~ Must Nice People Repent? ~

Prophecy Helps ~ Home ~ * -------------------- Latest Announcements! 1. ------------------- Slide Shows: Islam's Long War, and Earth: Theater of the Universe 2. ---------------- Must Nice People Repent? 3. ----------------- Bible Symbols and Numbers 4. ------------------- Noah's Time in the Ark 5. ------------------ Moon Proves Noah's Flood 6. ----------------- Conditions in the Pre-Flood World 7. ----------------- The Bible, The Holy Spirit, and Satan, Intro. 8. ----------------- The Firm: The Universe! 9. ----------------- The Five Main Players in the Book of Revelation 10. ----------------- The 12 Tribes of Israel Today 11. ----------------- Hebrews Outline 12. ----------------- The Prophetic Experience of Job 13. ----------------- Wm. Miller's Rules of Bible Interpretation 14. ----------------- 200 Sabbaths in Acts 15. ---------------- What's the Source of Bible Prophecies? 16. ---------------- The Big Picture of Prophecy! 17. --------------- The USA in Bible Prophecy! 18. ----------------- Why the KJV Only? by Bud Alavezos 19. ---------------- The Seven Bible Tests of a True Prophet 20. ---------------- THE TIME PROPHETS CHART 21. ---------------- Time Prophets of the Bible & Now 22. -------------- Prophetic Time Lines 23. ---------------- THE PATTERN OF CHRIST CHART 24. ---------------- The Pattern of Christ Study 25. --------------- When Jesus Almost Came! 26. ----------------- The Prophetic Pattern of Great Reformatory Movements of Bible History 27. ----------------- Rome Conquers the World in 3 Steps 3 Times 28. ----------------- ROME CONQUERS IN 3's CHART 29. ----------------- THE MODERN BABYLON IN 3 PARTS CHART 30. ----------------- 666, Rev. 17, The Kingdoms of Bible Prophecy 31. ---------------- The Structure of the Aramaic Chapters in Daniel +3 Final Tests 32. ----------------- Daniel 7 and the 1260 years 33. ----------------- Daniel 8 and the Little Horn 34. ----------------- Dan. 9:24-27 Explained in Chs. 10-11-12 35. ----------------- Daniel's "daily" by Dennis Hokama 36. -------------- Daniel's "daily" by Eld. FC Gilbert 37. ---------------- Daniel's "daily" by Eld. David Lin 38. ----------------- Daniel's "daily" by Bud Alavezos 39. ----------------- Mystery of "the daily" by John W. Peters 40. --------------- Compilation of SDA Pioneer Writings on "the daily" 58p. 41. ----------------- "The Daily" in the SDA Bible Commentary on Dan. 8 & 11 42. ----------------- The 3 + 1 Pattern of the Purification of God's Church & the Unsealing of Daniel 43. --------------- 1957 Prophecy Fulfilled in 1989 44. ----------------- Dan. 11:40 - 12:1 CHART 45. ---------------- Dan. 11:40 - 12:1 Josiah to Cyrus CHART 46. ----------------- Dan. 11:40-45 Introduction 47. ----------------- Dan. 11 for Dummies! 48. ---------------- SDA Theologians Reject Pioneers & 1843 Chart 49. ---------------- 1843 & 1850 Charts Handout 50. ----------------- 1843 & 1850 Charts T-shirts! 51. ----------------- The Seven Churches Chart 52. ----------------- EGW on the 7 Churches and 7 Seals 53. ----------------- 7 Trumpets 54. ----------------- MIRROR TRUMPETS CHART 55. ----------------- Miller's Dream & Notes 56. ----------------- MILLERITE TIME REPEATING NOW CHART 57. ----------------- Millerite Time Repeating Now (26 pgs) 58. ----------------- The 7 Thunders are the 7 Time Prophecies between 1798 and 1844 59. ----------------- MILLERITE TIME 7 THUNDERS CHART 60. ----------------- Millerite 7 Thunders Chronology 61. ----------------- 7 Thunders by Bud Alavezos 62. ---------------- SS Snow's Midnight Cry Sermon 63. ----------------- Reply to Gene Brown's Turkey 64. ----------------- The Temple Measuring book 65. ----------------- The Two 2520-Year Prophecies, or The "7 Times" 66. ----------------- Leviticus and the "Seven Times" 67. ----------------- 2520: Nebuchadnezzar & Belshazzar 68. ----------------- The 2520 "Scattering" & Times of the Gentiles by Hiram Edson 69. ----------------- The 2520 "Mirror" 70. ----------------- 2520 Facts! 71. ----------------- 2520 Critiques & Defenses 72. ----------------- 2520 & 2300 Extreme Analysis 73. -------------- Christ's Days in the Holy Place 74. ------------- The 3 Powers from the Bottomless Pit 75. ----------------- The Number 4 in Bible Prophecy 76. ----------------- Isa Loves Muslims! 77. ----------------- Islam's Long War & etc. 78. ----------------- Islam's three WOES 79. ----------------- Islam's "East Wind" 80. ----------------- 9/11 in the Bible & E.G. White 81. ---------------- East, North and 3 Constantines 82. ----------------- Renewal of the Covenant Chart 83. ----------------- 490 Years = Probationary Time 84. ----------------- Feast Days? 85. ----------------- Conspiracy Theories? 86. ----------------- Jeff Pippenger on the Trinity 87. ----------------- 16 Questions on Bible Prophecy 88. ----------------- 60 Present Truth Quiz Questions & Answers 89. ----------------- Prophetic Keys 90. ----------------- Time of the End magazine (52p.) 91. ----------------- The Final Rise and Fall of the King of the North. (126p.) 92. ----------------- 4 Generations of Adventism 93. ----------------- Our Royal Rights as Gods Children 94. ----------------- Prophetic Fractals 95.  --------------- Pandemic Parallels to the Sunday Law 96. --------------- Present Truth Observations from Ezekiel 97. ------------------- Present Truth Keyword Database 1995-2006 98. ----------------- 2004 Ozone Prophecy School Video Link & Speaker's Notes 99. ----------------- 2007 Idaho Meetings Speaker's Notes 100. ----------------- 2010 Prophetic Chain, Jefferson Tx, Germany 101. --------------- 2012 Habakkuk's Two Tables 102. --------------- 2013 Adventism's Visitation mini notes 103. --------------- 2014 Class & Campmeeting Notes 104. --------------- 2015 Class & Campmeeting Notes 105. --------------- 2017 Judgment of the Living Class Notes 106. --------------- The Judgment of the Living and 9/11 107. --------------- 'Country Living' by E.G. White 108. --------------- Country Living in the 1890's 109. -------------- Country Living Group Fail Story 110. ---------------- Country Living Now! 111. ---------------- Escape from the Cities Testimonies! 112. ---------------- The Cycle of Bondage 113. ---------------- "Anyway"



Click Here to View the PDF File 

 

Must Nice People Repent?

No doubt you know some nice people, well respected by others and an asset to the communities in which they live. Their agreeable personalities allow us to enjoy pleasant relationships. We all wish that more people could relate to others in such a friendly, respectable manner.

Now the question is this: When people live in such a way as to gain the respect and good will of others, will God also accept them on the same basis? How do they fit into God's declaration of universal guilt and His all-inclusive call to repentance? "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). "God ... commandeth all men everywhere to repent" (Acts 17:30). Shouldn't the fact that they are accepted of men also make them acceptable to God? Why would they need to confess that they are sinners and call on God to save them? (That's what repenting is.) Can repenting or not repenting really make the difference for them between heaven and hell? 

Yes, it's just that serious. Here are a few reasons why:

First of all, Jesus never excused nice people from repentance. He said, "Ye must be born again" (John 3:7) not to some thief or foul-mouthed person, but to nice Nicodemus. Nicodemus, as far as we can tell, was a decent, sincere man - a respected religious leader.

Second, Jesus said, "I am the way ... no man cometh unto the Father but by Me" (John 14:6). He that "climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber" (John 10:1). Dare we think for a moment that by simply being nice, friendly, decent, and more or less religious, we can earn our way to heaven? If we think that, we are trying to climb up some other way.

Third, Jesus died for everyone. If all we have to do to enter heaven is to do our best, then Christ died in vain. That's right. The apostle Paul said in Galatians 2:21, "If righteousness come by [obeying] the law then Christ is dead in vain." If all that anybody has to do to be safe for eternity is to pay his bills, go to Church, and smile, then our Lord's agony on the cross was much ado about nothing.

Fourth, nice people have more to repent of than we realize at first. God says, "Be ye holy; for I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16). Are they holy? That is, do they love and hate the same things that God does? Are their inner life and thoughts free from pride and wrong desires? If not, isn't it obvious they need to repent?

The Bible also says, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind" (Luke 10:27). "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2). "Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" (John 3:3). If we do not meet these conditions, is it any wonder that we need to repent?

Nice people who do repent are quick to admit that they never were all that good. Consider what they have to say: "Our home was in bad shape. I don't mean that we were getting a divorce or anything like that, but it wasn't in good harmony." 

"A good home and a number of good friends had saved me from a wild life during my youth. Nevertheless, ... I have lived my whole life for myself, in petty selfishness, pride, and pleasure. For the first time, I realized that I had been trying to hold the world in one hand and the Lord in the other." 

So then, how does a nice person repent?

When one nice, law-abiding young man asked Jesus, "What lack I yet?" Jesus replied, "One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatever thou hast" (Mark 10:21).  

Jesus says something very much like that to us today. "Whatsoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple " (Luke 14:33). We too must sell ourselves out to the Lord, losing the old pride and selfishness we treasure so much. We must confess to the Lord that we are, after all, mean, low-down sinners and ask Him to wash us clean in His blood and make us saints.

Repentance, of course, is just the beginning. We have to accept God's children as our brothers and sisters and seek fellowship with them. We need to read God's Word and obey His commands. Repenting is more than just turning around: it means traveling in the opposite direction. 

But that might not be as hard as it appears to someone who has never repented. There is something about turning around that makes you want to travel in the right direction. That "something" is actually a Someone, the Holy Spirit whom God gives to every believer. Besides, once we repent, we see through our old selves and wonder how we could ever have been so self-righteous. 

Remember, the Bible doesn't promote the idea that we should merely be nice. It commands us to be holy. Perhaps the word holiness reminds some people of robed monks, folded hands, upturned eyes, and sanctimonious expressions. But God's holy people are simply those who have chosen to follow Jesus Christ, who apply His teachings to everyday life, and who have God's Spirit living within them.Their expressions of kindness and consideration spring forth, not from a desire to be accepted or to impress people, but from spiritual life within them. 

Remember, if nice people did not have to repent then there would be people in heaven who got there by giving flowers, writing poems, and patting children's heads. But God requires far more than that. His Word declares it again in Hebrews 12:14, "Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord."

01/05/2023