Are we disciples of Jesus Christ?  We are told that we are to come out of the world and be separate.  One of the behavioral traits that has become pervasive in modern society is that of self indulgence.  We hear people say, “You only go around once – so get all you can get.”  Are we in it for the short-term, or are we in it for the duration?  Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God cannot be acquired by seeking power and wealth, or control and politics, or luxury and extravagance—but by laying those things aside:

“Seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind.  For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knows that ye have need of these things.  But rather seek ye [first] the Kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”  (Luke 12:29-31, Matthew 6:33)

As Christians, we realize that our temporary lives are not our own—we have been purchased by Christ.  Jesus goes on to explain that those people who are His will make a conscious decision to make God’s way of life their total priority.

“So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsakes not all that he has, he cannot be my disciple.”  (Luke 14:33)

God requires our full and complete loyalty and commitment.  From God’s perspective – why would God the Father and Jesus Christ want us to be around in their Kingdom?  Without us they were perfect and complete.  Why did they come up with a plan to bring us into their God family?  What do they see in us that we cannot even imagine of ourselves?  God is a creator and a producer – not a user and a taker.  Jesus was a carpenter—but He did not build a wooden church building.  He is building His Church—an eternal spiritual entity.  If we have the eyes to see, there is a picture there of our future.

Mankind has tremendous creative ability—just look at the scientific inventions and building accomplishments that have been achieved when men have set their minds to it.  God tells us that our ability is only limited by our imagination.  Man can achieve anything that he is able to conceive of in his mind.  God said of man:

“…Nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”  (Genesis 11:6)

And, that is in the flesh!  God’s promise to us goes well beyond this temporal life.  His plan is that we attain to eternal spiritual life as children of God.  Notice how our capability and potential will increase as spirit beings:

“As it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”  (1 Corinthians 2:9)

We cannot now imagine what will be within our grasp as creative spirit-born members of the God family with an eternity of time and the vast limitless universe at our disposal.  But to be a part of what God has in store for us we must now become like God is.  We must love His law and His people as He does—without competition or strife.  Do we really want God’s way of life with every fiber of our being, or do we resent having to do things the “hard way?”

We are warned in the Scriptures that it is possible to fall away from the truth of God and His good graces, and lose out on salvation.  That thought is horrifying to consider.  Extremely trying days lie just ahead for those of us in the Church of God.  Everything that we hold sacred will soon be overthrown – everything, that is, except our faith, which must continue until the very end.

Over and over in the Bible the brethren are admonished to live lives of overcoming, and remain faithful to the end.  We are to live exemplary lives as witnesses to those in the world.  But, is there a possibility that we could fall away?

“It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Spirit, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”  (Hebrews 6:4-6)

Christianity, in spite of what some believe, is no bed of roses.  There is no way that a novice in the Faith can reasonably envision all the trials and tribulations he will experience during his course of conversion.  We do not know everything that the future holds – only God knows.  What is clear is that Jesus warned that the last Church era before His return would let down and be in severe need of repentance.

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Sermon:

"Forsake All That You Have"