Getting Right With God
Gtoctr/ss041804
“Kids say the darndest things!” Art Linkletter, 1957
Not only do kids say some amazing things but grownups also come out with some pretty silly stuff from time to time.
Today I hope to reach those of you who are desperate and show you Jesus, also I want to teach the rest of you the good word of God.
Give Me Your Attention!
You may remember a sermon from some time ago:
5 Laws Of Life
1. What you say will be said.
2. What you do will be found out.
3. What you believe will be tested.
4. What you compromise to keep you will loose.
5. It will take courage to move your life forward.
We may not realize that What We Say & Do, Does Make A Difference
* To God - His plan for all souls to be saved
* To Us - Both now and for all eternity
* To Others - Just read Numbers 13 & 14 (Hugh Gibbs)
As we consider this together today, turn in your bibles to the book of 1 John, Chapter 3 -- While you are turning, let me read our:
Key Scripture: Matthew 12:37 For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (NIV)
The final judgment of man to be held at the end of the age is a very peculiar setting. There seems but one witness allowed to give verbal testimony and it happens to be the person who is on trial.
Each person will give an account of themselves unto God.
* An account of their words
Matthew 12:36 But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.
Not only an account of their words, but also:
* An account of their actions
Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what he had done.
Each will be judged, not by what they say or do at the great trial, but by what they have said and done while on earth.
Is then - salvation achieved by works or deeds we have done?
Where is grace?
* Grace has made a way for us to:
> Believe in our hearts
^ Romans 10:9-10
> Confess with our mouths and
^ Romans 10:13
> Offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to serve God
^ Romans 12:1
* Salvation is by grace through faith in Christ
^ Ephesians 2:8-9
* Grace offers us the chance to become a child of God.
* Heaven is gained when Jesus forgives our sin, saves our soul and writes our name in the Lamb’s book of life.
Revelation 20:15 If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
* Earth life is preparation for life after earth - Prepare yourself!
* Living a successful Christian life demands we watch:
> What We Say &
> What We Do
While grace may offer us the chance to become a child of God, righteousness demands that we change to behave like a child of God.
I. Things People Say & Do
A. A couple of weeks ago I spoke at the COTR Annual Women’s Conference.
1. I spoke on the subject of being the woman God made you to be.
2. As we looked at the model woman from Proverbs 31, we saw that one characteristic of The Chayil Woman was that -
* She thinks before she speaks
B. Since what we say & do
1. Are Important to God, Us and Others
2. Can make an eternal difference
3. Are being recorded to be replayed later as testimony at our trial which will impact our eternal reward …
C. We might want to take inventory and make sure we are ready
II. Let me share some things I have actually heard Christians say:
A. “God told me to quit smoking … I told God that I would pray about it.” (Sounds spiritual, but just who are you going to pray to?)
B. “We realize that it’s sin and so we have decided to cut back to only once per month.” (Cutting back on adultery or murder or gossip to once per month won’t impress God - sin is sin every time)
C. “I told God if He would get me out of jail that I would never play the drums again.” (God didn’t put you in jail for playing drums. Who are you to tell God anything - and did you wait to see what He said about it. We can’t put God in a headlock - He just might not agree with your plan)
D. “It can’t be wrong, I have never been so fulfilled.” (Yes it can! Sin feeds the carnal man & it can feel real good - so fulfilling! But - Moses chose to suffer with the children of Israel, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.)
D. “That’s easy for you to say, you have never had a teenager before.” (No, it’s not easy to tell people what is best for them when they don’t want to hear, but we are called to speak the truth in love)
E. “Well, it’s the truth!” (There is a difference between responsible honesty spoken in love and irresponsible honesty spoken in indiscretion or anger - and it may not be the truth, it may just be your perspective or opinion)
1 John 3
1 ¶ How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4 ¶ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
6 No-one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No-one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
9 No-one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
III. Conclusion
A. It is a privilege to be a Christian, not a right.
B. Salvation is free, not automatic.
C. Those who claim Christianity and continue to sin are deceived.
D. Matthew 12:33 Every tree is known by its fruit.
E. Christianity is a continuing process of becoming like Christ.
* If being a Christian was against the law, could you be convicted?
> In your workplace?
> In your home?
> In your private moments?
* Are you desperate for Jesus? Lets get right with God today!
