I pray the Lord opens your heart to receiving this message.

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>That's the thing, Kevin, there are no good men.
>Rick, I disagree - there ARE good men and women.

Kevin, this is what I'm warning you about. You are wrong. You are believing falsely. There is sin, and you are guilty. All people are guilty. Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," and Romans 6:23, "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

It does not matter what a person thinks about their state. It matters what God thinks. And God has warned His people, warned men, sent messengers like me out to warn about the coming wrath, the day of judgment, eternal damnation. And this is the battle I speak of, the one men cannot hear unless they are willing to seek the truth, unless they are looking to know the truth. All who cannot hear that truth will perish because they have kept themselves from hearing it. All who can hear the truth have the chance to come out of it, to listen to God, to learn and study about Him, to receive that free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ. But there is also a warning about that, Matthew 22:14, "For many are called, but few are chosen."


>This has always been the root of my opposition to most religions - the notion that the
>highest concepts possible are usurped and placed beyond that which men can reach.

Satan uses everything possible to convince people they don't need Jesus. He corrupts men, makes them famous, places them in the spotlight so that an artificial barrier between God and you can exist so that you will not pursue God because of the falseness which existed in the one hypocrite claiming to do something in the name of God, as a Christian, or in whatever other form there exists. All of it comes from one source, however, Satan, the enemy of God.

The battles we face in this world are spiritual. And unless a person seeks to pursue the spirit, they will as brute beasts forever forge ahead completely unaware of what's coming because Satan is no slouch. He owns you. He owns everybody who is not seeking the truth. The Bible says, Revelation 12:9, "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him."

It is that enemy God came to defeat. And He did so at the cross. Now there exists no barriers between us and God, except those which we ourselves place there.


>The second is the entire idea of the sacrifice. Christ represents that which man should strive to
>emulate - but supposedly he died for sinners.

The Law of Moses describes in part the manner of sacrifice the Jews must offer to atone for their sins. It involved various ceremonies, including the killing and shedding the blood of animals, of portioning their bodies, burning some, consuming some, sprinkling with blood, etc. These requirements were not because an animal could save a man, or atone for his sin, but were the foreshadowing of what God Himself would do at the cross. God gave men a ritual to look to so they would perform this ritual as part of the looking ahead for their true savior, the One who would come into the world and save them, the Messiah, the Savior of the whole Earth.

Jesus is foretold in countless prophecies. His miracles were recorded. And God is who God is and did not let His written message be perverted by men seeking the truth such that they would be misled into Hell. From a man's heart does he strive to know the truth, or not know the truth, and God knows the true heart of a man. He does not judge by outward appearances, but by the inner true condition of a man.


>To me, sinners are killers, rapists, thieves, men who beat their wives and beat children.

Those are sinners. But here are also sinners:
I. Thou shall have no Gods before me.
II. You shall not make any graven image, and bow down and serve them.
III. You shall not take the name of the Lord in vain.
IV. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
V. Honor your father and mother.
VI. Thou shall not murder.
VII. Thou shall not commit adultery.
VIII. Thou shall not steal.
IX. Thou shall not bear false witness (lie).
X. Thou shall not covet.

And Jesus took it further in the New Testament, warning about the inward state of a man's heart:
VI++. Matthew 5:22a, "But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:"
VII++. Matthew 5:28a, "But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart."

For those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, it comes down to the reality: You are still under the Law (the Law of Moses). In that Law there are hundreds of rules and regulations which must be adhered to. God gave man the Law to demonstrate to him that he cannot keep the Law, that we need a savior. God is perfect, and was able to keep the whole Law.

Have you ever told a lie in your whole life? That makes you a liar (IX).
Have you ever stolen anything in your whole life? That makes you a thief (VIII).
Have you ever lusted after a woman? That makes you an adulterer (VII) if married, and a fornicator if unmarried (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind (homosexual), 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.").

God's Law demonstrates that we are all sinners. And we are in need of a savior. God demands justice for sin, and the only wage of sin is death (and this is death in the biblical sense, which means eternal death in Hell). If Jesus does not pay the price for your sin, you must pay it. He was able to pay it, and raise Himself back to life because He is God. If you must pay the price for sin, you cannot raise yourself back to life and you will go down to the pit forever.


>If I were a Christian, nothing would make me more indignant than the idea that the ideal
>must be sacrificed for the non-ideal

That is God's love, His free gift unto man. That God so loved the people of this world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever shall believe on Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.


> If men are fine then there was no need for such a sacrifice.
>I actually agree with you on that.

So do I. But this is the true state of man: Romans 3:23, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."


>Man is born "tabula-rasa", with the free will and the choices to be good or bad, to try to make a benevolent
>world or something less. Man is not perfect, but it does not follow that lack of perfection = sinful and in need
>of "saving"

That is Satan's teaching. Satan teaches such things so that men will not seek the Lord, will not be saved, and will go down to the pit with him. It is God who has warned all men through the Bible, through His Holy Spirit calling out to them throughout their life, through the interference He runs in people's lives by guiding and directing various things to get their attention and draw them to Himself.

All men on the Earth are in need of a savior. There is only one given unto mankind: the man Jesus. There is no other way.


>I would like to ask you a question. It's a question I posed to someone here on the UT years ago.
>In Nazi Germany, approximately 1.1 million Jewish children died. Since you believe in the after-life, what
>happened to those 1.1 million who likely were never baptized and who likely did not accept Jesus as a
>savior? What happened to them on their "judgment day"?

God warned the Jewish people of His time upon this Earth that they are serving Satan, whom He called "their father." This is because they are doing the works of Satan, and are not doing the works of their ancestor, Abraham, nor are they keeping the Law of Moses. John 8:44, "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it."

God has put spiritual blinders upon all people, including the Jews, so that ever seeing they will not see, and ever hearing the will not hear, because of the history of their ancestral rebellion against God, denying Him as the one true God, and turning their back upon Him. Romans 11:7-8, "7 What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded 8 (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day."

Yet God has received those who have sought Him diligently (Matthew 15:21-28, "21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. 22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil. 23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. 24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me. 26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. 27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. 28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.").

God is not without compassion. But He is holy, and He has decreed a righteous judgment. And as He destroyed the entire people of the Earth, save eight on the ark, and how He destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah before the day of judgment due to their extreme and vile wickedness, both of these serving as warnings for us today, so it will be on that last day. Judgment without mercy will be shown those who have not harkened unto God, which means those who have not been willing to hear the Truth because God is Truth, and His ways are just and righteous and loving and holy and perfect, and all who reject Him reject those things. James 2:10-13, "10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. 11 For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. 12 So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty. 13 For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment." Jesus is the one who has shown us mercy, taking upon Himself our punishment, and giving us Himself the free, undeserved, gift of eternal life. He has done this through grace for all those who will hear the Truth because they have received Him in faith.

As for the rest, God has reserved for Himself a remnant of Jewish people that will be saved. It is a finite number -- 144,000. There are 12,000 each from the 12 tribes of Israel. Revelation 7:1-8, "1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. 2 And I saw another angel ascending from the east, having the seal of the living God: and he cried with a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given to hurt the earth and the sea, 3 Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. 4 And I heard the number of them which were sealed: and there were sealed an hundred and forty and four thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel. 5 Of the tribe of Juda were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand. 6 Of the tribe of Aser were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Nepthalim were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasses were sealed twelve thousand. 7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. 8 Of the tribe of Zabulon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand."

The rest of all mankind will enter into Hell forever -- because they would not hear the Truth, turn from their sinful ways, repent, and be saved.

There are no men who are exempt from the gift Jesus offers through His death at the cross. We read on in Revelation 7 that there were people from every place on the Earth, past, present, and future, who were in Heaven, Revelation 7:9,14b "9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; 14b These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

God is real.
Jesus paid a real price at the cross. He bought men by His sacrifice.
All men are guilty of sin and will go to Hell unless they repent of their sinful ways, accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus, and are saved.
No man can hear this unless the Father draw him to His Son.
If you hear His voice today, do not harden your heart. Listen to Him, for He is reaching out to you, calling you to Him, that you too might be saved.