“He who is often rebuked and hardens his neck, will suddenly be destroyed and that without remedy.” –Proverbs 29:1
I would like to begin this week’s episode of this column by asking that the Lord give us revelation and understanding from this simple scripture. You may have heard about Jesus Christ. God, perhaps, has been sending people to preach to you about His kingdom, asking you to embrace the true way, but you have refused. Through this column, He is telling you again about the same Jesus. Somehow, each time you hear about Jesus, you do not take it seriously. You feel it is just one of those talks. That is not new. I also did all that. I did not like Church people. I thought they were hypocrites, and not real people. Often, I wondered who they thought they were. What makes them think they are better? But there comes a time when you sit down and take stock of your life.
Proverbs 29 verse 1 says that he who is always being warned and yet hardens his neck will suddenly be destroyed and that’s without remedy. The thing about hell is that once you are there, there is nowhere else to go. Hell is forever. That is frightening. It is not like prison sentence that you serve for some years and come out. The Bible says when you are told about God and you refuse, you will be destroyed.
Hell is destruction. Once that destruction starts, there is no way out. There is no repentance in hell. There is no way anybody can rescue you. You can be rescued before you die; but not after death. That is why I am telling you: Please, do not harden your heart. Do not be stiff-necked. Do not say: this is all rubbish. This is not said to frighten you, but the truth is that heaven and hell are real.
You are a three-part human being – you have a spirit, a soul and you live in a body. The body is what you see. It is what gives covering to your spirit. Spiritually, we are made in the image and likeness of God. In God, there is neither black nor white. When you are in Christ, your spirit reigns and rules in your life. When you die, your body drops, but your spirit goes to either hell or heaven.
Perhaps you had classmates who are now serving God as pastors, evangelists or ministers in one form or the other. When they began, you probably gave them a few months, thinking they would soon pack it up. But they are still doing the work. And you are still there in your sin, without caring about anything. Your conscience has been deadened. Please, do not get to that point where God cannot make you feel bad about the bad things you do. That is the point the Bible says “God has given them to a reprobate mind.” – a mind that allows them to do what they want to do. Some get so bad that they go into bestiality and homosexuality and explain it.
You do not have to get to that point. No matter how bad you are now, know that bad is bad. Do not call bad good. Do not call sin fun. Sin is death. It is evil. Sin is the work of the devil. It is iniquity. We cannot rule and reign in iniquity and expect God to be happy with us.
God wants to pull us out of iniquity, condemnation, darkness, hell and translate us into the kingdom of His dear Son.
Friends, do not be stiff-necked. Do not be stubborn. It is time to receive the good news that God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
The same old gospel that Apostle Peter and Paul and the other early apostles preached, that is the same gospel I am preaching to you. This is not about religion; it is not about church or anything else, but about Jesus Christ and eternity – about heaven and hell.
I am inviting you to Jesus, the Son of the living God, who gave His life to liberate you from sin and hell. All you need to say is: Thank you, Jesus; I receive the finished work of Calvary. He said it is finished. Do not harden your heart; do not stiffen your neck. Do not ignore God any further. You have ignored Him enough. He is saying to you: I am your Father. I made you in My image to worship Me. I did not make you to be a slave to alcohol or to fornication or to prostitution or gambling or robbery or other forms of immorality. No, I made you in My image so that you can worship Me and praise Me and thank Me for who I am.
Why do you have to keep on living in sin? Sin is horrible. You know what the Bible says? “The way of the transgressor is hard.” God never intended for man to live in sin. It is terrible to live in sin; but it is powerful to live in righteousness. That is why the Bible says that righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach. Once again, do not harden your heart. Do not go after other gods; go after Jesus Christ. Pursue Him, seek Him and you will find Him. Knock, He will open to you. Ask, you will receive. If you cry out, He will reach down and pull you out of the mess that you are in because all power belongs to God.
I urge you to hook on to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What you do with it determines your eternity. Not even the devil can stop you. As you make this important decision to stay with Jesus, you have to pray this prayer:
Let us pray:
Lord Jesus, forgive me. Come into my life; be my Lord. I believe You died for me. I confess You rose from the dead for me and I believe You are coming back for me. I thank You that I am born again. From now on, old things have passed away and all things have become new. Thank You, my Jesus. Amen.
Heaven is rejoicing because of you, if you truly gave your life to Christ. Know that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Three things I tell new believers like you:
1. Get yourself a Bible and begin to read from the book of John.
2. Pray to God in the name of Jesus, He will answer you.
3. Look for a good Bible-believing church where Jesus is preached and taught in spirit and in truth. Begin to grow there, and your life will never be the same.