 |
 |
||||
Will
of the Father. Since Jesus says that only those who do the will of “My Father” will
enter heaven, we need to know His will. The New Testament tells us what
the will of God is in five passages; but before we look at them, we need
to start with 1 John 3:23,
And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. (NASB) 1 John 3:23 His will is that everyone believe in Jesus Christ. God does not want
us to just believe that Jesus existed in time past, that He was a good
teacher, a miracle worker or a spiritual guru. The Greek word for believe
means that we give up on ourselves and trust God to rescue us. We need
to be rescued from the penalty of our sins. We need our sins forgiven.
In five New Testament passages, we are told “this is the will of
God . . . ”, “the will of God is . . .”, “this
is God’s will,” and “according to the will of God.” We
do not need to wonder or hope. His will is revealed in scripture. God
wills that we suffer, give thanks, be sexually holy, be filled with the
Holy Spirit, and submit to the government. Who can do His will? The answer
is - only Christians.
We did miracles, Jesus! Jesus tells us that on the day of judgment, non-Christians
will apparently be able and be bold enough to plead their case and God
will listen. Some will say they witnessed for Him and some even did miracles.
Why did He say to this? Jesus tells us the sons of the spiritual leaders
of Israel did miracles.
And if I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? (NASB) Matthew 12:27 Do you know of anyone today who claims to do miracles, witness for Jesus,
teach for Jesus, preach for Jesus or serve Jesus, but whose life has
bad fruit (see the last study)? Jesus says that these “good efforts” are
not proof of someone belonging to Him. Listen to this passage,
For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect. (NASB) Matt. 24:24 Now that is impressive. Not only are there false teachers, false preachers,
and false evangelists who will look real, but there will be false Christians.
Jesus is not their Lord. They are not trusting God to forgive their sins.
The five wills of God are not part of their lives. They may even be leaders
in the church, but they are not real.
Conclusion. On the day of judgment, there will be some who claim to be
Christians who will be turned away from God’s kingdom. They will
be like counterfeit money when it reaches the bank. Suppose you are given
a counterfeit bill in change at a store. Thinking it is genuine, you
use it to pay for some gas. The gas station owner uses it to pay one
of his employees, who uses it to buy food. From there it goes to the
bank where the teller says, “I’m sorry, but this bill is
counterfeit.”
The bill may have been used to do a lot of good while it was in use,
but when it arrived at the bank, it was exposed for what it really was
and destroyed. A counterfeit Christian may do many good things, but he/she
is still counterfeit and will be rejected at the gates of heaven.
If you are not sure you a real Christian, follow the advice of the apostle
Paul and Silas,
Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. (NASB) Acts 16:30-31 And Philip adds, If you believe with all your heart . . . (NASB) Acts 8:37 |
|||||
|
|||||
| Sermon on the Mount | |||||