The Unknown Quantity
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
Rhonda was Rhonda and she was a good person. From what I know of her she had a unique personality and from my knowing her I learned that she had a sense of humor. It is appropriate to give what is called a proper eulogy during a funeral service which is to speak well of an individual. That’s hard for me to do because I didn’t know Rhonda like most of those who are gathered here today. I had the privilege of being her assistant pastor and this year I became her pastor.
Rhonda has preached her own funeral. I’m not here to pass judgement on anyone, it is my desire and wish that everyone makes it to glory. However, I don’t have the authority nor the power to put someone in glory and I don’t have the authority to put someone in Hell. I challenge you today to let God be the righteous judge because when God judges He’ll get it right every time.
My mission today is to speak to those family members and friends that she has left behind.
Unknown Quantity- someone or something whose abilities or characteristics are not yet known.
Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out 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.
Just because you profess Jesus and say Lord Lord doesn’t mean that you’ll gain entrance into the kingdom of heaven.
The Kingdom of God is essentially the rule of God.
To call Jesus Lord is to call him Master and to call Jesus Master is to admit that he has rule in your heart and minds. God requires more from us than the occasional recognition of Him and the occasional religious observance (church going). He desires more than us doing things for him, He desires to 1. Take up residence in you and 2. Make you a citizen of His kingdom.
When you truly become a citizen of the kingdom of God we can bestow upon Jesus the title Lord/Master why? Because the true kingdom of God is not a geographical location but rather a spiritual location and point in which God rules in the hearts and the minds of his people.....this in its truest since is why we call Jesus Master/Lord.
There are prerequisites in order for us to gain entrance-way into the kingdom of God.
When you have not been born again according to what the scriptures tell us you are an “unknown quantity”. When we live outside the parameters of the will of God you are an “unknown quantity”. Why are you an “unknown quantity”? Because if you should die without being born again, if you die outside the will of God, we don’t know what your fate may be.
I cannot tell you what Rhonda’s fate may be because she could have gotten it right with God before she left this earth. It is not for us to say whether a person is saved or not because only God knows what is in the persons heart and you can commune with God even without opening your mouth.
However, my message for you today is to encourage you to not be that “unknown quantity”. Don’t live your life in a manner that you and everyone else around questions whether you’ll ultimately gain entrance-way into the kingdom of heaven.
Now the question becomes:
How do I prevent myself from being an “unknown quantity”? It is quite simple:
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
When you have been born again of the water and of the spirit this happens:
In Him you also who have heard the Word of Truth, the glad tidings (Gospel) of your salvation, and have believed in and adhered to and relied on Him, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit.
That [Spirit] is the guarantee of our inheritance [the firstfruits, the pledge and foretaste, the down payment on our heritage], in anticipation of its full redemption and our acquiring [complete] possession of it—to the praise of His glory.
Okay so here:
When we hear the word of truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ. When we trust in it and believe in it.
When we respond to it as Jesus told Nicodemus and we are born-again of the water and of the Spirit of God, then Paul says you are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise which is the earnest of our inheritance.
The earnest of our inheritance is translated “guarantee” and guarantee means that God gives you a down payment and when a person has been given the guarantee that means that the paying of the earnest makes obligatory payment of the remainder. So what is the remainder of the earnest/guarantee/down-payment? The salvation of your souls, the entrance into a new heaven and a new earth, a new body that is absent of the motion of sin and death, joy and glory in the presence of God, rest for the weary.......where the wicked will cease from troubling, and the weary shall be at rest, and all the saints of all ages, we gonna sit at his feet and be blessed! I got home, up yonder, a mansion in the sky, where they’ll be no more sad good-byes!
The only way to prevent yourself from being “The Unknown Quantity” is by being born-again and receiving the earnest of the Spirit.
Jesus purchased us with his blood on the cross of Calvary, so that we can belong to him, children of the Most High, and citizens of the kingdom of God!