Category: Man’s Purpose

Mysteries of the Bible

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The Gospel, sometimes called a mystery, contains the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. In this article we will survey some of the mysteries of the Bible. Each of these could take a full article of itself, or perhaps even a book, to thoroughly explain. But for the purpose of this article some of them are covered in a summary fashion, along with a discussion about why the Bible itself is a mystery to most people.

The gospel, God’s word, the Bible, is indeed a mystery. Though the most widely distributed book in history according to guinnessworldrecords.com, its teachings are properly understood by, relatively speaking, only a handful of people. Many specific truths are revealed in the Bible, that are themselves mysteries, even though, ironically, they are explained clearly in the Bible.

Why is the most widely published Book in the world a mystery? Why are its teachings mysteries? To help us understand, let’s look at the word mystery itself, as used in the Bible, and discuss its meaning.

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Do Faithful Christians Suffer?

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Some have been persuaded by false teachings or simply their own misunderstanding that by having “enough faith” and “claiming God’s promises” he or she will be blessed with good health, prosperity, and a life free of serious trials. But does God’s word in fact support the idea that a faithful Christian will experience such a physical lifetime in this age?

Despite the fact that some proponents of what has been called the “prosperity gospel” have garnered huge followings and massive amounts of money encouraging a distorted idea of what the Bible teaches in respect to how God works in our lives, one who takes a view such as described above is bound to be disappointed at some point in his or her life.

While God certainly does promise blessings for faithful obedience to his word, it’s also clear from the teachings and examples found in Scripture that the life of a genuine Christian in this age is challenging, and often calls for courage, sacrifice, and suffering. Why does God allow suffering, even for the faithful, and how may we profit from the trials we encounter as we strive to please and serve God?

Copyright © 2024 by Messenger Church of God

Unless otherwise noted Scripture taken from the New King James VersionTM
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

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

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

cogmessenger.org

Smoke Ascends Forever?

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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.

cogmessenger.org

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

The Hope of the Resurrection

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This final of the seven annual festivals commanded by God to be kept by his people, an annual Sabbath, an eighth day, associated with but following the Feast of Tabernacles, is called the last day, the “great [Greek, megas, great or high] day of the Feast” (Leviticus 23:39; John 7:31). This feast looks forward to a time following the Millennial period, when there will be a general resurrection. In order to understand how God’s plan of salvation for mankind will be fully accomplished, this period cannot be overlooked.

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

What Will it be like to be in the First Resurrection?

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How often have you thought about the rewards God promises to those faithful to Him? When you think about it the magnitude of God’s promises to us are staggering, if we repent of our sins and prove faithful. We are told that those who are Christ’s will be resurrected at his coming.

In this flesh we are born, grow up, and even if all goes well, soon enough we reach the point of death. Often people spend years pursuing pleasure and happiness, but in the end look around and say, “Is this all there is?”

Happily, for those who know and obey the truth, this is not all there is. In this message, “What Will it be like to be in the First Resurrection?”, we catch a glimpse of the magnificent promises God makes regarding those who are privileged to be in the first resurrection.

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