The Watered Down Christian

I'm going to preach an unpopular message today, friends, but I don't care about receiving a collection or getting an honorarium because most folks quit giving to my ministry years ago. But I will give this message of God and preach it for His glory and ask for His assistance. O great God, I ask You to attend this message today by Your Spirit.

I'm bankrupt without You, Lord. I can't do a thing apart from You. I can't save anyone, but I can point them to Jesus so You can save them.

Come now, O Lord, in Your pungent presence and disturb folks, disturb those who rest upon the sandy ground of an empty religious profession that won't hold up and will one day wash away with the rest of the wicked. Show somebody here that although they are a good church member that they are on the road to hell. Make your word a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces.

Bust up every false foundation and lay them bare and exposed before You and Your unbending law. Pray for some sinner to look and see a bleeding and dying Christ on that bloody cross. Pray these things in the strong name of Jesus.

Amen. I'll never forget the elder who, when called on to lead prayer in church, could sound like an angel that just dropped down from heaven. But if you ever spent time with him in his place of business during the week, he talked like a devil from hell.

And I'll never forget the good Baptist deacons I've known through the years who were covetous, greedy men who would lie to your face and see nothing wrong with it. A man can do choice service at his church for God and yet be an ungodly man. There are two types of people in the world, and I'm not referring to the rich or poor, but to the godly and ungodly.

A saved individual who is born from above and washed in the blood will live a godly life. A hypocrite will talk the talk but will not walk the walk. You are either a godly man or an ungodly man.

You can either be a Christian with your lips or a Christian with your life. And you can be an ungodly man even if you are the chairman of the deacons. A man who are godly will have a respect to all God's commandments.

If a man lives in an evil way, he is not subject to God's authority. To live in rebellion to God is to be condemned in the day of judgment. Because living in a way of sin will damn you in the end.

Because we live in a day of the watered-down Christian. And that's the title of my message today, friends. The watered-down Christian.

But one way of sin is proof enough against a person's salvation. Jesus will denounce the good church worker whose heart is not right with him. Depart from me, all ye that work iniquity.

It's high time a preacher was honest with your soul friend. And honest enough to tell you that if you live in a course of sin, you will die in your sins and surely be cast into devil's hell. I'm not going to candy coat it or sugar coat it.

But like we say in the South, I will give you the oil straight from the can. If there was a time in your life where you responded to an emotional appeal by a minister, and you accepted Jesus as your personal savior, and you joined the church and were baptized, and since that moment in time you have continued to live in a way of sin, then you can bet your bottom dollar that you are still an unconverted individual. Just because some pastor patted you on the back and shook your hand and told you that you were now a Christian won't cut the mustard with God when you die.

If you are an ungodly man in your daily conduct, then you are yet unsaved. If you are an ungodly woman in your daily conduct, then you are yet unsaved. The modern gospel has corrupted the church in an attempt to grow church membership.

Crusade evangelism has told multitudes they were saved by walking down front to accept their brand of Jesus, and they did, but their life was never transformed. They might have cleaned up a little on the outside to fit in better with their new church friends, but their hearts were never changed. They are ungodly individuals who just happen to serve a lot in church.

You are either a godly man or an ungodly man, and you cannot say with your lips that you love Jesus and then deny him as Lord of your life. Psalm 125.5 declares, As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. If a man lives in a way of sin, even if it's a small sin, he is ignorant of the fact that little sins are of a damning nature as well as bigger sins.

A small bullet can kill a man as fast as a nuclear blast. Rebellion against God damns men. There is more than enough rebellion in little sins to damn them.

Proverbs 19.16 declares, He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul, but he that despiseth his way shall die. Like I said, you are either a godly man or an ungodly man, saved or lost. A saved man will be a godly man and pursue a life of holiness.

He may be subject to some great infirmities like Lot or David or Peter, yet his life overall will reflect a course of godly living. But if he lives in a way of sin, it is proved positive that all is not right within, no matter how vocal he or she is in their outward profession of faith. I knew a good church member who had a public reputation as a good Christian, but who, in the daily life of their family, was as mean as a snake.

Sam Jones was telling the truth when he remarked, being a Christian means quitting your meanness. Like I said, friend, at the beginning of this message, I was going to be true to your soul. I don't know if you're a saved individual or not, but God knows if you are or not.

Some men keep clear of great transgressions, but if they keep away a sin in their life, they are not godly. Donald Trump will hold up his Bible and say that he has never once repented, and I believe him. He is an ungodly man who the right heralds as a Christian.

He takes the name of the Lord in vain. He cheats on his so-called wives. He lies every time he opens his mouth, yet multitudes of Christians embrace him and say he is one of them.

The problem is, they are more like him than they realize. We live in a day of the watered-down Christian, but you are either godly or ungodly, saved or lost. Which are you, friend? Are you a watered-down Christian, or one washed in the blood of the Lamb? Eternity hangs in the balance.