The Heaton File

And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. (Mark 16:20)

The Early Church Followed The Commission Of Jesus

When Jesus returned to His Father after the resurrection, twelve men took up the mantle of preaching the gospel to the world and established the work of the kingdom. It was a daunting task. The Holy Spirit guided the apostles into all truth. Thousands of people became disciples of Jesus Christ as the church grew in number and the spirit of God. Luke wrote two books describing the life of Jesus, His final commission, and the fulfillment of the will of God in establishing the church of Christ. Jesus left instructions on the foundation of what would become a kingdom that would never be shaken, that continues until the end of time.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke included in their gospels the commission of Jesus to the eleven. Each writer shows how the kingdom of God would bring salvation to the world. Matthew shows that Jesus was given all authority in heaven and on earth. The eleven were told to make disciples of every nation, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. One of the foundations of the early church was the pattern of continued teaching, which was necessary to follow the pattern given by God. It was necessary to teach the first disciples to observe all that Jesus commanded.

Luke describes the appearance of Jesus to the eleven when the Lord dines with them, eating a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. He reminds the eleven of the words He spoke to them before His death that all things had to be fulfilled with were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning the Son of God. Jesus explained that He needed to suffer and rise from the dead on the third day so that repentance and remission of sins could be preached in His name to all nations. The kingdom of God would be established in the city of Jerusalem when the promise of the Father would be upon the eleven to endow them with power from on high.

Mark concluded his gospel with the wonder-working, powerful message of the gospel of Christ. The eleven struggled to understand what was happening after the death of Jesus. The Lord rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart. He tells them to go into all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. The teaching of the gospel was the powerful message of grace that everyone who believed Jesus was the Son of God and was baptized would be saved. Those who did not believe Jesus was God’s Son would die in their sins. If a man did not believe, they would be condemned. Jesus further tells the eleven that signs will follow them, proving their message is of divine origin. Signs would follow those who believe. For example, demons would be cast out, disciples would speak in new tongues, and no harm would come to them through the power of the Holy Spirit. Serpents would not kill them or harm them if they were given poison. The sick will be healed. Great signs will follow those who believe and obey the gospel.

Mark wrote his gospel nearly thirty years after the death of Jesus. During that time, the words of Jesus were fulfilled. After Jesus was received up into heaven, the disciples went out and preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the whole world. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Lord worked with them, confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Luke confirms the story of Mark with his gospel called the Acts of the Apostles. Reading the book of Acts confirms that the early church taught the pattern of the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The first-century church followed the pattern Jesus Christ gave and expressed by the Holy Spirit.

Today, the Bible contains everything a man needs to obey the will of God. Jesus left instructions on what must be taught and the manner of confirming the word as divine. Paul would later describe how that revelation was given to men to read and understand the will of God. It is imperative that all men see what is necessary for salvation. Faith comes from hearing the word of God. There will be no excuse for those who refuse to obey the gospel of Christ. He who believes and is baptized will be saved. Those who refuse to believe and act upon the grace of God will be lost.

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)

The Refreshing Joy Of Repentance

The Ford Motor Company is the fifth largest automobile company in the world, worth more than $158 billion. Henry Ford founded his company in 1903 after going broke five times and numerous failures. Ford is quoted as saying, “Failure is the opportunity to begin anew, more intelligently.” While this is a good motto for succeeding in life, it is especially helpful in helping the Christian run the race pitted against the adversary, the devil. Sin is a failure, and all men sin, falling short of the glory of God. Jesus lived a sinless life, and even the best of men cannot come close to living a sinless life. All men are failures in the spiritual world.

The proper view of sin is to know it can be harnessed by the power of God if the soul is willing. God knows the nature of man to sin and has offered a way of escape. Sin does not have to have dominion over the soul. The object of life is not to be sinless but to sin less; and this can be done by the grace of God. David sinned when he committed adultery with Bathsheba, got her husband drunk, and then had him killed. When Nathan, the prophet, came to David to expose his sin, David’s heart was filled with godly sorrow, and he changed his life. What David did was to fail his God. His failure would haunt him for the rest of his life, but it did not destroy him.

David used his failure as an opportunity to grow closer to God. Reading Psalms 32 and 51, David wrote about his sin, reflecting on a man seeking to be a better person before God. He understood the reasons for his failure. From that understanding, he developed a deeper knowledge of God’s word to help him in the future. When we face the battles against the devil, we will occasionally fail. The greater failure is if we do not learn from our sin to find out why we sinned, how we sinned, what led up to our sin, and how to avert the sin in the future.

Sin is a transgression of the law of God. When we sin, we break God’s law. We have greater faith when we learn from our sins to be more faithful in the future. That is true success. If we were tempted in one area of our life, we should change that so the temptation will not come again. That is learning from our “failures” to be a better person. Sin is terrible, but it can be instructive. When Satan wins a small battle in our lives, he wins a victory. Learning from that experience will help us not be fooled by the devil the next time.

The challenge of the human heart is how to overcome failure. God desires men to repent and change their lives to find the joy of forgiveness in the grace of God. The Lord is not willing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. He will blot out sin and wipe it away because He is a loving and forgiving God. The goal is to learn from the mistakes leading up to sin and become stronger to overcome sin. It is possible to resist the devil and make him run away. When the heart has been forgiven, the joy of coming in the presence of the Lord is realized. Sin will have its way in men’s hearts, but God’s grace will overcome sin to find times of refreshing in the presence of God.

Do your utmost to come before winter. Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. (2 Timothy 4:21)

Four Unknowns And A Pope

Pope Leo XIV becomes the 267^th (or 268^th) Pope according to the Roman Catholic Church. According to Catholic doctrine, the apostle Peter was the first Pope. Nothing in the Bible suggests Peter was the head of the church, considering his fellow apostle Paul wrote that Jesus Christ was the head of the church. Peter was married and had children according to the Bible. The Catholic church ignores the absence of any proof of the papacy in the Holy Spirit inspired word of God. Taking the title of “Papa” or “Father” is contrary to the teaching of Jesus, who forbade such titles (again ignored). One of the most egregious errors of the Catholic church is the teaching that the second Pope of the church was a man named Linus. Supposedly, Peter gave the ordination of the papacy to a successor named Linus.

The Bible is the clearest book written. Many occasions illustrate the surgical precision of the language of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God and thus has the power to know how to frame the language of scripture that all men can read and understand the word of God. He does not leave vague wordings of eternal significance that men must interpret on their own and conclude within the teaching of human wisdom. It should be significant that the Bible never mentions Peter as Pope or hints at a papacy. The only mention of a Linus in scripture is in Paul’s second letter to Timothy. Near the end of his letter, he seeks Timothy’s help to have him come to him before winter. Paul is in a Roman prison and will be executed soon. He knows his life is short.

In the closing remarks to Timothy, Paul extends greetings from brethren that are with him, including Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren. How the Roman Catholic church gets a Pope out of this verse is a confounding mystery. The defense given by the Catholics is that the proof comes from sources outside the Holy Scripture. If the Pope were to be the head of the church and take on the role of absolute authority as “God on earth,” why did the Holy Spirit leave out the reference of Peter and Linus as heads of the Roman Catholic Church? Nothing is known of Linus. He is mentioned once in scripture without any clarification. The Holy Spirit (who is God) knew who Linus was, and yet, absent from the Holy Scripture is any reference to Linus being anyone but a companion of Paul (not Peter).

The Roman Catholic Church makes declarations that are to be accepted as true because the Roman Catholic Church makes a declaration that it determines as truth. This flies in the face of God’s authority in scripture. The litmus test is as simple as “show me in the Bible where any reference to the papacy is found.” More than a billion people accept the word of the Roman Catholic Church over the words of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit warned of the apostasy that would come, and the Roman Catholic Church is the fulfillment of the words of the Holy Spirit. Someone has said the Roman Catholic Church is the “mother of apostasy and the Protestant churches are her illegitimate children.”

There is one truth, which is established in the word of the Holy Spirit. No man can take the role of Pope and be found pleasing in the eyes of God. Changing the words of the Holy Spirit is an abomination to the character and nature of a Holy God. Paul warned the saints of Galatia that to heed the words of an angel, that is a different gospel, is an anathema. Every man has the divine responsibility to follow the words of the Bible and nothing else. Eternity depends upon that authority.

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9)

Bound For Hell

An adversary is an opponent who is an arch enemy. The Bible begins with the knowledge of God and immediately tells the story of the interference of Satan. There is no time lost for the adversary of the world to find a way to destroy what God has created. Adam and Eve were placed in the garden with the ability to make moral choices. God placed the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil in the midst of the garden. Adam and Eve were fully aware of the presence of the two trees and their purpose. God has specifically told them not to eat of the forbidden fruit, but Satan changed that. Deceiving Eve into believing she could be like God, sin came into the world.

Satan was not finished. After Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden, men began to multiply upon the face of the earth. As the number of descendants of Adam and Eve increased, so did sin. By the days of Noah, the world was fully enveloped in moral decadence, and God had decided to kill everyone on earth except Noah and his family. The flood did not cure the sin problem. Through the seed of Abraham, God raised up the nation of Israel. Satan was not finished. He was able to destroy the nation of God as kings rose who served the idols of human wisdom. God brought foreign nations against His people to destroy them and take them into captivity. Humanity had no answer to the serpent of old and his wiles and deceptive ways.

Jesus came into the world to deal a final blow against the serpent of old. Satan tried to kill Jesus when Herod sent his troops into Bethlehem, but he should have known better. The Son of God had taken on human form, and the devil pressed hard against Jesus for thirty years to tempt the Son of God with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. When Jesus began His ministry, Satan made a bold attempt to thwart the divine plan to save man, and Jesus would have none of it. He rebuked Satan and demanded that he leave. Satan did, but he was not finished. The deceiver of the world threw all his resources against the ministry of Jesus. Satan knew he could not tempt Jesus, but he knew he could kill the Son of God.

At the end of a nearly three-year ministry of teaching the will of the Father, Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested, tried and convicted, and nailed to a cross. Some of the most remarkable words in scripture are those where Jesus breathed His last. God breathed His last. Satan was elated that he had killed the Son of God. The impossible had been done. Jesus was dead. And then – Sunday morning came. God raised Jesus from the dead. Satan learned that his fate was sealed, and his destiny secured. Hell had been prepared before the foundation of the world for Satan and his angels, and now their ticket had been punched for eternal occupancy.

The great dragon found the divine judgment of God with the damning verdict of eternal fire. Jesus is Lord of Lords and King of Kings, triumphant over the Devil. Satan lost his final battle. He will continue to deceive the world and take most people with him to the horrors of eternal torment, but he is finished. The devil bruised the heel of Jesus in crucifixion, but Jesus bruised the head of Satan in the resurrection. There is no greater power than Jesus Christ. Satan has been limited in his power. His destiny is sealed. The great dragon is cast out. His power can be overcome through the grace of God. The gospel of two declares that men serve either God or Satan. There are only two choices in eternity. Jesus said most people will go to Hell and only the few will find eternal life. One thing is certain: Satan is going to Hell forever. Praise God.

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7)

He Cares

The world can be a cruel place. Sin took the joyful heart of peace and harmony away when Adam and Eve hid in fear at the presence of God. After being cast out of the garden, Adam and Eve faced an uncertain world as the only two people on earth. It would take years for the world population to grow, and again, sin destroyed the world. In the days of Noah, God killed every human being except the eight who were in the ark. The flood did not solve the ‘sin problem’, but it did establish a lesson that God cares about His creation. His care was his disappointment that humanity had become so vile and wicked. That same care instructed Noah to build an ark for the saving of his household. In a dark world overcome by sin, Noah knew that God cared for him.

There has never been a nation like Israel. God raised His people from the heritage of Abraham to be His own chosen people, a holy nation, a peculiar people devoted to Him alone. He did not forget them when they suffered in Egypt. He delivered them from themselves in the wilderness, and He raised up a great nation so the world could see His glory. God cared for the Hebrews to deliver them from Egypt. During the forty years of wilderness wanderings, the people never lacked for food and clothing. Except for their rebellion at Kadesh-Barnea, Israel defeated all the enemies that came against the people of God because God cared for them.

Joshua took the nation of Israel into Canaan and conquered the land in about seven years. God continually showed His power to the Israelites because He wanted them to know He cared for them. He blessed them and delivered them from their enemies. It was Israel who turned away from God; not God who turned away from Israel. God would reject the nation of Israel because they turned away from Him, but God still cared for them. He sent His only begotten Son into the world to lead His people back to Him. They killed Jesus, but God still cared for them. Jesus prayed for the Father to forgive those who were killing Him.

The central theme of the gospel is that God cares for the world. Jesus is the expression of His care. There is no greater love than for a man to give his life for another. God gave His Son to die to show how much He cared for a world filled with sin and rebellion. When men seek peace and happiness from human wisdom, they fail. There can be no joy if a man refuses to humble himself before God and seek His love and counsel. Man is not the author of his salvation. There is nothing in the mind of man that can create a world of happiness apart from God. True peace comes only when the heart of man humbles itself under the mighty hand of God.

When a man humbles himself, he is exalted before the presence of God. Humility requires giving everything to God and letting Him guide the heart, soul, and mind. It seems counterintuitive to become low to rise up, but humility is the beginning character of being exalted. The only way to be accepted by God is to acknowledge how great the Lord is and to submit the soul to the will of the Father. Then, and only then, will one learn how much God cares for him. The care of God is the expression of God to those who humble themselves before Him. He cares and can provide everything the soul needs. God will punish those who reject Him, but He will embrace near to His heart those who humble themselves and obey Him – because He cares for them.

The message is clear: God cares for you. He has provided everything you need to find joy and peace. Jesus Christ is the divine revelation of God’s care. There is no other place you will find the answers to life and death. The Bible is the mind of God revealed to man to know how much God cares for them. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He will exalt you when you cast all your cares upon Him. Can you trust God? You can trust God because He cares for you like no other.

Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” (James 4:13-15)

Living In The Shadow Of The Last Hour

The brevity of life and the suddenness of death are part of the fabric of life. Everyone knows about death and how often it comes with an abrupt unexpectedness without warning. There is no denying death. No one knows when they will die. It comes like a thief in the night with a final swipe that can never be changed. Sometimes, because of illness, a time period is given for a person to live, and death is certain. If a tally is taken of those who die in one day, what percentage of those who died believed when they woke in the morning, they would be experiencing their final days on earth?

God has told us death is certain. He reminds us there will be no declaration of warning when death approaches. Jesus taught the need to watch and pray, for no one knows the hour of their final breath. The key to living is preparing each day as if it were the last; because one day it will. There is a truth that must guard the heart to know that life is short and will suddenly be taken away. The condition in which a man finds himself at the moment of death is the greatest secret yet to be revealed. That decision determines what happens after death because there is life after death.

Jonathan Edwards, one of the great preachers of early American history, once made this resolution: “Resolved, never to do anything, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of life.” Edwards understood the need to prepare for an inevitable day that comes without warning. It is an important part of the Christian character to always live in such a manner that while death may be without warning, there is nothing warranting concern as one has lived the best he can for the Lord. Every action of life is with eternity in mind. Each decision that is made has eternal consequences wrapped around it. Jesus said a faithful and wise servant always watches for the final day without regret.

God has given man everything he needs to live with the hope of eternal life in his heart. The preparedness of the soul steeped in the mesh of God’s words is a life living each day prepared. With each sunrise, the resolution of the day is to live that if it were the final day of life, it would be for the glory of God. Make each day count as if it were the last day. One day, Jesus will return. It will be without warning. There will be many who will be unprepared for death or the coming of Jesus, but do not let your life be wasted by not being prepared. There is time to prepare. Make your life right with God. Enjoy the mercy and grace of God because of His long-suffering. There’s a great day coming. Live for Jesus.

But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. (Hebrews 11:16)

The Greatest Desire

Life can be filled with many challenges that overwhelm the heart. Disease, death, loss, and uncertainty are not uncommon. Time marches on without relief. It matters little how man tries to retain youth and vigor; age diminishes the body and mind. Many have tried to find ways to cheat death, prolong years, and maintain vibrant youth in aging bodies with no success. God has determined the habitation of man’s existence. That will never change. Adam and Eve were created as failed creatures that would die. The reason death reigns on the earth is because sin removed man from the Tree of Life. Science may have given answers to why the body decays and dies, but men still suffer disease and death.

The soul of man can become discouraged by the overwhelming burdens of life. Throughout history, the world has tried to find answers to cope with the challenges of life. Some seek refuge in pleasures, drugs, and alcohol. Many believe wealth will bring them happiness. A man will go through numerous marriages seeking fulfillment and finding none. Denying the trials of life will not remove the burden. What can man do to find peace and happiness in this world? The answer lies in the promises of God in another world, a place beyond the vale of death. Hope comes when the heart of man turns his desire to eternal things.

Sin changed the world to be a place of suffering and loss. God sent His Son to offer the world an answer to find peace and joy. People of God have a different view of life because of the promises of God. When a man comes to know God and understands life’s challenges in view of God’s eternal plan, he finds a peace that passes all understanding. What happens in the heart of those who trust in the Lord is a desire to live in a heavenly country. The eye of faith no longer seeks fulfillment in this life, but the joys of eternal life yet realized. A desire to serve God, to be found pleasing before Him, and to receive an eternal reward promised by a loving Father is how the heart is changed.

The nature of a godly person is the firm desire to live in a better world. Finding a better world cannot be done in this life. Pleasures, wealth, and wisdom never last and can never bring true joy. When the heart turns to God, seeking an eternal home, life becomes a trial of joy. The heart desires to live in a better place, that is, a heavenly country. There is a city prepared by God to receive those who change their desire from this world to eternal life. Desiring a better world brings change in the life of the child of God. To desire a better world is to live so as to be found pleasing before the Lord. Faith motivates the heart to seek the will of the Father. Then, and only then, can life be viewed in its proper form. Life is short, but eternity is forever. Our desire should, first and foremost, be found faithful so that we can enjoy the desire to leave this world for our heavenly home. Where is your desire? What makes you full of joy? Don’t let the trinkets of this world take your heart away from God. He has prepared a place – a city – for you. Desire it. Long for it. Live for it.

Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)

The Narrow Path And The Broad Way

Jesus did not mince words. His sermon on the mountain was a radical change from the teachings of the Jewish leaders who soft-pedaled God’s word, imposing their own rules of righteousness. The Lord was speaking to a Jewish crowd, telling them truths that were not new but needed to be reminded in the hearts of the people who had grown callous to preaching that would convict. Jesus did not offer any path to salvation other than the one in which the Father always revealed through His word. The world is made up of those who are seeking eternal life and those who are seeking worldly pleasures. What made the teaching of Jesus extreme in the crowd’s minds was how He concluded that most people would never see eternal life.

The world does not accept the idea that most will not be saved. There is a feeling that all who die rest in peace (RIP) and are in Heaven. The greater part of the world rejects the concept of Hell as too harsh and cruel, and a loving God would never consider such a thing. With Hell out of the way, everyone will enjoy an afterlife in one form or another. It does not matter how a person lives. Having a belief in God helps but is not necessary. If a person is a good person, they receive special treatment from the Lord. Religious people are guaranteed a place in eternity with God. Those who are left behind view their loved ones as angels in Heaven waiting for other family members to join them for a grand eternal family reunion.

Jesus said there was a narrow path and a broad way. Entering the narrow path requires a narrow gate. The way of the narrow path is difficult. It is not an easy life. The way is hard which leads to eternal life. There is no easy course to follow if one is seeking eternal life. It is not given to everyone. Jesus says that because the narrow path is difficult, which leads to life, few people will find it. If few find eternal life, most find eternal destruction. The reason that most people will be lost is because the way is wide and broad. It is the easy path of life filled with pleasures. There is no accountability because those on the broad path live according to their rules. The broad way is the path of least resistance.

When the Father sent His Son to save mankind, He instructed how men should be saved. What Jesus taught in the mountain sermon was what the Father had told the Son. God will not save everyone. In fact, God will not save most of the world because they refuse to acknowledge Him as Sovereign Lord and Almighty God. False religions permeate the world. Worldliness with carnality is the joy of the masses. The world aims to satisfy self. Most people do not believe in an afterlife, and those who do – believe that everyone goes to Heaven. Nothing is further from the truth. Satan has done a masterful job of convincing people not to fear God. Ironically, Satan is not against anyone believing in God. The devil allows many to accept there is a God, but he persuades them that they are okay and God would never punish anyone. Jesus said Satan is the father of lies. Satan is true to his word to be the father of lies.

There is sadness in Jesus’ message. If one takes a moment to survey the world around them, the startling truth emerges that most people are lost. What that means in reality is that most people will go to Hell. That is the greatest tragedy of the human story. God gives everything man needs to save himself, and most of the world is not interested. Jesus taught that there is a narrow way and a broad way. Everyone is on one of these paths. The gospel of two eliminates other options. You are on a path. The narrow way leads to life. Taking the broad way leads to destruction. Jesus said that. Believe it. It’s real.