Too Little Too Late Part 2

Last time I dealt with the watering down of even the milk of the message, that there is more to just saying the words that you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior to be saved, because if that was true the rest of Jesus’ ministry was a waste of time. People are being taught no more than that, which is sad enough besides they are not being taught about making a real life change. Change is what Jesus wanted of those that followed him. Christians that accepted Jesus may think they have changed, but have they? Maybe they stopped drinking, smoking, doing drugs, partaking in pornography, prostitution and other criminal activities along with a whole other list of sins and wrong doings that people get into.

Let’s say that you have stopped one or more of these things when you turned your life over to Christ. Is that all that you needed to do? Many would view that as a major change and it is, to a point, for these actions alone are bad outside of a life with Jesus. Even the morals of the World in general view these things as bad. If even the World considers those things as bad that means more needs to be done, but the churches don’t point out what those other things are fore I fear they themselves have no clue on what needs to be done and that can be seen in their message to their congregation that all you need to do is ask for forgiveness whenever you sin.

Another way you can look at what needs to be done is by looking at your life, the way you live it now, and TRULY making a honest assessment and compare it to the idea of living exactly the same way in Heaven. Do you think you could still do the same things? Do you truly think God would allow that way of living in Heaven? (Matthew 19:16-26) You may be one of the few like the rich young man who said he had kept all these things since his youth, but was that enough? No it was not and though this was dealing with his possessions it was touching on the matter of the heart. The young man had things that he did not want to give up and wasn’t willing to give them up, even for the chance of gaining eternal life. That is what the majority of the Christians are doing now and they don’t see it, because they neither look nor are the Shepherds teaching it.

Going back to that young man, he was living a life that was for all tense and purposes as good if not better than the Christians of today and it didn’t appear that he had to stop doing one of those sinful deeds that I spoke of in the beginning, and yet his life fell short. Now returning to your own life are you in the same boat as the young man. You may have stopped doing one of those things, but have you turned from your life and followed the life of Christ? Oh and by the way there are thousands and I am quite sure tens of thousands of Christians that still do one or more of those things and think that they will make.

This brings me to that other cornerstone that I had alluded to in the last sermon. This cornerstone is also the very first words that Jesus spoke when he started his ministry. (Matthew 4:17) “Repent: for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”. Repent is to turn from what you were doing. No one has ever came to Christ perfected already and if you think your life is “good” than think again on that young man. Just because you think you have given up something like drugs or pornography and that the rest of your life is just great without that sinful act in it again I say “think again”. When you accepted Christ did you just stop doing that one thing or maybe you stopped a few things that even the World knows is bad and figured that the rest of your life is just fine? When Jesus preached REPENT he meant that it was your whole way of life and not just that one or two things you thought was “bad”.

Repent is the cornerstone that has been watered down along with actually following and living your life JUST LIKE Jesus. Not only is the true meaning of repentance not being preached, but the total lack of repenting. Now all you need to do is ask for forgiveness and carry on with your merry lives. “Oh you sinned? No problem, just ask for forgiveness AGAIN”; “Oh you did the same sin again? No problem, just ask for forgiveness”; “Oh you did it again? Just ask for forgiveness”; Oh I am sorry that you did it again, we are all sinners and God loves you, so just ask for forgiveness”; “We are all sinners and our righteousness is as filthy as rags, God understands and we are washed by the blood of Jesus. All you need to do is ask for forgiveness”.

As for me what I am about to say I am not sorry for and it needs to be said. If you love the unrighteous and are not willing to truly REPENT do not think that continual asking of forgiveness of your continual sinning is going to be heard. In this I mean just as I pointed out before that committing the same sin over and over again isn’t repentance and thinking that you can keep doing the same thing and just ask for forgiveness is going to make things all better then you are asking for trouble (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). Even God will not tolerate you spitting in His face or on the sacrifice that His son has made on your behalf if you continue in the same sin over and over again.

Now getting back to the life you lived before accepting Christ. When you turned your life over to him did you do it partially? Or maybe you thought that your life was good enough and all you needed was Jesus. Either way it wasn’t good enough. When you accepted Jesus and turned your life over to him, whose life is it now? That is right it is no longer yours, but his even though we still choose to do thing with it for we are not robots, but did you seriously think about what you committed yourself to? Did you only want the part about living forever in Heaven or maybe you forgot about the whole packaged deal?

To live a life after Christ is hard for we live in a world that is contrary to it and it will make you look different in the eyes of those that live in the World, but is your eternal life worth fitting in now and not fitting in later and I mean not fitting in Heaven because you won’t be there if you fit in with the World now. It comes down to REPENTING from the life you live now and turning your life over to Christ and living just as he lived and through that life you will get to know his Father as he did and then in the end everlasting life awaits you.