I am reading in Jeremiah 11, and the Lord is leading me to make practical application of what was taught then, but to apply it to the church in America today, which is where I live, but applied anywhere that it fits, in reality.
The Lord called Jeremiah to speak to the people of
Jerusalem, which today would be the church, the heavenly Jerusalem, but which
can also include those who make false professions of faith in Jesus Christ. And
the servant of the Lord was to speak to the people to let them know that cursed
is anyone among them who refuses to obey the commandments of God (today under
the New Covenant). For this definitely applies to those living in rebellion and
in idolatry and in spiritual adultery against the Lord Jesus.
And then we are given a description of what the situation
was then, and is now, too. The people who call themselves the children of God
(today believers in Jesus Christ) are, for the most part (not everyone),
walking in the stubbornness of their own hearts and are refusing to obey the
Lord and his commandments under the New Covenant. Many are being taught that
they don’t have to obey, that it is no longer required of them. And so the many
are continuing to sin against the Lord deliberately and habitually.
Jeremiah 11:9-13 ESV
“Again the Lord said to me, ‘A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers. Therefore, thus says the Lord, Behold, I am bringing disaster upon them that they cannot escape. Though they cry to me, I will not listen to them. Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.’”
And what is a conspiracy? It is a plot, a scheme, a plan,
i.e. a secret plan by a group to do something unlawful and harmful. “Bingo!” (means:
Exactly!) And this is where we are today in the world, in the news media, and
the general media, and within our government(s), and within corporations and
conglomerates and private entities which are conspiring together to take over
the world, in reality. But the sad reality of it all is that this is what is
going on within the institutional church (overall) of today, as well.
It became apparent to me beginning in 1999 that many
institutional churches, regardless of church denomination, were joining forces and
they were all, it seemed, choosing to turn to business marketing schemes and
tricks in order to grow their “churches” (businesses). Since the goal became to
“draw in large crowds of people from the world,” the purpose shifted from
evangelizing the world to entertaining the world, and to not offending them so
that they would feel at home within the gatherings of “the church.”
So, in order to attract the ungodly of the world to their
gatherings, and so that they would feel comfortable there, and not be offended,
this grouping of “churches” altered the character of God/Christ, the mission
and purpose of the church (the body of Christ), and the gospel of our salvation
(the gospel of Christ) to make them all more palatable and acceptable to the
people of the world. And so the gospel message took a massive nosedive, and the
result has been that so many professers of Christ are still walking in sin.
Therefore, many people in America who call themselves
Christians are living in immorality, idolatry, sexual immorality, and rebellion
against God and against his commands, and they are doing so addictively, i.e.
repeatedly and deliberately, and often without conscience or compassion. And
the situation is increasingly getting much worse, and not better, as so many
are feeling as though they have free license to live in addictive sin against
God and against other humans because they have professed Jesus as their Savior
and Lord.
And sexual immorality is truly the biggest of the addictive
sins which are destroying the life of the church, and people’s minds and
hearts, and marriages and families. And this has become the demise of the
American church, at large, for so many pastors are engaged in sexual
immorality, too. And then they are preaching (though not all) that we can live
in sin and still go to heaven when we die if we have “prayed the prayer” to “receive
Jesus Christ into our hearts” and to “forgive us of our sins.”
Now many of them are sinning in secret, while others come
right out and declare openly their sins against the Lord but while they “claim
who they are in Christ,” which is then supposed to make it all better. Others
will partially make confessions of sin but while they are still hugging their
sinful addictions and while they are hiding some of them still in secret. And
when rebuked, they just hide underneath the “cheap grace gospel” which gives
them free reign to keep on in their sinfully addictive practices.
And so they are clamoring for teachers and preachers of “the
word” who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear, and who will not
offend them with the truth of the gospel, and who will not call them to
repentance and to obedience to the Lord, but who will coddle them in their sins
and pacify them rather than correct them. They want those who tell them pleasant
things, and things which make them feel good, and which do not make them feel
guilty about sinning deliberately and habitually against the Lord Jesus.
So, what is God’s response to all of this? Well, from the signs
of the times we now live in, it appears that we are definitely in those final
days before the return of the Lord at which time the Lord has promised to judge
and to discipline his rebellious church (see Revelation 2-3). He has been very
patient with his church here in America, sending them people to teach them the
truth and to call them to repentance and to obedience to him. But it appears
the majority are ignoring those messages.
But even if we are not judged in this life on this earth, we
all must stand before the Lord on the day he judges the people of the earth,
and we will all have to give an account for what we did with Jesus and with his
gospel and with the teachings of the Scriptures. Did we obey them? Did we live
by them? Or did we follow after the flesh and the ways of this sinful world and
in deliberate and habitual sin against God, instead? And did we ignore the
messengers of God that he sent to tell us the truth?
For, if sin is what we practice, and if righteousness and
holiness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, we do not know
God, we are not born of God, we are of the devil, and we don’t have eternal
life with God.
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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