Text: As ye have therefore received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been
taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Col. 2:6-7
There was an old farmer and his wife
who had turned in for the night and were just about to fall off to sleep when
they heard the clock in the hallway begin to chime. They heard it chime nine
o’clock, ten o’clock, eleven o’clock, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen.
Finally, the wife turned to her husband and said, "Just what time is it
anyway?" The old farmer replied, "I don’t know, but it’s later than
it’s ever been before."
I don’t know about you, but in the
last decade with terrorism and war continuing that, perhaps all of us have that
sense, realizing that no one knows precisely what time it is, but we are
certainly closer to the Lord’s coming than we have ever been before.
Paul is telling them to have
certainty in there walk with Christ. When you see people, who lack certainty
their entire spiritual life is filled with confusion, doubt, perplexity,
unreliability, and wavering in their resolve to follow Christ.
Certainty defined:Certainty is a perfect knowledge that
has total security from error, or the mental state of being without doubt.
Objectively defined, certainty is total continuity and validity of all
foundational inquiry, to the highest degree of precision. Something is certain
only if no skepticism can occur.
Paul was concerned that there were
those who would make up their own rules about being a Christian. In plain English, this is what he says in
chapter 2:16
So, don’t let anyone make rules for
you about eating and drinking or about Jewish customs (festivals, New Moon celebrations,
or Sabbath days).
There will be people who will tell
you not to eat meat. There will be those
who will tell you what you can and cannot drink. There will be those who will tell you when
you can worship and on what day.
Maybe in the past, these things were
needed. They were like a shadow that
showed what was coming. But the new things now are found in Christ.
You will meet people who act like
they are so spiritual they even worship angels.
They have their own angel. They
talk about their visions or “the LORD told me…”
Please don’t tell me the LORD told you to tell me what He wants me to
do.
Don’t listen to them when they say
you are wrong because you don’t do these things. It is so foolish for them to
feel such pride because it is all based on their own human ideas. They don’t
keep themselves under the control of the head. Christ is the head, and the
whole body depends on him. Because of Christ all the parts of the body care for
each other and help each other. So, the body is made stronger and held together
as God causes it to grow.
You died with Christ and were made
free from the powers that influence this world. So why do you act as if you
still belong to the world? I mean, why do you follow the rules like these: “Don’t eat this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t
touch that”? These rules are talking
about earthly things that are gone after they are used. They are only human
commands and teachings. These rules may seem to be wise as part of a made-up
religion in which people pretend to be humble and punish their bodies. But they
don’t help people stop doing the evil that the sinful self-wants to do.
Most churches have a higher standard
to join their church than the LORD to get into heaven. They have a list of rules you must follow or
rituals you must go through before you can be a member. The LORD requires that we seek forgiveness of
our sins, commit our lives to Christ and reasonably serve Him.
Look, if you are saved by Jesus
Christ then act like it. Stop letting
people question your salvation. Set your
affection on things above, not on things on the earth. You were once a sinner estranged from God,
but now your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Remember this if you are in Christ then when He returns you will be with
Him in glory.
There is a certainty in salvation
that, His spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
There is a story in the Gospel of
John that answers the question of certainty.
In chapter 3 there was a man who came to Jesus wanting to know about his
own salvation.
Nicodemus was a man who, for almost
all his entire life, thought that he knew for sure that he was going to go to
heaven when he died ... until Jesus arrived on the scene. We don’t know how
Nicodemus came to know Jesus. What we do
know was there was uncertainty in his personal salvation.
John 3:1 Now there was a man of the
Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by
night and said to Him, "Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a
teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with
him." Jesus answered and said to
him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God."
Did John leave out something
Nicodemus said?
"Jesus answered..." Jesus
is replying to a question that Nicodemus never asked, but because Jesus knows
the hearts of all, He knew the question that was on Nicodemus’ heart.
John 3:3 Jesus answered and said to
him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see
the kingdom of God." Nicodemus
said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a
second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to
you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the
kingdom of God. "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you,
’You must be born again.’
With those five little words
("You must be born again."), Jesus crushed every single religious
idea upon which Nicodemus had been leaning his entire life. So then, Nicodemus
was left to wonder. There is that
uncertainty in his mind now about his salvation.
Nicodemus, as a Pharisee for his
entire life, had been trusting on two different things to get him to heaven.
First, he had been counting on his religious heritage.
My twelfth great grandfather was the first Quaker in our family. He even entertained George Fox
is his home. He was a leading spirit
among the Quakers. I have a birthright to go to heaven. You think that will
matter on the day of Judgment? I don’t
think so.
Nicodemus was a son of Abraham. He
was a Jew of all Jews. He was one of God’s chosen people. By his religious
heritage, he was going to enter the kingdom of God. He was going to enter into
heaven.
Second, he was also banking upon his
religious rule-keeping. The Pharisees were the self-appointed guardians of the
law. They were the rule-keepers of all rule-keepers. In fact, they added many
rules onto that original law of Moses, some six hundred different rules, that
Nicodemus kept. Jesus called it "straining at a gnat." They strained
to obey those rules. Nicodemus was the chief of all rule-keepers, even a ruler
of the Sanhedrin.
Nicodemus was banking on his
religious heritage and his religious rule-keeping. Then Jesus just jerks this
religious rug right out from underneath him and says, "No, Nicodemus! You
must be born again." "You must be born from above" is another
translation of that phrase. You must be born of God’s Spirit.
Right Destination, Wrong Ticket
Nicodemus didn’t know how to handle
it. He didn’t know how to respond. If I could compare it to a modern-day
analogy, let’s put it like this. It’s as though Jesus was saying to Nicodemus
that he was like a man who would go to a ticket counter to purchase a ticket on
Life’s Railway to heaven. He bought a
discount ticket.
Then he goes to the train station and
finds the proper train. He sits confidently, holding onto what he thinks is a
real ticket. The train pulls into the station.
He walks to the train. He’s about to
get on board, and the conductor checks his ticket and says, "Sir, I’m
sorry. This ticket that you’re holding is a fake ticket." So the man is
shocked as the train pulls out of the station, leaving him behind. All that
while, he was holding onto what he thought was a real ticket that turns out to
be a fake one.
May I ask you, is it possible that
you may be holding onto a fake ticket? Or are you holding onto the real thing?
Let me ask another question to stimulate your thinking a little bit further.
This is purely hypothetical. I don’t believe it’s going to happen this way at
all. Let’s say, suppose, you were going to die today and stand at the gate of
heaven, and God speaks to you, "Why should I let you into My heaven?"
What would you say?
Well, let’s bring Nicodemus up to
modern times even further. Imagine for a few minutes what Nicodemus might say
if he were living today, mainly if he was living in here in central Indiana.
What do you think he would say?
Nicodemus would probably say, "I
think that You ought to open up the gate of heaven and let me in because I have
led a moral life." Jesus would have to say, "No, Nicodemus. I’m
sorry, but that’s a fake ticket." He might even argue, "I’ve led a
good life, a moral life!" Again, he was the rule-keeper of all
rule-keepers. Some of the rules even bordered on the absurd. They could drink a
cup of vinegar on the Sabbath, yet they couldn’t tilt their heads back gently
and gargle that vinegar on the Sabbath. The Pharisees said that you could eat
the egg of a chicken that was laid on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was from sundown
on Friday to sunset on Saturday, but only as long as you killed the chicken the
next day. All this time, you’ve wondered where the tradition of chicken on
Sunday came from!
He kept the rules to the absolute
limit. He was the moral man of all moral men.
Jesus would have to say, "No,
Nicodemus. That’s a fake ticket." I cannot remember all the times at a
funeral someone has said, “He was a good man or she was a good woman. They worked hard, they paid their bills on
time, they loved their family, they helped their neighbors. They were always there when you needed a
friend.
I could say that I am a very good
moral personal I don’t drink, smoke, chew or cuss. The love my family, I care
for my community, I help the needy, I have sacrificed much for other people. But if you put me up against Jesus, I will
come short on being the perfect man.
God’s standard is absolute
perfection. God is a holy and just God. Jesus was saying, "No, Nic. I’m
sorry. That’s a fake ticket."
A second thing Nicodemus might try
is: "I’ve attended church every Sunday."
In fact, as a Pharisee, he would not
only have been there every Sabbath, but he went to church every day.
Listen, you can go to every sporting
event played, but that will never make you an athletic. You can attend every
session of the Senate, and that won’t make you a Senator. You can go to the
hospital every day that will not make you a doctor or nurse. You can live in a garage, but they won’t make
you a car.
"Nicodemus, I’m sorry. Attending
church doesn’t make you a Christian. That’s a fake ticket."
But "I believe in God. That’s
why you should let me in." Amazingly enough, researchers tell us that
ninety-four percent of Americans say that they believe in God. Jesus would say,
"That’s great. You must believe in God."
Then I think He would quote James
2:19 where James writes, "You believe that there is one God. Good! Even
the demons believe that ... and tremble!"
Jesus would say, "Nick, I’m
sorry. That’s good, but that’s not the right ticket."
The how can I know I am going to heaven. You must be born again.
"Oh, I remember one time when I
was in the synagogue, I had this most wonderful awesome feeling that comes over
me! It was such a touchy-feely kind of feeling. I just got all warm on the
inside. Is that it?"
I have talked with people who base
their salvation on feelings. Or there
are those who will tell you I almost died.
There was this bright light. I saw these piercing blue eyes and felt
warm all over." Jesus would say, "Both are wonderful experiences, but
that’s a fake ticket."
Then there are those individuals
whose life is falling apart, and they go to the minister who prays for them,
and they are crying their hearts out, feeling sorry for themselves and go away
saying, I feel so much better. People
having a good cry will make you feel better, but that does not change your
life.
Jesus would say, "That’s a fake
ticket."
So here he is. "How can this be?
How can a man be born again? How can you be born from above? How can you be
born of the Spirit?"
Let Jesus answer the question. That
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. 16 For God
so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
21 But he that doeth truth cometh to
the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.
So, it is with a great sense of
urgency that I ask you this question: Have you come to the place in your own
spiritual life where you know for certain that if you were to die tonight, that
you would go to heaven?
Are you under the conviction of God’s
Holy Spirit and realize that you’ve been holding the wrong ticket? Do you know
that you’ve been trusting in something or someone else ... your heritage, your
rule-keeping. Have you been believing in anything else except simply in Jesus
Christ, our Lord? Would you receive Him as your Savior today?
I’d like to lead you in prayer if
that’s the desire of your heart pray with me:
God, I recognize the fact that I am a
sinner, that I’m separated from You because of my sin in this life. God, I ask
You to forgive me of my sin, all of it.
I thank You for forgiving me through Jesus Christ, for giving Him to die
too on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin. Lord, I invite Jesus Christ to
come into my heart. I receive Him and transfer my trust and faith to Him and
Him alone for my eternal life. Thank You for saving me.
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