I Can Do No Other

Matthew 7: 22, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast our devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

The typical church in America today has abandoned the Bible as the only measure of truth. We have prostituted ourselves by welcoming the world and its ways into our daily lives and into our churches. Where holiness was once emphasized, now fun and freedom is. Christians once lived lives separated from the world, but now tolerance and an anything goes attitude prevails. We once boldly stood for the unchanging truth of God’s Word but we are now afraid to tell anyone that they are wrong, no matter how wrong they are. The church needs to be awakened from her slumber and complacency and remember that she is Jesus’ bride. Her purpose lies in edifying the saints and in saving the lost. We don’t need yet another church program or some new methodology: we need the Bible. God’s Word needs to be preached from our pulpits and taught in our homes. We need preachers who aren’t afraid that they are going to “step on toes.” They must once again tell of the grievous nature of sin. We need to hear that all sin--no matter how “small” we may feel that it is--is an awful affront to God’s holiness. We have slept as the enemy has crept into our camp and now, in many churches, he has taken over.

We need a return to the teaching of the Cross. We must live daily in the shadow of the Cross. The Cross is the central fact of all of history. All of the Old Testament looks forward to it, the New Testament reveals it as fact. When Jesus came to earth as a man and died on the Cross for us, He did something for us that we could not do for ourselves: He removed the sin-stains that separated us from our God. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can now live holy before God and have heaven as our home when this life is over.

This is what life is about: God once walked on earth as a Man and died being willingly tortured to death by men that He had created and, more importantly, being crushed by His Father for the sins of mankind and He did it for us! He removed the chasm between us and a Holy God. God was the offended One and yet He reached out to the offenders through the death of His Only Son! Do you truly understand how amazing that is? That’s what our lives are to be about: to know Him, obey Him and reveal Him--through holy lives and Bible-based teaching-- to the world. We must remember that we are here to do His bidding: He is the Master, we are His slaves. Our lives, our beliefs, our actions MUST mirror His. If we are not living holy lives, then we are not living as God desires for us to live. If we are not reflecting Him to the world, then how do we know that He is truly in us? If we are not His servants and we don’t serve Him as our Master, perhaps He is not truly ours…and we are not truly His. If we are not living in holy and reverent fear of Him and seeking to be a woman as He defines womanhood--or a man as He defines manhood-- and acknowledging Him as our Lord (which He is whether we acknowledge it or not), then we have reason to question whether or not we are truly a Christian.

The church is to be a holy bride for Jesus. We must concentrate on walking as close to Jesus as is possible. We have to build our lives around our suffering, slain and risen Savior. To do otherwise is to deny Jesus. We need to return to the Bible: love it, learn it, live it. God’s Word isn’t old fashioned or irrelevant. It isn’t a buffet that we can pick and choose what we like and leave the rest. The Bible is God’s Holy Word. We must boldly proclaim it’s truths to a sin-sick world and a world-crazy church. What bride who truly loves her husband would prostitute herself with another the way the church has with the world--and yet, still loudly proclaim that she was in love with her husband? What husband would accept that?

God won’t accept it either. He has made His mind clear on this: Matthew 7: 22, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast our devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” These are not lost people who have never heard the Word or who rejected it. These are people who loudly proclaimed that they belong to God. “Lord, Lord” means emphatically declaring that He was Lord: these weren’t the shy ones--these people were out there saying, “Jesus is Lord--He is my Lord. I serve Him.” Yet, Jesus says they are lost.

Why? Matthew 25: 40-46 has the answer. In these verses, Jesus tells them that the ones who will hear this are those who didn’t live out their proclamation of faith. They loudly proclaimed, yes, but their lives didn’t measure up. They claimed Jesus as Lord but then didn’t do anything about it. It isn’t proclaiming Christ that matters nor is it doing works. It is obedience driven by love. Works are no good unless done for God’s glory. Saying you love God is useless unless you are willing to live crucified to the world.

God is all that matters. We must live lives given completely over to Him. When all is said and done, nothing else can matter to us because nothing else does matter. Jesus walked on earth as a Man and died for me. He bought the church with His blood. We must live for Him: not just saying, but doing…not just doing but not being able to do anything else. It is said that when being questioned at the Diet of Worms, Luther said, “Here I stand, I can do none other.” Can we do any less today? What else could possibly be important in the face of Jesus’ sacrifice?