It is amazing to me that so many people claim that they believe in the person of Jesus but they really don’t know who He is or what He really stands for. Everyone knows that He lived, breathed and walked this planet at one time because there is more written in about Jesus in historical writings than there is about any of us.

I tried to trace my family tree back to its origins one time but I never really got that off the ground because I didn’t know anything about my father or his father, and his second family wasn’t very helpful at all so it turned out to be fruitless right from the get go.

But the genealogy of Jesus can be traced back 5,000 years because it is all recorded. The Jews were meticulous about their family roots and kept a better census than most people did in their time, they even kept records on the people living around them in other countries.

Do you think that that was an accident or God’s divine plan ?

But with all that is written about Jesus, people still don’t really believe in who He is because they live lives that are opposed to God’s laws and commandments. They want to believe, but they get stuck when it comes to doing the things that God requires them to do.

You know who is positive that Jesus is who He says He is ?

Satan believes in God but he won’t tell you he does because he wants to take as many people as he can with him to hell, demons believe in God and all they like to do is destroy and torment people’s lives before they end up in the lake of fire, people in hell believe in God now, but for them it’s too late to have anything good come out of that ill found knowledge.

But you know who doesn’t believe in Jesus ?

Some of the people living around us don’t believe in Jesus.

Why ?

Because they don’t want to have accountability, they want to do what they want to do no matter what. People will sleep on the street because they don’t want people tell them what to do because they are rebellious.Some people think that being rebellious is a cool thing, but when they are being consumed in an unquenchable fire they won’t think it’s so cool then.

What is the word that people use to describe someone good looking ?

Hot…That girl is hot or that guy is hot…unless they get to know Jesus as their personal Savior they’re going to find out exactly what hot really is…and it won’t look good then.

People like to be rebellious because they like to stand out and boast proudly about it. They hate anything that is Godly and love the things of this world. They like to hate God or just ignore Him because they aren’t living right. They don’t like God, they don’t like churches and they don’t like the people in churches.

But they will take food and money from Godly people even though they can’t stand them. These are the kind of people who will say it is hypocritical for a church to collect tithes and offerings from its congregation but yet think its OK to stand at freeway exits with their poor me signs displayed so that they can take advantage of hard working people’s sympathy. That OK to them.

Why ?

Because they take money from people the can’t stand and they are doing the very thing they accuse all those churches of doing,

But what is the difference between them and what a church does ?

Church money is collected to help people outside of the church, like here today with the food you are going to be eating. This money didn’t fall from heaven it came out of the hearts of good people wanting to make a difference in people’s lives, it supports organizations that feed, clothe and house people who are in times of trouble.

The money collected from the people standing on a freeway exits is for their own selfish use…whatever gives them pleasure. That’s OK with them because they find ways to justify their thinking even though deep inside themselves they know it’s wrong.

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. Proverbs 14:12

Living a life of sin is easy, you don’t have to do anything to do it, you could just sit on a log and starve to death and you die in sin, because we are born into sin. Sin makes you ashamed to know Jesus, because when we are doing things that we know are wrong, that last place we want to be is in a church talking about Jesus.

I am not ashamed of Jesus or the gospel of Christ because it has transformed my life into a life of peace, security and hope. I don’t worry about the things I used to worry about because I don’t have too. I know that God is there on my behalf in everything that can possibly affect my life 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Why do I know that ?

Because He said He would never leave me or forsake me.

15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. John 14: 15-18

Some people claim to love Jesus but live like Satan. The funny thing is they think that just because they say they believe in God that it automatically saves them. They think just because they say those words that they won’t be punished for the sinful lives that they are living and refusing to give up.

But what does the bible say about that ?

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. Galatians 6:7

If you claim to love Jesus, but you live your life the way that Satan wants you to live, then you love Satan and not Jesus. You will reap what you sow.

So if you know that you are living the wrong way then what do you need to do to live a life that is pleasing to God ?

Repent. Turn around and go the other way.

Sounds simple, so if it is why don’t people do it ?

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Romans1:19

But God will punish that sin…and people need to understand that.

People want to suppress the truth, they don’t want it to be the truth that tells them that they are on the edge of a slippery slope getting ready to fall into eternal oblivion and suffering. They don’t want to believe there is something bad around the next corner. So they lie to themselves.

They become religious.

They say religious things, misquote bible scriptures and they believe that all roads lead to God. Love everyone like you love yourself, God helps those that help themselves. You’ve heard all the clichés.

But do you know how to tell the difference between a self professing Christian and the real Christian ?

Remember last week I asked you if someone who is a leper can spot another leper ? What was the answer ?

It was yes. Well we can also tell if you are really saved or not, do you know how ?

By the things you say. The bible says:

And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. James 3:6

16 So Jesus said, "Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man." Matt. 15:16-20

What comes out of your mouth is what you truly believe because your mouth can’t help but profess those things that really in your heart.

So you ask yourself, do I really believe in Jesus ?

Do I do those things that are pleasing to God or myself ?

Remember you have to be honest with yourselves because you know the real answer to that question. If you know that you not doing things that are right then you need to make a change. If you don’t want to change then you need to quit professing to know who Jesus is because God doesn’t take those words lightly.

Do you know what the third commandment is in the ten commandments ?

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. Exodus 20:7

So if that’s the case why do people take God’s name in vain ?

Because we are all created with a need to have fellowship with God from the beginning, without that fellowship we don’t function right. If we don’t feel right then we have a tendency to reinvent ourselves, we try to replace that missing connection with things like sex, alcohol or drugs and then end up worse off than we were before.

At times we will feel empty, lost or even incomplete. We begin to question ourselves and eventually discount our lives as meaningless and unfruitful. Some people get to the point where they become suicidal and need to get help, or even go through with it by killing themselves.

So what do we do ?

It’s as if we have a self destruct mechanism built with in us that goes off when we can’t fill that part of our life that needs to know that there’s more than what we see. We begin unravel because we have to know God, it’s built into our genetic code.

Can I prove that scientifically ?

No, but we all know it’s there if we look deep inside of us. If you have ever wondered why you are here or if there is a God, that’s it going off. It doesn’t matter what your age is when it goes off, it’s how you respond to it.

You can do one of two things:

1. You can embrace it.

2. You can reject it.

If you reject it then you are at liberty to go on with your life and everything is beautiful in its own way. You may at one time have circumstances and events come up in your life that causes you to revisit that need again, but you will be free to seal your own fate as always.

If you choose to accept Christ as your Savior then you will be confronted with another issue:

Humiliation.

You’ll have to eat some humble pie because if you accept Jesus then everyone you know is going to tee off on you, you know they will because you did the same thing to other people that chose to follow Jesus.

It’s so easy to live among people when you are just like them, because everyone gets along so well. But when you take a stand for Jesus and you haven’t really built a solid foundation with Him in your life then new things start to happen.

You become ashamed of knowing Jesus.

How ? Here are some examples:

Its easy to talk about the weather but if you try to talk about Jesus you feel uncomfortable, because you decided they probably don’t want to hear it.

That’s not them not wanting to hear it, it’s you being ashamed to know Jesus.

It’s so easy for you to tell filthy jokes to all your friends and laugh and carry on with them but to tell them how to live a life pleasing to God, you have trouble doing that.

It’s not them, just you, being ashamed to know Jesus.

A woman or a man approaches you and they want to have sex with you but you don’t do it, but you don’t tell them it’s because you want to live a Godly life.

It’s not them, just you, being ashamed to know Jesus.

The real question is: When aren’t you going to be ashamed to know Jesus ?

It is amazing that the people we are afraid to share God with are people just like us, they have the same problems, the same needs and the same hurts.

You think that when you ask Jesus to come into your life that everyone is going to like you ?

No. The people who you thought were your friends don’t even want to be around you anymore, so it doesn’t matter what you say to them, it only matters what you say to you.

You have to want to be in fellowship with God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind, or you will always be ashamed to know Him.

What does the bible say about that ?

23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, ^{[ a ]} and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. 25 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? 26 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26