Friday, October 30,
2015, 9:00 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “I Do Not Seal My Lips.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I
read Jeremiah 8 (NASB).
Refuse to Return (vv.
4-7)
“You
shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord,
“Do
men fall and not get up again?
Does
one turn away and not repent?
“Why
then has this people, Jerusalem,
Turned
away in continual apostasy?
They
hold fast to deceit,
They
refuse to return.
“I
have listened and heard,
They
have spoken what is not right;
No
man repented of his wickedness,
Saying,
‘What have I done?’
Everyone
turned to his course,
Like
a horse charging into the battle.
“Even
the stork in the sky
Knows
her seasons;
And
the turtledove and the swift and the thrush
Observe
the time of their migration;
But
My people do not know
The
ordinance of the Lord.
The people of God today are those who believe in Jesus
Christ as Savior of their lives. Collectively they comprise the church, the
body of Christ. Apostasy means: “departure (implying desertion); literally, ‘a
leaving, from a previous standing’" (biblehub.com). Other words for
apostasy are backsliding or waywardness, i.e. meaning leaving (deserting) their
loyalty and pure devotion to Christ and the true gospel of our salvation in
favor of a gospel which does not confront sin or require repentance or
obedience, but which gives free license for lasciviousness. It also means
returning to living in sin, which Jesus had delivered them out of. Yet, this “desertion,”
goes beyond just forsaking the gospel for themselves, but it includes helping
to put it to death, and even helping to persecute those who still hold fast to
the teachings of Christ and those of his NT apostles. This helping to
facilitate the demise of the gospel and the persecution and even killing of
Christians may be outright, with full knowledge, or it may be by way of
partnership with those who are doing this outright.
There are those within the church, and within the government
of the US, who are presently working to paint evangelical Christianity as
hateful, bigoted, intolerant and mean-spirited, because the gospel confronts
people in their sin, calls them to repentance, and it urges them to turn their
hearts to Jesus Christ in faith, or to return to following Christ with their
lives. It also claims an exclusive relationship with God, only through faith in
Jesus Christ, and that all other religions are false, and that only through
faith in Jesus Christ can anyone go to heaven. It also tries to persuade people
to forsake their sins and their idols, and to walk in obedience to Jesus Christ/God,
and to his gospel, which does require repentance and obedience to Christ’s
commandments (though not absolute perfection). Obama and the Pope are two
powerful voices right now promoting this doing away with “religious extremism,”
and all that divides us as a people, so we can all come together as one in
unity, yet they are not the only voices in favor of the demise of the gospel.
There is a lot of talk right now in the news about meetings
to discuss “budget deals,” “nuclear deals,” and agreements on how to resolve
conflicts between people groups with opposing ideologies. I believe that the
real deal being decided upon here by heads of nations and people in positions
of power and authority, though, is how to do away with the gospel of Christ and
those who are keeping the faith, holding fast to the Word of God, and who are
sharing the gospel with others, and who are encouraging them to believe in
Jesus or to return to Jesus. This is really about the blending of various
religions and walks of life into one in unity (in chorus, in harmony),
recreating traditional values, morals and Christian faith into something more
modern and eclectic (diverse), choosing various doctrines (beliefs), taken from
various sources, including Satanists and atheists, and blending them all
together into something that is agreeable to everyone. So, the way must be
prepared for this to happen, and that path includes the persecution of
Christians and the removal of the true gospel from the public, to make way for
this eclectic religion to take its place.
Lying Pens (vv.
8-12)
“How
can you say, ‘We are wise,
And
the law of the Lord is with us’?
But
behold, the lying pen of the scribes
Has
made it into a lie.
“The
wise men are put to shame,
They
are dismayed and caught;
Behold,
they have rejected the word of the Lord,
And
what kind of wisdom do they have?
“Therefore
I will give their wives to others,
Their
fields to new owners;
Because
from the least even to the greatest
Everyone
is greedy for gain;
From
the prophet even to the priest
Everyone
practices deceit.
“They
heal the brokenness of the daughter of My people superficially,
Saying,
‘Peace, peace,’
But
there is no peace.
“Were
they ashamed because of the abomination they had done?
They
certainly were not ashamed,
And
they did not know how to blush;
Therefore
they shall fall among those who fall;
At
the time of their punishment they shall be brought down,”
Says
the Lord.
This apostasy, i.e. this backsliding has been helped along
by those who claim to be shepherds of the people, but who preach what is false.
These false shepherds of the people have the Word of God available to them, and
many of them have Bible college degrees, especially here in America where we
have so much open access, today, to various translations of scripture and so
many Bible study helps, sermons, Christian music, etc. Yet, they handle the
word of God falsely in order to deceive and to gain followers for themselves,
instead of followers of Christ and for his gospel. They have rejected the Word
of God in favor of the wisdom of this world, and for what makes people feel
good. They put Band-Aids over serious sin wounds, and tell the people that God
does not require them to repent of their sins or to obey him, but all they have
to do is “believe,” though “belief” is not explained, and they tell them they
now have heaven guaranteed, no matter how they live their lives from this point
on, as well as they convince them that God will never be angry with them and
that he will not discipline them, and that they will never have to suffer
tribulation in this life.
Many of these shepherds of the people have been trained in
avoiding or discouraging believers in Jesus who have “strong convictions,” or
in how to publicly bring them to ridicule, and to convince their congregants to
not listen to them or to shun them, too. Many of them are trained, instead, in
how to entertain sinners, market the church just like any other business, and
how to make the church attractive and enjoyable for the sinful world to attend
their meetings, and to want to return to their meetings. This has been going on
for quite some time now, and it has gradually been getting worse, i.e. the
church has been progressively moving away from the truths of scripture and has
been moving toward humanistic philosophy and this blending of different beliefs
and peoples together as one. And, now this apostasy is being taken to another
level, i.e. our leaders are deciding on the “meanness” of the gospel, and on
how they are going to handle the conflict it presents to the rest of the world,
and how they are going to negotiate its departure. And, there is a sense of
urgency that they come up with a solution soon, one which Obama and Pope
Francis have not so subtly been hinting at for some time.
One of the ways in which they are working to accomplish
this, and to transition to this one-world religion, is to bring Christianity
publicly under disgrace, i.e. particularly those who hold to strong convictions
with regard to their faith and practice, and with regard to the gospel of our
salvation and the proclamation thereof. They are trying to paint a picture of
Christianity, as I said previously, as hateful, bigoted, arrogant and
intolerant of others, and its followers as those who try to push their beliefs
on others. I believe the goal is to give cause to having to come up with a
solution, and the solution being that we must do away with what divides us as a
people so that we can all live in “peace” together, where no one gets in anyone
else’s “lane,” but we all just say what is agreeable to others and what
promotes harmony among people of all walks of life and all faiths. In other
words, so many of these disparaging stories in the news about Christians are for
the purpose to pave the way for decisions to be made which will hinder our ability
to share the gospel publicly.
This is about inserting false religion in with the true
gospel, and telling lies about the true gospel in order to discredit the gospel,
and it is about making false accusations against its messengers. Yet, this
eclectic religion doesn’t have Jesus’ name on it, because it is not of him. In
the end, only the true gospel will stand, i.e. it will be a choir of one (God/gospel),
for no other gospels have the name (character) of God/Jesus Christ on them.
They will all pass away, as will their false messengers, but The Word of God
will stand forever. Amen!
A Call for Revival
(vv. 18-22)
My
sorrow is beyond healing,
My
heart is faint within me!
Behold,
listen! The cry of the daughter of my people from a distant land:
“Is
the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not within her?”
“Why
have they provoked Me with their graven images, with foreign idols?”
“Harvest
is past, summer is ended,
And
we are not saved.”
For
the brokenness of the daughter of my people I am broken;
I
mourn, dismay has taken hold of me.
Is
there no balm in Gilead?
Is
there no physician there?
Why
then has not the health of the daughter of my people been restored?
We, as followers of Christ, should weep and pray over the
spiritual condition of most of today’s church, which is backslidden, and in
great need of revival. And, we should not fear persecution, but we should keep
on speaking in the name of Jesus for people’s salvation.
I
Do Not Seal My Lips / An Original Work / January
13, 2014
Based
off Psalms 37, 40
Do not fear when evil man
Has success in all their plans,
For like grass they’ll wither soon.
They’ll be cut off from the land.
Trust in the Lord and He’ll give you peace.
Find your delight in Him through all stress.
All of your ways commit unto Him.
All your desires from Him He’ll fulfill.
Wait for the Lord; keep His way.
Delight in His Word always.
He’ll be with you to the end;
Life eternal found in Him.
I waited patiently for my Lord.
He turned to me, and He heard my cry.
He set my feet on the Solid Rock.
He gave to me a firm place to stand.
Blessed are we, who trust the Lord,
Who do not turn to false gods.
Our desire’s to do God’s will.
His word is within our hearts.
I will proclaim salvation to man.
You put a new song now in my mouth.
I’ll not withhold your love and your grace.
I’ll speak forevermore of your truth.
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