Depending on where you stand in your Christian faith this message can be received as either a CURSE or a BLESSING, but my hope is, that if you DO in fact receive it as a CURSE- that you will allow JESUS to speak to you and change it into a (concerned!) WARNING. Also IF you happen to be BLESSED allready with this HIGHLY IMPORTANT spiritual TRUTH I trust that you will simply welcome this sharing of Gods anointed word.
(Just a note: As I ALWAYS DO when I actually decide to write ANYTHING regarding GOD, JESUS and BIBLICAL TRUTH , I become very aware of the fact that IF I write a LIE or anything that is MANIPULATING or changing GODS WORD - I WILL be held fully RESPONSIBLE before GOD for that, and YOU may THEN call me a LIAR and feel totally SAFE to ignore it all...
HOWEVER - IF you IGNORE IT and DENY it as being a LIE, YOU MUST be ABSOLUTELY SURE that it IS in fact a LIE, because OTHERWISE YOU will be the ONE to stand judged for REJECTING GODS TRUTH .Amen!... )
The true gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is indeed an amazing and absolutely LIFECHANGING TRUTH ... when it is FULLY PREACHED and FULLY RECEIVED THAT IS!!!.... This is a REALLY MAJOR ISSUE to discuss in THESE DAYS. Because it is VERY SADLY to say , but the FACT IS that IN a MAJORITY of modern Christian churches the gospel that is BEING PREACHED is a FALSE GOSPEL!..and the JESUS being presented to the believers there, is a very DISTORTED and SELF-MADE image of the REAL JESUS who is TRULY PRESENTED in GODS WORD! I KNOW that many who READS this will instantly say that "MY church is definetly NOT preaching a FALSE gospel because they PREACH what the BIBLE SAYS"!...And really - MOST churches DO, so THAT is really NOT the problem. The PROBLEM HOWEVER IS that in many modern churches they preach only PART OF the TRUE gospel , and so by LEAVING OUT a MOST CRUCIAL PART of the FULL gospel - it becomes a FALSE gospel!!..But the only way to FIND OUT wheither it is TRUE or FALSE, is obviously to KNOW ecxactly WHAT the BIBLE TEACHES!..Interestingly enough the Bible gives us plenty of WARNINGS about the comming of FALSE TEACHINGS in the church of Jesus Christ. These warnings are not only talking about the NATURE of these false teachings , but also about the MOTIVE BEHIND both TEACHING them AND ACCEPTING THEM as being TRUE..
Peter the apostle warned:" There will be false teachers amoung you, who will teach things that are wrong - ideas that will cause you to be LOST. And they will teach IN A WAY that will be HARD for you to see that they ARE WRONG!"(2 Peter 2:1)
So Peter is warning that the FALSE gospel will be SO CLOSE to the TRUE gospel that it will be HARD to SEE that it IS IN FACT WRONG!! ..
Paul the apostle was also very much aware of this and HIS warnings tells us a bit more about the MOTIVE behind TEACHING as well as for believers to ACCEPT a FALSE gospel...Paul warned:
"The time will come when people will NOT listen to the TRUE teaching But people will find more and more teachers who PLEASE THEM. They will find teachers who say what they WANT TO HEAR!" (2 Timothy 4:3)
So just to SUM up those two warnings we can see that there will be a FALSE gospel that will SOUND VERY MUCH like the TRUE gospel - BUT the MOTIVE for TEACHING the FALSE gospel and the REASON why people will ACCEPT IT - is because it PLEASES THEM!!! ...Meaning - it is EASILY ACCEPTABLE TO ANYONE because it does NOT CONFRONT - it does NOT JUDGE - it does NOT REQUIRE ANY CHANGES in peoples personal life or LIFESTYLE !! It is ALL about LOVE, PEACE, TOLLERANCE, FORGIVENESS, ENJOYING LIFE , HAVING FUN, BEING ENTERTAINTED, LIVING A BLESSED LIFE - ALL with ZERO JUDGEMENT because ALL have ACCEPTED JESUS as LORD and SAVIOUR and THEREFORE they are ALL SAVED and FORGIVEN OF ALL SIN!! ...Yep!.. All there...just like the Bible says! ....The PROBLEM WITH THAT though , is THAT I just described the FALSE GOSPEL!!! So IF this sound like ANY of YOUR REASONS for LOVING and BELIEVING in JESUS, you might have a PROBLEM here?....
While it is certainly VERY OBVIOUS WHY MILLIONS of people would HAPPILY ACCEPT such an AMAZING OFFER and in such an EASY and HIGHLY FLEXIBLE WAY of becomming "all RIGHT with GOD" - the TRUE GOSPEL IS however somewhat very DIFFERENT!!
Because the TRUE GOSPEL does not END with people confessing Jesus as their LORD and Saviour and thinking THAT will simply "SEAL THE DEAL"!!...Because THAT is actually just the BEGINNING of the TRUE GOSPEL - THE ONE which both PETER, PAUL and JESUS HIMSELF PREACHED!....And THAT gets VERY CLEAR when we actually begin to READ the TEACHINGS of JESUS HIMSELF and also look at the further teachings of his apostles AFTER his DEATH and ressurection .
The first HINT that JESUS actually wants MORE from HIS PEOPLE than just a CONFESSION, should be pretty clear from HIS WORDS:
"Those who will not accept THE CROSS that is GIVEN TO THEM when they FOLLOW ME are NOT WORTHY OF ME. Those who try to KEEP the LIFE that they HAVE WILL LOOSE IT. But those who GIVE UP THEIR LIFE for me will find TRUE LIFE"!(Matthew 10:38, 39)
ANOTHER hint:
"Whoever serves me MUST FOLLOW me. MY servants must be everywhere I am. My Father will give honor to anyone WHO SERVES ME!"
(John 12:25,26)..
So HERE Jesus actually talks about the NEXT STEP - AFTER you HAVE CONFESSED AND TRULY REPENTED (DECIDED TO TURN YOUR HEART AWAY from SIN) ...He says that THEN you will be GIVEN OVER TO A PERSONAL CROSS that you MUST ACCEPT before HE will DECLARE YOU WORTHY of FOLLOWING HIM!! AMEN! ... And FURTHERMORE he makes it very CLEAR that there IS a COST that COMES WITH ACCEPTING and CLAIMING HIM as LORD and SAVIOUR...
All we need to do to SEE this, is simply READ THE SAVIOURS OWN WORDS:
"If you wanted to build a building, you would FIRST sit down and DECIDE HOW MUCH IT WOULD COST. You must see IF you HAVE ENOUGH MONEY to FINISH THE JOB. If you DONT DO THAT you might BEGIN the work, but you would not be ABLE to FINISH IT. It IS THE SAME FOR EACH of YOU. You MUST LEAVE EVERYTHING YOU HAVE to FOLLOW ME. If NOT, you CANNOT BE MY FOLLOWER!" (Luke 14:28,29 , 33)
So JESUS HIMSELF is actually WARNING EVERYONE that they MUST be AWARE of there BEING a COST TO IT when you DECIDE to become HIS FOLLOWER , and each person MUST COUNT that COST - BEFORE HE or SHE proclaims HIM as THEIR LORD and SAVIOUR!
So just WHAT IS the COST of following JESUS?? ...And NOW we are getting to the WHOLE POINT of this message, because THIS IS THE REASON WHY SO MANY "CHRISTIANS" PREFER to ACCEPT THE FALSE GOSPEL ("EASY COMFORT VERSION") ... BECAUSE the TRUE GOSPEL comes with a COST ... IN GODS KINGDOM this "cost" is absolutely nothing LESS than an AMAZING BLESSING to those who ACTUALLY DO COUNT THE COST - and DECIDES that they DO WANT to GIVE UP THEIR WORLDLY LIFESTYLE and SINFULL SELF TO FOLLOW JESUS!! AMEN!... But SADLY enough the MAJORITY of THOSE who have BELIEVED and ACCEPTED the FALSE GOSPEL - ONLY ACCEPTED it BECAUSE it was QUICK , EASY and did NOT OFFEND or COMPROMISE THEIR CURRENT PERSONAL LIFE and LIFESTYLE!!... So THEREFORE they will be UNWILLING , and UNABLE to ACCEPT and PAY the COST that COMES with FOLLOWING THE TRUTH!!!...
And YES!! - THERE IS ONLY ONE TRUE GOSPEL and ONLY ONE TRUE JESUS , and HE DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE ANYONE who THINKS THEY ARE SAVED BECAUSE THEY HAVE BELIEVED IN A FALSE GOSPEL PREACHED BY A FALSE TEACHER WHOS PERSONAL GAIN WAS SIMPLY TO GAIN THE BIGGEST CHURCH POSSIBLE BY SERVING A NONCONFRONTING - ALL PLEASING - EASY PASS TO HEAVEN!! HOWEVER just because MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE IT ,and because the BIGGEST CHURCHES PREACH IT - DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING ELSE THAN THEY HAVE THE MOST PEOPLE SEEKING THE EASY WAY OUT!! AMEN! But REALITY IS that you CANNOT NEGOCIATE GODS TRUTH!
JESUS HIMSELF GIVES THE FINAL EVIDENCE WITH HIS OWN WORDS:
"Jesus was teaching in every town and village as he continued to travel to Jerusalem. Someone said to him: Lord, how many people will be saved? Only a few? Jesus said: The door to heaven is narrow. Try hard to enter it. Many people will want to enter there, but they will not be able to go in. If a man locks his the door of his house, you can stand outside and knock on the door, but he wont open it. You can say: Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I dont know you. Where did you come from? Then you will say: We ate and drank with you. you taught in the streets of our town. Then he will say to you: I dont know you. Where did you come from?. Get away from me! You are all people who do wrong!"
Amen!
Now it is YOUR CHOICE wheither YOU will DENY the TRUE GOSPEL and prefer a LIE - OR if you actually believe it?
Amen Brother, satan isn't content to merely fight God outside the Church, but in it as well. We all need to open our eyes to the spiritual battle we are in (Ep 4:12). The enemy is out to destroy us in any way he can and if he can pervert the Gospel, all the better.
Look at false teachers like Joel Olsteen even having the chance to boldly proclaim Jesus (Ro 1:16) as the only way on national TV, but copping out with "It's up to God". Wicked!
Be blessed Bro, and may Jesus increase in you daily as you increase in Him.
