Cultural Christians

Cultural Christians

Mark 8:34 (LEB)

And summoning the crowd together with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

Last week we focused on “Deny Self” today we will focus on what Jesus meant when he said “Follow Me”

2 Chronicles 7:14 (LEB)

then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and will pray and will seek my face and will turn from their evil ways, then I myself shall hear from the heavens and will forgive their sins and heal their land.

Gives us a clue to what Jesus was talking about. (turn from their wicked ways)

Repentance= is the act whereby one turns from his or her sin, idolatry, and creaturely rebellion and turns to God in faith.

Once we understand that we must first deny self the next step on our way to God is to repent of our ways and turn away from them and turn back to God.

There are 2 stories in the Bible that have 2 different outcomes when it comes to repentance.

Luke 19:1–10 LEB

And he entered and traveled through Jericho. And there was a man named Zacchaeus, and he was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. And he was seeking to see Jesus—who he was—and he was not able to as a result of the crowd, because he was short in stature. And he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree so that he could see him, because he was going to go through that way. And when he came to the place, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down quickly, because it is necessary for me to stay at your house today!” And he came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully. And when they saw it, they all began to complain, saying, “He has gone in to find lodging with a man who is a sinner!” And Zacchaeus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, half of my possessions, Lord, I am giving to the poor, and if I have extorted anything from anyone, I am paying it back four times as much!” And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he too is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save those who are lost.”

Zacchaeus (Ζακχαῖος, Zakchaios).

A short, wealthy tax collector who hosts Jesus.

Name derived from the Hebrew word זַכַּי‎ (zakkay), meaning “pure” or “innocent.”

After Jesus visits his house, he offers to give half of all he has to the poor and repay anyone he has cheated.

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

The story of Zacchaeus the tax collector only appears in one passage—Luke 19:1–10.

Tax collectors in the Roman Empire had to collect a certain amount for the maintenance of the state.

However, they were also permitted to collect more and then keep the proceeds.

Tax collectors were hated for their tendency to abuse their power for their own gain.

Zacchaeus’ Repentance

In his encounter with Jesus,

Zacchaeus repented of his past abuses.

A model of repentance.

Zacchaeus repented of his wealth

When Jesus sought to dine with Zacchaeus,

the crowd reacted negatively, indicating Zacchaeus’ isolation from the community

His restoration is implied in his willingness to serve others.

Zacchaeus consequently becomes a model of both repentance and reception of the teachings and grace of Jesus.

Mark 6:14–29 LEB

And King Herod heard it, because his name had become known. And they were saying, “John, the one who baptizes, has been raised from the dead, and because of this these miraculous powers are at work in him.” But others were saying, “He is Elijah,” and others were saying, “He is a prophet like one of the prophets.” But when Herod heard it, he said, “John whom I beheaded—this one has been raised!” For Herod himself had sent and arrested John and bound him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, because he had married her. For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not permitted for you to have your brother’s wife.” So Herodias held a grudge against him and was wanting to kill him, and was not able to do so. For Herod was afraid of John, because he knew him to be a righteous and holy man and protected him. And when he listened to him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he listened to him gladly. And a suitable day came when Herod, on his birthday, gave a banquet for his courtiers and military tribunes and the most prominent men of Galilee. And when the daughter of Herodias herself came in and danced and pleased Herod and his dinner guests, the king said to the girl, “Ask me for whatever you want, and I will give it to you.” And he swore to her, “Anything whatever you ask me for I will give you, up to half my kingdom!” And she went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” And she said, “The head of John the baptizer.” And she came in immediately with haste to the king and asked, saying, “I want you to give me the head of John the Baptist on a platter immediately.” And although he was deeply grieved, the king, because of his oaths and dinner guests, did not want to refuse her. And immediately the king sent an executioner and ordered him to bring his head. And he went and beheaded him in the prison. And he brought his head on a platter and gave it to the girl, and the girl gave it to her mother. And when his disciples heard this, they came and took away his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

Herod Antipas

( Son of Herod the Great and Malthace. The same Herod that tried to kill Jesus as a baby.

Antipas’ first wife was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia.

During a trip to Rome, Antipas lodged with his brother, Herod, and fell in love with Herodias, his half brother’s wife, and his niece.

They both divorced their spouses and married each other. 

Herod Antipas in the New Testament

Antipas appears in the New Testament—his rule coincided with the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus.

The gospel writers refer to Antipas only as “Herod”

Death of John the Baptist

Antipas was involved in the death of John the Baptist

When John rebuked Antipas for marrying Herodias, Antipas imprisoned him.

Did not kill him because he Feared John the Baptist because he was a holy man

Herodias daughter Salome dances for Herod Antipas

was so pleased that he offered to give her anything she desired.

Her request—at her mother’s prompting—was John’s head on a platter

Hardened his heart and rejected repentance

Gave in to Salome wish and had John Beheaded

  Fall from Power

As a result, diplomacy between Aretas and Antipas broke down

Because Antipas left his wife Nabataean the daugter of Aretas for Herodias.

Both leaders raised armies and in the ensuing war, Aretas’ army defeated Antipas’ forces.

According to Josephus, Antipas lost this war because he had executed John the Baptist

2 stories about repentance

1 ends with salvation

1 ends with rejection

Today our society has said we don’t need to repent of our ways all we have to do is tag Christian to our name and we are good.

We figure if we go to church get saved say a prayer, sing a song, once a week then go back to our everyday sinful lives we will get into Heaven because we carry title Christian. This is wrong

CHRISTIAN One who worships Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and Son of the God of Israel.

Origin

The word “Christian” (Χριστιανός, Christianos) is a Latinized adjectival derivation of “Christ” (Χριστός, Christos), denoting intimate relation to Jesus.

The earliest usage of the term “Christian” to denote a follower of Jesus appears in the New Testament in reference to Jews who accepted Jesus of Nazareth as God’s Messiah.

The term appears three times in the Bible

Christian Life--Purpose, guidelines, and expectations that Christians should aim to live in their day-to-day life, in the light of the way Jesus teaches us to live.

How do we do this

Reject world ways

Repent and be baptised

Turn away from sin

Devote entire self, family, needs to Christ

Can you be a Christian and:

Cheat on your taxes

Embrace sex outside of marriage

Embrace homosexual lifestyle

Commit Adultery, Idolatry, and other desires of the flesh

The answer i can only say is “I don’t know but I know you cant follow Jesus”

Sin doesn't follow Christ and if you are constantly chasing sin then you are not a Christian.

The world has taught our youth that you can do what you want, be who you want, live how you want and Jesus will accept it no matter what.

The problem with this is Jesus does not accept it because the lifestyle the world is pitching to our youth today is full of sin and goes against everything Jesus preached about.

Even church leaders have told the congregation its ok if you continue to cheat, lie, steal as long as you ask for forgiveness your good.  

This is not true forgiveness, just like this was not a true salvation or a true repentance. God can not forgive you until you have true repentance in your heart.

There is only one way to be a Christian -- Christ Follower-- Deny Self and Follow Him

Only one way this happens

Repent

Turn from our sinful ways

Change our hearts

Change our lives

Change our thoughts

Zacchaeus was a story of what true repentance looks like. Jesus even said “Today salvation has come to this house” meaning it was a true salvation.

What Jesus did not say was “You don’t have to do that Zacchaeus we will just call you a Christian tax collector, you don’t have to give to the poor, just keep your money.

No Jesus knew true repentance required a change of heart and that is what happened to Zacchaeus.

Today instead of dealing with problems in our society, culture and even church’s we embrace them and compromise our moral standards and beliefs. Here are just a few that you will recognize:

Teaching youth to live together before marriage is best policy

Teaching children its ok to change your gender

Treating our parents like they are garbage and they owe us everything

Saying Pornography is ok as long as you don’t commit the act

Embracing alternative lifestyles, (LGTBQ+)

Embracing Gossip and spreading lies about others

By spending more time worshiping sports or other activities that take the place of God on Sundays

By letting the world raise our children through YouTube, TikTok, Facebook and other social media outlets that spread lies about God

Then when our kids act out we blame it on society and video games and tv but never ourselves.

I have even seen a parent blame it on God.

This is what happens when a Country rejects Gods Word and rejects Repentance.

If we want 2 Chronicles 7:14 to come to America we have to start by repenting and changing our lives first

Sodom was so wicked God scorched the earth it stood on

Nineveh was so wicked but they headed the warning and repented and God spared their land

Today we have False Repentance with a Fake Jesus running the church’s.

They will tell you Jesus will accept your life and you don’t have to change a thing

We have to remember one key thing.

God cant look upon sin. Only way God can look upon us in through the blood of Jesus and the only way that we can be covered by the blood is to have true repentance in our hearts.

Today if you are comfortable in your lifestyle that you know is not pleasing to God and you call your self a Christian the I am here to tell you that you might want to recheck that salvation your claiming to have because there is a very good chance if you died today you would end up in Hell.

This happens when we think we are saved instead of knowing it in our hearts and changing our lives for Christ not the world.

Christian life - not easy - constantly in prayer - striving daily to be more like Jesus - either in a storm or coming out of a storm - has love for the lost - has peace in the midst of the storm - not afraid of death - on fire for Jesus.

Christian is not a title you slap in front of your name

It is a 24/7 365 days a year lifestyle that demands we deny self and follow Jesus.

Where are you in your walk with Jesus today?

Are you truly a Christian or are you just using it as a cover to make yourself look better to others.