Oh well . . .
Oh well . . .
Truly, the Christian churches are in absolute chaos. Everyone does whatever he feels "led" to do.
Even in our own assembly there have been individuals who accost people in the parking lot or meet in homes and tell whoever will listen what they think is wrong with me or with the church. I leave such people alone until God shows me what to do. Sometimes the Lord brings them to repentance and they begin to show forth the Life of Christ.
It is the good fight of faith. We meet opposition all the time, but Jesus is with us when we look to Him and refuse to come down from the cross, from the wall where God has placed us.
Nehemiah is a good book to read when we are being harassed as we contend for the faith once for all delivered to the saints.
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. (Verse 4)
Two problems with these ungodly men: they change the grace of God into a license for immorality; they deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
Today most of the Christian churches in America have changed the grace of God into a license for immorality. They have not done this deliberately, it is because they do not understand Paul's writings.
The Apostle Paul presented Divine grace as a means of turning away from the Law of Moses and placing our trust in Jesus Christ. Then, as part of the grace of God, we have the born-again experience, the body and blood of Christ, and the daily leading of the Holy Spirit to enable us to understand the will of Christ and to perform it. Day by day we are transformed into Christ's moral image. We become a new, righteous creation—that which the Law of Moses is unable to accomplish.
But what have we done? We have interpreted Paul to mean God has given us Divine grace as a substitute for, an alternative to, righteous behavior. We could not have missed the mark more completely.
A believer wrote to me recently who is panicking because he has turned away from a wonderful salvation. Now he is terrified that he is lost forever.
He went to his pastor. The pastor's response was, "You cannot 'outsin' grace." In other words, no matter how you sin, willfully or ignorantly, grace will forgive you. "You shall not surely die!"
The man knew in his heart this was not going to help his agony.
Following is my response to him:
I believe the desire you have to get right with God comes from the Holy Spirit.
You are going to have to fight to enter the Kingdom of God.
By fight I mean read your Bible some each day, spend some time in prayer each day, ask God how you can minister to other members of the Body of Christ.
You are going to have to do this while all the time you do not feel anything and are plagued with negative thoughts.
You are going to experience suffering.
Above all you must deny yourself, take up your cross of deferred desire, and follow Christ at all times, obeying Him implicitly on every occasion.
I think if you are willing to do these things you most likely will regain what you have thrown away.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
In the case of a lady who wrote to me that she was concerned about her sinning: she went to her pastor. His advice was to the effect: "Sin a great deal. Then you will die and go to Heaven where sin will not be a problem."
So today, just as Jude, commented, the grace of God is being used far and wide as an excuse for sinful behavior.
It will be a wonder if we ever escape from this error before the Lord returns. If we do not, numerous American Christians will not gain the crown of life.
Not only are we using God's grace as an excuse for our sinning, we are denying Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. We are willing to receive Christ as our personal Savior but not as our personal Sovereign and Lord.
How many American Christians obey Christ in every detail of their lives? How many have truly surrendered to God's will? How many have denied themselves, taken up their personal cross, and are following the Master?
These are the only true Christians. These are the disciples of the Lord. The remainder are merely members of the Christian religion. There is no salvation, no eternal life, in being merely a member of the Christian religion.
How can we tell that American Christians are not disciples, have not received Christ as Lord, are changing God's grace into an excuse for immorality? By the things they say and do.
Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord {Some early manuscripts Jesus} delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. (Verse 5)
There has been much talk in Christian circles about "once saved always saved." Since it is commonly acknowledged that coming out of Egypt is a type of salvation, and since Jude reminds us that the Lord having saved His people out of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe, how can we persist in this eternal security error? Don't we understand the Holy Spirit would realize we would gain from this passage in Jude that it is possible to be saved and then lost?
Actually, the concept of "once saved always saved" reflects a profound error in our concept of salvation. "Eternal security" is based on the notion that our salvation is a Divine intervention having nothing to do with our response. This is not at all true. Every aspect of our salvation is an opportunity. God moves and we are to respond by faith and obedience. When we do not do our part, God's intervention in our life is rendered null and void. The contract is broken. We broke it, God did not.
We have the power to make the Word of God of no effect in our life.
Here is one of the fundamental errors in Christian theology. If the teachers and preachers would preach expository sermons, taking a portion of the Scriptures and expounding on it verse by verse, not warping it into a preconceived mold, they rapidly would find that God's intervention in the lives of people is effective only as they believe and obey God.
Salvation is not a ticket to Heaven that we cannot possibly lose. Salvation is the Presence of God in Jesus Christ that enables us to move from the person of Satan to the Person of God. Christ always is present to help us and will see us through. But we must keep His commandments or else the process is brought to a halt.
If we do not keep His commandments we do not love Him; we will not bear the fruit of His image; and we will be cut out of Vine, out of Christ. This is what the Bible says.
The Christian churches in America are on dangerous spiritual ground. If we do not have nation-wide repentance, a turning to God in sincerity, a change in our doctrine to conform to the Scriptures. our nation is lost and we are going to face an angry Christ.
We have no one to blame but ourselves if we do not go back to the New Testament, particularly but not only the Epistles, and see whether they press a sovereign intervention of God that ignores our behavior, or if they teach that if we continue to walk in our sinful nature we shall not inherit the Kingdom of God, we shall reap destruction.
What will God have to do in America to make this change in doctrine and practice? If I am hearing the Lord correctly, America is to become a third-rate nation. This is because of our widespread sinning. We are worshiping money, and sexual activity. The result shall be moral and physical chaos, far worse than we can imagine at this time.
We used to bear the name of Christ, we Americans, and for this reason Christ may keep us from being completely destroyed. But we must remember that in the present hour, instead of the Gospel of the Kingdom coming forth from our supposedly Christian nation, the waters of moral filth are pouring out in the motion pictures, the television, and the Internet.
God wants America to preach righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God. He wants us to live it and preach it. If we will do this, we will continue as a nation. If not, our end is in sight.
Our government is in tremendous moral confusion today with each politician seeking his or her own interests, it appears. It is the lawless-grace preaching in the Christian churches that has produced this immorality in the government. God wants our preaching to be Bible-based, not based on our unscriptural traditions.
I am not crying "Ain't it awful!" I am stating I believe God is telling me that He is going to punish America severely. The Kingdom of God is at hand, and neither the churches nor the nations of the world are prepared. He is not only the Savior of the world but also the Lord of the world.
And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. (Verse 6)
We know we are wrestling with fallen angels in the heavenlies, as Ephesians tells us. It must be that many of the angels were cast down into the darkness while God permitted some to remain in the air above us in order that we might learn how to fight against wickedness.
This verse is a reminder to us that the original sin was self-will, an unwillingness to remain where God has placed us.
One of the hardest tests we Christian experience is that of remaining in the prison where God permits us to be placed. We are prevented from doing what we desire, getting what we want. We cry out in our prison, but none hears.
Then we have a choice. We can break out of our circumstances, or we can remain and submit to God, waiting for Him to release us.
In order to break out we have to break God's laws. If we do, and God still intends to save us into His Kingdom, He will capture us again and then our prison will be much worse.
The original sin of Satan and his angels was that of not remaining where God had placed them. This was the mother of all the sins that now afflict mankind.
No Christian will be glorified with Christ and ride on the war stallions until he or she has been proven faithful, and has been willing to stay on the cross until the Lord is satisfied concerning his obedience.
When Christ appears we shall appear with Him, but only if He has become our life. Christ does not become our life until our former adamic life has been crucified. Our prison, our personal cross, is the engine of destruction that God has tailored to our unique personality. It is not an obstacle we are to attempt to get around. It is the means of destroying our self-will, our unwillingness to submit meekly to Christ no matter how much we dislike our circumstances.
Remember, the only path to the crown of glory is through the boring, sometimes painful prison we are called upon to endure. To not be willing to abide in the situation where Christ has placed us is to forfeit our crown of glory; and, in fact, may place our very salvation in danger.
If anyone tells you Christians are not to suffer, ask him for chapter and verse.
In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire. (Verse 7)
The United States of America is given over to sexual immorality and perversion. Those who promote moral filth are often wealthy and politically powerful. Instead of denouncing such ungodly people, our political leaders bow to the pressure.
There is, however, a God in Heaven. He did not punish Sodom and Gomorrah with the lava from erupting volcanoes, as some assume. The Bible says these two prosperous farming areas suffered the punishment of eternal fire. Eternal fire comes down from Heaven. It is a destructive force, an example of the fiery energy that created the galaxies of stars.
God loves people dearly. There is none other who loves as God does. But God cannot accept sexual perversion. The fire that left Sodom and Gomorrah smoking ruins, the downpour of salt on the plain that covered Lot's wife, reveal the awful wrath of a loving God.
You can imagine how God views America, considering the widespread acceptance of sexual perversion and the murdering of babies when they come to term.
We are going to experience much suffering in America. If you want to save yourself and your household, pray much, and ask God to lead you in iron righteousness, fiery holiness, and stern obedience to the Father.
Do not put your trust in a "rapture" to save you. The millions of Christians who have suffered throughout the Church Era were not delivered by a rapture, and neither shall we be. Rather, prepare yourself for the dark days that lie ahead.
We are no different from Sodom and Gomorrha. Why should God spare us Americans? Are we His pets?
In the very same way, these dreamers pollute their own bodies, reject authority and slander celestial beings. But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!" Yet these men speak abusively against whatever they do not understand; and what things they do understand by instinct, like unreasoning animals—these are the very things that destroy them. (Verses 8-10)
We are "too big for our britches" these days. We are going around rebuking demons, sometimes Satan himself. We do not know what we are doing.
Find one verse in the Epistles that advises Christians to rebuke the devil.
The Bible tells us to submit to God and resist the devil. But we Christians would rather engage in our little sins, our flirtations, and then come to church and rebuke the devil.
We should not be rebuking the devil unless we are hearing from Christ that this is what we should do in a particular circumstance.
The Book of Jude does not advise us to bring slanderous accusations against celestial beings.
I used to hear the children in Sunday School sing "If the devil's in the way we'll run right over him." I cringed when I heard this.
It certainly is a good thing God is patient with us.
In the years to come we are going to see manifestations of Satan we never thought would be present on the earth. We are not to be afraid of Satan or any fallen angel. Christ is greater than all. But neither are we to be continually challenging Satan to a fight. He loves this kind of attention and soon outwits us.
We have not been called to attack Satan. We are to put on the whole armor of God and stand our ground. We can pray that God will bind the powers of darkness, this certainly is scriptural. But remember: Only Jesus has the authority and power to confront Satan and his followers.
We should look to Christ humbly before we take it on ourselves to go about rebuking and confronting the dignitaries that fell because they were doing many of the things present-day Christians are doing.
Well, you do what you will. But I think this is what Jude is warning us about.
Audrey and I went to another country on one occasion. I had a distinct impression that the spiritual power in that place did not like our coming there. But we were in the Lord's will and minding our own business. If this had not been the case I think we would have experienced trouble of some kind.