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WHEN DEATH ISN’T FINAL AND WHEN IT
DEFINITELY IS!
Capt. Ben Marler
captben61@hotmail.com
My message was always simple; God loves you and proved it by sending Jesus
His Only Begotten Son to Earth so you could be saved. While here, He lived
in perfect obedience even to laying down upon a rough wooden cross while
Roman soldiers nailed Him to it. Before the crucifixion He suffered a
horrible beating with a scourge that removed bits of flesh with each blow.
The crown of thorns that were driven into His scalp could not be felt
after the beating. His whole body burned with pain as He paid for our
sins.
After the cross was dropped into its hole, He looked about and found that
He had been deserted except for Mary his mother and John the youngest of
the 12 disciples. At a distance stood a number of women who had wept and
wailed as He was led along. His tormentors taunted Him with disgraceful
statements accusing Him of being a fraud. I am convinced the rejection of
those for whom He was about to die hurt far more than all of the abuse and
nails.
Most people I’ve met do not know Jesus hung on His cross for 6 terrible
hours as His precious blood dripped to the ground. We have come to learn
this spilling of His Blood fulfilled God’s promise to send an unblemished
Lamb to be slain for the forgiveness of sins. Prior to His death the law
given by Moses provided for the blood of animals to cover the sins if
followed to the letter of the law.
Now you have heard, perhaps for the first time, the Gospel message. I can
assure you it is all anyone needs to understand to find a peace with God.
There is power in the message and should bring anyone to tears of
repentance. I’m sad to say that some people have hearts so hard that the
message bounces off like a rubber ball. I met some of these in the county
jail at Crestview during a jail ministry that lasted about two years. If
these men have died since then I know they are in God’s holding cell
waiting upon final judgment and eternal punishment.
Others were open to the message and with tears accepted the Truth of God’s
love and believed upon Jesus and the work of the cross in their behalf. As
we led them in prayer to accept Jesus Christ as their personal savior He,
by the breath of the Holy Spirit, entered into their hearts and became
their Lord too. If any of these have died since I have seen them they are
not in a holding pen somewhere. Jesus told the criminal who was being
crucified next to Him, "Today, you shall be with Me in Paradise." The
other criminal on the other side refused to accept Jesus and was ignored
by Him. Do you think he made it to Paradise too?
When my Dad suffered a major heart attack in August of 1970 his spirit
left him for Paradise in a single second. My dad was the best Christian
I’ve ever met in almost 65 years. At the time I was filled with religion
but was as lost as some of the horrible criminals I later tried to bring
to Christ. The first public words spoken at his funeral were, "I am the
Resurrection and the Life, he who believes in Me, even if he die yet shall
he live. Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." When these
words were spoken my heart was quickened and in a single second a peace
came all over me. You see, Jesus spoke these Words. These Words are life
to those who accept them.
Are you afraid to die? Be honest now as your future depends upon your
answer. If you are then you are in grave danger, no pun intended. Those
who have given themselves to Christ and are accepting His promises do not
have a right to be afraid to die. They are not going to die Jesus said so
and I believe Him.
Four years after my Dad went to Paradise God allowed me to see him in a
dream. I have shared this dream more than all the others He has given me.
When I first saw my Dad he was looking in the opposite direction. I
shouted Daddy! As he slowly turned around I found myself looking into the
face of the most beautiful man I had ever seen now about 30 years old. His
skin color was now a golden bronze. Each facial feature was my Dad in
perfection. The smile upon his face was glorious and spoke volumes of how
happy he was to see me. He reached out and gave me a strong hug and then
he was gone. I don’t believe the dream lasted more than 5 seconds.
I can not tell you in words what this gift from my Heavenly Father has
done for me. How can I fear death when I have seen my Dad in his glorified
body? I know that God has prepared one for me and I long to enter into it.
As long as I am here on Earth I am going to serve God with all of my
heart. How can I do any less when He has used the shed blood of Jesus to
permanently remove my million sins? Did you know that when God forgives us
after we repent He even forgets them? All sins are recorded in books but
when He forgave me the angels had to erase them from the records. To be
sure they did God had them bring the erasure and He cast it away as far as
East is from the West.
God hates sin more than anyone can understand. Trust me in this please; if
you were to arrive with just one you would spend eternity with Satan and
his unholy angels. No one who is unwashed in the Blood of Jesus is clean
enough for Him. If you are unwashed you are also not "born again". You can
take care of this as you read this message. You can be assured that your
death will not be final. It is up to you and no one else. God has no
grandchildren!
Tell God how you feel about your sins. Tell Him with genuine sadness how
you feel that Jesus hung on the cross 6 hours in your place like He did
for me. Ask Him humbly to forgive you and then ACCEPT his forgiveness by
faith. Invite Jesus to come into your heart (life) and pledge to follow
Him as the Holy Spirit leads you. Ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a
church family where you can be baptized (immersed). Ask God to help you
develop a discipline to read from the Bible daily so He can increase you
faith. All of the above will put the angels in Heaven into rejoicing. You
see, they watched Jesus die for you and now see Him redeeming you for
Himself.
I told God many times He paid way too much for me. Even one tiny drop was
too much for me. I confess that I was so bad and know I was most unworthy
of His love and forgiveness. I am one who was forgiven much and now love
Jesus with all of my heart soul and mind. This message is one of hundreds
I’ve written to bring the dead to life. Will you accept it too! It is my
heartfelt prayer that not only you but thousands will respond to God’s
invitation to join His family. If
you desire to know more about this Jesus Christ who loves you, and you
want to ask Him into your heart, receiving His Saving Grace please
click on this
Salvation
Prayer
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