the basic message #E242
1/28/04
Do you ever wonder if you're on the right team? You're probably a Christian if you're reading this, and if so, you're on the Christian team. Perhaps you're Jewish, and you're surfing the net and saw something here of interest- you're on the Jewish team. No matter which team you're on, it's usually a pretty safe bet that your team thinks they're the only game in town. I'm a Christian, so to be true to my team I must believe that the only people who will inhabit Heaven will be Christians. I struggle with that sometimes, but I see no exceptions in the Bible that would allow me to think otherwise. This situation is the stumbling block that many have in becoming a Christian and remaining one. For us parents, it's very difficult to consider that our children might not be Christians, and therefore we also have to consider that they won't be in Heaven with us some day. That's a tough one.
I've never quite understood why a person who worships God can't go to Heaven unless he's a Christian. John 6:44 tells us that Jesus said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day." That would certainly indicate that Jesus is in charge of who enters Heaven, but is it remotely possible that non-Christians can also enter Heaven? From an early age, we're taught that we must accept Jesus as our Savior, but don't plenty of people accept Jesus as Savior, yet continue to live in voluntary sin? If a Jew does his best to please God and to live a Godly life, wouldn't he be closer to God than a "professing" Christian that lives like the Devil?
Even Christians sometimes get beat-up by the Christian community. Jimmy Swaggart made news some years ago by stating that the Catholics were lost and they needed salvation. I heard a preacher say in a sermon last week that Mormons aren't Christians. Gee, it seems like any denomination that is named Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints must believe in Jesus Christ, yet many folks consider the LDS people to be hopelessly lost. That seems arrogant to me. Another group that gets run over is the Jehovah's Witnesses. I fully realize that the Witnesses have some unusual beliefs, but some other denominations do too.
What does God want from his church? Does God simply want us to say, "I accept Jesus as my personal Savior", or does God want us to be the people he expects us to be? I know I can never be good enough for God, and that I need someone to make up the difference I can't achieve. That someone is Jesus Christ. If the Jews are still honestly waiting on their Messiah, should I fault them? You and I know that most Jews are pretty smart people, so it's not like they're ignorantly waiting on someone, rather they are quite knowledgeable about the Scriptures. If their Bible is the first 5 books of the Old Testament, then they operate under a different rule system, right?
Please understand that I'm not trying to confuse or anger anyone with my thoughts about the "team", but I do believe all people must consider what others believe about God and Heaven. The Jehovah's Witnesses don't think there is a Hell. They think you just simply cease to exist when you die. Can we prove them wrong beyond a shadow of a doubt? We can name-call and belittle other people who have differing beliefs, but is that what God wants? Just what does God want? If we turn the clock back to the Garden of Eden, we will find in Scripture that God simply wanted Adam and Eve to be obedient. They both had work assigned to them, but overall, they had a perfect existence. They were tempted by Satan, and ultimately disobeyed God. The level of disobedience only increased with the subsequent generations, with the first murder in history taking place between Adam and Eve's children, Cain and Abel. Over the last 6000 years, we've simply taken our disobedience to new levels, but I maintain that what God wants is for us to obey him. The Scriptures confirm that, but the "I'm okay, you're okay" message coming out of most pulpits these days takes all responsibility off of the sinner and puts it conveniently on the back of Jesus Christ. That's not right, friends, and there is nowhere in Scripture that supports this erroneous belief. Jesus came to earth to pay the debt for sins we have no control over, not to pay for the sins that we're just too lazy or too irresponsible to overcome.
So before you look down on a group like the Jehovah's Witnesses and scoff at their ways, look at the individual lives of the people within that church. Some of the finest, most hard-working and family oriented people I've known were Jehovah's Witnesses. How am I able to say they aren't Christians? They're doing more towards fulfilling God's desires for us than I do. Go figure.