Dear Friend,

The confusion and frustration that so many people are experiencing in our time are the result of putting their confidence in the wrong set of values.

Everything seems to be falling to pieces. Seemingly there is no foundation to our society, nor to the governments of our countries, states, and provinces. Churches are most disappointing. A large percentage of homes are disintegrating. Schools are corrupt and no longer give children a good basic education.

The things we once trusted are no longer trustworthy. The foundations are crumbling before our very eyes. Even the money that we handle threatens to be of little value. What is the cause of this decay?

The Bible says, “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” Righteousness is built on a proper foundation. There is no true righteousness without that foundation. Our society was built in years gone by with respect to the principles that make up that solid foundation. Today those principles are being neglected and even rejected. There are eternal absolutes.

Man is here because of the creative act of God. He belongs to God. God is absolute and perfect in all His ways. He is the high and holy God and is preparing a people who will voluntarily honor, worship, and serve Him in eternity.

God has given us His Word, in which are the eternal principles upon which a life of success for time and eternity must be built. It is our responsibility to discover what they are and embrace them by faith, submission, and obedience. God will not force us to do this. Someday every man and woman will give account to God for what they have done in respect to His ownership, His lordship, and His Word, the instructions that He has given us by which to honor and please Him.

Satan is the spiritual being who is evil and wicked in all his ways. He is anti-God. Every anti-God spirit or ideology in the world today has its source in Satan. The Bible says that he is the ruler of this world—the prince of the power of the air. Most people in the world serve him. He has corrupted the nature of man, and the natural inclination of man is anti-God.

God has provided salvation from our sinful state and from the nature which is anti-God. Jesus Christ His Son came to the earth, lived here as a human being, as a perfect Godman. He died on the cross, shed His blood, and gave His life so that we through faith in Him might have salvation from our sins, forgiveness for our past sins before a just and holy God, and acceptance with God.

When we put our faith in Jesus Christ, God gives us a new nature, and thus we are born again. As we had received a corrupt nature from our father and mother in a natural way, so by faith in Jesus Christ, we can receive a new nature, a new life in the Spirit to live pleasing to God. This nature has pure and holy desires and is in harmony with God. It is indeed the very nature of God. God has made provision for us poor human beings so that we can experience His presence and power in our lives.

The power of God, through His nature that lives within us because of our faith in Jesus Christ, is available to us moment by moment to keep our sinful nature crucified so that it will not have the power to lust after the evil things in the world. Thus we have freedom to choose to serve God.

Society in general has rejected God and Jesus Christ. Many profess to know Him but reject His rule over them. Through the philosophies of Satan and their own sinful natures, they have reasoned away the specific commands of God in His Word. They do not understand that the sinful nature and the will of God for us (how we shall live in this life) do not harmonize. They are directly opposed. The reason for this is that God and Satan directly oppose each other; they are enemies. Therefore, we must reject the ideas and reasonings of Satan. We must deliberately choose to understand God’s will for us and embrace it as He reveals it to us in His Word, the Bible. All the Word of God is true.

In order that we might become established in our relationships in life, we must obey God and keep His Word. We must live only by the principles that He gives us in His Word. As men in society reject these principles and refuse to be governed by them voluntarily, God turns against them and brings them into a state of confusion. This is why the public school system is so corrupt and is not able to provide a good basic education for children. This is why homes are being torn apart. It is the reason that so many churches no longer experience the power and blessing of God. It is the under-lying reason for moral corruption in all of society. It is the reason that respect for authority is undermined in the hearts of so many people. When the hearts of men and women and boys and girls lack the compelling conviction that right is right and wrong is wrong, and that basically God tells us what is right and wrong, and how we must live, there is no longer any foundation upon which society can be built or prosper. No devices or organizations of men can stand under the curse of God. Their programs are being shot through with deterioration because God is against them.

God has appointed Jesus Christ His Son as King of kings and Lord of lords. He says in the Book of Revelation that “the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ.” That is going to be the final outcome of all things. But He is going to destroy His enemies—those who refuse to voluntarily seek and serve Him. He does not force anyone into service. His subjects will only be those who serve Him voluntarily. Those who refuse to voluntarily yield themselves to Him will He utterly destroy and cast into a lake of fire prepared by God for those who are His enemies.

You say that is not fair. How do we know about God? We can see the evidence of God’s handiwork and power all around us in the earth. Nature tells the story. Anyone who is honest will agree that it took an all-powerful God to create and bring into being the earth with its great solar system to function so perfectly. “The earth is the LORD’s, and the fulness thereof.” “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, saith the LORD.” “The cattle upon a thousand hills [are mine]. . . . The world is mine, and the fulness thereof.” God loans much to us for our short pilgrimage here on earth. When we leave the earth in death, we no longer have use for them, nor can we take them with us. They are given to us to serve God and to fulfill His will for His glory here upon the earth.

Will you repent of all the pride and stubbornness of your heart? of your self-will? your self-esteem? Will you turn to God in true humility and acknowledge the God of heaven and earth as your God? Will you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour to deliver you from your sinful self and from the power of Satan? If so, you will be able to do what you know you ought to do. Then God will use you to fulfill His purposes here on earth and, after this life is over, in heaven above.

Fall on your knees before Him; in faith look up into heaven and establish a covenant relationship with Him. Confess to God: “God, I am a sinner. I have been self-willed and have defied You and Your power and authority. I am sorry. I now receive Jesus Christ as my Saviour for the forgiveness of my past sins and to deliver me from the power of sin in me. Henceforth, by Your power I want to live a holy and pure life. I want You to take me and make me someone that You can indwell and through which You can work to fulfill your eternal purposes.”

Then with your whole heart and interest, seek to understand God’s Word (the Bible) and will. Read and study it as though your life depended on it, which indeed it does. Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Will you choose life or death?

—Paul M. Landis

“For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

• 2 Timothy 2:19
• Psalm 138:2–6
• Isaiah 28:16
• Romans 10:4, 13

اللغة

English

مؤلف

Paul M. Landis

الناشر

Rod and Staff Publishers Inc.