Knowing the Way Part 3
Knowing the Way • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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How Will They Know The Way
How Will They Know The Way
For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Prior to this the Apostle Paul speaks of making a profession of faith not only with your with the lips but also with the your heart. Here in these verses he speaks of those who “call” upon “the name” of the Lord. The Greek word here is καλέω (kaleo). The Hebrew equivalent would be קָרָא (qara) meaning to cry out aloud, to proclaim and to be named. The Apostle Paul is stating that those who call unto the Lord and take His name will be saved. To take His name is to walk (halak הָלַךְ live your entire life His way) in His covenant assimilating the nature of Him into all of who you are.
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
This is amazing news to the one who comes to Christ and surrenders wholly to the life of Christ. But to the one who professes but does not believe, it is a fearful way to walk. But Paul ask, “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent?”
There are so many who do not believe. There are many who have not heard. But there are also so many who have heard a gospel but not “the Gospel”. And just any gospel won’t do. Let me explain with the words of the Apostle Paul to a young pastor named Timothy.
Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared,
A.W. Tozer proposes, “How great is the power of interpretation.” Regardless of how one interprets Scripture to suite himself, God still demands that each of us must make a choice as to whose side we are on. That choice is made, not with the lips but with the life lived.
“ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”
So many people want the Lord to choose whether He is on their side or not. But it doesn't work that way. The Lord is asking us whose side we are on. Are we on our own side, cultures side, some man’s interpretations side or are we truly on the side of Christ?
It remains a solid Biblical fact that spiritual forces have been and remain in a constant state of warfare in this world over the souls of men. And that war begins with the enemies of God turning the minds of men away from the truth of God. This was the case in the Garden of Eden and so it is today.
When they listened to a deceiving spirit their spirit died to the Holy Spirit of the Living God. You cannot listen to deceiving spirits that contradict the Holy Spirit and say you live n the Spirit of the Christ.
Today, even in the church, Tozer’s words ring true, “Men think of the world not as a battleground, but as a playground. We are not here to fight; we are here to frolic. Worship has become a sort of sanctified nightclub experience without the champagne and the dressed-up drunkards.”
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
So many professing Christians are fighting naked (עָרוֹם arom; helpless and without the covering of God) every day. The eternal stakes are too high to fight naked. Too many are convinced they are on the right way to eternity with God or that there are no eternal consequences. But Jesus said that His way was not a highspeed freeway and that the Kingdom of God does not have wide open boarders. Instead, it is a narrow path.
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Speaking with Brother Steve Averitt, the Holy Spirit revealed this in a profound way to his heart. Jesus is speaking to religious leaders, disciples, and others who perceived they really knew God. He declares, “As in the days of Noah so will be coming of the Son of Man.”
For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.
Scholars estimate, based on Scripture, that it took Noah approximately 120 years to build the ark. So, for 120 years everyone called him that crazy old man building a thing called an Ark of Salvation. They deemed it as irrelevant and pointless for theirs was a truth of their own perception and based on their own knowledge and opinions void of any knowledge of God. Yet, only eight people survived the flood. But, based on Scriptural dates and population growth rates of the day, it is estimated that billions perished. Yet, even today the internet claims that this historical event was but a myth.
We have conceived a new view of the world and our relationship to it that is comfortable, complacent, complicit and compliant. However, if your faith does not command your life, it is not real faith. And if you faith is not shaped by the doctrines of Scripture, then it has been shaped by the doctrines of demons.
“Real faith knows only one way and gladly allows itself to be stripped of any second ways or makeshift substitutes.” (A.W. Tozer, This World: Playground or Battleground)
What are you trusting in? What boat have you placed your eternity in? Whose side would your life reveal you have chosen to live for?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Not everyone sitting in a church is necessarily part of His church. But how will they become part of His church if His church does not share the full truth of the full Gospel of Jesus Christ. Is your heart convicted, not just for your own eternal future, but for the billions who do not know the way into the eternal salvation of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?
