This Train is Bound for Glory

The last stop in this life can be glory if we only believe.

2 Thessalonians 2:14 “He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We have been doing Vacation Bible School here at church this week. We have hundreds of people running around playing games, learning bible verses, eating snacks, making crafts, singing songs, learning about Jesus, and doing it all while immersed in a railroad theme. We have been using railroad terminology, dressing up like brakemen, engineers, conductors, and we even have a few old railroad hands helping to run the show.

It has been a great time. Everyone has worked extremely hard to pull off a fantastic week. Even though we have been talking about the railroad, we have really been tying everything in to learning about Jesus.

I would love to say that everyone, young and old alike, are excited to know Jesus, but the truth is, many of us suffer from tunnel vision. We see nothing to the left or to the right. We see only what is ahead of us. We can only see this world. We do not even think about what is to come. We do not see around the bend. We do not see the problem of sin. We do not think about God. We just live our lives as though it is without end, and we never consider our final days. We never think about the eternity that follows our days on earth. That’s right, there is eternity after our final day.

But whether we admit it or not, we all come to the end of the line. Some have just started their journey and the end of the line seems extremely far away. Some of us are older and we know the time is growing near. But really, we have no idea where the end of the line is. Sometimes we get a warning. We are told we have an illness, or we find ourselves in a life-and-death situation. But sometimes the end of the line comes totally unexpected. We are taken by surprise.

Death can hit you like a freight train. If you are not prepared for the end of the line, you can be overwhelmed. You find yourself frantically searching for answers. But if you have given death and what is beyond a bit of thought, you may actually be at peace with the end of life. You are expecting what is to come next. You may even be excited about it. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

You see, a train is not a destination, but transportation to the next depot. And there are only two final destinations. Heaven or Hell. There are no other trains to take you to the other depot should you have chosen poorly.

There are plenty of people who will give their opinion as to what is coming after death. Some will say that all routes lead to heaven. They say that all religions agree, but that simply is not true. They are blowing smoke. Judaism does not agree with Islam. Buddhism does not agree with Hinduism. Christianity does not agree with new age religions, Satanism, or atheism. In fact, Christianity says there is only one way. Jesus. And you never get a second chance. No one comes to hell to tell you the truth. No one gives you a free pass. You are not able to backtrack and get on a different route. Jesus is the only way.

Some will tell you that you must work hard to go to heaven. The problem here is that God is perfect, and anything less than perfection will not measure up! Only perfection can join perfection. So, how can we be perfect? We can’t. But we can be forgiven and when we are forgiven, we become perfect in God’s eyes.

Jesus is the ticket you need to get to heaven. Works for redemption, all other religions, being good, love for family, humanitarian efforts and anything else are simply invalid tickets handed out by Satan. They seem free but require a tremendous price at the end. They may be good things in and of themselves, but they are not the ticket to heaven.

So, we are on a railroad. We are speeding along. We are all headed for a destination. The question is, do you know if you are on the right track? We often recognize the truth when we hear it. We know there is only one way to heaven. We see Jesus for who He truly is. We find ourselves on the right track. Still, others have no clue. They never seem to be able to see the truth and end up living their life in rejection of Jesus.

To make it simple, we are marred by sin (Romans 3:23), and we cannot fix it (Romans 6:23). God gave His son to die for our sins (Romans 5:8). He arose from the dead to defeat death (Romans 10:9). He now waits for us in Heaven. All we must do is believe in Jesus and accept Him as Lord and Savior and proclaim Him to gain the gift of eternal life (Romans 10:10). This sounds easy, but it requires a track change. We cannot continue in the same direction doing the same things. We change. This is what the Holy Spirit does. He changes us. He puts us on the right track. He conducts our new journey.

We had 25 children accept Jesus so far this week and the week is not over. They have switched tracks and are now on a route toward Heaven. I thank God for their salvation and I pray He will use them, and us, in a mighty way!

Which track are you on? The one to heaven or the one to hell. It is not too late to change tracks yet, but we never know when the end of the line is near. I love one of the songs we sang in VBS. The lyrics and the song are pretty simple, but the message is clear. This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory, this train. This train is bound for glory. Jesus made a place in Heaven for me. This train is bound for glory, this train. Which train are you on? I hope and pray it is this train!

What is Your True Identity?

The world sure spends a lot of time trying to figure out who we are and to whom we belong. God gave us the answer to this question centuries ago.

Isaiah 43:1 “But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lord who created you. O Israel, the one who formed you says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.”

It used to be an easy question. If someone asked for your identity, you simply showed them your driver’s license. If someone asked who you were, you told them your name, where you were from, and maybe your parents’ name.

Simon bar-Jonah was Simon, son of Jonah. Jesus of Nazareth was Jesus from Nazareth. Or maybe you were identified by what you did. Your name was James Painter, or Gerald Baker, or Nancy Tailor. Your name matched what you did, where you were from, or who your parents were. These are, or were, things that could not change. Where you grew up and who you were born to was part of your identity.

It is not so simple today. Identities change. For some, identities change as often as they have birthdays. Identity is no longer who you are but what or who you think you are….today.

Someone is male, but today he identify as female. Someone is straight, but today they identify as gay. They are married, but today they are single. They cannot be bound by truth (that would inhibit their ability to freely identify) because they have their own truth. To each person it is very clear. They are what they are today. For the rest of the world? Well, we live in a state of confusion.

We don’t know how to treat them. We don’t know what to call them. We don’t know how to be friends with them, and when we accidentally insult them in any way, they accuse us of homophobia, or bigotry, or call us racist even if race is not an issue. For those of us who believe in absolute truth and live by God’s moral construct, personal truth lives on the edge of insanity. Of course, saying those words would only more solidify their view of “believers of truth” as bigots.

You see, here is the problem. It is not so much how we see ourselves, but how the rest of the world sees us. One may have fathered children, but if he is an absent father, his children will never see him as a parent. Biologically, yes. Parentally, no. I may look in the mirror and still see a slim thirty-something, but the rest of the world sees an over-weight sixty-something. When I purchase clothing, I am reminded that my truth doesn’t matter. I am overweight. You may be a male athlete identifying as a woman athlete. The women athletes will never accept you as a woman. You are simply cheating. You are robbing them of a level playing field.

Sometimes it is not the world’s opinion that matters. It is the opinion of God. When we claim to be a Christian, but do not believe in or accept Christ as Lord and Savior, God says we do not belong to Him. Sitting in a worship center, singing songs, leading in the worship, teaching Sunday school, preaching, hosting a bible study, giving tithes and offerings, going on mission trips, or checking the box on a survey that we are Christian, does not make us Christian. There is only one thing that can do that.

We must accept the gift of Christ. We believe that He died and arose to save us from sin. He did something, as fully God and fully man, that we can never do. He made a way for us to be forgiven through a sinless life. He made a way for us to be reunited with the Father through His death and resurrection. He pointed us down a road that leads to everlasting life by allowing us to accept Him as Lord and Savior. Anything different, no matter how we identify, will not pass the test. God will not respect our truth.

A story is told of a man who died and went to judgement. When Jesus said, “I have never known you,” the man replied, “but I identify as a Christian.” Jesus said, “We don’t play that game here.”

Watch how they live. See what they do. Do their lives contradict their statements of faith? God calls us to be fruit inspectors. What do we see? New converts? Growth into mature Christians? Do we see short tempers, bad attitudes, foul language, dirty jokes, disrespect, lewd behavior, approval of things the bible clearly condemns? Do we see Christian homes or homes that look and act like every other home in the neighborhood?

Truth is absolute. Any variation on truth is a lie. Billy Graham said, “not believing in the Bible does not make the Bible any less true.” The world is full of absolute truths. If you jump off a building, you will fall and possibly to your death. Gravity does not need you to believe in it to be true. At the end of this life, you will die. You do not have to believe in death for it to be true. If you change your identity, God still knows who you are. You cannot hide from Him, and in the end, we will all be judged. Refusing to believe this will not make it less true.

The statement, “there are no absolute truths,” is itself, an absolute truth. It is self-contradicting. And it is false. There is truth. God’s truth. His truth is what our society is based on. His truth is what our moral laws are based on. Saying it is ok to change one’s identity (sex/gender, sexual orientation) only hurts you and those around you.

There is a way we can change our identity. We can all be adopted into God’s family. We are all God’s creations, but those who believe are God’s children. If we want an identity change, God has a solution. Believe. Trust. Obey. Isaiah 43:1 says “I have called you by name. You are mine.”

That sure sounds a lot better than, “I never knew you.”