Saturday, July 8, 2017, 3:37 a.m. – The Lord Jesus put in mind the song “He Reached Down.” Speak, Lord, your
words to my heart. I read 2 Peter 2
(Select vv. ESV).
False Teachers
(vv. 1-3)
But false prophets also arose among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who
will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the
Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And
many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of
truth will be blasphemed. And in their greed they will exploit
you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle,
and their destruction is not asleep.
Wow! What an accurate
description of the situation we are faced with in the church in America today.
So many purported preachers and teachers of the Word are teaching a mixed bag
of truth and lies, and they have absolutely brought destructive heresies into
the church, and many are following their deceptions and their sensuality. And,
the way of truth is definitely being blasphemed, for they twist it and they
corrupt it to their advantage to gain disciples after themselves, not after
Jesus Christ.
There are many variances in
what they actually teach, but the result is still the same. Basically, what
they do is they dilute the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it something it is
not, that is a free license to continue in willful sin against God without
guilt and without remorse. They either entirely delete repentance, submission
and obedience from the gospel message, or else they teach directly that we don’t
have to repent or obey Jesus Christ or submit to the cross of Christ in order
to be saved from our sins. Their idea of “belief” seems to be nothing more than
an intellectual assent to who Jesus Christ is and was, and to what he did for
us in dying for our sins so that we might be forgiven our sins and have eternal
life with God in heaven.
So, not only do they leave
their adherents still lost in their sins without true hope of eternal life with
God, yet falsely believing they do, but they campaign against the true gospel
of our salvation and against its messengers by convincing their listeners that
they are to reject anyone or any message which teaches repentance and obedience
as necessary components of believing faith. In fact, they convince them that if
anyone teaches such that they are teaching works-based salvation, which is a
lie, because the Bible teaches that if we walk (in lifestyle) according to our
flesh (in sin), we will die in our sins, not have the hope of eternal life
(See: Ro. 6:1-23; Ro. 8:1-14; Lu. 9:23-25; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; 1 Pet. 2:24; Eph.
4:17-24).
Greatly Distressed (vv. 4-10a)
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,
but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy
darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient
world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others,
when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if
by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to
extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the
ungodly; and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the
sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them
day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless
deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the
godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the
day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of
defiling passion and despise authority.
How many people today, who
call themselves followers of Jesus Christ, are being greatly distressed over
the predominant sensuality and immorality existing within the church, and
within the lives of those who say they believe in Jesus Christ? I have found
they are few and far between. To the contrary, the vast majority of those who
call themselves Christians in America, overall, appear to be very worldly and
fleshly, so that there is not much of a distinction between the church and the
world anymore. Although they claim to know God, they deny him by their
lifestyles. They indulge in so much of the same wickedness that the world does,
which makes no claims to faith in Christ at all. If they are not directly
participating in sinful acts, they are being entertained by them via TV,
movies, video games and the internet.
The thing of it is, that most
of them seem to lack conscience that what they are doing is actually wrong,
too. Or else they write it off as something with which they struggle, but which
falls under grace, so they feel they are in no danger if they continue to
engross themselves in such sinful behaviors. They have this sense of
entitlement that they can live their lives however they want, with some
modifications, choose their own paths, mark out their own life courses, and
that God is somehow pleased with them no matter what they do. This should
greatly distress all of us who proclaim Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord
(owner-master) of our lives! We should cry out our voices and say “NO!!” to
these lies and deceptions, for they are leading many people straight on a
course toward hell, not toward heaven.
One day, God is going to
judge the people of this earth in a mighty way, and those who are walking
(conducting their lives) in darkness (sin), will not escape the wrath of God, but
they will die in their sins. Yet, those who are putting to death, by the
Spirit, the deeds of the flesh, will live with Christ for eternity. God is able
to keep us from the corruption that is going on in this world of ours, and
within the worldly church, and to lead us in his ways and in his righteousness
until the day when he takes us home to be with him. When we are being tried by
the wicked acts of wicked humans in their deceitful scheming, the Lord will
sustain us. He will help us, strengthen us, and he will carry us through to the
end. So, we need to just rest in him.
He Reached Down
/ An Original Work / February 3, 2014
Based off Psalm 18
How I love You, Lord, my Rock
and my strength.
My God is my fortress; I hide
in Him.
He is my shield and the horn
of
My salvation, whom I praise.
I have found my refuge in
Him.
He reached down from heaven and
rescued me;
Drew me out of waters so
deep, I’d sink.
He delivered me from Satan
And my slavery to sin;
Gave me hope of heaven with
Him.
My God turned my darkness into
His light;
Opened up my blinded eyes; gave
me sight.
As for God, his way is
perfect.
He gives strength to stand
secure.
I have found my vict’ry in
Him.
My Lord lives! Praise be to
my Savior God,
Jesus Christ, who died on a
cruel cross.
He is my Rock and the source
Of my salvation, whom I
trust.
I will give praise always to
Him.
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