You Turn Things Upside Down

“And the Lord said:

‘Because this people draw near with their mouth

    and honor me with their lips,

    while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

therefore, behold, I will again

    do wonderful things with this people,

    with wonder upon wonder;

and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish,

    and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.’ (Isaiah 29:13-14 ESV)

One of the biggest problems facing “the church” here in America today is that so many people are being taught that they can make a public acknowledgement of Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives, and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is guaranteed them when they die, and it can’t be taken away, but regardless of how they live. No dying to sin, and no walks of obedience to our Lord and to his commands, and no holy and righteous living are being required of them.

So, many are they who draw near to God with their mouth and “honor” God/Christ with their lips, but while their hearts are far from God. For they are following a gospel of men (humans) rather than the gospel of Christ, as taught by Jesus Christ. They are following a gospel created in the minds of humans who are altering the character of God/Christ, of his gospel, and of his church (the body of Christ). For they are trying to “draw in large crowds of people from the world” to their gatherings, so they appease the flesh.

For Jesus taught that if anyone would come after him that he must deny self, die daily to sin (take up his cross daily) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to (save) our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for Jesus’ sake we give up (lose) our old lives of sin, and we now follow Jesus in walks of obedience to his commands, we have the hope of eternal life with God. For he said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING God’s will. (Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23)

And Paul taught that, by faith in Jesus Christ, we are crucified with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer to live as slaves to sin, but now as slaves to God and to his righteousness. So we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies to make us obey its desires, for if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to God is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with Christ Jesus, our Lord. (Romans 6:1-23)

And the grace of God, which is bringing us salvation, instructs us to renounce (say “No!” to) ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives while we wait for our Lord’s return. For Jesus Christ “gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Titus 2:11-14; Ephesians 2:10)

“Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel,

    whose deeds are in the dark,

    and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’

You turn things upside down!

Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,

that the thing made should say of its maker,

    ‘He did not make me’;

or the thing formed say of him who formed it,

    ‘He has no understanding’?” (Isaiah 29:15-16 ESV)

Since so many people are being taught a diluted and altered “gospel” message, they lack the fear of the Lord. They do not take God and his word seriously, and so they continue on living in sin, deliberately, convinced that their sins will not keep them out of heaven. So they do not honor God as Lord of their lives, but they continue to chart their own course and to live life the way that they want, regardless of what the Scriptures teach, and regardless of God’s requirements of all who profess the name of Jesus.

Some of them are very blatant about this and don’t even try to hide what they do, while others will put on a performance of righteousness while they sin in secret, convincing themselves that no one sees and that no one knows, but God knows. And those who know them very well will see the patterns of behavior, too. They may not be able to prove anything, so they cannot accuse them of wrongdoing, but they may be able to see it in their eyes and in their body language when they are sinning in secret.

And this whole thing of turning things upside down is such a reality of what is going on within so many of the gatherings of what are called “churches” today. Good is now being spoken of as evil, and evil is now being spoken of as good. For if you take God and his word seriously, you may be called a legalist or one who teaches “works salvation,” while those who teach lies and who distort the truth in order to deceive the naïve and the fleshly, will often be referred to as friendly, kind, gracious, and merciful.

And then there is this whole thing of what is regarded as “negative” and “positive.” If you tell people lies which make them feel good about themselves, then you are being “positive.” But if you tell people the truth of what the Bible teaches on the subjects of salvation and eternal life, then you are regarded as “negative,” and you are to be avoided like a “hot potato.” But in reality, lies and “feel-good” messages are negative, for they are opposed to the truth of God’s word, while the truth is really what’s positive.

And definitely many are flip-flopping the roles of God and of humans, and humans are treating God/Christ like he is a doting grandfather or a genie in the sky there to grant their every desire, and as though he does everything for us and as though nothing is required of us. It is all about what God does, and not much is being taught about what God requires of us, in return. But our salvation is not a free ride to heaven. It is death to sin and living to God and to his righteousness, obeying God by his grace, and in his power.

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; 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 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10; 1 Pet 2:24; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2]

The Heart of Man  

An Original Work / April 4, 2012

Based off Matt. 15:1-20; Mk. 7:1-23

Listen to me ev’ryone and

Understand this teaching of Christ:

Why do you break the commands 

Of God for the sake of tradition?

When you follow the ways of man,

And don’t obey the words of Christ,

You nullify the words of God,

And you hold to the ways of man. 

What comes out of a man’s mouth is

What makes him unclean and dirty.

The things that come out of the mouth

Come from the heart, from within him.

The heart of man is so sinful;

From his nature, out comes evil:

Lying, cursing, greed and malice,

Lust and lewdness, deceit, slander.

Jesus calls us to obey him;

Turn from our sins; follow His ways.

Yet, his people honor him with their lips, 

but their hearts not with Him.

Their worship of God is in vain.

Their teachings are rules taught by man.

Jesus calls us; gently leads us 

To return and follow His truth. 

https://vimeo.com/125490002