Contrary to
popular belief God is real
sermon by
Manfred Schreyer
2 Sam 22:17 "He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me
out of deep waters. :18 He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes,
who were too strong for me. :19 They confronted me in the day of my
disaster, but the LORD was my support. :20 He brought me out into a spacious
place; he rescued me because he delighted in me. :21 "The LORD has dealt
with me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my
hands he has rewarded me. :22 For I have kept the ways of the LORD; I have
not done evil by turning from my God. :23 All his laws are before me; I have
not turned away from his decrees. :24 I have been blameless before him and
have kept myself from sin. :25 The LORD has rewarded me according to my
righteousness, according to my cleanness in his sight. :26 "To the faithful
you show yourself faithful, to the blameless you show yourself blameless,
:27 to the pure you show yourself pure, but to the crooked you show yourself
shrewd. :28 You save the humble, but your eyes are on the haughty to bring
them low. :29 You are my lamp, O LORD; the LORD turns my darkness into
light.
Religion is an amazing phenomenon. Religion has always been in existence
as long as human kind existed. We are the only living being on earth that is
able to reflect upon oneself and the world around.
It does not matter how intelligent you are or where you live or what your
upbringing was like . . . at some point you will reflect upon your actions
and your life with others.
This event happens at different stages in life. Maybe a significant
incident happened, maybe a challenge of life was in our way, maybe a thought
of others crossed our path in life.
David says in the verses which were read, that God took reached down from
on high. Well, that is really what happens after we are able to make a
conclusion of who we are and who we should submit to.
As you well know, I truly believe that our life is governed by the choices
we make . . . for ourselves and for others. And as that is the case we walk
on our path as humankind very interwoven . . .similarly as in a tribe. We as
individuals cannot escape the actions other lay upon our life and other
cannot escape the actions we as individuals place in others life.
The guidance of our choices for many is brought forth not so much by our
experiences, but by our desires. I.e., we have enough experiences to know
that war kills innocent people, we know that hunger kills millions of
people, we know that killing is wrong but we have the death penalty, we know
that a human life is to be treasured as such but we kill innocent unborn, we
know that medical care can save lives, but not everyone has it available . .
. and all of these choices are made by us who want to follow our desires and
motives, because we may have a personal gain or it simply does not touch us
on a personal level.
But when it does, most people cry for justice and check where it can be
found. In fact people try to identify the gravitation point of Gods will.
You see justice as any other righteous act is to be eliminated.
Life as we live it and as we treat it is merely about taking a hold of a
plumb line and pulling it toward us, so that we may not have to follow the
will of God.
And we have the choice. But we cannot hold the plumb line in the direction
WE want forever. We will at some point let go of the pendulum, because
others are stronger, or we grew weak, or we forgot we hold it, etc.
And just as we let go plumb line, it will swing in the opposite direction
and all things are now against us and we begin to live in pity and recognize
the conditions we are in. . . . not that we have created . . . that thought
is still miles and miles away.
David says that the Lord has awarded him according to his righteousness.
Let me assure that God did not take David personally by the hand and guided
him to be the king of Israel. David did not kill Goliath because God guided
the stone in his sling, God did not hold David back when he had a chance to
kill Saul . . . (Saul wanted to kill David) . . . all of the actions David
took were initiated by David . . . by his free will, by the choice of
looking toward the pendulum and to know that the gravity of Gods will is
the righteousness that will prevail.
David says that to the faithful you show yourself faithful. . . .. Yes
indeed, when we find the will of God for us in life, when we have discovered
the gravity point, then everything is measured upon this one single point.
Every angle, every line, every thought, every action, every mimic,
everything is guided by this one little dot of gravity that is irrevocable
the center Gods created good life for us.
But we have to find it. Remember as I said that religion is an amazing
phenomenon? It is. Religion tries to create a gravity point for us. Religion
creates new lies for us. Religion holds us hostage and binds often the
desires of people in a terrible way.
When I give my seminars I often pass out cards and ask the people to write
down the one question they were always afraid to ask their pastor or their
friends. And the one question that comes more then any other is this: Will
I still go to heaven if I have deliberately sin?
In other words, when I have given my life to Christ, when I professed the
Christ and I sin, even though I know I sin . . . will I go to heaven or
hell.
And I wait for four days to answer the question. Religion is an amazing
thing. Some churches lead us to believe that once saved always saved.
Meaning even when we have sinned knowingly we are forgiven.
Really what these churches are telling their congregations is that it is
OK to sin occasionally because you are forgiven.
It does not matter where you hold the plumb line . . . the will of God
does not matter in our life . . . is that really true?
How would it be possible to knowingly sin when we are saved? When we have
truly become to understand who the Christ is, why the will of God is so
important, . . . The fact is that it is not possible. When you are saved,
you are not able to sin knowingly!
Does it shock you? DO you believe that you will go to hell? What crosses
your mind right now? Do you think that I misinterpret the scripture? Do you
believe I am making this part of the theology up? When would you believe it?
I believe that those who sin knowingly have never been saved!
Heb 6:4 It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have
tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, Heb 6:5 who
have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming
age, Heb 6:6 if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to
their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting
him to public disgrace. Heb 6:7 Land that drinks in the rain often falling
on it and that produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed
receives the blessing of God. Heb 6:8 But land that produces thorns and
thistles is worthless and is in danger of being cursed. In the end it will
be burned.
If I would be wrong in my assumption, do you not believe that historians
(and we all know that history is written by the winners . . . and certainly
Christianity was a minority) would have told about the followers of Christ
such as Paul, the apostles, etc. and wrote about their blatant sins they
committed? Dont you think they would have identified the shortcomings of
the people who lived in Christ?
Well, you may say: But the Gospel tells us that no one is righteous and we
all fall short of the glory of God.
You are right. We are all sinners in our own being. We live a sinful life
from the day we were born. When there are two two-year-olds in the crib and
there is one toy, the sinful behavior of non-compassion is there, the
territorial desires are there, there is no mercy . . . none of these things
have to be taught . . . they are there from the day we are born. The plumb
line is already swinging . . . and we continue to sin.
Nevertheless, the difference is this . . . that we cannot deliberately
sin. We cannot stand before God and mock God and His will for us!
We are forgiven by acknowledging the sins we have committed and we ask the
daily forgiveness for the sins we are unable to recognize . . . just as we
remain the babies in the crib. Yet as we grow and are able to self reflect
on us and others, we have to be followers.
More Sermons by Pastor Manfred Schreyer >>
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