During the last two millennia, the church of Jesus Christ has gone in many directions. When compared to the present day church, and the apostolic church (th early church 40 – 180 A.D.), one may not find a valid comparison. The present day church comes in all sorts of flavors. On the protestant side, you have a few hundred different denominations which span a spectrum from liturgical to fundamental. Within that spectrum you’ll find many that are actually heretical by the standards that have been used down through the centuries. The remaining churches that do follow a proper doctrine of Christ fall short on holiness by incorporating the world’s system into the church. Then there’s the Roman and Orthodox Catholic systems, which were the first to deviate from what was given to the apostles, with their heretical dogma and worldliness.

HUMANISM

There has been a slow, constant degradation that has taken place in the church over the last two millennia and, in particular, over the last 100 years. What’s the reason? It’s humanism! It’s difficult for people to walk by faith, they need something to see, touch, taste, smell, or hear; people are sense oriented in today’s church. It’s much easier to go by experience than by faith. Man’s tradition always seems to be a large factor in how things in the church have evolved and the result is a departure from the Word of God. We could point to passages in the Old Testament to demonstrate this, but a classic case is in (Mt 15) where the “elders” confront Jesus about His disciples, who they accuse of not washing their hands when they eat. Jesus had some very strong words for these elders (Mt 15:3-6). It was tradition, man’s humanism that circumvented the Word of God. There is “nothing new under the sun”, it happened then and it has never stopped. Jesus said to the elders, “why do ye transgress” (go against) “the commandment of God by your tradition.” They made up a law that was not what God had spoken in His Word in order to make it easier on the flesh. That’s what tradition is all about, in most cases it’s something that man invents to circumvent God’s Word. It’s rank humanism!

WORLDLINESS

Therefore, when I compare the early church to the present day church they appear like two different entities. They are so dramatically different that one might wonder whether or not the 21^st century church can be used in a viable way for the salvation of lost souls. The portion of scripture in (Mt 7) that talks about the “broad and narrow” road is a reality in this 21^st century church, Mt 7:13-14. The present day church uses the name of Jesus and does many of the things we see in Scripture, but the spirit of this church is entirely different. It’s a “user friendly” church that not only caters to the world, but imitates the world. This is entirely opposite from what we find in the early church. A quote by Ignatius, “Christianity is not a matter of persuasive words. It is a matter of true greatness as long as it is hated by the world.” (A letter to the Romans 3.3 about 110 A.D.)

The church, by its nature, must be hated by the world. If the world doesn’t hate the church then something is wrong and it will never prevail against the gates of hell. There are other passages where Jesus said that the world hated Him Joh 7:7 and again in the gospel of John, Jesus mentions that the world will hate His disciples also Joh 15:18. Finally in 1^st John, we see the Apostle again reinforcing the theme that the world hates true Christianity. 1Jo 3:13, John is saying don’t be surprised if the world hates you. It can, however, be surprising sometimes because most of us were part of the world and now that we are following Jesus the worldly ideas aren’t part of what Jesus is about. It’s hard for the present day church to accept and walk in this truth.

There are many admonitions in the Word that says the church and the world must not mix. (1Jo 2:15-16) That’s a pretty clear Word. I’m not sure how it could be misinterpreted. If you love the world, or the things in the world the love of the Father is not in you. If the Father doesn’t love you, you can’t be a saved person. We can’t love until we are loved by the Father, according to 1Jo 4:19. True love is a manifestation of salvation. Man in his unregenerate state cannot love as the Bible speaks of love, because he is still in survival mode. It is only when he becomes regenerate that he can start to die to those selfish survival instincts and truly start to love as the Father has loved him.

James, writing to the church has even a stronger word concerning the relationship of the church and world. (Jas 4:4) Can you imagine going up to present day Christians and calling them adulterers and adulteresses because they are in friendship with the world? Well, you would be totally correct because the majority of the present day church, whether protestant or catholic, are in some kind of relationship with the world. James continues and says if you become a friend of the world you are at enmity with God. Enmity is a strong word, in fact the same Greek word is translated as hatred. There is a hatred between the Father and the world and if you start to emulate the world, showing friendship, the Father will hate you. As can be seen, the last part of the verse says that a “friend of the world is the enemy of God.” That’s right, an “enemy of God,” which is a very strong admonition. Therefore a friend of the world is put in the same class as the Devil, an enemy!

When you become a child of God the Bible says that the world doesn’t know you. (1Jo 3:1) Why? Because the world didn’t know the Lord! If you’re a child of God and your Lord is Jesus Christ, the world won’t know you because they didn’t know Him. That means that when they see a true Christian, although there is no distinguishing marks to identify this person, and you look like everyone else in the world, you will be set apart by your conduct and actions. The world will not understand you or your conduct. The world will not understand your behavior, your goals, your morals and ethics or your source of joy and happiness. In fact, the people of the world will regard you as a foolish fanatic. Why? Because you have abandoned the worldly behavior, goals, morals, ethics, joys, happiness, etc. Just as the Lord Jesus was not understood, you will not be understood either. That is not the case today with most Christians and Christian churches. The church has melded into the world, adopting their ways of behavior but with just a little “Christian” twist added. Christians today are not disciples, rather they are part of the multitude looking for meals and miracles.

The present day church fades in comparison to the apostolic church (the early church 40 – 180 AD). The main reason is that it is difficult for men to walk by faith. Man’s traditions always seem to be a large factor in how things in the church have evolved and the result is a departure from the Word of God. It’s rank humanism! The church won’t admit that it is infested with humanism, yet that is what drives and motivates its worldly ways. It is especially noticeable in the techniques they employ to save souls. They use the philosophy of “whatever it takes” – using the Greek mentality of “the end justify the means.” The present day church uses the name of Jesus and practice many of the things we see in Scripture, yet the spirit of this church is not Biblical. The present day church is a “user friendly” church that not only caters to the world, but imitates the world. There are many admonitions in the Word that warn the church not to mix with the world. James’ writing to the church has even a stronger admonition, concerning the relationship of the church and world. (Jas 4:4) There is a hatred between the Father and the world and if you start to emulate the world you are in friendship with it and the Father will hate you, therefore a friend of the world is put in the same class as the devil – an enemy!

When you become a son of God, the Bible says that the world doesn’t know you. Why? Because the world didn’t know the Lord! If you’re a child of God and your Lord is Jesus Christ, the world won’t know you because they didn’t know Him. The world will not understand you, specifically because of your Biblical morals, ethics, life style, peace, and joy.

ANTI-WORLDLINESS – LEGALISM

There is another side to the present day church that from the beginning has always been legalistic and gone to the other side of the spectrum. Paul talked about this legalism quite a bit in his writings, especially in the epistle to the Galatians. This spirit of legalism, just like the spirit of antinomianism or worldliness, is still in operation today. You’ll find groups both in the Protestant and the Catholic stream that take great measures in insuring their isolation and separation from the world. There are groups like the Amish, for example, that won’t use any of the world’s technology, electricity, automobiles, telephones, etc. There are also Roman Catholic orders that isolate themselves in monasteries and have very few of the worldly amenities. This is the other side of the spectrum and is also not in proper balance. The Bible is very clear that the true child of God is very much in this world but he is not of the world. (Joh 15:19, 17:16)

WHAT’S THE BALANCE?

It should be obvious that the Christians Jesus is referring to are actually in the world physically, but not part of the world. They don’t attach themselves to the worldly system, that is in the guise of Christianity, with its ever-changing morals and ethics. The Christian resides in the world but should not be part of the world, as evidenced by today’s “mega-church”, where entertainment is “king”. The present day church is a cloning of the world’s ways, with their liberal anti-Biblical teachings, music, singers, dancers, puppets, magic, women preachers, dress, piercing, tattoos, hair styles and excessess of all types. Unfortunately this is what we find in many of the Charismatic and Evangelical churches. What would the early church think about these “Christian entertainers” and their antics? Contrariwise, we are not to become monks in a monastery or isolate ourselves in some community that boasts of not being worldly because of their isolation and legalistic ways. We must see the balance that can only be fulfilled by walking in the Spirit and being filled with the Spirit.

The crux of this paper is to take a good hard look at today’s church and compare it to the early church, the church that immediately followed the apostles. This is the church that had people like Polycarp, Clement of Rome, Ignatius, Barnabas, Papias, Justin Martyr, Hermas, Tatian, Theophilus, Athenagoras, and Clement of Alexandria. These men, for the most part, had first hand knowledge of what the church of Jesus Christ was about from their apostolic connections. The writings of these men come down to us as the earliest documentation of the church of Jesus Christ, after the apostles went to be with the Lord. This early church represents the best of all church eras (after the apostles) that demonstrate how and what the church was all about. Remember the Apostle Paul said, “The same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” I believe this injunction was carried out intact up to 180 AD. I’m not saying the early church fathers were infallible, they were very fallible in many ways. However, this is the period of church history best to be compared because it’s the first period after the apostolic age. We can see how this early church functioned before it had time to be corrupted, and it’s a good model on how the present day church should function. What I see in today’s church is a thin veneer of what the Lord intended His Body, the church, to be. The modern church has completely changed from the early church and it’s not just the outward show but it is the Spirit of the church. The focus and motivation of the church is totally different. The high-tech church of today has all the trappings of the world, and in some cases the church is ahead of the world. The early church was focused on getting out of this world, not amalgamating itself with the world. The 21^st century church is a distortion of what the Lord intended.

REMNANT CHURCH

Hallelujah, there is good news. There has always been and always will be a remnant church that has maintained the purity of the Word. The Lord has always worked through a remnant whether it was Noah, Abraham, Joshua and Caleb, Elijah, or even some of us.

In the New Testament, the followers seem to be in large numbers until the Lord tells them about discipleship in (Joh 6). After that discourse, not many followed Jesus, Jesus asked the twelve, ”you do not want to go away also do you?” Paul, also, had many desert him and in the end there were only a few that would be with him. Christianity, as we see it in the Bible and the early church, is not the way it’s portrayed today. Their goal was not just having a “hallelujah good time”, or just “come to Jesus and all your problems will be solved”, in many cases that’s just when the problems begin for the flesh. The church today has this turned upside down. What they call the Spirit is usually the flesh. Everything is a feeling you have to “feel led”, “feel the anointing”, or “feel the presence of the Lord”. Yet even today, Praise the Lord, there is a remnant that walks in holiness and faith, a precious few who are walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lust of the flesh, and knowing how to subject the flesh to the Spirit, which is pleasing to the Lord.

Next, we’ll discuss what I call the “Sacred Cow” of the church. The Sacred Cow of the church is “Salvation.” The Church uses a “whatever it takes” mentality to get a person saved, which leads to sloppy agape, and easy believism.

THE SACRED COW

Many of us that our born-again Christians think of Salvation as an outward act of receiving the Lord by repeating the sinner’s prayer, repenting from our sins, renouncing Satan, and making Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives. Now we are saved and ready to go to heaven. Although there is nothing wrong with this scenario, it only tells a portion of the miracle of salvation. The complete story of salvation actually begins before the foundations of the earth were established and has nothing to do with man’s efforts other than being a channel to bring the “good news” in the right season. (Eph 1:4-5) When we examine the scriptures we find that salvation is ALL GOD and NOTHING OF MAN. Let’s look more closely at this.

The Doctrine of Salvation covers a large area of Biblical teaching and human experience. It talks about conversion and regeneration, which deals with the change of our inward nature and spiritual condition. Conversion is the change as viewed from the human perspective; regeneration is the change as viewed from God’s perspective. While there is human responsibility in salvation, there is FIRST a Divine side in which God sovereignly acts to secure the sinner’s salvation.

The antecedent or what precedes salvation is predestination. Of all the doctrines we find in the Christian faith, predestination is probably the least understood. When we finally start putting all the elements of salvation together, the idea that God chose “the many” to salvation before anything existed on earth goes beyond the capacity of human understanding and doesn’t seem to have any practical significance. However, when we look to the Bible, we find verses such as Eph 1:4-5, that tell us God did choose a people for Himself before there was anything on this earth, for the “good pleasure of His will.” In (Ro 8:29-30), Paul gives us a sequence of steps in the process of salvation that is all God. “…for whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.” The wordpredestination comes from the Greek word proorizo, which means to mark out beforehand and occurs six times in the New Testament (Ac 4:28; Ro 8:29-30; 1Co 2:7; Eph 1:5, 11). It is saying that God, by His sovereign choice, marked out His elect in eternity past.

Predestination includes all events, not just individual salvation. However, for our purposes, we will only deal with predestination according to the election of the children of God. The paradox of election is that it doesn’t take away man’s responsibility to act on the faith given to him by grace. (Eph 2:8-10) Man is held accountable for his choices. The Bible gives us several characteristics that show what predestination does with respect to election. It determines our status as adopted sons of God (Eph 1:5), those that are elect will be “conformed to the image of His son.” The elect will also know their calling and as Peter says, (2Pe 1:10) ”Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for it ye do these things, ye shall never fall:” Those who have been predestinated to salvation (elect) are also justified. The righteousness of Jesus Christ has been imputed to them. Salvation is truly a Miracle of God.

Predestination ultimately assures the elects’ glorification. Paul says in the very next verse, “What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Ro 8:31) It is ALL GOD! Salvation is of God! That is why, when God chooses someone to receive salvation, He has predestinated them before the foundations of the world. They are adopted sons of God, conformed to the image of His Son, called, justified and glorified; therefore they can never fall away. God doesn’t go back on His Word. God doesn’t change His mind (Mal 3:6) “For I am the LORD, I change not…” Remember the author of salvation is God and NOT man.

Therefore, the idea of “once saved always saved” is a valid statement, and herein lies a great controversy that has plagued man since the 4^th Century when the views of a British monk by the name of Pelagius brought forth a heresy that had two major tenets of error. The first was that the fall of Adam had no direct bearing on man’s ability to do that which is good and therefore man doesn’t inherit from Adam the sin nature, which is the bent to do evil continuously. The second was that grace is available equally to all persons and it consists of man’s free will to choose or apprehend God.

Pelagius was saying that man, based on his own merit, can choose God. God’s predestination is based entirely on His foreseeing goodness in the individual’s life, and knowing this He would choose that individual as a candidate for salvation. The early church father Augustine fought this heresy, which ultimately led to the condemnation and demise of the doctrine by the Council of Ephesus in 431 AD. This, however, was not the end of Pelagianism. It continued to prevail in a semi-Pelagian mode, whereby some have called it a doctrine of “synergism”, which holds that man must HELP God in His salvation. This semi-Pelagian system acknowledges that Adam’s fall caused man to inherit his sinful nature, BUT man still can make good choices.

This semi-Pelagian system is predominate in contemporary Christianity. Most of the present day Pentecostals/Charismatics, Evangelicals, and Baptists hold to some form of this free-will doctrine. The present form of most who hold that man has FREE WILL comes from the teachings of Jacob Arminius, a Dutch reformed pastor (1560-1609). The interesting twist is that most of those who hold this form of salvic belief do not realize that it was condemned as heretical. Therefore, even-though a person confesses Jesus Christ as their Lord, yet still somewhere in the deep recesses of his heart believes he is a little bit good and not DEAD IN SIN, TOTALLY SEPARATED FROM GOD, he is believing an anti-Biblical theology. The biblle states in (Eph 2:5) “Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)” This scripture says we were dead in sins dead means dead. Sin dominated our lives. Mother Theresa was known to say that other systems of religion can get one to God and heaven. If this was true of her, then she was Biblically incorrect and cannot be in Christ, even though she did many wonderful deeds. The Bible would consider her a lost humanitarian sinner. All her good works would not help her in the least to secure her salvation in Jesus Christ. This is the danger of Arminianism, or any system where man has to cooperate with God for salvation.

In many Pentecostal churches, you see the same people going forward for salvation week after week. This is because under the Arminian system of works salvation, a person feels as though they can lose their salvation and have to get resaved at every altar call. The Roman Catholic system is another works salvation system whereby your salvation is in jeopardy from week to week. A person can say they love the Lord and be a devout Christian, yet be as lost as a goat. There are many scriptures in the Bible that show this truth, but one of the clearest is (Eph 2:8-9) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Did you notice it says”not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” Man cannot do anything to help God with salvation, it is a GIFT of God.

Therefore, if you are truly saved by the gracious hand of God, we find that by its very nature the Christians’ life will reflect conduct quite different from the way in which he previously lived. We were once dead in sinstotally separated from God, but now we have a new life in Jesus Christ. (2Co 5:17) “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” In that new life in Jesus Christ, we should find some proofs of true Christianity, I’m not talking about things like visible morality, religious involvement, intellectual knowledge, an active ministry, or even a conviction of sin. These are outward evidences that neither prove nor disprove a person’s faith. A true Christian will demonstrate genuine humility, a love for God, true repentance, separation from the world, spiritual growth, continual prayer and study, selfless, and obedient living. These are the evidences that show the fruit of true Christianity. If this fruit is characterize in your life, then you can have the assurance that you’re one of God’s elect and he is preserving you as you persevere day by day.

TODAY’S CHURCH, “WHATEVER IT TAKES.”

In today’s church, salvation is treated as though it is something that man must do in order for it to be accomplished. If you were to talk to many of today’s Charismatics or Evangelicals they would say that salvation is of God. Yet, when we examine the methods and madness that takes place, we find all sorts of manipulation. In one Assemblies of God Church, they had a huge banner behind the pulpit measuring 10 feet long by four feet wide that read “WHATEVER IT TAKES.” What do you suppose was meant by that statement? It didn’t take long to find out; the pastor referred to the banner quite often in regards to salvation, sugesting that whatever had to be done to get someone saved, you better do it. The “end justify the means” theology. In most cases this is where the contemporary church is today. Why? Simply because the majority of professing Christendom is of the Arminian persuasion. You have many of these same people, that go forward each week getting re-saved, going out trying to get others saved with there schemes and methods. This ideology of “WHATEVER IT TAKES” salvation becomes a “SACRED COW.” There is nothing that is as important as SALVATION, because most of the church has taken on the burden of being the saving agent. They believe that they must facilitate all the circumstances to enhance the probability of seeing salvation manifest. Again, if asked, they would say that salvation is of God, yet the application is as if salvation is of man; thus all the programs, schemes, and manipulations. It would take faith to use just the preaching of the Word and allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work through the Word. Remember, this “works salvation” system all stems from the heretical origin of Pelagian, Semi-Pelagian, and Arminian theology, which the church originally decreed as aberrant.

Sadly, this is where the majority of today’s churches are heading. We see the church depending on humanistic and many times occult strategies. The church with the large banner saying “WHATEVER IT TAKES” had a magic show to attract more unregenerate souls to be saved. Their philosophy is “Do anything and everything to get people saved.” Their efforts are towards getting the masses saved. You better not come against SALVATION, because that is the highest good in the estimation of most of these humanistic, Arminian, and Pelagian churches. Unfortunately, it doesn’t stop with a magic show, many of these churches have miming, puppets, drama, dance, stand up comics, and “Christian” produced and directed movies. Some churches even celebrate Halloween by having people dress up as Biblical characters. This is all done with the idea of saving the lost. Is this what Jesus intended when he said, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Mt 28:19-20) How do we ”teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded…” by having magic, miming, puppets, drama, dance, comic, movies and many more of these humanistic endeavors? That’s not what the Lord prescribed. The problem is having a “works salvation” theology in the church. As long as this “works salvation” mentality prevails, we will see more and more man made schemes to get people saved. Salvation is the Sacred Cow of Christendom. This all goes back to having the wrong doctrine of salvation. Salvation is of the Lord, not of man. We don’t have to scheme, plan, or manipulate in order to get people saved. We were told to “teach all nations…teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you…” That doesn’t sound like “WHATEVER IT TAKES.”

THE PRESENT DAY GOSPEL

Lu 9 shows how we inform our worship with God’s Word, so we can worship in spirit and truth. All of God’s word is instructive and meaningful, but this passage in Luke is especially so. “And he said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me for whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it for what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world, and lose himself, or be cast away? for whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Lu 9:23-26) This is what some have called biblical gold, better yet this is a diamond of truth, clear, and brilliant. The subject is following Jesus. This text shows how to be redeemed, born again, and saved. The thing that should stand out in this text is that following Jesus involves self-denial! That is the first thing that is said in (verse 23). The gospel is a call for self-denial, it’s not a call for self-fulfillment, which puts the true gospel in direct opposition with the present Evangelical gospel.

The present day gospel is a gospel of self-help and self-fulfillment, and Jesus is a “go-for”. Just give Him your list and He will deliver. This is especially true in the charismatic segment of the evangelical movement. They say Jesus wants you happy, prosperous, and rich and if you’re not, it’s because you haven’t claimed it; or Jesus wants you well and whole and if you’re not it’s because you haven’t claimed it. Jesus wants you free from debt and if you send the televangelist enough money, you will by virtue of your seed faith, free yourself from debt. This reasoning claims that Jesus doesn’t want you to have any troubles or problems. He wants you to be happy and not suffer in any way. Surely Jesus wants you to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous, but with the right balance. “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.” Your salvation isn’t a guarantee of health, wealth, and prosperity. The Charismatics and psychological Evangelicals tell you that Jesus gives you peace, happines, joy and even helps you score more touchdowns than the other team. Jesus wants to make you feel better about yourself; He wants to elevate your self-image. It’s interesting how this trend has come into the church. All the words seem good and Biblical and you can turn to various passages and even get some proof texts, but how is it that so many end up shipwrecked lives. There is no balance, it’s just give me, give me, give me. Make me happy, it’s all about me, my, and mine…it’s about self.

The deception is teaching humanism instead of the sovereignty of God. It’s a man-centered theology instead of a God centered theology. This present day gospel is about self-worth, self-esteem, and self-respect. It’s the “feel good” gospel. In fact, I received a brochure from a local church that describes their church as a user-friendly church. It’s a church where you were entertained. They have every kind of amenity you can imagine to make you feel good. If you were to go there, the first thing you’d have to do is abandon the classic historical God centered theology and replace it with a man-centered, self-esteem philosophy. Then you make everything in the Bible work toward a way to make you feel better about yourself in order to fulfill your dreams and plans. The Bible is very clear about these self-love characteristics that we find in many places in the 21^st Century Church. 2Ti 3 says, “perilous times shall come for men shall be lovers of their own selves…” Christianity has become a get instead of a givemovement. The glory of God has been replaced by the satisfaction of man. The whole movement is convoluted and twisted. It’s no longer giving up yourself and honoring Jesus, but it’s been replaced by Jesus honoring you. As I stated, they may use scripture that seems to make their case, yet the emphasis is wrong, the motivation is wrong, and the real gospel is not longer in vogue.

There was a saint many centuries ago that got it right. This is a prayer he wrote, “lord high and holy, meek and lowly, let me learn by paradox: that the way down is the way up, that to be low is to be high, that the broken heart is the healed heart, that the contrite spirit is the rejoicing spirit, that the repenting soul is the victorious soul, to have nothing is to possess everything, that to bear the cross is to wear the crown, that to give is to receive, let me find thy light in my darkness, thy joy in my sorrow, thy grace in my sin, thy riches in my poverty, thy glory in my valley, thy life in my death.” The true gospel has to do with death. It’s not about exalting you or me, it is about slaying me, and it’s about slaying you! Jesus said if you’re going to follow Me, you must deny yourself, take up your cross everyday, and follow Me. It’s the death of yourself; winning by losing. You live by dying, and that is the core message of the gospel. That’s what discipleship is about and it’s a principle that is repeated throughout the Bible in many different contexts.

Look at Mt 10:34-36, “think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” First thing, come to Jesus and it may make your family worse, not better, it may send a rift into your life, which you here-to-fore have never experienced. When you give your life to Jesus Christ there may be an impassible gulf between the people in your family and you. verse 37 “He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Unless those people come to know Jesus, you must be willing to pay the price of a permanent rift in your family. You must be willing to pay the price of trauma, greater conflict, and greater suffering in your family, or you’re not worthy of being the Lord’s disciple. verse 38 “and he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.” For Jesus, the cross was an instrument of death. The cross was an instrument of execution and Jesus intends for it to be the same for us. The cross for us means that we may have to be willing to conflict with our family and if we are not willing, then we can’t be His disciple, if you’re not willing to have conflict with the world to the degree that it could cost you your life, you’re not worthy of me (verse 39). It’s about losing your life, it’s saying, give everything to Jesus no matter what the cost. It’s not a “me” gospel, nor is it a humanistic “godpel”, it’s a God centered gospel.

In Mr 10, Jesus is speaking to the rich young ruler about eternal life. In (verse 17) this is something the young man desires and asks the Lord how he may obtain it. Jesus, knowing what he lacks, confronts his sin and his self-righteousness, Jesus talks about the young ruler’s great wealth, which he is not about to give up. but still he wants Jesus and eternal life. Jesus said, if you want eternal life, you’re going to have to recognize your sin of self-righteousness and recognize that you’re an unworthy wretched sinner, and you have to give up all your worldly possessions if I ask that of you! The cost was too high and the young man wouldn’t do it. Jesus didn’t tell him, just come to me and all your problems will be solved and you’ll have eternal life, no he needed to realize how he violated a just God (Mr 10:21). The price is everything you have. In the case of this young ruler, money was his god, and self-righteouseness blinded his eyes. Jesus is looking for the willing heart. The man went away sad, he would rather have his property and his money than Jesus. That being the case, he was not worthy of being His disciple. If you’re not willing to be separated from your family, the world, or the material things you possess; then Jesus isn’t valuable enough to you. It’s an all or nothing proposition. You need to be desperate enough to embrace Jesus no matter what the price.

The motto for contemporary Christianity is “it’s all about you and not God.” Do you ever hear evangelist say, if you want to become a Christian, slay yourself, deny all those things you long for and hope for, be willing to die, and slavishly submit yourself to Jesus Christ. That doesn’t sell, its not smart marketing, but it just so happens to be the truth. So, what’s my point? Do you want to get someone artificially converted? That’s the popular way, give someone the illusion that they are saved, so that some day when they face Jesus they’ll say, “Lord, Lord and he’ll say depart from me, I never knew you.” You want to follow Jesus? The principle is, that’s the end of you, and when you are born again the old you dies, you don’t exist anymore. If you want to be a Christian, it’s not going to be easy. However, in today’s Christianity, you just have to pray a scripted prayer and you’ll be a Christian. Mt 7:13-14 says it all regarding easy believism. He says that the gate is narrow, it’s hard to find and it seems only a few find it. (verse 24) Why is that? I say it’s because it’s so hard to deny self. That’s the primary reality of fallen man. Man is the master of his own soul, the captain of his own ship, the king of his own fate, so to say “slay himself” is too much to swallow. The true gospel calls for absolute and total denial, the recognition that you have nothing that is worthy, nothing in you that needs to be salvaged, and you are willing to slay everything you desire, all your hopes, dreams, and ambitions for the sake of the Great Pearl. You’re coming on God’s terms and that’s not easy. It’s one thing to hear this truth, but it’s even harder to submit to it, because man wants to worship himself. That is why you must not be telling people to come to Christ and you’ll feel better about yoursel,f Jesus wants to meet your needs whatever they may be. No, Jesus doesn’t want to meet your worldly, earthly, and human needs. He wants you to be willing to say that you will abandon all the things you think you need for the sake of Him. You have to understand when you come to Jesus there is a price to pay. Do you know what the price is? It can be found in (Lu 14:26-27). The price, is high; you have to deny everthying in the worldly human realm that you hold dear to be a disciple of Jesus. (Lu 14:31-32) Jesus is saying, don’t come to me unless you have assessed the price and the price is self-denial, self-crucifixion, and total submission. Verse 33 says you have to be willing to give up everything for that relationship with Jesus Christ. You will even deny your right to live if the need arises.

This is the message of the gospel, and is what you must preach. You worry that people aren’t going to buy it! You’re right! It’ll only work when the Spirit of God goes before you and awakens their dead heart, imparting the measure of saving faith. This message, working with the Spirit of God, will produce true salvation. We must not reinvent the gospel to suit the 21^st century.

Do you want to be saved and become a disciple of Jesus? If so you have to acknowledge you are a hopless sinner in need of a Savior, repent of your sins, confess Jesus Christ as the living God, your Lord, and Savior, be willing to accept the refining trials and tribulations, perhaps in your family, your marriage, with the world, or even with the cost of your life. Submit your whole life to Jesus, doing whatever He asks. This is the true gospel, a gospel of self-denial, self-sacrifice, and total submission. If you give anything less, then it’s deception and easy believism. Just preach the true gospel and let God do the work. Amen!