“And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves
that they were righteous, and despised others: Two men went up into the
temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.The
Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I
am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I
possess. And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much
as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house
justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself
shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”—Luke
18:9-14
This is an important subject. The Lord calls us to examine ourselves, so that we are not lost. We are to judge ourselves
so that we are not judged with the world. We turn to Him and confess
Jesus as our Lord. We humble ourselves and stop relying on ourselves. We
give it to Him. (1 Corinthians 11:31-32, Rom. 10:9-10, Rom. 14:11)
But, if we live under a deception of self-righteousness, like the
pharisee in the parable, it makes it hard to see that we have never
really known Him. We are not saved.
We are called by Him. And if we are willing, we turn to Him and
confess Jesus as our Lord. We are saved forever, we are a new creation,
and the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in us and mold us into the likeness
of Christ.
But, the scriptures are clear that there will be tons of church going
people who think they are saved, and are not. They never knew Him. They
went to church every Sunday. They wore the pretty clothes. They gave
tithes. They sang songs. They obeyed all the rules. They feared that God
might get them. But, they never really knew Him. They were never
broken.
Churches full of people who have never read the Word. They listen to
the pastor and everything he says, and go to Sunday school, but do not
know Christ. They believe in Churchianity, not Christianity.
They are taught that they are the bride of Christ and that they will be raptured out before anything bad happens.
But, when you read about the churches in Revelation it is clear that
God judges His churches. He removes the lamp stand. Especially if they
never really knew Him. (Rev. Chapters 1-3)
We see the Elder Brother in the parable of the prodigal son. He spews hate, because the Father (God) gives grace and love to his brother who has fallen.
“And he (the elder brother) answering said to his father, Lo, these many years do I serve thee, neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment:
and yet thou never gavest me a kid, that I might make merry with my
friends: But as soon as this thy son was come, which hath devoured thy
living with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf. And he
said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine.
It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy
brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.”— Luke
15;29-32
Notice, the elder son relies on his works.
But, he did not know the father’s heart. He thought it was about obedience, not love and grace. He was bitter.
In Matthew Chapter 25 we have three descriptions of what will happen when the Lord returns.
In all of these parables, it is obvious that the Lord is speaking to “Servants” who thought they knew the Lord.
In the first one, 10 virgins
have lamps, and wicks in the lamps. But, when the Lord returns 5 of the
virgins have no oil (faith) in their lamps. They heard the Gospel, as
in the parable of the sower, but did not really confess Him as Lord. the
seed fell on stony ground, or was choked out by thorns. They never grew
in Him, and had no oil or faith for their light to shine. They buried
it under a bushel. (Matthew 5, Matt. 13)
In the second one,
the Lord goes away and leaves talents with His servants. But, when He
returns, He finds one servant who buried His talents in the ground. The
servant believes the Lord is a hard man and doesn’t want to upset Him.
So, he did nothing. Again, this servant clearly does not know the Lord
or trust Him. It’s not about works, it’s about knowing the master. The
servant did not know the master because he did not care about the things
the master cared about. If he had, he would have tried to do something to grow the Kingdom.
In the third, the Lord divides the nations into goats and sheep.
“Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand,
Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I
say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these
my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand,
Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil
and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw
we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in
prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto
you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it
not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.”
There is not one mention of going to church. He doesn’t talk about
porn, or fornication. He says nothing about homosexuality or abortion.
He never mentions drug use or addiction.
Why?
Because if you know Him, your sins are forgiven. Never to be brought
back up, and thrown in your face. BUT… if you know Him you would care
about the things He cares about. He forgave all their debt. But, they
still did not forgive others and cared nothing about helping those in
need. (Matt. 18:23-35)
Again, we see the Lord say,
“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out
devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I
profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity.”—(Matt. 7:21-23)
Again, notice that when they stand in judgement, they rely on the
works they have done, not in the fact that they know Him. They were
never saved. They never accepted the Grace of God. They never confessed
Jesus as Lord. They have relied on being an obedient servant instead of
relying on the finished work of Christ, and having a relationship with
Him. They took the broad road of works, and not the narrow path of faith
in Christ alone.
The worst thing to be is a religious self-righteous person. They
think they are saved, because they do all the churchy things, and
believe all the churchy rules. They never miss a sermon. They’ve got
their favorite pew, and their favorite Bible. They don’t cuss. They
don’t watch bad movies, unless it’s approved.
But, they wouldn’t go sit with the stinky homeless. They wouldn’t
write letters to inmates. They think the stranger in the church might be
a felon or a molester or publican. When they see a family with no
clothes they judge that the dad won’t work three jobs, or it’s a single
mother with no husband. They don’t help them. They might be sinners.
They might be trying to con the good church people in order to get a
tank of gas, or get a bill paid.
Who cares if they con us? It’s about love and grace not merit. Jesus
died for us, and we are not worthy. We take advantage of his grace,
whether we want to admit it or not. We are conning Him. Truth be told.
The worst thing, would be to go to church your whole life, obeying
the rules; thinking you’re saved, only to discover that you never really
knew Him.
Do not be like the virgins with no oil, when He comes.
Turn to Him and know Him. Taste and see that He is good.
It’s about a relationship, not religion.
Bio: Chris Bunton is a writer, poet and blogger.
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