The Heaton File

Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand. Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord. (Acts 13:6-12)

When Blindness Opened The Eyes

A proconsul was a man of authority in the Roman government, governing of a senatorial province. He answered to Rome, wielding great power over the citizens of the territory. When Paul and Barnabas began their first missionary journey, they traveled to Barnabas’s homeland, where they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. Arriving in the city of Paphos, the capital of the island of Cyprus. Paphos was the residence of the Roman governor, Sergius Paulus. Upon hearing of Barnabas and Paul, the proconsul called for them to come and share the word of God with him. Accompanying Sergius Paulus was a sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew named Bar-Jesus (also known as Elymas).

When Sergius Paulus invited Barnabas and Paul to share the message of Jesus with him, Elymas interfered, urging the governor to pay no attention to what Barnabas and Saul said. He withstood the preachers seeking to deflect what they were teaching, and Sergius Paulus believed in Jesus Christ. It is clear that the sorcerer knew if the proconsul believed in Christ, his work as a sorcerer would come to an end. He was trying to keep the governor from believing in Jesus Christ. The actions of Elymas angered Paul. Filled with the Holy Spirit, the apostle denounced the actions of the false prophet, declaring his words were the works of Satan, being filled with unrighteousness and perverting the straight ways of the Lord.

Paul pronounced a curse on Elymas, appealing to the Holy Spirit to blind the false prophet for a time. Immediately, a dark mist fell on Elymas, and he stumbled around trying to find someone to guide him. Luke does not tell how long the blindness lasted, but it had a lasting impression upon the Gentile proconsul. When Sergius Paulus saw what Paul did and the evidence of the miracle of instant blinding of the false prophet, he believed. Paul’s preaching, confirmed by the miracle against Elymas, pierced the proconsul’s heart and brought about obedience to the gospel of Christ. Elymas’s blindness led to the eyes of Sergius Paulus being opened.

Jesus told the eleven to preach the gospel and use miracles to confirm the word. Miracles have ceased, but the power of the gospel to change lives has not. The blindness of one man led to the enlightenment of another. Preaching the whole counsel of God declares the goodness and severity of God. The righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel, and so is the wrath of God. They both serve the purpose of the other to explain the nature of God. Blinding Elymas was the power of God’s wrath upon unrighteousness. The heart of Sergius Paulus was moved to see the power of God, and he believed. Throughout scripture, God shows his love and kindness toward those who repent and obey. His wrath is against those who refuse.

An old proverb declares that the scriptures are given to comfort the afflicted, but it is also written to afflict the comfortable. Sergius Paulus became a believer after witnessing the power of God. That same response must come to the hearts of all men to see how much God loves them and to understand the lengths God took to save the world – His only begotten Son. The violence of the death of Jesus should move men to believe He is the Son of God and repent. When men see the horror of sin, open hearts will respond with a desire to believe and serve the Lord. Sergius Paulus believed when he saw what had been done. He was astonished at the teaching of the Lord. Open your eyes to the glory of a loving Father who gave His son to save you.

Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. (Genesis 1:14-15)

Everyone Gets The Same

Before the fourth day of creation, light existed without the glowing sun or sparkling stars. God placed lights in the universe in the firmament to divide the day from the night. In creation, the Creator established time. Days were separated before the fourth day, but the order of time with days and years was established with the placement of the heavenly beings. God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. He ordained that time would be divided by days, weeks, months, and years. The first man created died at the age of 930, as determined by time.

Everything has continued as God created it since the fourth day of creation. The sun rises in the east and disappears beyond the western horizon. Stars fill the night sky, declaring the glory of God. The moon soothes the night with its soft reflection of the brilliant sun. All that Adam and Eve gazed upon in the heavenly skies remain in the same orbit with each generation. Adam and Eve were given twenty-four hours with each passing day. They enjoyed weeks together, which became months and years. The names of days and months have changed over the centuries, but the rotation of heavenly orbs remains the same.

There is one constant that has remained since the creation of Adam. All humanity shares the same amount of time within a day. The ordination of the planets to regulate time remains unchanged. There are twenty-four hours in a day. The days of man multiply to determine his age. These constants are the same for everyone, anywhere, and at any time. Noah had the same amount of time in a day as someone would have in one thousand years. Everywhere in the world, everyone has the same number of hours. There are 1,440 minutes in a day. That number remains unchanged since Adam. This works out to 86,400 seconds per day. Everyone has the same amount of time.

The remarkable thing about time is that it has never been a matter of volume (which is always the same) but the amount of energy one expels within the confines of what God has given. William Penn said, “Time is what we want most, but what alas we use worst.” Baltasar Gracián observed, “All that really belongs to us is time; even he who has nothing else has that.” What excuse can a man give that time is wasted? He has the same amount of time as everyone. An equal amount of time is given to each individual every day. What makes life fruitful is the proper exercise of what has been given by God to all men.

Throughout the scriptures, the word of the Lord warns against wasting time. The certainty of time is that it is fleeting. Time is not eternal. Eternity is without end, but time is governed by the rotations of the heavenly bodies that will one day be destroyed. How a man uses the time given to him determines the outcome of his life and his eternal home. A wasted life is taking the gift of God and failing to use it to its full potential. Complaining about not having enough time is a contradiction of the established order that all men have. Everyone has the same amount of time. What they do with that time is what measures life and eternity. What time is it?

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them. Great multitudes followed Him—from Galilee, and from Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan. (Matthew 4:23-25)

The Fame Of Jesus

Early in Jesus’ ministry, the man from Nazareth was causing quite a stir among the people. Never had the multitudes seen such power as Jesus exhibited. He healed all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. There was nothing that Jesus could not do. Everyone who came to Jesus with whatever crippling malady, cancer, broken bone, or chronic disease was healed and the disease taken away by the hand of the Lord. It was so incredible that swarms of people flocked to Jesus for relief from their suffering.

During the ministry of Jesus, God allowed demons to possess men to show the power of His Son over Satan and the demonic world. Jesus healed all the demon-possessed. He cured those who had epilepsy. The people with paralysis were given new life. No one came to Jesus to be healed who was not healed instantly. The healing of Jesus was not a gradual recovery. His power flowed in the bodies of the disease and brought soothing relief to the sufferings of those afflicted. Great multitudes followed Him. They came from hundreds of miles for healing. Jesus healed them all. Robertson observes, “Jesus had a moving hospital of patients from all over Galilee and Syria.”

The fame of Jesus went throughout all Syria. When people heard a man could heal any and every disease known to man, they dropped what they were doing and made the pilgrimage to where Jesus was. This was no easy task. Leaving families behind. Work was left unattended. Traveling long distances while ill made the journey arduous. It was a monumental effort to find Jesus and await the healing. They were rewarded for their effort as the healing power of the Holy Spirit flowed through Jesus to heal them. Everyone went home a new person, whole, relieved, and rejoicing. Jesus was famous for healing. He took away their pain, sorrow, grief, and torment. The man from Nazareth was famous for healing the multitudes.

Jesus performed miracles without number. He proved He was the Son of God. What the diseased multitudes overlooked was the greater healing Jesus had, which would get Him killed. Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Being cured of leprosy was a life-changing gift from the hand of Jesus, but it did not change the sinful nature of man. Coming to Jesus to be healed of sickness, disease, torments, demon-possession, epilepsy, and paralysis did not take away the scourge of sin. They went home healed of body, but what about the spirit? The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom healed men of sin. Healing from the disease was only temporary.

People went to great lengths to find healing from the hand of Jesus. The world takes little interest in Jesus’ teachings. They take little or no notice of what He teaches. If Jesus were on the earth, healing every disease, the sick would fly from every part of the world to be healed. The gospel of Christ is ever powerful today in the word of God, but few take the interest or effort to know what it means to be healed of sin. There is no interest in the Savior Jesus. The fame of Jesus was remarkable when He healed the multitudes and fed the masses. They killed Jesus because of His teachings. The world has remained unchanged. Jesus is famous only as a good man who lived long ago.

The fame of Jesus was well deserved for the relief He gave the multitudes. As His ministry drew nearer the time of the cross, His miracles diminished, and His teaching increased. Jesus came to preach and save souls. Washing sins away is the greatest miracle man can know, made possible by the greatest miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. He rose from the dead to be the one miracle that would lead all men to the Father. Jesus is famous today, but for many of the wrong reasons. The fame of Jesus must spread in the hearts of men who hear the word of the gospel and obey. Death will end disease, but eternal death will never be cured. The gospel does not heal disease; it removes the blight of sin. Make Jesus famous for what He came to do: seek and save the lost.

Your way, O God, is in the sanctuary; who is so great a God as our God? (Psalm 77:13)

The Way Of The Lord

Worship is a holy experience where man sees how small he is and how great God is. From the beginning of time, the human soul tries to exalt itself to a higher plane than it was created. God created man for His glory. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command, they believed they were of greater significance than the One who made them. As a consequence of sin, God abased humanity with the consequences of sin to show how much man needed the grace of God. Worship is where the reality of how great God is can be found.

When human wisdom creates an idol, it serves as a reminder of the insignificance of man’s attempts to become his own god. How can an idol compare to the splendor of the universe? Which idol created the sun, moon, and stars? Where is the wisdom of an idol that can proclaim the destiny of nations? Man creates an idol to serve his own selfish purposes, as he is the creator of his own folly. When a man comes into the presence of the Almighty, he finds how small he is and how much he needs the grace of God. Idolatry always fails. An idol never creates itself. It is formed by the agency of human hands that falls down and says, “Deliver me, O God.” How foolish!

The author Asaph knew how great the Lord God was. He found solace in the thumbprint of God in all of creation, knowing that the Lord God created the world and formed it for His glory. Asaph understands the insignificance of man’s role compared to the infinite glory of God. The holiness of God is beyond the comprehension of man to fully grasp. God desires for His creation to worship him. Through the avenue of worship, the heart of man releases the pride that exalts him so that he can see God for who He truly is. A humble heart is where true worship comes. In the holy union of God and man, the wonder of the Lord is found.

Whether worship is in the sanctuary or in the world, there is none so great a god as God. Who can compare? What measure can anyone or anything exalt itself to the presence of God? The way of the Lord is holiness. When men look for peace, they seek in all the ways that will never give them happiness. Because God is so great, true peace can only come from the message of grace found in His word. During times of trial, God is great. When tragedy comes, God is great. As the sun shines brightly on a clear, brilliant day, God is great. In the voice of a newborn, God is great. No matter the day of rejoicing or the night of sorrow, God is always great. Who is so great a God as our God?

To the angel of the church of Ephesus write, “These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.” (Revelation 2:1-2)

I Know Your Works

There are thousands upon thousands of churches spread throughout the world. The church began two thousand years ago in Jerusalem when Peter and the eleven shared the gospel of a risen Christ to a large body of devout Jews. Later, Peter would share the good news with the Gentile world, and the church would expand across the borders of all nations. The New Testament disciples believed in one church under the headship of Jesus Christ. There were many churches or congregations spread throughout the Roman Empire.

After the persecution of Saul, faithful brethren went everywhere preaching the word and establishing local churches. When Saul became a follower of Christ, he and others went throughout the empire establishing local groups of faithful disciples and ordaining elders in every place. Churches sprang up in Corinth, Thessalonica, Phillipi, Colosse, Derbe, Lystra, Antioch, and many more places. John wrote his revelation to seven churches in Asia where the Lord’s church was established. Cities like Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea all had congregations of God’s people.

Each of the congregations in Asia received a special message from Jesus. Ephesus had lost its first love. Smyrna faced persecution. Pergamos was challenged with compromising the truth. Thyatira allowed the corruption of sexual immorality to stain its garments. Jesus called Sardis a dead church, but some remained faithful. Philadelphia was a faithful congregation. Jesus exposed the congregation at Laodicea as a lukewarm church. Each congregation shared one thing with Jesus: He knew their works.

The message of Jesus to the churches was to remind them that each congregation had a responsibility before the judgment of God. They were not judged as a group but as individual congregations. The first judgment was whether they were a church of God. Jesus knew the seven churches belonged to Him because each one had an angel. In the first century, the one church was unified in the will of God. Apostasy began to creep in, and the church began to practice and follow man-made teachings. Two thousand years later, the world is filled with churches that do not have the angels of God over them, as they do not follow the New Testament pattern. The sign out front does not make a group the Lord’s church. What makes a group a body of Christ is what they follow in the inside.

Every church must remember that they are judged by the word of the Lord and that Jesus knows their works. If a church is faithful, Jesus knows. The churches of Asia still had their candlesticks, but some were close to losing their place before God removed them. Sadly, all of the churches eventually lost their candlesticks as they followed the teachings of men. Every church today is judged by the Lord. He knows their works. Jesus knows if a certain congregation has an angel, and He knows whether they are filled with love or division. Every member’s heart is examined under the microscope of God’s word. If a church is filled with grace, Jesus knows. Many churches, like Sardis, have a name for being alive, but Jesus calls them dead. What does Jesus know about your church?

Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” (Matthew 18:21)

Limiting God

The parable of the unforgiving servant is a powerful statement of God’s mercy towards sinful man. No one deserves the gift of grace given by God through His Son, Jesus Christ (whom the world crucified on a cross). The debt for sin is impossible for man to redeem. There is nothing man could do or say that could justify him before a wrathful God. Asking forgiveness is an eternal gift of grace that God allows man to ask and receive. Jesus points out in the parable that if a man is unwilling to forgive his fellow man, God will not forgive the unforgiving. The background of the parable comes from Peter’s question about forgiveness.

Peter asks Jesus to explain how many times he needs to forgive someone who sins against him. There is a tinge of arrogance in the question, as Peter wants to limit the reaction he must have towards someone who sins against him directly. The Jewish interpretation of the law required a man to forgive another person only up to three times. Peter gave a broad definition to suggest seven times. Still, aside from explaining why Peter uses seven as a number to forgive, the apostle seeks to limit God to something Peter had no right to suggest.

Forgiveness is in the mind of God. Whether a person is forgiven or not rests in the will of the Almighty alone. In a lifetime, God will forgive a person’s sins so many times that the number is uncountable. There is a human arrogance to suggest a need to limit forgiveness as if, after seven times, Peter does not need to forgive another. Jesus’ answer is not a mathematical equation to suggest a finite number (seventy times seven). What the Lord shows is that man has no right to limit what God does in His mind to remove another’s sins. Peter says that someone has sinned against him, and he will limit his grace to a certain number and then refuse to extend any further grace. Thank God the mercy of God’s forgiveness is not so arrogant.

The greatest failure of the human spirit is to seek control of the divine will. Men have tried to change the law of God from the moment Eve decided to change what God told her. Her actions did not change God’s will. She and Adam decided to limit God’s power and authority and to assume divine right. They failed miserably, and God punished them. The reason God destroyed the world in the days of Noah is that the heart of man arrogantly sought to change the will of the Lord. God destroyed them. Peter tried to limit God and failed miserably.

Human wisdom continues to find ways to limit God’s power and authority. The reason there are so many churches is the same failing that Peter approached Jesus about, limiting the times he would forgive anyone. Disagreement about what a man must do to be saved comes from the same seed. What Jesus explained in the parable is that God is God and man is man. God created man; man did not create God. The law of God has more grace than any man could imagine in a lifetime. Human wisdom is shallow at best. Thank God, the mercy of the Lord is so great, showing how empty the mercy of man is. Peter treated the Lord’s will with contempt by trying to limit God to seven times. Never seek to undermine the word of the Lord to find answers for selfish desires. Serve God first. Never limit the power of God.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness? (2 Peter 3:11)

Thinking About The End Of Everything

The world is coming to an end. That is not a supposition or myth. Clear biblical teachings point toward the fact that one day, the universe will be completely and totally destroyed. This promise harkens back to when God destroyed all life on earth when He flooded the world up to more than twenty feet above the highest mountain. Noah and his family were saved in the ark as it sat above the waters. While God made a promise never to destroy the world with a flood, He did promise to destroy the world with fire. The heavens and the earth are reserved for fire until the day of judgment. It will be a time of judgment against ungodliness.

No one knows when the coming of the Lord will be. Jesus confessed He did not know. The fact remains that the world will be consumed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, when the heavens will melt with fervent heat in the midst of a great noise. Everything on earth will be gone. The moon, sun, and all the billions of billions of stars will be extinguished. There will be nothing left. God will bring His judgment upon what He created by sending His Son and His holy angels to bring home the faithful to the bosom of the Father. Believers and unbelievers will know the day of the Lord. Those who are among the faithful disciples of Christ will bask in the glow of God’s glory. The ungodly will scream in terror as Hell overtakes them and they are consumed without being consumed. Eternity begins.

Most of the world denies the coming of Christ. The world continues on its fevered pace of living for the moment, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and seeking long life and happiness. Nothing is further from reality. Everyone on earth stands upon a rock hurtling towards an eternal destiny of destruction. There is nothing man can do to change the course of man’s destiny. The grace of God is found in His longsuffering, but that will come to an end one day. God will decide when that day will be. Every eye will see the glory of God. Isaiah declared that the judgment of God is when every knee will bow before the throne of the Almighty, and every tongue will confess to God.

If the passengers of the Titanic could have changed their fate, would they have lived differently? Imagine knowing that if a man bought a ticket to that fateful journey of the mighty Titanic, his life would end in a watery grave. How would he live? These questions point to the reality of how the lives of men change when they know they have a death sentence hanging over them. How does a man think when he sits on death row knowing he will die on a certain day? God has told the world that a day is coming when everything will come to an end. Those who disbelieve in the coming of the Lord do not change the truth. Jesus is coming. The exhortation Peter gives to those who are suffering for the cause of Christ is to consider their lives and the coming of the Lord. Knowing the world will come to a fiery end, what kind of person will they be in holy conduct and godliness?

God tells the world He is coming. Ignoring the fact does not change reality. What every child of God must do is to accept the reality of the promise of God and live accordingly. A holy conduct will prepare one for the coming of the Lord. Godliness is profitable to prepare the soul to be ready for the coming of the Lord. If the Lord came today, it would be a wonderful hope fulfilled by those who look for and hasten the coming of the day of God. It is a state of mind. There is uncertainty about when the Lord will return, but that does not matter. What matters is that the Lord is coming, and the faithful must be ready.

After two thousand years, it seems unlikely the Lord will come. That is what Satan wants people to believe. If Jesus has not returned yet, He likely never will. Such thinking is how men will be found unprepared. God does not lie. Every promise of God is true. It took twenty-five years for Abraham and Sarah to realize the promise God made to them, but God’s word was true. There may be another thousand years before the Lord comes. What matters is not when the Lord will come, but that men will live in such a way that it does not matter when He comes. What manner of person should we be? The Lord is coming. Think about that.

I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests— those who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear oaths by the Lord, but who also swear by Milcom; those who have turned back from following the Lord, and have not sought the Lord, nor inquired of Him. (Zephaniah 1:4-6)

Serving God And Satan

God is a jealous God, and He demands allegiance to be total, complete, and without reservation. When He gave the law to the Hebrews, the first thing He reminded them of was that He was the One who brought them out of the land of Egypt. His declaration that He was the Lord their God affirmed complete and dominant authority over their lives. The warnings contained in the law focused upon the failure of man to remain wholly faithful to the Lord, allowing the influences of the world to corrupt worship. God will not allow His worshippers to have any other gods before him. This is an absolute law. Bowing down and serving carved images was forbidden. As a jealous God whose name is Jealous, worship of the Lord God was unmixed.

Zephaniah was a prophet during the days of revival under King Josiah. As the young king sought to restore a proper respect for worship to Jehovah, Zephaniah preached a message of fearless allegiance to the one true God. He warned the people of the scope of God’s judgment upon their hypocrisy to worship the Lord, but also swear allegiance to pagan gods. The land festered with the stench of godless worship of Baal, Milcom, Ashtoreth, and Chemosh. Idolatrous priests fed the hearts of the people the dung of wickedness to worship the host of heaven on the housetops, swearing oaths by the Lord, but who also swore by their carved images. The pretensions of swearing allegiance to the Lord assuaged the consciousness of the people. Their hypocrisy was evident when they turned back from following the Lord to swear by their idols. They tried to live in both the world of righteousness and the world of unrighteousness. Their hypocrisy led to their destruction.

Worshipping God with one foot in the world and one foot in what is perceived as religion is the common thread for many in the world. With a pretense of spirituality, people will extol the virtues of religion as a part of their lives while basking in the carnality of the world. They fill churches on Sunday and bars and nightclubs on the weekend. For many, life is about living to the extreme, mixing in a little ‘God’ occasionally to soothe the conscience. Serving the Lord is never required because commandment-keeping is viewed with disdain. Like those in the days of Zephaniah, worship is given to the Lord at the same time as pledging oaths to the gods of the world. There are no idols to fall down to because the lives of the ungodly dwell in the temples of pleasure, wealth, and immorality.

Jesus died to open a way of salvation for sinful man to be redeemed. The path to eternal life is a singular, narrow road. Most, according to Jesus, prefer the broad way, where they can worship God while still maintaining allegiance to the gods of the world. God remains a jealous God. He demands complete allegiance and loyalty. It is impossible to serve God and the mammon of the world. When men try to serve God and the gods of the world, they serve Satan. The story of Israel’s downfall declares that God will not accept a divided heart. There are no divided loyalties. Either a person worships God wholly, or they do not worship Him at all.

To follow after “Milcom” is to follow the appeals of the carnal nature and will end in destruction. No man can give his heart to God and allow the trappings of the world to guide his heart. There must be a declaration of either serving God fully or accepting the rule of Satan. Righteousness has no fellowship with unrighteousness. The only hope of eternal life is found in being separate from the world. Serve God and serve Him alone.

The altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down and pulverized there, and threw their dust into the Brook Kidron. Then the king defiled the high places that were east of Jerusalem, which were on the south of the Mount of Corruption, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built for Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for Chemosh the abomination of the Moabites, and for Milcom the abomination of the people of Ammon. And he broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the wooden images, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover, the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he broke down; and he burned the high place and crushed it to powder, and burned the wooden image. (2 Kings 23:12-15)

Getting Rid Of The Past

Idolatry was the downfall of Israel. God warned His people that if they turned their hearts to idols, He would punish them. The history of Israel began in a world filled with idolatry. Four hundred years of Egyptian influence could never be taken out of their hearts. While Moses was on the mountain receiving the law from the Lord, Aaron led the people in idolatry and the worship of a golden calf. The Lord warned the Hebrews to remove every idol and place of pagan worship when they entered the promised land, but they refused. Instead of purging the land, they slowly embraced the culture and idolatry of Baal, Molech, and Ashtoreth.

The wives of Solomon turned his heart away from the Lord. He loved many foreign women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. God commanded His people to remain pure from the defilement of the foreign nations, so they would not follow other gods. Solomon’s heart did not remain loyal to the Lord. The king built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on a hill east of Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the people of Ammon. More than three hundred years later, the same places of idol worship remained. When Josiah became king of Judah, he broke in pieces the places of idol worship to Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Milcom. Many of the idols and pagan places of worship remained from the time of Jeroboam, three hundred years earlier, through the reigns of kings such as Ahaz (100 years) and Manasseh (50 years).

The remarkable story in the history of God’s people is in the midst of a nation governed by the Law of Moses; idolatry filled the land. What happened to the holy nation of God was that the people worshiped the Lord and swore oaths to His name, but they also worshipped and swore oaths to the pagan gods like Milcom, Baal, Ashtoreth, and Chemosh. They tried to keep both feet in the kingdom of the Lord and the kingdom of the world. Their citizenship was a dual residency that allowed them to go through the motions of worship to the Lord God, but enjoy the fruits of the immorality of pagan worship. What Josiah discovered was that this had been the pattern for hundreds of years as the people embraced the idolatry of their ancestors. Instead of getting rid of the past, the people welcomed it.

Israel would be destroyed as they sank deeper into idolatry and turned away from God. Jesus would later remind the disciples that it is impossible to serve two masters. Israel tried to serve the Lord and keep the idols for hundreds of years to placate their carnal desires. In time, the people loved pagan worship more than the Lord. The result was seventy years of bondage in Babylon and the final destruction of Israel in 70 A.D. That old-time religion of idolatry caught up the Jews, and they paid the ultimate price of betrayal. God demands complete obedience and loyalty. What Josiah found was hundreds of years of people trying to mix righteousness with unrighteousness. He took the only course needed: to destroy the places of idolatry.

The lessons of Israel are given to remind the people of God of the dangers of keeping a righteous heart with an unrighteous mind. There is no compatibility with light and darkness, good and evil, believers with unbelievers, and Christ with the carnal nature of the world. What God wants of His people is for them to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse world. He does not want them to be like the world. There is a need for separation from the things of the world. For three hundred years, the people allowed the pagan places to remain, and it corrupted their hearts. The church needs men and women like Josiah who will see the dangers of compatibility with the world and have the courage to remain separate. Tear down the places of idolatry that hinder the influence of the church. Stand for truth.

And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. (1 John 5:11)

The Testimony Of God

Two things witness or testify to the sovereign grace of the Lord God. By His grace, God allows man to come into His presence and to dwell with him. The promise of eternal life is granted to all who are in Jesus Christ. God saved sinful man because of His love, not because of the worth of man. God’s grace promises eternal life. The love of God sent His only begotten Son into the world to save man from the wrath of God. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, the scheme of God’s redemptive love unfolded throughout the generations until the day Christ came into the world. The death of Jesus was not the end but the beginning. Through the resurrection, eternal life was guaranteed. The only way, truth, and life was found in Jesus Christ.

One of the amazing joys of being in Christ is the promise of eternal life. God does not lie. When He promised eternal life, it was a witness to God’s character. He is not like the human heart, which may promise something and be unable to fulfill it. Eternal life is not a maybe, a chance encounter, or a dimly lit hope of possibilities if the stars align properly. Everyone who bears the name of Christ through His blood will share in the promise of eternal life. Knowing one is saved is not a guess but a fact. Believing in God’s promise assures the heart that eternal life is real. Being in Christ confirms the promise of eternal life because there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ.

Satan challenges the hearts of God’s people to view the Lord as a harsh task master demanding impossible things. The devil goes after the hearts of God’s people to make them doubt their salvation. Using the language of Ashdod, Satan weakens the spirits of the faithful to look at the promises of God as tenuous, empty, and void. Nothing is further from the truth. God assures His children of the hope of Heaven because that is His testimony and witness. The character of God does not allow for vacillating hopes built on lies, but for the blessed assurance that eternal life is real. God’s testimony is founded upon the promise of eternal life, which He has given to all who will obey Him. That promise is founded upon the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. The resurrection was not just an event but the eternal affirmation of the promise of eternal life.

Sometimes people doubt if they are good enough to go to Heaven. The answer is a resounding no, and that is why the grace of God is so great. God promised eternal life to the faithful, and the faithful must embrace that promise as true. Jesus Christ died for the sins of the world to affirm God’s promise as the reason for the hope that resides in the hearts of the faithful. There is a confident hope in the promise of God that motivates the heart of the Christian to look with joy to death as the entrance into eternal life. There is no fear of death because it becomes the portal through which eternal life is realized. For all those who are in Jesus Christ, there is no fading hope of salvation or a possibility that someone would be so lucky. It is a firm testimony to the nature of God’s grace to know without a shadow of doubt that the promises of God are true.

Heaven is real. Hope is real. The promises of God are true. Salvation in Christ is where truth resides. Every Christian who is serving the Lord with all faithfulness must realize the wonderful promise of God – Heaven can and will be attained. Live each day with the testimony of God and the presence of Jesus Christ as real. Hope for eternal life. It is a thing to be grasped. What a joy to know the testimony of Jehovah God.