Riding the Fence

4/6/08

 

 

(The following was used with a PowerPoint presentation, the asterisks indicate slide changes.)

 

*Riding the Fence

 

I cannot over emphasize the seriousness of this message.

 

*2 Cor. 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?

 

Pray

 

*2 Cor. 13:5 (Message Bible) Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don’t drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it.

 

Easter Sunday I shared a message entitled “What’s Easter Really All About?”

 

*(Blank)

 

I laid out the plan of salvation as clear as I possibly could.

 

I can’t get away from it.

 

I have had some interesting conversations since I shared that message.

 

I used an acronym; do you remember what that was?

 

*Show “BRR-CO”

 

There’s even a fence in this picture!

 

You can’t ride the fence!

 

I want to focus on what I believe to be one of, if not the greatest, area of self deception that can happen to man.

 

And that is, thinking you are saved and in reality you’re not.

 

Hell is not full of atheists!

 

Atheists represent a small percent of the population.

 

*Show the graph of different religions in the world.

 

*Mat. 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

 

Modern Christianity has created a cheap gospel.

 

*Show the “BRR-CO” and show the gigantic gap between repentance and receiving.

 

We have created a “no cost” believing gospel.

 

By nature we are theistic.  Meaning most of us know there is a god.

 

*Ps. 53:1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

 

We also have a conscience.  We know what it is to feel bad about something.

 

*Ro. 2:14 …Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law… the law written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.

 

*So the first “B” and first “R” are easy to do.

 

Then we deceive ourselves in thinking we have done the other three, when in fact we haven’t!

 

*Show the “BRR-CO” with the dead end sign!

 

Now we can understand why James was so adamant about what he explained about genuine faith—true believing!

 

*Ja. 2:18 Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do. ¹⁹ You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

²⁰You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac

 

*on the altar? ²²You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. ²³And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.

 

*There are those who “go to church” and then there are those who “are the Church!”

 

James addressed those who “go to church.”

 

*Ja. 1:22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

 

Again I want to say that atheists are not the only ones who will miss heaven!

 

Jesus made this so clear!

 

In this next illustration that Jesus gave, they were all believers!  No atheist in the group!

 

*Mat. 25:31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. ³³He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.  ³⁴“Then the King will say to those on his

 

*right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. ³⁵For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, ³⁶I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was

 

*in prison and you came to visit me.’  ³⁷“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? ³⁹When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’  ⁴⁰“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth,

 

*whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

⁴¹“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes

 

*and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’  ⁴⁴“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’  ⁴⁵“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’  ⁴⁶“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

 

True genuine belief changes your life!

 

*(Blank)

 

But you say, “Todd, it’s by grace, not by works!”

 

Absolutely!  But not by a grace that is abused and cheapened!

 

The Kingdom of God attracts all kinds of people!

 

Jesus repeated a theme over and over making this point so clear!

 

*Mat. 13…

 

·        The Parable of the Weeds

·        The Parable of the Mustard Seed

·        The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

·        The Parable of the Net

 

Just because someone goes to church and says they are a Christian does not mean they are on their way to heaven!

 

*2 Tim. 3:1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ²People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of

 

*God—⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

 

This does not mean outright verbal denial of God’s power!  But denying the inner power of Jesus to change your life!

 

And someone may say “Not so!”  This means that they deny the miracles of God.

 

That’s ironic!  Because you can believe in the miracles of God but not be born again!

 

*Mat. 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰Thus, by their fruit you

 

*will recognize them.  ²¹“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. ²²Many 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?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you.

 

*Away from me, you evildoers!’  ²⁴“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The 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. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of mine

 

*and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

 

This is not hard.  It’s not a mystery!

 

*(Blank)

 

*This explains why…

 

·        *You are plagued with doubt.

·        *You don’t have power to overcome sin.

·        *You don’t want to read your Bible.

·        *You can’t pray.

·        *You are ashamed to stand up for Jesus.

·        *You are doubled minded.

·        *You are defeated.

 

How do you know you have the first two right “BR?”  Because of the evidence of the last three “RCO!”

 

*You know if you have…

 

*Received Jesus!

 

·        Have you asked Jesus to come into your heart?

·        I don’t when I started believing in God but I know when I asked Jesus to come into my heart!

 

*Confessed Him unashamedly!

 

Some of you have not been baptized.  Why?

 

*Given Him Ownership!