Introduction
Many only get serious when they face death, or a life-threatening situation. Where is our spiritual address? Is it in fear, worry, anxiety, loss, disbelief or doubt? Or in the world? Then we are lost. Instead, God wants our address to be in His grace. As people of God, when will we get serious about our faith? Tomorrow? Later? No, the time has to be now. God doesn’t want a religious seriousness of living a life in fear of punishment, but a life that is genuinely serious because we love God.
1. The Seriousness of the Non-Believers Spiritual State
“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (42-47)
Sin is not just something that can be overlooked. God is holy and sin cannot be with him. If we took everything in the scripture literally, none of us would have our eyes, feet or hands, but that’s how serious sin is and how real Hell is. As Christians, how should we understand the scripture when we are already saved and will go to Heaven? God despises sin. When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, they spiritually died. God blessed Adam and Eve with everything they could want, and built a special relationship with us. The problem wasn’t Adam and Eve eating the fruit. The problem was they challenged and rebelled against God by wanting to be like him. Then why do we continue to sin? Because our consciousness is dead. The sin that is deeper than anything we can commit is our spiritual state as we commit them. We are spiritually dead, and have no choice but to live a life of Hell on earth and eventually go to Hell. Sin is not just a singular action, but our heart. Not believing in God’s promises is sin. It’s a spiritual curse: our fate. We cannot escape it. There is no need to envy the world. Without faith, there is no life and we live enslaved under the power of Satan and hell. This is our harsh reality. The only escape we have is God’s provision of Jesus Christ. Nothing else can rescue us but Jesus Christ but there must be a punishment, because God is righteous and the Judge and cannot overlook our sin. And so, Jesus came and walked among us. He died to free us from the curse of sin and resurrected, giving us eternal life. The price to save us was not cheap: God himself had to die for us. But now, he is with us by his Holy Spirit, guiding us so that we now have the power to live freed from sin. That’s why it says in the bible to offer ourselves as a living sacrifice by living for the kingdom of God.
2. The Seriousness of our Spiritual State in Christ
There are many Christians, but among them, there are many who are carnal Christians. Christians who have been saved but still live in the world. They do not take their faith seriously and take sin lightly. They still live under the authority of sin, and live powerless lives, even though God has given us the authority to reign over the world. Muslims take their faith seriously and pray 5 times a day. Are we that serious about our faith? God has given us everything and sent us as ambassadors and representatives of the kingdom of God, but we’re losing out on the greatest answer of meeting our friends and family in heaven by sharing Jesus Christ with them. When we are going to get serious if not now? Many say they’ll get serious when they have more time, but no one knows when they will die. When is the right time for us to get serious? Now. How do we get serious? By making that confession: “Lord, I am weak. I need you. Please be the master of my life.”
3. The Importance of Salt and our Identity
“For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (49-50)
Back then, people used salt to purify, but in the scripture, they use fire to purify. When we face trials of fire, God will purify us like solid gold. If salt is no longer salty, it’s useless and must be thrown out. As children of God, we must stand knowing our true identity as remnants. First, we are those who remain. There were so many remnants in the bible God called and used. We are those remnants. God has called us to live fruitful lives for the kingdom of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is the blessing of those who remain. Second, God called us as pilgrims or sojourners, who are on a journey. This world is not our home. We are simply passing through. God will allow us to go through hardship, so they can be stepping stones we can stand on as witnesses. Third, we are conquerors. We’re not called by God as losers but we lose so much to nonbelievers throughout the week. God called us to conquer our field.
“‘And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.’ The Holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah 6:13)
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me, I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:4-5
Conclusion
What is a spiritual summit? Someone who is serious about their faith, about their covenant journey. Let’s become serious about our faith, building a system to connect with the throne of God everyday.