Snatching Them Out of the Fire

Jude 1:17-23 ESV

“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, ‘In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.’ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.”

One of the big things being pushed in today’s market-driven “churches” is unity, but it is not unity with God and with his word, but it is unity with other humans in their marketing schemes and business goals for how to grow their “churches,” i.e. their businesses. And many pastors are being trained to be cult leaders who surround themselves with a faithful few who will do whatever the pastor asks them to do, even to report on others in the church who are not in unity with the “church’s” business goals and schemes.

And if you are not unified with their business and marketing goals and objectives, then you may be regarded as a “disunifier,” and you may even be encouraged and invited to “go someplace else where you will be a better fit.” And you don’t even have to be someone who is verbally speaking out against any specific marketing schemes, but it is obvious by your commitment to Christ and to the Scriptures that you are not someone who is going to “fit” within the market-driven “church” structure.

Now I am certainly not saying here that all people who are following Jesus Christ with their lives are perfect in every way and that they are never guilty ever of causing any legitimate and biblical divisions within the gatherings of the church. But, generally speaking, it is not the godly who are causing the divisions, in truth, but it is the ungodly who are disguising themselves as the godly and who are putting on a show of righteousness while they continue to follow after their own ungodly passions and desires.

For those who are leading the church to be “market-driven” instead of “Holy Spirit-driven,” are not the godly. They are the ungodly. Those who convince prospective believers in Christ that they don’t have to repent of their sins and that they don’t have to obey the Lord, and that they don’t have to walk in holiness and in righteousness but they can just make a verbal profession of Christ as Lord and now they are saved and on their way to heaven are not the godly. They are the ungodly who are not working for God but for self.

Everything is so backwards in today’s truly market-driven churches. The ungodly are being accepted and pampered while the godly are being scorned and scoffed at and falsely accused and treated badly. Truth is being taught as lies, and the lies are being taught as truth. Good is being spoken of as evil while evil is being spoken of as good. Telling lies is regarded as speaking kindly while telling the truth is regarded as judgmentalism and legalism. And evil abounds while the righteousness of God is being snuffed out.

These are the things which divide God’s true church, his body, as so many are now being drawn away from the true faith to follow after the lies and the liars in their craftiness and in their deceitful scheming. For it is the professers of faith in Christ who are serving in positions of leadership and influence within the gatherings of what is called “church,” who are living ungodly and immoral and worldly lives, who are causing division within the church. For they are leading the masses astray by the lies that they tell.

So, we are to guard our hearts and minds against deceiving spirits and liars and manipulators who pretend to be followers of Christ while they follow their own fleshly desires, instead. And we need to be those who are testing the spirits to see who is of God and who is not of God by the words that they speak and by the lives that they live, in practice. So we need to test their words against the Scriptures in their context, for many pull Scriptures out of context and twist them to say what they do not teach, in truth.

And we are to be students of the Scriptures who study them in their context and who are listening to the Lord and who are following the teachings of Christ and of his NT apostles – the teachings intended for Christ’s followers, his bride, his church, his chosen ones. And we are to be walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to our Lord, and not in sin. And we should be growing to maturity in Christ and not be those who are still floundering in their sins, absent of genuine long-lasting repentance.

Then we are to have mercy on those who doubt, who have questions, who are lacking in understanding, and we should share with them the truth of God’s Holy Word and try to answer their questions, as we are guided by the Holy Spirit. And then there are those we are to snatch from the fire, and we do this by strongly exhorting them and urging them to come out of their sins and to repent, and to turn to God, and to follow Christ in obedience to his ways, for if they don’t, they will not inherit eternal life with God.

And then there are others to whom we are to show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh. And who are they? How are they different from the other two? Perhaps they are the deceived who do not realize that they are deceived because they have always been taught the lies, but they don’t know they are lies. So to a certain extent, we should show them compassion but not to the point to where we end up coddling them in their sins and we don’t tell them the whole truth of our salvation.

For it is critical that we speak the whole truth and nothing but the truth and that we aren’t so “nice” to people that we refuse to offend them with the truth of the gospel. If we must offend in order to save lives, then that is what we must do, for lies never save anyone from hell, no matter how “nice” they may be to hear. So don’t be so afraid of hurting people’s feelings that you contribute to them ending up in hell and not heaven. Love them enough to put your life on the line to see them walk in freedom from sin.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

For Our Nation  

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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