Where Will You Go?

If I ask you this morning, “where will you go when you die?” What would your response be? And how confident will you be in your answer?

As a Christian, most, if not all, of us believe that we can be confident in the assurance that we will go to heaven when we die. 

Unfortunately, the Bible tells us that this is not so.

Here’s where I ruffle some feathers.

Some churches, and indeed some denominations as a whole, would have us believe that it doesn’t matter what you do in this life, if you’ve said that sinner’s prayer at some point, you have what is known as Eternal Security. And while I believe that God's grace is a gift for life, and He doesn’t do takesy-backsys, we must examine ourselves to ensure that we actually received it in the first place.

You see, salvation isn’t about repeating a prayer, even with sincerity. It isn’t about “inviting Jesus into your heart” – whatever that means. We don't have to keep an evidence file of hundreds of works to maintain our salvation. There’s no formula. No magic prayer. If you were saved when you repented and confessed your belief in Christ – are you claiming that as a one-time deal and then go on your merry way, or do you continue every day to repent, and to believe, and to change?

There is nothing we can do to attain salvation. Neither is there anything you can do to lose it. It is a gift of grace from the most-high God. A gift that we don't, could never, deserve. There is no right or wrong way to accept this gift. True salvation can happen in the middle of a packed church, it can happen after a particularly evocative sermon or worship session, or it can happen when you’re all alone in your living room, face down on the carpet in a puddle of your own tears, crying out to God. How you get there doesn’t matter, and writing down the date of your conversion to use as a receipt in case the enemy tries to reclaim you isn’t going to help. What really matters is that your salvation is real and that it will withstand the valleys.

So, how do you know that you were truly saved? 

Regeneration.

The bible tells us that we shall know them by their what? Their fruits. Matthew 7:20 “you shall recognise them by their fruits”. Do you have fruits? Are you a new creation in Christ or do you walk in those same habitual sins you always did and call yourself a carnal Christian? “God loves a trier”! Let me tell you, it doesn’t say that anywhere in our Bible. Nor does it mention carnal Christianity. In fact, the very term is a contradiction. If Christianity means to be Christ-like, and carnal means sensual or fleshly; worldly, then it is impossible for us to be a carnal Christian and the very notion is offensive to our God. No, what the bible does say, and this is where some of us might start to feel a little hot under the collar - I know I do - is that Jesus might very well turn us away at the gates.

Matthew 7:21-23 tells us, “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.’

That absolutely terrifies me. I have always had this fear, since being a very small child, that I could go about my life believing in God and worshiping Him, but somehow, I could be worshiping the wrong 'God' or worshiping in the wrong way and even though my intentions were pure, I could be turned away. And this passage shows me that I was right to have this concern, even as a young child. I don’t know about you but I’m hoping for a “well done, good and faithful servant” instead!

Are you changed? Are you regenerated? Do you conform to this world or do you desire the things of God? Do you long to see the Kingdom of God glorified in this world?? Do you mourn over sin or are you walking in the same sin that you struggled with 30, 40, 50 years ago?

Do you know Jesus? 

More importantly, does He know you?

 Matthew 7:14 tells us that “the gate is narrow”. Everyone knows that part of the verse. But remember what comes next. “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Yes, the gate is narrow. But so is the path. It’s not as easy as just saying a prayer one day when you’re 12 years old, and then continuing along the same wide path you already began, walking along with your friends, being pulled this way and that, torn between what God expects of you, and what the world expects. If we look at some different versions of the same scripture, we can see just how narrow that path can be for a Christian. Some versions describe it as “difficult”, “constricted”, “hard to follow”, “restricted”, and “strict”. But praise God! It leads to life! 

Nobody expects a person to be saved one day and then be the perfect example of Christ the next. We are human beings and so we are fallible. But do you seek to be more like Jesus every day? Do you weep for your sin the moment you become convicted of it, and repent all over again, thanking the Lord for His abundant, amazing grace, and vow to do better? 

Regeneration is a lifelong journey. It is constant and it is constantly evolving. I tell you, two years ago I couldn't have listed the fruits of the Spirit without a prompt, and now I'm noticing them bloom and ripen in my life. We don't plant an acorn and expect an oak tree within a week, or even a month, but we do expect to see changes. The eruption of the seed, bringing forth the sprout, leaves beginning to form, a seedling, a sapling. 

No matter where you are in your growth, are you growing? Are you being fed? Are you drawing from the Son? Or are you being tangled and choked by the bindweed of this world before you ever make it out of the ground?

You cannot be a lover of the world and a disciple of Jesus.

If you were to be struck down this very day, how sure can you be?

Where will you go?