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&In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths&

“The Right Church"

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Before the Lord saved me that wonderful night on November the 13th of 1992, I used to have dreams quite often.  Some of them were good dreams and some of them were not so good.  I remember I used to dream about work a lot and my wife used to tell me of things I would say to people at work in my sleep.  Well, since the Lord saved me I cannot remember having any dreams and my wife hasn't mentioned me talking in my sleep any more.  I had a dream though that I was in a church where everyone truly loved everyone else and everyone truly loved the Lord and everyone was just bubbling over in praise to Him.  What a dream!  I thought, "This must be heaven."

Now, I'm not going to tell you that I believe that I've seen heaven, but I do believe that in my dream I got a glimpse of what heaven will be like.  It is with this thought and this dream in mind that the Lord has put this little article on my heart.  It is my prayer and my desire that the Lord will use this little article as a real and lasting blessing to many.

As I think about all the various denominations there are out there, it is truly mind boggling.  Just to name a few, there is the Anglican, the Assembly of God, the Baptist, the Catholic, what they call the Christian Church, the Christian Science Church, the Church of Christ, the Church of God, the Episcopal, the Greek Orthodox, the Lutheran, the Methodist, the Moravian, the Nazarene, the Presbyterian, the Seven Day Adventist, and the Unitarian.  Most of these have their various brands or divisions and most if not all, tend to believe that they have a monopoly on heaven.  Many people are born into a particular denomination and some are born into a particular church affiliation and many just stick with that particular denomination or church.  Yet there are others who are not born into situations where church is a factor and they seek out a church to attend.  Either way, many people seek to find the right church that will give them the assurance of eternal life.

It is a sad fact that the vast majority of people who once they have decided upon a particular church, depend upon that church membership to get them to heaven.  Some of them depend so heavily upon this that they actually come to believe that if you are a member of another church, you're not going to make it.

Would you believe that there is a church that indeed does have a monopoly on heaven?  Well, there is.  If you are not a member of this church, you indeed are on your way to hell.  Membership to this church is open to all and yet there are many who will never join it.  There was a man who, when the time of his death drew near, realized his need for this particular church and submitted his request for membership.  Now, this man had never really seen a need for church membership as he had seen all the so-called religious people and he really couldn't see how that they were any better off than he was.  It was at the time that he finally realized the hopeless helpless condition that he was in that he got a glimpse of his need.  This man was hanging beside the Lord on a cross when he came to this realization.  All he said was, "Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom."  Luke 23:42.  "And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise."  Luke 23:43.  At that very second, that man joined the only true church and at that very second, that man was baptized by the Holy Ghost.  At that very second, that man became a true child of God.

Friend, it is a known fact that the majority of the members of the churches I mentioned earlier are lost.  It is the minority who have really and truly come to that point somewhere in their lives that they truly realized their need for the Saviour and  put their trust in Him.  Yes, many of them believe that He is and many of them believe that He came to die upon the cross for the sins of the world, but to trust Him and Him alone to get them to heaven, they have not.

My wife and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas once.  Now, I had been on many cruises as I had been in the navy.  This was the very first time my wife had ever been on a cruise, so it was very new to her.  She can't swim either and that made it even more different for her.  You see, though I had to put some trust in that ship to get me to our destination, I did have some hope in case something happened, because I could at least swim.  My wife though, not being able to swim, knew that if something happened on that journey, she would definitely be a goner.  She had to put her full trust in that ship to get her to the other side, not only alive, but dry.  The minute that ship pulled out with her on it, it was up to that ship to see her through to the other side.  She knew that there was absolutely nothing she could do to aid in the journey, so she had to trust it all to that ship.

Friend, that's the kind of faith the Lord demands from those who will accept Him.  He doesn't want you to just believe He is a ship.  He beckons you to come aboard and take that journey to the other side with Him.  He wants to carry you over and He is the only passage you will have.  If you do not place your all in His hands you will not only get wet, but you will surely drown.  I can remember the night that the Lord saved me and I shall never forget it.  I was a good Baptist and I was even married to a preacher's kid.  I believed what the Bible said about Jesus coming to this earth and dying on a cross for the sins of man and I had even been baptized.  As far as I knew, I was bound for glory.  Then through His infinite grace and mercy the Lord allowed me to see that I had never fully put my trust in Him.  There was that little fact that I thought my being able to swim would assure my safe journey.  He so graciously allowed me to see my ship taking on water and He gave me the faith to get on the only safe ship.  He accepted me as a member of the right church made right by the shed blood of Jesus Christ for my sins.  I have pondered changing my letter head to look like the one below, but haven't as yet, but it shows the ways the three died on their crosses that day.

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In sin         For the sins of all       To sin

The man on the first cross was the thief who to his dying breath rejected the Lord Jesus and died in his sins and now is in hell.  The man on the middle cross is God Himself who came to this world in the form of His only begotten Son and He died for your sins and mine and those of the whole world.  The man on the other cross is the man who in his dying moment was so blessed by God to see his helpless hopeless condition and to see Jesus as his only hope.  This man died to sin as he accepted that so great salvation.  He is in heaven right now.  In which state will you die?  You will either be on the left or the right.  The choice is yours.  Please choose the one on the right.  God bless you.