8 Mar 2020
The Real Thing
"Yes, I am a Christian." Is the answer to the question often asked of someone who speaks of God being in their life. But when one does state, 'I have God in my life.' are they in fact speaking of following Christ in the manner the scriptures teach? And how can the one proclaiming that God is in their life, or that they are a Christian be eternally certain their claim is in fact true? After all, at the time of the great and terrible White Throne Judgment we read in Matthew 7 of the multitude of lost souls claiming to have been working in the name of Christ and the soul-wrenching reply they receive from their judge, the Lord Jesus.
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of 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 in your name perform many miracles?’ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
How can such a thing happen? How do such souls end up being so wrong, so condemned? May it be suggested they failed to heed or understand the scriptures? And we who are believers are commanded to know and teach the word of God (Deut. 6:4-7) And in our claim of having God in our life, of being a Christian, a disciple, a believer, and yes, even a follower of Christ, do we also take into account a particular position we also hold found in 1 Peter 2:9?
But you are... a royal priesthood... that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
We stand as those who direct others to God. We are here to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness. Think of that, we are to be God's proclaimers to a world lost in sin; but we must do so with the truth, and in truth. And Pastor Tim Bresnahan in this sermon expounds on the absolute necessity of understanding God's truth, taking hold of it for ourselves and proclaiming it to those not only closest to us, but to those who enter our lives as well. We must take hold of 'The Real Thing', and become those who stand as one from a royal priesthood rightly proclaiming God to a world of lost souls. And by doing so, at the time of the great and terrible judgment, we and our hearers rather than being told by Christ “Then shall He say also unto them on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' (Matthew 25:41)we instead will hear the glad words from Matthew 25:21 ‘'Well done, good and faithful servant... Enter into the joy of your master.'
