ONLY TWO SIDES

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement:

“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:”

 “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’”

“Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!”

Acts 28:24-29

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Roman Jewish leaders and a contingent of their followers had come to Paul, curious for information about his Christian beliefs associated with the “sect” he was a part of. And so as they gathered in the place where Paul was being held under close guard, they listened with intent as he “witnessed to them from morning till evening”. His message included an explanation “about the kingdom of God” as he used words from “the Law of Moses” and “the Prophets” in order to “persuade” those gathered “about Jesus”.

In other words, Paul did what he did best. He found a way to share the Gospel with the Roman Jews with the intent of helping them find salvation through Christ.

So did he succeed? Did all the Jews in Rome convert to Christianity?

Not exactly.

For as we see in today’s passage in this next to last devotion from the Book of Acts, some opted to believe while others didn’t. And this was about par for the course as Paul had seen this many, many times before. For despite his best efforts, there were people who would inevitably reject Jesus, surrendering their chance for eternal life in the process.

You see in Paul’s day, as it is now and will forever be, there are only two sides: those who believe in Jesus and gain everlasting life and those who reject him and destine themselves for eternal damnation. Jesus summed this up through these words from the Gospel of Matthew:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left.”

“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.’”

“Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?’”

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me.’”

“Then He will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.’”

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?’”

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.’”

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” Matthew 25:31-46

Jesus will return to earth from heaven, leaving His position of power over all creation to serve as the supreme Judge over all things. He foretells it in this passage and when He returns, there will be a sorting of people into two sides. Those in Christ (the sheep of His flock) will be placed on His right while those who refused to believe in Him as Savior (the goats) will be on His left.

Only two different sides with each having very distinct destinations.

The sheep will find themselves blessed by God, taking a hold of their inheritance in Christ, the very eternal life in the kingdom of God that had been prepared for them since the creation of the world.

As for the goats on the left, the non-Christ believers, they would never taste heaven, only eternal punishment. Death is no more the end for them than the saved and redeemed. For the unsaved will live in torment and agony forever.

Back to the scriptures where we find that some of the Roman Jews were convinced by what Paul had said. They believed and found themselves counted among the sheep. As for the others, they chose to not believe and joined the company of the goats, fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy by “hearing but never understanding” and adopting hearts that had “become calloused” and eyes that were “closed”. They, the Jews, refused to turn from their unbelief and allow Jesus to heal them and so God allowed salvation to be extended “to the Gentiles” because they showed more of a willingness to listen and choose Jesus.

Ever since Jesus brought the offer of eternal life to God’s people, there has been a division of the people into two sides. There has never been and there never will be a third option. You either place your faith and hope in Jesus as Savior or you don’t.

Which side have you chosen?

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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