........ Yes, we have a responsibility. The Bible teaches that we are going to be judged according to our privilege—by what we have heard. That does not refer to someone else. That refers to us! We have a great privilege to know that God does answer prayer, and that God requires obedience of us. Yes, there are some requirements to being a Christian. It is not a free ride. It costs something. If it did not, what would it be worth? You might notice that folks who buy something at a bargain price brag about it when it is new, but after all the glory is gone out of their good purchase, it is just common, ordinary stuff. So it is with us. If we just let the Gospel become common, then it is common. But if we remember how glorious the privileges are that we have had, then we will appreciate them more and more. We are taught in the Bible of judgment according to privilege. Luke 12, verses 45-49 tells us what happened to the servant who knew his master was coming—he had been taught that and understood it—but was not looking for his master on the day the returned. “But and if that servant say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken; The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him.” The passage teaches us that Jesus will come in a day when some are not looking for him, and at an hour when they are not concerned about His return. Those who neglected to prepare will be appointed a portion with the unbelievers, and we know that the unbelievers and the nations that forget God are going to be turned into Hell. You can know about salvation, feel it, experience it, yet drift into a state of unbelief and lose your faith and be damned. This passage says, “And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.” The servant knew what he ought to do. You have heard you should be saved, sanctified, and baptized with the Holy Ghost over and over again through the years. The judgment will be heavy upon those who knew what to do but did not prepare themselves. The passage continues, “But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” We have a responsibility to respond to and remember what we have heard ................ ....culled from Sermon on "Remembering and Forgetting" by Loyce Carver, 07-07-1995
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 07:24:52 +0000
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