The Fellowship of His
Sufferings
"That I may know Him
and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His Death."
Phil. 13:10
"If anyone desires to
come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
Me!" Matt 16:24
You can only Know Christ in the Power of His resurrection if you are willing to partake in the fellowship of His sufferings. That's why FEW will enter the Kingdom. The Narrow Gate & Difficult Path may not be preached in the modern church, but nothing can change the Truth of Christ's Own Gospel! Matt 7:13-23
You
will either take on the Mind of Christ, Phil. 12:5, Crucify your own passions
& desires, Ga1 5:24, Purify your heart by obedience to the Truth, I Pet l
:22, or continue to walk in darkness making a false profession of faith. You
may think yourself saved by Grace through faith, not of works, Eph 2:8-9, but
unless your life is showing forth the EVIDENCE of true conversion you have
received the grace of God in Vain! ll
Cor 15:2
When
All things become New, ll Cor 5:I7, you will take on a New attitude about sin.
You will stop making excuses and Start 'Hungering and Thirsting after
Righteousness!' If you are destitute of this desire for genuine heart purity
and freedom from the bondage of sin, you HAVE NOT Received the Living Christ!
Rom 6:15-18
One
of the Clearest signs of phony Christianity in today's converts is a lax
attitude toward sin. Because you have NEVER heard the true message of
scripture, you remain in bondage to your sin, believing yourself to be saved by
Grace, when you haven't one single shred of Obedient Faith in your heart!
"Do
you NOT know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that
one's slave whom you obey, whether sin to death or obedience to righteousness.
But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you OBEYED from the
heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set
free from sin, you become slaves to Righteousness!" Rom 6:15-18
Stated
in human terms for the weakness of your flesh!
Yet
you will continue in your delusion, professing to know Christ and be assured of
heaven when you die, while ignoring the Word of God and living your worldly
lifestyle.
Most
people have only heard half of the Gospel. They know that Christ loves them,
that He lived, died and rose again for the sins of man. And if they 'believe* in
Him they have eternal salvation through His name.
But
they have no idea whatsoever that God intends to Judge sin and take vengeance
on the sinners who refuse to obey His Truth! Rom 2:7-10
"When
the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire
taking vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not OBEY the
gospel. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence
of the Lord!" 2 Thess 1:8-9
This
is why the Apostles warned those who would listen, to be Saved from this
perverse generation! Acts 2:40. FLEE to God, Obey Him, forsake your sinful
ways!
But
you still think all that's required is for you to believe in Christ and
everything will be just fine. Even if you never do anything to prove you Love
God. That's why you won't heed His warnings, even given in love.
"Or
do you despise the riches of His goodness, patience and longsuffering, not
knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" Rom 2:4
The
Reason you think God is 'blessing' your life is because He's giving you time to
REPENT before He pours out His wrath on your head!
"Therefore
consider the goodness and Severity of God: on those who fell severity, but toward
you goodness, IF you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut
off!" Rom 11:22 Is it fair for
your preachers to Withhold these warnings? God Will Judge sin according to the
scriptures. How awful to appear at the Great Judgment not knowing that you Will
be sent away in sorrow because you NEVER obeyed God! Matt 7:21-23 You will be
crying out for the blood of the preachers who never took the time to warn you!
Although
all men are without excuse before God, the stricter Judgment goes to the
preachers. Woe unto them for withholding the 'severity' of God. James 3:1. They
could have at least made an effort to define what 'believe' means. But all they
did was tell you time and again, 'Just believe on Christ and everything will be
fine.' Had they included a brief description of what believing really is, it
may have made a difference! "Trust in, Cling to, rely on." Is the
literal meaning of the word. Quite a bit more than just 'knowing'.
*The
devils know and tremble!" James 2:19
Unless
you are 'Making every effort' to enter by the Narrow Gate, Luke 13:24 and
Obeying the Words of Christ as revealed in His Word, John 14:15, you're just
kidding yourself about salvation. Everybody 'thinks' they're saved, but FEW
really are. Don't wait until the Judgment to find out. God says... "He will render to each one according
to his deeds. Eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good
seek for glory, honor & immortality, but to those who are self-seeking
& DO NOT OBEY the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation & wrath.
" Rom 2:7-8
You
cannot explain it away. There's no getting around it. Being Saved means
following Jesus to the end. He said by: 'PATIENT CONTINUANCE' in doing good.
What more do you need?
Obedience
to the Truth will save your soul! Otherwise your 'knowing' is in Vain. Ask
yourself, "Why do I profess to know God and NEVER read His Word, Obey His
commandments, witness to others, or Purify my heart? I John 2:3-6 The Bible
says you can 'Deceive yourself' by NOT being a DOER of the Word! James 1:22
You
can partake in the Power of His resurrection & the fellowship of his
sufferings, NOT by self debasement, but by Taking on the Mind of Christ and
letting Him purity your motives, destroy your self-seeking and transform you
into a true Child of God.
Contact: Mike DeSario
mike@antiosas.org
2172 Marhofer Ave Stow, OH 44224
330-945-4346