Saturday, August 31, 2013

SERMON - WHO IS HEAVEN BOUND

Who Is
Heaven Bound?


All my life I have heard the many Religious Denominations as they make the claim, from the pulpits, of:

If you are not Catholic you are going to hell. If you are not Lutheran you are going to hell. If you are not Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Episcopalian and so on and on and on, you are not going to heaven.

It is a shame but I have heard laic church members echoing these claims as they almost chortle with glee as they say, “If you do not practice the same faith as I do you are doomed.”

Added to the claims of damnation are the many man-made laws of the many Denominations that claim to be laws man must live by. As example:

Chewing Tobacco, smoking and using snuff; dancing, drinking (at all), listening to rock music, watching television; wearing make-up or jewelry, reading the Sunday paper; swimming with the opposite sex, wearing short skirts allowing your ankles to be seen, eating meat on Friday; wearing perfume, and on and on will doom you to hell.

Then there are Denominations that live without modern conveniences that they believe to be Godly. There are religions that make similar claims about medicines and blood transfusions claiming such to be sinful.


For the most part each of the religions claims to be Christian but teach that those that follow Christian principles that are not of their Denomination to be doomed.

This is shameful!

God, in His infinite wisdom said:

Matthew 7: 1"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

To even think of condemning another to hell or to make the claim of their being doomed is judging them!

Then there are the non-Christian Religions and Sects that make such claims as: If you are not a Mormon and refuse to believe as I do, “you are the son (daughter) of perdition. If you are not Jewish you have no right to heaven at all! If you refuse Islam you are doomed and if given the opportunity, ‘I will kill you!’

Am I telling you anything you have not heard already?

Brothers and sisters God has made it clear just as to who is to be ‘saved’ and who is ‘dead’ thereby being subject to His judgment.

Romans 10: 9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

“Confessing with your mouth,” is clearly really saying, ‘believe it and profess it! It is by total belief that salvation is gained. To really believe in your heart is to REPENT to God and from sin. Merely voicing the words of belief does not reflect true belief as it only proves one thing, you can talk!

If you read the Book of Romans further you learn of the ‘why’ Jewish believers do not accept Christianity  Some do as they do accept Christ but for the most part, they refuse to accept Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Then there are Christian Denominations that make the claim of, “If you were not baptized in this precise manner with this exact phrase stated, you are no Christian.” Baptism is on the person being baptized heart. It does not lie in the act itself!

I find this to be as judgmental as their claims of their man-made laws that must be followed to lead to salvation.

What each of these Denominations or Religions or Sects is doing is exactly what God does not want! They are each, in their own way, making the claim of being, ‘holier then thou.’ This is both detestable as well as hateful.

There is but one judge of our souls and that is God. To think or believe that you are ‘holier than thou’ simply because you adhere to some man-made laws or belonging to a particular Denomination IS NOT living in accordance to God’s Word.

Romans 14: 4Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.

Romans 14: 10You, then, why do you judge your brother? Or why do you look down on your brother? For we will all stand before God's judgment seat.

Romans 14: 13Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in your brother's way. 14As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
  
As the Lord has said, “Who told anyone they have the right to speak for Him and tell another of their being damned? Who gave anyone the right to contradict His Word?” Is not the right to judge God’s alone?

There is no one particular Denomination or religion that has the right to claim their right to gain salvation while no others have that right! Not ONE!

Romans 14: 17For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, 18because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men.

God’s Word is the food as is what we drink. He alone knows what is in each man’s heart and He alone will be the One to grant salvation.

There are the uninformed or deniers of truth that refuse to properly identify what Christianity is all about. They choose to remain blind to the truths of God’s Word and say offensive things about us. The last thing we want, as Christians, is to set ourselves up as judges. We have the right to discern and can see both good as well as evil. We know when another is following a path that leads to destruction and have the right, in fact the duty, to tell them of the correct path BUT never the right to judge them!

In closing let me tell you of why I am Christian and why you are as well.

Denominations and man-made religions are men seeking God. The difference is Christianity is God seeking man!

I am Christian because HE FOUND ME! He found you as well. He knocked on the door of my heart and I invited Him in…He entered!

(Closing prayer)

Almighty God, Father of us all, please accept our praise and our worship of You. You alone are our God and You alone are the judge of any man.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Hallelujah...

Lord, allow us to be strong as we go about our duties of spreading Your Good News and shed the words of any that speak ill of us or our purpose of serving You. Keep us strong in faith and under Your mighty protection.

Lord, enlighten the minds and hearts of any in Your service so as to allow them to see that we are Your children and thereby their true brothers and sisters.

Heavenly Father we ask that You continue to bless our military forces, the elected officials that acknowledge You as their Father, our judges, police forces and those charged with the security of this nation. We ask that You be with us in our continued struggles of injustices to Your Way of life.

We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who is One with You and the Holy Spirit, One God, forever and ever,

Amen, amen and amen.

Pastor Lee S Gliddon Jr, DOM
God's Word Christian Ministry

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