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God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

A preacher who prays little may see some results of his labors, but if he does it will be because someone, somewhere is praying for him. The “fruit” is the pray-er’s – not the preacher’s. How surprised some of us preachers will be one day, when the Lord shall “reward every man according to his works.” “Lord! Those were my converts! It was I who conducted that mission at which so many were brought into the fold.” Ah, yes – I did the preaching, the pleading, the persuading; but was it “I” who did the praying?
Unknown Author

The Church is not a gallery for the exhibition of eminent Christians, but a school for the education of imperfect ones.
Henry Ward Beecher

    • Thank God For Purgatory

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    Thank God For Purgatory

    THANK GOD FOR PURGATORY!

    If it weren’t for purgatory I don’t know what I would do. According to the Second Vatican Council, I “may attain to salvation through faith, baptism and the observance of the commandments.”1 I was baptized as a baby, so I have that one down, but I can’t say that my faith is always strong, and about keeping the commandments, well … sometimes I take the Lord’s name in vain and I do not always keep the sabbath holy. The priest told me one time that I need to love my neighbor as myself as Jesus told us to do in the Bible, but that is pretty hard to do. I don’t think that I can love my foreman at work, and that old girl friend of mine … no way! So that is why I am so glad there is purgatory, because if I try to live a good life and don’t quite live up to God’s standards, I will still make it to purgatory, and later heaven. Heck, the way I understand it, even if I don’t try to live a good life but have been baptized and believe in God, I still do not have to worry about hell because of purgatory. It’s a no lose situation. Thank God for purgatory!!

    YOUR RIGHT!

    You’re right on one account and that is the fact that you are not able to keep the commandments (the Law). The Bible tells us that “whoever falls into sin on one point of the law, even though he keeps the entire remainder, has become guilty on all counts.”2 So what is being said here is that if you are going to try and live your life by the ten commandments, which are a part of the law of God, you are then responsible for the whole law of God in which there were 613 laws or commandments (like not eating port or shellfish, making sacrifices for your sins, etc.). Can this be done? Well, if we look throughout the Catholic Bible, it can be seen that keeping the law cannot be done,3 but I suppose that doesn’t really matter because there is always purgatory. Right? Well friend, let’s look at what the Bible says happens after death. The Bible tells us that “it is appointed that man die once, and after death be judged.”4 So if after death man is judged by God, that leaves no room for time in purgatory.

    WHAT THEN?

    If you’re judged, that means you will be required to pay for your sins. What will your payment be? The Catholic Bible tells us that those who were judged according to their conduct on earth were the ones whose names were not found in the book of the living, and “anyone whose name was not found inscribed in the book of the living was hurled into the pool of fire”5 for eternity. So as you can see, those who are judged will be punished for eternity.

    DOESN’T EVERYONE GET JUDGED FOR SIN?

    That is a good question, and the answer to that is no. Anyone’s name who was not found in the book of the living was judged, but the people whose names were in the book were not judged. Why? Because these people made a choice that you also can make, and that choice was to accept the payment that Jesus Christ made for every person’s sins from Adam and Eve up to the last person that will ever be born. How did they do that? Well, these people realized that they were sinners and that after death would come judgment for their sins. Because of this they needed a Savior which was Jesus, because Jesus Himself said that God did not send Him into the world to condemn the world, but through Him the world might be saved.6 Jesus also said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me.”7 So they knew that Jesus was the only way.

    HOW CAN YOU BE SAVED?

    By accepting Jesus’ payment for your sins. Just go to God in prayer and tell Him that you are trusting Jesus Christ as your Savior and that you are accepting His payment for your sins. Do this with a sincere heart and you to will be saved.

    Flannery, Austin, ed. Vatican Council II. Boston: St. Paul Editions, l975. pg. 378
    2James 2:10
    3Romans 2:17-3:10
    4Hebrews 9:27
    5Revelation 20:11-15
    6John 3:17
    7John 14:6

    References taken from New American Catholic Bible.

    Copyright 1987 by Randy Hillebrand

    You are allowed to reproduce this article only in its entirety and without additions or deletions.

    This article originated on The Salvation Online Network

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