Will The Real Christians, Please Stand Up?
Acts 11:26 "And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians....."
Will The Real Christians, Please Stand Up? How many of you remember the T.V. quiz show "To Tell The Truth?" It consisted of three contestants, each claiming to be the same person. Out of those three contestants, only one was the actual person with the chosen name. The panelists had to ask the kinds of questions which would help them tell who the real person was. At the end of the round, they would vote and the M.C. would say: "Will The Real so and so Please Stand Up?"
I am tired of counterfeit Christians, aren’t you? Just like counterfeit money they look identical, but are of no use to the owner. They dress like Christians, they look like Christians, they appear to be the "real McCoy," but they are so fake as a children’s plastic cell phone. Just like a fake phone they make noise but cannot be used for a constructive purpose to reach people in an effective way. As you know, I like motorcycles, they don’t like me, but I like them, and I have the nicest looking motorcycles on my entertainment center but they are of no use to me (accept for show) because they are not real. So it is with counterfeit Christians, they are only imitations of the real thing. Just like those plastic motorcycles on my entertainment center, they are only for show. I see these phonies and you do too, who would rather appear holy, than be holy. Some attend congregations, some claim to worship at home, some have a membership at the local Pub, some help with the church property, some buy groceries for the needy, some live outside of marriage, some take innocent lives (abortion), some buy gifts for the Pastor, some could out curse a sailor, and some have their own church gossip line.
Will the real Christians, please stand up? Jesus Christ did not build a counterfeit church. The church that Jesus built was built upon a solid foundation. According to the apostle Paul in Ep. 2:20, it was "built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." Paul also said in I Co. 3:11 referring to the church that Jesus built, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." She is governed by Christ. Ep. 1:22-23; Is. 9:6 " 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all;" "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." She is increased by the Divine admission of members. Acts 2:47; I Co. 12:13-18 "the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved;" " 13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
14 For the body is not one member, but many.
15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him." She consists of real genuine saved members. Jn. 15:2-6 " 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned." She is awaiting her final rewards. Re. 20:12-15; 21:3-4; 22:14 " 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire;" " 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away;" "14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
Her Headquarters is in Heaven. Ep. 1:22, 4:15, 5:23; Col. 1:12-18, 2:18-19; I Pe. 2:7 "22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church," " 15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ," "23 For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body;" "12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence," "18 Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,19 And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God;" " 7 Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner."
If someone asks you where your church’s Headquarters are, please do not say Anderson, In. The church I belong to does not get her orders from Anderson, IN, she gets her orders from Heaven, where the Head is. We have offices, a College, literature, and many great things that come from Anderson, but our Headquarters are in Heaven.
I. We must be “Born Again”
Will the real Christians, please stand up? We live in an age that tells us for one to make it to Heaven you must only believe in God. That is, you must only believe that there is a God. I have visited numerous people who have been very ill (even to the point of death) that bought into this fictitious teaching. I can remember going to the hospital to visit a man dying with cancer that I was told might be saved. One said "Well he believes in God and I know he prays. He is a great man that would do anything for anyone. He loves his children, he helps the needy, and he plays gospel music on his guitar." I replied "I don’t doubt in the least that he is a good man, but unless he has received the shed-blood of Jesus Christ all of his good works amount to nothing. I understand that he believes in God (and he should), but are his sins covered by the blood of the Lamb? Does he have a personal experience with Christ?" I finally made my way up that long hallway to hear one of his daughters say "You don’t need to pray with him, there was a minister that just prayed with him." I knew by the heavy burden that God had lain upon my heart that this man needed prayer so I replied "I know that he has already been prayed for, but you can never get too much prayer. Please let me pray with him." She asked if he knew me and he said no, but invited me in anyway. I had been directed to him by a parishioner. When I walked into his room I saw a heart-broken family standing around the bed of the man that had taught them everything that they knew. His head was without hair and his body was very skinny and his heart was saddened. I asked him personally if he was a Christian and he replied "I talk to God." I shared with him a couple verses of Scripture from acts 4:12 and John 3:3 and explained to him that unless he had repented and been forgiven of his sins and accepted Christ that it was impossible for Him to go to Heaven. I gave invitation for him to receive Christ and thank God he did! I could tell that the Spirit of God was moving in that small hospital room, so I invited his family to receive Christ also. Right around the hospital bed of that newly converted cancerous father, I witnessed six children and one wife give their hearts to the Lord with tears. After we finished praying that heart-broken family that had greeted me with sadness, was wearing a smile. I credit the Lord for that!
Will the real Christians, please stand up? I am tired of seeing sinners repenting and leaving the altar as if nothing has changed. Jesus said to Nicodemus in John 3:7, "Ye must be born again." For one to be born again, one must start over spiritually from scratch. He or she must become a baby in Christ. Acts 4:12, "Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved."
Just believing in God will not take a person to Heaven. Believing in the Bible is not enough to take us to Heaven. Reading and memorizing Scripture is not enough to take us to Heaven. Tithing is not enough to take us to Heaven. Fasting and praying is not enough to take us to Heaven. When one is not a Christian, prayer (with the exception of repentance) may not be heard. Ps. 66:18, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Kindness, compassion, pity, gentleness, etc... is not enough to take us to Heaven. One must go to Heaven by the blood of the Lamb.
II. We must be holy
Will the real Christians, please stand up? I am tired of hearing people make excuses for their sin. "Well you know that’s just the way I am." "Well I didn’t exactly tell a lie, I just stretched the truth a little bit." "I know cheating on my spouse is wrong, but I still love them." "The Devil made me do it." "That doesn’t apply to me today." "I’m trying to quit smoking." "I’m trying to quit drinking." "I would’ve been at Church, but..." "Everybody does it, so it must be ok." And the list goes on and on. It’s like one guy I heard about; He and his buddy were out fishing in the lake one Sunday, and his buddy Tom said, "Jim, don’t you feel guilty skipping church to go fishing?" Jim replied, "Why no, I don’t feel guilty Tom. My wife is home sick today, and if I wasn’t out here fishing, I would’ve had to stay home and take care of her."
Excuses! Excuses! Excuses! One excuse is as good as another. Will the real Christians, please stand up? God is interested in a holy people. He expects nothing less than holiness from his saints. We read the "Holy Bible", revealed by the "Holy Spirit", inspired by a "Holy God." I hate to say this, but the closest some people come to holiness is by a figure of speech. They say, "Holy Moley", "Holy Cow", "Holy Mother of Jesus", "Holy Crud", etc... Using the word "Holy" as you can plainly see, does not make one holy. Holiness is commanded by God. Peter recites the written word from Lev. 11:45, that says, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." I Pe. 1:16. God is a "Holy God," Peter says.
Many have tried to say that holiness and spiritual perfection is impossible, but God says, "Be ye holy." God wants us to serve Him, "In holiness and righteousness before Him, all the days of our life." Luke 1:75. Paul says in 2 Co. 7:1, "Let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." He. 12:14, "Follow peace with all men and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." God’s people must be a holy people. Will the real Christians, please stand up?
III. We must be prepared
Will the real Christians, please stand up? I am tired of people talking about the millennial reign of Christ and 7 years to get things right. If I believed I had 7 years to get things right, after the return of Christ, why would I even bother to live a righteous life now. I must be prepared now for the return of Christ. Jesus gave a parable in Matt. 25 referring to the Kingdom of Heaven and His second return. Matt. 25:1-13, " 1 Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. 2 And five of them were wise, and five were foolish. 3 They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: 4 But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. 5 While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. 6 And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him." "7 Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. 11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. 12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. 13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh."
Notice the bridegroom did not know the voice of the five foolish virgins. They had been forewarned (about the return of the bridegroom) to be ready. They decided they would burn the oil from their lamps and return into town and replace it before the bridegroom returned, but their plan was not sufficient. Our oil metaphorically speaking is the Holy Spirit. We must always see that we are full of oil at all times, lest the bridegroom returns and we are not ready. There will be many people on Judgment Day that will hear the Lord say, "I know you not." We can live a perfect “Christian” life for the majority of our lives and still backslide before the Lord comes. What a terrible thought, to be invited to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and be so close, but let one sin keep us out. We must be prepared when our Lord returns. 2 Pe. 3:10-14, 17-18 "10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless," "17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness. 18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen."
Will the real Christians, please stand up? I would like to ask you a few questions. How is a person saved, by belief in God or by the precious blood of Jesus? Where are our headquarters? How much time do we have to get ready after the 2nd Coming of Christ? Does God require us to be Holy? And now for my last question, will the real Christians, please stand up?
