How many of you that read these simply written letters that I am commanded to write each day truly understand just how difficult it is to live the Christian life, the life that Christ has commanded us to live, how many of you realize the task that has been set before you? Service to the Lord Jesus Christ is not a part-time endeavor, it is not a path that can be stepped upon and then off at will, remain when life is going as planned, depart when circumstances begin to be altered in what we would consider a negative way. The whims of the flesh and the pull of the world are to have absolutely no effect upon us, we are to be set apart from them, we are sanctified and are no longer to allow them to direct our lives or our minds.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5) Do you? When thoughts enter into your mind that you know are not supposed to be there, do you brush them off, or do you dwell on them, do you hold fast to that which you know you are not supposed to contemplate. A passing thought, a passing temptation is not a sin, even our Lord was tempted as we are, (Heb. 4:15) but the one who holds these thoughts in his mind, the one who ponders them continually will find themselves in only one of two possible places, sinning and falling out of fellowship with Christ, or repenting of them, turning completely away from them and returning to a right relationship with Him.
Think on this commandment and others like it, we are commanded, not asked, to control our thoughts, we are to have no love for this world or the items it has to offer us. “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Do you? Are you working day and night to pay the bills for items that you would not be patient for, or should not have purchased in the first place, does that shiny bauble call to you constantly, does what is over the next hill continuously reach out to you, is the acceptance of others your driving goal, the perceived power you believe to have over others your pursuit. How many who profess Christ as Lord can look at the material blessings they have, be thankful for them, but at the same time at a moments notice can leave them all behind. Do you really realize the costs that you are prepared to pay.
Those who do not name Him as Lord you are to have no continuing fellowship with, (2 Thess. 3:14) those who profess His name but do not love Him in their hearts you are to treat as a gentile, (Matt. 18:17) you and I are commanded to hate evil, (Prov. 8:13) we are to have no fellowship with darkness, (Eph. 5:11) we are not to be conformed in any way to the world. (Romans 12:2) Still believe that just going to church each weekend is what makes a Christian?
You are not asked, it is not a polite request, you are commanded to be holy, (Lev. 11:44) we are commanded to study to show ourselves approved, (2 Tim. 2:15) we are to be ready in every season to give an account of our faith to all that ask it of us. (1 Peter 3:15) When temptations appear, we are not to whine, we are to rejoice, (1 Peter 1:6) we are expected, no, we are commanded to suffer for Christ without murmuring and complaining. No one who repeats the words, gets themselves dunked in some water and then returns to the world is saved, those who do not obey are not servants of Christ, they are bastards, (Heb. 12:8) those who do not do what they have been commanded to do are either still lost or unprofitable servants who will be saved, yet only be fire. (1 Cor. 3:15)
Still think it is easy, still think that it is some game you can play with Almighty God, do you still think that you can fool Him, that He cannot see past this charade some are playing. When will you stop seeing Him as some loving, all forgiving grandfatherly figure that is just going to let anyone into His kingdom. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” (Rev. 21:27)
This is something that you want to be absolutely sure of my friends, all of eternity hangs in the balance, are you walking in complete humility before Him, and in complete confidence in front of the lost, do you still hold to excuses before yourself and man, thinking that the Lord God is just going to let those things slide, that you are going to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord,” (Matt. 25:23) when you were never truly a servant in the first place. You can play the religious game all you want to, you can adhere to every tradition your church likes to hold, you can pretend all day and night, even feeling like you are saved, but if you have no works to show for that supposed faith, then your faith is dead, (James 2:26) and you are still lost.
We are easily deceived, and we deceive ourselves on a regular basis, but be sure of this, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Gal. 6:7) If you are still sowing unrighteousness, it makes no difference whatsoever your church attendance record, you will sow eternal damnation to yourself. The saved individual is clearly seen and heard, his works show themselves to be of the power of the Holy Spirit, his words do not falter in any company, they are bold as lions, (Prov. 28:1) they are as wise as serpents and gentle as doves, (Matt. 10:16) they are nothing like the rest of the people on this planet, for this is not their home. (Heb. 13:14)
Almighty God is not just looking for people to serve Him, all who call Him Lord are commanded to serve Him, in whatever way He sees fit, all the time, not just when they feel like it, not just for an hour or so on the weekend. Here is the one commandment that will answer everything that this letter has been attempting to get you to understand, you are to die to self. (Phil. 1:21) No more personal desires, no more attempts to fit in, no more concerns for safety or convenience, you must be crucified with Christ or you will never live. (Gal. 2:20) Our Lord did not say it was going to be easy, in fact He said just the opposite, but He has promised to walk beside you, to never leave you or forsake you, (Deut. 31:8) you have to look inside yourself and determine whether or not He has been there in the first place, or if you have been deceiving yourself, if He has truly come to live inside of you, or if He is still at the door knocking. “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20) You really need to be sure of this.
