Smoke Ascends Forever?

Will the wicked really be tormented forever in hell? In this sermon, pastor Rod Reynolds examines in detail passages in the book of Revelation that have traditionally been used to establish the common belief in a never-ending hellfire reserved for punishment of the wicked. To understand what the Bible says about hell, we must carefully study the context of the scriptures in question.

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA

The Book of Life

In Revelation 20:15 we’re told that anyone who is not found written in the book of life will be cast into the lake of fire. What is this book of life? When and how can one’s name be written in it? What can you do to make sure your name is there?

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63

What Kind of King Would You Be?

The Fall Festival season pictures the Kingdom of God being established on earth. That means a new government will be established to rule all the nations of the earth! (Revelation 11:15; Daniel 7:14).

Why is a new government necessary? Because government in the hands of man has failed miserably. The record of history is one of war, oppression, poverty, disease, all too often famine, and every other evil imaginable, often caused by government, or at other times not prevented by man’s governments. Historically, government has often been man’s greatest enemy. Yet, effective and genuinely beneficent government is essential to the well being of man. A new and much better government is needed to replace current governments with their failures, inadequacies and evils.

A big part of the responsibility of government is to regulate relations between people. God’s government, through his law, regulates our relationships with God and with one another. In God’s Kingdom, a big part of the job of those who administer the government will be to teach individuals and nations how to relate to one another and to God so as to produce peace and joy, happy and abundant lives on a universal scale. Scripture tells us that the resurrected saints will be given authority under Jesus Christ in his millennial Kingdom to help him rule over the nations of the earth (Daniel 7:27; Revelation 2:26-27; 5:9-10).

If you were made a “king” (or “queen”) today, what kind would you be? What kind of rulers does the world need?

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63

Why Booths?

Why did God command the Israelites to dwell in booths? What spiritual lessons can we learn from their example?

Actually, there are deep lessons we can learn from this example about the transitoriness of our physical lives, and how that should influence how we view life in the flesh and our relationship to God, and the prospect of being granted the gift of eternal life in his kingdom.

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63

Did Jesus Fulfill the Law?

The Apostle Paul warned that “in the last days perilous times will come” (II Timothy 3:1). Jesus warned that as the time for his second coming approaches “because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12). Certainly we are living today in increasingly “perilous times,” and witnessing increasingly pervasive lawlessness of historical proportions.

Unfortunately, popular “Christianity,” while historically having some moderating influence on the natural human tendancy toward lawlessness, and encouraging moral restraint, has at the same time tended to encourage lawlessness through erroneous teachings regarding the laws of God. One rather common misunderstanding is the idea that Jesus “fulfilled the law” for us, so we don’t have to, although the idea may not necessarily be stated in such stark terms.

This has been by no means necessarily a teaching of all professing Christian Churches or ministers, but is nevertheless a misunderstanding among many who view themselves as Christians, that has been fostered at least partly by doctrines taught within their churches.

What is the real meaning of Jesus’ statement concerning fulfilling the law, and how does that affect your obligations concerning God’s word?

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

cogmessenger.org

Messenger Church of God
PO Box 619
Wentzville, MO 63385
USA