Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Have you ever had a parent promise to take you bowling on the weekend, as long as you have a good week at school? Have you ever had a farmer promise to pay you at the end of the week, as long as you come each day and pick rocks out of his field?
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
These are Earthly examples of how we must live our lives towards God. In the scriptures, we are given the promise of eternal life, but it is an eternal reward that will be granted to those who did the will of God from the heart.
“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” Hebrews 4:1
We are in the New Covenant, and a covenant is defined as a binding agreement between two parties. We are given a pledge and a divine promise from God that He will save us, but in order to obtain that promise, we have to depart from iniquity and become obedient to the will of God. God is not going to save the wicked, it doesn’t matter if they call themselves a Christian or not. This is why the message of repentance has been preached for thousands of years, because without repentance people will be cast away from His presence forever.
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” 2 Peter 1:4
We are given promises that God will receive us into paradise, but in order to obtain that promise we need to prepare ourselves right now and rid ourselves of sinful living.
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” 2 Timothy 2:19
Haven’t you ever had a dad promise to take you on a fishing trip, just long as you got all of your chores done? If you didn’t get them done, then you really didn’t keep up your end of the bargain. Remember that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, but those who refuse to repent and submit to the will of God will be punished forever for their neglect and rebellion.
Matthew 7 ²¹ 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.
²² 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? ²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The Apostle Paul talked about the Christian life as a race, but like any race, you have to keep running until you finally cross the finish line. Only then can you finally receive the prize of Eternal Life. When you run, you must also stay on the designated course, because if you wander off you will be disqualified. There is a prize that has been promised to us when we cross the finish line, but we must abide in the teachings of the faith, otherwise people will come up short.
1 Corinthians 9 ²⁴ Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. ²⁵ And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.
Think about all of the numerous athletes in this world, who are trying very hard to be the best at what they do. This is so they can win some type of prize, or even a gold medal for their efforts. This is the same type of attitude that we must have in regards to our own salvation. They seek after an earthly reward, while we seek after one that will never fade away. Like trying to win a marathon, we must strive to enter into eternal life.
Luke 13 ²³ Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved? And he said unto them, ²⁴ Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.
²⁵ When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:
²⁶ Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou hast taught in our streets.
²⁷ But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.
Strive means to devote serious energy or effort to something. Many forms of false Christianity actually believe that they are saved already, and there is no further action that they must take, but as I have said many times before, when you are submerged in the waters of baptism, that is only the first step of the Christian life. The rest of our days we must repent from dead works, transform from sinners into Saints, convert from lies to the truth, and do the will of God from the heart. We must no longer be children, but move on unto maturity. These things must happen if we truly desire to enter eternal life, because these activities are the proof that we truly love Jesus with a pure heart.
“If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha.” 1 Corinthians 16:22
So on one side, God gives us a promise to save us, but on our end, we must undergo a complete transformation, turning from darkness to light and mortifying the sinful deeds of the flesh.
Romans 8 ¹² Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. ¹³ For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Today, In many places that claim to carry the cross of Christ, they have completely forgotten about repentance and submission to God’s will. It is an extremely wicked time that we are passing through, and each day only brings us one day closer to the judgment,
1 Corinthians 15 ¹ Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; ² By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
Jesus met us halfway, and we must meet Him the other half, by turning from darkness, and walking in His light. You never want to come up short of the promise that He has given, as your own salvation will depend on keeping up…..
…..Your End of the Bargain
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.❤️
Teufer Lake King James Bible Church 