WHAT IS NEXT, IF YOU SHOULD NOT SURVIVE THE SURGERY?
"What's next?" This is a question that must be answered by everyone who faces death, because our eternal destiny depends upon it... It is an extraordinarily deceptive scheme of the Adversary to deny a dying person what may be the final opportunity for salvation by wrapping one's last days of physical life in a cloak of psychedelic bliss...
The word of the LORD came to me: ‘Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: “When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people, then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head. Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves. But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.
‘Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, “You wicked person, you will surely die,” and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.
‘Son of man, say to the Israelites, “This is what you are saying: ‘Our offences and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?’” Say to them, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?”‘Therefore, son of man, say to your people, “If someone who is righteous disobeys, that person’s former righteousness will count for nothing. And if someone who is wicked repents, that person’s former wickedness will not bring condemnation. The righteous person who sins will not be allowed to live even though they were formerly righteous.” If I tell a righteous person that they will surely live, but then they trust in their righteousness and do evil, none of the righteous things that person has done will be remembered; they will die for the evil they have done. And if I say to a wicked person, “You will surely die,” but they then turn away from their sin and do what is just and right – if they give back what they took in pledge for a loan, return what they have stolen, follow the decrees that give life, and do no evil – that person will surely live; they will not die. None of the sins that person has committed will be remembered against them. They have done what is just and right; they will surely live.
EZEKIEL 33：1-16.
From chapter 33 onwards to the end of the Book of Ezekiel, Prophet Ezekiel spoke of the restoration of the Jews after pronouncing a series of prophecies of judgment on the Muslim nations around Israel. He had warned Israel until Jerusalem finally fell in 586BCE, while the false prophets did nothing but give Israel false hope. Having fulfilled his commission, here Ezekiel has been given a new appointment as a watchman of the people.
The Lord taught Ezekiel that as a watchman, he was accountable for warning his fellow Israelites. Ezekiel’s role was to warn the people to turn from their wicked ways so that they would live. It is clear that the Lord desires to save them and so He is urging them to turn to Him and accept life. In verses 12 and 13, the Lord repeats the same message in a different way, saying that if you repent and solely rely on His mercy and righteousness but not on your own righteousness, you are able to stand in God’s righteousness so as to be saved. We cannot compensate for our wicked deeds by our own means; we need God!
The Lord taught Ezekiel that as a watchman, he was accountable for warning his fellow Israelites. Ezekiel’s role was to warn the people to turn from their wicked ways so that they would live. It is clear that the Lord desires to save them and so He is urging them to turn to Him and accept life. In verses 12 and 13, the Lord repeats the same message in a different way, saying that if you repent and solely rely on His mercy and righteousness but not on your own righteousness, you are able to stand in God’s righteousness so as to be saved. We cannot compensate for our wicked deeds by our own means; we need God!
Apostle Paul taught in 2 Corinthians 5:10- 21:
‘For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due to us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade others. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience…God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’,which means that whoever you are, you are to stand before God for judgment some day and even if you are a child of God your sins will be appropriately judged. However, you would not lose your salvation owing to Christ’s redemption for each individual believer’s sin, only through which you can stand before God. This is the gospel, for which all the believers in Christ is evermore being urged to persuade others.
The following article is worth a read as it tells us of the importance of bravely challenging a person of their first priority in life when they are at a crossroad in their life, such as before major surgery. T. A. McMahon warns us of a current trend of leaning on mind-altering drugs as a ‘psychedelic gospel’, which is, however, Satan’s devices. Without hesitation, all God’s children are urged to confront evil and to warn fellow believers who have already succumbed to ‘drugs’, i.e., ‘sorcery’ in biblical terms as well as themselves.
A few years ago I had the wonderful privilege of ministering to a very elderly lady who was about to be operated on for a cancer issue. It was not a life-or-death-related surgery, but at her advanced age there were some definite concerns. As we awaited the gurney to transport her to surgery, I asked her a question that had been pressing on my heart. I was aware that she may not have known the Lord beyond her social Christian upbringing. She knew a number of things about Jesus, but I wasn't confident that she was born again. So I asked her simply, "What's next?" I could tell that she was apprehensive about the pending surgery, and my question startled her. She asked what I meant. Trying to be as sensitive to the situation as I could, I nevertheless told her that I felt compelled to ask her if she thought about what was next for her should she not survive the surgery.
That may seem like the wrong thing to ask. There are those who would have me say things that would build up her confidence regarding the outcome of the operation. Many believe that a positive attitude increases one's chances of survival when the body goes through a physically traumatic event. There is little doubt that one's attitude can influence a person's condition for wellness or harm, and a good attitude certainly wins out over a bad attitude (see Proverbs 15:13, 15; 17:22), but it's no guarantee regarding the hoped-for outcome. I wanted her to be both encouraged and to have a guarantee as she faced surgery. I interrupted her perplexed look by straightforwardly asking if she wanted to spend eternity with Jesus……
She never hesitated in her "yes" response. Hers was not a fear-of-the-surgery reply. It was obvious at that moment that the Lord had given her peace and His perfect love had cast out her fear. I then repeated the simple gospel (which she had heard in our home numerous times) and asked her if she believed in her heart that Jesus had paid the full penalty for her sins and if she was willing to accept His offer of the gift of eternal life. Again, there was no hesitation in her affirmation. It seemed to me that the Holy Spirit was bringing to her mind the things we had previously talked about related to the gospel. She survived the surgery, but it was not too long afterward that she received that for which she had asked. She went to be with her Savior, who had promised that she would spend her eternity with Him.
There is no greater promise given in the Scriptures and, therefore, no greater encouragement: "[Christ] in whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest [guarantee] of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory" (Ephesians 1:13-14).
As I mentioned, the lady was elderly. She lived until her mid-90s. The children she had birthed were a part of the "baby boomer" generation (those born right after World War II and into the early '60s). It is the largest generation thus far in US history, peaking at nearly 79 million at the end of the 20th century. The first of the baby boomers (1944-'46) are now entering their 70s, and most are suffering the plight of old age with its accompanying illnesses.
The baby boomers introduced the subculture of the hippies, a youth movement that began in the US and rejected the establishment with its traditional social customs. They protested war and violence and instead promoted peace and love. Much of the movement was fueled by mind-altering drugs that were greatly encouraged by influential men such as Harvard professor Timothy Leary ("Turn on, tune in, drop out."), a major advocate of LSD. The use of psychedelics grew exponentially during the 1960s……
The New Yorker article cites the case of a man whose cancer had spread throughout his body and was given no hope of recovery by his doctors. Facing death drove him to seek options to relieve his extreme anxiety. Quoting researchers, Pollan writes, "Cancer patients receiving just a single dose of psilocybin experienced immediate and dramatic reductions in anxiety and depression, improvements that were sustained for at least six months.... People who had been palpably scared of death - they lost their fear." Novelist and drug proponent Aldous Huxley (1894-1963) is often quoted for support regarding using psychedelics with terminal patients "in the hope that it would make dying a more spiritual, less strictly physiological process." Huxley, a humanist and anti-Christian, was injected with LSD at his deathbed. His "spiritual" process (read hallucination) may have given him temporal relief, but his ecstasy, according to the Scriptures, eased him into an eternal separation from his Creator in a place where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth in darkness forever (Matthew 22:13). The Word of God would have us think about death and what follows as life's most critical consideration……
What then of this "gospel" from a biblical perspective? It contributes to a fulfillment of what the Scriptures indicate will be an end-times deception. It is referred to as sorcery. The term in Revelation 9:21 and 18:23 in the Greek is pharmakeia, which Vine's Expository Dictionary defines as "the use or the administering of drugs." Galatians 5:20 translates the term pharmakeia (from which we get our word pharmacy) as witchcraft. It should be apparent from those scriptures that drugs will play a major part in the "strong delusion" of the Last Days (2 Thessalonians 2:11). Revelation 18:23 declares that "thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived." Furthermore, the commitment to the use of drugs will be so strong that even after God pours out His wrath upon the earth during the Great Tribulation none will repent of their sorceries (Revelation 9:20-21)……
Hallucinogenic drugs, however, have a long history in many cultures as key ingredients in religious rituals. The drug-induced altered state of consciousness transcends euphoric experiences and becomes a means of contacting spirit entities. That has been the mainstay of shamanism throughout the world by people groups and cultures that have had no contact with one another. The shaman or witchdoctor, by ingesting or inhaling a hallucinogenic substance, is enabled to commune with the spirit world. He is thus "equipped" to mediate between the spirit beings and his tribe or village. The Bible censures the practice as a form of divination that results in communication with demons (which explains the uniformity of shamanism throughout the world)……
At the beginning of this article, I mentioned having asked my friend: "What's next?" This is a question that must be answered by everyone who faces death, because our eternal destiny depends upon it. Scripture is unambiguous: "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment" (Hebrews 9:27). It is an extraordinarily deceptive scheme of the Adversary to deny a dying person what may be the final opportunity for salvation by wrapping one's last days of physical life in a cloak of psychedelic bliss. Heartbreakingly, this drug wave will certainly increase in the days ahead, as Pollan points out: "Many of the researchers and therapists I interviewed are confident that psychedelic therapy will eventually become routine……
Fifty years of the ever-increasing influence of Eastern mysticism, however, through its homogenized and westernized form known as the New Age Movement, has corroded away the last chains of opposition. The gurus rushed to the West, trumpeted in by the Beatles under the guidance of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Eastern meditation took its practitioners to a higher level of altered states of consciousness than the banned hallucinogenic drugs……
Popular TV medical doctor and Sufi Muslim, Dr. Oz is the national spokesperson for Transcendental Meditation's mystical mind-altering Hindu practice. Yoga, which is the heart of Hinduism, rivals Starbucks in popularity and can be found everywhere throughout the country, including in Christian churches. Its meditation is a more direct vehicle to a mystical altered state of consciousness. The legal use of marijuana (the psychedelic drug cannabis) began under the belief (some would say "ploy") that it has significant value for medicinal purposes. It has recently been ushered into the realm of a recreational substance in a few states. It's hardly a wild guess that the rest of the country will follow.
The astounding and pervasive use of drugs (which, again, the Bible terms sorcery) in our day is one more proof of the prophetic accuracy of Scripture. Certainly the world is falling prey to the deceptive scheme instigated by the father of lies, Satan himself, and, tragically, so are many who profess to follow Christ. The Israelites heard from the Prophet Jeremiah God's words of correction and His pleading with them to return to Him, yet they refused to repent of their spiritual adulteries. Christendom today is on that same path.
Pray that the Holy Spirit will convict the hearts of believers who, knowingly or unknowingly, have succumbed to sorcery, that they would repent and obey His Word.
(http://www.thebereancall.org/content/sorcery-ushering-blissful-christless-eternity)
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This month, a money gift of ￥ ****** has been sent to Mary Jane in the Philippines to support her ministry of reaching out to minority tribes and to the impoverished children with the sustenance and God’s Word. Pray for her ministry being blessed by the Lord.
Frederic’s country Burundi has plunged into a very chaotic situation after the failed coup in May and since then three months of instability continue even after the disputed presidential election on 21st July. Independent radio stations, which are the most valued information sources amidst only 2% of the population having internet access have been off air since the coup. Escaping the escalation of political violence, about 150,000 are believed to have sought refuge in neighbourirng countries. On top of that, the present President Pierre Nkurunziza’s policy of bilateral cooperation with Iran has caused much worry because of the possibility of the exploitation of uranium in Burundi. Pray for Frederic’s country and his ministry under such dire circumstances.
Frederic’s country Burundi has plunged into a very chaotic situation after the failed coup in May and since then three months of instability continue even after the disputed presidential election on 21st July. Independent radio stations, which are the most valued information sources amidst only 2% of the population having internet access have been off air since the coup. Escaping the escalation of political violence, about 150,000 are believed to have sought refuge in neighbourirng countries. On top of that, the present President Pierre Nkurunziza’s policy of bilateral cooperation with Iran has caused much worry because of the possibility of the exploitation of uranium in Burundi. Pray for Frederic’s country and his ministry under such dire circumstances.