Do you know Jesus? Which one? Many have come throughout history stating they were the promised Messiah. Even today we see men claim they are the Christ.
But there is only one Jesus, and if you don't know the right one, I'll be frank with you: the Bible says you are going to the lake of fire for all eternity after a temporary stopover in hell.
Fire and brimstone
Fire and brimstone preaching has fallen by the wayside and has been trampled underfoot. In its stead is the diluted, soft-sell, feel good message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, a gospel that is not the gospel and rarely saves. The hearts of many have waxed cold, their ears have been tickled with fanciful stories and decidedly wrong interpretations of God's word, and their sins have been downplayed with faulty reasoning from the pulpit.
But God will not be mocked. Judgment is on the land. Extreme judgment lies ahead. I will not tickle your ears or offer you a soft-sell message that distorts God's word, but rather speak the truth in a spirit of love as God has commanded.
"As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man" (Matthew 24:37-39, NIV).
False prophets abound today. They preach there is no hell, no condemnation, no penalty for sin, no resurrection of the dead. Some preach that Jesus was not God, thereby denying the core tenet of the faith.
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves" (Matthew 7:15, NIV).
They preach and teach another gospel which is not the gospel (Galatians 1:6-9, NIV). They preach the absence of sin, the health and wealth gospel, and line their pockets with filthy lucre. Their damnation is sure, for they have led the flock to the eternal pit. Their condemnation is just.
What Jesus?
Various religions such as Islam recognize Jesus as a prophet or simply a good teacher. Unfortunately, they deny His divinity, that He is God manifested in the flesh, the exact representation of the Father.
Consider this: a prophet who does not relate the truth is supposed to be stoned to death. This is why the Jews of the ancient world sought to kill Jesus, for He healed and forgave sins, acts only God could perform. But the Jews refused to believe the truth like many have in the past and who continue to refuse to hear the truth. Their condemnation is also sure and just.
Jesus was also a teacher or a Rabbi and cleared up the false interpretations of God's word that the Pharisees and Sadducees had. much to their collective chagrin.
Now if Jesus is not God, then He is a liar or He is crazy. We might excuse crazy, but false prophets must be stoned to death. Nowadays they proliferate as the blind leading the blind. They possess the spirit of the antichrist like all unbelievers. Their condemnation is also sure and just.
The real Jesus Christ
Jesus has existed outside of time before the creation. Jesus is God. He was with God the Father in the beginning (Genesis 1:26). He came to this earth in the form of a Man, the God/Man, a mystery yet to be revealed to our limited minds.
Many deny Christ Jesus because they refuse to believe in the resurrection of the dead. But Jesus not only suffered as a man inasmuch as He hungered and thirsted, but He suffered horribly on the cross, remaining obedient even unto death, as prophesized by the prophets and the law centuries previous.
He rose again after three days and appeared to over 500 men. False teachers say he was merely a ghost, but Jesus ate and had flesh and bones!
We read about hen Jesus appeared: "They (the Disciples) were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have.”
When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” They gave him a piece of broiled fish, and he took it and ate it in their presence" (Luke 24:37-43, NIV).
Jesus is alive! He is God. He is coming again to judge the world's inhabitants. Trust in Him today and be saved!
Repent!
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord" (Acts 3:19, NIV).
Confess and believe!
"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved" (Romans 10:9-10, NIV).
Be a disciple!
"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels" (Mark 8:34-38, NIV).
Persevere!
"I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown" (Revelation 3:11).
The consequences of unbelief
Do not be misled. Hell and the second, eternal death awaits unbelievers.
"Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire" (Revelation 20:11-15, NIV).
