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SCRIPTURE – Mat 10:37-38                                                                                                                                                                        JULY, 2020

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

SUBJECT – ARE YOU A 'CINO' [CHRISTIAN IN NAME ONLY]??

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In these days and times in which we live, there is an ongoing urgency for, as most of us could support, there to be less hatred and division in this nation and the world.

The goal is to have our lives to be in harmony with each other, for the sole purpose of bringing about a sort of 'Utopian' era, where there is only peace, and tranquility.

Gone is hatred, racism, jealousy, envy, and all of the other trappings that lead one to pursue the paths of destruction, and war!!!

Great men like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. emphasized this goal in his famous 'I Have a Dream' speech. The Rev. Jesse Jackson started a movement, in which he emphasized the idea of finding 'Common Ground', which sought to be able to find and support those things that we all, as human beings have in common, while at the same time turning from those things that divide us.

Several activist groups have sprouted up in the past few decades, that have latched on to these ideals, and have begun to implement steps to hopefully begin putting an end to those things which seem to divide us.

Now, while this may sound like a good idea, there is a danger, that most of us do not see!! Prv 14:12, 16:25 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

What it is addressing is the fact that man, in his limited knowledge, can get to a point where, using that knowledge, can come up with logical solutions to the problems he is facing, that seem to be the end-all answer. But, as time goes on, it proves to be just another case of taking one step forward, then getting knocked two steps back, where you end up worse off than where you originally started from.

This is because, since our knowledge of all things is woefully limited, then, we can't expect to find a solution to our problems, without all of the facts!!

If we go back in history, we will find example after example, where solutions that man came up with to solve his problems back then, have been proven to be archaic at best, and downright deadly at the extreme end.

I can recall sitting in the dentist chair having teeth pulled, and root canals done, and I thank God, that I wasn't living in a time before these procedures became as advanced as they are today!!

Can you imagine having to endure that type of procedure without an anesthetic?? What about surgery, or having to have a limb amputated??

These are just a few of multitudes of examples where, as time marches on, knowledge increases, and the old solutions, have very little, if any relevance to the solutions we have today.

Well, if you can understand that, then you can probably understand this message because it is based on the same premise!!

In our search to reach a Utopian existence, one of the first things that we seek to do is to eliminate those things that divide us. After all, if we are to live together in harmony, we have to grab hold of those things which unite us, while at the same time rejecting those things which divide us.

But, as I said earlier, while this is an honorable way of doing something to achieve this goal, it is going to lead you to a disaster.

And why is this?

Because we do not see the whole picture as to why things are the way that they are.

Now, when I say the whole picture, I am referring to the fact that we do not see things the way that God sees them. And as long as we come up with solutions based all our limited knowledge, it will not work!!

Since God is in control of everything, and since He knows everything, then He is the One that we need to seek for the solution to our problems. He knows what is going to happen the next minute, the next hour, tomorrow, and years from now, because He has planned it.

This then, leads to the reason that this message is entitled the way that it is.

If you will notice the subject verses, you will see something right away that is divisive.

Jesus is saying to His followers, if you love your father or mother more than me, you are not worthy of me!! He then goes on to say, if you love your children more than me, you are not worthy of me!!!

What He is saying here, is one of the most revealing things that a lot of Christians have no idea came out of the mouth of Jesus Christ.

What He is essentially saying, is if you let your love for your mother, father, or child overrule your obedience to Him, then you are showing Him that you care more for them than you do Him. And as a result, you could end up being rejected by Him, during this life, or even eternity.

What you see here, is Jesus being divisive. And it is directed, not at friends and associates, but at the immediate family members, those that are closest to you.

Now if He is going to tell you that is the way you should be toward you own family, then what do you think He has to say about your allegiance to people outside of your family?

Christians, in most cases, tend to make decisions about who and what to support, based on a consensus of what tends to unify and not divide us. And this flies in the face of what Jesus says we should be looking at.

Take a look at these statements by Him.

Mat 10:34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
Mat 10:35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
Mat 10:36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

Interestingly enough, this passage of scripture, leads in to our subject verses.

If you read them all together, you will get the message that, when it comes to seeking peace with others, you will inevitably end up compromising your obedience to Him, because He is the #1 instigator of divisiveness because He is at war with the evil that comes from man’s attempt to accomplish something that only He can.

Consequently, those Christians that buy in to the notion that compromise is called for, in order to obtain peace, with everyone else, are essentially denying what Christ is saying, and pursuing a path that will ultimately lead to their destruction.

And, as Jesus said, they are not worthy of Him!! This is where the term Christian In Name Only [CINO], comes from. Anyone can call themselves a Christian. However it is what they say, and do, that really defines what they really are.

A Christian, in a nutshell, is a follower of Jesus Christ, and as such, is committed to being obedient to Him. That means, whatever He says, we are willing to listen to and do, irrespective of what family, friends or associates tell us.

The mere fact that we are willing to take this position, is going to result with these other people calling us divisive, troublemakers, intolerant of others and their beliefs, and a whole lot more.

But, what did Jesus say about this?? He tells us to rejoice, and be of good cheer because the same things happened to the prophets of old, as well as Him!! You can’t be in any better company than that!!!

As a whole, the world is ungodly, and as such, they reject anything that God has to say.

They hold anyone in high esteem that seeks to unite us according to what they consider to be right and wrong. And of course, what they consider to be right and wrong is based on a consensus of the particular day and time in which the things are being taken in to consideration.

This is why over the past decades we have seen a shift in these parameters.

Certain activities which at one time were considered intolerable, are now accepted as being normal. While at the same time, what was once normal, has now come into question, especially as it pertains to what God says is right and wrong.

To put it quite frankly, we have gotten to a place where what ever God has to say, the world takes the opposite viewpoint. That is why in this nation, we can to legalize the killing of over 72,000,000 babies, while at the same time decrying capital punishment as being immoral.

Consequently, anyone that chooses the stand on what God says, is going to be viewed as being divisive. And as a result, they are to be rejected and ridiculed.

And the bad thing about it is that most churches are going along with this nonsense.

Churches have started ordaining homosexuals and lesbians, and by that I mean unrepentant, as pastors and Bishops, even though God calls their actions abominable. That is because these churches have accepted the idea that God made them the way that they are and they can't change.

And where did this idea come from???

From the world's gods, the psychologists, the psychiatrists, the sociologists and scientists.

Every time you hear what a true man of God says is right and wrong, the world responds with the idea that this man is denying what scientists say is right and wrong. Putting what man says above what God says. Or, to put it another way, trying to make God, nothing more than man, with all his faults. [Rom. 1:20-32]

They have even taken to re-writing the bible to make it say what they think, and passing it through those same churches.

The result is, all those that attend those churches are thinking that they are Christians for no other reason than they following what the world says a christian is supposed to be, and rejecting the divisiveness of what Jesus Christ says a Christian is!!

Those who choose to remain with those corrupted churches, can call themselves Christians all they want, but when the time comes, Jesus will tell them, Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you!! [MAT. 7:23]




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