Who is Jesus to You?

Matt 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' 23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' 24 "Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall." 28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

There are few things that have done greater harm to The Church down through the centuries than hypocrisy.

The impact of hypocrisy is everywhere. It causes so much damage because it goes against the will of God. In fact, if we were to define hypocrisy, we might say it is the space, (or distance,) that exists between God’s will for man, and man’s willingness to perform God’s will. Another way to describe a hypocrite might be to say he is a “fake.”

Since following God is by faith, that which is fake within The Church does great harm because our faith is in The Genuine Truth of God in Christ, and anything fake reeks in a place where faith in Truth must not only exist, but also be exemplified.

It also does so much harm because human beings are wired to spot a hypocrite from a mile away. “The church,” it is said, “is filled with hypocrites.”

That might sting a lot more if it were not true for all of life. The reality is all of life is filled with hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is MORE prevalent outside the church than it is within. But hypocrites always look elsewhere for hypocrisy rather than themselves, and so they readily see it within The Church, because The Church presents itself as an institution of sincerity.

The root cause of hypocrisy in The Church has to do with ‘Lordship,’ (which could also be attributed to a LACK of genuine faith. How ironic it is to think of living your life according to fake faith.) The question is, “Do you KNOW Jesus?”

All kinds of people believe in the literal existence of the Son of God, and that He came to earth. The Bible tells us quite frankly that Satan believes in Jesus. Obviously, believing in the literal existence of Jesus is not enough. Being ‘saved’ means making Jesus not only your Savior, but your LORD. IF He truly is your Lord, than you will do what He says, because that defines ‘Lordship.’ (There is great promised blessing in DOING what Jesus says, likened to living your life upon a strong, solid foundation.)

Jesus defines His followers as those who do what He commands. PERIOD. These are the only ones He “knows.” Merely claiming you have done whatever you have done, “in the name of Jesus,” does not impress Him at all. He hears his name on the lips of men all the time, most often as a form of profanity.

-Pastor Bill