“Nitty Gritty”
The last couple of weeks we have studied about “The Narrow way” and “Confessing Christ before men” The Lord has really stirred up my spirit concerning your eternal destination.
Some of you are walking with God and have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Some of you are sitting on the fence. You don’t mind coming to church and you even bring your Bible occasionally, but your are still involved with a lot of ungodly activities and only appear to be a Christian on Sunday.
Then there is the third group or should I say the
“7-11 group”. The ones that are dragged to church by their parents. You sit in the pew until Mom and Dad aren’t looking and then you show up towards the middle or end of service with a Big Gulp and Big Bite hotdog. Hmmm…Did someone sneak to the store? If you don’t sneak off to get some grub then you’re in class asking to get a drink, to go to the restroom, or to go outside because its hot. If permission is not granted you moan and groan the entire time.
Then there is yet another group who thinks church is a karate dojo. You think church is a place to jump off chairs, make unnecessary noises, and punch the guy the next to you.
Well I was in the 2nd group of people for the majority of my life. I always went to church, usually brought my Bible, and I could even quote a few scriptures. Then when I left church I was off track and getting into trouble. If anyone asked “Are you a Christian?” I replied “Yes”. My family went to church and so did I because it was just the thing to do on Sundays. Then there came a day when I was sixteen and I thought to myself. If I died, Where would I go? Where would I spend eternity? I began to seriously think about it for the first time in my life. This troubled me for about a week. I kind of fought with myself saying “I’m a Christian, I go to church, Jesus died for me”. I tried to convince myself that everything was alright, but all the evidence in my life proved me wrong and when it came down to the nitty gritty, I was going to hell. I couldn’t lie to myself. Last week we talked about how our lives confess or deny Jesus Christ. My words confessed Him on Sunday but my life denied Him the rest of the time. I began to feel bad for the things that I was doing. I began to seek God for forgiveness and I asked Jesus to change me and be Lord of my life.
Every time I purpose the question “Who is a Christian?” everybody raises their hand. Praise the Lord! I would like to read you a scripture in the book of Corinthians.
It says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?…” Paul wanted the Corinthians to see if they were walking according to the gospel which they professed.
Now is not the time to take this lightly. You need to get down to the nitty gritty. You need to truly examine yourself. Why? You need to see if you’re in the faith. Life on earth is temporary. Our breath could expire at anytime.
What if you were one of the thousands of people headed to work on September 11th to the World Trade Center, expecting to come home that day, but instead finding yourself dead?
What if you were one of the firefighters or people helping in the disaster and you are unexpectedly trapped under the steal and rubble, dead?
These questions seem to be over our heads a little because if I asked you a month ago “What would you do if a plane was hijacked and the pilot flew it into your school?” Obviously would be a possibility, but it would probably pass through your ears with ease because it’s not likely to happen.
Well you made it to church tonight by the grace of God. In 1999 there were 6.3 million police reported motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. One-third of those resulted in injury and of only 1% of those reported 37,043 ended with death. So it’s very likely that you could have been taken out, on the way to church. It’s a known fact that 1 out of 1 people will die.
The question should not be When? Where? Or What time? The question should be Are you ready to meet your Maker? or phrased a little different. What things would you want to change if you were going to meet Jesus today?
If your going to school, work, wedding, or whatever the place may be you usually get prepared before you go.
If you’re going to buy something at the store, you need to get prepared “Mom, gimmie a dollar!”
If you are going to school most of us brush our teeth, brush our hair, and put on clothes.
If you are going to a wedding we iron our dress clothes and buy a gift.
If you’re going camping you take a tent, sleeping bag, and the most important toilet paper.
We always get prepared. Meeting Jesus is the #1 appointment of your life’s agenda. Some people will not realize how important it is to meet Jesus until its too late. Others will be excited and wait for the day to see Him face to face. The wise will be ready to go and the foolish will be unprepared.
You might ask yourself “How do I prepare?” Have you ever acknowledged Jesus as your Lord and Savior? You may not remember the exact day, but if can’t say, “I remember a point in my life that I asked Jesus to be Lord of my life.” Then you need to get ready and you need to do it now. You may come to church twice a week, never missing a day. You may go through all the motions clapping, singing, smiling on the outside, and you even close your eyes during prayer, but if you cant say “I have excepted Jesus into my life to be my Lord and Savior” and meant it, then you are unprepared.
If I told you there was a bomb in the sanctuary and it was going to blow up in 10 seconds. You would have 1 of 2 reactions. Most of you would probably sit here and think I was lying, but if you really believed me, If you really took me serious you would not sit here and twiddle your thumbs, you would be out the door like Forrest Gump!
Now it works the same in your relationship with Jesus. If you take the fact seriously that you could die unexpectedly or Jesus could return at anytime then you will get prepared. The Bible says today is the day of salvation. You don’t know what will happen tomorrow or even a minute from now. Its time to take this serious, its time get ready, its time to be truthful with yourself and get down to the nitty gritty.
