The Ultimate Sacrifice for Sin

Why does God demand a Sacrifice? 

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

In the Old Testament, God demanded the sacrifices of animals to atone for the sins of the High Priests and the people.  The blood was supposed to cover the sins of the Israelites.  But when Jesus came, all animal sacrifices ceased - for He was the sacrificial Lamb for once and for all.  The blood of Jesus does not just cover up the sins of the people, but removes them.

Under the Old Covenant, there was atonement through the blood of sacrificial animals.  This prefigured the blood of Christ, who would bring the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins" - (Hebrews 10:4).

"Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:12-14).

Christ was qualified to pay the penalty for our sin, because He was without sin.  Since He was not under the same condemnation, He could voluntarily take our place: "who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness" - (1 Peter 2:24).

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Truths About The Da Vinci Code

 THE TRUTH ABOUT THE DA VINCI CODE

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

Recently, I have heard a lot about the movie The Da Vinci Code based on the novel by Dan Brown.  In this writing - which is fiction, and based upon distorted history - the author purports that Jesus had a romantic relationship with Mary Magdalene - or was in fact married to her.  So absurd and so laughable was this assertion that a number of people told me that they were not going to see the movie.  Their reason being, they did not want to support a lie.

However, there are those who think that the arguments for The Da Vinci Code are plausible.  My purpose in writing this article is to expose this satanic hoax.  I also want to show you that the real purpose in writing this book is to undermine your faith and destroy your soul.

Your Saviour and master, Jesus Christ was not only sinless, but he had no physical offspring.  In 1 Peter 2:22, Jesus’ sinless nature is confirmed in an eye-witness account: Jesus did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.  At the foot of the cross, of all the people mentioned, no wife or sweetheart was named (John 19: 25-27).  Mary Magdalene did not flee with any offspring to France to perpetuate a royal French line of kings.  She died in Ephesus.

How did the author come to such a ridiculous conclusion that Jesus was married?  He inferred it from an imperfectly preserved passage in The Gnostic Gospel by Philip.  This passage was so fragmentary that no one could make complete sense from it, but he deduced marriage from it.  This is the height of intellectual dishonesty.

What are The Gnostic Gospels?  They belonged to a number of false gospels in circulation at the time of the disciples.  In them, the deity of Christ is denied and salvation is attained through secret knowledge.  St. Paul, at the time he was writing the epistle to the Colossians fought hard against dangerous cults of this type.  They threatened the Colossian church.  In verses 15 and 16 of Colossians chapter 1, Paul countered their arguments by revealing that Jesus is “the image of the invisible God” and the creator of all things.  This was his defense.

However, it is still a tragedy that we have inherited some of these false gospels today.  Among The Gnostic Gospels are The Gospel of Judas, The Gospel of Mary and The Gospel of Thomas.  These gospels were written 150 and sometimes 200 years after the historical events occurred.  Whereas, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts and the Epistles of St. Paul were eyewitness accounts and were written during the lives of the apostles.

It is insightful to observe that most scholars doubt that the purported authors wrote these false gospels.  You must be aware that a number of them are inconsistent with what the disciples thought and diametrically opposed to established Christian doctrine.

Case-in-point, The Gnostic Gospel of Philip could not have been written by the disciple because he believed that Jesus Christ was God incarnate.  One day Jesus was asked by Philip to show him the Father, God.  Jesus replied, “He that hath me has seen the Father; and how sayeth thou then, show us the Father?”  Thomas also believed that Jesus was God in the flesh, when he addressed Him as: “my Lord and my God.”

Bahamians must also continue to defend their Christian heritage.  It is totally irresponsible to expose the population to this kind of work at the risk of destroying their Christian ethic and faith.  Already, The Bahamas has problems with a very high murder rate; a record number of AIDS infections per capita, drug problems and other ills too numerous to mention.  Does any sensible person want to create further complications by attacking a belief system that gives its adherents a certain measure of protection and eternal salvation?

God has Already given us warnings.  In spite of hurricanes and economic challenges, we have not had a holocaust that has taken hundreds or even thousands of lives yet.  This is by the grace of God.  Take into consideration Hurricane Katrina and the deaths of 9000 people in New Orleans.  Prior to that was the “911” incident in New York.  What about the earthquakes in India occurring in the midst of their celebrations of false gods?  The Bible states that the nation that forgets God is turned into hell.

THE LAST SUPPER

Almost everybody is familiar with the painting - The Last Supper, by Leonardo Da Vinci.  Dan Brown claims that the person on the right of Jesus is Mary Magdalene.  As a matter of fact, it is supposed to be John.  This picture is not a true representation of The Last Supper.  In the Middle Eastern culture at that time, there were no tables and chairs as we know them today.  Jesus and his disciples ate in a reclining position each taking turns in dipping their bread in one pot in common!  Another mistake in Da Vinci’s painting is that there are a number of cups.  In reality, there was only one cup that was passed around.

Since the Bible has the reputation of being the most documented book of all antiquity, let it address the situation of false gospels and the erroneous teaching of this age:

“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring themselves swift destruction.  And Many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.  And through covetousness shall they, with feigned words, make merchandise of you; whose judgement now for a long time lingereth not, and their destruction  slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2: 1-3).

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Jesus - The Way, The Truth and The Life!

The Better Way

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

Many religions are trying to attain salvation by works alone.  But by the works of the law no flesh is justified.  Why?  Because God's standard is infallibility.  Can one attain infallibility?  No, it is impossible because if you have committed a single sin, you are branded a sinner forever.

Buddha realized this and said that you could not escape the results of your sin even if it took you trillions of years.  Buddha also gave a description of Christ 500 years before He was born - telling of the wounds that were on His body and the markings on His forehead.  He said that this coming figure had a better way.

These writings are accurately transmitted and are found in the Buddhist's scriptures of Cambodia.  In them, Buddha himself stated that the old way was limited and ineffectual.  How did he know this?  My surmise is that God revealed it to him.  It was then up to the Buddha to accept this and disseminate it.

Unfortunately, all that has been handed to us are formulas for right conduct and metaphysical systems from the East which would enable us to attain salvation.  How erroneous are these notions, for Ephesians 2: 8 states that salvation is attained by grace through faith; it is a gift of God and not of us, lest any man should boast.

Jesus also said that "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life, no man commeth unto the Father but by Me."  By His blood all of your sins are wiped away.

 

Buddha Prophesized about Jesus (Yeshua)>>>

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We are Born in Sin

Sin

Dear Friends in Christ,

                             

 

The Bible puts it: "we were born in sin and shaped iniquity."  We inherit the sin nature through our Adamitic bloodline.  As a result, the male bloodline carries the potential for sin.  That is why Jesus had to be born without a genetic father, being conceived through the Holy Spirit.  His bloodline was given to Him by God.

When we accept Jesus as our personal Saviour, we inherit His bloodline and become sons and daughters of God.  The sons and daughters of God are also led by the Spirit of God.

Yes, we are born in sin.  Sin is not necessarily what we do. It is an inherited condition. The acts are just symptoms of this fallen condition.

Francis Fawkes

E-mail: francisfawkes7@yahoo.com

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Be Rapture Ready!

THE DANGER OF NOT BEING RAPTURE-READY

By Francis Fawkes, Th.D.

There is a lot of teaching on prosperity.  Sure, Christians need a certain measure of prosperity to be more effective in Christian ministry.  They would certainly be handicapped in carrying out the great commission if they were broke (Matthew 24:14).  However, Ministers of the Gospel need to prioritize and give end–time prophecy its rightful due.  God revealed to the Christian author David Wilkerson in his book, “The Vision,” that as Job was tempted by depravation and loss, so is the latter day Christian tempted by greed and wealth.  It is rather unfortunate that eschatology or end-time prophecy has been eclipsed by prosperity teaching, and many Christians are not prepared for the next appearing of Jesus.  Holiness, with which no man can see God’s face, has ceased to become an issue of importance (Hebrews 12: 14).

The Rapture is conspicuous by its absence in the pulpits today.  Emphasis needs to be placed on the Rapture (Harpazo, Gk. – snatching away from danger).  This is an extremely serious situation as the Rapture is synonymous with the first resurrection of the righteous dead (1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17).  The whole of Christianity revolves around the resurrection.  St. Paul states: if Christ did not arise, then our faith is in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:14).

My concern stems from a dream the Lord revealed to me on the Rapture in the 1980’s.  I found myself thousands of feet in the air.  When I looked down I saw many people still on the ground.  They exuded egotism and pride in their jobs.  They were totally unaware that the Master Jesus had come and gone.

Confounded and mildly upset, I wondered what this meant.  I had never experienced anything like that.  I thought that all mouth- professing Christians go to Heaven.  The Lord explained to me that not every Christian will be going up in the Rapture.  He further stated that some believe that they are real Christians, but they are not.  I had other dreams of the Rapture in which I saw the prepared go up in small groups!  When you study the situation, it shows the Christian that he cannot use salvation by grace as a licence to sin (Hebrews 6: 4-7).

HOLINESS NOT MIRACLES IS THE KEY TO BEING THE RAPTURED

In Matthew 7: 21:  “Jesus expressly states that not all that say Lord, Lord shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my  Father which is in heaven.”

Many think that speaking in tongues, prophesying and casting out devils will guarantee them a place in the Rapture or Heaven.  But listen to the rest of the story.  Jesus quotes in verse 22: “Many shall say in that day Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name?  And in thy name cast out devils?”  In verse 23 he will say unto them: “I never knew you, depart from me ye workers of iniquity.”  They could have made it if they had repented of their evil deeds.

With the search for guidance from the Holy Spirit, I continued to study other visions, dreams, near-death-experiences and outer-body-experiences of people around the world.  In trying to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit, I discovered something traumatic but possibly true.  If a very small percentage of the world’s population are going to heaven where do the majority go?  No need to answer the obvious.  This is a revelation from Jesus to Minister Howard Pittman in his telling of a near-death-experience that he had in his book called “Placebo.”

Here are the most surprising revelations of men of God.  When the Rapture comes only 10 percent of Christians will be taken up.  There are many such similar reports.  Furthermore, a large percentage of Ministers of the Gospel may not be raptured because they lack a pure heart or are not living holy lives.  Many of them may fail because of sins of the heart and sins connected with their thought life.  I believe that God has an incredible standard for Ministers of the Gospel – one of absolute, pure holiness!  It is certainly higher than the general population at large.  In Matthew 7:14 it is written:  “… straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto eternal life, and few there be that find it.”  It is incredible that “few” can mean few Christians as well.  We have to put more emphasis on holiness and repentance.

HOLINESS - THE SOLUTION TO THE RAPTURE PROBLEM

Whatever happened to holiness?  Has it been thrown out of the window?  In Leviticus 11:45 it states: “I am the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore be ye holy, because I am holy.”  In Hebrews 12: 14: “Follow peace with all men, and holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.”  In an alarming revelation that was given to a very popular man of God, many men of God who were thought sure to be in heaven were not there – God knew their hearts.  Others, who many thought would never make it to heaven, were seen in heaven.  “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8).

There are revelations given by Ministers of God as to why God would have rejected them if they had not repented and met his standards.  Howard Pittman thought that he was pleasing God in ministry.  God revealed that his motives were selfish and that he was his own false God.  He committed the sin of idolatry without repentance.  If he remained in that state, he would not make it into heaven.  He learnt that 2.5 percept of the world’s population were being saved at that moment.  The other 97.5 percept perished.

Renowned Ugandan pastor John Mulinde despite a prospering ministry with healings and salvations was not ready because he had not repented of an abominable thought life.

Pastor John Ekechukwu of Nigeria was not ready because of unforgiveness in his heart towards his wife.  He learnt that if he had not repented, he would have his part in the lake of fire.  Many ministers have intense hatred and refuse to let go of certain things in their hearts towards others.  Jesus said: “But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your father forgive you your trespasses” (Matthew 6: 15).  Forgiveness is the essence of salvation.

REPENTANCE IS TOO IMPORTANT TO BE IGNORED

“Repent ye, therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out…” (Acts 3:19).  What habitual sins should the Minister of the Gospel and Christian repent of alike?  Here are some of the sins all need to repent of.  One can use Galatians 5: 19 as a complete guideline for spiritual purity and purity of the heart.  However, I will name some of the more common lifestyle sins of both: Adultery, fornication, lustfulness, witchcraft, hatred, envyings, wrath and drunkenness.  Repent of these sins if they become a matter of lifestyle.  Those that do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven.  Slander, whether direct or by innuendo in everyday life and in the pulpit is a sin according to 1 Corinthians 6: 9.  Such a person is called a “reviler” in the aforementioned passage.  Those that make these sins a lifestyle shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.

IS HELL FIRE REAL?

Jesus told a Christian that the fires of hell cannot be compared to the fires of earth – they are much hotter.  There are some Christians who believe that the fires of hell are figurative, however in no sense of the word can it be unreal.  Here is a passage too explicit to be figurative.  “And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter the Kingdom of God  with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: where the worm dieth not and the fire quenches not” (Mark 9:47 -48).  The Lord also told another person that the greatest punishment is not reserved for the pagan, but for the Christians that knew the word of God but still persisted in evil doing without repentance.  Yes, the key is repentance.

THE ASTONISHNING  DENIAL OF THE CHURCH

This passage of scripture Revelation 13: 16 - 18 is being fulfilled before in our times, but many ministers hardly make a comment on it:  “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich or poor, free and bond to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the Beast…”  In verse eighteen this number is 666.

It is astonishing, that 2 ½ million people have already accepted the microchip.  This is the forerunner Mark of the Beast and the pulpits are silent!  Mark of the Beast legislation is being fought successfully in several states of the United States.  They are Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Wisconsin, North Dakota and California.  The church continues to slumber in denial.

Does the Christian know that the cashless society is making progress at a frightening rate of about 90 percent in Europe and Asia?  There are certain shops in Europe which reject liquid cash because purchases are only permissible electronically.  In a few years’ time, they want everyone in India to have a number.  The Bible indicates that buying and selling will be done according to a number system.

This chip is supposed to go on the back of the right hand or in forehead.  That microchip carries the possibility of monitoring and controlling you for not only medical purposes but for economic and political purposes as well.

So, Christians - you have been warned.  In Matthew Chapter 25, do not be like the five foolish virgins: prepare your lamps with oil.  Do not be like the proverbial virgins today who say the Rapture promotes “an escape mentality” and fail to fill their lamps with oil.  Listen to what the master Jesus had to say about this: “for there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world, to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matthew 24:21).   According to the seven seals, the seven trumpets and the seven bowls, the judgements will wipe out billions of lives in a short space of time.  Islands and mountains will be dislocated (Revelation 6 – 18).  So preparation with an escape mentality is very well justified.

Friend, if you die today that is your Rapture.  For it states in 1 Thessalonians 4: 16-17, the dead will be the first to arise to meet Christ in the air.  They will be followed by those saved ones who will never see death.

I want to conclude by saying do not be afraid of the word “Rapture.”  It really comes from the Latin Vulgate Bible, and it does not conflict with the original concept of “snatching away” in the original Greek text.  Look and prepare with great expectation for the next appearing of Jesus the Christ for there is a special reward for them that desire his appearing (2 Timothy 2: 8).

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