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No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24 (KJV)

Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. Romans 12:2 (KJV)

Ye adulterers and adulteresses know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4 (KJV)

Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians 3:2

For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother. Matthew 12:50 (KJV)

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 2 Corinthians 6:14-16 (KJV)

And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be ****ed. Mark 16:15, 16 (KJV)

It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes. Psalm 118:8, 9 (KJV)

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (KJV)

Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Matthew 7:20 (KJV)

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. Psalm 1:1 (KJV)

Before one can answer the question posed by the title, they must understand the meaning of the term 'Follower of Christ'. Many people, in fact most of the people in the United States, profess to be Christians, but does that mean that they are fulfilling the commands that the God of the Bible has given to those who will follow Him or does it mean that they just have some type of an emotional or historic connection with the God of the Bible? Was that linkage to God established by some event that took place in years gone by or is it an active every day 24/7 link? The difference between being an active follower of Christ and just living with the profession that you are a Christian is the difference between life and death. The very reason that God gave us the Bible was so that we would have an operator's manual to give us His directions and recipe for being one of His true followers. God has said that it does matter how we play this game we call life, that there is only one Rule Maker, there is one set of rules and one game Official who will determine whether we have played by His rules. Life is not like a board game where you can play to the end and then decide that you will replay to win two out of three trials, nor is it like golf where it is sometimes permissible to have a mulligan to see if you can do better with a second shot. Further, unlike other games, we do not know when the game will end, so there can be no two minute drill like we see in football to try and gain a winning score. No, life is a one-time exercise with no promise of a two-minute warning that the game is about to come to a close.

God alone knows when each of us will finish our game and at that time He will be the Judge that determines whether we played by His system and passed or ignored His rules and failed. Probably the most horrible picture in the Bible is found in chapter 15, verses 12 through 15 of the Book of Revelations,; 'And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.' It is at that time that every one of us will stand before God to hear a complete account of our life. Every word uttered, every thought revealed, every action taken will all be judged according to His Book of life, the Bible. But, the real secret to success is to have your name written in the Book of Life, and that is not determined by your works but by your personal profession that you have trusted solely in Jesus Christ as your Savior.

If this judgment awaits each one of us and will be a complete unveiling of our lives than why is it that we live as if we were the ones who could decide how to interpret the rules of life and that there would be no consequences for how we play the game? Is it because we really do not believe that what is written in the Bible has any authority over us? It cannot be because we believe there is no God, for in that case we would not even concern ourselves about claiming to be a Christian. Therefore, the presence of that profession suggests that we have some innate belief in a god, but one of our own choosing. One who can be satisfied by our having created a relationship through an institutional act and then trusting that in the final judgment the balance sheet for life will show that our good outweighed our bad and the final tally is in the black. Do we not understand that the God of the Bible has told us that we have nothing in our own bank account that will pay for our redemption and that only the shed blood of God's Son can cover the gaping deficit of our sinful lives? In the end, do we even believe the Bible has any meaning to us or that there is any authority over us? Is that trust in some historical event from years past, whether it be Baptism, walking an aisle during an altar call, confirmation or an emotional agreement with a scripture tract profession; or is it in the daily life of trusting in the saving grace given to us by the shed blood of Jesus Christ? Is our profession evidenced by those we spend time with, the entertainment and activities we enjoy or the people and issues that we vote for? The love of the world has always competed with the love and following of Christ, but there has never been a time when it has been so important to destroy opinions and seek the reality of the true Authority.

We have become an enlightened people. We have overcome many obstacles and have emerged into an age of technology where we can communicate with people around the world in real time and trade in any of our electronic devices for an improved model within a month of first ownership, because the rate of technological change has surpassed our ability to own a machine that has not been superseded by the time we can buy it. We have access to more information, including translations, commentaries, movies, videos, dictionaries and study guides about the Bible than ever in history. Yet we are further from being able to establish the simple relationship with the author of the Bible as He directed in Matthew 18:3, 4 (KJV): '… Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.' We have become too sophisticated and learned to humble ourselves and trust in the Lord of the Bible as the little spiritual children we actually are.

The verses cited at the top of this article reveal how God feels about the choice between following Him or enjoying a life of friendship with the world. To Him it does matter, because He knows that the way of the world is the way of death, and He has called each of us to escape that certain death by being a follower of His Son and enjoying the peace that only He can give now and an eternity of blessings while residing in His mansion. He has done more than to just give us warnings about the death brought about through being friends with the world. He is so concerned about our well being that He has warned us about even becoming entangled with those people of the world that will pull us into their death trap. He gave such a warning in Deuteronomy chapter thirty and verses 15 through 18: 'See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil; In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it. But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them; I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan to go to possess it.'

Every time Israel entered a new land they were warned about marrying those who worshiped other gods and thus becoming friends with the world and falling away from following the God who had led them out of Egypt. The Israelites of old did not heed His warnings about not mingling with those who followed other gods and repeatedly found themselves swirling out of control and into the bondage of servitude and persecution. Paul also gave the Corinthians the same warning in his second letter, above. He knew that harm would come to Christ's followers if they chose to become entangled with those who are not followers. Neither of these references suggests that we should live apart from the world, an impossible task, but that we not enter into such relationships that we are forced to compromise our profession of following Christ.

Well, the mid-term report is in and the score sheet does not look good. In fact, it reveals exactly what was forecast for those who chose to ignore God and the reality that ever since Adam and Eve committed the first sin we all have lived under the condemnation of total depravity, and that God's entire creation has been in a destructive mode. We not only see the consequences of sin in our public lives but also in the death and destruction throughout all of creation, whether it is blighted forests, disappearing species or tsunami ravaged shorelines. Man has not known a day without tears of pain and suffering from disease, war, tragic catastrophes or the loss of loved ones, which have come from the results of man's sin. We have become a culture that wants to build lives from the outside in and not from the inside out. We want godly results without the presence of God. So just how does the score card read?

We are daily immersed in the evidence that the removal of God from both our public and personal realms is resulting in a chaos of ungodly behavior. The evidence that we can no longer think and act rationally is our daily diet of unending economic misbehavior by leaders who have no scruples, loyalty to the nation they have sworn to serve, or the well-being of their fellow citizens when they create debt of unfathomable amounts that will enslave generations to come and rob the present generation of their wealth by planned inflation. Christian principles are routinely disregarded by both private and government leaders through their efforts to feather their own nests by means of corrupt relationships and illegal services, thus disregarding the biblical principle that we are all to be involved in honest labor and to live by the fruits of it. In Paul's writings he says "..that if any would not work, neither should he eat." 2 Thessalonians 3:10 (KJV). Of course, in this case he is writing to Christians and this is only directive upon those who can work and but refuse to use their God given talents. What has happened is the government has overruled that principle and has created a class of citizens who have voluntarily become slaves to the government by accepting their handouts along with the expectation that their needs will continue to be met by the fruits of other's labors, through income redistribution. We witnessed this cultural breakdown following Katrina while the opposite attitude has been displayed by the tsunami ravaged Japanese people who have shown that they are their own line of first defense and have been gracious about protecting each other and sharing their needs instead of waiting for service and hoarding limited supplies. There has also been a significant difference in the act of looting and respecting the property of others. Such behavior is the outgrowth of a culture, or sub-culture that has turned its back upon previously practiced biblical principles. Even though the Japanese are not a Christian culture they still retain a high degree of self-determination and self-imposed honor.

We see evidence that no longer do our leaders understand the interaction of cause and effects by proposing that nation-states, without the cultural character necessary for consideration of equality, being prompted to create a democracy through a voting program. An election does not bring about a democracy if the people doing the voting do not have a prior disposition towards democratic rule and equality of all people and ballots. The testimony and deliberations of our founding fathers evidenced their strong belief in the God of the universe as they prepared the documentation for the creation of a democratic republic, and then the elections. Even our own nation, which has become pompous about our superior democratic processes, cannot even assure the electorate they have had the benefit of an honest and fair election. It has just been reported that in the last presidential election over five thousand illegal aliens cast ballots in Colorado. Yet, just eight years prior countless hours were spent counting and recounting ballots in Florida to try and determine an accurate count, which would declare who was the winner of the presidential race. Minnesota spent weeks recounting ballots to determine the winner of a senate race, under the directorship of a party ally to the eventual winner, in which for weeks afterwards newly discovered ballots were mysteriously found that eventually resulted in the race being won by the favored son of the Secretary of State.

One of the more odious aspects of a culture that has turned away from its godly principles is the willingness to determine who should live and who should die. The government has taken the place of God, who set forth the principles for the taking of men's lives. For example in Exodus 20:12 He said, "He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death." (KJV). But today an increasing number of states are doing away with capital punishment for murderers but are permitting capital punishment to proceed, with government assistance, against over one million innocent babies in the womb each year. Through the auspices of the new health program the government plans to set up death panels so that the bureaucracy can decide who and when the old people are to no longer receive adequate health care. Can a culture survive when God's principles no longer underlie the standards of conduct and the innocent and aged are marked for death because they have been determined to have less value and a poor quality of life?

Even the institutional church, God's agent to a lost world, is losing its sense of direction as it proceeds to move ahead by skirting the principles that God placed in His rule book. The three road blocks the world has successfully implanted so it can be the guardian of conduct, speech and morals has taken their toll on the church. Instead of ignoring the world's ways, the church has chosen to honor those three road blocks; political correctness, diversity and multi-culturalism. By giving assent to these cultural barriers the church has partnered with the world in redefining sin so that no longer does it seem as though a person must obey God and seek the protection of His Son's shed blood but can define their own rules in a system controlled by situational ethics. Thus it is no longer about Him but about me and how I can have it both ways since I am free to change the rules as I proceed. The church is also failing the family by no longer being an active player in the content of the government operated school systems. Traditional values no longer carry the day at school as alien religions are given free access to the classrooms and minds of the children, while Christianity is banned, and the biblical account of creation cannot be considered as an alternative basis for the creation of life. Through this method the world is able to capture many of the children from Christian homes before they graduate from High School. The church is silent as the school is winning the battle set forth by John Dewey in 1952 to capture the minds of students so that man will no longer concern himself with God or the existence of absolutes. Is it any wonder that Ken Ham's block-buster book, 'Already Gone' has touched the hearts of parents who want their children to follow Christ and not the world?

Churches have also bought into the practice of tolerance at the expense of biblical truth. No longer is the Bible the sole basis for their faith and practice since they have opened their pulpits to women, in violation of numerous admonitions by Paul (1 Timothy 2:9-12, 1 Timothy 3:12,), to homosexuals, people who need our love but not qualified to minister (Romans 1:22 - 26, 1 Corinthians 6:9), supported abortion and have offered the use of their facilities to a religion whose basic goal is to eradicate all evidences of Christianity. While God is tolerant in love, grace and mercy, He is never tolerant in contradiction to His written Word.

So, we have seen what God has said about the price of following the world and have looked at several examples that show that in deed the world is pursuing a path to self-destruction, so how does that relate to me and what choices do I have?

The only real choice that one has is the decision to follow Christ by surrendering to His call and then to live according to the prescription He has set forth. It is not a matter of whether you are a success in the eyes of the world, or whether you achieve personal wealth, but whether you secure a future where the treasures of your heart will be focused on the joy of spending an eternity in the presence of Christ, with all of the glory of His Kingdom and not the torment of the Hell described in the Book of Revelations. Christ puts forth the alternatives in such terms that even if one should gain the entire world it is nothing in eternal terms if you lose your soul. 'For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?' Matthew 16:26 (KJV). What we see while living here is nothing compared to what eternity holds for us.

Christ cannot be satisfied by our works, even if we include baptism, an altar call response or other profession if we do not live so that our lives produce fruit for His harvest. The Bible sets forth the life style that He has chosen for His followers and it is not a uniform code of conduct that is regimented in our lives. But, He has a tailor made process that blends His given acts of obedience with the talents that He has given to each of us. We will all be a part of the Body of Christ but we will not all be eyes, or ears, or fingers or legs. We will be what He has fitted us for. But, there are certain processes that He has told us are necessary for us to develop our skills to properly represent Him. Such things as to be constant in prayer (Acts 6:4, Romans 12:12, 1 Thessalonians 5:17), studying the Bible (2 Timothy 2:15), enjoying regular fellowship with the saints (1 John 1:7, Philippians 1:5, Hebrews 10:25), financially supporting the ministry (Malachi 3:8, Acts 5:1 & 2), ministering to the saints (2 Corinthians 8:4, Philippians 1:3) and serving others (Matthew 23:11, John 12:26, Romans 6:18).

The pathway to being a follower of Christ is a two step process, first receiving the gift of eternal life, solely by grace through faith, in the form of salvation and then to grow in grace through the continual walk with Christ. By walking with Christ you will be known by your fruits and no longer will you live to experience the second death. Your life's motto will become: Sola Gracia (Be grace alone), Sola fide (By faith alone), Sola scriptura ( By Scripture alone) and Solo Christo (Christ alone)



Distributed by www.worldviewweekend.com

By Clyde F. Autio

The world was created for us to enjoy GOD,
but
we enjoy the world & forget God the creator.