Isaiah 30:1-2 ESV
“Ah, stubborn children,” declares the Lord,
“who carry out a plan, but not mine,
and who make an alliance, but not of my Spirit,
that they may add sin to sin;
who set out to go down to Egypt,
without asking for my direction,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh
and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!”
As it was then, so it is today, at least here in America it
is. My heart is breaking because of all the deception and all the manipulation
of minds and emotions that is going on in the name of Jesus Christ, and in the
name of the gospel of our salvation, and in the name of Christianity. It is
mindboggling how much deception is prevalent among the people who call
themselves Christians here in America. And what is worse is that so many of
them don’t even want to hear about it. They refuse to see it!
What I am particularly noticing in our present time is how
many movies and TV dramas and cartoons are now being created about Jesus
Christ, and about other biblical characters. And Christians are flocking to
these dramatic presentations, which are largely for entertainment purposes. And
what happens then, though not with everyone, is that Christians begin to
receive and to accept the philosophy being taught in these dramatizations as
though they are truth, and as though they are Scripture, when many are not.
Now, I am certainly not claiming that these dramatizations
are all lies. I don’t believe they are. For the thing about deception is that
it is not usually bold faced lies which are easy to discern, but they are
hidden, and they are so cleverly blended in with the truth that they sound like
truth to those who do not know the Scriptures. And deception appeals to human
emotions, and so many people are being led by their emotions. And deception
uses the art of misimpressions to give people wrong impressions which they then
adopt.
Then the people “fall in love” with these dramatizations,
which then become for many of them their Bible, of sorts, which defines for
them the Scriptures and the character of God and of Jesus Christ, and that of other
biblical characters who were followers of God. And then I see that some books have
been or are being created based off these dramatizations, and my fear there is
that many will receive these books in place of the Scriptures and will follow
them and their teachings in place of following the Scriptures.
I already see that happening with many of these “memes” on
social media. Many Christians “share” these memes with their friends because
the memes themselves sound good and feel good, and they touch them emotionally,
and the emotions are very powerful. But then they adopt the messages in these
memes as though they are biblical truth when so many of them are not, but are a
clever blend of truth and lies. And this really is all about impressions, i.e.
about giving people false impressions which are hard to point out.
And so we have many people professing faith in Jesus Christ
who are making other humans and institutions of men and videos and movies their
gods, or their gospel, in place of the one true God, and in place of the
Scriptures, and if you try to point this out to them, it seems most do not want
to hear it. They will either ignore you, fight against you, or on social media
they will just “unfriend” or “unfollow” you rather than being willing to engage
in a conversation about the deception, because they want the lies more.
Isaiah 30:8-11 ESV
“And now, go, write it before them on a tablet
and inscribe it in a book,
that it may be for the time to come
as a witness forever.
For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
and to the prophets, ‘Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.’”
Oh, this is absolutely the truth! And this has been going on
for a very long time. And now we live in a culture which is very feelings
oriented, and very much steered (convinced, moved) by impressions. And they
have been taught for generations that they can “believe” (not usually
biblically defined) in Jesus Christ one time in their lives, and now all their
sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and now heaven is guaranteed
them when they die, but regardless of how they live.
And so we have many people professing faith in Jesus Christ
who were never crucified with Christ in death to sin, and who were never raised
with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. For they continued on in their sinful practices and
didn’t “miss a beat.” And so they are not walking in obedience to the Lord in
holiness and in righteousness, because they have been convinced that they don’t
have to, that nothing else is required of them.
And so many of them are contending with and are fighting
against the truth of the gospel and its messengers, or else they are just
ignoring the truth or they are cutting the truth tellers out of their lives.
For so many have been convinced that the lies are the truth and that the truth
is a lie. And, again, so much of this has to do with feelings and with
impressions. And the feelings are ruling over the doctrines of the Scriptures
in favor of what makes people feel good while rejecting what doesn’t make them
feel good.
So, if you are someone who is teaching the truth of the gospel,
which has to do with us daily dying to sin and denying self and following Jesus
Christ in obedience (see Luke 9:23-26), you may be coming up against this, as
well, with other professers of faith in Jesus Christ trying to convince you to
lighten up and to soften the message and to make it more appealing and
acceptable to the ungodly of this world. And you may find yourself largely
ostracized by “the church” because you are too serious, which they call being “negative.”
Isaiah 30:15 ESV
”For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel,
‘In returning and rest you shall be saved;
in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.’”
Now, this isn’t all there is to it. For the Scriptures teach
that we must forsake our sinful practices, and that we must follow our Lord in
obedience and in holy and righteous living. For if we do not, and if we
continue in deliberate and habitual sin, making sin our practice, and so righteousness
is not our practice, then according to the Scriptures, we will not inherit
eternal life with God. And we will not enter God’s heaven, regardless of the
faith that we profess with our lips. And Jesus will say to many in that day, “I
never knew you! Depart from me you workers of lawlessness,” because they wouldn’t
obey the Lord and his gospel.
An
Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: We’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
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