There are some people who hear the gospel who are like that. They say, ‘I am interested in Christ; I am interested in the Christian Gospel, because it will help me in my life. It will get me through my exams. It will make me successful in business, and I shall do well.’ Are you like them? Is that all you want, something physical, something material, something earthly? You are missing the point. You come to Christ to have forgiveness and a new life, which will now be lived for him, and to go to heaven, and to be separated from this world and all its materialism and earthly priorities.
I remember some years ago reading a so-called testimony from a showbiz personality, and he was anxious to say, ‘I have found Christ.’ And the interviewer asked the question, ‘What difference does it make to you?’, and this was his tragic reply. He said, ‘Well, when I go with my instrument, and my backing group, onto the stage, onto the platform, and I get on with my act, I am certain that Christ is on the platform with me making my performance so much better.’ That’s how they thought! ‘Why will Messiah come? To benefit me! To let me go right on in the life that I’m living, and make me rich and prosperous.’ No, Messiah has come so that we are convicted of our sin, and we are deeply ashamed, and we realise we’ve been sinners, and we seek his forgiveness, and we long for new life and a personal relationship with him, which is real and experienced, and we now belong to him, and serve him, and yield our lives to him. That’s why he has come.