Just Passing Through

 FROM PASTOR RICHIE FURAY
Calvary Chapel Broomfield (Colo)
Founding member of rock bands Buffalo Springfield and Poco
Member of the Rock n'Roll Hall of Fame

"Please forgive me with this being so close on the heels of such a sensitive time, but with so many notable, public figures crossing that line into eternity – it always causes our hearts and minds to think about our own mortality, especially if they are of a young age – younger than we are. But the reality of death is a reality of life and each one of us will cross that fateful line one day. 

When a loved one passes our hearts are overwhelmed with grief, even if we really didn’t know the person, but we identified with their music or their movies or their books … and, it’s as if we did know them and when they die it causes us to stop and think about this reality of life. The writer of one of the books in the Bible, James, makes an observation (James 4:14):

“For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away”.

I believe we can all agree on one thing - we’re just passing through this life, on our way to eternity and the hereafter. On the way, on this journey we call “life”, we may have thoughts such as “what does the future hold” or “what matter does it make”, and for some, it is “eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow we will die” – but then what? Is this life all there is to life? Have those thoughts ever crossed your mind? It’s interesting, but we all have philosophies, religions – a faith we choose to give us comfort in these thoughts; that’s why when one a loved or someone who’s had an impact on our lives passes, we comfort ourselves saying “they’re in a better place”. An atheist will tell you – this is it, “eat, drink and be merry”; while an eastern philosophy will tell you “you can work it out” – as you seek to attain nirvana – obliviousness (Webster: a goal hoped for but apparently unattainable: a dream) which, ultimately is nothingness; and if that’s all there is at the end of the day, then indeed life is meaningless, if in fact its ultimate end is nothingness. 

I wanted to share my thoughts because I am a Christian and I believe there hope beyond this life and I believe the way to heaven is possible, but it does come about through what we call death. The Bible teaches that death is an “exodus” – moving from one place to another – but “life” goes on. It is a door we will all go through. The Bible also teaches when we go through that door it leads one of two ways … into the presence of God (the Creator, Redeemer and Savior) for all eternity (heaven) or to be separated from Him for all eternity (hell) – this is my faith and regardless of what you believe, this is what life boils down to – a choice, a belief, a faith. 

The Christian faith is different from every other major religion and belief system of the world in that those religious system put the weight of getting to heaven on you, your performance, your efforts your works. The dilemma is how does one know when their performance has met the standard and what is that standard? The God of the Bible worked out the way to heaven and fellowship with Him through the work of Jesus Christ – thereby, getting to heaven is not based upon your or my “performance” but upon the “performance” – the work of Jesus Christ. You’ve probably heard it said: “everyone wants to go to heaven but no one wants to die”, but the per-requisite is, if heaven is a reality, we’re going to die and leave this world as we know it. According to my faith, Jesus died that I might live. At the end of the day, it’s as Jesus said:

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
"And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25-26)

As I said – faith is a belief system and each one, in making the decision about eternity (heaven and hell) will make a decision about Jesus who said: 

"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6) 

May those of you who read this receive it with the grace with which I have shared it; God desires fellowship with His creation (He is the Living God) and therefore He made the way to heaven possible in that:

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)

This is my hope; this is my belief; this is my faith."

Sheep Crying Out

It seems like the scattering of the sheep is in high gear. Count yourself blessed if you have a church fellowship that keeps out the leaven, preaches the Word faithfully, and worships the LORD in Spirit and in Truth -- screening out songs that are unbiblical or that flaunt the flesh.

Churches today - for the most part (with the exception of the Bible-teaching faithful few) -- are either ritualistic (vestments and bells and smells), spiritually dead (droning dry speaker with disinterested pew warmers), charismaniac (flashing lights; a lot of words but no Word), or inclusive (gay pastor -- all are welcome). It's a sad, sad, sad day for the church.

How is it that the Bride is making herself ready??? 

The Mystery of Iniquity is securely embedded into what is known as churches. It's in control and there's no eviction notice that will change that. Has the time come when the words of Jesus are saying "Come out of her, My people." And when the sheep comply and leave, they have nowhere to go -- so they are scattered.

Scattered sheep are not happy, well-fed creatures. They have no under-shepherds, although they know the voice of the Good Shepherd. So they roam every hill bleating for their Master and mostly apart from one another. They have a hard time distinguishing between wild goats and lost sheep.

Jesus said that those who do not gather with Him, scatters. Yet, many sheep are frightened and don't know whom to trust. In their condition, they tend to shy away from others, knowing there are dangerous wolves out there disguising themselves as sheep. About the only way to find a fellow sheep to snuggle with to stay warm is to find another one that looks exactly like they do. If they are spotted, or black, or some other color or mixture thereof, the sheep are fearful.

It would seem the only remedy for these scattered sheep is for their Good Shepherd to come to the rescue. They are watching and waiting for Him to come and take them to His pasture for safety and refreshing. They are not comfortable in enemy territory.

Baa-baaaaaaaaaaaa!!

"And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached' to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities." - Rev 18: 5-6

"Jesus Wept." - John 11:35

The Father's Business

In this new year of 2016, I'm sure you, like me, will be monitoring the news and global events in the expectation of our soon reunion with our loved ones who have gone on ahead and our rescue by our Messiah as He comes for us and takes us to that place He has prepared for us.

We must remember though that God's Word as it was given to us is all we need to understand His plan for us and for the past, present, and future. It is not our vision for ourselves that matters, but how we fit into His plan that He lays out for us in His Word.

We have the Great Commission and that is our Father's business that we need to be about doing. Isn't it interesting that during the time of the outpouring of God's wrath, He does not leave this planet without His witness. The Church is His witness in this dispensation, and in the time of the soon coming Tribulation His witnesses are 144,000 from the tribes of Israel, along with His special two witnesses who will be in Jerusalem, and the angel flying through mid-heaven with the everlasting Gospel. Apparently the Church's assignment will have ended or he wouldn't need the others.

So we must occupy until He comes and look out for silly fables you will hear people spouting -- such as Bible Codes, some proclamation from the counsel of prophets, or other soothsaying devices that go beyond what is written.

As deception increases we must be more and more on the alert, not only for ourselves, but for others. Pay no heed to those who find their revelation outside the Bible, who peep and mutter to impress others with their grand insights.

Now is the time to set aside all those things that hinder us from hearing the words of our God as He unveils His Word to us and quickens it to the eyes of our understanding as He determines by His will -- and not our own.

Looking up!!

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power" - Heb 1:1-3a

"And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead? To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." - Is 8:19-20

 

 

Forecast for Hope

Blizzards, fires, floods, tornadoes -- disaster forecasts are looking mighty grim on the weather channel today. A terror-alert has just been announced for major cities in Europe between Christmas and the New Year. Life on this planet seems more fragile than ever.

Many have lost loved ones this year and no doubt that paints their emotions as this year comes to a close. If the LORD tarries - there is still the consolation that 100 years from now all of us will have departed from this life. 

It is hard to fathom how people can walk around thinking that there is no God and no life after death. How depressing is that? That's even sadder than the Christians who do not believe that Jesus is coming back to rule and reign on earth for a thousand years. Those Christians must despair as well as they watch the birth pangs increase and see no purpose to it.

What a disappointment life must be for Christians who think that we are now ruling and reigning in the place of Christ. It is hard to believe there are such believers -- but Post-Millennialists/Preterists have such a defeated worldview. 

And the signs and wonders followers -- how do they feel when the feathers stop falling and the gold glitter fades away? Where can they go to find the next spiritual high? From Toronto to Lakeland to Redding -- all of that is empty thrills and chills.

But we who wait for our Savior to come for us His church have the comfort of knowing His Word is being fulfilled before our very eyes. We have a Lifeline to hold onto while we wait and a Hope for rescue before God pours out His wrath upon those dwelling carelessly on the planet. His supernatural power makes the weak one strong.

We must keep lifting up Jesus to this hurting world and pull as many as we can from the fire. Time is short and the window of opportunity to turn to the LORD is closing.

I showed the film, The Nativity, to the women in the prison on Christmas and had the opportunity to share the Gospel with inmates I had not seen before. I told them that we might envy those who lived when Jesus came who got to see with their own eyes His miracles and touch the hem of His garment. There were those who looked for the coming of the Messiah 2,000 years ago, but we are living in the time that will most likely see His second coming. 

Monitoring the birth pangs, as we do in this class, we can anticipate His return and bring joy to a place that seems joyless. Please pray for Sunny, Starla, and Cindy -- that the LORD would give them good soil where the seed planted can grow.

Spread the hope, joy, and good news while there's still time.

“Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.” -- John 12:31-32

"Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure." - 1 John 3:1-3

"It Is Written . . . "

This is certainly a time of famine for the hearing of the Word of God. Even in places where Scripture is being quoted, it is not being applied with spiritual understanding, but with mere human reasoning. Some preachers might get further in using quotes from Dickens or Aesop's Fables to make their sermon points.

Having been raised Catholic and hearing a bit of an Epistle or the Gospels read briefly at Mass every Sunday, I knew first-hand what it was like to hear God's Word while not really hearing it. The bulk of Catholic practice and theology is based upon human reasoning.
The idea of Limbo, for instance, was conceived when their belief that one must be baptized in order to get into heaven clashed with their idea that babies are pure but have Original Sin. The Bible never taught any such thing, but Limbo sounded sensible to them and resolved the conflict.

The Catholic dogmas of their priesthood, transubstantiation, baptizing babies, confession, penance, the papacy, mariology -- and more -- came about with unspiritual human reasoning.

Before I was born-again, I could read the Bible and appreciate its wisdom and ponder on its deep thoughts, but the words did not penetrate my unregenerate spirit. Immediately upon my repentance and being filled with His Holy Spirit, the Bible came alive to me. The blinders had been removed. For the first few months of my new life in Christ I could not read the Word without tears welling up in my eyes. The Spirit breathed life into every passage and gave deep understanding -- even from the same passages I thought I already knew.

I'm studying the Book of Nehemiah and read about how the people responded after Jerusalem was restored and the people gathered to rededicate themselves to the LORD. When Ezra the priest read Scriptures aloud, they reacted thusly, "For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the Law."

Today, I see many using their own human understanding to figure out the Bible. High Church goers justify the use of vestments and ritual since, after all, these things were done historically in the past 1,800 years and there are parallels in the Old Testament. Or, die-hard post-tribbers saying, 'well, the early martyrs suffered persecution so why should we not suffer under the antichrist, we're no better than them. Or Dominionists reasoning that believers are going to rule with Christ, so we need to take all seven mountains for Jesus now since He does rule from heaven.

We will see more and more human reasoning coming from professing believers who will find ways to get along with other religions under the human desire for tolerance, peace, and emotional stimulation. 

Our reaction must always be - "it is written . . ."

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths."
- Prov 3:5-6

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." - 1 Cor 2:12-14

Rapture Wars

The Post-Trib Brigade is really on the rampage lately. And the Pre-Trib side is digging in their heels. All accuse the other of not having Scripture to back their views. The Pan-Trib view is looking at all the verses and determine that we cannot know the exact timing - we must be ready for every eventuality.

This snippet from Jim Bakker's program is a peek at those who have run to the mountains to hide themselves. They are accumulating stuff and everyone knows it, so when all hell breaks loose, the bad guys will know right where to go. Is Bakker building an arsenal needed to protect what they have stored? Quite the dilemma trusting in the arm of the flesh.

Here are some verses all must rectify - praying for spiritual understanding.

Fear side (Post-and Intraseal Tribbers) -

"Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." - 1 Cor 15:51-52b

"Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed" - 2 Thes 2:3

"But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection." - Rev 20:5 (also used by A-and-Post-mills )

Hope side (Pre-and Pan-Tribbers)

“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth." - Rev 3:10

"Come, my people, enter your chambers,
And shut your doors behind you;
Hide yourself, as it were, for a little moment,
Until the indignation is past.
For behold, the LORD comes out of His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
The earth will also disclose her blood,
And will no more cover her slain.
Is 26:20-21

"For God has not destined us for wrath" - 1 Thes 5:9a

" I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." - Matt 16:18b

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I point this all out - not to cause more of a rift between believers -- but to exhort all of you to please stop fighting over this. I know how to argue every position - I've studied this for over 30 years -- so I know every position has some good arguments from Scripture. This guy here is trashing those who take a different position. I know of NO Pre-tribber who thinks they will never see persecution or war and all the birth pangs Jesus lists in Matt 24. We should ALL make provisions for our family in the case of any potential hardship. This sort of rhetoric -- demonizing those under the Hope banner -- does nothing to communicate his position - since it is a false accusation.

Keep your lamps burning - and oil in your flasks.

Mark 13: 33-37  -- "Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is... Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming--in the evening (Pre-Trib), at midnight (Mid-Trib), at the crowing of the rooster (Pre-Wrath), or in the morning (Post-Trib)-- lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!’"

We Are His Witnesses

We are His witnesses until He calls His Bride home. That is a comforting thought at a time like this when we see the birth pangs transition into heavy labor.

The recent terror attacks here and in Paris have left many people not wanting to leave their homes to go to any public place. But we must not forget the Great Commission -- don't let any threat of terror slow down your witness -- in fact, it should light a fire under you to get this Word of Salvation out to all the lost while there's still time.

Since we ARE His witnesses, and we know God always has a witness on this planet, we can have confidence that God doesn't need to replace us in our role as His ambassadors. So what does He need with 144,000 or the two witnesses in Jerusalem or an angel flying in mid-heaven while we're still around? They are raised up as His witnesses when our testimony is complete.

That is one of the best arguments for a Pre-Trib rapture -- once the Church is gone, God must have a witness to the Truth here to represent Him. He is faithful to always hold out a hand of mercy to humanity who were made in His image.

Persecution of believers is a historical certainty, and as things heat up, more and more professing Christians will fall by the wayside and reveal their true natures. The time of the mega-church will soon be over as congregating will become a gamble for one's livelihood. Persecution always helps separate the real from the fake. So be encouraged.

Pressing on to the Goal -

“Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel,

And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts:

‘I am the First and I am the Last;

Besides Me there is no God.

And who can proclaim as I do?

Then let him declare it and set it in order for Me,

Since I appointed the ancient people.

And the things that are coming and shall come,

Let them show these to them.

Do not fear, nor be afraid;

Have I not told you from that time, and declared it?

You are My witnesses.

Is there a God besides Me?

Indeed there is no other Rock;

I know not one.’ ”

-- Is 44:6-8

"At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. May it not be charged against them. But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!" - 2 Tim 4:16-18

 

 https://dissidentprophet.bandcamp.com/track/fly-away