AWAKENINGS

 

There is a movie that was made a few years ago that kind of reminds me of our own spiritual condition.  Remember the movie "Awakenings" with Robin Williams and how those with Alzheimer's had been able to communicate once they had been taking this new drug?  They seemed to be suddenly awakened.  Those born of the Spirit are like that.  Once they know they are a sinner and know their only hope is in Jesus and to put their trust in Him, they become alive and they are no longer a slave to their sin.  Also remember how after taking the drug, the people began to regress?  I also believe that is the same with some people who once knew the Lord but fell away because the pleasures of this world seem to capture them under their own choosing and surrender.  In "Awakenings", this was not the case, they did not want to regress but we do have a choice.

 

HOW MANY MORE?

 

I believe there are many in the church today who believe they are going to heaven just because they said a sinner’s prayer.   They have been taught by today's evangelism that they are being repentant and humble simply because one time in their whole life, (or maybe more if they are from the Bible Belt, like me), they mustered up the courage to walk to the front of a church to say a sinner's prayer.  According to the minister speaking, Heaven forbid, that they don't walk to the front because if they don't they are not confessing Jesus and one day Jesus won't confess them.   Confessing Jesus is when we tell others about Jesus in the face of opposition, not in the case of walking down a church aisle, giving our lives to the Lord. 

 

We have 2 schools of thought in America that I believe have led people down the wrong road.  1)We've tried to gently exhort sinners to Jesus by dancing around the law and 2)we've also tried to win souls by telling sinners they are on their way to Hell but failing to explain why.  Both schools of thought have removed one vital key, the key Jesus used, the 10 Commandments.  God spent many years laying the foundation of the law.  So why have we tried to remove it?  Look at our fruit from our labors here in America.  Both were made with good intentions, but our good intentions has caused us problems for our nation.

 

I believe that Modern American churches thought there was a shortcut (check out the "Shortcomings of the Roman Road" section) to winning souls for Jesus.   What have we done?  I believe as a nation, we also have preached too much on the judgment (Hell), with good intentions, but fail to explain how we broke God's laws and the reason for the punishment we deserve.  Well intentioned ministers preach Hell in order to scare the sinner but it only drives the sinner farther away from God.  But if the sinner is shown the law, he can see for himself how he deserves Hell – which it is how it really should be.

 

Let's heed and cling to the 10 Commandments because they are the way for us to test ourselves to see if we truly are in the faith.  Of course the law can not wash away sin, only Jesus has the power to do that, but we must first find out what needs washing before we can actually wash which is found in Matthew 15:1-12.  The law paves the way to the gate of Heaven.