Monday, March 13, 2017

You Can't Hide from the light




**A young boy of about nine went with his parents to Europe one summer. Part of their tour included visits to the great old cathedrals of the past. As he visited cathedral after cathedral he saw the massive stained glass portraits of the disciples and of other saints. He was very impressed as he stood in these great empty halls looking through the beautiful stained glass windows. Upon returning to his church, he was asked by his Sunday school teacher about the great churches of Europe, and what he liked the most.
He thought for a moment and he said, “I loved the sense of awesomeness and the hugeness of who God must be.”
“And what is a saint?” his teacher asked next.
His mind went back to those massive beautiful stained glass windows and he said, “A saint is a person the light shines through.”
That is a good definition of what a saint of God is supposed to be. We have no light of our own, but like the moon, we are to reflect the light of Jesus to a lost and dying world. In our text today, the Lord gives us some insight into light and the place it is to occupy in spiritual matters. I want to show you from these verses the truth that “You can’t Hide From the Light”.--Pastor Rolando Ramos
*Jesus is the light of the world
John 8:12
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
*His light penetrates even through the darkest places and the blackest of hearts. He gives us some insight into His light. Allow me to share a few of the facts of light with you as I preach on the subject: You Can’t Hide from the Light! *   —Pastor Rolando Ramos

Light Has Its Purpose

*This parable is designed to illustrate the purpose of spiritual light. When Jesus shared the Word of God, He was giving light to the world. His light was given to speak to people trapped in spiritual darkness; to show them that there was a way for them to be saved. *---Pastor Rolando Ramos
Jesus heals a man born blind!
John 9:1-12
“1And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. 2And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind? 3Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him. 4I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 6When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay, 7And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing. 8The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged? 9Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he. 10Therefore said they unto him, How were thine eyes opened? 11He answered and said, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed mine eyes, and said unto me, Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash: and I went and washed, and I received sight. 12Then said they unto him, Where is he? He said, I know not.”
*Our Lord’s light burned brightly teaching men about the love of God*
John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Light has its powers
*The Lord reminds us that light holds the power to make hidden things plain. The light that Jesus came into this world to display not only reveals the hidden things of God to man; it also reveals the hidden things within man! That is why so many people who have heard the Gospel message have rejected it.
The Gospel is a message of salvation, but it is also a message of confrontation. It is a message that reveals the darkness of the human heart. People are like insects and other creatures of the night, they flee light when it shines upon them. Why? Jesus said it was because “Their deeds are evil” *---Pastor Rolando Ramos
John 3:16-21
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”
*When the light of the Gospel shines into a person’s heart, it reveals all the darkness contained in that heart. That is a painful experience for the lost sinner. Yet, when the darkness is exposed to the light, the darkness will have to flee and salvation will be the result. The first step in coming to Jesus to be saved is having your sins exposed to the light. *---Pastor Rolando Ramos

Light Has its Promises
*The person who hears the truth and passes it on will see his ability to receive truth expanded. As this kind of person hears the truth and gives it away, the Lord continually reveals more truth to him. He grows in the things of God in ways he could never have imagined. That is the promise to the person who gives away the light!
The person who rejects truth will see his ability to recognize truth diminished. Not only will this kind of individual receive less truth, they will eventually lose their grasp of the truth they once had.
How many here learned to play an instrument or learn a foreign language in High School? If you haven’t practiced those things since, you have probably lost your ability to do them. For instance, I have taken algebra; advanced algebra; trigonometry; and calculus. I passed the tests and completed the courses, but that was then. I haven’t used that information in years. If I were to set down today to take an algebra exam, I would flunk it for sure!
Rejecting God’s truth is far more serious than failing to stay brushed up on your mathematics. Rejecting spiritual truth will develop into a tragedy in the life of every person who rejects the light! Their rejection of the truth will condemn them to Hell. *---Pastor Rolando Ramos

John 5:24-30
24“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.25Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live. 26For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; 27And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. 28Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, 29And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
30I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”

*The truth is, He loves you. He died for you. And, He will save you if you will come to Him. You can’t hide from the light! If you reject Him as savior in this life, you will face Him as judge in eternity! Don’t let that happen! Embrace the truth and be saved today. Child of God, has the Lord spoken truth to your heart today? Is He calling you to share the Light with a lost world? Today would be a good day, just come before Jesus and renew your commitment to Him to obey Him in sharing the Gospel with a lost world. *---Pastor Rolando Ramos

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Sunday, March 5, 2017

Are you going to Heaven?



In this world we prepare for the future to retire, but have we prepared for the new life to come for those that are ready to meet the Lord Jesus Christ? When do we start preparing for the future for Heaven? The answer is today, and don't keep procrastinating, and promising yourself that you are going to prepare for the coming of the Lord.

Hebrews 6:12
"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Matthew 8:21-22
"And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead."

*Today is the day for salvation, don't wait until it's too late!*

2 Corinthians 6:2
"For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation."

Proverbs 29:1
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

*Why did Jesus Christ have to die? Because he took the form of sin on the cross to offer himself to the father for the sin of the world. *

Hebrews 9:28
"So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation."

*The bible tells us that heaven is within us.*

Luke 17:20-21
"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."

John 14:6
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."

*In my Father's house, are many mansions*
John 14:2-4
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know."

*Heaven was not made that sin would continue in Heaven, but it was made for those that have given their life to Jesus Christ. *

Revelation 21:27
"And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whasoever worketh abomination, or maketh a life: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."

*The word of God states that we are born into this world as sinners, and have fallen short of the Glory of God, so that means that we need to prepare for the new life without sin.*

Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God."

John 3:3
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, Verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."

*If you are squirming in discomfort because you know that you are not clean from sin, don't keep procrastinating in your sins, because you may find yourself left behind, and will not have a second chance to enter in the kingdom of Heaven. *

Hebrews 12:17
"For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears."

Hebrews 6:12
"That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Pastor Rolando Ramos
http://www.fghconline.com