PASTOR JOHN COLLINS: SELF-CHECK
“Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 (NKJV).
“But I will show you whom you should fear; Fear Him who,
after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!”
Luke 12:5 (NKJV).
People have lost their fear of the Lord. There has been a
watering down of the gospel and a minimizing of the consequences of sin. Fire
and brimstone preachers seem to be a thing of the past and no one wants to hear
any of the hell sermons nowadays. I must say that it is a true shame that there
has been a weakened God preached and a softened version of Jesus preached
because it has left this generation feeling that they ‘know’ God and Jesus and
too many blatant transgressors are convinced that they have nothing to fear and
are not working to change anything.
I am sure that you have heard someone say that they ‘know’
God and that their God is a loving God who would not do this or that. Maybe you
think that you know God. Let’s do a quick self-check and see. Do you know that
God really does care whether or not your heart is filled with sin and whether
your mind is filthy or not and whether you are obedient to His Son? Do you know
what Jesus wants of you and are you doing it? Have you forgiven those who have
hurt you, have you apologized for causing the hurt to others that you have, are
you greedy and selfish, angry and bitter, full of resentment and
self-righteousness, are you condescending and rude, judgmental and arrogant,
are you vain and full of pride, are you full of lust, are you a cheater or a
liar and are you willing to be honest with yourself? Who comes first in your
life? Is it you, your spouse, your kids, your parents, your friends or is it
the Lord?
If you really know God then you would obey His Son. If you
really fear God then you would make a complete effort to go forth and sin no
more. If you really know God then you would know His words and you would put
Him first in your life. Putting God first means that you choose to live a life
that is not of this world, not impressed with this world and is in service to
Him. To serve Him means that you serve others, are concerned with faith and
salvation. To serve Him is to learn to see things as He does and to learn to
value what He values and to learn to do good because that is what He wants from
you.
Life is short and it is full of ups and downs and if you
don’t get to heaven you have failed. It is your duty to yourself, first and
foremost, to learn how to make your election sure and then to those around you
to help them make their election sure. To make your election sure is to gain
entry into heaven. Remember, you have to have a complete faith and live a life
that exemplifies your loyalty and service to God in order to be permitted into
heaven because to just believe is not enough as even the demons believe and
tremble.
“I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were
already kindled!” Luke 12:49 (NKJV).
