Shocking Statements
for
Dying and Dead Disciples!
The
Lord Jesus Christ and His apostles often uttered words
of warning to wake up those who are spiritually asleep
or to shock those
who are complacent. Many
assume that life in Christ is to be peaceful, quiet, and
undisturbed—and there is an element of truth in this, for
we are to live with a peace of heart. Others
assure us that we are saved by grace, thus there is no
need to be actively involved in the work of God. And
surely the majority of those professing Christianity simply
are drifting, hoping that their nominal, comfortable, uninvolved
lives will get them to heaven! All
of these compromises show how deceived contemporary Christianity
is in our day!
Do
we find ourselves influenced by the majority of those professing
to be Christians today? Do
we go through the motions, without a heart that is burning
for the Lord, that hates sin, and that is devoting all
available time, effort, money, and possessions to the work
of the Lord? Are
we deceived by a false and counterfeit Christianity that
little resembles the radical lifestyle that Christ demanded? Let’s
look at some of the shocking statements found in Scripture. The
Bible says, “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith;
examine yourselves!” (2 Corinthians 13:5). Let
us pray that God will shake us from our apathy and awake
us from our spiritual slumber!
The
Self-indulgent and Self-centered cannot be Saved!
The
very essence of coming to Christ for salvation is denying
yourself and trusting in God to save you through Jesus
Christ. We
cannot repent of our sins, humble ourselves before God
and His will, and live a disciplined life of love, if we
do not deny ourselves. Jesus
stated plainly, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he
must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
Me. For whoever
wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses
his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark8:34-35). Have
you truly come to Christ, have you denied yourself, and
do you truly follow Him? Do
you attempt to save your life or are you willing to lose
your life for the Savior? Only
those who live a life of personal, consistent self-denial
will receive eternal life!
Those
who Love the World will Not have Eternal Life!
John
warned his readers: “Do not love the world nor the things
in the world. If
anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in
him. For all that is in the world, the lust [desire] of the flesh
and the lust [desire] of the eyes and the boastful pride
of life [the boasting of what he has and does, NIV], is
not from the Father, but is from the world. The
world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one
who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:15, 17). When
I first read this passage, it shocked me deeply and radically
changed my own life! If
you love the world, you cannot truly love God! Only
those who turn from the world, have a living love for God,
and do His will rather than their own will, will live forever
with Him!
The
Lukewarm Christian will be Rejected!
The
Lord Jesus warned apathetic Christians with these words: “I
know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish
that you were cold or hot. So
because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will
spit you out of My mouth. . . . Those whom I love, I reprove
and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent” (Revelation
3:15,16,19). Are
you lukewarm in your commitment? Are
you complacent in your life? If
so, Jesus says that He must reject you. He
calls on you to “be zealous and repent” of this lethargic,
indifferent attitude and begin to live fully for
the Lord Jesus and His will!
Those
who Deliberately Sin will be Judged by the Living
God!
We
take sin far too casually! Many Christians are careless in their response to the will
of God revealed in the Bible. They
knowingly do what God forbids, they knowingly fail to do
what God commands, and they do not repent of this deliberate
disobedience. Yet
Scripture warns: “If we go on sinning willfully after
receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains
a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment
and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.
. . . It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of
the living God” (Hebrews 10:26, 27, 31). This warning, given to Christians and not non-Christians (vv.
19, 23, 32), shows the deadly result of deliberately, knowingly,
purposely sinning against God and refusing to repent, confess,
or forsake the sin (cf. 1 John 1:9)!
Those
who Deal Casually with Sin will be Sent to Hell!
Many
cannot imagine that Jesus actually said what He said. They
think that His words were too radical, too shocking, too
bold for a Savior who is the “Prince of peace.” But
Jesus did say what the Bible says. Christ
solemnly warned, “If your right eye makes you stumble,
tear it out, and throw it from you; for it is better for
you that one of the parts of your body perish, than for
your whole body to be thrown into hell” (Matthew 5:29). Granted,
Jesus used symbolic language here, but He used it to make
a point—that we must deal decisively with sin in
our life. We
must tear sin from our life rather than be overpowered
by it; otherwise, we will have our part in the fire of
hell!
Those
on the Wide and Popular Pathway will be Destroyed!
In
a very vivid way, Jesus portrayed the two paths that everyone
on earth travels. He
declared, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate
is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction,
and many are those who enter through it. For
the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life,
and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). Those
on the broad way will be destroyed, while those on the
narrow way will find eternal life. Notice that “many” are on the broad way and “few” on the narrow
way. Have
you begun to walk the narrow way of self-denial, of personal
sacrifice and of discipleship, but concluded that this
is too hard, too radical, too different from the way of
your friends? Be
assured of this, that only those who enter the narrow
gate and walk the narrow way of self-denial, discipleship,
and faith in Christ will receive eternal life!
Those
who Fail to Love Christ Supremely Cannot be Saved!
The
Bible says that we are to love our father and mother, our
son or daughter, our husband or wife, as well as fellow-Christians. But
have you failed to have an all-consuming love for God? Do
you love Him with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength
(Mark 12:30)? Jesus said that our love for others must be secondary: “He
who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of
Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not
worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). “If
anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and
mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters,
yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke
14:26). What
did Jesus mean? Our
love for God and our love for the Lord Jesus must be so intense,
so passionate, so all consuming, that all
other loves must be like “hatred” in comparison. If
you ever need to choose between God and any human being,
you must choose God because you earnestly love Him (cf.
Acts 5:29)! In
fact, we must place God higher than our own lives! Apart
from this love, we cannot be saved (cf. 1 Corinthians 16:22)!
Those
who Indulge the Flesh will Not Enter the Kingdom
of God
Paul “forewarned” certain
Christians that those who indulge in “the deeds of the
flesh,” such as immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
anger, envying, carousing, and other sins “will not inherit
the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21; cf. 1 Corinthians
6:9-10). Do
we refuse to put to death the deeds of the body (Romans
8:13) so that we might have life? Do we take sin lightly, refusing to acknowledge that such
unrepentant sin will keep us from God’s kingdom and eternal
life?
Those
who Refuse to Suffer for Christ cannot be Saved!
The
way of Christ is a way of suffering! Jesus
said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage;
I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Paul
also warned, “Through many tribulations we must enter the
kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). He also said, “All who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus
will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Unless
we are living the kind of life that brings suffering, tribulation,
and persecution, we will not enter the kingdom of God! A true Christian will suffer for Christ!
Those
who Indulge the Body will be Disqualified!
We
often live comfortable and complacent lives, seeking peace
at any price, seeking the easy life of self-indulgence. In
contrast, Paul said of himself, “I beat my body and make
it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others,
I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). Are
you willing to make your body your slave? Or
do you indulge the flesh by pampering your body, pleasing
your body, and obeying its every wish? Paul
says that we must “beat” our body into submission if we
would not be “disqualified” from the race of life!
Do
these plain statements of God’s Word touch your heart? Do
they speak to you and are you determined to apply Christ’s
radical demands to your own life? On
the other hand, do you react and rebel against them, considering
them unfair or too drastic? We
simply offer these passages as a sample of dozens of other
scriptures that warn of the danger to Christians of succumbing
to the compromising world around them and the propensity
of their own flesh. Please
take them seriously, for “we must all appear before the
judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed
for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done,
whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10). Are
you and I prepared for the Judgment to come?
Richard
Hollerman
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