For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? Lest haply, after he hath laid the foundation, and is not able to finish it, all that behold it begin to mock him, saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
The devil deceives the whole world and this is no joke this is very serious . This means a difference between spending eternity in a place called hell where the fire is never quenched or Heaven. God tells us Nations that forget him are turned into hell. Counterfeit believers are not true believers they are deceived individuals headed to hell and they hold on to their abominable doctrine of devils coupled with the traditions of men. God says they be damned that they had not a love of thy truth. 2 Thessalonians 2:12 Many are perishing. Many have a fictitious idea of where they're going when they die but it certainly is not the heaven that the Bible describes . It is written there is a way that seems right to a man but in the end it is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12 to 16 If you die spiritually the second death hell will become your eternal home. When Christ said repent or perish to perish he means spending eternity in hell. Imagine 20,000° and you can't die. God is not a monster but he demands justice. He is Holy and can't stand sin. I will tell you who to fear says God of the Holy scriptures.
[5] But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear : Fear him , which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him .
The gospel the same gospel that the god of this world has blinded the minds of the multitude otherwise they would believe the truth and be saved can save your soul. 2 Corinthians 4:4 This gospel does not involve doing good works to be saved or practicing religious rituals because God hates the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. He hates baal worship. People teaching you the doctrines and Commandments of men are not wise. They are not looking out for your soul. The Bible makes it specifically clear you must be born again. John 3:3 You must be a new creature in Christ.17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17
The Bible says many are called and few are chosen. Matthew 22:14
Christ the Jewish Messiah was despised and rejected and a man well acquainted with grief and sorrow. He suffered when he was sent to the gentiles just as he said he would be. Yes he died for the sins of the world but he acknowledged this world is diseased by iniquity. And he tested the disciples even the apostles. Matthew 20 is profound. Laborers were sent to labor into the vineyard hired for a penny. This had profound meaning and implications. The request made in this chapter is astonishing and he said indeed they will drink of the same cup and be baptized with the baptism he is baptized but to sit on his left or right is not his to give but it will indeed be given to those who it has been prepared of his father.
And look what he said
Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
26 But it shall not be so among you : but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;
27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant :
And in his kingdom the least of the least are first. This means people must be humbled. On Earth people do things according to the wrong unfair choice. Iniquity is gross unfairness and that's what we have on Earth. They despised him and rejected him and he is the only way to the father. If you love me keep my Commandments is what he said/asked but how many people really love him but they give our lord lip service. How many people truly know him or serve another Christ of their own choosing and their own deception. Yes there's a devil in this world and he's not going to cast himself out. If he had the gull to tempt Christ and say he will give him the kingdoms of the world if he would fall down and worship him you could imagine his depth. Satan is no amateur. You cannot beat him by human shortcomings/ignorance. Christ beat him at the cross but that doesn't alone get you off the hook without you becoming a true believer. He attacked JOB. He wanted to sift Apostle Peter to see what he's made of. He tries many people and sends them to prison according to the scriptures.
He's not your imaginary enemy or your imaginary friend. In other words the Bible makes it crystal clear he is real and he is the adversary. 1 Peter 5:8 He hates God. He desires to be god. His mission is to destroy you and make sure you make it to hell. Yet many people serve him in this world.
I'm often reminded of John 10:10. We have a comforter whom reminds me that the thief comes to steal to rob and to murder but he has come to give an abundance of life. There's no other name under heaven in which a man must be saved and find salvation but that of the biblical Lord that Jesus Christ. Tonight or tomorrow night you might be going out to a nightclub to drink alcohol looking for men or women and get pleasure of the flesh. You don't know when will be your last day on Earth yet you don't know your own maker. You don't know your own true Father and you assume this and that. I challenge you to get a copy of the Bible and I recommend the King James Bible and read it and pray. Read Mark, Matthew, Luke and John for starters and pray. Seek and you will find, knock and the door will be open on to you. You don't have forever because as you procrastinate people come and go, people die and you don't know where they're going. Very few people go to heaven and most make it to a place called hell which grows larger and larger according to the prophet Isaiah's.
Look at the next four verses about finding and seeking God.
Jeremiah 29:13 - And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
Proverbs 8:17 - I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
Matthew 7:8 - For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.
Deuteronomy 4:29 - But if from thence thou shalt seek the LORD thy God, thou shalt find him, if thou seek him with all thy heart and with all thy soul.
Look what is written
Prov. 3 Verses 5 to 6
[5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. [6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
If you find God and you don't lean on your own understanding God will direct your path. You might be broken in anguish but Christ can set you free in a world where people are entangled and weigh down in bondage to/by the devil. They don't have the abundance of life that Christ came to give them. They don't even know what it is or how to attain it. They don't care about the truth but the truth can set you free and change your course of direction so that you make sure you end up in heaven and not hell. You see the Pharisees became religious devils. These were his own people. He was a simple carpenter yet he was much more than they understood.
Here is the danger when you lean on your own understanding and you follow the world that hates the truth and marvels after the Beast..
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. 1 John 2:15 to 17
Here is the great danger a member of Hollywood which is a woman and she wrote a book on Christ and his love but what they do is find misunderstanding and narrow-mindedness in the Christ of their choosing. In other words they reduce him to mere love but the wages of sin is death.
Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: " Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes .
They did not repent. Have you repented?
Do you live a sinful life? Where are you going if you were to drop dead? Are you sure? You just might get the shock of your life. Repent or perish be wise.