“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The other morning, I was thinking about people and how they might be classified.  You could look around the church and there would be those from each group.  Let’s look at those groups this morning.

First, there are the unsaved; the lost.  They’re people who have never heard of Jesus and the salvation He has offered them.  Or, and this is more likely, they have heard the Good News but have rejected the offer for various reasons.  They are on the wide road to Hell.

Second are the “backsliders”.  This group has at one time accepted Jesus as their Savior but have gotten off the path, allowed the world to influence them and have slid back into their old life.  They need a readjustment. 

Third is the group who identifies as Christians, go to church, maybe even pray and read their Bible but are not fulfilling their God-given assignment.  God created them with special gifts and talents to use as a servant in His Kingdom, “Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling,” (2 Timothy 1:9), but they are just coasting along, standing on the sidelines watching the game.  They’ll make it to Heaven but their reward won’t be great.

Then fourth, there is the group who are on the elite squad, the first team.  They accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord, committed to following Him and submitting to special training in order to be powerful and victorious against the enemy.  This group goes through some hard training and testing but has the benefit of pleasing God and the satisfaction of helping their fellow man.  Like Jesus, who was tested by the devil and passed the testing by saying, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’”  Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.“ (Matthew 4:10-11).  My question today is this, which group are you in?  And, do you want to move up to another level?  Jesus is standing here waiting for your answer.  If you’re already in the elite group, ask, “Lord, how can I serve you today?”  It’s your turn now.  Take the first step or stay seated.