Journey

Shall we start with a prayer?

Dear Heavenly Father, we come here today to worship Your mighty being. We pray you rain the Holy Spirit upon us, help us to gather what it is You wish us to learn from the sermon ahead. And Lord, we pray you are with all who gather in Your name today. Finally, we want to pray for those who are lost. We pray they find You and know the comfort You provide. In Christ's name we pray, AMEN.





So, last week didn't go as I planned. Okay, it went very differently from what I planned.



My piece last week was not supposed to travel on over to a sermon about the great promise of the Lord. It was supposed to be a welcome thread, telling how I got to where I was. But you know something? God has His own plans. I do believe that though the 'sermon' did not go the way I intended, it was God who switched my way of going about it. God knew that someone who was going to be reading that or watching it would need a reminder of His promise of all promises. So, I have no complaints. I just thank God for speaking through me.



Well, I ended last week talking about the promises of the Lord. I'm tempted to continue on from there, but something deep within me is saying to tell my story further. Perhaps there's another one out there, thirsting to find faith. Maybe hearing my journey from the Devil to the Lord will help someone else believe. I don't always listen to my gut, but I feel this time it's different. This is God speaking.



So last week I explained how I jumped into the church. I was a greedy vegetarian, and they were having a buffet (now I know it to be called a Fellowship Dinner). At the very beginning of my piece last week, I mentioned how it bothered me thinking that my loved ones were watching me fail from above. That doesn't sound like a very nice Heaven, does it? I mean, who wants to live a good life, and then be rewarded after death by getting to watch their children and grandchildren suffering? I sure wouldn't wish that upon anyone, which is my biggest reason for not believing.



This was cleared up pretty quickly for me. My pastor explained, and showed many texts proving, that after death, it is not straight to Heaven or straight to an eternal Hell. No, rather we sleep. Yes, I said it, until Christ comes again, we are unconscious. "For the living know that they will die; but the dead know nothing, and they have no more reward, for the memory of them is forgotten" (Ecclesiastes 9:5). "[...]There is no work or device or knowledge or wisdom in the grave where you are going" (Ecclesiastes 9:10). "So man lies down and does not rise. Till the heavens are no more, they will not awake nor be roused from their sleep" (Job 14:12). It is clearly stated here that God says the dead know absolutely nothing, and the dead cannot contact the living, nor know what the living are doing. They are dead. Their thoughts have perished (Psalms 146:4).



When my pastor informed me of this, oh wow, I can't even comprehend the extreme joy I felt. But still...another thing bothered me terribly. Could a God so high and mighty really let His lost children suffer for eternity in Hell? Would God really let the Devil have control of the punishment for His misguided children? How could I serve a God that allowed this, while still remaining happy? How could my pastor, a truly loving individual, respect such a cruel and ruthless being?



"The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgement to be punished" (2 Peter 2:9). There are no souls in hellfire today. The Bible clearly states that God holds back the wicked until the day of judgement. You see, they are sleeping too. Both the righteous and the unjust that perish before Jesus' coming simply sleep. Now, when Jesus does come, the wicked burn for all eternity after that, right? FALSE! How cruel would that be? Plus, it would be contradictory to so many other places in the Bible! The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23)! If they burned in eternal hellfire, wouldn't that be living? Sure it'd be a painful life, but still living. Now, I could name verse after verse that shows the wicked are destroyed in a temporary fire, but why don't I leave that for a future sermon? I could speak for a VERY long time on this topic.



After all this was settled in my head, my pastor had smiled at me, thinking his job was done. I was sold, now that my questions were all answer, right? Well, he was wrong. With sad eyes, I had looked up and met his gaze, my expression showing my sorrow clearly. "Pastor, if God is so good, why are Christians so cold? Isn't it a commandment to love thy neighbor as ye love thyself? But they don't. I just don't think God would allow the insanity if He existed." This caught the pastor off guard, but then he smiled a warm smile, eyes thickly presenting his understanding. "Lindsay, we are humans. We sin. If God made the path easy, we'd never learn. I know good Christians and I know bad Christians." He got lower and spoke softer. "But I also know good atheists and bad atheists." And with that, he had walked from the room, his point made.



I once saw a quote and, though it is humorous, it does hold much truth. "God, I love you, but it's your fan club that terrifies me." It's true that not all Christians hold true to the ways God gave us, but does that mean He doesn't exist? No way. He gave is freewill, and He isn't going to take that away by making us do certain things. If we want to live a lieing, deceitful life, He won't stop us. But He will hold us accountable for our choices.



I want to end with a prayer:

Dear Almighty Father, we come to the closing of another week. Another week filled with both pain, and joy. Lord, we know You walk with us, holding our hands and sometimes even carrying us. You won't have us suffer more than we can handle, for You are a just Father. You care for Your children, even when they don't care for You, oh Lord. In this coming week, Father, guide us. We want to surrender our will fully to You, and have You mold us into what You want us to be. We know You won't force us, Lord, but we are willing. Hold our hands and lead, for we are ready to follow. In Christ's Name we pray, AMEN.



God bless and have an amazing week,
Lindsay



Remember, you can always watch the sermons rather than read. Or you could do both! The videos may contain music and stories that are not found in the writing pieces :)
If you'd prefer to listen to my sermons, rather than read them, I also have a Youtube account:
http://www.youtube.com/user/HisHiddenVoice (Due to technical difficulties, this weeks video sermon is not yet up.)