08.05 - Some Concluding Thoughts
8.5 SOME CONCLUDING THOUGHTS
We need to conclude right where we began: with an appeal to the authority of the word of God. These things are irrelevant if you still feel that the bible cannot be understood, or that it cannot be understood alike, or that it is not the absolute and ultimate authority by which God has communicated with us. However, if you are convinced that God has given us His word to "thoroughly furnish us unto every good work," then you are compelled to leave the system of myths propagated by the denominations and find others who have the same faith that you have -- a faith that is sufficient to enable us to be like Abraham, "... when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went" (Heb 11:8).
Indeed, the decision to leave the religious environment of one’s lifetime is a leap which requires as much faith as Abraham had. God is not a respecter of persons; he expects us to reject sin, even if all of our friends and relatives are steeped in it. But before you start feeling sorry for yourself, listen to the words of Jesus (Mark 10:29-30): And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel’s, But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life. From this we can see that salvation is a matter of faith, not works. For, if we receive even on this earth a hundredfold more than we sacrifice, how can we think that it could possibly be earned. But the further implication of this verse is that, generally, we will have to leave many of the things that we hold most dear if, in fact, they are not consistent with our following Jesus.
So, where does this leave us? Our relationship with God must come first. Absolutely nothing should get in the way of this service. This is the reason that Jesus said: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Mat 18:20). If we want Jesus in our midst, let us do everything in His name, which means by His authority. If that means that we are only two or three, so be it. But recognize the following as well: "For where two or three thousand are gathered together in any other than my name, I will not be in their midst."