by David Brenneman
"To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed." Titus 1:15-16.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’" Matthew 7:21-23.
“But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For 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; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.’ Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?’ Then He will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ [46] These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”" Matthew 25:31-46.
We are speedily arriving to that date set by the Father’s own authority.
Being sure of your salvation ought to be on our minds at least in part, once confirmed, move on to the still greater things that awaits us. We do not want to learn 1 second after the Rapture of the Church that what we thought we believed in was false and not a life lived in faith in the Son of God.
There's so-called churches these days where the so-called pastors and so-called leaders are not preaching the whole counsel of God. They are not mentioning the Name of Jesus. They do not at all have altar calls to ask if anyone would like to come to Christ for salvation. There's so-called churches who ignore the Word of God where it clearly states that those who live a life practicing homosexuality will not see Heaven. Some of those erroneously profess to be preachers of the Word. All such teaching is found in what the Bible says is the doctrines of demons. AI, artificial intelligence, has found its way into the pulpit. AI generated preachers. The use of AI to create sermons. People by the millions are being mislead. These people believe they are saved and yet will be those on His left being told to depart for He never knew them.
You can't be stiff-necked, stubbornly living your life your way and claim to be living life as a true Christ-follower. That way lay the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. That way leads to the path to Hell.
We cannot live life both ways either. We cannot live for Jesus on a Sunday morning then go live the rest of the week in whatever way we want. In doing that we are telling Jesus "Thanks for saving me, I got it from here...".
Are you sure of your salvation in Christ? Are you living as though it's true? Is it seen in every part of your life by others? Can the world see enough of the character of Christ Jesus in your life to convict you of being a Christian?
Are you drawn to seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness?
Are you removing things from your heart and mind that are taking what belongs to Jesus and you've been giving to idols? No that's not something strictly Old Testament or early Church New Testament. Idolatry is a flourishing vibrant problem in our world today. Escapism to fantasy worlds in virtual reality in movies and books.
Lying to ourselves as to what constitutes an idol. Lying to ourselves as to what's really getting our love and devotion other than Jesus.
My Dear Reader we still as yet have a sin nature that's bent on getting us to lie to ourselves about everything from whether or not we're truly saved all the way to whether or not something we're considering in our minds is a sin or not.
Be sure of your salvation then stand firm in it while being in the whole armor of God. Being intentional about our relationship with Jesus about everyone and everything else. A husband's wife and children should come next AFTER Jesus. A Wife's husband and children should come next AFTER Jesus. To a single person Jesus should always be the first and only one to get their heart.
One second after the Rapture of the Church is too late my friend. Perhaps you have read of the parable of the wheat and the tares. Tares are false wheat. Looks like wheat, acts like wheat while it grows yet is all-in-all worthless. Being sown with the true wheat it believes it is real and doesn't look for anything more. The parable tells us that at the end of all things those tares, false Christians, will be judged and found deficient, having lacked a true relationship with Jesus through the free gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.
Be sure that you are saved. Don't risk an eternity of painful torment, eternal separation from God, because of a warm feeling we once had. Don't let your past keep you from asking Jesus to save you. Every type and kind of sinner has come to Christ for salvation and none have been turned away. Don't let your present keep you from asking Jesus to save you. Cleaning people is what His righteousness does.
"But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:8-13.
We are to be lights in this world we live in. If we've come to Christ for salvation then in everything we ought to be living life in Christ in such a way that people see our good works and glorify our Father in Heaven. If people see us as no different than anyone else then we are failing at being an Ambassador for Christ.
Take a good look at yourself in the mirror of Truth found only in Christ.
Be sure, then live it out loud.
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
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