AN CEIST IS TÁBHACHTACH TODAY
The present age which started with Adam is about to finish; the allotted six days of God’s time or 6000 years of man’s days. Wherever you may be, it is important to consider the population of the community. Then remember the population of the whole world starting with China. It is impossible to know the exact population of this world. But certainly, the population is massive, and the resources are limited. However, population increase is not the most important question of today.
Selfishness has led to serious greed among men. Nations are hoarding resources that are steadily depleting. Consider water for instance; no community can survive without adequate reserve of it. Many communities begin to disappear with the shortage of water. Such areas include the Lake Chad area of north eastern Nigeria: once a center for fishing and marketing, but today, it is almost a desolate wilderness. The population has started to migrate, and the community is gradually dying because water is not available. The desert is encroaching and there is no rain. What is the most important question now?
Cultivatable land is in short supply in many areas. Some land areas are government owned, yet, people have no land for farming. Other areas have the land, but no rain or source of water to soften the soil. Famine has dominated some areas of the earth making hunger and starvation the next expectation. Some land areas are polluted. The bible said that the people will die in a polluted land (Amos 7:17). Civilization has allowed the dumping of chemical wastes both on land, water and the air. You need to find out what is the most important question of our day.
Petroleum has become both a blessing and a curse to many nations. Both the worst and the best within mankind are at work. Greed, suppression, power, war, starvation and pollution are all part and parcel of the petroleum industries. Man, at best is temporal and often forgets. But a day of reckoning is coming for mankind, when Rev. 11:18 will come into play. Noah’s day had a period of accountability. I wonder about what must have been the most important question of Noah’s day.
People are hungry and much in need of basic necessities of life. Yes, many people are dying, but worse, many are sinking in luxury and faring sumptuously. People have plans for tomorrow over which they have no control, forgetting to ask themselves, “What really is the most important question of today.”
The wealthy and developed countries of today have amassed so much armament of war that it leaves you wondering when they will use them. I guess Armageddon is the final destination. I read about the new submarines made for the Russian military; missiles can be launched out of them. Weapons of death are everywhere you turn. America has her own weapons. All of them spell death and destruction. Some of these weapons can destroy all living things and not touch any inanimate thing. People can be burnt to ashes by these weapons and many nations have them at different levels. Chemical and biological weapons are out there too. Have you considered the most important question for this day?
Earthquakes are increasing and will get worse. These earthquakes happen suddenly, and in different and unknown spots in most cases. Some quakes trigger tsunamis in different coastal areas and more are coming. Hurricanes, volcanoes, tornados, fire (look at California) and much more destructions are coming. Unknown and unnamed diseases and plagues are coming. Psalms 91 and many more scriptures require our attention for our own good and protection. Yet many forget to answer the most important question for this age and the age is fast closing out.
In science and medicine a lot of ensnaring and controlling innovations are gripping the masses. In America and most of the developed countries, the people are over drugged for several ailments or sicknesses. Some people take as many as 10 to 20 different medications a day. Surely, over-medication has become the new normal. Demonic addiction is coming from the use and abuse of these prescription drugs. Street drugs are claiming young lives. Look at alcohol and the destruction it is causing to humanity! In the same token is prostitution, pornography, and messed-up morality under the influence of greed, alcohol, smoking, drugs and social gospelers (they preach comfortable and permissive gospel). People forget to ask the most important question facing man today.
Religion is the opium of today in many countries of the world. There are so many religious leaders of different faiths. But there is only one true God and there is only one way to get to him; as recorded in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me,” {Jesus Christ}. There is one important question to answer today. There are religious leaders leading the people away from God. Prosperity and greed are resident in many pulpits and congregations. Many preachers and religious leaders are wallowing in polygamy, immorality and drugs, including alcohol.
Some countries in the developed world have legalized marijuana and people take them anywhere, and anytime. The marijuana stocks are soaring in the stock markets around the world. Few years ago people were sent to jails and some still remain in jail for possession of marijuana all over the world. People now grow it personally and freely. But what is the most important question of today?
Now there are so many preachers who have become politicians. Let us look at the bible and find out which political parties the apostles belonged to. Many have led their flock astray with their gospel of a marriage between politics and religion. Religious people are the ones moving the political beast and many preachers are the poster boys. They continue to anoint these politicians and prophesy to them. God has a strange way of doing things; some of the politicians may find the right way while the preachers fall out of the true way. What is the most important question now?
When you red Daniel 12:1-4, you will begin to appreciate the important question facing mankind. It reads, “And at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.” Daniel may be wondering, how shall one, find out if their name was written in the book. Remember what Jesus Christ said in Luke 10:19-20, “—– Not withstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.”
In Revelation 13:8 there is another mention of the book, “And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” You see Daniel was told about the “book”, and Jesus mentioned about names written in heaven. Now in the book of Revelation we now hear about names again in the Lamb’s book of life. Those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life—those names are not just being written now, but they were written from the foundation of the world. Now you begin to have a good idea of the most important question NOW.
Also Revelation 17:8 talks about the names that were NOT written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. These people wonder when they see the beast that shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition.
Revelation 20:12-15 and 21:27 gives everyone the definite insight to the puzzle of what is the most important question of today. These scriptures will enlighten you as follows:
- Revelation 20:12 states, “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” This makes taking part in the first resurrection very important; because all those who are in the first resurrection, the second death which is the lake of fire has no power over them. Also, those in the first resurrection have their names in the book from the foundation of the world.
- Revelation 20:15 is a great verse to be aware of because it states, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Can you see that the most important question today is about the book of life and if your name is in it?
- Revelation 21:1-2 states, “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Then in verse 27 the Bible talks about the entrance into that city, “And there shall in no wise enter into it, anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, nor maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”
Eternity is a serious matter. Remember, in eternity you cannot change your destiny. This is the moment for self-examination because life is so brief. You cannot put your name in the book now because they have been put in there from the foundation of the world. Names can be removed from the book, but not put in. The question facing each one is if your name is in the book of life.
To have this book of life from the foundation of the world you must be the Creator. “God is a Spirit,” according to John 4:24. He is the all-knowing and unchangeable God. This shows you without a doubt who put the names in a book. It is called the Lamb’s book of life. There is another book that is also very important and connected to the Lamb again.
This book is found in Revelation 5:1-14 and it reads, “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain(Calvary cross), having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth (study Revelation 3:1). And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.” Remember Revelation 10:2 reads, “And he had in his hand a little book open.”
Now look at the connection between the book and the Lamb and the Creator. This book has been from the foundation of the world. God had this book in His mind. He knew all things and whose names are in the book and whose names could be taken out. The silent book tells you about the mind of and callings of God. The book has the secret of who goes into life eternal and the consequences of those not in the book. The author of the book is the Creator, God, whose name is Jesus Christ. John 5:43 states, “I am come in my Father’s name.” The name is Jesus Christ. The book is very important. One would think that people would be desirous to find out the best manifestation of their name being in the book from the foundation of the world. Remember Colossians 3:3, “For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.” This occurs if you have repented of, forsaken your sins and believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Savior and Lord. You cannot come to the Son except the Father draws you, and the Son will give you eternal life. If you hold on to this eternal life, no man can steal your crown. To get this crown, your name must be in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world. Meditate on Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.” To appear with Him during the translation into glory, your name must have been in that book from the foundation of the world. Now the important question: does the faith in you convince you that your name is in that book? Jesus told his apostles to rejoice that their names are in the book of life in heaven. Judas was there when this statement was made he did not make it as he ended up as the son of perdition. What about you. You must believe this by faith, to make the translation whether you arise from the dead or you are alive at the moment of the translation you must have faith for it.
The book belongs to the Lamb that is why it is called the Lamb’s book of life. The book was from the foundation of the world. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 5:6 and 12; Revelation 13:8). As you can see the book and the Lamb are inseparable. In Revelation 5:7-8 and Revelation 10:1-4, the book and the Lamb appear again in a different way. The Lamb has another book of secrets like the Lamb’s book of life that is also a secret known to the Creator, Jesus Christ.
Now the only part you can play in this question is to manifest that which has been from the foundation of the world. Repent of your sins and be converted by believing the gospel of Jesus Christ. Your sins are washed away by the blood of the Lamb and by His stripes you were healed. If by faith you believe all that Jesus came to earth to do, from His virgin birth to death, resurrection and return to glory, including the precious promises he gave to the believers, then you are ready to answer the question. According to John 1:12 which reads, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God even to them that believe on his name.” This is a clear way of knowing and believing that your name is in the Lamb’s book of life from the foundation of the world. The most important question of today, you now know.
Finally, let us look at Ephesians 1:3-7, it will encourage the true believer to get the correct answer to the most important question of today. It reads, “ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace.” I hope by faith you can answer the most important question of today.
Nóiméad aistriúcháin 26
AN CEIST IS TÁBHACHTACH TODAY