Let me begin this week’s issue by affirming again that Jesus Christ is Lord. I have been praying and trusting God that this will not just be another write-up, but one that would really lead you to the truth. The whole essence of you reading this is that you do something positive with your life through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Heaven and earth will pass away, but the Word of God is from everlasting to everlasting.
Isaiah 14 verses 9 – 11: “Hell from beneath is excited about you to meet you at your coming. It stirs up the dead for you. All the chief ones of the earth, it has raised up from their thrones all the kings of the nations. They all speak and say: ‘Have you also become as weak as we? Have you become like us? Your pump is brought down to Sheol. And the sound of your stringed instruments, the maggot is spread under you, and the worms cover you.”
The Bible says that hell from beneath is excited about you (but may that not be your portion). It says hell is waiting for you. These days, one hardly hears preachings about hell. People preach about prosperity, healing, deliverance, breakthrough and all kinds of things, but nobody talks about hell. We have to understand that hell is real. Prosperity is nothing. It does not also matter if you are sick to death, but die without Jesus. After salvation, other things will follow. In Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, Jesus says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” When you truly seek God first, every other thing will God give to you – even without asking.
The word of God quoted from the book of Isaiah says, “All the chief ones of the earth” – the millionaires and billionaires, the kings and presidents of the nations – if you are a rich man, Satan is targeting you. You should count yourself blessed not to have been dead by this moment because hell is waiting for you (if you are without Jesus). Hell has a special invitation for you, but you do not have to honour the invitation. You can go to heaven.
However, let this not frighten you because you can be rich. In fact, be the wealthiest, and still make heaven. What is important is that you should not let your wealth deceive you into thinking that you have no need for God. But let us consider again what the scripture says of important people – chiefs, heads of state, presidents, commanders-in-chief, generals, rear admirals, vice marshals, Inspectors-General, business moguls, whatever they may be, the Bible says all the chief ones of the earth, all the kings of the nations, obas, kabiyesis, obis, etc. You may be a top shot or commissioner or minister or chairman or governor or whatever – hell is awaiting your arrival; it is excited about you.
Each time hell looks up and sees them in you in your pomp and ceremony and toughness and wealth, it is happy because you are coming there soon. But you do not have to go there. You do not have to honour that invitation. You may be saying: Well, I am not rich or in that category, so I am not among those that hell is inviting. No, my friend. Hell is a place prepared for everyone, rich or poor, famous or ordinary, who does not know Jesus and has not accepted Him as Lord and Saviour.
As I said above, you do not have to honour that invitation. You can break away from hell now, not tomorrow. Today is your day of salvation. The devil is a liar; he hates your soul and wants to ultimately destroy you in hell. His style is to lure you away from the truth that Jesus is Lord. He will deceive you with the deceitfulness of the world. The devil is wicked. There is a better place for you to go after death. It is called heaven. For this reason, Jesus, the son of God came to the world to redeem mankind from the clutches of Satan. The Bible says He made Himself of no reputation. He stripped Himself of His heavenly glory and became man to die a sacrificial death for us so that when we believe in Him, we do not go to hell. We do not have to honour hell’s invitation because Jesus has made a way for us to go to heaven.
Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to stop us from honouring hell’s invitation. Apart from Jesus, there is no other way out. Jesus says: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man can come to the Father except by Me”. This is powerful and it is true. Every other religious leader was born of man and woman. Jesus was the only one that was born, not of man, but conceived of the Holy Spirit. Every other person that is born of (sinful) man is under the devil. But Jesus has no contamination of the sin nature of man. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of the virgin, Mary. It took a pure man that failed, Adam, to destroy mankind. It has to take a pure man who would not fail to redeem us. That is what Jesus did.
Jesus came to snatch us from the gate of hell and bring us to the presence of God in heaven. I thank God that many years ago, I took this decision to give my life to Christ. I have experienced life in Christ, and I know it is good; and that is why I am asking you to make the same decision. You may have heard this for ten years or fifteen years – all your life, you may have been hearing about Jesus. What I am telling you is not about a church. I am telling you about Jesus Christ of Nazareth who was crucified for our sin. You may be saying to yourself that churches have failed you. Do not look at us, we are human beings; but look at Jesus, He will never fail you. Run to Jesus, He will make a way for you. Do not honour hell’s invitation. Hell is full of presidents and chiefs and rich men and women and tough people. It is also full of ordinary, poor people who did not receive Jesus Christ. They are gone and nothing can be done about them. But you have the opportunity to do something about yourself now that you are still living. You do not have to go to hell. All you need to do to be saved is to receive Jesus into your life. If you make a decision to accept Jesus, then say this simple prayer, meaning every word from your heart:
Father, be merciful unto me a sinner. I am a sinner. Please, forgive me. Lord Jesus, I believe You died for me. I confess on the third day You rose from the dead. Please, come into my life. Be my Lord, be my Saviour, be my Master. From today, I say yes to You. I give my life to You. Thank You. I break every covenant with the devil. From today, I am born-again. Amen.
It is a short prayer, but that is the prayer that God has been waiting for. The Bible says that if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, you will be saved.
If you prayed that prayer, you are now born-again. There are three things I always tell people.
1. Pray in the name of Jesus Christ; He will answer you.
2. Get a Bible – begin to read from the book of John.
3. Look for a good Bible-believing Church and attend. God will bless you.
NB: First published February 2014