God's church and His Truth

sermon by Manfred Schreyer

I preached on these verses some time ago and I would like to visit the text again. No, I will not use my previous sermon. In my studies of the Word of God, God sometimes gives me new revelations and I would like to share them with you.

I have preached before how we feel guilt within us, because the voice of God is calling on us when we are on the wrong tract. As I mentioned so often before, God’s footprint is within us . . . it is within our soul. We are able to hear it as long as we are still in some way connected with our Father in heaven.

The Pharisees asked Jesus if they were blind to God’s faith. And the answer Jesus gives is quite insightful. He states, that if you would be blind, you would not be guilty of sin"

I want to tell you why that is so important. Last week I preached on salvation. I told you by the Word of God that we can lose our salvation by our choice, just as we can gain salvation by our free choice. The question is however what do I do with the sins that I am committing after I am saved? God tells us that salvation is a process and that it is a two-way street. Once we are saved, we are to congregate with believers and we are to study the word of God . . . the will of God for us. Through our studies the will of God will become clear to us, we will be able to listen to God, we are more willing to rely on God and we are more willing to accept our purpose in this life.

Nevertheless, even if we would fully understand the will of God in the context of our generation, the next generation would understand the will of God for us even a little different. Therefore as we move forward in history we commit sin we do not know of at the moment. I mentioned to you before the examples of slavery, oppression of gender, etc.

The Lord’s prayer as spoken by our Lord refers to this as: Father Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us"

You see, to plead for forgiveness is a constant and it will never end.

So. . on the one side we have the realization of sin before us and we become changed people, we uphold the covenant of eternal life with our God and on the other hand we remain sinners, because we remain corrupt. And God knows. Remember the Pharisees? Jesus told them that if you were blind you would not be guilty of sin.

As we remain blind to many sins, we are forgiven. However, make no mistake we are to work our salvation in tremble and fear as Paul asked us to.

If anyone thinks that he/she can climb into eternal salvation, knowing God’s desire and he/or she rebels by choice against that desire, then he/or she becomes a robber.

A robber of what? Can one steal salvation from our maker? No, he or she steals salvation from those who earnestly desire it. Those who truly want to seek God and want to give their life to our Father in heaven will be under the impression by those who continue to live a corrupt life that that may be the way into heaven.

Many followed the Pharisees, because they proclaimed God by rules and it was up to them to interpret the commandments and the will of God to them. They were responsible for not finding Jesus. They robbed others of salvation, because they should have known and they knew . . .

Paul often addresses his companions to remain in the faith of Jesus Christ. We can only appeal to our Elders and Deacons to remain in faith. We can only pray for our leaders and pastors that they will not rob salvation.

The church is the foundation of our faith, it is the trustee of the Word of God and the pastor of every congregation in the USA is a shepherd called by God.

As we the church will make our voice heard in our denominations Annual Conference next week we are to be reminded of listening to our God. Do we feel any guilt? Are we feeling guilty, because some of the issues just fulfill personal satisfaction and are attached to a personal or political agenda? What are we voting on? Are we voting on the will of God for us? I remind you, there is nothing to vote on the will of God. There will be new revelations, new prophetic words which we must prayerful consider and accept, but only as long as they coexist with the scripture. Never ever shall we accept emotional statements, feelings and political correctness . . . we shall only accept for us the will of God.

I am deeply troubled how our denomination is not growing in size, how we have for a long time dismissed the opportunity to evangelize the world though scripture. I am troubled that we are not concerned. I am troubled that we are concerned about the gender correctness of our name as some want to change our denomination’s name.

Do you believe that a name change will bring anyone closer to God? Do you believe that churches will be filled if we preach political correctness?

God’s church right here has listened to God. We have felt guilty. We have repented for our sins. We have stood up for God . . . and God has blessed us in many ways. God has brought new people to us. He has delivered miracles and He has gained control over His house.

We are no longer living in total blindness. We have been willing to follow the sometimes hard way God asked us to go, members have left us, because they were unable to recognize how God works among us and God refined us in our attempt to worship Him.

In times like today, as yesterday, our understanding of things have changed, but God remains the same. We the ones living in this world make this world a terrible place to live in. Some feel guilty, some do not. Those who feel the guilt, can make a difference and change the world. But changing themselves to become God’s people more and more every day. To sacrifice, to enjoy life to the fullest, but there must be fruits of the Spirit which we have within us. People must want what we have.

If we are just people ‘like them’ we are robbers! If there is nothing they want, then we have not changed!

Indeed salvation is a process. It is not a hard road. Just be honest. Don’t fake it. Don’t change the word of God. Just follow it. Day by day and one day in a time.

You know God knows your heart. God knows if you are honest. He knows your desires, He knows everything about you. And He love s you if you are the meanest killer or the softest Mother Theresa. Can you imagine that to be loved unconditionally?

But as the two individuals who were crucified on the cross with Jesus, one acknowledged the Lord, he had no proof, no discussion, no nothing, he just believed and Jesus told him that today he would be in paradise with him. And the other denounced Jesus.

Both were provably criminals, both were loved, but one felt the guilt and the other did not.

Life is not a performance play, it is not Hollywood, it is real and you do not know the next scene in your life.