If we wanted to take a drive today, we could, and if we wanted to visit all the graveyards sitting next to all the houses of worship (just in our county), we could drive to these places today.  As we drive from this church to that church, and as we pause to read the church signs, we will see the names of the churches printed on the signs sitting adjacent to each church.

We may see:

The 1^st (list the denomination name) Church of—this town name and that town name.  We will see the 1^st Baptist Church of Sommerville and the 1^st Church of the Nazarene and the 1^st Methodist and the 1^st Presbyterian and the 1^st Episcopalian and the on and on, seeing one church followed by another.  In the county where we live, we are blessed with many houses of worship.

However, as we drive North, South, East, and West across the county where we live, there is one sign we will NEVER see.  That’s right.

WE WILL NEVER SEE:

The 1^st Church of Satan.

The deceiver is just too smart for that.

The devil wants to lead people to not see the obvious.

Satan would never have us plaster that sign across the lintel of our doorpost, outside our temples, our houses of worship. 

Nevertheless, this is exactly what we do, when we follow Satan, rather than God, and this is absolutely what we do, when we allow the devil to lead us, rather than God’s Holy Spirit.

Right here, Right now, I must pull back my feet, for the LORD is preaching to my heart.

For a moment, consider these questions:

• Who owns our calendars?
• Who is responsible for today?  For tomorrow?
• Who controls our wallets & bank accounts?
• Who tells us what to save & what to spend?
• Who walks us from one Sunday to the next?
• Who sets the standards for our lives?
• Who draws the boundaries?
• Who controls our futures?
• Who marks the lines of our lives, notating where we must go and what we must do in order to ‘stay between the lines,’?
• Who creates the lines of our lives, showing us where we ‘get out of the lines’?
• What separates Believers from the rest of the world?
• What sets Christians apart, creating an ‘oddly-different’ look than all the rest?
• What does the LORD mean when we read in His Word:  ‘Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy.’? (Leviticus 11: 44a NASB)

There is an importance of holiness, which means that a person who Believes in the One who died upon the cross & the Follower of Christ Jesus is to be ‘set apart’ and to be ‘dedicated’ to following God.

IT IS A SERIOUS CALLING—TO GROW-UP IN OUR FAITH-WALK WITH GOD—TO BE SANCTIFIED!

Many will say, “That’s the Old Covenant, and we live under the New Covenant.”  Therefore, the LORD provided us with a perfect example found in His Only Son Jesus.  Three of the four Gospels record the narrative of “The Rich Young Ruler.”

The Gospel According to Matthew 19: 16-26

The Gospel According to Mark 10: 17-22 &

The Gospel According to Luke 18: 18-23

• If we wish to obtain eternal life—
• If we wish to be made complete—
• If we wish to be saved from the fires of hell—
• If we wish to not leave the presence of Jesus, grieving—
• If we wish to not lack anything—
• If we wish to have treasure in heaven—

THEN WE MUST FOLLOW JESUS!

• We cannot be content without God.  &
• We cannot be content with just following Jesus, based on our enough. &
• We cannot be content with a little bit of leading from God’s Holy Spirit.

WE WHO BELIEVE MUST BE ALL—IN!

WE WHO ARE CALLED MUST FOLLOW HIM 100%!

WE WHO ARE CHRISTIANS MUST WANT JESUS MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE!

If We Wish to Be Complete in the Lord Jesus Christ, then We Must Lay Down Our Everything & Completely Follow Jesus!