They have no roots in God.
They have no roots in God.
They are twice dead. They were born in sin, as is true of all of us. But now they have died again by their behavior, turning the grace of God into an excuse for immorality.
They are wild, not having a peaceful spirit. They reject the quiet waters of Shiloah in favor of the tumult they produce by their own selfish ambitions.
The things they say and do are shameful, yet their followers are blind to their words and actions. There are so many of these today!
They are wandering stars because they have not become part of the one Morning Star. They are self-willed religionists, causing confusion wherever they go.
Although they have been very active in the Christian religion, sometimes leading thousands of believers, Christ does not know them. They walk in the light of the sparks they have kindled by their self-seeking, their personal ambition.
Their end is eternal darkness although they profess to be ministers and servants of Jesus Christ.
The above is true of many Christian leaders and people of our day.
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to judge everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him." (Verses 14,15)
The coming of the Lord will be against all wickedness in the earth, both spiritual and human. Christ will appear with an army of saints to whom have been given the authority and power of judgment.
Judgment will begin with these sinners in the churches. This is why we are blowing the trumpet in Zion today. We Christians are not nearly ready for the appearing of Christ and His saints and holy angels.
These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. (Verse 16)
There is so much grumbling and faultfinding in the churches of our day, so much gossiping and slander, so much criticizing, that we have come to accept this sort of behavior as normal.
It is not normal even though it is commonplace in our churches. It is not acceptable. Those who do such things are worthy of death. It was because of grumbling and faultfinding that Israel was turned back into the wilderness until the grumblers had died.
We Christians become exercised about drunkenness, rape, and murder. We indeed should be outraged about the immorality and abuse of infants and children that is occurring in the United States.
But the root of the problem is in the Christian churches. We are supposed to be the moral light of the world. Instead we show by our behavior that we are not different from the world. The same malice, self-seeking, lying, and stealing that occur in the world occur in the churches.
We are too occupied with the unscriptural "rapture" and not occupied enough with the light of good works which is supposed to be shining from us.
We follow our own evil desires instead of presenting our body a living sacrifice to God.
We boast about how great our church is. We bring people to see how wonderful we are and show them the parking lot and the fellowship hall. But when the people attend they hear backbiting and criticism. Then they know God is not on our parking lot or eating pie in our fellowship hall.
We boast about ourselves in order to persuade people how marvelous it is to be a Christian. We tell the world who wonderful we are now that we have been "born again.". But when the people of the world look they see malice, self-seeking, avarice, pride, smugness—a total focus on self.
We pass out tracts and encourage people to take the four steps of salvation. This is a good thing to do. But when the convert comes into the assembly what does he or she find? Self-centered religious people who criticize each other constantly.
The world understands the television evangelist when he pleads for money. The world is accustomed to greed. The world understands also that this has nothing to do with God.
The American public is cynical concerning the Christian religion. Have we given the nation cause to be cynical? The Muslims call America the great Satan. Have we behaved in such a way that the Muslims see Satan instead of Jesus Christ?
And then we criticize the Muslims for not receiving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior!
Having the spirit of Absalom we flatter people hoping to gain political advantage. Instead of speaking the unvarnished truth, as Jesus did, we stress that which is "positive" so the surfeited American believers will not be offended.
But just as Absalom ended up hanging between the sky and the ground, so shall we, because of our insincerity and treachery, find a welcome neither among the saints nor among the unbelievers.
But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires. "These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit." (Verses 17-19)
We are in the last days. There are scoffers in the churches who follow their own ungodly desires. We ourselves have been scoffed at because we preach righteousness, holiness, stern obedience to God, and the soon coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
While others laugh and joke and play about, we are proclaiming the need for repentance. While others are hopping up and down next to their pew in preparation for the unscriptural "rapture," we are urging people to read the New Testament and pray for wisdom and strength to keep the commandments of Jesus Christ and His Apostles, being especially careful to forgive all against whom they may be holding anger and unforgiveness.
Then we are accused of preaching "works"!
Did Christ ever accuse anyone of preaching works when they taught His commandments to other people? Isn't this the Great Commission?
"And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
Is the Great Commission to go out and "get souls saved" and build churches or is it to make disciples and teach people to obey the commandments of Christ and His Apostles? Are these the same commission? In actual practice they are not. We are getting souls "saved," building churches, and telling people they do not have to keep Christ's commandments because they are "saved by grace."
Next Part What a mess!