2 Peter 3:2-3 ESV
“You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires.”
Scoffers and Sinful Desires
People who scoff at others speak derisively against them.
They mock and ridicule them, make fun of them, insult them, show them enormous
disrespect, treat them with contempt, and they belittle (demean, devalue) them,
treating them like rubbish. The Pharisees did this.
And, there are Pharisees today, too, who are treating people
in the church with disdain and who are scoffing at them, insulting them, and
devaluing them. I am certain this is not confined only to male vs female, but
there is a lot of this devaluing of women going on within the church coming
from men.
And, what I am finding to be true is that it is often coming
from men who are living immoral lives, who are not fulfilling their God-given
roles and responsibilities, but who are deriding certain women who are
listening to the Lord, who are following Jesus with all their hearts.
A Massive Spiritual Decline
There is such a massive moral and spiritual decline in the
church that the church, for the most part, is no longer functioning as Christ's
body. A large part of why this is happening is because the men, who are to be
leading their churches and families to holiness, are living in sin.
So, the church is no longer the light of the world and the
salt of the earth, because the leaders in the church and in the home are not
living pure lives, but they are dabbling in porn or in other forms of idolatry,
and thus they are deserting the ones they are called to protect.
Since the men in the church are largely spiritually AWOL,
because they are not walking in holiness, and thus they are not leading by
their teaching and by example that we are to walk in holiness, and since they
are not loving God or their wives, God can't use them, because they aren't
available.
The Big Hole
So, that leaves a big hole in the church, and that leaves a
lot of sheep with no one to teach them the ways of the Lord and the ways of
holiness. And, time is running out, and many need to be right with God before
Jesus returns. So, who is God going to send with his messages?
God is going to send whoever will listen to him, whoever
will walk in holiness, and whoever will submit to him as Lord and who will obey
him, and who will do what he says and say what he wants that person to say.
And, so he is calling some women to do what the men are not willing to do.
And, I am not talking about women trying to usurp authority
over men here. There are women who love Jesus with all their hearts who will do
anything he asks of them. But there are men who are giving them the smackdown and
telling them they are out of place.
Yet, the men doing the smackdown are often Pharisees,
because they aren't willing to obey God with their lives. They aren't willing
to surrender it all to Jesus and to do whatever he asks of them, yet they are
telling women to shut up. But if we keep our voices silent the rocks will cry
out.
God Calling Men to Surrender
Too many men are falling down on the job and they need to
repent, and they need to walk humbly with their God and be doing what he has
called them to do. They need to surrender their all to Jesus, forsake their
idols, and accept their God-given roles and responsibilities.
Yet, if men are not willing to surrender their all to Jesus,
and to be the men of God in the home and in the family and in the church, to
lead them in holiness by example and in word, then they shouldn't complain if
God chooses women to do what they are not willing to do.
For, they need to be leading the church and their wives and
their families to live godly and holy lives, and they need to be speaking out
in public and in the church, and they need to be speaking against the lies of
Satan that are permeating the church. Someone must! Those who are doing so are
too few.
Liars and Lies
Over the years of my life, I have known many liars, and I
have heard many lies. One of the things I have learned is that some of those
lies are lies which get repeated, not just by one person, but by many.
Lies I’ve heard: “If a man looks at porn, it has nothing to
do with his wife.”
Truth: Jesus said that when a man looks lustfully at a woman,
he commits adultery in his heart. Jesus calls it adultery, and if the man is
married, it is adultery against his wife. Don’t call it anything else.
Lies I've heard: “He’s trying to use porn to fill a void in
his life that only Jesus can fill.”
Truth: Jesus calls it sin. He calls it lust. He calls it
adultery. Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.
People choose sin over God because they don't honor God as Lord (Rom 1).
Lies I've heard: “If you (wife) just show your husband love,
then Jesus can use you to help your husband heal.”
Truth: That has some truth to it, but it puts the
responsibility on the woman. It isn't her fault if her husband looks at porn.
And, she can love him for forever, and he can still look at porn and choose
porn over her because of the evil in his heart.
Now, the passion and the pain that you hear in my words here
is the pain our Lord is feeling when he looks at his church and when he sees
all the destruction in his church, and in the home, because of all the sin and
all the leaders who are spiritually AWOL.
I am sharing God's heart here! These are HIS cries! Men,
repent! And, don’t silence your women, especially if you aren’t willing to do
the job.
On Zion's Glorious Summit
By John Kent
On Zion's glorious summit stood
A numerous host redeemed by blood!
They hymned their king in strains divine;
I heard the song and strove to join,
I heard the song and strove to join.
Here all who suffered sword or flame
For truth, or Jesus' lovely name,
Shout victory now and hail the Lamb,
And bow before the great I AM,
And bow before the great I AM.
While everlasting ages roll,
Eternal love shall feast their soul,
And scenes of bliss, forever new,
Rise in succession to their view,
Rise in succession to their view.
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of hosts, on high adored!
Who like me Thy praise should sing,
O Almighty King!
Holy, holy, holy Lord,
God of hosts, on high adored!
Holy, holy, holy.
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