Patrick lives about an hour and a half from me over in Marshfield Wisconsin. He met Jesus (and his deceased father) face to face after a heart attack and is given a message for us from Jesus:
Message from Jesus via Patrick to all of us:
- Tell them there is an awesome heaven waiting for them when they die. We have a reserved seat for everybody. Everybody is invited to this party!
- Make everyone believe that there is a Jesus that loves them unconditionally no matter what they did on earth. I love them all with unconditional love. Make them believe.
So what do you think?
Daniel Lovett 
Well, it seems like Patrick was granted a vision of sorts. But on the other hand, it also seems that he saw about what he expected to see. If I read (and heard) right it seems that the message is one of universal salvation — “reserved seats” — and a challenge to do our part at getting the message out. I like the details of “mid-brown” skin and brown eyes. The shoulder-length hair is what he would have expected from most sacred art.
Hello Henry, Thanks for responding. Your comment reminded me of 1 John 2. Here are a few verses to give context:
My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
A New Commandment
7Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment—to love one another—is the same message you heard before. 8Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining. (http://biblehub.com/nlt/1_john/2.htm)
As far as the reserved seats, it is true that God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance:
2 Peter 3:9
New Living Translation (NLT)
9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
Some may choose not to claim their reserved seat, and choose sin instead. But that doesn’t mean they weren’t all invited to the party.
What I have found and what I believe is that when we embrace the unconditional love of God and believe it as Jesus desires, our faith (and his finished work) makes us righteous (right standing with God). Unconditional love, once embraced WILL transform our heart and make us love and light. Sin WILL be discarded for Love and we will find ourselves keeping God’s commandments (all concerning love) and will live our lives as Jesus did.
Daniel, I see you have used the most problematic verses, 1 John 2:2 and 2 Peter 3:9, to any theologian who holds to “Reformed” position. I assure you, my position is thoroughly anchored in the Bible. For full context, look at John’s reasoning in 1 John 1. He had personally communed with his risen Savior — his best friend on earth. He had come to realize, as his friend Peter had, that he was not worthy of the love that Jesus had shown for calling him to be a disciple. The love was not just unconditional, but it was unmerited.
Admittedly, the phrase in 1 John 2:2 — “not only our sins but the sins of the whole world” — is problematic when placed against the message of the rest of the Bible, which quite clearly indicates a specifically chosen and called people of God. It might help to realize that words are provided in the paraphrase (NLT) that point pronouns back to the antecedent noun “sins.” That is to say, the “our sins” of the previous phrase. Literally it is “Jesus Christ the Righteous, and also that propitiation for the sake of our sins, and not only ours but also for those of the whole world.”
A propitiation is a sacrifice to appease the wrath of God. That wrath is the “wages of death” and it is what we all deserve. If propitiation was effective for the whole world, then the whole world would be saved from the coming judgment. That is not the case, therefore, this verse must be interpreted to mean that God’s wrath is only turned away from some, not all, in the world. Perhaps this means that, being God, Jesus’ sacrifice is sufficient to keep God’s wrath from being displayed, but that it was not designed for that purpose.
The point is, when God does something it is effective. God gets His way and cannot be stopped by the efforts of mankind. We trust him to keep his promises, and therein is our faith. What John goes on to say in verse 3 is that the proof of our faith is in our obedience. That obedience does not make us believe, but instead shows that we do. Abraham believed God even when he was asked to sacrifice Isaac. That kind of faith PROVES that the believer is truly one of God’s chosen people.
These chosen people are the only ones for whom Jesus died. God loves his people not because they obey, but because He “gave birth” to them. He gave us new life out of love, so we give that life to him out of love for him. If we don’t show that love, it is only because we don’t have that life. There will be no empty seats in heaven (to go back to the “reserved seats” metaphor). Remember the parable of feast. The king sent invitations, but the people refused to come. The seats, though, were filled by those who were chosen from the streets — undeserving beggars “compelled” to come. Of course, seeing the opportunity, the beggars came “willingly.” But even then, one came in and refused to be clothed in proper clothes, proving himself to be an outsider after all.
So, what did Peter mean by “The Lord … is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9 KJV)? Look at the context. Who are these “all”? And why is the Lord waiting? The patience (“long suffering”) is towards “us” – the recipients of the letter among which Peter included himself. There were those hearing the message that would be included in that collective of believers. God will indeed come in judgment, but He is waiting until every believer is safely out of harms way before he does so. He will not destroy his own people.
I totally support you in your willingness to share your faith. I am quite aware that your view as to how God works with and through believers is held by the majority of Christians around the world. However, I hold fast to my belief in the sovereignty of God over the affairs of men — even to the individual man such as myself. Because of this, I believe that it is Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, that “makes me righteous” (as you say “right standing” with God). My faith is a gift from God, not my gift to Him. The righteousness is not my own, but Christ’s. In short, I am “in Christ” and it is Christ that the Father sees when he looks at me.
Your brother in Christ,
Henry