Welcome to The Journey Church. I'm Pastor Paris Pasch.

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I want to continue to talk to you in a revealing way about a few “What If…?” statements. 

We’ve covered some already.

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What if Jesus were never born? 

Would it matter to society and the world?  Catastrophically so is what we learned!

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What if I lost everything? 

Would I collapse, complain or trust that God had an eternal plan?  I choose to live content and eternally focused, willing to see things as temporary!

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The next one is a bit heavy, but worth discussing.

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What if my loved one dies before they find Jesus? 

This is often asked as if Christianity is a better option, but not essential.  It presumes there is a plan “B” escape hatch.  However the Bible tells us what the result will be for those who don’t find Christ in time.  They will be separated from God’s presence for time eternal.  Condemnation is not God’s act, but people’s.

 

John 3:16–18 (NIV) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

 

It would be a mockery to God if His word were found untrue and He was just kidding about the consequence of self-directed living.  The truth is that God sees all, knows all and we must let Him balance the books as He sees fit.  Remember from last week; God is sovereign.

 

Galatians 6:7–8 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

 

God has already revealed the answer to the whole worlds questions of how to live forever, but the Bible tells us here that there is a deceiver who lies about alternative paths.

 

How many people do you know who really want to end up in eternal damnation?  Not many.   But far too many people are hedging their bets that what we preach every Sunday is really not going to end up being true.  So we who trust God’s word, over the opinion of other human beings, will have to end up being proven wrong.  However, I’m convinced that is a poor life strategy. 

 

Many folks in our liberal, progressive, culture think Christians and God are far too restrictive, intolerant and exclusive with their faith.  They believe that their personal idea of what a loving god is, will be the real truth, not what the historically accurate anointed word of God has stated clearly.  They are hoping we are wrong and they are right.

 

So what if I’m wrong?  What if everybody is heaven bound?  Then God will not have existed and I will simply lay in the dirt composing away.  All of the hyper intelligent students of scripture will be found to be fools, outsmarted by the untested and untried experts of humanism.  The Multiple millions who have believed the Bible and found it trustworthy will all be laughed at and the individuals who believe in the self-guided life will be in the winner’s circle.  I will be found to have been a fool for being kind, forgiving and merciful to others, instead of simply sitting back and watching humanity destroy themselves. 

 

But what if I’m right?  Then those who put all their trust in a merciful, loving savior will end up in eternal peace and joy and the Christ rejecting world will be lost forever.  We will be vindicated for stating that God is the only show in town as it concerns eternity.

 

Read along with me for a few minutes an excerpt from Romans chapter one and see if you see this made crystal clear.

 

Romans 1:18–32 (NIV) The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

 

So humanity has no excuse that will suffice.  Everything you see outside proves His existence but humanity says otherwise.  Pay close attention and see if these words apply to today and all who claim mother nature is at work around us and not God almighty.

 

21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

 

Our merciful, patient, loving, God; who gave us freewill, didn’t strike us with a lightning bolt because of our sin, but did respond to our rejection.

 

26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

 

Is this vague, cryptic or confusing to anyone in the room?  Should we really be having people making a cultural argument about the eternity of those they say they love?  Should we be making laws that support the very things God says are destructive?

 

28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.

 

Did this just get written last week?  I’m sure I heard these very descriptions on the news.  Our world is making its choice, but we have the remedy.  Will we stay silent or keep salvation to ourselves?  Will we sit back and watch the world deceive and hoodwink our children with these prolific lies?  Or will we recognize that we have the solution and His name is Jesus.  We know the savior and He loves all of humanity and has done everything needed to rescue our neighbor or loved ones from this deception.  Faith is Jesus is the only way.

 

John 14:6 (NIV) Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

We must begin to take seriously that those who never choose Christ will get exactly what they sought for all their life, an eternal existence without God.  And eternity is a pretty long time.  We must stop minimizing our carefree attitude toward someone who is confused and deceived and seek for creative ways to open their eyes to the real Jesus.

 

Now we must realize that we don’t actually save anyone, only God does.  We just tell the story.  We have no proof of the status of another human soul, only God does.  We just know of the severity of not knowing Jesus as LORD.

 

This truth should not elicit fear or worry, but it should inspire us to invest in the people around us until they truly meet the Christ in us.  It should cause us to pray for those in our sphere who have yet to see the light of Christ and make sure they meet the real Jesus and not some humanistic, manmade version of god as they see fit.  We should make sure they realize He is good and merciful but also that He is holy and pure. We should make sure they understand that eternity is for the righteous in Christ not the good people.  God is as clear as a bell in regard to who He truly is.

 

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

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Next week Pastor Ben speaks to us about EVEN IF.

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      Message Questions

 

1. What did Pastor say the motive was for teaching the “What If” series?

2. What is the single thing that condemns humanity from entering eternal life in Heaven?

3. What if the Bible is wrong?

4. What if the Bible is right?

5. Is the Bible relevant to our present world?

6. What is the clear message to we who believe in this series?