“’Can a man hide himself in hiding places so I do not see him?’ declares the Lord. ‘Do I not fill the heavens and the earth?’ declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 23:24 NASB1995)
The land is full of adulterers. Their course is evil, and
their might is not right. Prophet and priest and pastor are polluted. Within
the gatherings of the church is found their wickedness. Some of the prophets
and priests and preachers and pastors are teaching what is of false gods, the
gods of this world, and they are leading the people astray by their lies and by
their deceptions, to what is false. The committing of adultery and the walking
in falsehood is commonplace. And the pastors end up strengthening the hands of
the evil doers, so that the sinners do not turn back from their wickedness.
That was a summary of Jeremiah 23:10-14, but updated
somewhat to today. And it is just as relevant today as it was then. For this is
a fair description of the church and its leaders and its people in the USA
today, by the majority, but not including every church congregation or every individual
Christian.
So, what is happening in the church (or in what is falsely
being referred to as “the church”) in the USA today that makes this so relevant?
It is that there has been a movement which has swept across our nation over my
lifetime which has slowly and carefully been altering the character of God
(Father, Son Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit), and of his church, and of his
gospel message, to make them less offensive to the people of the world and more
acceptable to human flesh. And the most popular gospel now denies God’s requirements
for death to sin and walks of obedience to the Lord.
So, combined with the invention of smartphones and personal
computers, that has opened the door wide to the whole world of evil at one’s
fingertips. And anyone driven by the lusts of the flesh can get to whatever
source of evil they want on their handheld devices via the internet any time of
day or night in the privacy of a corner of a room where no one else can see
what they are viewing. And many children are now being handed these devices
which they then take into the privacy of their bedrooms, and not all of them
are being monitored by their parents. And this is just horrible!!
And pastors and elders and deacons of “churches” are engaged
in the same stuff, not all, but possibly as many as half or more. And this is
probably one of the determining factors in their willingness to compromise the
truth of the gospel to make it not so strict to where a “Christian” can keep
living in sin, in deliberate and habitual sin, in adultery against their
spouses, and in willful defiance of God’s commands, only now without
conscience, and without feelings of guilt, but with the blessings of “the
church” which is catering to the sinful desires of the flesh to attract the
ungodly to their gatherings.
So the hands of these pastors are indeed strengthening the
hands of the evildoers, because so many of them are teaching that we don’t have
to repent of (turn from, die to) our sins, and we don’t have to obey God and
his commands, for they call that “works salvation.” And so they give the people
the impression that all that is required of God is some profession of faith in
Jesus and now all their sins are forgiven, and heaven is guaranteed them when
they die, but regardless of how they live. But that is not the gospel that
Jesus and his New Testament apostles taught. They taught repentance.
And so rather than confront the adulterers and the liars and
habitual sinners with their sinful practices, and of their need to die to sin
and to obey God, so many are teaching them that if they are steeped in sin, and
they begin to feel guilty for their sin, that they should just “claim who you
are in Christ.” But you aren’t in Christ if you have not died to sin and if you
are not obeying the Lord and his commands, in practice. In fact, the Scriptures
teach that you don’t know God, you are not born of God, and you don’t have
eternal life with God unless you turn from your sin and you obey God in
practice.
But many professing Christians are living on the assumption
that because they made that profession of faith in Jesus Christ that God will
not judge them for their sins. So even though they are sinning against God
deliberately and habitually, they take comfort in the lie which guarantees them
heaven as their eternal destiny. But please know that you cannot hide from God.
He sees everything you do. And you can’t hide from the truth of the Scriptures,
either. If you choose to continue in deliberate sin, and not in obedience to
God, you will face the judgment of God, and hell will be your destiny.
[Matt 7:13-14,21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn
10:27-30; Ac 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; Tit 2:11-14; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13; Heb 10:23-31; Heb
12:1-2; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Jn 1:5-10; 1 Jn 2:3-6,15-17; 1 Jn 3:4-10]
My Sheep
Based off John 10:1-30 NIV
An Original Work / June 24, 2012
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
My sheep hear me.
They know me.
They listen to my
voice and obey.
I call them and lead
them.
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
They will never
follow strangers.
They will run away
from them.
The voice of a
stranger they know not;
They do not follow
him.
So, I tell you the
truth that
I am the gate, so
you enter in.
Whoever does enter
Will find
forgiveness and will be saved.
Nonetheless whoever
enters
Not by the gate;
other way,
He is the thief and
a robber.
Listen not, the
sheep to him.
Oh, I am the Good
Shepherd,
Who laid his own
life down for the sheep.
I know them. They
know me.
They will live with
me eternally.
The thief only comes
to steal and
Kill and to destroy
the church.
I have come to give
you life that
You may have it to
the full…
They know my voice,
so they follow me.
Nowhere to Hide from God
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