I Have Seen a Horrible Thing

 

“But in the prophets of Jerusalem

    I have seen a horrible thing:

they commit adultery and walk in lies;

    they strengthen the hands of evildoers,

    so that no one turns from his evil;

all of them have become like Sodom to me,

    and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14 ESV)

“They say continually to those who despise the word of the Lord, ‘It shall be well with you’; and to everyone who stubbornly follows his own heart, they say, ‘No disaster shall come upon you.’” (Jeremiah 23:17 ESV)

“But if they had stood in my council,

    then they would have proclaimed my words to my people,

and they would have turned them from their evil way,

    and from the evil of their deeds.” (Jeremiah 23:22 ESV)

The prophets were those who spoke the words of God to the people, his messages that he wanted to give to the people. They were the Lord’s messengers sent by God to the people to give his messages to the people. And to prophesy is to speak to the people of God for their encouragement (exhortation, warning, urging, admonishment) and for their spiritual maturity, that they might live lives worthy of the gospel. And this can be in the form of a strong appeal, request, and/or a pleading to live rightly.

But now all of us within the body of Christ are to be those who are speaking the Word of God to one another for the purpose of encouraging and exhorting one another in our walks of faith and in obedience to our Lord in holy living, and in appealing and urging one another to not fall back into the practice of sinning against the Lord, but that we all might walk in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to God and no longer in sin. We are to be those who speak the truth of God to one another for our spiritual growth.

[Romans 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 12:1-31; 1 Corinthians 14:1-5; Galatians 6:1; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:1-16; Ephesians 5:15-21; Ephesians 6:10-20; Philippians 2:1-8; Colossians 3:12-16; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 3:13; Hebrews 10:23-25; James 5:19-20]

But we have many people within the gatherings of the church, or of what are falsely being called “churches,” who are not speaking for the Lord, and who are not speaking the truth of his word, many of whom are in positions of leadership and rule and spiritual authority over the people, and who are in positions of influence with persuasive powers to direct people in the way in which they want them to go. But they themselves are not living for the Lord, but they are those who habitually commit adultery and walk in lies.

But not only that, but they lead their people in the wrong direction by teaching them that if they profess faith in Jesus Christ that, regardless of how they live from that moment forward, heaven is secured for them and all their sins are forgiven, even future sins, which they say will not be held to their account. And by doing this they strengthen the hands of evildoers so that no one turns from his evil ways, because they are convinced that they don’t have to, but that they can still go to heaven when they die.

For they tell those who despise the word of the Lord that it will be well with them, even if they continue in deliberate and habitual and premeditated sin against the Lord, as their practice. And to despise the word of the Lord has to do with how we treat the word, i.e. if we refuse to obey the word of the Lord and to put it into practice in our daily lives. That is despising the word. But they tell them if they feel guilty for sinning that they should just claim who they are in Christ, even if, in truth, they aren’t really “in Christ.”

For what did Jesus say? He said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our former lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we deny self, die daily to sin, and follow him in obedience, we have eternal life in him. For not everyone who calls Jesus “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven but the ones DOING the will of God (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23; cf. Romans 6:1-23).

But if the prophets and priests and pastors and elders and teachers of the Scriptures who are strengthening the hands of the evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil (and who are telling those who despise the commands of the Lord that it will go well with them), if they had stood in the council of the Lord, and not in the counsel of the wicked, then they would have proclaimed the words of the Lord to the people and not these diluted and altered gospel messages intended to tickle itching ears and to appease the flesh.

And if they would have, and if they would now proclaim the truth of God’s words to the people, instead of the lies, there would certainly be many more people turning from their evil ways and from their evil deeds, for they would understand that if sin is what they practice, that it leads to death. But if obedience to the Lord and righteousness is what they practice, by the grace of God, in the power of God, it leads to life everlasting and to true salvation from sin and to true hope of eternal life with God for all who obey the Lord.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 1 Co 10:1-22; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-24; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:1-17; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Peter 1:15; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

Caution: This link may contain ads