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SCRIPTURE - Eph 2:8 - 9                                                          October, 2003

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast.

SUBJECT - THERE WILL BE NO CATHOLICS IN HEAVEN!!

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Now, hold on a minute my Catholic friends. Before you go off in a huff, thinking I am picking on you. The fact of the matter is, just as I have stated in the title. When that day arrives, talking about the day that those that are allowed in to Heaven, and if it were allowed, and God permitted us to question Him as to what qualifications He used when He made His decisions, no where will we find that a person being a Catholic, ensured them entry. In fact, that one characteristic, could be the reason that they may be in hell.

Now, to be fair, let me add this. It doesn't matter what denomination you are a part of, that will not guarantee you being in Heaven. It may very well be, that your religious affiliation, may be the reason you are going to be in hell.

Now why am I saying this??

It is because, today, many people that call themselves Christians, do so, simply because they are not a part of other false religions, and because they hold membership in a particular church, or denomination.

They could be members in good or even excellent standing. They may know the pastor or bishop personally. They may even be the pastor or bishop. They could be on the deacon board, or in the upper echelons of the church. And, meaning no disrespect, it could be that they are the pope, or even mother Theresa. It makes no difference. Their denomination, or position in the church, has nothing to do with whether they get in to Heaven. For, as the subject scripture states, 'you are saved by grace, through faith...., and not by works (meaning good deeds, or things that the bible says you should be doing), lest any one should boast.'

Now my point is this, and read carefully. Many Christians, tend to believe that their church affiliation or their good deeds, make them shoe-ins to Heaven.

They figure that depending on what church they belong to, they are already ahead of most others. Then they add on the good deeds they have done, how much money they have given to the poor, and how many times they go to church, and they know they have it made. And, it is this same attitude that will condemn them to hell. Why??

Because it completely leaves out some things that God has said in other scriptures in the bible.

The subject scripture, is the key, because it removes all consideration to things that one can do, and how well they can do it. If as many believe, works were the key to getting in to Heaven, then most of us would never come close to making it in. Why?? Because most of us are not rich. Most of us can barely help ourselves, let alone give hundreds or even millions of dollars to someone else. How could we compete with millionaires??

If position were the key, then, again, many of us would be in trouble. Unless someone in a position of authority, liked you, and appointed you to a high position, in the church, then you would be out there in the cold, wouldn't you.

If the church denomination were the key, then it is clear, most, if not all Christians would be in trouble, because who knows which one is the right one? They all say, they are the right one? It would be, pardon my expression, 'a crap shoot' where you roll the dice, and take what you get.

When it comes to these things, as you can see, there are a lot of inequities.

Not only that, but it brings about pride and contempt in those who are in these good positions, in looking down on those of us that are less fortunate.

If I were rich, and I gave lots of money to organizations that help the poor, or I gave it to the poor directly, I might get in to a position where I would want these people to honor, or worship me. And, it wouldn't be too far fetched for me to expect God, to do the same thing, to me?? Read this passage of scripture and see what I mean??

'Luke 18:10 Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.
Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.
Luke 18:12 I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Luke 18:13 And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon is breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.
Luke 18:14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

What is the message here?? It is, no matter how good you think you are, in the sight of men, or yourself, God is not impressed.

Now, that Pharisee, was the equivalent of a church leader, so replace him, with your denomination, or perhaps, pastor, bishop, or even pope, or maybe, mother Theresa, and read that passage again, as if it was one of 'them' boasting about what they were doing. Do you see the point???

No one, or no denomination has anything to brag about, and if they are relying on what they are doing, they are in for a big surprise.

So, having said that, then where do works come in??

They come in after, and only after the acceptance of Jesus Christ, as your Lord and Savior. In other words, being 'Born Again." Then, your works, become testimony of your obedience to Christ. Doing the works, without the first step of being 'Born Again', means you are in effect, doing them, to feed your own ego. The bible even addresses this. It says,

'Rom 2:14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Rom 2:15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)

When you see the word "Gentile", it is referring to one that is not 'Born Again", or 'saved.'

So, to best explain what it is that this scripture is saying, let me give you an example.

A person, let's call him Jim, is looking for a job. He happens upon a group of people standing outside a plant, at the beginning of the day shift. He sees a sign saying they are hiring. So, when the gates open, he walks in with all the others and goes in to the plant, and follows the others to an area where there are several tables, and sits down with the rest of the people.

Shortly, some supervisors come out and pick among them and take them to work stations, and put them to work.

At the end of the day, Jim's supervisor, tells him, that he has done such a great job, that he wants him to report to him every day when he comes in. So, for the next week, Jim reports to the same supervisor, and does the job he was assigned, and gets rave revues about his work.

Then comes payday.

Jim's supervisor comes up to him to give him his check, and realizes there isn't one for him in the bunch. The supervisor says he will check with payroll to see what happened to it. After much searching and investigating, they can't find one for Jim.

So, they bring him to the personnel office, and the personnel director, asks Jim, what day was he hired. And Jim gives them the date he started. After more checking, they ask Jim, what person he talked to in the office, and Jim tells them he didn't talk to anyone in that office. After answering a few more questions, it was determined that Jim, wasn't hired by anyone, but just came in the wrong entrance to the plant, with the employees. He entered the employee gate rather than the employment gate, which was at the other end of the block.

The end result is, they tell Jim, that because he wasn't hired in the first place, they don't owe him any pay. Now, they may give him something because of the work he did, but he will not be on the list of employees until he goes through the correct channels.

That is the same way it is with people that belong to a church, or do the things that God says they should be doing, yet they are not saved. The church is full of them. All denominations have people in them that think, just because they belong to the church, because their names are on the roll, that they are going to Heaven.

Because they are doing some good things, they will receive something for their efforts, but, it will only be in this life. The only way they will get in to Heaven, is if they go about it, the right way. Jesus said, 'John 10:1 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.'

What would you do, if you found someone trying to come in to your house, through the back window? Well, trying to get in to Heaven, any other way than God has set, and that is being 'born again', is the same thing.

Being 'born again' means entering in to a sort of marriage relationship with Jesus Christ. And marriage, means commitment. No marriage will stand the test of time, unless the husband and wife are totally committed to each other, and the vows they took, in the sight of God.

Well, the bible tells us that the church, those that are 'born again', are the 'True Church' and the 'Church' is the bride of Christ.

When we do things, in obedience to Christ, then we are showing our commitment to Him. If a person is not 'born again', yet they are doing the same things we are doing, they have no such commitment, and therefore, could, if they felt like it, just walk away, and think nothing about it.

Jim, could have stopped coming to that plant, any time he felt like it, and nothing would have been said. He had no 'commitment', to that plant, because he was never, truly' hired. People that work out of temporary employment agencies, can come to work if, and when, they feel like it, and nothing is said if they don't show up. They are actually, 'self employed.' By the same token, because they are in this position, they don't enjoy all of the employee benefits, that those that are employed by the employers do.

Maybe you can understand it like this. If you are not, employed by Christ (born again), then don't look for the benefits, that are designated for those that are. Notice, I didn't say, employed by a church, or denomination.

Who are you, truly 'employed' by?? Christ, or yourself???
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