It is we who make the decision of going to heaven or hell!Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Tuesday, May 23, 2017
Tuesday of the Sixth Week of Easter - Year 'A1'
It is we who make the decision of going to heaven or hell!
Acts of the Apostles 16:22 to 34 PAUL & SILAS were in Philippi [this is in present day Sarajevo] when they were attacked, and Paul and Silas were "stripped and beaten with rods with many blows and they threw them into prison." And the "prison guards were instructed to secure their feet to a stake. At midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God and the prisoners were listening; then there was a severe earthquake and the prison door fell open and their chains were pulled loose. This woke up the jailer who was about to fall on his sword. Paul shouted do not harm yourself..." The jailer said to Paul and Silas: "Sir what must I do to be saved?" "Paul told Him: Believe in the Lord and be saved. He took them to his home and bathed tier wounds and he and his whole family were baptized and they all rejoiced together! END OF READING!
John 16:5 to 11 JESUS SAID TO HIS DISCIPLES: "Now I am going to the One who sent Me, and not one of you ask Me, 'Where are you going? But because I told you this, grief has filled your hearts. But I tell you the truth, it is better for you that I go because when the Advocate [the Holy Spirit] will convict the world because they do not believe in Me..." Here we learn four thing:
FIRST THING: The Holy Spirit will convict people of sin. Here is the problem: When the Jews crucified Jesus, they did not believe they were sinning. Later many people believed that the crucifixion was the greatest crime in history and that there sin has caused Jesus' crucifixion.
SECOND THING: The Holy Spirit will convince people of righteousness; but the Jews and Rome were evil heretics.
THIRD THING: The Holy Spirit convinces people of judgment. On the cross, evil stands defeated and condemned. Now here is a good question: What makes a certain judgment lie ahead of us? It is the work of the Holy Spirit. who gives us the inner and unshakable conviction that we shall stand before the judgment seat of God.
FOURTH THING: There is one thing, when we are convicted of our sins, when we are convinced of our judgment to come, what gives us certainty that the cross of our Christ is our salvation and that with Christ only can our sins be forgiven? The answer to this question is the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit does convict us of our sins, or the Holy Spirit convinces us of our Savior Jesus Christ. But the rub is this: It is we who make the decision of going to heaven or hell!
CONCLUSION: So our conclusion is: It is we who make the decision of going to heaven or hell!
