Christian Life
“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes12:13,14
Whether you believe God or not He exists. C. S. Lewis said,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
As a Christian I believe everything you do is done before God’s eyes. He will bring everything you do to account.
I also believe there will even be many on that day of judgement who claim to know God and claim to have been working for God, who claim to be Christian, who will see the words of Jesus are true, when he said,
“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.
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?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23.
Many people who have gone to church all their lives. Many who have been evangelist, pastors, priest, teachers, even Popes will hear the words, “Away from me, you evildoers”.
Being a Christian is not just saying a prayer. It’s not just going to church weekly or daily. It’s not just studying the Bible, preaching, or teaching the scriptures. It’s not following a set of rules and rituals.
John the Baptist is recorded in Matthews Gospel upon seeing the scribes and Pharisees as saying,
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:7-10.
These were religious leaders who followed the ritual, preached and taught from the scriptures yet they were not doing things right in the sight of God. They had a head knowledge of God. But they were interpreting the scriptures wrongly for their own purposes.
These men seemed to be very judgmental and judging people can turn people away from God.
Matthew’s Gospel records this incident,
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13.
The religious men who were condemning Jesus for sitting with sinners are like some who claim to be Christians today in 2016. They judge others because of their lifestyle.
I’ve heard of Christians who want the right not to serve in their place of business those who’s lifestyle they disagree with. I’ve heard of those claiming to be Christians who condemn, protest and wish to restrict the rights of those they disagree with. Yet Jesus never did this.
John’s gospel tells us of a woman caught in adultery. She was brought to Jesus in order to trap Jesus into saying something that was against the law. Jesus however reacted this way.
“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:7-11.
Jesus who had the right to judge the woman did not.
If you claim to be a Christian you must realize that it is not your job to judge anyone. The apostle Paul wrote,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1Corinthians 5:12,13.
If you are a Christian you must make sure you are truly doing the will of God. That God is established in your heart. That you are not perverting the scriptures to suit what you believe. Because if you are simply following the scriptures you want to follow you are not following God. You are following yourself. Thus you may one day hear the words of Jesus
“...‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:23b.
Please think about it.
“For a man’s ways are in full view of the LORD,
and He examines all his paths.”
Proverbs 5:21.
The writer of Ecclesiastes states.“Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.” Ecclesiastes12:13,14
Whether you believe God or not He exists. C. S. Lewis said,
“A man can no more diminish God's glory by refusing to worship Him than a lunatic can put out the sun by scribbling the word 'darkness' on the walls of his cell.” C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain
As a Christian I believe everything you do is done before God’s eyes. He will bring everything you do to account.
I also believe there will even be many on that day of judgement who claim to know God and claim to have been working for God, who claim to be Christian, who will see the words of Jesus are true, when he said,
“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.
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?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:21-23.
Many people who have gone to church all their lives. Many who have been evangelist, pastors, priest, teachers, even Popes will hear the words, “Away from me, you evildoers”.
Being a Christian is not just saying a prayer. It’s not just going to church weekly or daily. It’s not just studying the Bible, preaching, or teaching the scriptures. It’s not following a set of rules and rituals.
John the Baptist is recorded in Matthews Gospel upon seeing the scribes and Pharisees as saying,
“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.
And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.
The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” Matthew 3:7-10.
These were religious leaders who followed the ritual, preached and taught from the scriptures yet they were not doing things right in the sight of God. They had a head knowledge of God. But they were interpreting the scriptures wrongly for their own purposes.
These men seemed to be very judgmental and judging people can turn people away from God.
Matthew’s Gospel records this incident,
“While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples.
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”
On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:10-13.
The religious men who were condemning Jesus for sitting with sinners are like some who claim to be Christians today in 2016. They judge others because of their lifestyle.
I’ve heard of Christians who want the right not to serve in their place of business those who’s lifestyle they disagree with. I’ve heard of those claiming to be Christians who condemn, protest and wish to restrict the rights of those they disagree with. Yet Jesus never did this.
John’s gospel tells us of a woman caught in adultery. She was brought to Jesus in order to trap Jesus into saying something that was against the law. Jesus however reacted this way.
“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”
Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” John 8:7-11.
Jesus who had the right to judge the woman did not.
If you claim to be a Christian you must realize that it is not your job to judge anyone. The apostle Paul wrote,
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked man from among you.” 1Corinthians 5:12,13.
If you are a Christian you must make sure you are truly doing the will of God. That God is established in your heart. That you are not perverting the scriptures to suit what you believe. Because if you are simply following the scriptures you want to follow you are not following God. You are following yourself. Thus you may one day hear the words of Jesus
“...‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’” Matthew 7:23b.
Please think about it.
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