Exposing Some Myths Regarding The Bible

Exposing Some Myths Regarding The Bible
‘Do not pay attention to myths and legends and endless genealogies which cause disputes, rather listen to
God’s administration that is in faith … some have sinned and turned aside to useless talking. They desire to
be teachers of the Bible but they do not understand what they are saying nor what they strongly affirm’ (1
Timothy 1:4 to 7).
The Bible is a very complex, spiritual book that can only be fully understood by those who have a spiritual
mind. ‘God is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth’ (John 4:24). ‘We did not receive the spirit of the world but the Holy Spirit which is from God, so we might know the things that were freely given to us by God, of which things also we teach, not in words the futile wisdom of man teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. The natural mind cannot receive the things of God's Spirit for they are foolishness to mankind, and they cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned. Those who are Spiritual (filled with the Holy Spirit) discern all things and they are judged by no one. Who has known the mind of the Lord to instruct Him? We have the mind of the Messiah’ (1 Corinthians 2:12 to 16). ‘The god of this world (the devil) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so the light of the Gospel of the glory of Jesus Who is the image of God, should not dawn on
them’ (2 Corinthians 4:4). ‘The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are saved, it is the manifestation of the power of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:18).
Most certainly the Bible is for everyone, and anyone who is able to read can read the Bible and those who
can hear can listen to its teachings. The simple things in the Bible can be understood by anyone who reads
or hears it, but the deep spiritual meanings are hidden unless God Himself opens their spiritual eyes so they
can understand. ‘He opened up their minds so they could understand the Scriptures’ (Luke 24:45). Unless
God opens our spiritual eyes and ears we cannot fully understand what is written. Many Christians have
trouble understanding what God is really saying, as did the twelve disciples. ‘They understood nothing of
these things. His words were a mystery and were hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what He
was telling them’ (Luke 18:34). As a consequence of their inability to comprehend the spiritual meanings
hidden deep within the pages of the Bible, many non-believers and lay-preachers have written stories,
legends and myths about the Bible that are logical in their unspiritual minds, but are so silly, God Himself
laughs at them. ‘They speak insults and lies with their mouths and say, “Who hears us?” But You Lord, laugh
and scoff at them’ (Psalm 59:7 & 8). So-called ‘experts’ write stories that undermine the scriptures to ‘prove’ the Bible is just a nice ‘story book’, but every Word written in the Bible was either inspired by God or actually spoken audibly to the writers, who were told to write everything down for future generations. Every Word was ‘God-breathed’ (2 Timothy 3:16). The Lord is completely unimpressed by the attitudes of the people who refuse to accept Him and listen to His Word. ‘He Who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord has them in derision. He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His fury or wrath’ (Psalm 2:4 & 5).
There are Christian preachers who fancy themselves as prophets and teach false doctrines and sadly, the
people they indoctrinate hold onto their errors and continue to teach them as fact. The Lord is not impressed
with false prophets and their false doctrines. ‘The time is coming when people will not tolerate sound
doctrine, but having ears itching for something pleasing, they will gather to themselves one teacher after
another, chosen to satisfy their own desires and will turn aside from hearing the truth and wander off into
false teachings’ (2 Timothy 4:3 & 4). There are many more scriptures that deal with false doctrine. Jesus said
to watch out for false prophets who come in sheep’s clothing but are inwardly evil like ravening wild dogs and pass themselves off as Christians, leading many astray (Matthew 7:15; 24:11). The reason so many people minimise the Lord God in their own minds, listen to false doctrines and distorted Biblical teachings, is
because they are rebellious and hate the name of Jesus. We are to glorify Jesus in everything we say, do
and even what we think. To think evil is the same as doing evil (Matthew 5:28). To love Jesus and embrace
the full Gospel means we accept the fact, one day we will all have to give an account of our lives to God on
Judgement Day. Rebellious people do not like knowing they will have to give an account of their sin, so they
choose an easier religion to follow. People who resent that fact have put up a barrier between God and
themselves and refuse to accept they will all have to stand before Jesus when He sits on the Judgement
Seat. Jesus said by their own words they will be sent to eternity with Him in glory or by their own words
spoken on earth, they will be condemned for eternity (Matthew 12:37). We will look at some of these myths
and false teachings that are leading people away from the deep relationship we can have with God our
Father through Jesus our Lord.

Myth: The New Testament was written in Greek.
Truth: This would have to be the most ingrained myth of all because it has been preached as fact for more
than 1,500 years. This myth minimises the power of the scriptures to foretell God’s purposes, it minimises
the plans God has for Israel and the Jewish people as laid out in the scriptures and it makes Jesus seem to
be a Gentile instead of a fully Jewish Man who grew up in the Jewish nation of Israel, He spoke Hebrew (and other languages), He was raised within the Jewish culture by two fully Jewish parents, He regularly attended synagogues and went to the Temple in Jerusalem. The Old Testament and the New Testament were both written in Hebrew by Hebrew speaking Jewish people. The Word of God was translated into Greek during the rule of Constantine at his behest and that is when the ‘Jewishness’ of the early church began to wane. The Lord gave the job of teaching the world about Himself, the heavens and His laws to the Jewish people and He said He would never give the task of speaking His oracles to another nation or another people and that would include another language. ‘He reveals His Word to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel. He has not done this with (or for) any other nation and they have not known His ordinances. Praise God’ (Psalm 147:19 & 20). ‘The God of heaven will set up a Kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will its sovereignty be left to another people’ (Daniel 2:44). ‘I will give to the people a pure language from pure lips so they may call on the name of the Lord, to serve Him with one voice’ (Zephaniah 3:9).

Myth: The meanings in the Bible have been lost in translation.
Truth: This myth minimises the power of God and the power of His Word. The Lord is the Author of the Bible and He is the Author of all languages on earth and in heaven. He would not allow too many discrepancies to occur in His spoken Word. There are nuances within the Hebrew language and culture that are meaningless in other languages, but the truth of the scriptures and the promises in the scriptures are clear for everyone to see. For an unbeatable translation of the Bible, it is better to go back to the original language – Hebrew. We can buy a Bible translated directly from Hebrew to English – and of course that would be the best one to study. Other translations are good, but logically, not as good as the language in which the scriptures were originally written.

Myth: The scriptures were handed down via word of mouth.
Truth: This myth minimises the intention God has of teaching us through His own Words. Moses wrote down
the first five books of the Bible, but the Lord told him exactly what to write (Exodus 17:14; 24:4; 34:27;
Numbers 33:2). Moses did not write his own thoughts, he wrote God’s thoughts. After Moses, Joshua wrote everything down (Joshua 24:26), then Samuel (1 Samuel 10:25), then Shemaiah the Levite scribe (1
Chronicles 24:6); Ezra wrote the book of Ezra. By the time of Ezra, the five books of Moses were several
hundred years old, yet Ezra still had the books and used them (Ezra 7:6). In the original Hebrew text, the
book of Nehemiah is part of the book of Ezra. King Josiah had the Book of the Law of Moses read out to him by Shaphan the scribe (2 Kings 22:8 to 10; 2 Chronicles 34:15 to 18) hundreds of years after the death of Moses. The book of Psalms was written by various authors. Solomon wrote all the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes
and the Song of Solomon. Isaiah was told to write in a book (Isaiah 30:8), then a scribe named Baruch wrote on a scroll everything Jeremiah told him to write, according to the spoken words of God, then Baruch wrote in the scroll with ink and he read God’s Word aloud to the children of Israel (Jeremiah 36:4 to 18 & 32; 45:1). Later Jeremiah himself wrote in a book (51:60). Jeremiah also wrote Lamentations. Ezekiel drew the design and wrote down precise measurements of the new Jerusalem (Ezekiel 4:1 then chapters 40 to 48). Daniel was told to seal up the words of his book (Daniel 12:4). The prophets named Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi all wrote and recorded the events surrounding real people as they occurred. None of this information was handed down by word of mouth. The history of births, deaths and marriages were carefully recorded, and that can be proven by reading the family genealogies (Genesis chapters 5, 10 and 11; Matthew 1:1 to 17; Luke 3:23 to 38). Jesus read from the written words of Isaiah (Luke 4:17 to 20) and Jesus quoted the written Word when He overcame the devil with the Words from Deuteronomy using the prefix, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7 & 10; Deuteronomy 8:3; 6:16 & 6:13). John was told to write down what he saw (Revelation 1:11). The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, plus the Book of Acts were written as eyewitness accounts of the events surrounding Jesus and His resurrection (Luke 1:2; 2 Peter 1:16). The remainder of the New Testament was written by the men who performed miracles through the power of the Holy Spirit. God Himself has books in which He records everything we say and do, both good and bad (Malachi 3:16; Revelation 20:12). The Lord has a Book of Life He has had since the foundation of the world. In that Book of Life, He has a list of names of people who have repented of their sin and who are devoted to Him (Exodus 32:32) and there are some people whose names were never written in the Book of Life (Revelation 13:8; 17:8). That would be because, in the divine foreknowledge of God, He knew they would never turn to Him. Those who believe in Him and are worthy of heaven, have their names written in the Book of Life (Luke 10:20; Philippians 4:3; Revelation 3:5; 21:27). Those who reject God, have their names blotted out of the Book of Life (Exodus 32:33; Psalm 9:5; 69:28). If those same people repent and turn back to God, He rewrites their names back into His Book of Life, or ‘grafts’ them in again (Romans 11:23). On Judgement Day these books will be opened to reveal everything we have done and said, and whether or not we are to be accepted into heaven or sent to the lake of fire forever (Revelation 20:12 & 15).

Myth: Evolution is scientific fact.
Truth: Evolution is a lie taught by ungodly people who are rebelling against God. The tri-une God, the Father,
Son and Holy Spirit decided together to create the world and make it habitable (Genesis 1:1 & 2).
Throughout the entire universe, only the earth was made fit for habitation (Isaiah 45:18). Although there is
water on other planets (Psalm 148:4), the planets are not fit to be inhabited. Once the decision was made to
create this earth, Jesus Himself, before He was born on earth, created everything. There is not one thing that
exists that was not created by Jesus because in Him is all life (John 1:1 to 4; Colossians 1:16 & 17). Men
who deny the Lord with wickedness in their hearts, promote the lie of the evolution theory to the world and
mock those who believe the truth. These people are deceived and those who believe them are being led
astray. Millions of children are being taught the lie of evolution in schools, and that makes it hard for them to
accept the Gospel. The Lord says, if anyone makes a child (spiritually) stumble, it would be better for a
millstone to be tied around his neck and tossed into the depths of the sea (Matthew 18:6; Mark 9:42; Luke
17:2). We need to show the world the wonderful wildlife the Lord created, just as it is. Once people are bornagain and their minds are renewed by the Spirit of God and their eyes are opened to the truth, they can see through the lie of evolution and see the Word of God is the truth. Evolution is not a scientific fact. It is a
deception and there is no scientific evidence to support evolution. No ‘missing link’ fossils have ever been
found, nor will they, because God created every animal exactly as they are. Evolutionist dating methods do
not work and simultaneously, they ignore the earth dating methods that do work, which of course reveal we
live on a young planet earth. Sinful people will choose any alternative over the truth of creation, and then
seek to mislead others no matter what the scientific evidence really shows. These beliefs mislead people
and make it harder for them to view the Gospel as the only logical alternative. Some people refuse to accept
this earth was created for temporary habitation only, and will one day be destroyed by God Himself. Those
who believe in Him will live on a newly created earth, created for eternal habitation (2 Peter 3:7 to 13; Isaiah
65:17; 66:22; Revelation 21:1). We ask these evolutionists: ‘Men, why are you doing this? We are people
who bring you the Gospel so you should turn away from these foolish and vain myths to the living God Who
made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything they contain’ (Acts 14:15).

Myth: A third of the angels rebelled with the devil.
Truth: It is not written anywhere in the Bible, any angels rebelled at the same time as the devil and there is
no verse in the Bible that says fallen angels work with the devil. What is written, the fallen angels did not care
for, keep, guard or hold on to their own first place of power but abandoned their proper dwelling place in
heaven, came to earth, raped women, produced extremely wicked human-like giant offspring called Nephilim (Genesis 6:1, 2 & 4), that were half human and half fallen angel and for that reason, the Lord did not spare these rebellious angels but cast them into pits of gloom and they are reserved in custody in eternal chains under thick darkness until Judgement Day when they will be sent to the eternal lake of fire (2 Peter 2:4; Jude 1:6). Those events did not take place at the same time as when the devil fell, but hundreds of years later. The devil rebelled before the creation of mankind about 7,000 years ago, but the angels rebelled after
mankind had been on earth for some time. The angels’ sin was the most incredible rebellion against God’s
will for them at many levels. Those angels are in chains down in hell awaiting judgement and cannot do
people any harm. The erroneous myth regarding the ‘third of the angels’ (Revelation 12:4 & 5) says the devil
swept his tail across the sky and dragged down a third of the stars and threw them to earth by force. To
understand this verse we need to look at the Hebrew language. In Hebrew, the word for angel is ‘mlak’. The
word for stars as planets is ‘kukbim’ but the word for stars as people who stand out or Jacob’s Star (Jesus) is ‘Kukb’. If the devil had dragged angels out of heaven, indicating they were forced out, they would not have been held accountable and thus sent to hell to await judgement, so those angels willingly left heaven. This verse says stars (kukb), not angels (mlak), so the devil dragged a third of the ‘kukb’ out of heaven. The only time anywhere in the Bible, fallen angels are linked to the devil is where Jesus said the lake of fire was
prepared for the devil and the fallen angels (Matthew 25:41) so we can leave the angels (mlak) out of this
verse and find out what the stars (Kukb) really were. When the Lord refers to angels He says angels (mlak).
In this instance He said stars (Kukb). The same verse says the devil was poised to devour the male Child
(Jesus), the One Who is destined to rule all the nations and the new Christian church as it was brought to
birth, then He was taken up to the throne in heaven to sit beside God the Father, which happened just 2,000
years ago. Why then, do modern pastors say the first half of this verse is placed about 7,000 years ago or
more, then the second half of the same verse places the time period at just 2,000 years ago? It does not
make sense to assume the two halves of this one verse are divided by thousands of years. The twelve stars
(Kukb) on the crown placed on the ‘woman’s’ head are symbolic of the twelve apostles helping the ‘woman’ to give ‘birth’ to the new early church (Revelation 12:1 & 2). The ‘woman’ had special protection from God against the attacks of the devil (verses 6 & 14). If those stars were evil, they would not have been worn by the holy ‘woman’, nor would they have received any protection from God. Stars are holy angels who shine; one for each of the churches and they are in the Lord’s hand and He is in heaven (Revelation 1:16 & 20). That reinforces the symbolism of the ‘stars’ (Kukb) falling from heaven as being churches falling under the influence of the devil and being thrown to earth. There are many churches that started off well but have fallen away from sound teaching and have become cults, thus falling out of heaven and out of the Lord’s hand of protection. Obviously that verse applied to some churches 2,000 years ago as the devil attempted to destroy the Gospel message, and history has shown us the church went into serious decline for over a thousand years. This myth has taken that verse in Revelation completely out of context, and the myth does not fit in with the surrounding verses nor does it make any sense in the Hebrew language.

Myth: The devil has rights.
Truth: The devil does not have any rights. This myth was obviously perpetrated by the devil who loves to bignote himself and foolish people believe it. The devil is nothing more than a created being that rebelled and
sinned, and has been rejected by God like all other sinners that will be rejected by God on Judgement Day.
The only difference between him and earthly sinners, is he was given power because he was once an
anointed cherub and he was at one time blameless in all his ways (Ezekiel 28:14 & 15), but once the devil is
in the lake of fire with all other sinners, he will no longer have any power and people will look at him and
wonder why they were so afraid of him because he will have a horrible end (Ezekiel 28:18 & 19). People will taunt him and say, ‘Have you become as weak as we are? Have you become like us? Is this he who made the earth tremble and who made the world like a wilderness?’ People will be astonished at how humiliated he will be once he is in the fiery pit (Isaiah 14:10, 15 to 17).

Myth: The devil was one of three archangels.
Truth: He was never an archangel. This myth was another one obviously perpetrated by the devil who loves
to big-note himself. He was an anointed cherub (krub) (Ezekiel 28:14). Angels (mlakim) and cherubim
(krubim) are different. Angels do not have wings and they look like people. Cherubim have six wings.
Michael is the only archangel (Mikal Shrkm) and he is the prince or chief angel who looks after Israel (Daniel
10:13 & 21; Jude 1:9). Gabriel is a special messenger angel (Daniel 9:21; Luke 1:19 & 26).

Myth: Christians will be ‘raptured off’ in the middle of the great tribulation.
Truth: There will never be a rapture! This myth has been taught by false prophets bringing fear and
confusion to millions because of the ‘left behind’ scenario which is not mentioned in the Bible. The Bible
speaks about the first resurrection that will take place at the end of the great tribulation and that has been
mistaken to be a ‘rapture’. Jesus said, “Those who endure to the end (of the tribulation) will be saved”
(Matthew 10:22; 24:13). Jesus called the end of the Great Tribulation ‘the last day’ (John 6:39; 6:40; 6:44;
6:54). Those who do not endure to the end and fall away half-way through the tribulation will be lost for
eternity. Martha understood that fully when she said to Jesus, "I know Lazarus will rise again in the
resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24).

Myth: The Christian church has replaced the Jews.
Truth: That teaching is utterly false and is bordering on being anti-Semitic. It is known as the Replacement
Theology. The Jews will always be God’s chosen people and Jesus made it very clear, He considers the
Jews His family and we will be judged according to the way we treat His family (Matthew 25:40). God has not rejected the Jews. He punished them for sin but He will always love them and so should we, and we should never feel superior to the Jews nor be arrogant about our salvation. Christians are grafted into, or adopted into God’s eternal family when we receive Jesus into our lives and we are joint heirs with Him, but we will never ever replace His first choice; the Hebrew people, the descendants of His beloved Abraham and Sarah (Romans 11:1 to 36).

Myth: Once saved; always saved.
Truth: This myth makes people think they can do whatever they like and still end up in heaven. Salvation is
eternal as long as we continue to walk with God. If we slip away from God and return to the world, then our
penalty will be worse than the unsaved because to walk away from Jesus is to cause Him shame
(Colossians 1:23; Hebrews 6:4 to 8).

Myth: Jesus went to the cross naked.
Truth: That is not so. Where that myth originated is unknown. Jesus wore a seamless linen undergarment as
an item of underwear, the equivalent of a modern-day long-sleeved, knee-length singlet. In the summer
months, the tunic could be worn like modern men sometimes wear just a singlet on a hot day. It was winter
when Jesus was crucified and the weather was cold (John 18:18), so logically, He would have been wearing
more than just an undergarment. The scripture says He was wearing five items of clothing. He would have
been wearing closed in sheepskin shoes, probably with knitted warm sock-like items made of wool to keep
His feet warm. He would not have been wearing the light summer thongs that need to be tied with thin straps
as He wore at His baptism which took place 3½ years earlier, in the summer (Mark 1:7). Jesus would have
been wearing a normal linen robe similar to the ones Middle-Eastern men wear today. He would also have
worn a woollen knitted cloak, possibly with a hood attached to keep His body and head warm. Most people
do not realise Jewish men wore linen underwear; white linen trunks reaching from the waist to the knees,
underneath the long linen tunic (Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 16:4). These items of winter clothing; linen under
tunic (called a ‘coat’), linen trunks, linen robe, woollen cloak and warm shoes, were not mentioned
individually in the four Gospels that describe the crucifixion, but they were mentioned collectively. Only the
seamless under tunic was mentioned when the Roman soldiers gambled over it. The reason that particular
seamless garment was mentioned in the Gospels, was to show the crucifixion was foreseen and prophesied
about in detail hundreds of years earlier, to prove our Messiah, really is the Messiah, because everything
that happened to Jesus was foretold (Matthew 26:56; Psalm 22:18). Jesus knew He was about to be
crucified, so it is not logical for Him to have gone without the normal set of clothing, which included two items of linen underwear; the trunks and the tunic. It is not once written in the Bible Jesus was naked on the cross, and drawings of crucified men during that time in history does not show them to be naked. That is a
conclusion people have come to because they assume Jesus only wore the seamless undergarment
because that is the only item of clothing individually mentioned and they do not know their Bibles well
enough to realise men wore underwear or that the seamless garment was not an item of outer clothing. Like
everyone else in the world, Jesus would have been wearing underwear. Besides all this, it is written Jesus
was wearing His own clothes at the crucifixion. Initially, His clothes were stripped off Him (Matthew 27:28),
then they put His own clothes back on Him before they led Him away to be crucified (Mark 15:20). After He was crucified, while He hung on the cross, they removed his blood-soaked outer garments and distributed His clothing among them then cast lots to see who would get the seamless tunic (John 19:23 & 24). Once Jesus was nailed to the cross it would have been impossible to remove His trunks without tearing them off and the soldiers did not want to tear His clothing. We can see by what is written, Jesus was wearing five garments shared between four Roman soldiers.

Myth: The Jews crucified Jesus.
Truth: This myth has been perpetrated by anti-Semitic people. No Jewish person took part in the death of
Jesus. He was opposed by some religious Jews who called for Jesus to be crucified (Luke 23:21) because
they were jealous of Him (John 11:48 to 53), however, apart from wanting Jesus dead and out of their way,
the Jews played no further role in the torture and death of Jesus. Many Jews rejected Jesus, but many Jews
followed Him and loved Him. It was the Gentile Roman soldiers who were the ones who surrounded Him like a pack of wolves, whipped Him, taunted Him, mocked Him, forced Him to carry His cross, tortured Him for hours, they gouged a ‘crown’ of thorns onto His head cutting into His flesh, they tore His beard off His face, leaving Him unrecognisable as a human, they crucified Him, piercing His hands and feet with huge iron nails, they stole His clothing then sliced open His side with a spear, cutting a gash large enough to fit a man’s hand (John 20:27). The Jews did none of that.

Myth: If a person obeys the Ten Commandments, they will go to heaven.
Truth: Most people do not even know what the Ten Commandments are to begin with. We must do a lot
more than merely obey the Ten Commandments if we want to enter the Kingdom of God. The
Commandments were given to Moses as part of the Law. The laws were given to make people aware of sin
(Romans 3:20; 7:7 & 8), and they were a vital part of the Old Covenant. Jesus came and fulfilled the Law
(Matthew 5:17) and created a New Covenant of grace written in His blood (Luke 22:20). Jesus went one step further and said it was possible to break the Ten Commandments, not only by sinful actions, but also by
sinful thoughts (Matthew 5:27 & 28). Obeying the Ten Commandments is not enough to get into heaven. To
get to heaven, Jesus said we must be born-again (John 3:3 & 7), we must repent, believe and be baptised,
be filled with the Holy Spirit and walk with God every day of our lives (Acts 2:38 to 40).

Myth: Mary, Jesus’ mother, must intercede for us.
Truth: Mary was Jesus’ human mother, but as a normal human person, she too had to be born-again to get
into heaven. Mary was not divine – she was a normal lady. Her special calling – to give birth to our Messiah
and raise Him in the Lord, was a calling no other person was ever called to do, and no other person will ever
be called to do – but that does not mean she was divine. She died like all humans eventually do and she is
with the Lord in heaven because she accepted Jesus as her Saviour along with His brothers (Acts 1:14), but
she cannot intercede for us. We are not to pray to Mary. We are to pray to God the Father in Jesus’ name
(John 15:16; 16:23). Our Intercessors are Jesus (Romans 8:34; Hebrews 7:25) and the Holy Spirit (John
14:26; Romans 8:26 & 27).

Myth: The pope is the holy father.
Truth: Only God in Heaven is the Holy Father. Jesus called Him the Holy Father (John 17:11) and we are not to ever call any man ‘father’ in the same context as Jesus referred to God as Father (Matthew 23:9). The
pope is the head of the Catholic church – he is not God’s representative on earth. Jesus came as our
Saviour, then He sent the Holy Spirit to us (John 14:26), and the Holy Spirit working within us as we serve
the Lord, represents God on earth (Acts 1:8; 4:31; Romans 15:16; Titus 3:4 to 7).

Myth: Saints help and protect us.
Truth: People cannot do anything for us once they are dead no matter how holy they were on earth. The
word ‘saint’, in Catholic tradition has been reserved for a few outstanding examples of Christian living, but
genuinely Godly, devoted people were called saints as early as in Moses’ time (Deuteronomy 33:3) and that
word has been used throughout the Bible since then. In the early Jewish based Christian church, ‘saint’ was
commonly used to describe all believers in Jesus who were sincere, genuine, Holy Spirit filled believers. The
word ‘saints’ simply means ‘God’s People’. ‘To all God’s beloved ones, called to be saints …’ (Romans 1:7). We do not have to be a Catholic to be a saint – we have to be Godly, obedient to God and a sincere
believer, and those people can be found in every genuine Christian denomination.

Myths: People go to ‘purgatory’ as punishment for sin and when they have ‘served their time’ they go to
heaven. Unbaptised babies and children go to a no-mans-land called ‘limbo’.
Truth: Purgatory and limbo do not exist. They are imaginary places dreamed up by people.

Myth: Christians should meet together on Saturday.
Truth: The Jewish Sabbath, which starts on Friday night at sundown, was never given to Christians. The
apostles and the early church always met on the first day of the week because Jesus rose on the first day of
the week – the day after the Sabbath – our modern-day Sunday, and there are many scriptures to verify that
fact. After rising from the dead, Jesus Himself had the very first meeting with His disciples on the first day of
the week – so Jesus started the brand new church with that very first meeting on a Sunday evening and the
apostles continued with that theme, gathering on Sunday mornings to share communion and offer their tithes
(Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2 & 9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1 & 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2).

Myth: Christians should meet in private homes and not in churches.
Truth: The early church believers met in private homes because they needed to avoid detection and thus
persecution, and it is easier to secretly go into homes than public places. Also, the early houses were often
very large – big enough to accommodate many people at once, so the need to build or lease halls was not
necessary. Remember, the early church was the people within a city – not people in a particular
denomination, or who exclusively attended a particular building, as they are referred to today. The Ephesian
church for example, was made up of all the believers who lived in Ephesus. The Corinthian church was
made up of all believers who lived in Corinth. The Lord does not mind where we meet together for fellowship, whether it be in a house, hall, garden, bus, park, chapel or cathedral – as long as it is in the name of the Lord and He is welcome to be in their midst (Matthew 18:20).

Myth: Eve’s fruit was an apple.
Truth: It was not so much the fruit that lured Eve, but the look of the tree. ‘When Eve saw the tree was good
for food and it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and
ate’ (Genesis 3:6). It was the delightful sight of the tree that lured Eve. An apple tree is rather ordinary to look at, like most fruit trees. They have small green leaves, branches, a trunk – nothing special. We need to think about what fruit tree is delightful and desirable to look at. What tree does the next verse specifically speak about? ‘They sewed fig leaves together’ (verse 7). Where did they get fig leaves? Off a fig tree. Unlike any other fruit tree, the leaves and the fruit appear at the same time, and the leaves grow very large indeed – bigger than a man’s hand, and are bright and shiny. For the fig leaves to be large enough to sew, they would have to have been mature leaves and the fruit would have been mature enough to eat. Fig trees are known to be an ancient fruit and were plentiful around Mesopotamia. It is the only area in the world where fig trees can grow wild, without any cultivation. The nourishing fruit is full of calcium, phosphorous and iron and are sweet and juicy. Apples are native to Asia – not Mesopotamia and the original species can still be found in China. Apple trees have been highly cultivated over the centuries to produce the big, juicy fruit we see today. The original apple was a small fruit, like a sour crab apple – and not desirable at all. If we put verses 6 & 7 together, we could come to the conclusion the fruit Eve desired was a fig. The fig tree, laden with fresh, juicy fruit (good for food) and its beautiful big, shiny leaves (delightful to look at) could have been enough to lure her. Why did people associate the apple with the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? Because the Latin (Roman) word for evil is malum, and the word for apple can be either malum or a similar word – malus. In the 4th century AD, the word malum appeared in the Latin Vulgate translation of Genesis. Malum was used to describe the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and from that time onwards people associated the piece of fruit Eve ate with an apple. There is one other strange event involving the fig tree we can only wonder about. When Jesus saw a fig tree that was void of fruit because it was out of season, He spoke to the tree, cursed it and made it wither (Mark 11:13, 14, 20 & 21). Why did He do that? Jesus created the trees so He would have known there would not have been any fruit on the fig tree because it was out of season. There is no logical or scriptural explanation, why Jesus would do such an unusual thing as to curse a fruit tree! Even His disciples were left wondering. We do not know the exact reason either because the scriptures do not tell us, but we could imagine it could be because Jesus knew He was going to suffer terribly and die, to undo the curse on mankind Adam and Eve caused when they ate the fruit of the original fig tree. To put the curse on the tree, took the curse off mankind, and we know that is the reason Jesus left heaven to come to earth. If we look at His actions in that light, it makes sense.

Myth: Only good people will go to heaven; sinners cannot.
Truth: Nobody is good (Matthew 19:17). We are all sinners (Romans 3:23). Jesus said we all have to believe in Him, repent, be born-again, be baptised, filled with the Holy Spirit and obediently serve Him if we want to enter the Kingdom of God (Mark 1:15; 16:16; John 3:3 & 7). When people are born-again and have turned away from their old lives, and seek to obey God’s commands to be holy, righteous, giving, sharing, kind and loving, that is when, over time, people behave more God-like and they shun evil. They can be perceived as being ‘good’ people, but even Christians who have been believers for 50 years, are still sinners and have to frequently repent of their sin and confess their sins to God, just like everybody else. We are all sinners, saved by the grace and mercy of God, through the blood of Jesus shed on the cross of Calvary. We cannot be ‘good’ on our own; we need His help. We need the redeeming blood of Jesus to cleanse us from our unrighteousness and forgive our sins (1 John 1:9).

Myth: There were three wise men who visited Jesus.
Truth: There were wise men who visited Jesus soon after He was born, but we do not know how many there
were. The scriptures say they brought three gifts; gold, frankincense and myrrh, but there could have been
two men, or there could have been twenty-two men. The Bible gives the exact number and names the gifts,
not the exact number of men who brought those gifts (Matthew 2:1 to 16). The scripture says they came from the east. A country to the east of Israel was Babylon. During the days of the Babylonian Empire, thousands of Jewish people were forced from Israel to Babylon. Many eventually returned to Israel, but just as many remained in Babylon and their descendants still live there today. The wise men of the east were probably Jews from Babylon, descendants of the original Diaspora. The Bible does not say they were Pagans. They were waiting for their Messiah and King so they could worship Him. Pagans would not have been waiting for the Jewish Messiah, nor would they have referred to Jesus as their King. No Pagan would ever worship a Jewish baby! Nor would a Pagan, who were idol worshippers, be able to listen to and obey the voice of the Lord as they did. They were wise because they obeyed the warning of the Lord and took a different route back to their own country, which gave Joseph, Mary and Jesus time to escape into Egypt.

Myth: Mary was alone when she gave birth to Jesus.
Truth: Mary was certainly not alone. She was with many people when Jesus was born. Joseph was of the
House of David so he had to be registered in Bethlehem along with Mary his wife (Luke 2:1 to 5). Because of the numbers of people who had to be in Bethlehem at that time, there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn. We need to keep in mind, because Joseph was from Bethlehem, logically, so would his family be
from there. Mary would have had assistance from the women in Joseph’s family. That is so obvious, Doctor
Luke, the writer of the Gospel would not have thought it necessary to add such a footnote. The place where
Jesus was born would not have been a dirty, animal infested barn. The animals lived in a downstairs area to
keep them safe and warm at night during the winter months while the people lived in the house upstairs. It is
very likely, although not written, Joseph and Mary stayed in a house belonging to members of Joseph’s
family. If the house were full of people, then the next best place would have been downstairs. We know the
animals were not in the downstairs area at that time, because the shepherds were watching their sheep
outside (Luke 2:8). We know Mary was actually in a house, because when the wise men visited, they went to the house (Matthew 2:11). We know Mary had no baby clothes with her, because the angel made a point of saying Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes or strips of cloth (Luke 2:12). If swaddling clothes had been the norm, they would not have needed to point that fact out to the shepherds. When the shepherds arrived, they were still staying in the house where Jesus was born – and there were many other people there too. We know that because they marvelled at what the shepherds told them regarding Jesus (Luke 2:18). If the things the shepherds told them had been said to strangers, news would have travelled quickly, but if what the shepherds said, was said to Joseph’s family, they would have taken it in their stride or dismissed it, and what Jesus said later in His ministry bears that out. “A prophet is not without honour, except in his own country, among his own relatives and in his own house" (Matthew 13:57; Mark 6:4). It was Mary who kept all these things to herself (Luke 2:19). She kept so quiet about the events surrounding Jesus’ birth, it seems she did not even tell her younger children, because they taunted Jesus about His ministry (John 7:3 to 10). Even Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist, was never told. He said he did not know Him as the Messiah until Jesus revealed Who He was (John 1:31).

Myth: Jesus was an only Child.
Truth: Jesus was Mary and Joseph’s Firstborn (Luke 2:7) but they had at least seven or eight other children
after Jesus was born. The boys were named Joses, a shortened version of Joseph, Simon, James and
Judah, and there were ‘all the sisters’ indicating more than two sisters (Matthew 13:55 & 56). The women
who were watching the terrible events of the cross when Jesus died were Mary Magdalene; Mary, the mother of Jesus, James (the younger) and Joses’, and a woman named Salome (Mark 15:40). Later it seems, they were standing by the cross, along with another woman identified as the sister of Jesus’ mother Mary (John 19:25). If we put these two verses together, they indicate Mary’s sister was named Salome. Salome was the wife of Zebedee and mother of James (the elder) and John, which means these two men were cousins of Jesus. When Mary Magdalene, with Mary, Jesus’ mother, went to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, they had Salome with them (Mark 16:1), and another woman named Joanna (Luke 24:10). The scriptures say Joanna was the wife of Chuza, and she, along with Susanna ministered to Jesus during His ministry (Luke 8:3). Joanna and Susanna could possibly have been two of Jesus’ sisters because these women were active in Jesus’ life and in His ministry. Young ladies could not have followed Jesus and ministered to Him in the culture of the day unless they were closely related. They later stood at a distance from the cross, but close enough to watch Jesus die, and Joanna went to anoint His body and saw the empty tomb, so it seems these women were closely related to Jesus. The closest family members were the ones who tended to a dead body. The only time a stranger dealt with someone who had died, was when there was no family to do it. ‘There were women looking from a distance who were of those who had accompanied Jesus, ministering to Him. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses (Jesus’ mother) and mother of Zebedee’s sons’ (Matthew 27:55 & 56). There were three women named Mary at Jesus’ cross; Mary, Jesus’ mother; Mary, Clopas’ wife and Mary Magdalene. Since we know Salome was there, and she was the wife of Zebedee, then we can see Salome and Mary were sisters, and since James and John were the first cousins of Jesus, it made sense for Salome to ask Jesus to put his cousins on either side of His throne in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 20:21). It also makes sense for Jesus to ask John to take care of His mother Mary (John 19:26 & 27). That will also explain why Jesus loved John so much and why they were so close (John 13:23; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). The brothers James and John were the sons of Zebedee. This James was older than Jesus’ brother James and that is indicated by Jesus’ brother being nicknamed James the Younger (Mark 15:40), differentiating between the two boys in one family both named James, indicating once again the close family ties. James, son of Zebedee was killed with a sword (Acts 12:2), while James the Younger went on to write the book of James. John wrote the Gospel of John, plus the three epistles of John and the book of Revelation. Jesus’ brother Judah wrote the epistle of Jude. Far from being an only child, Jesus was part of a large, close, extended family.

Myth: Noah only took two pairs of each animal into the ark.
Truth: Noah took seven pairs of each animal into the ark. Of every clean, that is edible animal, Noah took
seven pairs; of the birds, Noah took seven pairs and of beasts that were not clean, Noah took two pairs of
each kind. The sea creatures, reptiles and amphibians would have remained in the sea. ‘You will take seven
pairs of every clean animal with you, male and female. Of the unclean animals, take two, male and female.
Of the birds of the sky, seven, male and female to keep the seed alive on the surface of the entire earth’
(Genesis 7:2 & 3).

Myth: God gave us a free will.
Truth: God wants nothing less than total and absolute obedience; the type of obedience Jesus showed when
He said, “Not My will Lord, but Yours be done” (Luke 22:42). If we had a free will, we could do whatever we wanted without incurring the consequences, and we know that is not the case. To prepare us for heaven,
while we are here on earth, we need to learn how to be completely obedient to God because His will is
always done in heaven (Matthew 6:10). If we want to join Him in heaven, then we have to do His will on earth (Matthew 7:21). God calls many people and of those, He chooses just a few (Matthew 22:14). He rejects all those who are disobedient. Whosoever of those who desire to obey God and come to Him (Revelation 22:17) must accept God’s way of salvation and that way is through Jesus (John 14:6). They will find the way to eternal life, but their lives on earth are very narrow and straightened, and only a few will find the way (Matthew 7:13 & 14). We do not choose to follow Him, He chooses us and appoints us to serve Him and bear spiritual fruit (John 15:16). Our lives must be that of absolute obedience, which will produce holiness and righteousness as we conform to His will and purpose (Romans 8:28). If we refuse to conform to His will, then God will bring about circumstances to break our will. Remember, God did not even spare the angels who disobeyed Him (2 Peter 2:4), and if we humans disobey God, then we will face the same fate. It is nothing short of rebellion in the hearts of men who insist God gave us a free will.
We hope the truth will counteract the spread of all these myths.
Amen and God bless you. www.bibleabookoftruth.com

Issues That Can Keep People Out Of Heaven

Issues That Can Keep People Out Of Heaven
‘Jesus said, “Unless one is born-again they cannot see the Kingdom of God … I assure you most solemnly
(seriously), unless one is born of water and of the Holy Spirit they cannot enter the Kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh; what is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Marvel not (do not be surprised or astonished) at My telling you, you must all be born anew from above’” (John 3:3 to 7). ‘Stand firm in the faith, for it is through many tribulations (afflictions, pressures, hardships, persecution, trials) we must enter the Kingdom of God’ (Acts 14:22). ‘Blessed are those who obey His commandments. They have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city’ (Revelation 22:14).
Jesus said, “Enter (the Kingdom of God) through the narrow gate, for wide (open) is the gate that leads to
destruction (hell), and many are those who are entering (into hell) through it. But the gate (to heaven) is
narrow and the way that leads to eternal life is straitened (restricted), and few are those who find it” (Matthew 7:13 & 14). In this verse, Jesus was inferring there are far more people going to hell than to heaven. ‘Many’ people are going to hell, and only a ‘few’ find their way to heaven. There are many issues confronting people in the world today and the deception of some teachings can keep people away from God and thus out of heaven. When people reject God and are involved in wickedness, sometimes He will send a delusion. ‘Therefore God sends them an error so they might believe a lie … because they took pleasure in
unrighteousness’ (2 Thessalonians 2:11 & 12).
The whole Bible is the Word of God, written down as He inspired His prophets (2 Timothy 3:16 & 17),
therefore we must obey all His commandments. In the Old Testament the Jews and the few Gentiles who
accepted God, had to sacrifice animals for forgiveness of sin. Jesus changed all that when He became our
ultimate Sacrificial Lamb. Jesus came and laid down for mankind a new set of rules for entering heaven. The
way to get into heaven is to believe in God, accept Jesus is the Son of God and is our Saviour and the Rock
of our salvation. We need to repent, be baptised in water by full emersion, be filled with the Holy Spirit, serve the Lord and we must believe the truth of the whole Bible. All sin will be forgiven if people repent. If people do not repent and continue to live in their sin, they could miss out on the Kingdom of God. Being a Christian is more than being a holy person on earth; it is God’s plan for humans for eternity. If we refuse to accept God’s plan of salvation, we will be separated from Him forever. There is no other way of salvation. We will list a few issues that could result in people loosing their salvation:
Sexual immorality of all persuasions … God created sex for marriage and all sex outside of marriage is sin
and all those who practice such things are worthy of eternal death (Romans 1:24 to 32).
Unbelief … If we do not believe God sent His Son Jesus, then we cannot be saved and therefore, cannot get
into heaven. ‘They were not able to enter in because of unbelief’ (Hebrews 3:19).
Smoking, alcoholism and illegal drugs can keep people so bound by the addiction they have enormous
difficulty finding God. If they do become Christian and keep ingesting drugs, the addiction can have a
detrimental effect on their walk with the Lord. It is not possible to grow as a Christian when we are giving in
to sin. ‘Be not drunk with wine for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Holy Spirit’ (Ephesians 5:18). We need to glorify God in our bodies (2 Corinthians 5:10) – so if it does not glorify God – for your own sake, you need to give it up. Jesus said we must deny ourselves (Matthew 16:24).
Another issue that can keep people out of God’s will and therefore His Kingdom is rebellion and
stubbornness. Some people find submitting to God’s will extremely difficult and they want to ‘do their own
thing’, and thus it can cause them to miss out on going to heaven. They really do not want to hand over their
will to God, and as a Christian we must have the attitude like Jesus did, “Not my will Lord, but Yours be
done” (Luke 22:42).
Rock music is sometimes so evil it takes an evil heart to appreciate it. If we want to grow as a Christian we
will need to get all secular music out of our life. There is no secular music that glorifies God, therefore as a
Christian we should not fill our mind with it. Secular music lyrics are usually negative and can bring a
negative atmosphere, and therefore induce depression, rebellion and sometimes even thoughts of suicide.
There is a host of various types of good Christian music that can be enjoyed by all Christians wanting to
edify themselves by hearing the Word of God in song. So-called ‘Christian’ rock music is not Christian at all.
It is a deception by the devil to get people ‘hooked’ so they will not listen to truly edifying music that does
glorify God. If the music you listen to does not glorify God – for your own sake, do not listen to it. We need to listen to Psalms, hymns and Spiritual songs that make melody in our hearts (Ephesians 5:19). In other
words, we need to listen to music that glorifies God and edifies us.
‘The Holy Spirit says expressly, in later times some will fall away from the faith paying attention to seducing
spirits and doctrines of demons’ (1 Timothy 4:1). ‘The time will come when people will not listen to sound
doctrine, but having itching ears will heap up for themselves teachers after their own desires and will turn
away their ears from the Truth and turn aside to untruths’ (2 Timothy 4:3 & 4). Some major issues that keep
people’s interest on worldly things and off God’s chosen way for mankind are evolution, pseudo ‘Christian’
religions, the occult, false religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikh-ism, Scientology, Jehovah’s
Witnesses, Mormonism, Raeleans, witchcraft/warlocks, Wicca, the occult, Satanism, Reiki, Yoga, idolatry,
Jainism, Confucianism, Zen, Freemasonry, order of the skull and bones, Fabianism, Rosicrucians, astrology,
teacup reading, compilers and readers of horoscopes, ‘Christian’ science, special interest and minority
groups that have hijacked reality. The New Age movement would have brought many people to the brink of a lost eternity. Believing in a so-called new age or the ‘Age of Aquarius’ is denying the Sovereignty of God. We can never be gods and will never be gods. We are created beings, made by God for His purposes and plans for eternity. Meditations other than meditating on the Bible is going the wrong way and those who practice all of the above need to repent of their sin or they will perish. They cannot enter the Kingdom of God. All of these beliefs are doctrines that demons teach. All of these false religions and beliefs lead away from God, and thus away from heaven. It is a sad fact, but to comprehend the scripture regarding the wide and narrow gates, is to understand that only a few will find their way to heaven and most people will end up in hell, and after the final judgement – the lake of fire. Anybody who believes in any of these things are headed for eternity without God unless they repent of believing in these untruths and turn to God the Father.
Have a look at the website (not our website, but another) called ‘The Great Global Warming Hoax’ for more details about how the whole world is being deceived by a few unbelievers in the scientific world and people in the media with their own evil agenda. The world heats and cools in its own regular cycles and has done since creation. It is normal and not to be feared. Missing out on heaven is far more of a problem than warm weather! Evolution is another lie from the devil and is completely contrary to scripture. The first two chapters of Genesis tells us all about the creation story. It is a true story because the Bible is a book of truth, written by Jewish men who were inspired by God. There is no room for compromise. The Bible is the truth and evolution is a lie. For more information about creation, browse the website called ‘Answers in Genesis’. See answersingenesis.org
The fairly modern phenomenon regarding UFO’s is deceiving thousands of people. The Old and New
Testaments in the Bible talk about other creations other than the human race and animals on earth, but
mankind is the one and only creation to ever be given a Saviour. There are divine armies that are invisible to
our sense of sight, who come to earth when the Lord asks them to. Angels are the Lord’s messengers to
minister to His people (Hebrews 1:14) and sometimes Christians do see them, but only when the Lord
chooses to open their spiritual eyes so they can see them (2 Kings 6:17). Some people have had angels visit
them (Luke 1:11; 1:26), some people see angels in dreams (Matthew 1:20; 2:19), sometimes angels eat
meals with people without the people knowing they are with angels (Hebrews 13:2). Born-again Christians
can and do speak in the languages of angels (1 Corinthians 13:1) but we cannot focus our attention on
angels, we need to focus our attention on Jesus. More scriptures that describe other creations in heaven can
be found in the books of Ezekiel and Revelation. We see there are things in heaven and on earth, things
seen and unseen, thrones, dominions, rulers, authorities (Colossians 1:16), and wicked things in heavenly
places (Ephesians 6:12). There are evil beings that are lurking around on the earth and in the air (Ephesians
2:2). They can do things to delude people who refuse to acknowledge the Truth (2 Thessalonians 2:9 to 10).
Those evil beings will end up in eternal fire (2 Peter 2:4). Do not allow yourself to head for destruction, but
accept Jesus as your Saviour without delay.
The Apostle Paul was taken up into the third heaven and heard things that he could not describe (2
Corinthians 12:2 to 4), so we know there is at least three levels of heaven. All other creations that do not live
in the third heaven and above, do not have a way of salvation and are doomed if they sin (Jude 1:6).
Certainly some can move around the first and second heavens (the upper atmosphere) as the scriptures tell
us, and they appear to be able to ‘do wondrous things’ (Matthew 24:24), but they cannot touch nor hurt a
Christian who is covered and justified by the redemptive blood of Jesus. UFO’s are real, and they are also
really evil. The so-called UFO sightings will increase as evil on the earth increases, but they will never, ever
take over the earth. God will not let that happen. All they can do is deceive, delude and frighten people.
Some foolish people like to believe – and they actually pretend – UFO’s are more than they really are. To
embrace UFO’s, is to embrace evil. Science fiction regarding the universe is almost always utterly evil. One
only has to look at the ‘faces’ of the so-called ‘aliens’ in the movies to see that. The current Mir space station that is being regularly added to, is not of God and one day He will destroy it because He created the earth to be inhabited, not space (Isaiah 45:18). If UFO’s frighten you then perhaps you need to accept Jesus as your Saviour. Only He can save us and protect us from all the evil that will be coming on the whole earth. Jesus said not to allow ourselves to be misled (Matthew 24:4; Mark 13:22).
How can we be saved? How can we live without fear? How can we enter heaven? The one and only way to
enter heaven when we die is by becoming a Christian and accepting Jesus as our personal Messiah and
Saviour. Absolutely nobody can enter heaven except first we repent of our sins and false beliefs and accept
God’s provision for salvation. The Bible says God has provided the one and only way of eternal life. Jesus
said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and nobody comes to the Father except by Me” (John 14:6).
‘Those who believe in the Son of God has Jesus’ testimony within them. They who do not believe God, has
made Him out to be a liar because they have not believed the evidence that God has given regarding His
Son. This is the testimony: God gave us eternal life and this Life is in His Son. They who have the Son, has
that Life. They who do not have the Son of God, do not have that Life’ (1 John 5:10 to 12).
If you are involved in any of the false religions mentioned above, or if you are involved in any belief other
than Christianity, then you need to repent, turn away from the false beliefs and ask the Lord God our Father
and His Son Jesus into your life. That is the one and only way to get into heaven. To believe in a false
religion is to disbelieve the truth. You believe in a doctrine taught by demons, spoken by the father of lies,
the devil (John 8:44). Even a ‘religious’ person can be kept out of heaven by trusting in their religion, rather
than trusting in Jesus. We can read in all the four Gospels how the religious people of Jesus’ time (the
scribes, Sadducees and Pharisees) mocked Him, were hostile to Him, and we can also read Jesus’ anger
towards their strong religious beliefs. Jesus said our righteousness must be more than that of the religious
people or we will never enter heaven (Matthew 5:20). Jesus said ‘woe to them’ for their sin was keeping
them and others out of heaven (Matthew 23:13 to 29).
Another false ‘god’ that can keep people out of heaven is sport. Have you noticed how the fans stand, raise
their arms in the air then bow en masse to the sports team? That is idolatry. The people are worshipping the
‘god’ of sport. We cannot serve two masters. Either they will serve the sports team or they will serve God. If
they are worshipping the ‘god’ of sport by raising their hands and bowing, then it is impossible for them to be
worshipping the Lord God at the same time. They all need to repent and turn to God. Playing sport is not a
sin. In fact it is good for our health and is good for enhancing self-discipline. It is the worship of sport that is
wrong and it is the love of sport that is wrong. We need to love the Lord with all our hearts, all our soul, all
our minds and all our strength (Mark 12:30). We can enjoy sport, but we must love the Lord.
Wealth can also keep people out of heaven. Jesus said, “How difficult is it for those who are wealthy and
trust in riches to enter the Kingdom of God? It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for
a rich man to enter the Kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23 & 24; Mark 10:23 to 25; Luke 18:24 & 25). In order to get into heaven, we need to trust in the Lord and not in our wealth. It is not wrong to be wealthy but is wrong to trust solely in our wealth because we can loose it in an instant. It is not money that is the root of evil; it is the love of money that is the root of many evils and some have been led astray from the faith in their greed’ (1 Timothy 6:10). Besides this, it is God who gives us the power to get wealth in the first place.
‘Beware lest you say in your heart, my power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth. You
shall earnestly remember the Lord your God, for it is He Who gives you the power to get wealth’
(Deuteronomy 8:17 & 18). The Lord gives people the power to gain wealth but we, as God’s stewards on
earth, have to use it wisely. Remember, all the money in the world belongs to God and He gives it to
whomever He wills. What we do with it is what counts, not how much we have or do not have.
Reincarnation is another issue that keeps people from accepting God. They think if they ‘blow it’ in this life
then they may succeed in the next – so they think there is no need for salvation. That thought is very wrong.
Some religions believe they might be reincarnated as rats or insects! They would have to be very far away
from God for Him to allow them to be so deluded, because He wants to save them. There is no reincarnation
– there is no second chance – we must be born-again in this life – we only have one chance, and one
chance only. ‘It is appointed for all men (and women) once to die, and after that comes their judgement’
(Hebrews 9:27).
Illness is another issue that keeps people out of heaven. Even when faced with death, some people still
refuse to turn to God, and dead people cannot ask God into their lives when there is no more life. If you are
facing death through illness, then you need to turn to God or you will be lost. We only have one chance. If
you are a parent who has lost a young child, do not worry about their salvation. All children go straight to
heaven when they die (2 Samuel 12:23). It is only the adults who have a knowledge of sin, of good and evil,
and choose to ignore God’s cleansing power, who will be lost forever if they do not repent.
To accept Jesus and form a loving relationship with God the Father through Jesus His Son, is to know peace
and to be free from the anxieties of this world. People who do not know God, do not have peace. ‘There is no peace for the wicked’ (Isaiah 48:22; 57:21). To get to heaven, we must have a deep, personal relationship with God and we must be born-again of God as Jesus said. Remember Jesus said not to be surprised or astonished at His telling us that. We should not be surprised that we have to adhere to the way of salvation chosen by God. It was His choice to offer salvation, and His choice to do it through Jesus. Jesus was saying we are not to be surprised that His conditions for our salvation, is to be truly born-again of the Spirit of God, not just become a religious person. To be born-again is to take voluntary steps towards God. What steps?
Let’s have a look.
Step one: Believe. If we do not believe in God or Jesus or salvation, it is impossible to be born-again and
therefore impossible to get into heaven. ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your
household’ (Acts 16:31).
Step two: Ask God into our life. He stands waiting for us to invite Him into our life. He will never push His way in. It has to be our choice and our free will. We have to invite Him in. Read the wonderful, inviting words of Jesus in this fantastic scripture, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to them and will eat with them and they will eat with Me” (Revelation 3:20).
Step three: Repent. That means to turn away from our old life and begin a new life with God. The word
‘repent’ means more than simply turning over a new leaf. It is much more involved than that. To repent is to
change our mind for the better and heartily amend our ways, with abhorrence of our past sins. We can read
Jesus’ double call to repentance, and that tells us He was very serious about repentance. “I tell you, unless
you repent you will all perish and be lost eternally … I tell you, unless you repent you will all perish and be
lost eternally” (Luke 13:3 & 5).
Step four: Be baptised. Jesus was baptised and in obedience, we also need to be baptised. Everyone has to
be baptised. Not just some of us, but everyone. If we are not baptised we are not being obedient.
Repentance and baptism go hand in hand. ‘Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus
our Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’ (Acts 2:38).
Step five: Find a church that will support your new life and attend regularly. The Lord expects us to fellowship with other believers. ‘Do not forsake assembling together as believers, but encourage one another’ (Hebrews 10:25). If for some reason you are unable to attend a church, then find someone who is born-again and ask  them to fellowship with you and guide you.
Step six: Grow in grace. As you spend time with God, praying, listening to Christian music, attending church,
reading the Bible and fellowshipping with other Christians, so you will become more like Jesus which is our
ultimate goal. ‘Grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus our Messiah’ (2 Peter 3:18).
Step seven: Serve the Lord with gladness (Psalm 100:2) and obey His every command. Jesus said, “If you
love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
There are many more issues that keep people out of the Kingdom of God; more than we could possibly list
here, but the main issue is unbelief. There is only one way into heaven and it is simple; believe in Jesus,
accept Him into your life and you will be saved. If you do not believe, you cannot be saved. The only answer
to all the judgement that will come on the whole earth is for people to seek God and believe in Jesus, His
Son. We do hope and pray this text will open the eyes of unsaved people so they will turn from their false
beliefs and accept Jesus and become born-again as the scriptures say. Heaven rejoices every time a sinner
repents. Jesus said, “There will be more joy in heaven over one who repents than over 99 righteous people
who have no need of repentance … I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents” (Luke 15:7 & 10).
Amen and God bless you. www.bibleabookoftruth.com

WHAT IS YOUR LIFE Bible Study

Many people who are living in this world, talking about everyone and not just to the Christians but non Christians too, live their lives the way they want and if things don’t work out, they tend to pout and cry like a baby, due to the fact they did’t get their way in life, how many are you like that? Or may be you are a person who is living in sin and can’t handle the Truth when it is spoken to you and you tend to get mad about it and you raise up a fuss about it. If you can’t handle correction now, how are you going to handle rejection on judgment day when you meet your creator on that day? Christians are instructed to be bold to those who are living in sin and to correct them and to rebuke, in hopes to bring them back to repentance and to try to get them to change their life styles before it consumes them for all eternity, there will be no repentance and salvation with God then. We are to live for God and not against God. If the sins of the world has overtaken you because you have decided to follow the worldly crowd, you are rebelling against God, that is a straight shot to hell. Rebelling against God equals rejection from and by God. Who are you living for? Man, means sin? or  God, meaning for God and in righteousness? Romans 1 1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2 the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3 regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life[a] was a descendant of David, 4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power[b] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5 Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from[c] faith for his name’s sake. 6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7 To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy people: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul’s Longing to Visit Rome 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve in my spirit in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,[d] that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among 

the other Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[e] just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”[f] God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles. 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27  In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for 

their error. 28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. Jeremiah 17 17 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. 2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles[a] beside the spreading trees and on the high hills.3 My mountain in the land and your[b] wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. 4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.” 5This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes.They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” 11 Like a partridge that hatches eggs it did not lay are those who gain riches by unjust means. When their lives are half gone, their riches will desert them, and in the end they will prove to be fools. 12 A glorious throne, exalted from the beginning, is the place of our sanctuary. 13 Lord, you are the hope of Israel; all who forsake you will be put to shame.Those who turn away from you will be written in the dust because they have forsaken the Lord, the spring of living water. 14 Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise. 15 They keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it now be fulfilled!” 16 I have not run away from being your shepherd; you know I have not desired the day of despair. What passes my lips is open before you. 17 Do not be a terror to me; you are my refuge in the day of disaster. 18 Let my persecutors be put to shame, but keep me from shame; let them be terrified, but keep me from terror. Bring on them the day of  disaster; destroy them with double destruction. This attains to many of you, if  you are claiming to be a Christian and if you are living worldly, like cursing in every other word you speak, smoking, drinking, killing, and so on, all these things is detestable to God and does not glorify God. How can you live in the likeness of God and be worldly at the same time?  It cannot happen, you must deny yourselves, meaning admitting that you are a sinner and your are weak, then you need to turn away from the sins and start living your life for him and not for the flesh, meaning for the world. I have heard people in passing, not just on facebook, but on the streets, people of the world are saying that no one can be perfect as God is perfect. I have seen postings on facebook that reads this; Dear God, I know I am not perfect. But I want to thank You for loving me any way. To me, that sounds like they are admitting that they are sinners and they are thanking God for loving them any way, that makes it sound like that the sinner is giving up and are quitting on trying to live their lives for God. That is what it sounds like to me. We are created in the image of God, to live like God, to be like God, to love like God, to speak like God. If you can’t see the pattern here, we are to be and do everything like God. God would not smoke, so why do you? God would not drink and get drunk, why would you? I am going to pause right here for a second to explain something real quick, I can see some of  you saying, well, Jesus drank wine and turned water into wine, why can’t I? See, the problem with your thinking is that, they didn’t have alcohol like we have today, another fact is when Jesus turned water into wine, it was pure grape juice. I have the facts from research, so if you wish to argue about it, feel free to get a hold of me and I will be gladly to email you the true Holy Bible doctrine about it, I am heavily in the Word of God. Back to about no one is perfect, we are instructed to be perfect, just as He is perfect. How can this be when we are born into sin? The problem is, everyone is blinded by satan’s darkness and everyone is hidden from the Truth of God. If you are a new born Christian and you are living right and keeping the temple clean, meaning the body that you are living in, keeping it free from smoking, drinking,  and all the bad worldly things that defiles the body,  that is just to name a few, not doing such things and talking with a clean tongue, meaning clean words in your speech, studying God’s Word and living solely for God, which was God’s intentions from the beginning of time and if you get baptized by water immersion, that is what God has instructed us to do, is how a person becomes perfect. If the Christian sins, then they are no longer maid perfect, they must repent and turn away from sin period.  The key words here is to hear the Gospel of  Jesus Christ, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior and believe, Confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, repent from all of  your sins, be baptized for the remission of sins. Once you have been baptized by water, at the completion, you then will be baptized by the Holy Spirit and not before, too many people in this world docent understand that part, that is what the free gift of the Holy Spirit is and eternal life waiting in the heavens for them. In all that you do in life, from here on out, live right in the sight of  God, your sins will find you out and destroy you. Many of  you won’t do a 180 degree turn and walk away from them, you then will be in eternal danger. This life that you are living in, is the second chance and God is watching to see if  you are going to be fit for heaven or hell. This life we live here on earth is a spiritual test, a test of faith. If you fail this test in God’s sight, then consider the consequences of eternal damnation. Its written in the Word of God. Many of you are playing with fire in your life, meaning the devil, or messing with the devils schemes, turn from your worldly wicked schemes and start living right in the sight of God, He is watching, He see’s and hears everything that you are doing from the spiritual realms, He already knows who is going to make it to heaven and who is not. Are you living right in His sight?. Titus 3 Saved in Order to Do Good 3 Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, 2 to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. 3 At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of  passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4 But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. 8 This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. 9 But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. 10 Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them. 11 You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned. Final Remarks 12 As soon as I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, because I have decided to winter there. 13 Do everything you can to help Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way and see that they have everything they need. 14 Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order to provide for urgent needs and not live unproductive lives. 15 Everyone with me sends you greetings. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Jesus Christ is the light that we must follow and live by, if you want to be saved and to make it to heaven. The worldly people who are warped in sin, will not make it if they don’t follow the steps, in order to be saved. The warped ones will continue to live for the flesh and burn in hell. You don’t have too, you have the chance to get right with God and follow through these steps and you can have that assurance of eternal life. What does one have to do in order to be forgiven and saved of his sins?  He must 

     (1) Hear the Gospel of Christ; 

     (2) Believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; 

     (3) Repent of all his past sins; 

     (4) Confess that Christ is God’s Son; 

     (5) Be baptized for the remission of sins. 

You then will gain eternal Salvation in Heaven and be baptized by the Holy Spirit at the completion of being immersed. You then will be heaven bound. Lets close in prayer. 

FEELING LONELY WHEN YOUR NOT Bible Study.

FEELING LONELY WHEN YOUR NOT Bible Study. 

How many of you feel like your alone and have no way out at times? 

Many of you may feel this way and find it frustrating right? 

How many of you are living life the way God expects you to? 

Many of you maybe struggling with this. I am about to share something that you need to know about God and you, I am speaking from experience, so don’t get mad and start hating me for this, if that is the case, you are being that way towards God as well, because God is truly inside of me, that is a danger you do not want to face. I have lived on both sides of the fence in my time, on the wrong side for a short period. I have tried smoking at an early age, I was coughing and felt like I swallowed a car with the engine still running,which was very dumb and is a form of suicide, I felt separated from God and felt alone. I also tried drinking for a short time, didn't like it one bit. I saw the effects of it as well, so I got away from it. Any of the things that defiles a persons body, also defiles God due to the fact that our body’s is the temple of God. 1Corinthians 3:16-17 reads this;  16Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? 17If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple. " A person who does not have God in their life and is not living for his or her life for God is in great eternal danger and is truly separated from God and won’t make it to heaven. Now, for a Christian who is living their lives the way God intended will be saved. If a Christian who is living for God and begins to live in any kind of sin, like drinking, smoking, pushing drugs or anything that is worldly, God’s spirit will depart from you and you will be alone, you will be eternally in danger, unless you repent and get away from it, we will get more into this in a bit. The fact is this, God will never compromise with any sin, no shape or form. Many people believes that there are different kinds of sins, they are wrong, all sin is bad and there is no difference, all sin is the same. When you live in sin, God will keep himself separated from you and you are on your own, until you lay them at the foot of the Cross, turn 180 degrees and walk away from it . Many Christians do not get their prayers answered due to their sinful acts. God disconnects himself from sin, if there is sin in your life, He will do the same with you, just think about it on your own. It is a fact that if you are trying to help someone who is living in sin and has been for a long time and they claim to be a “Christian”, they will argue with you on the subject and will try to look and walk the other direction, because they know you are right and they are in the wrong, so they will fight against you and God all the way. 

People like that will argue, kick and scream like a little baby so they can try to get their way. Friends, you won’t get your way with God and He won’t put up with it, that is why He has placed Christian people in your lives, to help you get right with God, before its too late. If you have questions and like to pray about them,then feel free to get a hold of me, or find a good, strong, solid Bible based Church and seek help. 

John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”  Psalm 142:5-7 “I cry to you, O LORD; I say, “You are my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.” Listen to my cry, for I am in desperate need; rescue me from those who pursue me, for they are too strong for me. Set me free from my prison, that I may praise your name. Then the righteous will gather about me because of your goodness to me.” Hebrews 13:5-6  5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”[a] 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”[b] 

Revelation 3 

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. You will feel alone while here on earth if you are living in sin because God’s spirit will depart from you, a real Christian  will do the same because He is living like God and he/she will not put up with it just like God because God is within him/her, if you happen to repent and ask for help from God and ask Him to come in your heart to help you, He will. A Christian will attempt to help you, because Christians are instructed by God to try to help and because we love you and don’t want to see you end up where you don’t want to go, which is hell. Christians are instructed to attempt to save the lost by leading others to Christ, if we don’t, we, us Christians will be held accountable for them going to hell and not Heaven, because we didn't tell them about Jesus Christ. 

So, you are alone when living in sin, even though you are not, God is just beyond the reaches. Don’t let temptations of this world control you and your life. 

Proverbs 29:22-23 22 An angry person stirs up conflict, and a hot-tempered person commits many sins. 23 Pride brings a person low, but the lowly in spirit gain honor. 

Galatians 5:19-26 

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. 

Galatians 6:7-8 

 Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 

Romans 8:5-8 

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. 

Romans 6:19-23 

19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21 What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in[b] Christ Jesus our Lord. 

James 5:16 

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Many of you have heard of John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. This is true, but you still have to be baptized by water.  The Latin root word for baptize means 'immerse. When you read the word Baptize, baptized, it means baptized by water immersion, not sprinkled, pored and baby’s cannot be baptized because they don’t know right from wrong and it is not biblical only pagans do that, and they are not accountable for their wrong sinful doings yet, the parents are. 

Mark 1:9-10 

9 At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. 10 Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. 

Acts 2:38-39 

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 

Mark 16:16 

16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. This tells me that if you don’t believe in God or God’s Son, you will be condemned and if you get Baptized and not believe, you will also be condemned, but, if you are baptized by water and believe, you will be Saved. I am explaining it this way because many sinners are slow in their thinking due to sin.You cannot be baptized by the Holy Spirit of God until the completion of water immersion, so don’t even try to get the two confused. You are not saved until you have done of what is commanded by God in the  New Testament. If you are living in the old Testament, they say all you have to do is to believe and you can be saved, if you are living by that doctrine, you will remain separated from God and lost forever in your understanding, so study the New Testament and continue your real education before its to late. There is no salvation in Heaven without Baptism. John 3:17-18 goes on and tells us this; 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. If you are feeling alone in your life, chances are it is due to your sins and 

God’s Spirit will depart from the sinner and your prayers will not be answered. All you have to do is to re-accept God’s Son back into your life, confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, repent all, not some but, all of your sins and do a 180 degree turn and walk away from your old sins and filthy habits and get Baptized for the right reasons and start living right in the sight of God. At the completion of your water immersion, you then will be blessed and baptized by the Holy Spirit immediately, not before or years before, but right after you have done this action the right way. Friends, hell is real, if you are living for the flesh, smoking, drinking, lusting for all things including sex, people who are doing marriages with the opposite sex, abortions, getting tattoos, its all an act of satan and such people will end in hell for all eternity. All these things is a pagan worship and it is also witchcraft and is magical arts, and the Bible tells us not to do such things. 

Galatians 5:19-21 

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

Acts 19:19  A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. Leviticus 19:11-19 

11 “‘Do not steal. “‘Do not lie. “‘Do not deceive one another. 12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord. 13 “‘Do not defraud or rob your neighbor. “‘Do not hold back the wages of a hired worker overnight. 14 “‘Do not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but fear your God. I am the Lord. 15 “‘Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly. 16 “‘Do not go about spreading slander among your people. “‘Do not do anything that endangers your neighbor’s life. I am the Lord. 17 “‘Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. 18 “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord. 19 “‘Keep my decrees. Moving on to Leviticus 19:28, 28 “‘Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the Lord. 

Leviticus 19:31 

31 “‘Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the Lord your God. 

Witchcraft: Wanting to be a spiritual "mover and shaker" without submitting to God. Witchcraft is rebellion coupled with a desire to "stay in the game", to be a spiritual player. 

How Witchcraft Works 

John 8:44-45 (NIV) "You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father's desire... When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Yet because I tell the truth, you do not believe me!" 

1 Samuel 15:23 (NIV) "For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you..." Even though Satan is usually the furthest thing from the mind, the "father of  lies" honors the self-delusion inherent in witchcraft by occasionally releasing power, even doing supernatural miracles for those who have rebelled against God and yet still want to be spiritually effective. By this means, real power can be exerted to achieve health, beauty, enchantment, supernatural sensitivity, "insight" through drugs and experiences, oracles and visions, and the like. In this sense, witchcraft works. 

Isaiah 30:9 (NIV) These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction. 

Deuteronomy 18:10-11 (NIV) Let no one be found among you... who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or cast spells, or who is a medium or spiritist. What if a person who has a tattoo and they feel bad about it, can they repent and still go to heaven even though they have been cut and stained with this sin? Yes, all can be forgiven of. You will die in sin if you are living for the flesh. You cannot serve God and satan, you only can live for one or the other.   

Luke 16:13 "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." The word money, is not just talking about dollars, its also referring to satan. Are you living for God or are you living for the flesh. 

Lets Pray.