on His trees and vines:
Romans 14 from the Amplified Bible
6 “He will pay back to each person according to his deeds [justly, as his deeds deserve]:
7 to those who by persistence in doing good seek [unseen but certain heavenly] glory, honor, and immortality, [He will give the gift of] eternal life.
8 But for those who are selfishly ambitious and self-seeking and disobedient to the truth but responsive to wickedness, [there will be] wrath and indignation.
9 There will be tribulation and anguish [torturing confinement] for every human soul who does [or permits] evil, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [or Gentiles],
10 but glory and honor and inner peace [will be given] to everyone who habitually does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek [Gentiles].
11 For God shows no partiality [no arbitrary favoritism; with Him one person is not more important than another]."
So, we can see that those who seek to do good, and sow seeds of righteousness, will receive eternal life, but those who are responsive to wickedness will be subjected to tribulation and anguish. Jesus is not coming back to bring peace; He is coming to bring a sword of division.
I quote this next scripture a lot because I think it says a lot. Jesus tells us many times how to avoid the tribulation and anguish described to come for those who sow wickedness.
Matthew 3 from the Amplified Bible, verse 8 "Change your hearts! [repent] And show by the way you live that you have changed.
verse 9 I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks.
and, verse 10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees. Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire."
Again, He is cutting down the trees that do not produce good fruit. So, sin No More! Produce good fruit, or get cut down. Blessings and curses. The choice is really easy. Amen?
Almost all of God’s words to me over the last few years have been along the same line: Repentance, obeying God, accepting Jesus Christ, Judgment, reaping what we sow, and the Harvest. I mean, that’s pretty much the sum total of God’s Word to us in the Bible. Obey or perish. I really cannot understand how anyone could teach differently, or believe differently. His Word is crystal clear on that subject. Obey or perish. We are special because He gave us His Spirit, His Word, His Son. Amen.
God has been putting a lot on my heart in the last few years. Although it may feel like nothing is happening, that He has forsaken us, that this is the new normal, God has shown me if repent, turn away from sin, and accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, God WILL give us love, power and a sound mind, and no poison darts from hell will be able to touch us.
God gave us His Spirit, His Word, and His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, so that we can overcome this evil world, as Jesus overcame it, and receive life everlasting.
He has not forsaken us; He will never forsake us. This is not the new normal. There will be much weeping and gnashing of teeth for people who refuse the Good News of God, and much more celebration for God’s Children.
In Psalm 37, we see that God's children, believers in the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, which gave us the New Covenant, will not fear the evildoers:
Psalm 37 verses 1 through 6
1 "Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.
2 For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.
4 Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
5 Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
6 And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday."
Look, I know it is hard to see any good in what is happening around us, or in people perishing, but if we are in God’s Word, reading it, storing it in our hearts, then we will know why these things are happening, and that His children will be protected if they repent. THAT is what His Word tells us, repeatedly. He never promises a good time for bad people.
So, we are the people who have faith and are saved. Hallelujah! Amen. God said previously that we have been in a Spiritual War, but, also, that He won, as he always does. Satan will never win, and like the Egyptians at the red sea, the time is at hand for God's judgment upon the wicked.
Hebrews 10 from an easy-to-read Bible:
35 "So don’t lose the courage that you had in the past. Your courage will be rewarded richly.
36 You must be patient. After you have done what God wants, you will get what he promised you.
37 He says,
'Very soon now, the one who is coming
will come and will not be late.
38 The person who is right with me
will live by trusting in me.
But I will not be pleased with the one
who turns back in fear.'
39 But we are not those who turn back and are lost. No, we are the people who have faith and are saved."
Listen, JUDGMENT IS NIGH, BUT "THE END IS NOT YET"
Finally, Isaiah. I think Isaiah is one of God’s greatest prophets. He came into his calling as a prophet when he prophesied the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, some 700 years before Jesus’ birth. I mean, the bible is amazing, right?
So, God is calling? Are YOU answering? If not, God says, at Isaiah 66:4 “I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.”
Delight God today, for tomorrow is not promised.
Let’s bow our heads and pray: This prayer is from the Bible, Psalm 51 verses 1 through 19, because no one can say it better than God:
Heavenly, Father, thank you for our many blessings.
Psalm 51
1 “Have mercy upon us, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out our transgressions.
2 Wash us throughly from our iniquity, and cleanse us from our sin.
3 For we acknowledge our transgressions: and our sin is ever before us.
4 Against thee, thee only, have we sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, we were shapen in iniquity; and in sin did our mothers conceive us.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make us to know wisdom.
7 Purge us with hyssop, and we shall be clean: wash us, and we shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make us to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from our sins, and blot out all our iniquities.
10 Create in us a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within us.
11 Cast us not away from thy presence; and take not your holy spirit from us.
12 Restore unto us the joy of thy salvation; and uphold us with your free spirit.
13 Then will we teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver us from blood guiltiness, O God, thou God of our salvation: and our tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou our lips; and our mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would we give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”
Hallelujah! Praise God! In Jesus’ Mighty Name. Amen.
