The “B – on Fire” Christian
Main Passage:
Matthew 7:21 – 23
Albert Barns “Notes on the Bible” Volume 12 pg. 184
“ ‘I never knew you’ that is, I never approved of your conduct; never loved you as my friends. See Psalm 1:6; 2 Timothy 2:19 and 1 Corinthians 8:3. This proves that, with all their pretensions, they had never been true followers of Christ. Jesus will not then say to false prophets and false professors of religion that he had once known them and then rejected them; that they had been once Christians and had then fallen away; that they had been pardoned and then had apostatized but that he had never known them – They had never been true Christians”.
C.H. Spurgeon ‘A Popular Exposition to The Gospel According to Matthew’ pg. 81“How solemn is this reminder to me and to others! Nothing will prove us to be true Christians but a sincere doing of the Father’s will”!
Point #1 – These people sincerely believed they should be accepted into heaven.
Point #2 – These people were doing “good” works even what are considered “Godly” works and were rejected
Point #3 – What qualifies a person to enter into heaven?
Contrast Passages:
Luke 8:12 – 15 (persons 1,2,3,5)
And Matthew 23:27 (person 4)
Person#1 – The “Potential” Christian
1) Hear the word 2) Don’t believe the word 3) Allow Satan to steal away the word
Mark 16:16 “He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that disbelieves shall be condemned”.
Diagnosis – Hard Heart Condition – Non Christian Result – Rejected at the door
Person # 2 – The “Conversion” Christian, ‘AKA’ The “Temporary” Christian
Person has an emotional conversion experience. They believe they accepted Christ, but they do nothing to root themselves so they fall away in adversity. They have a spark of faith to begin with but no fuel to feed the flame and keep the fire alive. This is a case study of Faith without follow-through.
James 2:14 “What does it profit, my brethren, if a man say he has faith, but have not works? Can that faith save him”?
James 2:17 “Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself”
James 2:26 “For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, even so faith apart from works is dead”.
Rom 10: 9,10 “because if you will confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and will believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you shall be saved: for with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation”.
Point # 1 – Faith without works is dead
Diagnosis – Shallow Heart Condition – Temporary Christian Result – Rejected at the door
Person # 3 – The “cares of the world” Christian, AKA The “Distracted” Christian
Person hears but they are only concerned with the things that this world can offer them. They seek to fulfill their personal desires in the temporary gratification that this world offers which lasts only a short season. They forsake the eternal fulfillment promised by God to those who will trust and obey His will. Allow the world to choke out their faith
Diagnosis – Cluttered Heart Condition –Non Christian Result – Rejected at the door
*Person # 4 – The “Pharisee” Christian, AKA The “pretender”
They pretend to trust in God but trust in works. They have no spark to ignite the fuel they keep piling up. Their motivation is wrong and thus their works are useless. Their motivation is their own recognition they follow their own will and do their own thing. Even though the work might look good on the out side the motivation on the inside is rotten making their works a putrid, rotting pile of garbage. Case study of trusting no one but themselves.
Mat 23:27 “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchers, which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly are full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness”.
Point # 2 – Works without faith is dead
Diagnosis – Dead, Putrid, Decaying Heart Condition –Non Christian Result – Rejected at the door
Person # 5 – The “Sunergos” Christian, AKA The “hearer and the doer” Christian
Person who combines the spark of faith with the wood of works creating a “B – On Fire”. Their motivation is their love for God. They do works because they are saved and are being obedient to their Lord.
1) Hear the word. 2) Holds on to the word. 3) Act upon God’s word.
John 14:21 “He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him”.
Diagnosis – Open / receptive heart Condition – True Christian Result – accepted into Heaven
Concluding Passage:
James 2:14, 17 – 24
Albert Barns “Notes on the Bible” Volume 17 pg. 68 on verse 14
1: “The importance of a practical attention to the duties of religion, and the assurance that men cannot be saved by a mere speculative opinion. Or merely by holding correct sentiments. He doubtless had his eye on those who would abuse the doctrine of justification by faith, by holding that works are unnecessary to salvation, provided they maintain an orthodox belief”.
2: “In order to a proper interpretation of this passage it should be observed that the stand point from which the apostle views this subject is not before a man is converted, inquiring in what way he may be justified before God, or on what ground his sins may be forgiven; but it is after a man is converted, showing that that faith can have no real value which is not followed by good works. That is, that it is not real faith, and that good works are necessary if a man would have evidence that he is justified”.
Point # 3 – Faith ‘sanctifies’ your works
Point # 4 – Works ‘justify’ your faith
To have a bon fire you must have wood to fire and a spark to set the wood on fire.
To be a “B – on Fire” you must combine both faith (the spark) and works (the wood).
Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid”.
Matthew 5:16 “Even so let your light shine before men; that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven”.
Anywhere you go you are preaching, anywhere you are you are preaching. Whether you are at work, at home, at the store, or in the car you are preaching to someone. No matter where you are or what you are doing your actions and your speech are preaching something to someone, the question is what is it that you are preaching?
