Even Demons Believe, Chapter Three

Table of Contents

3. Large Crowns Traveling With Jesus

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“Large crowds” attend church today and “large crowds” come to hear preachers talk about Jesus. “Large crowds”
of people buy books, listen to sermon tapes, and talkabout Bible issues. Many individuals attend Bible College and
seminary to study about God. ere are “large crowds”“ traveling” with Jesus and yet not a single one of them will go
to heaven. Mere “travelers” will burn in hell forever.

  • Large crowds were traveling … (Luke 14:25)

We must understand the dierence between a true Christian and a traveler following Jesus. A traveler comes along for the ride, enjoying the free food, miracles, and blessings of Jesus, yet they reject His way of salvation. They remain belly believers, and their faith always strives to get something from God.

  • Their destiny is destruction, their god is their sPaulach, and their glory is in their shame. eir mind is on earthly things. (Philippians 3:19)

Travelers who follow Jesus to get something from Him should take warning. Jesus seeks to tell us “the truth” about
ourselves; that we follow Him only because He will meet our selfish needs. Many want to eat “the loaves” and have their “will” of peace, prosperity, happiness, blessings, and hope but refuse to fall in love with Him.

  • Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” (John 6:26)

People prove their belly belief true when they reject the cross, God’s way of saving a man. They follow Jesus, but have little interest in the cross, except that Jesus died for them. The church today contains multitudes of “travelers.” Many consider themselves strong Christians, but they are mere travelers, not true disciples of Jesus. Jesus turned to these “large crowds” of travelers and spoke of the seriousness of calling oneself a Christian.

  • Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: … (Luke 14:25)

The truth is, Jesus wasn’t trying to make anyone a Christian; rather, Jesus came and died to make disciples. We will see the importance of this later on. For now, let us listen to Jesus as He speaks of God’s salvation call or God’s way of saving individuals. Man wants to entertain and make it easy to accept Jesus, while God tests and drives away all unworthy of eternal life.

Jesus’ ways are for “anyone” who desires salvation. Jesus is emphatic about this.

  • If anyone comes … (Luke 14:26)
  • And anyone … (Luke 14:27)

Jesus spent over three years getting people ready for Peter’s sermon at Pentecost. We, however, declare individuals to be Christians without ever preparing them. The church’s interest in numbers motivates leaders to declare a new birth before conception has barely taken place. Paul compares Christ coming into a person’s life to that of the process of child birth, but in our fleshly zeal we skip the suering of pregnancy and delivery in order to justify our own sin. Wouldn’t you think it strange for a husband to shout, “Come see my baby” if his wife was only one month along?

God spent thousands of years getting things ready for Jesus to come and preach the good news. Why then do we think
someone is saved when we have to teach them the words to say in their own salvation prayer?

Jesus tested and tried people; He made them think, ponder, and become frustrated concerning the things of God in order to test their hunger for God.

Like spoiled children whose parents anticipate and fill their every possible desire, we make salvation simple. We give people all the answers and make it easy for them to accept our version of Christianity, but we are not saving their souls.

As a result, we label mere travelers following Jesus as saved Christians, when nothing could be further from the truth. In our day the message of counting the cost is met with outright hostility because we have so cheapened the grace of God. What will you do? Will you change from a “traveler” to a “disciple?

Truths To Ponder, Beliefs To Examine

  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?

1. Which Way to Salvation?

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  • This is what the Lord says: “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls …” (Jeremiah 6:16)

Every church has their method for getting to heaven, so how can a person know the correct path? With all the
different beliefs and opinions about what it means to be a Christian, no wonder so many people feel thoroughly confused. In fact, many have given up the search for God altogether because the task to discover the truth seems too overwhelming. Additionally, many today falsely think that opinion equals belief, and if we think something sincerely enough, God will accept us. To further compound the problem, multitudes of hypocritical “Christians” claim they know God. All of these things and more frustrate those with an honest search for God.

To find the answers, we need to follow Jeremiah’s direction: “Ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is” and then “walk in it.” Through these God-given words we will find “rest for” our “souls.”

In Luke 7:48 Jesus told a woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” God forgave every wrong thing in her actions and thoughts. Those words are the sweetest words a man or woman can ever hear.

God’s forgiveness should set us free and light our hearts aflame with an undying love for Him. In order to hear those words, we must first consider what it means to be a Christian. Otherwise, we place ourselves in danger of being “denounced” by the very God who touches our lives with love and power. As the following Scripture demonstrates, Jesus disowned those whom God had touched in a powerful way because they would not “repent.” With this in mind, let us look at what it really means to be a Christian, how one becomes a Christian, and the requirements to keep from being “denounce[d]” by God. In short, let us see the truth according to Jesus.

  • Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most ofhis miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. (Matthew 11:20)

When Jesus walked on the earth, He made Christians in a very odd fashion. Jesus won souls, as we shall see, in a manner that may surprise most. This book examines how someone becomes a Christian according to Jesus.

Most individuals, who consider themselves Christians, have responded to God’s love in a way that would not receive Jesus’ approval. As Paul stated in the book of Romans, they did not “submit” to God’s way of salvation and instead “sought to establish their own.”

  • Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. (Romans 10:3)

Every church and denomination has their methods for saving individuals. Each has “established their own” way of salvation. But God declared long ago that only “one” way leads to heaven.

  • … one Lord, one faith, one baptism … (Ephesians 4:5)

Each man must make a decision to either submit to God’s righteousness or embrace man’s religious ways. God’s righteousness grows eternally, but the peace and security of man offers only empty hope.

In the church today, we have established many different ways to become a Christian. People can come forward after a sermon, raise their hands, attend classes, speak in tongues, or repeat the words someone tells them to say. The salvation calls, coming forward to accept Jesus, vary from church to church, but which one is of God? Let us go back and look at how Jesus made someone a Christian. We will look at Jesus’ salvation call, and if it does not match up to ours, let us repent and “submit to God’s righteousness.”

Truths To Ponder, Beliefs To Examine

  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?
  1. What opinion do you have about the way of salvation?

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