God's Strength

Contrast Judaism with Christianity

Wanting to contrast Judaism with Christianity, Rabbi David Rosen claims that the Hebrew Scriptures did not instruct Israel to believe in God. Therefore, a failure to believe didn’t carry any moral guilt or consequences, as did a failure to obey. In his correspondence with R.T. Kendall, he writes:

“As far as unbelief is concerned, it is questionable as to whether this can be described as a ‘transgression.’ I would call it a ‘mental block’—perhaps the result of secular conditioning. I might and do regret the fact, but I cannot imagine that God would want someone to be punished for an incapacity!” (The Christian and the Pharisee, p.43)

Although secularism might put a new spin on unbelief, biblical unbelief has nothing to do with an “incapacity.” Instead, it is culpable to-the-max. While Israel was sojourning at Kadish Barnea, Moses sent 12 spies into the Promised Land. Upon their return, ten reported back that they couldn’t conquer the land and tried to influence Israel to return to Egypt. This was in opposition to the very thing that God had promised them. He was understandably livid:

"How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague and destroy them..." (Numbers 14:11-12).

Clearly, Israel’s unbelief had nothing to do with an “incapacity!” Rather than taking blind leap of faith, believing God is simply a matter of opening our eyes and looking at the overwhelming evidence—God’s “miraculous signs!” In light of this, unbelief was a matter of rebellion, a “refusal to believe” and a rejection of God!

Although today we might not see God’s miraculous signs in the same way, we still have evidence which we continue to reject. A friend told me that she was unable to “just believe,” even though she knew it would be comforting to do so. I responded that there were many compelling reasons to believe.

“Well, there’s no way that you can know for sure,” she replied.

“How is it that you know that I can’t know? Isn’t it a contradiction to claim for yourself knowledge in this area while denying this same thing to me?” I responded.

“OK, I see your point, but I don’t think I need to know about God. My life is fine without this belief.”

I tried to explain that her unwillingness to look at the evidence made her guilty. “What if you sent me a priceless gift, but I threw away your card and return address, saying to myself, ‘I don’t need to know who sent this to me.’ Wouldn’t you be upset with me? And is there any reason why God shouldn’t be upset with us, when we put our heads in the sand to avoid seeing His return address?”

We have the knowledge but are unwilling to regard it. This makes us guilty before God. Although we might not see the Nile turn red and the sea split in two, we do see the sky above, the miracles of science (Psalm 19:1-3) and have a conscience that tells us to stop being a hypocrite.

Unbelief and rebellion against the Light eventually become a way of life, so deeply embedded that we no longer see it and convince ourselves that we are really good people searching for the truth. Thirty eight years later, Moses referred to Israel’s refusal to believe in order to warn his people:

“And when the Lord sent you out from Kadesh Barnea, he said, ‘Go up and take possession of the land I have given you.’ But you rebelled against the command of the Lord your God. You did not trust him or obey him. You have been rebellious against the Lord ever since I have known you” (Deut. 9:23-24).

Forget “incapacity!” We are far guiltier than we can imagine
Daniel Mann

Resurrection

Evidence for the Resurrection

by Josh McDowell

For centuries many of the world's distinguished philosophers have assaulted Christianity as being irrational, superstitious and absurd. Many have chosen simply to ignore the central issue of the resurrection. Others have tried to explain it away through various theories. But the historical evidence just can't be discounted.

A student at the University of Uruguay said to me. "Professor McDowell, why can't you refute Christianity?"

"For a very simple reason," I answered. "I am not able to explain away an event in history--the resurrection of Jesus Christ."

How can we explain the empty tomb? Can it possibly be accounted for by any natural cause?

A QUESTION OF HISTORY
After more than 700 hours of studying this subject, I have come to the conclusion that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is either one of the most wicked, vicious, heartless hoaxes ever foisted on the minds of human beings--or it is the most remarkable fact of history.

Here are some of the facts relevant to the resurrection: Jesus of Nazareth, a Jewish prophet who claimed to be the Christ prophesied in the Jewish Scriptures, was arrested, was judged a political criminal, and was crucified. Three days after His death and burial, some women who went to His tomb found the body gone. In subsequent weeks, His disciples claimed that God had raised Him from the dead and that He appeared to them various times before ascending into heaven.

From that foundation, Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire and has continued to exert great influence down through the centuries.

LIVING WITNESSES
The New Testament accounts of the resurrection were being circulated within the lifetimes of men and women alive at the time of the resurrection. Those people could certainly have confirmed or denied the accuracy of such accounts.

The writers of the four Gospels either had themselves been witnesses or else were relating the accounts of eyewitnesses of the actual events. In advocating their case for the gospel, a word that means "good news," the apostles appealed (even when confronting their most severe opponents) to common knowledge concerning the facts of the resurrection.

F. F. Bruce, Rylands professor of biblical criticism and exegesis at the University of Manchester, says concerning the value of the New Testament records as primary sources: "Had there been any tendency to depart from the facts in any material respect, the possible presence of hostile witnesses in the audience would have served as a further corrective."

IS THE NEW TESTAMENT RELIABLE?
Because the New Testament provides the primary historical source for information on the resurrection, many critics during the 19th century attacked the reliability of these biblical documents.

By the end of the 1 9th century, however, archaeological discoveries had confirmed the accuracy of the New Testament manuscripts. Discoveries of early papyri bridged the gap between the time of Christ and existing manuscripts from a later date.

Those findings increased scholarly confidence in the reliability of the Bible. William F. Albright, who in his day was the world's foremost biblical archaeologist, said: "We can already say emphatically that there is no longer any solid basis for dating any book of the New Testament after about A.D. 80, two full generations before the date between 130 and 150 given by the more radical New Testament critics of today."

Coinciding with the papyri discoveries, an abundance of other manuscripts came to light (over 24,000 copies of early New Testament manuscripts are known to be in existence today). The historian Luke wrote of "authentic evidence" concerning the resurrection. Sir William Ramsay, who spent 15 years attempting to undermine Luke credentials as a historian, and to refute the reliability of the New Testament, finally concluded: "Luke is a historian of the first rank . . . This author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians. "

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I claim to be an historian. My approach to Classics is historical. And I tell you that the evidence for the life, the death, and the resurrection of Christ is better authenticated than most of the facts of ancient history . . .

E. M. Blaiklock
Professor of Classics
Auckland University

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BACKGROUND
The New Testament witnesses were fully aware of the background against which the resurrection took place. The body of Jesus, in accordance with Jewish burial custom, was wrapped in a linen cloth. About 100 pounds of aromatic spices, mixed together to form a gummy substance, were applied to the wrappings of cloth about the body. After the body was placed in a solid rock tomb, an extremely large stone was rolled against the entrance of the tomb. Large stones weighing approximately two tons were normally rolled (by means of levers) against a tomb entrance.

A Roman guard of strictly disciplined fighting men was stationed to guard the tomb. This guard affixed on the tomb the Roman seal, which was meant to "prevent any attempt at vandalizing the sepulcher. Anyone trying to move the stone from the tomb's entrance would have broken the seal and thus incurred the wrath of Roman law.

But three days later the tomb was empty. The followers of Jesus said He had risen from the dead. They reported that He appeared to them during a period of 40 days, showing Himself to them by many "infallible proofs." Paul the apostle recounted that Jesus appeared to more than 500 of His followers at one time, the majority of whom were still alive and who could confirm what Paul wrote. So many security precautions were taken with the trial, crucifixion, burial, entombment, sealing, and guarding of Christ's tomb that it becomes very difficult for critics to defend their position that Christ did not rise from the dead. Consider these facts:

FACT #1: BROKEN ROMAN SEAL
As we have said, the first obvious fact was the breaking of the seal that stood for the power and authority of the Roman Empire. The consequences of breaking the seal were extremely severe. The FBI and CIA of the Roman Empire were called into action to find the man or men who were responsible. If they were apprehended, it meant automatic execution by crucifixion upside down. People feared the breaking of the seal. Jesus' disciples displayed signs of cowardice when they hid themselves. Peter, one of these disciples, went out and denied Christ three times.

FACT #2: EMPTY TOMB
As we have already discussed, another obvious fact after the resurrection was the empty tomb. The disciples of Christ did not go off to Athens or Rome to preach that Christ was raised from the dead. Rather, they went right back to the city of Jerusalem, where, if what they were teaching was false, the falsity would be evident. The empty tomb was "too notorious to be denied." Paul Althaus states that the resurrection "could have not been maintained in Jerusalem for a single day, for a single hour, if the emptiness of the tomb had not been established as a fact for all concerned."

Both Jewish and Roman sources and traditions admit an empty tomb. Those resources range from Josephus to a compilation of fifth-century Jewish writings called the "Toledoth Jeshu." Dr. Paul Maier calls this "positive evidence from a hostile source, which is the strongest kind of historical evidence. In essence, this means that if a source admits a fact decidedly not in its favor, then that fact is genuine."

Gamaliel, who was a member of the Jewish high court, the Sanhedrin, put forth the suggestion that the rise of the Christian movement was God's doing; he could not have done that if the tomb were still occupied, or if the Sanhedrin knew the whereabouts of Christ's body.

Paul Maier observes that " . . . if all the evidence is weighed carefully and fairly, it is indeed justifiable, according to the canons of historical research, to conclude that the sepulcher of Joseph of Arimathea, in which Jesus was buried, was actually empty on the morning of the first Easter. And no shred of evidence has yet been discovered in literary sources, epigraphy, or archaeology that would disprove this statement."

Food Patterns of our Body Proof for Intelligent Design

Every whole food has a pattern that resembles a body organ. This could only be achieved by intellectual design.

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Letter from an Atheist

Charles T. Studd was born in England in 1860. His father had made a fortune in India and moved back to England to retire on his wealth. C.T. was given a plush life on a silver platter. He and his brothers excelled in sports and became some of the greatest cricket players that England has ever known. However with his preoccupation with sports and materialism, he had no time for Christ until he turned 18. At the age of 18 he was converted, but continued on the path of popularity and sports for a few more years, until he came across a letter one day.....a letter from an atheist. This letter so impacted his life that he promptly quit his worldly pursuits and sailed for China as a missionary. At the age of 25 upon receiving his inheritance, he donated more than 25,000 pounds to men like D.L. Moody, George Muller, and other Godly men. A sum that would have made him nigh to a millionaire today!



That letter reads as follows: "Did I firmly believe, as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this life influences destiny in another, religion would mean everything to me. I would cast away earthly enjoyments as dross, earthly cares as follies, and earthly thoughts and feelings as vanity. Religion would be my first waking thought and my last image before sleep sank me into unconsciousness. I should labour in its cause alone. I would take thought for the morrow of Eternity alone. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven worth a life of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my lips. Earth—its joys and its griefs—would occupy no moment of my thoughts. I would strive to look upon Eternity alone and on the immortal souls around me soon to be everlastingly happy or everlastingly miserable. I would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season, and my text would be, ‘What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?"

Narnia

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Understanding the Gospel

A sinner must understand the gospel to be saved (Matt 13:15,19, 23, Acts 8:30-31, Rom 3:11). But before a sinner can understand the mercy of a loving God, he must understand the requirements of a righteous God. Now, the law is not the gospel and the gospel is not the law; but the gospel establishes the law (Rom 3:31). That law which the Gentiles have in their hearts by nature (Rom 2:15), Israel also had written on stone - and the purpose of this law is clearly stated by Paul: "by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom 3:20). Paul further states that he would never have known he was a guilty sinner without the law (Rom 7:7). Since no one can be saved without repentance (Luke 13:5) and no one can repent unless they know they are guilty, the true Biblical gospel must make proper use of the law, the chief end of which is to convince the whole world of its guilt (Rom 3:19).
Paul uses the word 'law' 38 times before he mentions the word 'love'. From Romans 1:17-3:19, Paul sets forth the case against the sinner. It is a sorry tale of condemnation, wrath and guilt. Finally, in chapter 5:8, Paul states that God commends his love towards sinners. Why does Paul present the gospel in this order? Because the gospel will not make any real sense to the sinner until he realizes he is guilty of rebellion against the law of a holy God. If we start by telling the typical Westerner "God loves you", he will puff out his chest and say in his heart "Why shouldn't He; I'm a good person?"
We must understand that simply quoting "All have sinned", followed by a quick "But the good news is..."1 will never awaken anyone. Sinners must be faced with the fact that covetousness (the love of things) is idolatry (Col 3:5), hate is murder (1 John 3:15) and lust is adultery (Matt 5:28). Driving down the motorway, there are a number of excuses one can think of to justify going at 85 mph. ..until the law enters. When you see a Police car on the side of the road, your foot hits the brakes. By the law is the knowledge of sin. That is what will make a man, rushing headlong down the highway of life to hell, sit up and listen. He simply must see his precarious position or he will never repent.
The proper initial reaction to the gospel on the part of the sinner is conviction of sin (John 16:8, Acts 2:37). But what is conviction of sin? It is more than just the ordinary smiting of the conscience (Rom 2:15). It is more than mere fear of hell. Simply being scared of the consequences of sin is not true Holy Spirit conviction. Nor is conviction 'admitting you are a sinner'. Balaam, Pharoah, Judas and many others admitted "I have sinned", but went to hell. Nor is conviction a mere head knowledge of the doctrine of the fall of Adam. Conviction is 'a proper sense of the dreadfulness of my sin against God'. Have you ever realized this? All sinners must echo David's realization in Psalm 51:4 when he said "Against Thee, Thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Thy sight." Conviction of sin is vertical, not horizontal.
But what is repentance? It is not penance or restitution (Judas paid the money back - he regretted, but never repented, Matt 27:3). It is not merely tears, fear of judgment (Felix trembled) or sorrow for sin (godly sorrow may lead to repentance, but is not the same as repentance, 2 Cor 7:10). It is not mere confession or admission of sin. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia (from meta, 'after', and nous, 'mind'). It means a complete change of mind - involving turning from sin to God, which results in a change of life. It is illustrated by David in Psalm 51 and the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. It is defined in the following text: "Let the wicked for-sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him" (Isaiah 55:7).

The Narrow Way

The Narrow Way

Matthew 7:13-23 (NIV)13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. 21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

There are two groups of people that I am writng to in the church. Do not close your ears to the Spirit today when I say that there are true and false converts today in this church. Not in the church- which is Christ’s invisible body; but in every church in America today there are many false converts. In the town where I am from, I know that this is a major problem. We call them the ‘religious lost’. They are people, who go to church, and they know about Jesus, but they are as lost as the pagan warming a seat in the local bar. The only difference in their lives is where they spend their Sunday morning. This is what Jesus is teaching about here at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He has contrasted the life of a true convert from the life of a false, albeit a real religious convert. Jesus has encouragements for his listeners:

The first is to enter through the narrow gate and to walk on the narrow road. What is the gate? In John 10, Jesus says “I AM the gate” The contrast here is the Pharisees, who like every other religion sought to please God through rituals and works (albeit the law was originally from God, and they had perverted the purpose of the law as they added to it their rules) Jesus emphasized that the broad road and wide gate that most will take. Today, in Marshall, there are maybe 2,500 people who will attend church because they feel it is their duty to God, and that by going through that process that they will improve their life here on earth, and might please God by doing good things like giving to the poor or going to confession, or performing some sacrament. But their hearts are far from God, because they have spent the rest of the week doing whatever their flesh desired! The narrow gate is trusting fully in Christ for the way to God. Then it is walking on that narrow road while we live on this earth. When a true convert takes a step off of that road, he repents (changes his mind, and changes his direction) and gets right back on.
Our faith is not something that is compartmentalized where we can believe one way on Sunday and Wednesdays and then change our behavior all the other days. We have entered in and are walking in it, or we are not. Have you walked through the gate, and having walked through the gate, are you walking on the narrow road that leads to life?

The second thing Jesus has told us to watch out for is false prophets, those who say one thing and do another. In this context, he was looking square at the Pharisees who went through ritual, lording the Law and their added regulations over the people as the only way to God, but their hearts were far from the Lord. We have many false prophets today, espousing a false Gospel. The most obvious ones are on television, speaking a prosperity gospel that promises health and wealth, and your best life now. To them, faith in Christ is nothing more than adding Him to the way that they are already living for an added chance at success. Barak Obama goes to a church where his pastor curses from the pulpit, preaching Jesus as a means of black empowerment and political advantage. This is what it was for many of the Pharisees, political and spiritual power, not life transformation.

Jesus also told us that we could determine the veracity of what these wolves preached by the fruit- their converts. Modern evangelism preaches a perverted Gospel that God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life, and all you have to do is to pray a prayer and receive Jesus then you become a Christian. This is heresy- it is not biblical. It promotes cheap grace, and salvation without repentance. Look in the scripture, and if you find a place where the sinners’ prayer is prayed I will eat a hymnal. This unbiblical, false teaching has become predominate over this last generation of believers. And it produces false converts in mega numbers. How do I know this? Look at these statistics from adults who consider themselves Christians:

• 64% believe moral truth depends on the situation;
  


• 60% believe male/female co-habitation outside of marriage is acceptable;
  


• 55% believe a good person can earn his or her salvation;
  


• 44% believe Jesus Christ committed sins while on earth.(1)
  


• 88% of students from “Christian” homes deny their faith before they graduate from college;
  


• 91% of students from evangelical churches do not believe in absolute moral truth.(3)

Herein lies the problem; we are a generation that has been overtaken by a cheap grace that is an incomplete grace. It is a grace that gives us good things that we desire from the scripture, but does not transform us into Christ-likeness. These statistics are not complete- listen to what these statistics say about those who claim to be born-again:

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  86% of born again Christians believe "the Bible is totally accurate in all of its teachings." (2005)
  


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  Half of born again Christians (46%) agree that Satan is "not a living being but is a symbol of evil." (2005)
  


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  About one-third of born agains (33%) believe that if a person is good enough they can earn a place in Heaven. (2005)
  


• 
  
  Born again Christians are more likely than non-born again individuals to accept moral absolutes. Specifically, 32% of born agains said they believe in moral absolutes, compared to just half as many (15%) among non-born agains. (2002)

Additionally, we see that statistically, people who attend church have the same percentage of divorces, abortions, sexual addictions, alcoholism, and very little difference in what they see as entertainment. Is it any wonder that many believe that we are in the last days? Look with me in 2 Timothy 3:1-6:

2 Timothy 3:1-5 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

The fruit of those without Christ are clear- and more and more these characteristics are showing up in our churches! At least eighteen different characteristics are listed here, and Paul probably could have listed more. There is an emphasis on love: “lovers of themselves,” lovers of money (“covetous”), “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart. God commands us to Love him above all others, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. However, all too often, we love ourselves supremely, and we do not love God or our neighbors. In this universe there is God, and there are people and things. We should worship God, love people, and use things. But if we start worshiping ourselves, we will ignore God and start loving things and using people. So the scripture here appropriately teaches us that we are ‘without love’ and that we ‘do not love what is good’ because we love things above God and people-thus making us idolatrous.

The fruit of loving ones self is pride, which was the first sin of Satan, and a temptation to Eve. When a man has pride, he becomes boastful, encouraging people to look at him and his accomplishments rather than the focus being on what God has done. Man has become a god unto himself, and many churches have responded to this in the emergent generation, elevating felt needs above what God has said in his Word in our ultimate need: to repent and to be Born-again. This is why we hear many more ‘feel good’ messages from our pulpits today, because we do not want to hurt anybody’s feelings. Those considering or involved with “seeker” services should reflect on a distinction made centuries ago by St. Thomas Aquinas. “we confuse two similar yet different human actions. We see people searching desperately for peace of mind, relief from guilt, meaning, and purpose to their lives, and loving acceptance. We know that ultimately these things can only be found in God. Therefore, we conclude that since people are seeking these things they must be seeking after God. People do not seek God. They seek after the benefits that only God can give them. The sin of fallen man is this: Man seeks the benefits of God while at the same time fleeing from God himself. We are, by nature, fugitives.”

This fruit has attacked even the family. The phrase “Disobedient to parents” is reflected in the fact that even Christian kids are becoming more and more rebellious, breeding an “unthankful” attitude that does not appreciate what their parents have done for them. This is an “unholy” in their attitude toward their parents, preferring the world’s teaching to what God’s Word says. James writes that friendship with the world is hatred towards God! Yet, we allow our children to dress like the world, watch worldly movies, and television, and wonder why they are the way that they are! Kids, the world teaches that we should only respect our parents if they respect you, and if they always do the right thing, and they treat you right. That is unbiblical! “Honor thy father and thy mother” is not a suggestion, it is a command. The phrase “without natural affection” is the translation of one word that describes “family love.” The family is under attack these days, and, as go its families, so goes the nation. Parents in the church need to remember that they are parents, and their kids will follow their lead. Kids do not need another buddy, they need parents that will bring them up in the nurture AND the admonition of the Lord.

The fruit of the spirit includes self-control, however, in today’s church; many are “without self-control.” The motto of our society today is “Do your own thing and enjoy it!” Many in the church simply add the term Christian to it so we can justify doing what we want to do. Lack of self-control reveals itself in a number of ways. Some are “brutal.” when these people cannot have their way, they become much like savage beasts. “Treacherous” (2 Tim. 3:4) describes people who betray others and cannot be trusted. Rash describes people who act without careful thought. “Conceited” describes a person who is “puffed up” with his importance. “Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God” suggests that we love pleasure more than we love God. This is a major problem in today’s church; we desire growth at all costs, so we use marketing strategies that abandon words like hell, judgment, sin, and death in favor of people having purpose, their best life now, where God is there for fire insurance and not to change our lives, where repentance is a byword, and sin is flippantly addressed and lived in. The result is that we are a generation that “Has a form of godliness” (2 Tim. 3:5) which is an outward appearance of religion, not true Christian faith; for many have never experienced the transformational power of God in their lives.

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit- and a tree that produces bad fruit JESUS says is worthless and is only good for being burned in a fire! So our convenient, casual Christianity that is being experienced in most American churches today, this form of godliness with no power is an abomination to Jesus! He warns the church in Laodecia that he would spew this lukewarm church out of his mouth! Paul reminds us that we are to have nothing to do with religious people who have only a form of godliness- which is a false religion! The fruit is bad, and therefore it will be destroyed. Does that scare you? It should, if you are walking in hypocrisy and in a fruitless Christian life. So what does the fruit of your life reflect?

Finally, Jesus closes this passage with a very stern warning. There are many who will call him Lord, and He will respond that ‘I never knew you’. These are those who I see in Marshall, who believe that they are Christians, knowing all about the story of Jesus, but having only a form of godliness. They would call Jesus Lord, but are they true believers? This past Wednesday, I was talking with two different guys who claimed to be Christians, and identified themselves as Lutherans. Both of them had no idea where they were going when they die. Neither of them identified as a reason of going to church as following Christ, rather, it was about their family and their friends. When asked about how they get into heaven, they responded that they would just continue to do good things and hoped that God would think it is good enough. Neither one was really concerned with the possibility of death- because they believed that being Lutheran was somehow enough. Just knowing about Jesus is not enough. What does Jesus say is enough? We must call Him Lord, yes. But we must repent- See what Paul says to us in 2 Timothy 2:19

2 Timothy 2:19 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

What is more fearful to me is those words that Jesus says regarding those who call him Lord, even do miracles in His name, but he says I never knew you. If I walk to the White House today, and ask to see the president, I would be denied. I might even say “But I know him” I would still be denied. What would matter is if W came outside and told his secret service agents that he knew me. Then I could get in. Paul says in this reference that the Lord knows who are his, and that everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness- True conversion requires a change of life. It requires a turning from self and sin and placing all of our trust in Christ by faith. And that is not the end of the story- now we spend the remainder of our lives purposefully walking on that narrow road, and when we step off we repent- change our direction again and again by the power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot be Christians and live on that broad road. A true Christian will not be comfortable there-because what fellowship does darkness have with light? Does Jesus truly know you?

The message as I close is this: Examine yourselves. This is what Paul tells us to do in 2 Corinthians 13:5 5 examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? Paul does not instruct us to pray a magic prayer and somehow ‘receive Christ’ and live the way in which we desire to live. Ask yourselves: What gate did I come through? Which road do I most travel on? What kind of fruit does my life bear? Does Jesus know me? The scripture says that we need to examine ourselves by reading the Word of God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to illuminate the word in such a way that it goes to the point of our need, cutting out any thought, word or deed that is not pleasing to God.

Originally From: One Christians View