Jesus said: "Beware of False Prophets, which come to you in Sheep's Clothing, but inwardly they are Ravening Wolves. Ye shall Know them by their FRUITS." (Matt. 7: 15-18) - Pastor Max Solbrekken

      CHRISTIANS WORSHIP THE TRUE

GOD: NO SUBSTITUTES OR IMITATIONS

By Pastor Max Solbrekken, D.D.

    “For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I AM THE LORD and there is NONE ELSE…Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Is. 45: 18-22)

       “For God so loved the world that He gave His Only Begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have Everlasting Life.” (John 3: 16). Jesus said: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; and no man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.” (John 14: 6)

      "But to us - Christians - there is but ONE GOD, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him." (1 Cor.8:6)

       SAUL OF TARSUS met Jesus Christ on the Damascus Road on His way to kidnap followers of Jesus of Nazareth and bring them back to Jerusalem in chains, to be interrogated, scourged and killed if they would not recant their belief in Yeshua Hamashiach!

     Nearing Damascus with his team of kidnappers, Saul was thrown to the ground by the appearance of Jesus the Risen Saviour, leaving him blinded and soundly shaken, with the voice of our Lord ringing in his ears! (Acts 9:1-20)

    He was gloriously converted and filled the Holy Spirit and called by Jesus Christ to carry His Gospel to the Gentile world! For about thirty years St. Paul preached the Gospel of Christ and founded churches across Asia Minor and Europe.

     He was persecuted, imprisoned, scourged, stoned and finally martyred for the sake of the gospel which he loved. He said: “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.  I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.” (2 Tim.4: 4, 7)

ST. PAUL: APOSTLE, PASTOR

EVANGELIST, CHURCH BUILDER!

     St. Paul was tutored personally by our Saviour in Arabia, and even taken to Heaven to witness things that he was not allowed to reveal. No one suffered as much for Jesus Christ and His Church as the previous Jewish Enforcer! And no-one was given as much theological knowledge as was Paul, 'the little one'!

     It is little wonder then that St. Paul, who founded the Church among the Gentiles, would sound the alarm about the identity of the True God. He was the man who corrected St. Peter, one of three leading elders in the church in Jerusalem, because of his partiality in Antioch!

     "For He that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision (Jews), the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles. And when JAMES, CEPHAS and JOHN, who seemed to be PILLARS  perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go to the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.

      "But when PETER was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed." (Gal.2: 8-14). St. Peter was a great Evangelist and St. James was the leading Pastor of the Church in Jerusalem, but St. Paul laid the foundation of Christ's Church among the Gentiles, built upon the Rock Christ Jesus, the Church's one FOUNDATION and Chief Cornerstone! (Isa.28:16; Psa.118:22; 1 Peter 2: 5-7; Acts 4: 22; Eph.2:20)

      St. Paul said: "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise Master Builder, I have laid the FOUNDATION, and another builds thereon. But let every man take heed how he builds thereon.

     For other FOUNDATION can no man lay than that is laid, which is JESUS CHRIST.  "Now if any man build upon this FOUNDATION gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble: Every man's work shall be made manifest .... Know ye not that YE ARE THE TEMPLE OF GOD, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Cor.3: 9-16)

       St. Paul states: "For this is good and acceptable in the sight of GOD our SAVIOUR; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the TRUTH. For there is ONE GOD, and ONE MEDIATOR between God and man CHRIST JESUS, Who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time." (1 Tim.3: 3-6)

     The great Apostle cried out: “For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom the whole family in Heaven and earth is named. That He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner man.” (Eph.3: 14-17)

     St. Peter declared: "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of JESUS CHRIST OF NAZARETH, Whom ye crucified, Whom God raised from the dead, even by Him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the STONE which was set at naught by you builders, which is become the Head of the Corner.

      "Neither is there SALVATION in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be SAVED, than the name of JESUS." (Acts 4: 10-12)

      St. Paul stated: "But to us - CHRISTIANS - there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things, and we in Him: and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are all things, and we by Him." (1 Cor.8:6)

     There is NO ROOM here for pretenders and imitators like Zeus, Thor, Allah, Shiva, Gia, Buddha, Mohammed, Vishnu and Confucius. 
    JESUS CHRIST said: "Beware of FALSE PROPHETS, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are RAVENING WOLVES. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? 
   "Even so every GOOD tree brings forth GOOD fruit; but a CORRUPT tree brings forth EVIL fruit. Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them."Matt.7: 15-20)
  Here is the bottom Line: What did Thor the god of the Vikings do for the Norwegians? What do the millions of Hindu gods do for India? What has the god of the Mohammedans done for anyone, but bring war, hate, kidnapping, suicide bombings, slavery, beheading? 
   Jehovah (YHWH) the True God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob has for thousands of years corrected and protected His people against the forces of Hell, and made Israel the envy of the world!
   The BEST NEWS: Almighty God gave His Son Jesus Christ to pay the price of Redemption by dying on a Roman cross on Golgotha's Hill, just outside of Jerusalem's city wall for all the sins of the entire world, past, present and future! 
  Through His death and Resurrection, our Saviour met the Demands of Divine Justice thereby offering eternal life to every Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, Animist, Atheist and Christian who honestly repents of his sins and trusts in Christ's precious blood. 
    Speaking to the Samaritan woman, Jesus said: "Woman, believe Me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for Salvation is of the Jews." (John 4: 21, 22)

SALVATION IS OF THE JEWS!

     Our Lord stated: Salvation is not of the ARABS or the NORWEGIANS or the BRITISH or the INDIANS or the AFRICANS or the NORTH AMERICANS! Jesus Christ said, "SALVATION is of the JEWS!  

    The Jewish Race are God's Chosen people and Jesus was born of a Jewish Virgin, whose name was Mary (Miriam). Jesus Christ was TRUE God from Eternity and TRUE Man, God in human flesh. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit so the blood that flowed through His veins was not contaminated with SIN like the rest of the human family. Medical Science states that the blood of the mother does not enter the child’s blood stream, so His blood was perfect and pure from SIN.

      JESUS stated: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." (John 4: 23, 24)

     Here, Jesus spoke of THREE GROUPS of worshippers: The First group are like the Samaritans who did not know what they worshipped. The Second group were the Jews who had the Word of God and they did worship God. Jesus said that the Third group, however, were still to come.

    After His death and resurrection Jesus would ascend to Heaven and pour out the Gift of the Holy Spirit upon His Church! This would be the group that would be most acceptable to God. They would worship God in Spirit and in Truth! (John 7: 37- 39).

     Jesus uttered these words to His Heavenly Father: “Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son may glorify Thee. As Thou hast given Him power over all flesh, that He should give ETERNAL LIFE to as many as Thou hast given Him.

     “And this is Life Eternal, that they may know Thee, the ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.” (John 17: 1-3).

     St. John stated: “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made Him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave His Son.

      “And this is the record; that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” (1 John 5:10-12)

JESUS WAS DEAD BUT IS ALIVE!

       When our Crucified, Buried and Risen Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ appeared to St. John on the Isle of Patmos in AD 97, the beloved Apostle fell to the ground. He testifies:

      “And I turned to see the VOICE that spake with me. And being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks; and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.

      “His head and His hairs were white as wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; and His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars; and out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and His countenance was as the sun shineth in His strength.

       “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last:  I am He that LIVETH and was DEAD; and behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” (Rev.1: 12-18). Amen.