Chapter 15: Altar Call. That's my story. But really, it's not mine. It is just one page in the long story about Jesus, and those who, like me, my wife, the Shirleys, the Captain, and millions more, have heard his message, believed it, and found the grace from God to follow him regardless of the cost. He came not as a philosopher or a politician. When Jesus came, he came as King. Remember, Jesus said to Pilate that it was for the very purpose of being a King that he was born.
But remember also that he said to Pilate, "I have come into the world that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice." Hears his voice. What does that mean for you and me today? It could mean a lot of things, but at the very least, it means hearing the words Jesus spoke when he was here on earth. Let me ask you, do you hear his voice? Many have, and their lives have never been the same. As soon as Jesus began to preach, a revolution was started.
Not a revolution of tyranny, totalitarianism, or violence, but one of self-sacrifice, compassion, and self-denial, and for many, martyrdom. While it is not a revolution of violence, it is nonetheless a revolution. Jesus said, "And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force." Or as Luke put it, "The law and the prophets were until John.
Since that time, the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it." What a glorious revolution this is. Are you one of those pressing into it that Jesus described? The violent, as Matthew put it, are the ones who are granted entrance into this kingdom. Are you one of those? Not the indifferent, not the lukewarm, not those who choose the world over the ways of Christ, but those who press into it, as Luke pictures it.
According to the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus began his ministry by preaching the kingdom, he offered his message to be either received or rejected. Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel." Do you believe? Are you a follower of Christ? Do you listen to his voice? If you say yes, then you should be walking as he walked.
Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. Do you blame the church? Admittedly, a lot of bad things have been done in the name of Christ through the centuries. As a matter of fact, if you were to take the Sermon on the Mount found in Matthew chapters 5, 6, and 7, and build a church the complete opposite of everything Jesus taught, you would end up with a church that painfully resembles modern-day Christianity.
At the end of the sermon, Jesus prophesied very pointedly what would happen to those who chose not to build on his teachings. "Everyone who hears these sayings of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat on that house, and it fell, and great was its fall." Matthew 7:26-27. So what about you and me? We could blame all the current problems on the failures of the past.
We could curse the atrocities of tyrants or deride the pomp of hypocrites, but none of those things will get us closer to God. If we are honest, we will admit that oftentimes such blame is just a smokescreen to get the attention off our own sins and onto something else. Most of those who have done wrong in the past are gone now. Of such, the Bible says, "Indeed, let God be true, but every man a liar." Ultimately, the responsibility has now come down to you and me. Receive a hundredfold.
Since those days when Tanya and I left the army, not having any idea where we would end up, God has led us to places we never even dreamed of. The Apostle Peter said to Jesus, "Lo, we have left all and have followed thee." What a declaration. If only Peter could have known what was in store for him.
Jesus responded to his proclamation with, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brothers, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come, eternal life." Ever since Jesus said that, countless souls have trusted this promise and testified that it is true. I'm just one of them.
I certainly can testify with Peter that the hundredfold blessing of meeting awakened souls with a light in their eyes and a love for God in their hearts has made the journey rewarding. Granted, such a walk often comes with trials and persecutions, but I have found that allegiance to his eternal kingdom is worth it all. Napoleon Bonaparte. At the end of his life, the defeated conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte began to understand the invincible kingdom of Jesus Christ.
After his defeat at Waterloo, Napoleon was taken captive by British soldiers and eventually exiled to a remote island off the coast of Africa. There, humbled by defeat and imprisonment, Napoleon realized that his kingdom had come to naught, whereas Christ's kingdom was still marching on. Before his death, Napoleon wrote the following, "I know men, and I tell you that Jesus Christ is no mere man. Between him and every other person in the world, there is no possible term of comparison.
Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and I founded empires, but on what did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded his empire upon love, and at this hour, millions of people would die for him." Are you one of them? The word allegiance carries with it quite a significant challenge. It has an Anglo-French origin and means the loyalty of a subject or servant to his lord. To whom do you give your allegiance?
Jesus is not asking us to despise our countries, to rebel against the establishment, or to disrespect our authorities. But if our hearts are entangled in the politics and values of this world, if our weapons are carnal and not spiritual, if we make war after the flesh, if with these weapons we destroy men's lives instead of saving them, if we are living by the sword, if we hate our enemies, if we still insist on an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, then what Jesus is asking for is a change of allegiance.
What about you?