“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”- Matt. 7:21-23
The title of my message yesterday was “Image Isn’t Everything”. Although some folks say they agree with that statement their life says otherwise. They have been living a lie, hiding behind a mask, for years. They are pretending to be what they’re not. It’s called hypocrisy.
Somehow they’ve got the idea that convincing others that they are a Christian makes them one, but it doesn’t. You can put that down as your religious preference on a questionnaire but that won’t get you into heaven. Salvation isn’t based on what you or others think about you. It’s what God thinks that matters most. You might minic Christians without truly being a Christian. You can be accepted into the fellowship of a church based on your profession of faith, but that doesn’t make you a member of God’s family. You can even be knowledgeable of Christ without knowing Christ. You must be born again.
Many claim to be a Christian even though the evidence says otherwise. When presented with the evidence they try to explain it away by saying something like “Nobody is perfect”, or “I asked Jesus to save me and I think he will”, or “I had an experience”. They will tell you how they walked down the aisle at church, said a prayer, had a warm feeling and left feeling better. Yet all the facts show that they do not have saving faith. They live day after day without any signs of spiritual life, and no grounds for calling themselves a Christian.
It will be a sad day when those who believe that image is everything discover that it is actually nothing. When all the religious garb is stripped away they will stand before God in the filthy rags of their sins and be condemned to hell for eternity. It takes something other than a religious experience or a good reputation to become a child of God. No amount of human effort can ever suffice. Salvation is “by grace..through faith” in the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, and there will always be some evidence of it ( 2 Cor. 5:17). So stop pretending. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved” – (Acts 16:31). – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
