Posted on 12/31/2006 2:07:53 AM PST by Silly
The following is a transcription of an audio recording made by a cell phone during Saddam's hanging. It appears to be Saddam comforting himself by singing. We all know he was downright silly for Southern old-timey songs.
Jesus take the Wheel
in my tagline.
You got it, buddy!
Coming from you that is high praise indeed. I thank you.
Just think of the sound of the whole world shouting for joy when God removes all tyrants...
Hopefully we'll both be around to see that day. But until God decides to act, it's up to us.
Depending on God is a fine thing, but one must remember that the Lord helps those who help themselves.
If nothing else when our time comes we can stand in front of Him and say honestly "Yea, I messed up a lot. But on the other hand, I helped in some small way rid the world of a murderous dirtbag thereby saving the lives of countless of your children."
I hope that swings the scales just a little bit.
Regards,
L
You're very welcome. Let's get to work!
One good example of tyrants on there way out is:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1760533/posts.
Let's hope so.
Double-ouch!
Did that URL work for you? It doesn't for me for some unknomn reason.
Yes, after I removed the period at the end. Thanks for the link.
OOOH. Silly me. I'll never do that again.
It's easy to do; I did it myself this morning in an e-mail.
You said -- "Saddam is standing at the lake of fire.
Unable to speak. Unable to move.
Just standing at the Lake of fire until judgement day comes."
Well, nice poetry or sentiments, but not exactly correct.
From what the Bible says, all the unsaved dead are held in Hell, until their time of judgement. So, Hell is simply a holding cell until judgement. Prior to Jesus Christ coming, *all* were held in this holding place, but when Jesus came, He went down there to take out all those who are HIs and bring them back with Him. This He did at the time He was crucified.
Now, at the present time, all those who are in Christ are *immediately* taken to be with Him where He is now, in Heaven, with no wait in that same holding place of old. But, the unsaved are still there. They are waiting for the "Great White Throne Judgement" that is spoken about in Revelation 20. This happens at the end of the 1,000 year reign of Christ on this earth.
And *at that time* they are cast into the Lake of Fire, to be there forevermore.
Regards,
Star Traveler
You said -- "If nothing else when our time comes we can stand in front of Him and say honestly "Yea, I messed up a lot. But on the other hand, I helped in some small way rid the world of a murderous dirtbag thereby saving the lives of countless of your children."
I hope that swings the scales just a little bit."
That won't swing the "scales" even a thousandth of an inch. It makes no difference in terms of being with Jesus versus being in the Lake of Fire at Judgement Day.
Here's what Jesus says to those who think they've done a lot for Him -- for example --
Matthew 7:21-27
21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'
23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'
24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:
25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:
27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."
Anyone who thinks that "doing something for the Lord" or doing their little part or doing something will sway the scales in their favor -- *they* are the ones to whom the Lord is going to say "Depart from me! I never knew you!"
So, the statement that some may be depending upon -- "Yea, I messed up a lot. But on the other hand, I helped in some small way rid the world of a murderous dirtbag thereby saving the lives of countless of your children." --
will get them no less than *I never knew you. Depart from me!"
Regards,
Star Traveler
Happy New Year to you, too.
And thanks for completely missing my point.
Regards,
L
You said -- "And thanks for completely missing my point."
The point being that the Lord helps those who help themselves.
No, it's more like this -- "The Lord helps those who depend upon Him."
And what the message that Jesus said about those who claim to have done this or that for the Lord (in which He says "Depart from me!") -- this message points to the "Good News" -- which is that you don't have to *do anything* in order to be saved (like sway the scales or make up for this or that...).
All you need to do (which is what the Father in Heaven desires) is to acknowledge that Jesus was raised from the dead (in your heart, the Bible says) and acknowledge it before "man" ("say it with your mouth" -- as the Bible says) -- and "you will be saved".
You see, Jesus Christ has "done all the work" and there is no work that needs to be done -- for salvation.
Romans 10:9-10 says --
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
That's salvation. No work needed, no scales to sway, no balancing of this over that...
But, that having been said -- is there *nothing* to do for the Lord? No, it's just that there is nothing to do for *salvation* -- that's all. We are all saved on the basis of Christ's finished work on the cross and *nothing more*.
There are things to do for Christ, which (as the Bible tells us) results in varying "rewards" for those who are *already* His. These things (that we do for Christ) will be judged on the basis of whether we did it for Him or for ourselves or for some other worldly reasons. That which was done solely for Christ will be rewarded. Those things which were done out of other motives, will be considered as "straw or hay or stubble" to be "burned in the fire" and reduced to ashes -- worth nothing, and therefore no rewards.
So, there are rewards in Heaven on the basis of what was done "truly" for Christ (and He knows the motives), but salvation is not on the basis of *any works* at all on our part -- but simply by faith in Him and His finished work on the cross.
Regards,
Star Traveler
In my opinion, this is the best proof that our gift isn't based on what we have done rather than what we accept or believe.
EPH 2, 8&9
For by grace are ye save through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast
Sorry Silly...my manners need to have a kickstart today.
This is a wonderful post, and I truly enjoyed it!
There is some truth to the Franklin maxim, along the lines of "faith without works is dead" (Jas2:14-26), but the faith has to come first: faith, that is, in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who alone could and did pay the price for our salvation. Then, as we "work," depending on Him (first for salvation, then direction), our work will be credited. We don't work to gain salvation -- Christ is the only way to salvation. We work because Christ lives within, motivating and enabling us with His Holy Spirit.
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