KNOWING GOD

WHERE WILL YOU GO WHEN YOU DIE?

If you are unsure where you will go when you die, please listen to what God has said in the Bible:

Realize that you are a sinner.

No matter how good a life we try to live, we still fall miserably short of being a perfect person. That is because we are all sinners. Sin simply means that we can’t measure up to God’s perfect standard of righteousness. The Bible says, “No one is good—not even one.” We cannot become who we are supposed to be without Jesus Christ.

Recognize Jesus Christ died on the Cross for you

The penalty for sin is death, but instead of giving that death to us, Jesus suffered death for us that we might be forgiven by God. The Bible tells us that “God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” This is the Good News, that God loves us so much that He sent His only Son to die in our place when we least deserved it.

Repent of your sin and go the other way

The Bible tells us, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.” The word repent means to change our direction in life. Instead of running from God, we can run toward Him. When we confess and repent, we are agreeing with God that we need His grace and forgiveness in our lives.

Receive Jesus Christ into your life

Becoming a Christian is not merely believing some creed or going to church. It is having Christ Himself take residence in your life and heart. Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in . . .” If you would like to have a relationship with Christ, simply pray this prayer and mean it in your heart:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I know I am a sinner. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. Right now, I turn from my sins and open the door of my heart and life. I confess You as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen.”

THE OLD CROSS IS THE TRUTH
MAN HAS CREATED A NEW CROSS WHICH IS ANOTHER JESUS

All unannounced and mostly undetected there has come in modern times a NEW CROSS into popular evangelical circles. It is like the OLD CROSS, but different: the likenesses are superficial; the differences, fundamental.

From this NEW CROSS has sprung a new philosophy of the Christian life, and from that new philosophy has come a new evangelical technique—a new type of meeting and a new kind of preaching. This new evangelism employs the same language as the old, but its content is not the same and its emphasis not as before.

The OLD CROSS would have no truck with the world. For Adam's proud flesh it meant the end of the journey. It carried into effect the sentence imposed by the law of Sinai. The new cross is not opposed to the human race; rather, it is a friendly pal and, if understood aright, it is the source of oceans of good clean fun and innocent enjoyment. It lets Adam live without interference. His life motivation is unchanged; he still lives for his own pleasure, only now he takes delight in singing choruses and watching religious movies instead of singing bawdy songs and drinking hard liquor. The accent is still on enjoyment, though the fun is now on a higher plane morally if not intellectually.

The NEW CROSS encourages a new and entirely different evangelistic approach. The evangelist does not demand abnegation of the old life before a new life can be received. He preaches not contrasts but similarities. He seeks to key into public interest by showing that Christianity makes no unpleasant demands; rather, it offers the same thing the world does, only on a higher level. Whatever the sin-mad world happens to be clamoring after at the moment is cleverly shown to be the very thing the gospel offers, only the religious product is better.

The NEW CROSS does not slay the sinner, it redirects him. It gears him into a cleaner and jollier way of living and saves his self-respect. To the self-assertive it says, "Come and assert yourself for Christ." To the egotist it says, "Come and do your boasting in the Lord." To the thrill seeker it says, "Come and enjoy the thrill of Christian fellowship." The Christian message is slanted in the direction of the current vogue in order to make it acceptable to the public.

The philosophy back of this kind of thing may be sincere but its sincerity does not save it from being false. It is false because it is blind. It misses completely the whole meaning of the cross.

The OLD CROSS is a symbol of death. It stands for the abrupt, violent end of a human being. The man in Roman times who took up his cross and started down the road had already said good-by to his friends. He was not coming back. He was going out to have it ended. The cross made no compromise, modified nothing, spared nothing; it slew all of the man, completely and for good. It did not try to keep on good terms with its victim. It struck cruel and hard, and when it had finished its work, the man was no more.

The race of Adam is under death sentence. There is no commutation and no escape. God cannot approve any of the fruits of sin, however innocent they may appear or beautiful to the eyes of men. God salvages the individual by liquidating him and then raising him again to newness of life.

That evangelism which draws friendly parallels between the ways of God and the ways of men is false to the Bible and cruel to the souls of its hearers. The faith of Christ does not parallel the world, it intersects it. In coming to Christ we do not bring our old life up onto a higher plane; we leave it at the cross. The corn of wheat must fall into the ground and die.

We who preach the gospel must not think of ourselves as public relations agents sent to establish good will between Christ and the world. We must not imagine ourselves commissioned to make Christ acceptable to big business, the press, the world of sports or modern education. We are not diplomats but prophets, and our message is not a compromise but an ultimatum.

God offers life, but not an improved old life. The life He offers is life out of death. It stands always on the far side of the cross. Whoever would possess it must pass under the rod. He must repudiate himself and concur in God's just sentence against him.

What does this mean to the individual, the condemned man who would find life in Christ Jesus? How can this theology be translated into life? Simply, he must repent and believe. He must forsake his sins and then go on to forsake himself. Let him cover nothing, defend nothing, excuse nothing. Let him not seek to make terms with God, but let him bow his head before the stroke of God's stern displeasure and acknowledge himself worthy to die.

Having done this let him gaze with simple trust upon the risen Savior, and from Him will come life and rebirth and cleansing and power. The cross that ended the earthly life of Jesus now puts an end to the sinner; and the power that raised Christ from the dead now raises him to a new life along with Christ.

To any who may object to this or count it merely a narrow and private view of truth, let me say God has set His hallmark of approval upon this message from Paul's day to the present. Whether stated in these exact words or not, this has been the content of all preaching that has brought life and power to the world through the centuries. The mystics, the reformers, the revivalists have put their emphasis here, and signs and wonders and mighty operations of the Holy Ghost gave witness to God's approval.

Dare we, the heirs of such a legacy of power, tamper with the truth? Dare we with our stubby pencils erase the lines of the blueprint or alter the pattern shown us in the Mount? May God forbid. Let us preach the OLD CROSS and we will know the old power.

(A. W. Tozer, Man, the Dwelling Place of God, 1966)

CALVARY CHAPEL PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ,

You are the center of all things.

You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

You are not simply part of our lives, you are life itself.

Your Word says: “For by Him all things were created and in Him all things exist.” Colossians 1:16-17

“That in all things He may have the preeminence.” Colossians 1:18

Lord, we confess that so often our hearts drift.

We become distracted with activity, performance, appearances, and religious routine.

We can learn the language of Christianity while slowly losing the tenderness of walking with You personally.

Forgive us, Lord.

Forgive us for trying to look spiritual while neglecting intimacy with You.

Forgive us for knowing about You more than truly knowing You.

Forgive us for allowing the cares of this world, pride, busyness, entertainment, self-focus, and even ministry itself to crowd out simple devotion to Christ.

Your Word says: “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” Matthew 15:8

Lord, we do not want distant religion.

We do not want hollow Christianity.

We do not want emotional performance without transformation.

We do not want form without fire.

We do not want church culture without the presence of Jesus.

We want You.

We want the realness of Your presence.

We want hearts that tremble at Your Word.

We want purity in the hidden places.

We want honesty before You.

We want communion with the Holy Spirit.

We want lives that are rooted deeply in love for Christ not in appearances before men.

Father, bring us back to our first love.

Your Word says to the church in Revelation: “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.

Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works.” Revelation 2:4-5

Lord, help us remember what it was like when our hearts burned for You.

When prayer was not a duty but a delight.

When worship was not a performance but surrender.

When reading Scripture was not dry information but living bread to our souls.

Take away the masks.

Strip away the striving.

Remove the need to impress people.

Break the fear of man off Your people.

Deliver us from pretending to be strong while secretly empty inside.

Teach us to walk honestly before You.

Your Word says: “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart.” Psalm 34:1

“A broken and contrite heart These, O God, You will not despise.” Psalm 51:17

Lord, give us soft hearts again.

Tender hearts.

Repentant hearts.

Authentic hearts.

Make us people who love the secret place more than public recognition.

People who pray when nobody sees.

People who worship in sincerity.

People who would rather have Your approval than applause from men.

Jesus, become central again in our homes.

Central in our churches.

Central in our conversations.

Central in our decisions.

Central in our marriages.

Central in our ministries.

Central in our thought life.

Central in our schedules.

Central in our hearts.

Let everything revolve around You again.

Your Word says: “Abide in Me, and I in you for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5

Lord, teach us to abide.

Not visit You occasionally.

Not seek You only in crisis.

But remain in You daily.

Living connected to You like branches to the vine.

Holy Spirit, show us every counterfeit thing in us.

Every hidden pride.

Every secret compromise.

Every double life.

Every spiritual performance.

Every place where we have learned how to “look alive” while becoming dry within.

Your Word says: “Having a form of godliness but denying its power.” 2 Timothy 3:5

Lord, save us from powerless religion.

Save us from dead tradition.

Save us from cold familiarity with holy things.

Awaken awe in us again.

Let the fear of the Lord return to Your Church not terror, but holy reverence.

Let us behold the beauty of Jesus again until lesser things lose their grip on us.

Your Word says: “One thing I have desired of the Lord, that will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord.” Psalm 27:4

Jesus, be our one thing again.

Not success.

Not image.

Not comfort.

Not popularity.

Not even ministry.

You. Only You.

Let our lives become simple again, simple devotion to Christ.

Your Word says: “I fear, lest somehow your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3

Bring us back to simplicity.

Back to humility.

Back to childlike faith.

Back to obedience.

Back to the cross.

Teach us what it means to truly carry our cross daily and follow You.

Teach us to die to self so Christ may live fully within us.

“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” Galatians 2:20

Lord, let Christ live in us.

Not just through our words, but through our attitudes, our reactions, our love, our purity, our forgiveness, our compassion, and our surrender.

Make us real.

Real in prayer.

Real in worship.

Real in repentance.

Real in love.

Real in holiness.

And if revival begins anywhere, let it begin in the hidden places of the heart.

Not merely in meetings, but in intimacy with Jesus.

Not merely in noise, but in surrender.

Not merely in emotion, but in transformation.

Lord, breathe upon Your people again.

Revive hearts that have become weary.

Restore those who have become disillusioned.

Heal those who have been hurt by hypocrisy and religious emptiness.

Draw wandering hearts back to Yourself.

Your Word says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

So we come to You again.

Not to religion.

Not to performance.

Not to appearances.

To You.

Because You alone are life.

You alone satisfy the soul.

You alone are Worthy!

Keep us near to you Jesus.

Keep us near Your heart.

Keep us filled with the Holy Spirit.

Keep us abiding in Your love.

And let Christ once again become the blazing center of everything.

In the mighty and beautiful name of Jesus Christ we pray.

Amen