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TURN TO THE LIVING AND TRUE GOD FROM YOUR IDOLS …. |
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Men and
women, you have made for yourselves all sorts of graven images and sculptures,
you bow down before them and you plead with them to deliver you from your
troubles, and you trust in them for your salvation. |
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I
therefore exhort you to turn to the Living and True God from these vain
things you are serving. He is the One who created heaven and earth and the
sea and all the things which are in them; turn to Him from these vain things
to serve Him and to wait for His Son from heaven. You worship these so called
holy graven images and sculptures, which are not holy for they are idols, an
abomination to God, and God one day in His anger and fury will destroy them
and those who worship them as well. Yes, God hates those things you love and
honour so much because they prevent you from worshipping Him in spirit and
truth and because through them you are serving the creature rather than Him,
who is the Creator who is blessed for ever. For this reason you cannot
inherit the |
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Those
things you worship cannot help you at all, I say it again, they cannot help
you, for they are vain things, the work of men’s hands. For the Holy
Scripture says: “They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but
they see not: They have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they
smell not: They have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they
walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:5-7) and also:
“They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne,
because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil,
neither also is it in them to do good” (Jeremiah 10:5). While the devil,
which is the enemy of God and the one who deceives all the world, has deceived
you into believing that they can help you. Your eyes have been blinded by
this wicked spiritual being, who was a murderer from the beginning and is the
father of lies. |
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Therefore,
now, forsake your idols, upon which you are mad, and turn to the God who
created all things through His wisdom and upholds all things by His endless
power. Repent of your sin of idolatry, which God hates and because of which
you deserve to be condemned to an eternal shame and torment, and forsake your
idols and believe with all your heart in Jesus Christ, the Son of the living
and true God and so you will receive the remission of your sins, as it is
written: “All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in
him receives forgiveness of sins through his name" (Acts 10:43 - NIV). |
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God sent His
Son into the world, precisely into the land of the Jews, about two thousand
years ago. He lived a blameless and sinless life, He went about doing good
and healing all those who were oppressed of the devil for God was with Him. But
so that the words spoken by God through the prophets of old (according to
which He had to die for our sins) might be fulfilled, Jesus was hated by His
own countrymen, condemned to death by the Jewish Council, which was the
Jewish jurisdictional authority at that time, and He was delivered to the
Romans that they might kill Him. And thus Jesus Christ, the Just, was
crucified. But God the third day raised Him from the dead, and He appeared to
His disciples and gave many convincing proofs that He was alive; His
resurrection took place for our justification. And so now, because of His
death and His resurrection whoever believes in Him is fully forgiven by God
and purified from all his sins. That’s the Good News of the |