Mailer Street Gospel Hall

Archive for October, 2009

Important

YOU WILL LIVE FOREVER SOMEWHERE, AFTER DEATH.

• You can’t be reincarnated because DEATH IS IRREVERSIBLE. (Hebrews 9:27)
• You won’t be annihilated because YOUR SOUL IS IMMORTAL (Matthew 10:28, Mark 9:43-48)

HERE ARE 4 PROOFS FOR LIFE AFTER DEATH:-

• Your own conscience, which demands that justice MUST be done for the wrongs committed on earth.
• The evidence all around us that there is more ‘out there’ than meets the eye (the paranormal) • there is a spiritual dimension to our existence.
• The historical fact of the resurrection of Christ. He came back to tell us.
• The Bible – it speaks clearly and unmistakably about life after death

HEAVEN & HELL are not EXPERIENCES in this LIFE; they are real places people go to at DEATH.

 Now hear this…

YOU CAN KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING WHEN YOU DIE.

Neither the media nor mediums are reliable maps on the road to heaven but YOU CAN TRUST THE BIBLE!

The Bible says that at death your soul will immediately go to one of two places – HEAVEN OR HELL (Luke 16:22-23)

That is why this message is so important. Your eternal destiny is at stake.

Now, if your Bank Manager came up with a business plan that was guaranteed, a plan involving no risks and no debt, wouldn’t you take it?

AND IF YOU KNEW WHAT TO DO TO BE SURE OF GOING TO HEAVEN WHEN YOU DIE, WOULDN’T YOU DO IT?

 Well then, read on and read carefully. Don’t rush:

SIN…The Barrier To Heaven

Heaven is perfect. You are not. You therefore face the prospect of being shut out of heaven when you die. In fact, your sins warrant eternal punishment in hell. They cannot be ‘balanced out’ against the good things you have done (Rom 6:23, Rev 21:27).

CHRIST…The Way To Heaven

God must have a proper basis for forgiving you. It’s good to be sorry for your sin, but that’s not enough. God must have a sacrifice for sin. Justice must be done. The death penalty must be paid. Now that’s the meaning of Christ’s death; He loved you enough to die for you, to pay for your sin! God can now save you without compromising His perfect standard (Rom 3:26-28, 1 Pet 3:18).

FAITH…The Key To Heaven

Most people think the way to heaven is by being good and going to church. However, the Bible way to heaven is to admit your own efforts aren’t good enough, and then accept by faith that Christ paid your sin’s penalty when He died on the cross. This was the only way to save you. Now that the debt has been paid and He has risen from the dead, you can receive salvation as a free gift. Will you accept the Lord Jesus now as your Saviour? The Bible says “Repent… and be converted that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19).

THE INCOMPARABLE CHRIST

But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5.

He came from the bosom of the Father to the bosom of a woman.
He put on humanity that we might put on divinity.
He became Son of Man that we might become sons of God.

He was born in a supernatural way, lived in poverty, reared in obscurity.
Only once crossed the boundary of the land, in childhood.
He had no wealth nor influence, and no college education; yet the profoundest wisdom of men has never equalled His lay discourses in John 13 to 17, and the sermon, on the mount. “Never man spake like this man.”

His relatives were inconspicuous and Un-influential.
In infancy He startled a king; in boyhood He puzzled the doctors; even at twelve years of age proving He was far in advance of the theologians, for He was taught of God.
In manhood He ruled the elements, so that He could defy the laws of gravitation by walking on the water, and quiet the raging sea.
He healed the multitudes without medicine, and made no charge for His services.

He never wrote a book, yet not all the libraries of the country could hold the books that have been written about Him.
He never wrote a song, yet He has furnished the theme of more songs than all songwriters combined.
He never founded a college, yet all the schools together cannot boast of as many students as He has.

He never marshalled an army, drafted a soldier, nor fired a gun, yet no leader ever made more volunteers, who have under His orders made rebels stack arms or surrender
without a shot being fired.
Great men have come and gone, yet He lives on.
Herod could not kill Him.
Satan could not seduce Him.
Death could not destroy Him.
The grave could not hold Him.
Even demons obeyed Him.
He fed the hungry multitudes with a boy’s little lunch.
Broke up funerals and gave back to life those that were dead.

He laid aside His purple robe for a peasant’s gown.
He was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor.
As to how poor? Ask-Mary. Ask the Wise Men.
He slept in an­other’s manger.
He cruised the lake in an­other’s boat.
He rode on a borrowed beast.
He was buried in a rich man’s tomb.

He conquered death, rose on the third day as He said He would.
He ascended into heaven, is now at the right hand of the throne of God.
One day come in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory for His own born‑again, blood‑bought ones to be forever with Him according to promise.
He will judge the world in righteous­ness, when every knee shall bow to Him and every tongue shall confess Him as Lord.
His friends gladly, but His enemies seeking for a place to hide from His face.
(Rev 6:15).

The ever Perfect One.
He is the Chief among ten thousand.
The only One who can satisfy the soul and give everlasting LIFE to those who have it not.

HE IS ALTOGETHER LOVELY, AND HE IS MY SAVIOUR.

IS HE YOURS?

Anon.

Those who preach or teach the Word in our meetings are ordinary brethren like you and me. Some, at the call of the Lord, devote full time to the Lord’s work. Others maintain secular jobs while serving in this capacity. We all are servants of the Lord since we all have a gift to use for Him (1 Cor.9:7-14; Gal.6:6; Eph.4:11-16; Acts 18:1-3; 20:33-35; Rev.1:1). Being a servant is not a class distinction, but a great privilege we all can enjoy, even if not called to serve full time.

No where in Scripture is the idea of a clergy / layity system supported. All believers in Christ are brethren and are equally responsible before the Lord for the study of His Word in their own lives. In fact, the Lord Jesus said to not call anyone “master” or “teacher” or “father” (Matt. 23:1-12). Preachers and ministers are generally voted on by a congregation to serve a local church and are paid a salary. They are given the place of spiritual leadership and superiority as long as the preacher remains “our pastor.” In other groups the preacher is appointed over a flock by a governing board. This practice, we believe, is not supported in the Scriptures.

We must also consider that we do not all look at Scripture the same way. We believe by having an “open” platform where various men are able to minister the Word, rather than a “one man ministry” allows the Spirit of God to use the diversity of gift and personality that He has given to the Church. However, we do not believe in an “every man” ministry (that is to say, we believe that every believer has a ministry but not every believer is called to be a preacher), but only ministry by those who are gifted.

This particular truth, abandoned by some as archaic or cultural, is a beautiful expression that only the Lord’s glory (not man’s – pictured by a woman’s hair) is to seen and noticed among His people (see 1 Cor. 11:3-16).

God makes it plain that He has assigned different roles for men and women to be displayed in our gatherings. God established man as head of the woman (1 Cor.11:3, 8-9; Gen.3:16). The woman is also a picture of the Church as seen in Ephesians 5, while man is a picture of Christ. Therefore, when the assembly gathers together the woman does not speak. She is always to learn in quietness (see 1 Timothy 2:12), regardless of the setting. Quietness does not mean silence in non-assembly settings, but the gentle and quiet spirit of 1 Peter 3:4. She is never to teach the man because she is to fulfill the above pictures of headship.

The clear teachings of Scripture on this subject have been clouded almost universally by the smokescreen of inferiority/superiority. There is no such thought found in Scripture! The claim is often made that Paul was simply a woman-hating bachelor, or he didn’t understand women, or his words simply conveyed a cultural “reality” of Corinth where short-haired, uncovered women often were prostitutes. Inspired Scripture says that the things that Paul wrote are the “commandments of the Lord” (1 Cor.14:37). As a result of this unbelief and faulty teaching, women are often active in preaching and teaching and praying in the church, publicly. Virtually everywhere, in almost every denomination and group, headcoverings have been discarded as a relic of the past and all too often the men wrongly take the place of the woman and never open their mouth in praise or worship.

When the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper (or as some have called it, the communion service) He said, “This do in remembrance of Me” (Mk. 14:22-24; Lk. 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). This meeting is to be a time only for those who have put their faith and trust in the Lord Jesus to remember the tremendous price that was paid in order to secure our salvation. This is symbolized by two elements: The bread – which pictures to us the sacrifice of the Lord’s body; and the cup – which represents the shedding of blood, without which their can be no remission of sins. The pattern of the early church in the book of Acts was to meet on the first day of the week for the “breaking of the bread” (Acts 20:7). Paul suggests that it is to be a continual exercise when he wrote, “For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup ye do show the Lord’s death till He come” (1 Cor. 11:26). Some have suggested that having the Lord’s Supper every week (instead of monthly or quarterly) dulls the worshipper sense of true appreciation. On the contrary, to those who practice the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper, it becomes the highlight of the believer’s week to gather once more with fellow believers and remind themselves of all that Christ has done to secure our salvation.

No. Actually faith demands the surest evidence, and finds it in the Word of God. There is nothing as certain as God’s Word. His Word is truth (John 17:17). To trust Him is the most sane, logical, reasonable thing a person can do. What is more reasonable than that the creature should trust his Creator? He cannot lie, deceive, or be deceived.

Then the Bible is narrow minded. Jesus said that no one could come to God, the Father, except through Him (John 14:6). Peter said that no one could be saved in any other way than through Christ (Acts 4:12). And Paul wrote that there is no other foundation except Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 3:11). Faith in Christ is the only way of salvation.

You need to be born again. Jesus said it tersely, “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again'” (John 3:7). Unless a person is born again, he will never see or enter the kingdom of God. The new birth is a marvelous, miraculous, supernatural work of God that takes place when a person repents of his/her sins and receives Jesus Christ by faith as Lord and Saviour. Your first birth was physical; the new birth is spiritual.

Grace is God showing favor to those who don’t deserve it, but who, in fact, deserve the very opposite. It is closely linked with the idea of a gift. You do not earn a gift. That would be wages. You receive a gift and say “thank you.” Grace and works cannot be mixed. It has to be one or the other. Grace must be distinguished from justice. In justice, you get what you deserve. In grace you get favor that you don’t deserve.