Full of Adulterers
Jeremiah 23:9-10 NASB
As for the prophets:
My heart is broken within me,
All my bones tremble;
I have become like a drunken man,
Even like a man overcome with wine,
Because of the Lord
And because of His holy words.
For the land is full of adulterers;
For the land mourns because of the curse.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course also is evil
And their might is not right.
The leaders within our
churches, the ones who are leading God’s people, and who are proclaiming the
Word of the Lord, are being called to account here for their actions and for
their words which they speak to the people.
God is speaking here through
his servant who loves the Lord, and who is committed to proclaiming the truth
of His Words so that many people will be saved from their sins and have eternal
life with God.
The servant is brokenhearted
over all that he is seeing among God’s people and their leaders, who purportedly
are God’s messengers to the people. He is seeing all the lies, the adulteries, and
the twisting of truth, and this burdens him greatly. He sees the deceptions and
the manipulations and the course of evil that so many have taken, and how their
hearts are not right with the Lord, but yet they are still leading the people
of God. And, this grieves him tremendously. I identify with this servant of the
Lord.
Wickedness in God’s House
Jeremiah 23:11-12 NASB
“For both prophet and priest are polluted;
Even in My house I have found their wickedness,”
declares the Lord.
“Therefore their way will be like slippery paths to
them,
They will be driven away into the gloom and fall down
in it;
For I will bring calamity upon them,
The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.
I don’t know when this all
began, and perhaps this has been going on for a very long time, but I first became
aware of some of it in 1999. A faith movement began to sweep across the USA,
and into other countries, as well, and it was cross-denominational. But, really
it was a business plan for how to grow churches (businesses), and it has been
very successful.
It is built largely off of
business plans and marketing schemes, and it has turned the church, at large,
upside down. Books on how to grow your church (business) have replaced the
Bible as the sole authority for the church and its operation. “Growth” is not
measured in spiritual terms but in marketing terms, and it is the people who facilitate
the growth, not the Holy Spirit.
Worship services have been
turned into stage productions which entertain the masses. Even preachers have
turned into clowns and entertainers to keep the masses coming out for more of
the same. Books written by mere humans are often studied in place of the Bible,
but are given the same authority as the Bible. But, the worst of it all is that
the gospel has been diluted to make nice with the world so as to not offend the
“customers.”
Walking in Falsehood
Jeremiah 23:13-14 NASB
“Moreover, among the prophets of Samaria I saw an
offensive thing:
They prophesied by Baal and led My people Israel
astray.
“Also among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a
horrible thing:
The committing of adultery and walking in falsehood;
And they strengthen the hands of evildoers,
So that no one has turned back from his wickedness.
All of them have become to Me like Sodom,
And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
Basically, the gospel of God’s
grace has been turned inside out or upside down. They have it all backwards, in
other words. They make God’s grace out to be nothing more than forgiveness of
sins and a promise of heaven when we leave this earth. But, they miss entirely
the meaning of God’s grace, for it is not free license to continue in willful
sin against God, without guilt, while claiming God’s grace covers it all (See:
Tit. 2:11-14).
God’s grace to us is divine
persuasion as to God’s holiness and righteousness and of our need to repent of
our sins, to be reborn of the Spirit of God, and to walk in holiness and
righteousness in the power and working of God’s Spirit now living within us.
God’s grace frees us from our slavery to sin, it does not console us in our
sin. It puts sin to death in our lives so that we might be resurrected with
Christ to newness of life, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness (Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 4:17-24).
Some even go so far as to
tell their listeners that God’s grace requires nothing of them – no repentance,
no submission to the cross of Christ, and no obedience to the Lord and to His
Word. If it is not said directly, it is implied by the fact that repentance and
obedience are not included in the gospel message at all. And, so those who
believe this message have not been turned from their sins, but they feel
empowered to keep sinning.
Do Not Listen!
Jeremiah 23:16-17 NASB
Thus says the Lord of hosts,
“Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are
prophesying to you.
They are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own imagination,
Not from the mouth of the Lord.
“They keep saying to those who despise Me,
‘The Lord has said, “You will have peace”’;
And as for everyone who walks in the stubbornness of
his own heart,
They say, ‘Calamity will not come upon you.’
So, the instruction here is
that we should not listen to those who are preaching this false grace gospel
which requires no death to sin or living to righteousness. For, what they are
preaching is futile, because it leaves its adherents still bound in slavery to
sin, still struggling daily with sin’s addictive behaviors, and still bound for
hell, not for heaven.
What they are teaching is not
what the Word of God says, but what they know people want to hear. It is
partially true, but partially false, and thus it is a false gospel. They are
lying to the people, and people are believing their lies by the masses, because
their lies console the people in their sin and make no demands whatsoever on
the “believer.”
They promise them no harm
will come to them, no matter if they continue living in sin, but that heaven is
guaranteed them, no matter how they live their lives. But, these are lies,
because God’s Word says if you walk according to the flesh, you will die in
your sins, and if you make sin your practice, you don’t have eternal life, and
that you will reap what you sow. So, believe the Word of God, not these liars
and deceivers.
(See: Lu. 9:23-25; Rom.
8:1-17; 1 Jn. 1:5-9; Gal. 5:19-21; Gal. 6:7-8).
Can You Hide?
Jeremiah 23:23-24 NASB
“Am I a God who is near,” declares the Lord,
“And not a God far off?
“Can a man hide himself in hiding places
So I do not see him?” declares the Lord.
“Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?” declares
the Lord.
Our God is ever present. Once
we believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, God does not turn a
blind eye to our sin. If you read the New Testament of the Bible, Matthew to
Revelation, word for word, that will become abundantly clear. There are
warnings after warnings after warnings in the New Testament given to the church
about the dangers of continued willful sinful practices, and numerous calls for
repentance to believers.
One of the lies these false
shepherds of the people are telling their congregants, though, is that when we believe
in Jesus that God only sees Jesus when he looks at us, and he no longer sees
our sin. That is just not biblical, for if that were true, you could wipe out
most of the New Testament. For, most of Paul’s letters have warnings to the
church against continued sin and its consequences, so obviously God can still
see our sins. He is God!
Therefore, if you claim to be
a believer in Jesus Christ, but you are still walking (living, conducting your
life) in sinful practices, know that God absolutely sees everything you are
doing, even if no one else does, and he is taking note of it, too. If you are
truly a believer, he will discipline you in order to bring you back to right
communion with him. If you are just claiming faith in Christ, but you never
died with him to sin, then please repent of your sin today and trust Jesus with
your life, and stop listening to those liars and deceivers who are giving you a
false hope of salvation.
Be Still
To you who are God’s servants
and messengers, who are teaching the truth of the gospel of our salvation, who
are combatting the lies of the enemy, and who are proclaiming the truth to all
who will listen:
Be encouraged! I know that
your hearts have to be broken over all the evil that you are seeing within the
gatherings of the church. I know you are grieved over all the lies and the
adulteries going on within the church and within the leadership of the church. And,
I know that you are probably facing a lot of rejection and persecution for your
stand for the truth and for righteousness and purity. Don’t give up just
because things are dark right now. Not all is hopeless! God is still on His
Throne! Amen!
Trust that the Lord has this
all under his control, and that he is working, even when we can’t see what he
is doing. His timing is not our timing. He is very patient, because he wants
all to come to repentance before the day he comes to judge the people of this
earth. So, keep looking up, and keep on doing the work to which God has called
you, and has equipped you, and believe that God will change human hearts, and
turn hearts back to him.
Be Still
An Original Work / February 29, 2012
Based off Psalm 37 and 46
God’s our refuge and our strength,
An ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear,
Though the mountains fall into the sea.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
God of Jacob is our fortress.
“Be still, and know that I am God;
Exalted I’ll be.”
Trust in the Lord and do good;
And delight yourself in the Lord,
And He will give you your heart’s
desires.
Commit your way to the Lord.
Trust in Him and He will do this:
He will make your righteousness shine
Like the dawn, the justice of your
Cause – the noon-day sun.
Be still before the Lord,
And wait patiently for Him; do not
fear.
Fretting only leads to evil.
Put your hope in Jesus Christ.
If the Lord delights in your way,
He makes your steps firm and steady.
The Lord upholds you with His hand,
So you will not fall.
Monday, June 25, 2018 – Thank
you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word. Bring it home to our hearts, I
pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!
No comments:
Post a Comment