CHRISTIAN CHECK-UP

TEEN TREE OF LIFE
CHRISTIAN
CHECK-UP
November 4, 2018

Before you begin, ask yourself a very important question: Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins? If you answered yes, you will need to be sure that you are filled with The Holy Spirit. How do you do this? You name your sins to God The Father in His Son’s Name. This is called rebound. As a Christian, you must rebound any time you sin. This is taught in 1JOHN 1:9: If we confess our sins [directly to God], He [God] is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, if you have never believed that Jesus Christ died on The Cross for all of your sins, all you have to do is say to yourself that you believe in Him and you are saved! The Bible verse which teaches us this is ACTS 16:31: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.”

Every so often, as believers, we need to give ourselves a Christian Check-Up. It’s like a medical check-up which most people get once a year. But your Christian Check-Up needs to be done more often! To start the check-up, you need to think about your life from a different perspective. Do you know what Divine Viewpoint is? It’s the very thinking of Christ. Once a Christian has accepted Jesus Christ’s Finished Work on The Cross, he has to change the way he thinks. The only way to do this is to learn Bible doctrine. The apostle Paul wrote: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. (ROM 12:2) Learning God’s Word renews your mind and in doing so, you acquire the Mind of Christ: For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. (1CO 2:16)
Acquiring the Mind of Christ doesn’t happen overnight but in order to grow spiritually, you have to stick with it.

The apostle John was with Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ during the last two weeks of His life. His messages to us are extremely valuable. The first verse he wrote in the Bible states: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. (JOH 1:1) So what does that tell you? David wrote: I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name. (PSA 138:2 NKJV) If God MAGNIFIED His Word above His Name, what is the logical conclusion? You have to continue to study, learn and apply God’s Word!

Let’s talk about death. Not a happy subject. Everyone, at some point in time, fears death. Satan wants you to fear death. But if you know where you’re headed after you die, how can you be afraid? ACTS 16:31 says: Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved… The most important decision in any person’s life is that simple. And that’s your ticket to heaven! Some Christian churches teach that heaven is the place you might go to when you die. What do you believe? Jesus Christ said: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (JOH 3:16) Have you ever wondered how long eternity is? Hendrik Willem Van Loon wrote: “High up in the north, in the land called Svithjod, there stands a rock. It is a hundred miles high and a hundred miles wide. Once every thousand years a little bird comes to this rock to sharpen its beak. When the rock has thus been worn away, then a single day of eternity will have gone by.” (“The Story of Mankind”) This analogy doesn’t scratch the surface. Eternity is forever…

Some Christian churches teach you to invite Jesus into your heart in order to be saved. They couldn’t be more ridiculous. God’s Word teaches that faith alone, in Christ alone, is all you need to be saved: “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (EPH 2:8-9). It’s so clear, isn’t it? Salvation is a gift from God to the whole world. It’s a Grace Gift which simply means that God gave it to you with no strings attached. He did all the work and you get all the benefits! Do you thank God for His Graciousness toward you? You should!!

You can't be saved by water baptism or by promising you’ll never sin again. These things are called “works.” They are things you can do whether you’re a believer or an unbeliever. If God did all the work (and He did!!!), why would we have to do anything more? By adding “works” to faith, you’re removing God’s Grace from the picture and calling God a liar! Paul describes works perfectly: Or, to put it another way, you are God’s house. Using the gift God gave me [Paul] as a good architect, I designed blueprints; Apollos is putting up the walls. Let each carpenter who comes on the job take care to build on the foundation! Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. (1COR 3:9-15 The Message Bible)

Do you think you can you promise never to sin again? Well, if you do, think again! Why? Because each one of us has an old sin nature. Biblical documentation of the old sin nature is found in ROM 5:12: Therefore, just as through one man [Adam], sin [the old sin nature] entered into the world, and [spiritual] death through [the] sin [nature], so [spiritual] death spread to the entire human race because all sinned…[when Adam sinned].” Immediately after Adam sinned, he acquired an old sin nature and became spiritually dead. We will never stop sinning, plain and simple.

Most Christian churches today also teach that being pleasant and friendly will make you a better Christian. They don’t teach you that learning God’s Word is what does it. The cosmic system – Satan’s system – wants you to focus on being pleasant and friendly so that you won’t focus on God. There’s nothing wrong with being pleasant and friendly but Satan wants you to take your eyes off the things of The Lord. “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (COL 3:1-2) Do you keep your eyes on the things above? If you don’t, you’re going to fail your Christian Check-up!!!

Ask yourself this question the next time you get ready to go to school or out with your friends: am I ready and prepared to go out into the cosmic system? This is a question you’ll have to ask yourself over and over again throughout your entire life. Well, you are preparing yourself right now by reading this. You’re preparing yourself whenever you study God’s Word. Doesn’t that make it crystal clear how important it is?

God’s Word is Empowering! If you study and apply His Word, it will protect you throughout your life. EPH 6:10-18 The Message Bible is an amazing chunk of Bible Doctrine: God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels [fallen angels]. Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet. Truth, righteousness, peace, faith, and salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life. God’s Word is an indispensable weapon. In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare. Pray hard and long. Pray for your brothers and sisters. Keep your eyes open. Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. God has provided everything you need for your Christian Walk. Will you stumble? Yes. Will you be afraid? No doubt! Will you continue to prepare? That’s entirely up to you.

Will you rebound and keep moving? Rebound is the first Problem-Solving Tool of the ten God has given us. Rebound is taught in PSA 32:5: I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Anything you do as a believer without first rebounding (naming and citing your sins to God in His Son’s Name) is worthless. Rebounding is the most important tool you’ll ever use as a Christian.

Here’s a Christian Check-Up check-list:
(Ask yourselves these questions and answer them honestly)

1.Do you rebound periodically throughout the day?

2.Do you study God’s Word daily?

3.Do you apply what you’ve learned?

4.Do you thank God in His Son’s Name as often as possible?

5.Do you pray every day, especially for other believers you know?

6.Do you represent Christ on earth? All believers are made ambassadors for Christ at the moment of Salvation. This means that you represent Him on earth. At the moment of salvation every believer is made a citizen of heaven: But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him. (PHI 3:20-21 The Message Bible) As an ambassador for Christ, you personally represent The Lord Jesus Christ on earth.

7.Do you treat others the way you want them to treat you? “Then those ‘sheep’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’ (MAT 25:37-40 The Message Bible)


Are you ready for eternity?