By Pastor Mike Taylor
19 “Thou
believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also
believe, and tremble.” (James
2:19)
"The
United States was founded upon Christian principles". I have
heard that said many times in my 70+ years on this earth and have to
agree in part. It is true that we were founded on principles of
Judeo-Christian traditions found in our bibles. But in the past 200
plus years of this nation’s existence and rise to be the lone
super-power in the world, can we still say that? I recall a past
“POTUS” the “usurper in chief” proclaiming that we are no
longer a Christian nation, but a mixture of all religions, with Islam
a major contributor? OH, Really?? I looked up what percentage of the
American people identify with the Christian religion, or claim to
believe in a higher power than ourselves.
When I did an online
search of Christianity in America, I find these results via
Wikipedia:
“Religion in the United States is characterized by
both a wide diversity in religious beliefs and practices, and by a
high adherence level. According to recent surveys, 83 percent of
Americans claim to belong to a religious denomination, 40 percent
claim to attend services nearly every week or more, and 58 percent
claim to pray at least weekly. A majority of Americans report that
religion plays a "very important" role in their lives, a
proportion unusual among developed nations.”
That’s
impressive on the surface, but I would like to dissect what it means
to be a Christian. Are we still a Christian country, or has that
changed? By the statistics, it appears that many attend a local
church, some regularly, but does that identify what a Christian is?
Many belong to that church, but does that identify who is Christian
and who is not? What about tithing, or prayer, and how about reading
the Words of God found in their bibles? How many put into practice
what the words found in your bible say into their daily lives? Do
these same folks put in an hour on Sunday because it’s fashionable
and then depart to do whatever it is they wish to be doing for the
rest of the week? In other words, they give an obligatory hour of
being present before God, once a week. What do they do the other 6
twenty four hour periods, or for that matter, the rest of the day on
Sunday? Or are they members of a modern “social club”?
FALSELY
BELIEVING IN AN ORGANIZATIONAL CHURCH
Many
people feel that if they attend services on Sunday, (some rarely, if
ever) except on Easter or Christmas, or give a few bucks into the
offering plate, or be a good person, then they are right with God, or
their definition of God. But during the time that they are in front
of the rest of the world, they exhibit none of the fruits of the
Spirit. Paul speaks of this in Romans shows fruit as a product in
both a bad and good sense:
"What fruit did you have then
in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those
things is death. But now having been set free from sin, and having
become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness and the end,
everlasting life."(Romans 6:21-22)
What is that fruit
Paul speaks of?
5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit
is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
5:23
Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.
5:24
And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the
affections and lusts.
5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us
also walk in the Spirit."(Galatians 5:22-25)
As a plum
tree produces plums and not some other crop like hedge apples, these
are the fruits that come from the true Christian that believes in
their heart. Those that are playing the Christian role in name only,
they produce maybe the aforementioned hedge apples, not of plums and
the fruits of the spirit, but instead the fruits of the flesh. Then
all the while they are professing a different Jesus Christ, not the
One of the bible. They believe they are saved. Are they?
5:19
"Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
5:20
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies,
5:21 Envyings, murders,
drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you
before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."(Galatians
5:19-21)
As a people, on either side of this equation of good
and bad fruit, do we battle these? If you live in this world, you bet
you do. But the glory of the Christian who has faith and relies on
the Holy Spirit for strength and comfort, they are the ones who
persevere and in the end, will win. For the truly called out
Christian, plunged beneath the blood of Calvary is “BORN TO WIN”
for the glory of God the Father.
Some
would have you believe that being a Christian is an emotional
experience. You are told about Jesus Christ and express elation that
you understand that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. You
get excited, express joy and forget about it all in a few days. Is
that all there is to being a Christian? I get pretty excited when the
the Missouri Tigers win an invitation to the SEC championships to
play against the opposing team, and it truly is emotional and
exciting, but that knowledge does not save me. Head knowledge of
Jesus Christ or the Missouri Tigers at Columbia being a good football
team will last only a short while in this day and age. Let me
explain.
There is a difference between believing with your
head, (your brain) and believing with your heart, (internalizing His
sacrifice on the cross). And how do we internalize that we have
believed in the Only Begotten Son of God? A brother of mine, proposed
on our forum, “Church of the Living God”, what do you say to the
young child who accepts Jesus in their mind, by repeating the
sinner’s prayer and then falls back into the worldly living
as an adult? Are they still saved? What do you say to someone
who has made a profession of believing Jesus is God, but lives an
ungodly life, thereafter? James said it best in James
chapter 2:
2:14 " What doth it profit, my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save
him?
2:15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of
daily food,
2:16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in
peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not
those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?
2:17
Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
2:18
Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me
thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my
works.
2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest
well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
2:20 But wilt
thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?"(James
2:14-20)
GRACE
VS. WORKS
Let me make one
thing perfectly clear to all who have read thus far. Works by
themselves will not save you. This is not one thing you can do in
this life by keeping every aspect of the Law of God, although
imperfectly, and think you are saved. Let’s look at what
Paul said in Ephesians:
2:8 " For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
2:9
Not of works, lest any man should boast."(Ephesians
2:8-9)
A lot of Christians, and I hope you’re not one of
them, stop right there and say, see, all you need is Jesus. Truer
words were ever spoken, but what do the next verses say?
2:10
"For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto
good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in
them.
2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past
Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is
called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
2:12 That
at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world:
2:13 But now
in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the
blood of Christ."(Ephesians 2:10-13)
JESUS
BROKE DOWN ALL WALLS
In Old
Testament times, there was a wall separating the Jews from the
Gentiles in the Temple courtyard, but now Jesus has broken down that
wall that all may come to Him. We are His workmanship and we have
been bought with a price, namely His blood and broken body. As anyone
that comes into an exclusive club will tell you, there are certain
requirements of entering into that club. This is an exclusive
organism, called the Kingdom of God and has its requirements of
entering in. But in coming to Him, He has a high expectation of what
you are in this life, and what you will become. And what is that?
OUR
INHERITANCE
When Nicodemus
came to Jesus by night, he asked the same questions that I ask you.
How can a person be born again?
3:3 "Jesus answered
and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
3:4 Nicodemus
saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter
the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
3:5 Jesus
answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of
water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
3:6
That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is
born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:7 Marvel not that I said
unto thee, Ye must be born again.
3:8 The wind bloweth where
it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell
whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born
of the Spirit."(John 3:3-8)
What was Jesus saying here?
It appears almost in conflict until you understand the message that
Jesus was conveying here. There is an old saying in Christian circles
that you must be “born again.” So true it is. Being born of
the water and of the Spirit, there are different interpretations, but
what does this mean? In the first part, Jesus speaks of water. He is
speaking of baptismal waters as He was also baptized. The act of
being immersed into the water is a symbol of the grave. By doing so,
in our hearts we are to understand that. We are buried with Jesus
Christ and raised to newness of life, hence the term “born again”
is applicable here, but it goes much further in it’s description
that Jesus told Nicodemus. Paul explains this concept in Romans:
6:4
" Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
6:5 For
if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we
shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
6:6 Knowing
this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
6:7
For he that is dead is freed from sin."(Romans 6:4-7)
We
who have been immersed in baptismal waters, solely out of obedience
to the command of Jesus Christ, is an act of total understanding and
surrender to the power of God and leaving this sinful life we had
behind us, as humanly possible. We follow a new Master, a new Teacher
who showed us how to live a sinless life. It does not mean that we
will never sin again, but the Power of God will make our sins less
and less as we grow in faith and obedience to Him who first loved
us.
What about the second part of what Jesus said in John 3?
Born of the Spirit? As you are reading this message from scripture,
can you walk into the Kingdom of God as you are, as a mortal? He says
flesh cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. What is Jesus saying here?
Let me let Paul explain it to you, as he is a better teacher than I.
Again, let’s go to Ephesians:
1:7 "In whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace;
1:8 Wherein he hath
abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;
1:9 Having
made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good
pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
1:10 That in the
dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one
all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on
earth; even in him:
1:11 In whom also we have obtained an
inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who
worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
1:12 That
we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in
Christ.
1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard
the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after
that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of
promise,
1:14 Which is the earnest (translated deposit) of
our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession,
unto the praise of his glory."(Ephesians 1:7-14)
We, as
believers in Jesus Christ were given a deposit of that future
inheritance. As a example, I envision it as a seed of God delivered
to the womb of a mother, which grows into a fully developed baby
ready to BE BORN. We are now, as children of God growing in the womb
of God’s Heavenly Jerusalem that awaits our full adoption upon our
birth into the Kingdom of God. When will this happen? When Jesus
calls us out of our graves, or changes us in the twinkling of an eye,
then we will be changed into spiritual beings that come and go, much
as the wind does in the trees. Reread Jesus explanation to Nicodemus.
Ponder that for a moment and turn with me to 1 John 3:
3:2
" Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet
appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we
shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3:3 And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is
pure."(1st John
3:2-3)
Jesus gave us the perfect example of what it is to
be called a Christian. What example was that? His life was the
example. From explaining what it meant in His Sermon on the Mount
of the intent of the Law He wrote with His own finger on Mt. Sinai,
to the acts of love and mercy to all His fellow men, to teachings of
righteous living based on His own life and the intent of His
commandments in their spiritual application. Jesus kept the Law that
He wrote perfectly all of His years on earth, but God in His infinite
wisdom knew that man could not. So God became a man born of woman,
fully man, and fully God to do what man could not….save himself.
God in the form of Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice of His
death on a cross and the emptying of the blood from His body on the
altar of sacrifice.:
3:16 "For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
3:17 For
God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
the world through him might be saved.
3:18 He that believeth
on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned
already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God."(John 3:16-18)
But remember what I
said in the beginning of this message?. Even the demons believe that
Jesus is God, but they are not saved or saints. Head knowledge must
be heart knowledge. This is where the seed is planted. The Spirit of
God mingles with your own. It is not implanted in your head that a
person forgets in a few days and the excitement wears off. No, reader
it begins in your spiritual heart. It’s the first day of the rest
of your eternal life and you become a new creature. As Paul wrote by
Holy Spirit inspiration of in 2nd Corinthians
:
5:18 "And all things are of God, who hath
reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the
ministry of reconciliation;
5:19 To wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their
trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of
reconciliation.
5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead,
be ye reconciled to God."(2nd Corinthians
5:18-20)
Then if reconciled to God, we have a job to do, out
of sheer obedience as Paul speaks of in Ephesians:
4:25
"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with
his neighbour: for we are members one of another.
4:26 Be ye
angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath:
4:27
Neither give place to the devil.
4:28 Let him that
stole steal no more: but rather let him labour, working with his
hands the thing which is good, that he may have to give to him that
needeth.
4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of
your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it
may minister grace unto the hearers.
4:30 And grieve not the
holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.
4:31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger,
and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all
malice:
4:32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you."(Ephesians 4:25-32)
NOW LET US RETURN TO AMERICA
Now
that we have given a summary of what a Christian is, what we should
be doing, and what the future is in store for those truly "born
again", let’s return to the 83% of American citizens that call
themselves “Christians.” Look around this nation. Does the
landscape look like we are a Christian nation?
Unfortunately, we are living in the end of days and the Laodecian era of the Church, a false church that Jesus condemned in Revelation chp. 3:
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.(meaning you make God sick, my explanation)
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” (Revelation 3:14-18)
Those are the ones who will be thrown head-long into the coming tribulation. So what has changed in the last 100 years or so?
Is the
“old time religion” still reigning in our land, namely Jesus
Christ and Him crucified? Do the principles that made this country
great still exist? Nobody wants to take responsibility for what is
going on in this country and in the majority, it may well be so. You
can make a difference in your own life and reach out to others to
help them find out what a Christian really is. Ask yourself these
further questions, do you fit the definition of the negative side of
this equation, of what is a Christian in name only? Do you stand in
the light of a true Christian, washed in the blood of the Lamb
working hard to be obedient to the One who gave you eternal
life?
Don’t be fooled into thinking that the trappings of
organized religion will do anything for your spiritual condition,
just by belonging to organized religion or the latest emotional false
prophet or pied piper who leads away men and women to their
destruction by following their false doctrines. You can’t buy your
way into heaven, you can’t be good enough, and you can’t rely on
anyone, but yourself and the answering the conviction given by the
Holy Spirit:
6:44 "No man can come to me, except
the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at
the last day.
6:45 It is written in the prophets, And they
shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and
hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me."(John 6:44-45)
Paul
reinforced this in Philippians:
2:12 "Wherefore, my
beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but
now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear
and trembling."(Philippians 2:12)
You just might be part
of that skewed statistic that tells you, hey, I’m alright. I said
the “sinner’s prayer" and all will be well. Just because I
live in America and “Hey, this is a godly nation”. Really?
Many
are beginning to believe that it is just not so and the nation that
became the superpower in this world is destined, in my humble
opinion, for a very hard fall. Many are beginning to worry about
revolution in this country, as they look at what the Usurper in chief
“president” led this nation to and wanting us to be a One World
Government and do away with our sovereignty. Not to mention NSA
wiretappings, predator drones, and laws designed to take away your
God given rights of free speech, assembly, and to bear arms. Can you
see this nation becoming so caught up in its anger at our former way
of life and capitalism that made this country grow rich beyond our
wildest dreams and wish to pitch it out the window, because of evil
bankers and wall street lobbyist? OH, I know I can...I'll bet you
can, too. I’ve even read comments of how the beginning of the
Russian revolution started, and worse, the bloody French Revolution
that spared almost no one. Heaven help us, but the winds of
unrest are brewing. All it will take is for evil to be unfettered by
the removal of the good in this country. Only thing that is keeping a
lid on this brewing pot of sinful lust are true Christians (I
quantify that by meaning true, born again, washed in the blood
Christians) still present on this earth. What will be the result when
even that hindrance is removed? I speak of God's people who
actually believe with their heart and have God's Holy Spirit residing
within them.
2:7
"For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he
who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
2:8
And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall
consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the
brightness of his coming:
2:9 Even him, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying
wonders,
2:10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness
in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth,
that they might be saved."(2nd Thessalonians
2:7-10)
When He, (speaking of the Holy Spirit), that letteth
will let, until HE be taken out of the way, is the only thing that is
keeping the lid on the brewing kettle of sin and debauchery being God
Himself and the presence of His Spirit in His people. When that
hindrance is removed, it won’t be the 83% that professes their
recipe of being a “luke-warm Christian”in name only, that will be
taken. No, my friend, I fear that number will be much, much smaller.
I fear it will be but a remnant of those who truly profess Jesus
Christ and believe in their hearts and live like He’s coming today
or tomorrow. If Jesus would come on any Sunday morning, I envision
half of the congregation being left behind, as they have only been
warming a pew for most of their lives.
WHAT ABOUT YOU ???
Will
you be caught in the snare of an evil generation that lives only for
pleasure? Will you delude yourself to think that the statistics
listed in the first part of this message makes you ready to meet
Almighty God? Will you be deluded to think that you once said the
“sinner’s prayer" as a child and all is good, even though
you live like the devil? Only the things of God will stand.
Everything else will be burned up by fire. There is a time coming
when Satan will cover this earth with his forces of demon spirits to
unleash his anger for he has been thrown from the halls of heaven. In
other words, the devil has come down to Georgia, and the devil must
be paid. He wants your life, he wants your soul, and he wants you to
spend eternity with him……………..in torment:
12:7 "And
there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the
dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
12:8 And
prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
12:9
And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
12:10 And
I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and
strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them
before our God day and night.
12:11 And they overcame him by
the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they
loved not their lives unto the death.
12:12 Therefore
rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters
of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you,
having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time."(Revelation 12:7-12)
Whoever belonged to Jesus
Christ will be with Him for all eternity and the hordes of demons
commanded by Satan will destroy all who remain if allowed. If you are
of the number who rely on your church, your priest, your shaman, or
God forbid yourself , or anything else besides a true relationship
with Jesus Christ and cannot wholeheartedly embrace the description
of a believer, A TRUE BELIEVER, in Jesus Christ, then get ready
for a sudden thrust into an environment that beckons to the fires of
Hell on earth. Because my friend, in all honesty, it ain’t head
knowledge that will save you, but heart knowledge.
PREPARE TO MEET
THY GOD
This is Pastor Mike Taylor praying for your
salvation and God’s mercy on your life. If there is anything I can
pray with you about, counsel you on, or share scripture of God’s
plan for man, then drop me a line at my new email address,
pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com, or for more biblical instructions
to prepare you for the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
visit my blog at www.pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com,. God
bless you all,
till we meet at Jesus Feet.
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