If you saw my last message titled “Following and Supporting a False Teacher, is a sign of your own pending destruction in Hell”, you would have noticed that I said if you find yourself sitting in a church, following and supporting a church whose pastors promises you success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, and it is these very promises that attracted you to this church or this pastor, then this might be the sign to you that you are on your way to destruction in hell fire as that pastor you are following, might be a strong delusion sent by God so that you may beleive what is false and be condemned because, you have rejected the true word of God and ran after short lived earthly pleasures.
Now, one may ask a question, If you say it is not about success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, then what value is there in having faith in Jesus? This is a good question and I will allow Paul to answer it. Just so we know were we are, Paul is writing to the Phillipians and in chapter 2:2-9, Paul is telling them to look out for those Jewish people who went around telling the Phillipians Gentile Christians that they needed to comply with Jewish traditions and laws to be saved. Paul tells them that if they think that Jewish traditions and laws save, then he could therefore have been saved even better than them. Paul,gives reasons for these but we will not talk about that. Paul then said to them that because he knows that Jewish traditions and laws cannot save, he counted them as loss and not gain. In other words, he counted righteousness by the law and traditions of the Jews as loss.
Paul then gives five reasons why he saw value in Jesus Christ compared to being a Jew who thinks he can obtain righteousness through the law and traditions. Lets look at them.
Philippians 3:8-11 (ESV Strong’s Bible)
” 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ
The first benefit that Paul outlines is the surpassing or the incomparable or outstanding worth of knowing Jesus Christ. Paul says He has suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order to gain Jesus. Paul says, I was the best Jew you can get, but I lost all that in order to gain Jesus. Paul calls everything he lost to gain Jesus as rubbish. This word rubbish in greek also means garbage or dung or something that is thrown to dogs. This is a serious statement because what Paul means is that righteousness by law is rubbish, dung. Anyway, Paul is saying the first value of having faith in Jesus is that, you get to know him or have a relationship with him.
9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—
Secondly, Paul says that the benefit is that you don’t get to boast about righteousness through the law but you get true righteousness that is from God through Jesus, and that depends of faith and not works of the law.
10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
Thirdly, the other benefit is to experience the power, the same power that resurrected him. Fourthly, to share in his sufferings. It is very important to note that, it is actually a benefit to suffer, contrary to the success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, that you are promised, you actually benefit from suffering.This alone should show you that anyone who promises you success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, cannot be telling the truth.
11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”
Lastly, Paul says that the benefit is that you will be resurrected from the dead to everlasting life.
So, in summary, instead of success, deliverance, breakthroughs, health, promotions, marriage, winning court cases, etc, what you get from having faith in Jesus is:
1. The privilege of knowing Jesus Christ
2. Obtain righteousness directly from God through Jesus
3. Experience the power of Jesus’s resurrection
4. Share in Jesus’s sufferings
5. Resurrection from the dead to eternal life.
WHY DO MEN REJECT CHRISTIANITY? BY STEVE FINNELL
Why do people not believe that Christianity comes from God? Why do many who are raised in the church leave the faith?
Why do many reject the terms for pardon under the New Covenant?
Some believe the reason men reject the truth of Jesus and the facts of Bible is that church leaders have not proved that the Bible is true. They contend that if only church leaders would use the historical works found outside of Scripture, then men would believe the truth of Christianity.
WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
Hebrews 11:1-3 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2 For by it the elders obtained a good testimony. 3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. (NKJV)
Faith cannot be proven by studying extra-Biblical historical records about God, the Bible, and Christianity. Faith proven is not faith.
Romans 1:16-17 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, the just shall live by faith." (NKJV)
The gospel of Christ is the power to salvation. Extra-Biblical historical writings to not prove the gospel is true. You cannot prove faith.
1 Corinthians 1:18-21 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…….21 it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. (NKJV)
God saves men through preaching the gospel. God did not use extra-Biblical historical writings to prove that the gospel was true.
Mark 16:15-16 And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 "He who believes and is baptized will be saved…(NKJV)
Jesus did not tell the disciples to gather evidence outside of Scripture to prove that the gospel was true and then convince people of the gospel truth.
Do people reject the truth of God, Christianity, and the Bible because church leaders fail to convince them by using the apologetics of extra-Biblical sources? No, they do not. You cannot prove faith nor force anyone to have faith.
If men reject Jesus it is because they have not heard the gospel preached.
If believers leave the church it could be because of lack of Biblical preaching. Not the lack of extra-Biblical evidence.
If men reject Jesus, God, and the truth found in Scripture it could be because they are not honestly seeking God.
THE TRUTH IS OFFENSIVE TO THOSE WHO DO HAVE FAITH IN JESUS.
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