Christian Living

Beyond Belief: Walking the Path of True Faith

by Brother Carlton 
11/21/24
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Jesus says, “the way is straight and narrow, and few there be that find it but broad is a way of destruction, and many there are thereon.”

In a congregation of 50 to 100 you can bet that there are many that are yet unconverted. If one of the 12 whom Jesus chose was a devil, how many devils do you suppose there are in a congregation of 25, 30, 40, people? More than a few devils. More than a few people who have been deceived into thinking that they're saved and going to heaven, when in fact they are lost. They have hearts which are impure. They have sins which have not been forgiven, which have not been repented of. They have a name, that they live, that they are dead, according to Christ.

You see, most preachers today, they don't talk enough about sin and its consequences. They don't talk enough about the need for repentance and saving faith. In fact, they don't really distinguish between what saving faith is and a demonic faith. A dynamic faith, a living faith, as opposed to a damning faith, a faith of devils.

“Thou believest there is one God? You do well,” said James, “the devils also believe and tremble, but wilt thou know, oh vain man, that faith without works is dead?”

Now we're not saved by our works, but we're not saved apart from works. Works do follow our faith into heaven according to Revelation. Indeed, that's the purpose for which we were saved. We were created unto good works. For by grace, are you saved through faith, and that, not of yourself? It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,” as Ephesians 2:10 says, “which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”

Oh, God desires good works. How many good works do you have? Are you producing fruit? Jesus says that He is the vine and we are the branches. Unless we abide in Him, we cannot bring forth any fruit. Without me, said Jesus, we can do nothing. But a branch that doesn't abide in the vine will be broken off and cast into the fire.” That, my friends, is a picture of Hell, no works, no fruit, no salvation.

Now, God desires fruit. He desires good works.

Paul, says to examine yourself to see whether you're in the faith. Examine yourself. We are to examine ourselves, because there is so much deception today. There are so many false gospels being preached from pulpits today. There are so many false churches that are not following the bible. Indeed, many churches are like social clubs. They're businesses. It's come, and let's talk about the love of God, and we will not judge anybody. We're here to have a good time, and it's like a social club. We sing, we conduct business with one another, we eat together, we share stories, but we're not really there to worship God. We enter the sanctuary, and we're talking about everything, but we're not preparing our hearts to worship God. And I really believe that God is not pleased with that.

You see, Psalm 89:7 says, “God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints and to be had in reverence of all those who are about him.” God is to be revered, respected, feared in the right way. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. By the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. There should be a certain awe and holiness about a congregation where strangers come in and they sense something different than just a social, jolly atmosphere, you see. That's what kept people away from the early churches. They knew that God was there, and God is to be feared. He's holy, he's far above man.

There's a transcendental quality to God that makes him so different, so utterly different than man. It's like when Moses stood before the burning bush and God said, “Put your shoes off your feet, the ground whereon you stand, Moses, is holy ground.” And what made the ground holy? Well, it wasn't Moses's presence, no, it was God's presence. It is God that is holy by nature. Holy, holy, holy cry the angels, The whole earth is full of his glory. Yeah, it's supposed to be a holy atmosphere.

When we come into a congregation to worship the Lord, it should be a holy atmosphere. We should go there with respect and awe. We are there to worship God. We are to serve the Lord. We are servants of the Lord. It's not something where we go to church to feel good. I might feel bad that particular day. I might have done something that I shouldn't have done. I might have sinned against God, or I'm feeling bad. I'm feeling guilty. But when I come into the presence of the congregation, I should be quiet, and I should be meditating on Scripture. I should be praying silently in my heart.

It's kind of hard to do that in some churches, because there's so much noise and and joviality and carrying on and talking about mundane things and – "oh who won the Super Bowl? Oh, did you see this and that?" And our thoughts are not where they should be. They're not sanctified. They're not set apart from the world and set apart into God. No, we're thinking things that we shouldn't be thinking about. “Let this mind be in you,” said Paul, “which was also in Christ.” Yeah, we are to think God's thoughts after him.

Let us think about this question: are you afraid to die? Honestly, ask yourself, Are you are afraid to die. We read in Hebrews, chapter 2 verse 14, “for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise, took part of the same, that through death he might destroy him that had power of death, that is the devil, and deliver them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject to bondage.” You see, death is unnatural. There's something about wrenching apart the two entities of man's nature, his physical and his soul existence, and that's unnatural. It's not the way God designed us to be in the garden. He created us to live forever, but by sin, by death by man, sin entered into the world, it says in Romans, and death by sin.

So death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Yes, we need to talk about sin more, and we need to realize that's the reason Christ died. There must be the centrality of the cross. Whenever we prepare our sermons and hear our sermons, Christ must be the focus. Christ, not the preacher's life. I've heard preachers tell funny stories and jokes, and I think, Well, they'd be better off at a comedy shop, not that you can't tell a story about your life to illustrate an important truth of the Bible. But I'm talking about whether Christ is preached. I remember my pastor used to say, “Hide me behind the cross of Christ.” He wanted people to see Christ, not him, and that should be our desire to when we talk to people, may they see Christ in us.

May they see somebody who is sober-minded. May they see somebody who's serious-minded, godly, sober. Ready to proclaim the truths of the gospel. Life is a serious thing, folks. It's no joke. This Christian life is not easy. “Few there be that find it,” said Jesus, “because the way is straight and narrow and few there be that find it, but the way to destruction is broad.” And many there are that are walking on that broad path which leads to destruction. “Brethren, I beseech you by the mercies of God, I beseech you to present your bodies a living sacrifice And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and perfect and acceptable will of God.” Romans 12:1-2.

The Bible is the will of God. That's why I said we should know it. We should learn it. We should love it. It reveals his heart and his mind. But the problem today is most Christians don't know their Bible. They don't know their Bible. And judging by them, if they were to stand before the enemy in a communist country to see whether they were, in fact, Christians, there wouldn't be enough evidence to convict them in many cases.

You've heard that before. That's not original with me, but our life should be an open book. We should be transparent.

Paul was transparent. He didn't deny that he was the least of all the apostles, and he was a blasphemer and an injurious person. But he obtained mercy, and we can obtain mercy, but let us not presume, if our lives are not in conformity to Christ, that we've obtained this mercy.

But let us examine ourselves and ask the question, Are you afraid to die? Am I afraid to die? Well, if we have the Lord Jesus – if we're in Jesus, if we are in Christ – then we have the love of God, and perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love casts out fear.

Brother Carlton ministers the gospel to the Los Angeles area. Formerly a Hollywood actor (SAG member) and property cleanup expert, he now spends most of his time studying the scriptures, writing articles, hymns, and poems, and doing street preaching. See all his videos on YouTube Brother Carlton.