They Don't Want to Hear it!

The Bible has an enormous amount of valuable information
in it. Some of the information is historical, some is anecdotal
but there is a large amount of prophecy and wisdom that is so
important we would be foolish to ignore it. But many people do!

How can people ignore the wisdom of the Bible?

Many people consider the Bible to be a book of dead history.

"But you shall speak My words to them
whether they listen or not.."
(Ezekiel 2:7) (New American Standard Bible)

The words written in the Bible came from God. Not just
any God, but Jehovah God. Jehovah had His many prophets
write the words in the Bible for a purpose. That is because
every word that Jehovah utters has a purpose.

10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, 
and do not return to it without watering the earth and
making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for
the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word
that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me
empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve
the purpose for which I sent it.
(Isaiah 55:10-11) (NIV)

The Bible indeed has many words of encouragement and comfort
but it also has numerous warnings for us to heed.

"...the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying...
give them warning from me. "
(Ezekiel 3:16,17) (American Standard Version)

Picking and Choosing

Many members of Christendom only want to hear scriptures
that please them. They do not want to hear "ALL" that God
or His Son said. Many pick and choose the scriptures to soothe
them and make them feel comfortable and complacent. When
other scriptures are presented to them, ones that require action
on their part or suggest that a change is needed - they often get
angry and quickly reject both the scripture and the source.

But Who Are They Hurting?

Only Themselves!

Why?

The answer is simple - by refusing to listen to scriptures where
Christ or his Father gives a warning, the reader has instantly
rejected not only Christ's message but also the originator of
that message - our Heavenly Father, Jehovah God.  

Jesus Said - "...anyone who says 'No' to me
is really saying 'No' - to the one who sent me."
(Luke 10:16) (Contemporary English Version)

"...if you don't accept the trustworthiness of the One who
commanded my words and acts, none of it matters. That is
who you are questioning -not me but the One who sent me."
(John 8:28) (Message Bible)

Jesus said - "There is a lot more I could say to condemn
you. But the one who sent me is truthful, and I tell the
people of this world only what I have heard from him."
(John 8:26) (CEV)

Rejecting the warning scriptures and only clinging to pleasanter
ones will not stop the inevitable from happening.  Yes, whether
they like it or not, a world-wide warning has been given and the
outcome, as given, will truly happen, whether they listen or not. 

What Warning Scriptures?

"In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands
all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will
judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has
given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
(Acts 17:30,31) (NIV)

Many people say, "Judge the world? But my minister says
God loves us just as we are!"

Is that really so?

⁹Don't you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the
Kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual
sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals,
¹⁰thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers--none of
these will have a share in the Kingdom of God.
(1Corinthians 6:9-10) (NIV)

"...he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
by burning them to ashes, and made them an example
of what is going to happen to the ungodly;"
(2Peter 2:6) (NIV)

Our Messiah issued some serious Warnings.

"As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire,
so it will be at the end of the age."
(Matthew 13:40) (NIV)

"I have come to bring fire on the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled!"
(Luke 12:49) (NIV)

"But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down
from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like
this on the day the Son of Man is revealed."
(Luke 17:29-30) (NIV)

"I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom
on the day of judgment than for you."
(Matthew 11:24) (NIV)

But The Messiah was not the only one...

"Just a little while longer, and the wicked ones will be no more;
though you look for them, they will not be found. But the meek
will inherit the earth and enjoy great peace. "
(Psalm 37: 10,11) (NIV)

"For the upright shall dwell in the earth, and the righteous shall
remain in it. But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and
the treacherous shall be rooted out of it."
(Proverbs 2:21,22) (NIV)

17 You make God tired with all your talk. "How do we tire him out?"
you ask. By saying, "God loves sinners and sin alike. God loves all."
And also by saying, "Judgment? God's too nice to judge."
(Malachi 2:17) (Message Bible)

"...This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from
heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will
punish those who do not know God and do not obey the
gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with ever-
lasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he
comes to be glorified."
(2Thessalonians 1:7-10) (NIV)

"...And you will destroy all who have caused
destruction on the earth."
(Revelation 11:18) (New Livinig Translation)

This is fair warning for those who blithely believe that
"God and Jesus loves all of us just as we are!"

How bad will it be? 

“And those slain by Jehovah will certainly come to be in
that day from one end of the earth clear to the other end
of the earth. They will not be bewailed, neither will they be
gathered up or be buried. As manure on the surface of the
ground they will become.”

(Jeremiah 25:33) (Young's Literal Translation)

Along with the warnings come blessings for the righteous.

"Happy are the meek and mild for they will inherit the earth."
(Matthew 5:5) (Amplified Bible)

"We are looking for what God has promised, which are new heavens
and a new earth. Only what is right and good will be there."
(2Peter 3:13) (New Life Version)

CHRIST HAS ALREADY SHOWN
US WHAT HE PLANS TO DO

By resurrecting the dead back to a restored life here on the
earth, Our Savior, God's Son, displayed not only his ability
to resurrect the dead - but also his future intentions.

 ¹⁸ While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt
before him and said, "My daughter has just died. But
come and put your hand on her, and she will live."
¹⁹ Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
²³ When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the
flute players and the noisy crowd, ²⁴ he said, "Go away.
The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at
him. ²⁵ After the crowd had been put outside, he went in
and took the girl by the hand, and she got up. ²⁶ News of
this spread through all that region.
(Matthew 9:18-19,23-26) (New International Version)

The Bible’s prophets wrote about this extraordinary
phenomenon many times thousands of years ago:

"Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake."
(Daniel 12:2) (NIV)

"Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Behold, I will open
your graves, and cause you to come up out of your
graves, O my people; and I will bring you into the land...
And I will put my Spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I
will place you in your own land: and ye shall know that
I, Jehovah, have spoken it and performed it, saith Jehovah."
(Ezekiel 37:12-14) (American Standard Version) 

"Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise. You who lie
in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as
the dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the
departed spirits. "
(Isaiah 26:19) (New American Standard Bible) 

³ And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord Jehovah, thou knowest. ⁴ Again
he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto
them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah. ⁵ Thus
saith the Lord Jehovah unto these bones: Behold, I will
cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live. ⁶ And I
will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you,
and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye
shall live; and ye shall know that I am Jehovah. ⁷ So I
prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied,
there was a noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the
bones came together, bone to its bone. ⁸ And I beheld,
and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up,
and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in
them. ⁹ Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind,
prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the
Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O breath, and
breathe upon these slain, that they may live. ¹⁰ So I
prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet,
an exceeding great army.
(Ezekiel 37:3-10) (ASV)

Under the direction of his Father and using the power
that Jehovah will give him Christ will resurrect many
people back to life right here on the earth.

"Don't be surprised! The time will come when all
of the dead will hear the voice of the Son of
Man, and they will come out of their graves."
(John 5:28) (Contemporary English Version) 

"...just as I have received authority from my Father."
(Revelation 2:28) (NIV)

Even in Christ’s Day - The people recognized
that it was the God of Israel - Jehovah - who
gave His Son His power.

Compromise or
Stand Firm?

Standing Firm for our beliefs is the opposite of "Compromise".

With Pagan Holidays to amuse and distract us, will we STAND FIRM
and show our strength in the purity of Christ's original teachings, or will
we be weak - and compromise with the world?

What pagan holidays? Are Christmas and Easter pagan holidays?  

"It was in the fifth century that the Roman Catholic Church
commanded that the birth of Christ be observed forever on
December 25th, the day of the old Pagan Roman feast of the
birth of Sol, one of the names of their pagan sun-god!"
- Encyclopedia Americana, Vol.6, p.623

"THE BIRTHDAY OF Nimrod, the son of the Babylonian Queen,
was adopted by the Roman Church, giving it the name of
Christ. This tendency on the part of the apostate Church of Rome,
to compromise and meet paganism half-way was very early
developed."
-The Two Babylons; pg. 93
Alexander Hislop

The Early Christians were STRONG in their faith
and they REFUSED to Compromise.

"All men will hate you because of me, but he who
STANDS FIRM to the end will be saved. At that
time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds
with great power and glory."
(Mark 13:13,26) (New International Version)

Yes, True followers of Christ - always refuse to compromise.

²⁴ "No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one
and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise
the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
(Matthew 6:24) (NIV)

The early Christians were hated by the world around them,
for their refusal to compromise with the Roman world.
They were considered unpatriotic and anti-social while
the Roman world was deep into the frivolity of Saturnalia
Winter Celebration on December 25^th. For this they were
despised.

"But what makes you Christian people so offensive
is your stubbornness. You are antisocial snobs.
You will not show proper respect for our festivals."
--- Glimpses Issue #139 :
Why Early Christians Were So Despised;
Ken Curtis PH.D., Beth Jacobson,
Diana Severance Ph.D.,
Ann T. Snyder and Dan Graves. ©2003
by Christian History Institute.
"The Octavius of Minicius Felix"
2nd century A.D.

From: http://chi.gospelcom.net/GLIMPSEF/glmpstt.shtml

"We Christians neither cover our doorposts with wreaths,
nor... decorate our house like some new brothel. We...
do NOT celebrate along with you the holidays...
The pagan Romans clad their doorposts with green
and branching laurels... In the Saturnalia... Presents
come and go... There are... gifts... and Banquets...
yet Christians should have no acquaintance with
the festivals of the pagans."
- Tertullian, (A.D. 155-220),
quoted by David Bercot,
A Dictionary of Early
Christian Beliefs, 1998, p. 342).

What about birthday celebration?

"the earliest Christians simply were NOT interested
in celebrating the Nativity. They 'viewed birthday
celebrations as heathen'. The third-century church
father - Origen had declared it a sin to even think
of keeping Christ's birthday 'as though he were a
king pharoah'."
- December 23,1996 issue of
US News & World Report

"Christians of the first century did not celebrate the festival
honoring the birth of Jesus - for the same reason they honored
no other birthday anniversary. It was the feeling at that
time by all Christians that the celebration of all birthdays (even
the Lord's) was a custom of the pagans."
- Dr. John C. McCollister's
The Christian Book of Why

"Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God?
Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to
please men, I would NOT be a servant of Christ."
(Galatians 1:10) (NIV)

"You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with
the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be
a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."
(James 4:4) (NIV)

The Power of Prayer

Most of the people in this world follow a religion
and in many religions is a provision for communicating
with a deity. Christendom, especially Catholicism,
promotes the idea that mindless repetition of the
Lord’s Prayer is the accepted way to pray to their
nameless lord and that is exactly what they do. A lot!
This is not really what Jehovah, the true God, wants
from us. To worship Jehovah properly we need to
pray to our Heavenly Father, but not repetitiously.
After all, how would we like it if people came up to
us and muttered the same phrases to us over and over?

"But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:
for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
(Matthew 6:7) (King James Version)

People around the world love to pray repetitiously to their false
gods, so we should want to avoid being like them. When Christ
gave us the "Lord’s prayer", he made it plain that it was a guide
to go by:

"Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth
what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
(Matthew 6:8) (King James Version)

What else do we need to know?

A lot more than the bumbling preachers of Christendom teach!
Prayer should only be directed to Jehovah – as He requires –
not His Son or anybody else!

¹ And God spake all these words, saying, ² I am Jehovah thy God,
who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
³ Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
(Exodus 20:1-3) (ASV)

Proper prayer to Jehovah is a serious business. If we want Jehovah
to listen to our prayers, we must do it the way He requires. Jehovah
has strict requirements but He doesn’t really ask for much!

Most people know to pray to Jehovah in His Son’s name.
This is why:

6 Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me."
(John 14:6) (NIV)

But more importantly,

"If you ask anything in my name, I will do it."
(John 14:14) (New Living Translation) 

Most Christians are more than happy to pray to God in Jesus’ name.
About two billion Christians around the world pray to God in Jesus’
name every day. Their first mistake is praying to God without specifying
which God. Consequently, Jehovah may disregard their prayers.

What is the second mistake?

Oddly enough, it is praying in Jesus’ name!

And why is that?

Jehovah’s Son is not named Jesus! According to the
Catholic Encyclopedia: http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/

JESUS

The word Jesus is the Latin form of the Greek Iesous,
which in turn is the transliteration of the Hebrew Jeshua,
or Joshua, or again Jehoshua, meaning "Jehovah is salvation."

From: http://www.catholicity.com/encyclopedia/j/jesus_christ,origin_of_name_of.html

This is a widespread and popular belief. Many people are
already aware that the Son of God’s name in Hebrew is
Yeshua or Jeshua. That is True enough.

What else is true?

"Joshuah" or "Jehoshuah" translates
as "The Salvation of Jehovah".

"(Joshua) Yahshua/Yahushua/Yahoshua, is the
correct Name for the Savior. In all spellings and
pronunciation, the Name is rendered to mean
"salvation of YAH" or "YAH'S salvation/ (His)
Savior." The Name (Joshua) in its fullest translation
means, "He (YAH) shall save His people. (Yah or
Jah - is an abbreviation for Jehovah) (Just as Yeshua
(Joshua) is an abbreviation for Yehoshuah or Jehoshuah) -
(meaning - The Salvation of Jehovah - or Jehovah's Savior)."
-COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE,
by C. J. Koster

We can see that Jehoshuah means "Jehovah's Savior"

"The name "Jehoshua" means the same as Joshua."
-Hitchcocks’s Dictionary of Bible Names

9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed,
cried, saying, Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is
he that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna
in the highest.
(Matthew 21:9) (NIV)

"And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call
on the name of Jehovah shall be delivered..."
(Joel 2:32) (ASV)

So what is wrong with calling our Savior "Jesus"?

"It is known that the Greek name endings with sus,
seus, and sous were attached by the Greeks to names
and geographical areas as means to give honour to
their supreme deity, Zeus."
-Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend
Professor J. C. J. Metford

"Some authorities, who have spent their entire
lives studying the origins of names believe
that "Jesus" actually means - "Hail Zeus!"
For Iesous in Greek IS "Hail Zeus."
"Ie" translates as "Hail" and "sous"
or "sus" translates as Zeus. The English
name "Jesus", therefore, stems etymologically
from "Jupiter-Zeus" the chief god of the
ancient Greek Olympus."
-"Yeshua" or "Jesus" -- Which?
Biblical Research Institute; 1996
by Les Aron Gosling

From: http://www.meguiar.addr.com/End_Times_Table_of_Contents.htm

How did "Joshua" mutate into "Jesus"?

Among the people of the East, a sun-god savior was
worshipped by the name of Krisna, and so among the
Greeks of the new religion the Savior was known as
Kristos, or Christos. Thus the Sanskrit name was of
the Indian messiah became the name of the messiah
of the new religion, and it was known as the new Christian
( Krisna ) faith.

He came in His Father's Name and by that we must
adore Him. Away with the pagan name Christ, heathen
name Jesus, and exalt the Savior, Jahshuwah, the Son
of Jahwah, by His own name."
THE ORIGIN OF CHRISTIANITY: by A.B. Traina

From: http://www.meguiar.addr.com/origin_of_christianity.htm

Other Scholars agree.

From: http://yahushua.net/nicolaitan.htm

"Jesus. That was a name given to him
by the early church many years after
His death. They wanted to remove any
Jewishness from the new church.
They eliminated His Jewish name and
blended the name of Zeus into the
Christian church to make it comfortable
for all those who previously worshipped
the Greek and Roman gods. It made it
easier for the pagans to become Christians.
Since Zeus was the top god of their experience,
attaching the name Ioesus to Yahshua gave
Him top priority in the worship hierarchy."
-Winds of Praise Broadcasting
Believer or Follower?
The Sound of the Shofar
By Jon Thompson

So we can plainly see that the name, "Jesus" is the opposite
of the name, "Joshua". Now that we understand that, we
now know better than to pray to a nameless lord in Jesus’
name. Now that "The End" of this world is so near, people
have an extra incentive to pray to Jehovah is His Son’s actual
name as Bible prophecy requires.

"Hail Zeus" or "Salvation of Jehovah"?

...this is what was said through the prophet Joel,
"And in the last days," God says... everyone who
calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved."
(Acts 2:16,17,21) (NWT) www.watchtower.org

"For the Scripture says... 'everyone who calls on the name
of Jehovah will be saved.'"
(Romans 10:11,13) (NWT) www.watchtower.org

Lastly, we have a quaint way of ending our prayers
that has got to stop. Now is a good time!

According to the online Encyclopedia Wikipedia:

"Amun (also spelled Amon, Amoun, Amen, and
rarely Imen, Greek Ἄμμων Ammon, and Ἅμμων
Hammon, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu) was
the name of a deity, in Egyptian mythology, who
gradually rose to become one of the most important
deities in Ancient Egypt, before fading into obscurity."

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amun

We can be sure that Jehovah does not want to hear that!
We can be equally sure that Jehovah does not want to
hear "Hail Zeus" either. Our Saviour already knew
well in advance and warned us all that many devout
followers would make grave mistakes based upon
their faulty knowledge.

22 On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord!
We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your
name and performed many miracles in your name.’
23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from
me, you who break God’s laws.’
(Matthew 7:22-23) (NLT)

Now is the time to discard utterly worthless beliefs and
put true and accurate beliefs to work for us. Successful
communication with the true God, our Father, Jehovah,
depends on it!

4 But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book,
until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and
knowledge shall increase."
(Daniel 12:4) (ESV)

That time is right now!

Christ Is Ready

God's Son is ready and his
Father said, "It's time!"

Time for what?

"I have come to bring fire on the earth,
and how I wish it were already kindled!"
(Luke 12:49) (NIV)

But most people think Jesus loves everybody!

²⁹ But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained
down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰ It will
be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed.
(Luke 17:29-30) (NIV)

JEHOVAH GOD SENT HIS SON BACK
TO US WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT

"At the time that God has already decided,
he will send Jesus Christ back again."
(1Timothy 6:15) (Contemporary English Version)

"FOR YET IN A VERY LITTLE WHILE, HE WHO
IS COMING WILL COME, AND WILL NOT DELAY."
(Hebrews 10:37) (New American Standard Bible)

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every
spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁹ And he made known to us the
mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he
purposed in Christ, ¹⁰ to be put into effect when the times
will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in
heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
(Ephesians 1:3,9,10) (New International Version)

BUT SCOFFERS THINK THAT HE ISN'T HERE YET

"...in the last days there will be scoffers who will laugh at
the truth and do every evil thing they desire. This will be
their argument: "Jesus promised to come back, did he?  
Then where is he? Why, as far back as anyone can
remember, everything has remained exactly the same 
since the world was first created."
(2Peter 3:3,4) (New Living Translation)

¹⁸ They said to you, "In the last times there will be
scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."
(Jude 1:18) (NIV)

Now is a good time to read the news and reconsider.

Why?

Because that day is here!

How do we know?