Now that that's out of my system... We had a wonderful band called New Grace that came to sing gospel music to us. One of the singers mentioned to us that he had never seen true revival. As he said, "that ought to scare us and break our hearts all at the same time. Sadly, it won't. We'll go right on having a good time this week during revival and then we'll leave Jesus right there on the front pew and walk away." That statement really troubled me. I left with the feeling of knowing in my heart that we'd been in the presence of God that evening, one of only two or three times I can tell you that I know for 100% sure that I've tangibly felt His presence. Is it because He hasn't been there all those other times? No! I just haven't had my focus on Him and haven't been tuned into Him like I should have been.
Today, as Bro. Messer shared a message with us, several things hit me. I'd like to share them with you and I'd like for you to meditate on them as well.
The Scripture was Matthew 7:24-27 though we touched on some other verses leading up to it as well. It's a familiar old story that all of you probably know. We even sing a little tune about it as kids. "The wise man built his house upon the rock..."
To begin with, notice that these verses are red which means Jesus is talking. The preacher made mention of this to make this point: You can disagree with me, you can disagree with your pastor, you can disagree with anyone else, but you cannot disagree with Jesus. Why? Because Jesus is truth. He has never told a lie and he will never tell a lie. What he says is absolute truth. Considering this, notice that verse 24 starts off with a word that gets us into a lot of trouble. That word is, "therefore". What does it mean? The way Bro. Messer explained this to us is that the word "therefore" means "Based on what I just told you". Jesus was referencing the sermon on the mount. These last few verses in Matthew 7 are the wrapping up, the ending, of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. You can go back and read all of it if you like before continuing. It might help make sense of the rest of what I'm about to put here.
Jesus said, "Therefore....or in our terms, 'Based on what I just told you,' ... everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the wids blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Hearing and obeying God's Word is wise. Hearing and obeying... Wisdom, not worldly wisdom, but wisdom in God's eyes comes from hearing God's Word, believing it, and putting it into practice. Doing this is doing God's will. Here's where I'm probably about to make quite a few of my readers mad.
Did you know, there are going to be more people in hell than there are in heaven. There are a lot of people on the church roll that aren't going to make it there. Where's my proof? Let's back up a bit. Take a look with me at Matthew 7:13-14. Jesus tells us the way we ought to go. He says we must enter through the narrow gate, why? Because wide is the path and broad is the way that leads to destruction and MANY there will be who find it. But small is the gate and narrow the path that leads to life and only FEW will find it. Discern for yourself.. is many more than few... is few less than many? YES!! Now, as for the point that not everyone on the church roll is going to make it there. Let's jump forward just a little bit to Matthew 7:21-22. It says, "Many (and notice this is most likely the same "many" who followed the wide path to destruction), 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?" In this verse, the word prophesy can be roughly translated in modern terms as, "preach the gospel, witness, etc." and miracles can be roughly translated as "good deeds." Let me say this, there are a lot of great people, a lot of kind and excellent people out there that aren't going to heaven! They may think that they are, but they're not. I'm not doubting anyone's faith in Jesus here or discrediting their relationship with him. All I'm saying is, (and I'm saying it as much to myself as to you) good works won't save you! The very best..top of the line..that you can produce in your life. All you can bring to the feet of Jesus is a filthy rag..empty hands. Where in the Bible does it say this? Turn over to Isaiah 64:6 and read what the prophet of God, Isaiah, has to say. FILTHY RAGS! The best that you can bring to feet of Jesus is filthy rags! The best that I can bring to the feet of Jesus is FILTHY RAGS! When it speaks of filthy rags here, it's referring to those nasty pus and blood filled strips of cloth that a leper wrapped their skin in. THAT is the best that we can bring to Jesus. But you know what? He loves us anyway. Isn't that amazing?! Good works, preaching the gospel, witnessing to everyone you know... those acts won't save you. They are the RESULT of Salvation, not the PROOF of it.
Jesus says that only those who do the will of His Father in heaven will enter the kingdom. What is the will of the Father? Let's flip over to 2 Peter 3:9. It says that God wishes none would perish, but that ALL would come to repentance. What is repentance? It's a military term. It means to turn around and go the opposite direction. Repentance is a change of not only the mind, but also direction. You must come to true repentance. Really mean it when you tell the Lord that you're sorry for the sins you have committed, even the ones you don't realize you've committed. This is kind of what our Sunday School lesson was about this morning.. or at least partly. King David wrote most of the psalms in the book of Psalm. Go back and read Psalm 19 and take note of verses 7-14. In verse 12, King David was asking the Lord, "Who can discern their own errors?" and asking for God to "forgive my hidden faults." or unintentional sins. He went on to pray that God would keep him from willful sin,( better known as rebellion for those of you who have children like I do), so that they would not rule over him. David sought to be found innocent in the sight of God. He wanted to be right with God. The ending of this psalm says, "May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be PLEASING in your sight, my Rock and my Redeemer."
I know that's a lot to take in, but those are some of the things that God revealed to me through the sermon that our revival preacher is speaking. He challenged us to tell one person this week how much we love Jesus. I issue that same challenge to you. To all of you, may God pour out His rich blessings on all of you and the situations in your lives. Feel free to leave comments.
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