The Holy City today is the
church, the body of Christ, the saints of Almighty God. We are the Jerusalem
which is from above. Physical Jerusalem is no longer the Holy City, for it is
of Hagar, because her children are still in slavery to sin, i.e. because of
their rejection of Jesus Christ. We who are in Christ Jesus, by faith in Him,
are now the children of promise (Gal. 4:22-31).
Nonetheless, not everyone who
claims to have faith in Jesus Christ is truly a born again believer in Christ,
and not every genuine believer in Jesus Christ is presently walking in the
Spirit and no longer living to please the flesh. So, just because a group of people
gather together and call their meetings “the church,” it does not mean that
they are the church or that they are living in accord with the will of God and
his purposes for our lives.
This subject is addressed
much throughout the New Testament, with many warnings given to those who meet
with the church, the body of Christ, to make certain that they are in Christ,
by faith in Him, or that if they are in Christ, but they are not living
according to his ways, that they should repent of their sins and turn back to
the Lord. And, this is because it is those who walk in the ways of the Lord who
have eternal life with God, not those who merely profess faith in Christ while
they still live to please their sinful flesh.
They Have Not Listened
Jeremiah 32:31-35 ESV
“This city has aroused my anger and wrath, from the day it was built to this day, so that I will remove it from my sight because of all the evil of the children of Israel and the children of Judah that they did to provoke me to anger—their kings and their officials, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
“They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction.They set up their abominations in the house that is called by my name, to defile it. They built the high places of Baal in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, to offer up their sons and daughters to Molech, though I did not command them, nor did it enter into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to cause Judah to sin.”
Some things never change.
Much of what God’s people did in Old Testament times, they are doing again
today. There is much evil going on within much of today’s church, at least here
in the USA.
For, the vast majority of the
church here in America has become “unequally yoked” together with the US
government. They partnered with the government via the 501c3, and they made the
government head over the church, for they are now subject to the government.
And, our government is an evil government which is under the authority of a
shadow government of the elite of the world, culminating in the beast of
Revelation, i.e. the New World Order.
So, what they did was they
turned the body of Christ into a business of human-making, and they now market
Christ’s body, his church, like any other man-made business. And, they use
marketing schemes and gimmicks to grow the church (a business) and to draw in
large crowds of people from the world. Thus, the church is patterning their
gatherings after the ways of the world to attract the world (their customer
base) to these meetings.
Because of this, they have
also diluted the gospel of Jesus Christ to make it more appealing to human flesh
so as not to offend their “customers.” So, they reduce the gospel to nothing
more than forgiveness of sins and a promise of heaven when they leave this
earth, while they ignore and even speak against the teachings of scripture
which say that we must walk according to the Spirit and no longer according to
the flesh if we want to have eternal life with God in heaven (Lu. 9:23-25; Rom.
8:1-17).
Since the Gospel has been
diluted to make it more acceptable to human flesh, and much of the church is
focused on not offending their customers, teachings on sin and repentance and
obedience and submission to Christ are becoming a thing of the past. So, the
adherents of this false grace gospel have the impression that how they live
doesn’t matter to God and that it doesn’t impact their eternal salvation. But,
they are wrong!
Because of this, sin is
running rampant in much of today’s church, even among the leadership. Maybe
half or more than half of all pastors have dabbled in pornography, if they are
not addicted to it. Many are engaging in extramarital affairs, hiring
prostitutes, or engaged in homosexual acts or in child porn or child sexual
abuse. The numbers are astounding, too, for the number of men, women, and
children who regularly view porn.
So, the vast majority of
America’s churches, I believe, have kicked the Holy Spirit right out of their
gatherings, and they are following marketing books, instead, for how to grow
the church. Pastors have turned into clowns and entertainers. And, the church
is promoted as a place of fun and activities, a place which is casual and
accepting of all people and all lifestyles, while sinful practices abound
within the congregations and within the leadership. And, God is grieved over
the condition of his church today.
He Will Bring Them Back
Jeremiah 32:36-42 ESV
“Now therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning this city of which you say, ‘It is given into the hand of the king of Babylon by sword, by famine, and by pestilence’: Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
“I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. I will rejoice in doing them good, and I will plant them in this land in faithfulness, with all my heart and all my soul. For thus says the Lord: Just as I have brought all this great disaster upon this people, so I will bring upon them all the good that I promise them.”
The New World Order Beast is
upon us today, in our day and time. And, it is already conquering peoples and
nations and governments throughout the world, and the US government is a part
of it. I believe that America is the harlot (Babylon), or at least the
institutional church in America is the harlot which rides this beast, which
includes both church and government. And, God is calling his church to come out
from among her and be separate so that she does not share in her sins and in
her punishment (Rev. 18:4-5).
The US government serves this
beast in going throughout the world killing innocents, taking over other
nations, confiscating their natural resources, and doing whatever they want to
whomever they want while they blame others for their evil deeds and deceive
their own people into believing their lies. And, the media in America is party
to promoting their lies, too. We can’t trust our political leaders or our media
or even our church leaders to tell us the truth these days. So, we must pray
for much discernment.
But, the Lord is allowing all
of this to take place as his way of chastising his wayward church in order to
bring her back to him, I believe. This is taught in the books of Prophecy in
the Old Testament as well as it is referred to in the New Testament, such as in
the letters to the seven churches (Rev. 2-3). God disciplines those he loves in
order that we might share in his holiness. He prunes us and he purifies us in
order to make us holy.
I believe God is allowing
many of the things which are happening in the world today in order to draw
people to him and to his salvation, but also to bring his wayward saints back
to him in purity of mind and heart and devotion to him before he comes back for
us to take us to be with him forever. So, although tough stuff is going on in
our world, God is bringing good out of it in changing people’s hearts to
conform them to him and to his ways.
Only in Him
An Original Work / February
19, 2014
Based off Isaiah 30
Woe to those who look to
man’s help;
Who turn away from Jesus
Christ;
Forming an alliance not in
step with God;
Making their own plans, and praying
not.
Willing not to listen to
truth,
They close their ears to what
is right.
Pleasing words are all that
they’ll hear;
Feel good messages that bring
cheer.
Trust in your Lord; turn from
your sin.
Put your faith now ONLY IN
HIM.
Do not turn to idols. They’ll
not satisfy.
Jesus will save you. That’s
why He died.
Your Lord will be gracious to
you.
He cares all about you, ‘tis
true.
He forgives you all of your
sin
When you give your life up to
Him.
Oh, how truly gracious He’ll
be
When you bow to Him on your
knees;
Turning now from your sin;
walking in his ways.
He’ll lead and guide you all
of your days.
Now you will sing praises to
Him.
He delivered you from your
sin.
You’ll tell others now of His
grace,
So they may see Christ
face-to-face.
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 –
Thank You, Jesus, for bringing wandering hearts back to you and for delivering
those in slavery to sin out of their bondage and for setting them (us) free!
Amen!
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