Matthew 5:7-12, 43-48

⁷ “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. ⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. ¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

⁴³ You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”

There has been a lot of grief about the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. And while many, even Christians have tried to say that it was not intended to be an attack on Christianity, the apology by the Olympic committee would say differently. Now, I am not going to go into the whole mess. I am going to say that I continue to be astonished by Christians who are surprised at these attacks. Why?

Do you not have a Bible, or do you not understand that these are the normal events that will happen over and over again as we get closer and closer to Jesus’ return. These are the things that happen to a depraved society that has defied its Creator, according to Romans 1. I would like to offer some positive ways to view this mess and offer ways that we are instructed to respond.

1. The Attacks Should Bolster Our Faith

They are not attacking Islam or Buddhism or any other religion; they are attacking Christianity. The Devil, we are told, does not run a divided kingdom. He is a smart fellow; he is not going to attack his counterparts and harm them. The mere fact that Christianity is the focus of deviant behaviors should bolster our faith, our trust in the scriptures, and our hope in the truth of God’s word.

This means that many of these participants know that the Bible is true, that Jesus is real, and that salvation is good. They choose to defy God to His face. They think that they can do this without repercussions, but they cannot. One can only defy the grace of God for so long before the wrath of God comes to the surface; see Genesis 6-9. They make fun of the truth, and we should find a certain security in that as believers.

2. We need to Be Merciful, verse 7 (above)

Were it not for the kindness and grace of God, maybe we would be the ones in drag, in the homosexual life, and in the drug life. Maybe we would be alcoholics, and on and on we could go. We are not better than these folks in and of ourselves; we have Jesus. Without Him, we are just sinners with no hope and no help. We would be blind like those around us, hard-hearted and dead in reality. But we met Jesus, we saw our sin, saw our need, and humbled ourselves to His grace, His mercy, and His salvation. And then our eyes were opened, and our dead bodies were made alive in Jesus. Now, let us extend mercy to these folks, even the ones who deny our God and make fun of Him.

3. We need to Rejoice in the Middle of it all, verse 12

As I mentioned before, they are trying to disrupt us. The worst response we could have is to rejoice and be thankful that we are counted worthy to be persecuted. Why? This has been the pattern for the truth tellers from the very beginning of sin; the story of Cain and Abel reminds us that liars will always hate those who stand for the truth. Jesus often told the Pharisees that their ancestors had killed the prophets. Why? Because they hated the truth. They killed Jesus because they hated the truth from Him. Rejoice, bless God, and thank God for the enemies of the truth; they remind us that we have the truth.

4. Love, Pray for, and Do Good, verse 43-48

Jesus died for their sins as well. God, in 2 Peter 3, tells us He is not willing that any should perish (go to Hell). He wants these vagabonds to repent, see their need for Jesus, and spend eternity with Him. Jesus came to save sinners; these are the very people He came for. I was the person He came for. You are the person He came for. I read an article about this mess, and the author, a Christian, pointed out that there were teams of Christians on the ground there in Paris sharing the Gospel.

Our church association has a team of 37 people this week and more coming next week to hand out Gospel tracts and Bibles. They are sharing the Gospel and winning people to Jesus. We should be praying for these very folks to meet someone with the Gospel and that the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to see and ears to hear.

We should want them to meet another believer and be transformed; we should want them to be saved. Sadly, too many of us want to call fire down from heaven, but we should call grace down from the cross for them. We should call mercy for them and beg that they will come to know Jesus as Savior. One day they were blaspheming and the next worshiping because they met Jesus who came to save ALL of us from our sins.

Let us never forget how gracious God is and has been to us; we should pray that all men, even drag queen men, would fall at His feet and be changed. Jesus is coming soon, and the time for judgment will be here, but now we have the time of grace, mercy, salvation, redemption, and restoration. Jesus – the Way, Truth, and Life – is still saving souls. Oh, that all men would come to Him today.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

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Ezekiel 33:1-6

“Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ² ‘Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: “When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, ³ when he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, ⁴ then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head.

⁵ He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. ⁶ But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman’s hand.”

In the last few months, I have seen and heard some things that make me wonder. There is a growth of Calvinism that has just taken off in the past few years. It is rampant here in Southern Ontario. The idea that Jesus only died for a select few is heresy at best. I have heard some even speak about babies, and if they die, then only the ones that God knew would be in the elect go to Heaven. All others are damned to Hell.

This is not the character of God. He would never eternally damn the innocent with the guilty. In 2 Peter 3:9, we are told that God is “not willing that any should perish.” If Calvinism is true, then this verse would be a lie. God actually desires that no man shall perish. Over and over again, we hear the call of “whosoever will” can come. The Jews were astonished to find out that salvation was granted to the Gentiles as well in Acts 10.

Ezekiel tells us in these passages that we are to be the watchmen. Why be watchmen if God has already determined who will die and who will live? We are told to blow the trumpet and warn the masses of God’s grace and also of God’s wrath. Once we are faithful to warn, then they are responsible for what happens to them.

One thing I seem to notice about Calvinists is that they are always sure that they are the chosen ones. Often, their kids are as well, but they are not sure about you and yours. This is arrogance shrouded in fake humility. They are in, and you are on the outs with God. But this is not the truth of the Bible. So, let us be faithful watchmen and watchwomen as we see the Day of the Lord getting closer and closer.

1. Watch the Heavens

We are to keep an eye on the heavens. Jesus will call us to Him soon, and we should be living each day ready to be called. This means that we should be loving the Lord openly and with great fervor. We should love our siblings in the Lord with the same fervor, and by this, we can draw some to the Gospel, John 13:34-35. Read the scriptures, know what to look for, and keep our hearts from being deceived.

One of the things that seems to be growing is a lot of people claiming to have some ‘new’ or ‘special’ revelation from God. They do not. God has revealed to us, in the completed Bible, all we need to know, and nothing is to be added. Beware of people who want your money so that they can tell you what God has for you. They are fleecing you, for the most part. Even if someone is genuine, check the scriptures before you swallow their message.

Sadly, there are a lot of Christians who do not understand or even desire to understand the end of the church age. There are a lot of churches that shy away, and frankly, there are a lot of men who simply refuse to study and/or teach about the end times. It is hard work; it takes reading and studying, and it requires a commitment to search the scriptures. A lot of men are not ready to step into the next phase where Jesus comes as a Righteous Judge and makes war and executes judgment. But we are called to warn the people, yes, even the “so-called” saved people, that judgment is coming. Jesus will judge the saved and the lost.

Look at 2 Corinthians 5:9-11:

“So, we aspire to please Him, whether we are here in this body or away from it. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive his due for the things done in the body, whether good or bad. Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.”

2. Watch the People Around Us

Are you prepared spiritually and scripturally to share the Gospel? In these last days, are you ready to tell someone how to be saved, how to be ‘born again’? Sadly, most of us are not. One of the most important things for the watchmen was to know which trumpet sound to blow; was it a trumpet for war or peace? Was it a trumpet to scatter or gather?

As we get closer and closer, there will be people wanting to know about the Lord Jesus. Some will want to make fun; others will want to repent. Can you help the ones who want to repent? What we know for sure, according to the passage in Ezekiel, is that we will be held accountable for how we warned and even if we warned. God expects us to warn the people around us of the heaven to gain and the hell to shun. Are you and I doing that?

Here is a question for you: could you lead someone to faith in Jesus? Do you know what verses you would use?

Philip, in Acts 8, took Isaiah 53 and taught the Ethiopian Eunuch about Jesus. Could you have done that? Sadly, a lot of us Christians really could not do that. Here are some of the verses that you should have committed to memory; these will help you be prepared: John 3:16-18; Romans 3:10, 23, Romans 5:8, Romans 6:23, Romans 10:9-10; Ephesians 2:8-9 and any others that you can think of. You should know the story of the ‘thief on the cross,’ his simple act of faith and belief – no baptism, no tithing, no church membership, nothing – just Jesus.

Take responsibility for those around you, pray for them that God would open their eyes, and be prepared to help them see once their eyes are opened. The Bible, the Word of God, is your only tool, Romans 10:17. Consequently, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. You cannot and will not argue nor philosophize a person into Heaven. Share the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit will take the TRUTH and change lives. If they refuse the free gift of eternal life in Jesus once they have heard, that is on them; you have done your job, dear watchman. Be prepared!

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding
Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How To Connect with Us

On Facebook (live broadcast of Sunday’s Message at 11 am): https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Join us on Zoom every Sunday (10:30 am) for Sunday Service AND every Tuesday at 8:00 pm for Bible Study: Meeting ID: 700 794 460 Passcode: 032661; https://us02web.zoom.us/j/700794460?pwd=M3NFRG91ZW5Sa2Z3amVyWkFnYXd6QT09

Online: https://www.mmbchurch.ca

Email: support@mmbchurch.ca

Sign Up To Be A Part of Our Bible Study Community: www.mmbchurch.ca/drawclosertogod