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BURIED ALIVE

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BURIED ALIVE

By Rick Mathes

Ephesians 2:5 (NASB77) 5  even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ ( by grace you have been saved),

We were just musing over the pros and cons of cremation. I’m against it because I have made great efforts over the years to avoid the flames. Also, I want to have all my body parts in one place to make it easier for our Lord to reassemble me! Both reasons, of course, are nonsense because there is no such thing as dead. Either you are living in glory with Jesus and your loved ones or you are dying in hell with those who tried to take you down with them but you are alive in either instance.

It’s by grace that we have our next heartbeat to celebrate. My point is tht there will never be a last heartbeat. We will have a moment when breath one breath hear and the next there. You will have a physical death but the beat goes on. Either you were born twice and died one or born once and died twice. In either case you will be fully conscience of the consequence of your decision to believe in Christ or not. There is no “plan B.”

If you choose to have Satan as our Lord you will experience a second death that is spiritual. All Satanists, those who call Satan Lord, will suffer an eternal nightmare of pain and anguish. If I could open up the floor beneath you to gaze at Hell you would go insane. Hell is worse than anything you can imagine. Hour sin killed God’s only Son!

Eternal is forever. Get a grip on that. Let me help you. Consider what is at the end of the sky. What is past are all the stars we see. Where is the end of it? It’s called the n’th degree. Our minds cannot conceive infinity but it is there and you will be there either in the blessings of heaven or the blaze of hell.

It is by grace that you are saved from hell and only because God feels like saving your rotten hide. We don’t even deserve our next breath but He loves us so much that if His being crucified again would bring your heart to Him, He would come back and do it all over again. You are going to be buried alive and were you live is your choice.

HE IS GOD

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HE IS GOD

By Rick Mathes

Matthew 16:15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Jesus is God and we will soon seen Him return in glory and power to rule our earth as a loving shepherd would his precious sheep. He rose bodily into glory and whether he’s in the third heaven or not, when He returns we will see Him as He really is and we will be transformed into new beings. Now is the time to prepare for this spectacular event of His return. So what can we do to be more pleasing to Him?

Is there an example to follow? There isn’t any human example to follow because we all fall short because we are totally depraved. Being Christian is Christ-like only. All of hell has it’s weight on our eyes to look outward instead of upward. When we strive to have our God in the image and likeness of man, we fall way short of how he fashioned us to be like Him.

Is there any command to obey? God so loved the world that He didn’t send a committee. He sent His only Son Jesus. When our Lord commands, all He wants to hear from us is, “Yes Sir!” There’s no arm-wrestling over issues. He is the only Commander in Chief of this world.

Is there any error to avoid? I challenge you to pray as follows: Father God, by your grace I have been saved. Brother Jesus, by your stripes I have been saved. Holy Spirit, you know the mind of the Father and the heart of the Son, ‘What would you have me do?’ I guarantee you, He will answer you and you probably won’t like the answer you hear from Him.

Is there any sin I should repent of? Everyone has one sin that rises above the rest that the Holy Spirit hs convicted you of. It’s the big one you don’t want to repent of. I call that sin, Goliath. Well, when you kill Goliath the Philistines run. The smaller sins are easier to let go of when you have been victorious over the “big one.”

Is there any of His work for me to do? You, with your won best effort will at best only rise to your level of incompetence. When you finally confess, “I can’t” He can be heard saying, “I can!” Reach beyond your grasp. That is where you end and He begins.

Who is He? I would rather ask, “Who is He to you?” God is the same today as He was when He spoke the universe into existence and when He became incarnate man. Pledge allegiance to the King and diligently prepare for His return.

I can hear the hoof-beats. The trumpet is about to sound. Are you ready to go home?

BLOODY THRONE

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BLOODY THRONE

By Rick Mathes

1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness,

Sin had killed God’s Son and Pope Satan was having high mass to celebrate with all the candles, glistening gold, gowns, pomp and ritual he could invent. The fallen angels and counterfeit Christians were ecstatic that there would be no more conviction of sin and no moral authority. As it is today, we are enjoying the undying curse of anything goes, right is wrong and no one should ever be judgmental. It’s all relative.

Oh how wrong the false professors of Rome were when they declared Jesus dead. As a mother in child-birth, after the pain came the glory. His death was the gate that opened life. Does this make sense? Let me elaborate the depth of king Lucifer’s stupidity.

When Jesus said, It is finished!” my translation would have been, “Satan, you a toast!” The blood of Jesus satisfied Father God’s propitiation of sin. Man was reconciled at last with God the moment of our Lord’s last heartbeat. Our journey, as believers, tour first nature had begun. Holiness was now within reach for those who would reach beyond their grasp. It is at that point of thin air where faith begins.

His sacrifice cleanses our record of all offense. “Not guilty, your Honor.” Becomes a true statement in the courts of justice. We are justified and now are able not to sin. (Able not to sin.) We are virgins all over again. The Lord gave us another chance and I believe that our last chance is upon us. All the sin of the world is peaking in it’s intensity and the perfect storm is forming rapidly. Jesus is near and soon to return in wrath for those who reject Him.

Our redemption is upon us in the Cross of Christ. There’s nothing more He can do for our salvation, ever. We will soon hear Him say, “It is done.” And fro hat poin on the great devide will be unrepairable.

We can live as though His will be coming tonight but plan that His return is hundreds of years off. Only the Father knows that day when we will return to the New Jerusalem. I bet my life and soul on this truth and hope because of His death for my sins and resurrection as the first born for me to follow.

WHAT IS MAN?

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WHAT IS MAN?

Psalm 8:4 (NASB77) 4   What is man, that Thou dost take thought of him? And the son of man, that Thou dost care for him?

Man lives on the fragile edge of life. His future can cut either way as God permits. The dilemma is in what he is made of. Prior to the fall he was God’s image and likeness but after the fall a deadly transformation occurred. The man became a monster!

His heart is wicked beyond measure and there is no good in him at least not enough good to be worthy to step into the Lord’s presence. Unless the mind is in motion the body and soul won’t respond. When you are blind to the Holy Spirit the Bible is just a volume of useless words. In this condition your affections are prostituted from our Lord’s approval to the devil’s revelries and shameful enjoyments.

The blind mind, paralyzes the body, pollutes the soul and enslaves the will. Satan knows exactly how to take you down. His only goal is to strip ou of every shred of righteousness so that your condition is deplorable and so unattractive that Christians will pass you by in your anguish.

The moment of truth comes when you realize you cannot better yourself. In a thought, you are not able to not sin. Helpless to every temptation, you are merely a puppet in the hands of any demon assigned to you: a plaything for sordid amusement. You cannot, I repeat, you cannot no nor ever work out your salvation by what you do. It is by our Lord’s gracious mercy alone that you can be spared an eternal death in the furnace of hades. Your only relief is to be born of God.

To survive man must have an understanding of the Word and be supernaturally enlightened. His heart needs to be renewed and his will emancipated. Then he will be able not to sin in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Face the facts:

Jesus saves us from the:

  • Penalty of sin
  • Power of sin
  • Pollution of sin

Be the man of God He created you to be and break the cuffs that are leading you to Satan’s mansion, the Department of Corrections.

BLIND

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BLIND

By Rick Mathes

(Author of “Allah or Jesus”)

 

Romans 3:11 (NASB) 11  THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD;

AUGUSTINE

Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore, seek not to understand that thou mayest believe but believe that thou mayest understand.

The ignorant man always adores

What he cannot understand.

Our condition before God is so bad we get into denial to hide our real self. If you saw my heart as God sees it you would run from me and yours would be terrifying if exposed. We have an underlying and an ulterior motive. The underlying motive is in plain sight but the ulterior motive is under the table and driven by self and sin.

When we walk in willful sin we cannot really see the beauty of Christ’s countenance. It’s blurred with the smoke from hell. You lose the presence of His grace because you have yielded to Satan’s lordship; Satan has become your lord. It’s like running your hands through the filth and decay of a cesspool and then lifting them to God for mercy. You are only making God gag.

Keep focused on the things of God by seeing through His eyes. It’s like moving from black and white to color; a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. This can be a wonderful adventure as His world, sin-free opens up to you.

I have controlled glaucoma in both eyes. My mom and grandfather both went blind from it. I am so grateful for the gift of sight and I dedicate this medical miracle to the Great Physician. Of all the terrible things that could happen to me physically, I fear going blind most.

The pressure of Jesus points out the need of a new birth. The evil of this world is smothering us body and soul with the filth of sin. This sin killed God’s Son. This is very serious. In your blindness you will have the penalty of sin fade into the wide road that leads to eternal flames. So get your spiritual eyes checked as I did and don’t allow yourself to go blind to the grace and goodness of our Savior, Jesus.

BELIEVE HIM

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BELIEVE HIM

By Rick Mathes

John 11:40 Jesus •said to her, ” Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Do you want to step into glory? The key to heaven’s gate is belief. It’s too simple. Why do we have to complicate it with so many man-made distinctives? He simply instructs us to have faith and to believe. Faith, for His purposes, is beyond our grasp. What I mean is this: when we say “I can’t” He says, “I can” and if we act on that faith in Him it is called belief and we have stepped out of the boat. It’s all about Him while we walk on Living Waters.

The most obvious inquirer is the questioning unbeliever. What a blessing to have someone approach you and ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Now they may not use those exact words but the message is the same. We all want to be loved and we aren’t to our satisfaction until we believe and are loved by Jesus. Our love for each other is self-gratifying will our love for each other through Him is self-denying.

The most exciting confrontation with Christ is the anxious seeker. Follow this logic:

  • I don’t know I don’t know
  • I don’t know I know
  • I know I don’t know
  • I know I know

Which of these is the inquirer you are being confronted with?

Let’s take a look at the suffering believer for a moment. Life can be quite a drama with its ups and downs. The real world has some tough places we have to pass through on our way home. When you believe in Him you see Him being glorified in all your experiences of sickness, stress, fear and the world of unbelievers. Just stand fast and it will pass.

I can speak for me that I have often been a discouraged worker. It’s taking me many years to learn and accept that God has never had a bad day. I may not like how things are going now bujt when I look back at all that has happened; my life has been a masterpiece of His genius.

Last but not least is the dying Christian. How you die displays how you lived. Believers die believing.

BELIEVE A LIE

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BELIEVE A LIE?

By Rick Mathes

Romans 5:5 (NASB) 5  and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

God makes a promise, faith believes it, hope anticipates it and patience quietly awaits it. Our hope is that we can discern the lie and it’s by our faith that He will lead us out of the flames into the living water.

Thomas Scott

No affliction nor temptation, no guilt nor power of sin, no wounded spirit nor terrified conscience should induce us to despair of help and comfort from God.

All unbelief is the belief of a lie.

Think. What would you do without Jesus? Do you really believe the lie that you can do it your way and earn your own right to heaven? What god will you turn to? Jesus said that He would lay His life down for you and then pick it back up. He did it, that settles it, and I believe!

Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished!” and after the white throne judgment He is going to say, “It is done.” When He does not even God will be able to save you. That’s right! Not even God Himself. There is no “Plan B” in hell; no options. I don’t like that so I chose to live and at least make an effort to lift m myself back up and have a chance of making up for all the people, places and things I have damaged beyond repair.

Don’t wait. You never know when it’s your last chance.

Alexander MacLaren

Unbelief is criminal because it is a moral act, an act of the whole nature. Belief or unbelief is a test of man’s whole spiritual condition because it is the whole being of affections, will, conscience as well as the understanding which are concerned in it.

Make a choice. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the Life.” Then He said, “Do you believe this?” If you do then act like it. When people get to know you do they get to know Jesus or the devil. Don’t wait until there isn’t an option: this is urgent.

BELIEVE

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BELIEVE

By Rick Mathes

Acts 16:31 and they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household.”

Faith is reaching beyond your grasp and when you do in Christ you become a believer. So the Christian faith begins with you believing in Him. Once I knew I knew He rose from the dead, I believed and have never turned back since. It is finished business because the Lord said so from the Cross but it isn’t done. He doesn’t announce that until after the white throne judgment when He will say, “It is done.”

The bone chilling consequence of this is that there will be a moment, a blink of an eye from that point forward no one will be able to be saved. It will be too late for those that have put it off and rejected Jesus as their Lord. The Muslims, Roman Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Christian Science and other eastern cults will drop into the flaming pit, the abyss of the dark-side with evil personified in Father Satan.

Receiving our Lord’s offer is the best choice you will ever have to make. His grace is handed to you and all it costs is everything you have and you are. In fact, the rest of your life is none of your business. You didn’t come to Him, He extended His hand, the Master’s hand and you reached back a slave evermore subservient to His slightest wish. This is the biblical truth! Don’t let anyone “soft-soap” you out of this fact with any scripture twisting.

He earned your trust through the witnesses of the sixty-six book library we call our Bible. They looked forward to the Cross and now we look backward to the same Cross.

WE do this to hear His voice ring through the ages in word and deed; As Josh McDowell has put it in his book “Evidence Deserves a Verdict.” Is Jesus a liar, lunatic or Lord? Let the Holy Spirit open your eares to hear the saints as they speak to you from the precious pages of His gospel.

“Look and be saved!” Moses had a foreshadow of His crucifixion. By His stripes we have been healed. Once you look into those pitiful eyes of our dying Savior, what choice is there but to yield to His call, “Believe in Me and be saved.” What is your plan B compared to Him?

BEFORE THE DAWN

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BEFORE THE DAWN

By Rick Mathes 

John 3:36 (NASB77) 36 “He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”

The world is a howling wilderness to those who go recklessly through it, stumbling in their self-made darkness: world gone mad. They have no concept of the consequences of their random and unleashed actions of sinful aggressions. It becomes a merry-go-round of evil, careening before them with a forever of no beginnings or ends of cowardly suicide of integrity and character.

Another night of lurking fear as the streets darken and the shadows flee the sundown and beams of thinning traffic headlights: loneliness no human should ever be asked to endure. Road-rage and taunt nerves cause tempers to flare and fights to spontaneously ignite. The irresistible lure of the taverns and relief of liquid levity is only one swallow away: the devil knows. “Pass that joint my way, bro.” The shakes from last night still linger. I can’t believe there is another day when I prayed last night would be my last: a dog returning to his vomit.

My sorrow is overwhelming me when I revue those shadows that follow me. Skinned knuckles, bloody mouth, vomit and shame: night after night: Can I ever be truly sorry for living the same horrors day after day, after day, after day?

The shroud of death, coffin and hearse are lined up and prepared for my demise: my enemies would rejoice. “Oh look, there’s a big Mack truck!” It’s coming my way and all I need is a sharp turn to the left and this nightmare would end and who would care: no one? They can hold my funeral in a phone booth.

Some would fake tears and regrets but the day would dawn and if the truth be said, my passing into oblivion of the abyss would be secretly celebrated. What hope is there for me for you for that matter?

If ever there was a time for the Holy Spirit to breathe His life into me once again it is now and I pray that it will be for you also! Suck it up and drink it in deeply right now as you read this.

I need the right loving spirit to give me a Son-rise (sunrise) in my soul that will quench my prideful and hardened heart. I don’t even know what “humble” is so I cry out to You Lord, “I can’t!” and I can hear the heavens echo your response, “I CAN!”

I come to your Cross and beg forgiveness and as your Word promises, you forgive me with your atoning blood. Help me to accept it and put the past behind. It keeps rearing its ugliness to destroy the flickering joy within me. I receive the forgiveness and pledge to become a forgiver, forever.

The dawn has come to light and the night drifts slowly into the horizon of defeat. It has not power over the Light of the Word, the only Son of God, and my Savior!