You have heard me say on many occasions that there is a difference between churchgoers and true bonafide Christians. The difference is not in how often they attend church or even how involved they get within the church. The difference is where their hearts are.
The bonafide Christian’s heart is focused intently on the desires of Jesus in their life. Everything they do revolves around what Jesus wants from them, not on what they want for themselves. They take the time each day to open their Bibles and read. They will make notes and then try to figure out how that passage should fit into their lives. They take the time to think about and ponder what God’s will is for them. That is what the bonafide Christian does.
How do I know that? Because that is what I have learned to do from many other mature people of faith. I learned from men I respect, and I respect them because of the emphases they place on God.
On the other hand, the churchgoer’s heart is always concentrating on what they want; what makes them happy; what they need. But their heart never truly weighs what Jesus may want in their lives. They never read the Scripture with an inquiring mind and they never spend any time in spiritual prayer, trying their very best to find out what God’s desires are. No, they base their Christianity on what they might do for the church or how much they attend.
I know this, too, because I used to be one of them. And that is exactly what I did – all the while believing I was a very good Christian.
What is the basic difference? That difference is one of them has a relationship that is very personal and dependent upon Jesus, while the other has never felt anything like that in their heart. I blame much of this on the devil, of course, as he likes to keep our eyes blinded, but I also blame much of this on the church. For about 40 years now, we have all but stopped preaching about sin and the brimstone it brings. We have stopped telling people the whole truth of the Scripture and have concentrated on giving them only one aspect of God’s Scripture, and that is how much God loves us.
Well, I got news for you. I was very blessed to have the good Christian parents I had, and I know they loved me more than life itself, but I also know that I had to tow the line or I would get punished. Looking back on it, I see that they were only following the model that God laid before them.
In GENESIS, we see where God created man and was pleased. Oh, how God must have loved Adam and Eve. But what happened? The serpent came and, even though he deceived Eve, she made a choice to go against God’s wishes, and when she offered the fruit to Adam, he made the same choice. They sinned against their creator. How did God react? He showed His wrath.
He cursed the snake, and then He told the woman she would henceforth have much pain in child birth, and He told the man that he would work from the sweat of his brow from there on and then he kicked them out of the plush paradise known as the Garden of Eden.
God does love us. And, God punishes us. We must never forget either one of these Godly traits for one moment. Too many people have forgotten the fact that God punishes. Too many people have ignore the fact that there will be a price paid.
There are three things that Christians must not be.
1. WE CANNOT BE COMFORTABLE
Everything in America is built around personal comfort. We have beautiful designed cloth on the seats in our cars; every piece of furniture we buy is made with comfort in mind. We have chairs with built in heaters and massagers; even many of our churches are beginning to have those comfortable seats that tilt back like in the movie theater. Whenever I have flown in recent years, I have noticed that the airlines are concentrating on comfort, too. Everything is comfort.
There are two kinds of comfort. One is TEMPORARY COMFORT.
This type of comfort is fleeting; it does not last long. It is here one moment and gone the next. At the Post Office, they would hire temporary Christmas help. They were with us for about two months and then they were gone. They were temporary and the very nature of temporary means it will not last very long.
What astounds me is that most of the things we try to find comfort in are those things of a temporary nature. We need something to lift our spirits, so we go out and get our hair done and maybe buy a new dress or outfit. Within the week, the hairdo starts to lose its pizzazz, and after the first time you wear the new outfit, it becomes old and goes into the back of the closet.
We are down in spirit and need to be comforted, so we go buy a new car. We pick out a really neat car and as soon as we drive it off the lot it becomes all but worthless. Within a couple of months, it will have a ding here or a ding there, and the newness quickly fades into memory.
See, we need to have a permanency to our lives, and when we search for that permanency in temporary things, problems start arising. The first thing we will notice is that the world gives us a false sense of hope.
In JAMES 4:13, it reads –
‘Now listen, you who say; “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, and make money.’
Who were these people? They were the ones who had the latest gimmick and were focused on making the big bucks. They were like the people who came out with the Cabbage Patch kids or the Beanie Babies. They were focused on what they wanted, and what they wanted was business because that was what made them feel comfortable. They planned on making a lot of money and with that money, they thought all happiness would be theirs.
But we read case histories where rich people were all but driven to make more money, and with each success came more need to make more. They had everything that money could buy, but they had no real hope. Their only hope was what they might attain once they met certain goals. Theirs was a false hope.
These men described in JAMES made plans for their future. The problem is that their plans all centered around the material; the worldly; the temporary. They were going to go here or there and do this or that and make money.
A young man got out of the service and went home to find a job. He looked for over a year before he could find a full-time job that he liked. When he was finally hired, his heart soared. He felt better than he had since he got out of the military. After the interview, his soon-to-be boss told him to report to work bright and early Monday morning. The young man left on cloud nine. His hopes were finally fulfilled.
But Monday never got there, because on the way home, a car crossed the center line and hit him head-on, killing him instantly. His only hope was that job, and that job did him no good at all.
None of us are guaranteed to see the sun go down tonight, yet most of us live like we have another thousand years of life left. We base most of our decisions and nearly all of our hopes on this temporal world we live in now. This world, however, is not under the sway of God but under the sway of our enemy. There is no hope at all to be found here. As I said last week, we are citizens of Heaven, not of earth, and that being so, we need to look for the hope that Christ gives us, not the false hope of the world we are in.
JOHN 10:11 tells us that this world and its desires soon pass away, but a Godly man will live forever. Understand this: If you are looking for hope, it will not be found in the comfort zones of this world. The only hope to be found while concentrating on comfort is false hope.
The other kind of comfort is PERMANENT COMFORT.
True comfort only comes from one source; a belief in Jesus Christ as the Savior. That belief will give us a true view of life.
We all expect to do certain things or see certain people tomorrow, don’t we? But what does James say about this? He says we ought to say that if it is the Lord’s will, we will do those things or see those people. We put all of our hope in Him, and that will give us the only true comfort we will ever know in this life. Why? Because God is in full control, and we only think we are.
In 1 JOHN 2:15 tells us not to love the world or anything in the world. We are to love God, through Jesus. We are to love our fellow Christians and we are to search for ways to expand God’s kingdom here on earth, but we are not to get hung up on anything of, or anybody in, this world. We are to keep unto God spiritually, while fully doing His work as we live on earth.
In JAMES 4:17, it says –
‘Anyone then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.’
And, very unfortunately, we know that most of us do not follow through doing that for God. We turn our backs on Him while trying our best to justify not working for Him by saying we don’t know what to say to people, or we are to shy, or we are afraid they will say nasty things to us, and on and on. The truth is we are looking for comfort in the world, and in so doing, we are purposely walking away from the commands of our God.
I don’t care how you cut it, if you do not spread the word of God, you are sinning. And if you cut corners and try to do it in such a way that you won’t be held accountable by your fellow man, you are not really trying, and again – you are sinning. James says that failure to do the right thing is a sin. Failure to share Jesus with others is a sin.
It all comes down to a devotion: A devotion to live for Jesus no matter what man thinks. Are you there yet? Should you be?
Our God is a loving God, but He is also a just God.
We cannot be comfortable, and …
2. CANNOT BE COMPLACENT
The number one reason most people don’t evangelize is because they have a churchgoer’s heart. They are more concerned with how they feel than they are with how God feels. Again, I know because I used to be one of them. I was scared out of my mind to evangelize. I used every excuse I could find and thought I did a good job of justifying it. But how can anyone justify sinning against our Lord? The answer is, “We can’t.”
So, what is our problem? We only look out for ourselves. James addresses these people in JAMES 5:1-6. He says that we have heaped misery on others and our wealth has rotted and our gold and silver are corroded. He says we have lived in luxury and self-indulgence in the day of slaughter.
Who is he talking about? I used to think he was talking about the rich owners of businesses. But in reality, he is talking about most of us! We have abundant lifestyles. We can go out to a restaurant and eat a nice big meal and never once think about those sitting around us who are going to hell. We try our best to build up our bank accounts so we can be comfortable while we could be using some of that money to spread the Gospel of Jesus to others.
We have become complacent. We think only about our own comfort. What is James expecting us to take away from these verses? He wants us to look out for others; he wants us to be concerned for our fellow man; he wants us to stop being obsessed with ourselves and think about the needs of others, especially their spiritual needs. And I think if James were here this morning, he would tell us to just start doing what Jesus commanded us to do and stop trying to make up flimsy excuses for not doing so.
One way of doing that is evangelizing. Another way to do that is to share our resources. That is why this church gives to the mission fields. We are trying to look out for those around the world who are working for Christ, also. The missionaries have gone to different countries, some half way around the world, to help build homes for preachers and schools for children.
But it is our nature to try and take care of ourselves at the expense of helping others. It is strange how $20.00 seems so large in church, but so small when we go out to dinner or take in a movie. It is our jobs to support the work of Jesus here in this church and around the world as best we can, not as comfortable as we want.
Last year, there was a couple in Ohio that was imprisoned because they took advantage of other people’s desire to help the less fortunate. They shaved their young daughter’s head and called a news conference, saying they needed financial help with their daughter’s leukemia. Tens of thousands of dollars came in immediately. The problem was the only thing the daughter had that was bad, was her parents.
So, we are supposed to help others, but that doesn’t just mean in monetary ways. We need to also share the Gospel.
They say that the hardest thing for people to part with is their money. From my experience, I don’t believe that for a moment. I do believe, however, that the hardest thing for people to part with is the Word of God. It seems that no matter what we are willing to do, we are just plain unwilling to be used by God when it comes to spreading the Gospel of Jesus, our Christ.
If you knew somebody who was dying, and you read an article where a particular doctor had come up with a cure for what they were dying from, what would you do? Would you not share that information with them because you would be afraid they would not appreciate you or look down on you for trying to help them? Of course not! You would rush right over and share that information with them, wouldn’t you?
So why do we sit there, knowing somebody is dying spiritually, and we satisfy ourselves with doing nothing more than twiddling our thumbs and avoiding the necessity of obeying God? Do we really think God will wink at us and tell us it is okay if we just ignore Him in this one area? If you think that, you are carrying around a very dangerous belief and I would suggest you get into the Word of God and find the truth.
James tells us that …
3. WE CANNOT AFFORD TO BE COWARDLY
The biggest reason we do not share the Gospel is that because we are just afraid of what others might say to us or think about us.
We must be patient with others and not try and force the Good News upon them. We need to present that life-saving information to them with love and patience. Jesus compared the Word of God to a seed. James said the farmer is patient when waiting for the rains to come so he could have a harvest.
He plants the seed, but he doesn’t run out into the field every day telling the seeds they need to hurry up and grow. On the fourth of fifth day, he doesn’t go out to the fields and start accusing the seeds of having something wrong with them. He waits patiently, because he knows that it will take time. And while he is waiting, he has the faith to believe they are starting to germinate even when he cannot see the evidence of it.
And after he does see the evidence, he cares for them. He carefully weeds the garden and keeps the soil moist. He might even have to give them cover if the temperature drops to freezing. But the point is, the farmer nurtures the seedlings until they are finally full grown and are able to produce a crop.
In the same way, we plant the seed. Now, we hear all the time on radio and TV that we are expected to plant the seed of money. Can money be a seed? Yes it can, but we are told LUKE 8:11,
‘ … the seed is the Word of God.’
We are to plant the seed by lovingly and patiently tell others about Jesus Christ and the plan of salvation through grace. But just as the farmer knows it is up to the clouds to bring the rain, we must know that after we plant the seed, it might be up to someone else to water it. And it might even be up to someone else to nurture that seed until it is full-grown.
To do that, we must be steadfast. Toni can tell you that those people in New Orleans tried their best to keep their homes shuttered and watertight. What they were doing was keeping their homes steadfast. They were helping it be strong enough to withstand the winds and waters of damage that were coming.
In JAMES 5:8, it says for us to be patient and stand firm. In other words, we are to put ourselves last and put the Lord first. Remember I explained the difference earlier between a churchgoer and a devout Christian. It is one of the hardest things for a human to do is put ourselves last and the Lord first, but we are called by God to do just that.
In ISAIAH 40:31, spells it out very well.
‘They that wait upon the Lord will renew their strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run but not grow weary, they shall walk but not faint.’
When we wait for the Lord to have His way, instead of us having to hurry and have it our way, we grow stronger in Him. Our faith grows to maturity and we end up becoming steadfast. And there are two habits we need to establish to help us do all this. The first habit is reading God’s Word on a daily basis, no matter what happens, you need to read the word. The second habit is to pray on a daily basis, no matter what happens, you need to pray to God.
I am always shocked when people are honest enough with me to tell me they read the word “every now and then”, and they do not pray every day. If my whole intent on being a Christian is to get to Heaven, I should know the need to do what I am told to do and not be disobedient.
We are sitting on the best news that has ever been known, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ, in all His wonderful splendor, is soon coming back to gather us up! Why would we not feel the need to tell others? Why would we even consider keeping that information secret? Why would we entertain the thought of being disobedient to God on purpose?
We may not know WHEN Jesus will return, but do know that Jesus WILL return. We might live to see it and then again, we might not. The first Christians thought they would live to see it, too, but they never. But I guarantee that you will not have to wait too long, for you will either see Jesus when He comes back, or you will see Jesus when you stand before Him in Judgment. Either way, it will happen before you are ready for it, so you might want to consider being properly obedient to Him starting now.
There is an old saying that fits us perfectly. “When the cat’s away, the mice will play.’ That is what mankind is doing today; we are playing a very deadly game of ‘enjoy the sin’ and we have become oblivious to the fact that Jesus will make us answer for what we have done.
I used to hate going to my English classes as a youngster. I never appreciated the knowledge of how sentences are put together, or what a verb is or what an adjective does. It was really hard on me to go through that, but I can tell you now that because of that hardship, I am now able to write somewhat effectively. Had I not gone through the chore of learning, I would never have been able to write this sermon.
But human nature says we should avoid the hard things. If it is too hard, stay away from it! After all, we sure don’t want to suffer at all, do we? But is suffering really that bad? We have trials in our lives, and we really do not like them, but we need to see the purpose they serve. When we find ourselves embroiled in troubles, we have to make a decision. Do we avoid the troubles and ignore them hoping they will go away, or do we face them and deal with them while leaning on God to guide and direct us?
If we try to avoid them, we learn nothing and they still don’t go away. If we lean on God, we find that our faith in Him grows stronger and that increases the strength we have to go through the storms of life. So, just like the chores of diagramming sentences has helped all of us read and write better, leaning on God during our problem times help us to be better Christians.
Now, that being said, when we choose to live the life of a true Christian, we are not going to find that everything all of a sudden goes really easy. We will not wake up the next morning and find a new car sitting in our driveway that has been paid off. We won’t find that we live in paradise by any means at all.
In the 38th chapter of JEREMIAH, we see that Jeremiah, as a prophet, had said that the city of Babylon was going to attack, and that they would capture the city. He said that all who would go over to the Babylonians would live, but those who did not go would surely die.
The kind accused Jeremiah of bringing the morale of the troops down, so they took this Godly man and treated him very unGodly.
JEREMIAH 38:6-10 tells us what they did and what happened.
‘So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern – it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.
But Ebed-Melech, a Cushite, an official in the royal palace, heard that they had put Jeremiah into the cistern. While the king was sitting in the Benjamin Gate, Ebid-Melech went out of the palace and said to him, “My lord the king, these men have acted wickedly in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet. They have thrown him into a cistern, where he will starve to death when there is no longer any bread in the city.”
Then the king commanded Ebed-Melech the Cushite, “Take thirty men from here with you, and lift Jeremiah the prophet out of the cistern before he dies.”
We know that Jeremiah was a Godly man, yet bad things happened to him. But we also see how God intervened and brought him through the storm, and the point I am trying to make with you today is that God will intervene and bring you through your storms, too, as long as you learn to be obedient and lean on Him in all you do.
Are you a Christian or a churchgoer? If you put a high price on being comfortable; if you tend to be complacent and “go with the flow”; or if you are afraid of what others think of you, you are a churchgoer. Will you go to Heaven? I don’t know. That is up to God, not me. But I do know that you will pay a price for your decisions you make today. All of us will.
INVITATION
