Waysides Along the Journey 7, Chapter 4
Waysides Along the Journey 7, Chapter Four: Salvation is the Gate
Here is a book I published in 2018. Someone told Amazon that I never wrote this or any of the books I have written. I couldn’t afford to defend myself so I was no longer able to sell my books.
Click on the Amazon link below for more information:
I serendipitously found an old editor’s copy today of my book, and quickly perused it, in a stroll down memory lane.
Chapter four caught my attention so I am posting it today.
Salvation is the Gate
Salvation is the gate
Maturation
Is the Rest of the journey.
Evangelism is an important
Function of the church.
We should rejoice
As much as the angels
Whenever a sinner repents
And asks Jesus for pardon.
Do not believe for an instant
That this is end of the journey.
Salvation is the ultimate milestone.
Salvation is, however, a gate.
Jesus is the only way
Through that gate.
Having entered that gate,
It is not time to pat yourself on the back.
Eventually a waymark arrives.
You will then have a choice
Of resisting Jesus,
Or accepting
His guidance and purification.
Salvation is the entrance
To the next plateau
Of our walk with Jesus Christ.
Many will as Paul wrote
Exit this life
As if they’ve lost everything,
And were saved from death,
By being rescued from fire.
No rewards,
No “well done, good and faithful servant,”
But they made it.
We may one day
Be surprised at the ones
Who seemed to have fallen away,
But were saved
And never matured.
Jesus knows.
What is worse,
Is that “Christians” exist
Who have learned
All the expected buzzwords
And maybe even teach
A Sunday School class.
We may one day be surprised
When Jesus says,
“Depart from Me.
I never knew you.”
They have never responded
To God’s call.
If they did “repent,”
It was a fabrication.
Parroted words
That were not
From the heart
of a repentant sinner.
Yet they have been told
That because they have repeated
“The Magic Words”
They are irrevocably saved.
What if they did not honestly
Repent of their sins,
But merely mentally mimicked
The words of a salvation salesman?
What was their motive
For coming forward?
Did they “accept” salvation
To please their family?
Did they go forward
Because of motivational techniques
Rather than because the Holy Spirit
Had wooed them at the proper time?
Did they go forward
As part of an agenda
To win the heart
Of a prospective mate?
Thankfully, even these
May have a change of heart
And sincerely repent
In the fullness of time.
Woe to those who never do.
Woe to those who fall away
And go back to the world.
Woe to those who warm a pew
Or comfy recliner
As a religious convert
Who never truly converted to Christ.
If the last stanza
Angers you
Or fills you with fear,
Don’t listen
To the whispers of devils!
Sincerely seek Jesus
And make things right!
If you weren’t saved,
Sincere repentance to Jesus
Brings salvation.
If you were saved,
You are just being called
To repent of resisting
Jesus’ purification
And maturation program.
Salvation is not
Jesus plus anything!
It is not Jesus + tongues.
It is not Jesus +
Serving Him
As both Savior and Lord.
It is not Jesus +
Kingdom works
From giving to preaching.
It is not Jesus +
Denominational membership
In a 50lC3 property.
That said,
You need to believe
In the necessity
Of your need to repent.
You need to have faith
in the finished work of Jesus.
You need to ask
In sincerity
At the wooing
Of the Holy Spirit.
That said,
If we receive salvation,
But refuse to cooperate
With the work of the Holy Spirit,
Hindering the sanctification process,
Such behavior hampers our maturation,
Our protection,
Our blessing,
Our growth,
Answers to prayer,
And sensitivity to the Holy Spirit.
When we come to Christ
We need to allow Him
“Precept upon precept”
To remove the dross
From our life
And become
More and more
Jesus Christ.
We must work
With our hands
And provide food,
Raiment,
Shelter,
Love, and discipline
For ourselves
And for our families.
We must not neglect
our need to mature spiritually.
We must not allow our vocations
Or our entertainments,
Or even the families
We are called
To love and cherish,
Become idols
Or tools to cool
Our hearts towards Jesus.
We must not forsake
The assembling together.
We must remember though,
Assembling means
Gathering with the saints.
It does not mean
Gathering in a traditional building,
Joining a denomination,
Applying for a government license,
Submitting to a pastor
And a board of elders.
While such things
May be useful and beneficial
They do not define “church.”
While many people,
Including myself,
May carelessly use
The phrase
“Go to church,”
Whether we meet
In traditional buildings or homes,
Such things
Are not the church.
We are the church.
Traditional buildings
Or living rooms
Are merely convenient meeting places.
Pews and stained-glass windows
Do not define
What comprises a church
Nor do chairs or coffee tables.
Steeple-topped edifices
And homes
Are not people.
Buildings are not
The royal priesthood!
Christians are people
Not structures.
The “called out ones”
Are the ecclesia of Jesus.
We – the saints of Jesus-
Are temples
Not made
With human hands.
Never forget
That while Satan hates
When a sinner comes to Christ,
What he fears
Is the Christian
Who matures spiritually.
Mature Christians
Are resistant (but not immune)
To temptation and demonical attacks.
Mature Christians
Are more efficient
At hearing
From the Holy Spirit
And more efficient
At doing the work
Of the Kingdom
For Jesus.
Don’t make
The mistake of assuming
That a man
Or a woman’s maturity
Is defined
By their physical age
Or intellectual prowess.
While time
And our knowledge
Of the Word
May be beneficial
To growing in Christ,
I have seen many Christians
With wrinkles, rolls, and gray hair,
With or without
Advanced seminary degrees,
Who are not
Role models
To the flock
Under their watch care.
They may hold
The highest positions,
Whether they meet
In traditional churches
Or in the member’s living rooms,
But spiritually
They are toddlers
Who rule over
Their brothers and sisters.
Great kahunas
Focused
On advancing
Their personal agendas.
Rather than serving
As servant leaders,
These men
And women concentrate
On fulfilling
The lusts of their flesh
And controlling “their” flock.
If your leaders
Or other saints
In your flocks
Are humble,
Loving
And progressing in spiritual maturity,
Thank Jesus.
Emulate
And respect
Your spiritual leaders.
Love them
As you love
Each other.
Do not devote yourself to them.
Devote yourself to Jesus.
Do not give
Your leaders preeminence
Over Jesus.
Do not denigrate
The centrality of Christ.
Do not break
Your covenant with Jesus
By going back under the law.
If your leaders
Or other saints
In your flocks
Are naked and blind,
Worldly,
And coldly religious
Pray for them.
By your true Christian behavior,
And your prayers,
You may influence them for good.
Do not be discouraged
If,
When change for the better
Does not come,
That Jesus moves you on.
If that happens,
View it as just another step
In your journey with Jesus
Which He used
To purify and mature you.
Trust Jesus
As you travel forward
-whether alone
Or with an entourage-
As you travel
To the next wayside
Along the journey.
From Waysides Along the Journey 7: Free Camel Rides and Tea, copyright 2018.
Thanks for reading!
