10 REASONS TO NOT ASK JESUS INTO YOUR HEART!
By Todd Friel
Todd Friel is the co-host of The Way of the Master radio.
The music weeps, the preacher pleads, “Give your heart to Jesus. You have a God shaped hole in your heart and only Jesus can fill it.” Dozens, hundreds or thousands of people who want to get their spiritual life on track make their way to the altar. They ask Jesus into their heart. Cut to three months later. Nobody has seen our new convert in church. The follow up committee calls him and encourages him to attend a Bible study, but to no avail. We label him a backslider and get ready for the next outreach event.
Our beloved child lies in her snuggly warm bed and says, “Yes, Daddy. I want to ask Jesus into my heart.” You lead her in “the prayer” and hope that it sticks. You spend the next ten years questioning if she really, really meant it. Puberty hits and the answer reveals itself. She backslides. We spend the next ten years praying that she will come to her senses.
Telling someone to ask Jesus into their hearts has a very typical result, backsliding.
The Bible says that a person who is soundly saved puts his hand to the plow and does not look back because he is fit for service. In other words, a true convert cannot backslide. If a person backslides, he never slid forward in the first place. “If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (II Cor.5) No backsliding there.
Brace yourself for this one: with very few if any exceptions, anyone who asked Jesus into their hearts to be saved…is not. If you asked Jesus into your heart because you were told that is what you have to do to become a Christian, you were mis-informed.
If you have ever told someone to ask Jesus into their heart (like I have), you produced a false convert.
Here is why:
1. It is not in the Bible. There is not a single verse that even hints we should say a prayer inviting Jesus into our hearts.
Some use Rev. 3:20. To tell us that Jesus is standing at the door of our hearts begging to come in.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.” There are two reasons that interpretation is wrong.
The context tells us that the door Jesus is knocking on is the door of the church, not the human heart. Jesus is not knocking to enter someone’s heart but to have fellowship with His church.
Even if the context didn’t tell us this, we would be forcing a meaning into the text (eisegesis). How do we know it is our heart he is knocking at? Why not our car door? How do we know he isn’t knocking on our foot? To suggest that he is knocking on the door of our heart is superimposing a meaning on the text that simply does not exist.
The Bible does not instruct us to ask Jesus into our heart. This alone should resolve the issue, nevertheless, here are nine more reasons.
2. Asking Jesus into your heart is a saying that makes no sense. What does it mean to ask Jesus into your heart? If I say the right incantation will He somehow enter my heart? Is it literal? Does He reside in the upper or lower ventricle? Is this a metaphysical experience? Is it figurative? If it is, what exactly does it mean? While I am certain that most adults cannot articulate its meaning, I am certain that no child can explain it. Pastor Dennis Rokser reminds
us that little children think literally and can easily be confused (or frightened) at the prospect of asking Jesus into their heart.
3. In order to be saved, a man must repent (Acts 2:38). Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of repentance.
4. In order to be saved, a man must trust in Jesus Christ (Acts 16:31).
Asking Jesus into your heart leaves out the requirement of faith.
5. The person who wrongly believes they are saved will have a false sense of security. Millions of people who sincerely, but wrongly, asked Jesus into their hearts think they are saved but struggle to feel secure. They live in doubt and fear because they do not have the Holy Spirit giving them assurance of salvation.
6. The person who asks Jesus into his heart will likely end up inoculated, bitter and backslidden. Because he did not get saved by reciting a formulaic prayer, he will grow disillusioned with Jesus, the Bible, church and fellow believers. His latter end will be worse than the first.
7. It presents God as a beggar just hoping you will let Him into your busy life. This presentation of God robs Him of His sovereignty.
8. The cause of Christ is ridiculed. Visit an atheist web-site and read the pagans who scoff, “How dare those Christians tell us how to live when they get divorced more than we do? Who are they to say homosexuals shouldn’t adopt kids when tens of thousands of orphans don’t get adopted by Christians?” Born again believers adopt kids and don’t get divorced.
People who ask Jesus into their hearts do. Jesus gets mocked when false converts give Him a bad name.
9. The cause of evangelism is hindered. While it is certainly easier to get church members by telling them to ask Jesus into their hearts, try pleading with someone to make today the day of their salvation. Get ready for a painful response. “Why should I become a Christian when I have seen so called Christians act worse than a pagan?” People who ask Jesus into their hearts give pagans an excuse for not repenting.
10. Here is the scary one. People who ask Jesus into their hearts are not saved and they will perish on the Day of Judgment. How tragic that millions of people think they are right with God when they are not. How many people who will cry out, “Lord, Lord” on judgment day will be “Christians” who asked Jesus into their hearts?
So, what must one do to be saved? Repent and trust. (Heb.6:1) The Bible makes it clear that all men must repent and place their trust in Jesus Christ. Every man does have a “God shaped hole in their hearts,” but that hole is not contentment, fulfillment and peace. Every man’s heart problem is righteousness. Instead of preaching that Jesus fulfills, we must preach that God judges and Jesus satisfies God’s judgment…if a man will repent and place his trust in Him.
If you are reading this and you asked Jesus into your heart, chances are good you had a spiritual buzz for a while, but now you struggle to read your Bible, tithe, attend church and pray. Perhaps you were told you would have contentment, purpose and a better life if you just ask Jesus into your heart. I am sorry, that was a lie.
If you have been preaching that people should ask Jesus into their hearts, I beg you to stop immediately. You will give an account for all the souls you have led astray.
*NOTE by JMK
Scripture does mention that “Christ… dwell in our hearts by faith.” (Ephesians 3:17), but asking him in is not how he gets there.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Hearing God Speak
Can you hear God speak? Yes, you can—if you know where to listen! Where you say? Well the Bible tells us a few places we can.
First of all,
I. You Can Hear Him Speak In Creation.
Psalm 19:1 tells us “The heavens declare(Speak) the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.”
We can clearly see and hear God in the works of His creation. It speaks of His glory, his power, and His love. Both verses were written by David, a man who spent much time outdoors in his work as a shepherd. He was in tune with nature, and being so he was in tune with God. Sitting underneath a starlit sky at night doing his work, it was quite clear to him that his surrounding were the handiwork of God. If we will take time to explore, and to experience his creation, it has his fingerprints all over it!
II. You Can Hear Him Speak In His Conversations.
2 Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Bible is a record of God's conversations with men in the past, and his words still speak to us today. It is just as relevant and real as when it was first given to men of old.
2 Tim 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
The Bible is God revealing himself to us speaking with (not just to) mankind ! If God is not speaking to us, it is because we are not spending time in his word.
III. You Can Hear Him Speak Through Circumstances.
It would be a good and wise thing to ask God what he is trying to say to us when we experience pain, sickness, loss.
C.S. Lewis said “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”
IV. You Can Hear Him Speak At Church.
God can speak to us in many places because God is everywhere , but the primary place in which he meets with his people, and speaks to them is in His house !
It is His ordained plan and place to communicate to His children.
Speaking of Pastors and Church leaders the Bible says in Hebrews 13:7 “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have SPOKEN unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”
We can hear God speak through the teaching, the music, the prayers, the Spirit, the preaching and the invitation.
And last, but certainly not least,
V. You Can Hear Him Speak At The Cross.
If we had been at the cross on the day that Christ was crucified, we would have heard God speak. Though we weren’t, what He said is recorded in His word for us to read and listen to today..
From the cross Jesus spoke words of forgiveness even to the very ones who drove the nails into Him.
God spoke words of salvation to the whole world when Jesus uttered from the cross “It is finished!” and He still speaks to us today the same truths….are you listening?
Think on these things and keep the Son in your eyes!
Can you hear God speak? Yes, you can—if you know where to listen! Where you say? Well the Bible tells us a few places we can.
First of all,
I. You Can Hear Him Speak In Creation.
Psalm 19:1 tells us “The heavens declare(Speak) the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork.”
We can clearly see and hear God in the works of His creation. It speaks of His glory, his power, and His love. Both verses were written by David, a man who spent much time outdoors in his work as a shepherd. He was in tune with nature, and being so he was in tune with God. Sitting underneath a starlit sky at night doing his work, it was quite clear to him that his surrounding were the handiwork of God. If we will take time to explore, and to experience his creation, it has his fingerprints all over it!
II. You Can Hear Him Speak In His Conversations.
2 Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
The Bible is a record of God's conversations with men in the past, and his words still speak to us today. It is just as relevant and real as when it was first given to men of old.
2 Tim 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:”
The Bible is God revealing himself to us speaking with (not just to) mankind ! If God is not speaking to us, it is because we are not spending time in his word.
III. You Can Hear Him Speak Through Circumstances.
It would be a good and wise thing to ask God what he is trying to say to us when we experience pain, sickness, loss.
C.S. Lewis said “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world”
IV. You Can Hear Him Speak At Church.
God can speak to us in many places because God is everywhere , but the primary place in which he meets with his people, and speaks to them is in His house !
It is His ordained plan and place to communicate to His children.
Speaking of Pastors and Church leaders the Bible says in Hebrews 13:7 “Remember them which have the rule over you, who have SPOKEN unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.”
We can hear God speak through the teaching, the music, the prayers, the Spirit, the preaching and the invitation.
And last, but certainly not least,
V. You Can Hear Him Speak At The Cross.
If we had been at the cross on the day that Christ was crucified, we would have heard God speak. Though we weren’t, what He said is recorded in His word for us to read and listen to today..
From the cross Jesus spoke words of forgiveness even to the very ones who drove the nails into Him.
God spoke words of salvation to the whole world when Jesus uttered from the cross “It is finished!” and He still speaks to us today the same truths….are you listening?
Think on these things and keep the Son in your eyes!
Evidence that You are Filled
Evidence that You are Filled with the Holy Spirit
Eph 5:18 “…. be filled with the Spirit” A young Italian boy knocked on the door of an artist's studio in Rome. When it was opened, he said, "Please Madam, would you give me the master's brush?" The famous painter had died, and the young boy, with a desire to be an artist, wished to paint with the master's brush.
The lady placed the brush in his hand, saying, "This is the brush, try it my boy!" The boy made a supreme effort, but soon found out that he could paint no better with this brush, than he could with his own. The lady then looked at the boy and said, "Remember child, you cannot paint like the great master, unless you have the master's spirit!"
God the Holy Spirit is not an INFLUENCE, or an IDEA, but an INDIVIDUAL! He is just as much God as God the Son and God the Father.
All Christians are INDWELT by the Spirit (Romans 8:9) “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” , but NOT all Christians are INFILLED with the spirit!
It is a matter of surrender and submission.
What is the evidence that you ARE filled with God’s Spirit? Following the command to be filled with the Spirit, we find a list of spiritual attributes that counteract fleshly, selfish living. By displaying these traits, saints show that the Spirit is in control of their lives. Here they are:
1. Verse 19 says we should be “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Joyful, not mournful music, characterizes Christianity. When we are filled with and by the Spirit, the heart is filled with merry and melodious music.
2. Notice the next verse: (Eph. 5:20), “Giving thanks always unto God” a spirit filled Christian is not grumpy and griping. We should have an attitude of gratitude!
3. And again the next verse: (Eph. 5:21). “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” The world is filled with rebellion against all authority. The flesh is anti- authority, but a Spirit-filled person will respect authority “in the fear of God.” The next two verses deal with husbands and wives submitting to each other in love.
We must be Spirit-filled Christians to live like this. We must walk by faith in constant dependence on the Spirit of God!
Think on these things, and keep the SON in your eyes!
Eph 5:18 “…. be filled with the Spirit” A young Italian boy knocked on the door of an artist's studio in Rome. When it was opened, he said, "Please Madam, would you give me the master's brush?" The famous painter had died, and the young boy, with a desire to be an artist, wished to paint with the master's brush.
The lady placed the brush in his hand, saying, "This is the brush, try it my boy!" The boy made a supreme effort, but soon found out that he could paint no better with this brush, than he could with his own. The lady then looked at the boy and said, "Remember child, you cannot paint like the great master, unless you have the master's spirit!"
God the Holy Spirit is not an INFLUENCE, or an IDEA, but an INDIVIDUAL! He is just as much God as God the Son and God the Father.
All Christians are INDWELT by the Spirit (Romans 8:9) “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” , but NOT all Christians are INFILLED with the spirit!
It is a matter of surrender and submission.
What is the evidence that you ARE filled with God’s Spirit? Following the command to be filled with the Spirit, we find a list of spiritual attributes that counteract fleshly, selfish living. By displaying these traits, saints show that the Spirit is in control of their lives. Here they are:
1. Verse 19 says we should be “Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” Joyful, not mournful music, characterizes Christianity. When we are filled with and by the Spirit, the heart is filled with merry and melodious music.
2. Notice the next verse: (Eph. 5:20), “Giving thanks always unto God” a spirit filled Christian is not grumpy and griping. We should have an attitude of gratitude!
3. And again the next verse: (Eph. 5:21). “Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God” The world is filled with rebellion against all authority. The flesh is anti- authority, but a Spirit-filled person will respect authority “in the fear of God.” The next two verses deal with husbands and wives submitting to each other in love.
We must be Spirit-filled Christians to live like this. We must walk by faith in constant dependence on the Spirit of God!
Think on these things, and keep the SON in your eyes!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
New Beginnings
A FRESH START
The story is told of a man who while reading his morning newspaper was shocked to find his own name listed in the obituary column. He called up the newspaper and was outraged that they had made such a mistake.
The newspaper's explanation did not satisfy the man, so he stormed down to their office and demanded to see the editor. After some time argument, the editor grew frustrated and said, " Cheer up! We’ll put your name in the birth column tomorrow and you can have a fresh start."
You may laugh at a story like that, but wouldn't it be wonderful to just start over again?
Well, I’ve got good news…you CAN have a fresh start!
Yesterday is in the TOMB of time, tomorrow is in the WOMB of time -but NOW is ours.
Yesterday is in the TOMB of time, tomorrow is in the WOMB of time -but NOW is ours.
The past is history, the future is a mystery, but God has given us the present—which is a gift—that’s why it’s called the present.
Penniless or prosperous, paper man or president, whether you wear a Rolex or Timex, we have exactly the same sequence of seconds, the same amount of minutes -and it is a precious commodity.
The month of January is named for Janus the Roman mythological god of the gates, doors, and doorways who is pictured with two faces looking in opposite directions—forward and backward, used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future.
Penniless or prosperous, paper man or president, whether you wear a Rolex or Timex, we have exactly the same sequence of seconds, the same amount of minutes -and it is a precious commodity.
The month of January is named for Janus the Roman mythological god of the gates, doors, and doorways who is pictured with two faces looking in opposite directions—forward and backward, used to symbolize change and transitions such as the progression of past to future.
Fittingly, January closes the door on the old year and is the door to the New Year.
2009 is still a blank slate. There are opportunities (and obstacles) ahead of us. We decide which course we are going to take.
The new year is a good time for a FRESH START. Aim higher, reach further, dream bigger, and believe stronger. Start living life in the presence of death. Allow it to temper your soul and purify your priorities. Set your affairs in order and make your life count.
Heb 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto man once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
Ephesians 5:15 -16 “ See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil..”
How then shall we live?
Think on these things this year, and keep the SON in your eyes!
TIME MACHINE?
“HOW TO CHANGE THE PAST”
Ecclesiastes 3:15 “That which hath been is now; and that which is to be hath already been; and God requireth that which is past.”
What if there was such thing as a TIME MACHINE?
Putting aside Hollywood's version of time travel for a moment, park the Delorean, & get out of the phone booth, I believe in Time travel! Time travel is real- in fact, we’re all traveling through time right now!
Someone once said "Time is Gods way of keeping everything from happening all at once." We’ve all wished we could re-wind and re-move, but we can’t turn back the hands of time. What’s done is done, and mistakes cannot be unmade.
However , though we can’t change today’s past---we can change tomorrow’s! The past yet created, can still be changed! You can’t change today’s past- but you can change tomorrows past!
If you want to change the past before it begins, follow these three simple steps:
I. MAXIMIZE THE POTENTIAL OF THE PRESENT
The Bible says “Redeem the time” -spend it wisely. As we age we begin to comprehend the brevity of time , and wish we hadn’t wasted so much of it.
Ecclesiaste 12:1 tells us “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh”
Don’t wait or procrastinate. Investigate, appropriate, and then accelerate! Change tomorrow ……today!
II.NEUTRALIZE THE PROBLEMS OF THE PREVIOUS
Sometimes the pasT can be a PEST! the past can be a poison, a prison-and put people in bondage to before!
Don’t linger in the past, don’t languish over the past. Don’t live in the past, t learn from it!
Change yesterdays past into a teacher instead of a torturer, and tomorrows past into a blessing instead of a burden!!!
Lastly,
III. ENERGIZE A PLAN FULL OF PROMISE
The greatest truth won’t work—if we wont work! We need kinetic Christianity, active and aggressive.
Instead of feaing the future, we should face it with fervor and do today what we’ll be glad we did tomorrow!
The Apostle Paul said in Phil 3:13-14 "… Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus".
You can CHANGE the PAST before it begins!
…think on these things, and remember to keep the SON in your eyes!
Someone once said "Time is Gods way of keeping everything from happening all at once." We’ve all wished we could re-wind and re-move, but we can’t turn back the hands of time. What’s done is done, and mistakes cannot be unmade.
However , though we can’t change today’s past---we can change tomorrow’s! The past yet created, can still be changed! You can’t change today’s past- but you can change tomorrows past!
If you want to change the past before it begins, follow these three simple steps:
I. MAXIMIZE THE POTENTIAL OF THE PRESENT
The Bible says “Redeem the time” -spend it wisely. As we age we begin to comprehend the brevity of time , and wish we hadn’t wasted so much of it.
Ecclesiaste 12:1 tells us “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh”
Don’t wait or procrastinate. Investigate, appropriate, and then accelerate! Change tomorrow ……today!
II.NEUTRALIZE THE PROBLEMS OF THE PREVIOUS
Sometimes the pasT can be a PEST! the past can be a poison, a prison-and put people in bondage to before!
Don’t linger in the past, don’t languish over the past. Don’t live in the past, t learn from it!
Change yesterdays past into a teacher instead of a torturer, and tomorrows past into a blessing instead of a burden!!!
Lastly,
III. ENERGIZE A PLAN FULL OF PROMISE
The greatest truth won’t work—if we wont work! We need kinetic Christianity, active and aggressive.
Instead of feaing the future, we should face it with fervor and do today what we’ll be glad we did tomorrow!
The Apostle Paul said in Phil 3:13-14 "… Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before…I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus".
You can CHANGE the PAST before it begins!
…think on these things, and remember to keep the SON in your eyes!
COINCIDENCE?
JUST A COINCIDENCE?
A Coincidence is “the noteworthy alignment of two or more events or circumstances without obvious causal connection.” The word is derived from the Latin co- ("in", "with", "together") and incidere ("to fall on"). Many things in life are strange and interesting coincidences.
Just take the coincidence of the similarities between Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters. Both were particularly concerned with civil rights. Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846. John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946. Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960. Both wives lost their children while living in the White House. Both Presidents were shot on a Friday. Both were shot in the head. Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy. Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln. Both were assassinated by Southerners. Both were succeeded by Southerners. Both successors were named Johnson. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808. Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln was born in 1839. Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy was born in 1939. Both assassins were known by their three names. Both names comprise fifteen letters. Booth ran from a theater and was caught in a warehouse. Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Both were assassinated before their trials. And that’s only a partial list!
Yes, there are some strange coincidences in life. But divine providence is altogether different. God may provide for a need or a meeting in a way that seems mysterious to us, and is sometimes contributed to “coincidence” but it is all in His plan.
Take for instance the story of “The Church of Providence.” In 1874 in Swana Quarter, NC a group of people wanted a certain piece of ground on which to build a church. But no matter how hard they negotiated, the owner would not sell. Finally they had to settle for another piece of ground where they built their church. Two years later, there was a great storm and the area flooded. As the raging waters neared the church, they lifted the building off it's foundation and it literally began to float away. After the storm was over the people of the area were amazed that on this day, Sept. 16, 1876, God had providentially done what man was unable to do. He moved the church across town and sat the church square on the piece of property the church members had originally bargained for!
The owner of the land could not deny the hand of God in the matter and gave the people the piece of property they so badly wanted. The church was renamed "The Church of Providence," and can be still be seen by those who visit the town.
The next time you think an act is just a coincidence, maybe you should ask yourself, “Is God at work here?” Is COINCIDENCE…or PROVIDENCE? (Jeremiah 29:11)
Think on these things…..and remember, to keep the SON in your eyes!
Revival
Fellowship Baptist Church is having
REVIVAL
Sunday March 1st through Wednesday March 4th
with
Evangelist Andy Williams
from Santa Claus , Georgia
Sunday Services are at 11 AM and 6 PM, Monday through Tuesday at 7:30 PM
Nursery is provided and everyone is invited.
For more information call Pastor John M. Keeter at (252)-792-7395
or visit the Church website www.fellowshipbaptistwilliamston.com
REVIVAL
Sunday March 1st through Wednesday March 4th
with
Evangelist Andy Williams
from Santa Claus , Georgia
Sunday Services are at 11 AM and 6 PM, Monday through Tuesday at 7:30 PM
Nursery is provided and everyone is invited.
For more information call Pastor John M. Keeter at (252)-792-7395
or visit the Church website www.fellowshipbaptistwilliamston.com
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