“And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write: ‘The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze.
“‘I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and is teaching and seducing my servants to practice sexual immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. I gave her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her sexual immorality. Behold, I will throw her onto a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her I will throw into great tribulation, unless they repent of her works, and I will strike her children dead. And all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works.
“’But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say, I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come. The one who conquers and who keeps my works until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron, as when earthen pots are broken in pieces, even as I myself have received authority from my Father. And I will give him the morning star. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’” Revelation 2:18-29 ESV
Where are we today in all of this? Are there still Christians who take God and his word to heart, who love him and their fellow humans, and who are walking in the ways of the Lord, and according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh? Yes! But we seem to be in the minority in these final days before the return of Christ. We are outnumbered by the masses who are believing the lies of the enemy and not the truth of God’s word, who are believing that giving lip service to the Lord once in their lives secures them heaven for eternity but regardless of how they live.
And so we have many within the gatherings of what are called “churches” who are indeed tolerating and even approving of false teachers, preachers, pastors, prophets, apostles, and evangelists. And they don’t have to come out and declare their approval of sexual immorality and idolatry, but they do it by what they teach and preach, and by what they live and practice. For so many are teaching that a mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ secures us heaven for eternity, but it makes no requirements for forsaking our sins and for following Jesus Christ in obedience, as required of God for salvation.
And when that is what is being taught, and what is largely being accepted, then we have an open door for those professing faith in Jesus Christ to continue in deliberate and habitual sin without conscience, without remorse, without feeling guilty for their sin, and without true repentance and change of heart and mind away from sin to now following the Lord in obedience. And many are teaching that faith in Jesus Christ does not require that we repent of our sins and that we obey our Lord and his commands and that we do the works God prepared in advance that we should walk in them. But…
[Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-24; Titus 2:11-14; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 12:1-2; Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23, etc.]
So, the result of that diluted and altered “gospel” message, which also alters the divine character and will of God/Christ, and of his church, is that many professers of faith in Jesus Christ are still living in deliberate and habitual sin against the Lord, basically sanctioned by the church, and sexual immorality is running rampant in the gatherings of what are called “church” here in America. And few are doing anything to stop that from happening. And in some (or many) cases, those being sinned against end up becoming “the enemy” instead of those doing the sinning. Very sad situation, indeed!
And so God has indeed been pointing this out to his church for some time now, through his messengers, and through his word, but the situation seems to be increasingly going in the wrong direction, not the right direction. And so I believe the American church, overall (not every congregation), is under the judgment of God, which can certainly impact all of us. And I believe that is why we are seeing such a striking moral decline here in America, overall, and why our nation seems to be going down the toilet. And we, as a nation, may not have much of a life left. For God is going to judge!
And where Jesus said that “all the churches will know that I am he who searches mind and heart, and I will give to each of you according to your works”, please know that Paul and the other apostles taught the same thing.
[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-24; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-11; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:23-31; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]
But for us who do not hold to that teaching that we can have salvation of sin and eternal life with God, but regardless of how we live, but who believe the Lord and his NT apostles and his instructions and his warnings, we are to hold fast to the faith we possess and to what we know to be the truth of God’s word. We are to stay the course and keep denying self and dying daily to sin and following our Lord in obedience to his commands, by the grace of God, and in his power, strength, and wisdom. For we must keep on walking in holiness, moral purity, honesty, faithfulness and in obedience to our Lord.
Breath Of Heaven (Mary's Song)
Songwriters: Amy Lee Grant / Chris Eaton
I have traveled many moonless nights
Cold and weary with a babe inside
And I wonder what I've done
Holy father you have come
And chosen me now to carry your son
I am waiting in a silent prayer
I am frightened by the load I bear
In a world as cold as stone
Must I walk this path alone?
Be with me now
Be with me now
Breath of heaven
Hold me together
Be forever near me
Breath of heaven
Breath of heaven
Lighten my darkness
Pour over me your holiness
For you are holy
Breath of heaven
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6VGVXjGLBQ
Caution: This link may contain ads
No comments:
Post a Comment