The Shock After

I was watching a sermon, via satellite television, recently. The theme of the sermon was on "The Shock on The Day of Judgement" . This was according to scripture from Matthew: 7, 21 - 23 , Matthew: 25, 11 - 12 , Luke:13, 26 - 27 and 1 John: 4, 20 .

The Lord is telling us that it is not everyone who says "Lord, Lord" to Him that shall enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

There is a tendency to think that, by doing what is perceived to be "good" in the eyes of men, it will make one righteous. This is not necessarily the case.

A good deed maybe done in bad faith. For example, one can give you a gift (which is a good act in itself ) but with an intention to get a favour from you. The "gift" then becomes a bribe and is a crime which is punishable by law.

In the Bible there is a story of a man who died when he got hold of the ark of God as it lost balance whilst being transported.

The Lord had commanded that the ark was not to be touched at all .

"When they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached out and grabbed hold of the ark of God, because the oxen stumbled. The Lord was so furious with Uzzah, he killed him on the spot for his negligence. He died right there beside the ark of God." (2 Samuel 6:6-7).

A lot of people have been trapped by machinations of others which are intended to lure them into sin.

Consider the imaginary story of a couple that has been married for thirty years and has four children. The man is send for a six month course overseas. Whilst there, he falls in love with a woman who is a fellow trainee at the institution where the course is conducted.

For thirty years the couple was happily married, until when the man meets the other woman who lures him into sin. This is like the story of Uzzah who grabbed and got hold of the ark of God. His excuse ? "because the oxen stumbled" !

He decides to divorce his wife of thirty years because of the alleged infidelity. He engages a divorce lawyer so that the woman he met overseas is able to marry him as soon as he comes back from training. The couple which is about to be divorced, had married and made their vows before God in a church. This comes as a shock to fellow christian members. His reason for divorce is an allegation that the wife has been unfaithful to him whilst he was overseas. He even got some photos taken by a "private detective" showing his wife in the company of other men at late hours. These photos are actually doctored to suit the alleged unfaithfulness.

On arrival at the airport from overseas, the man and his fiancee are not received by any family members. They do not approve of the marriage .

A $10,000 wedding is planned to take place within a month of their arrival.

They decide to stay in a rented flat where they are to stay for sometime before they buy a house to live in.

Their wedding is attended by a handful of people. The church to which the man and his wife had been members for many years of their lives has nothing to do with it.

On the day of the wedding, they are struck by a bolt of lightning, moments before they make their vows before a priest, who was hired to marry them.

The priest survives and is hospitalised for thirty days as a result of burns he sustains from the bolt of lightning.

The lesson we learn from this fictious story is this :
"If anyone says "I love God" and yet hates his fellow Christian, he is a liar, because the one who does not love his fellow Christian whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen." (1 John 4:20).

Christianity is about following the will of God, not the whims of men.