Two kinds of religious people

It appears there are two kinds of religious people. The one seeks the will of God continually and is careful to do all God says. The other is desirous of status in religious affairs and makes a profession of loving and serving God. However, this type of person does not hear from God and does what seems to him or her to be the Lord’s will. The difference is expressed as follows:

Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. (Habakkuk 2:4)

The individual who lives according to the desires of his soul is not upright in the sight of God. The righteous trust in the Lord and constantly wait on him for direction. They live by faith in God. Again:

Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves about with sparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow. (Isaiah 50:11)

The individual whom the Lord uses is often barren for many years, sometimes confined in some kind of prison. It is in the place of waiting that the true witness of God is formed. The self-directed religious person looks on all such barrenness and imprisonment as the efforts of people or of Satan to frustrate his desire to serve God. He simply cannot understand why God would prevent someone from performing the work of the Kingdom in the earth.

He views waiting on the Lord as passivity and foolishness. Why should he wait on the Lord when there are obvious needs all around him? If he sees someone injured in the street is he to wait on the Lord before he will help the person? So his reasoning goes.

The man or woman of God, even when he is compelled to act quickly in an emergency, is calling on the Lord for wisdom while he acts. He does nothing apart from the Lord!

Perhaps religious denominations often do what seems good to them before they hear from the Lord. It would be well for every denomination, every religious institution, to set a time aside at least once each year to hear from God; not to pray to God to accomplish the needs perceived by the institution but to wait until direction is given.

If the Catholic Church had waited on the Lord through the centuries it never would have persecuted the true Christians that God raised up. To keep on performing religious service, assuming that this is God’s will, and yet not hearing from the Lord, can prove to be the most destructive wickedness there is. Religious zeal (religious efforts apart from the immediate direction of the Lord) is a murderer of the prophets. It does not come from the Lord! It comes from the ambition of Satan. Those who participate in such wickedness are tares in spite of all their professions of faith in Christ, and shall be removed from the Kingdom in the last days if they do not purge themselves. Babylon, which is the efforts of religious people to reach God by their own strength and wisdom, is destined to become a prison containing every kind of foul spirit.

Another difference between the true people of the Lord, the wheat, and those among them who are walking in the light of their own sparks, is the willingness to confess sins and shortcomings. The Lord’s saints are quick to confess their sins, to walk in the light of the Lord’s rebuke. The tares, the self-willed, seldom or never confess their own sins but often point out the sins of those whom they suppose are hindering their efforts to serve God.

The wheat hear from the Lord and walk in open confession and repentance before Him. The tares act according to their own judgment and do not walk in open confession and repentance. Rather they are quick to gossip about the faults of others. As we study various Bible personages in the following pages we will notice that the wicked were those who were not hearing from the Lord and who saw no fault in their own conduct, while the righteous were hearing from God and were quick to admit their own sins.

A third characteristic that distinguishes the wicked and separates them from the righteous is that the wicked lack understanding. The self-motivated set out to tear down the righteous, believing themselves to be righteous. Yet they do not ask themselves, "How can my efforts to injure this person be coming from the Lord who loves mercy? Is there not a lie in my right hand?"

How could the Jewish leaders treat the Lord and His Apostles the way they did and regard themselves as acting righteously, loving mercy, and walking humbly with God?

At one time the self-righteous Saul of Tarsus was persecuting the believers unmercifully. But his conscience was pricking him. Through God’s grace Saul turned from his murderous pride and personal ambition and joined the ranks of the righteous—those who were hearing from God and admitting their own sin. After his experience on the way to Damascus, Saul learned to listen to the Lord. He was willing to admit he was the chiefest of sinners, and he gained understanding.

It is difficult to comprehend why God permits Satan to gather with the sons of God, knowing that Satan will not listen to Him, will not admit his sin, and lacks understanding. It is difficult to comprehend why there are so many wicked people who join churches, who seek to gain preeminence among spiritual people. With all the interesting things to do in the world, why does this type of person gravitate toward the Kingdom of God? It is puzzling, seeing they have no heart for God. They end up crucifying the Lord’s true saints. Maybe this is the reason for their existence—to perfect God’s sons.

One fact is evident. The wicked who gather with the saints do not understand they are fighting God. They do not know what they are doing. Had they known what they were doing, the chief priests and elders would have walked into Hell itself before they would have murdered their Christ.

Perhaps God sends delusion on them because they do not receive the love of the truth.

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: (II Thessalonians 2:10,11)

At one time Judas was a little boy in the village of Kerioth playing with his toys around the house. Judas did not willingly become the son of perdition. He never dreamed that one day his Creator would say that it were good he never had been born.

Do we point the finger at the Pharisees and Judas? Not if we are wise! The true saints learn that anyone can be deceived and only God can prevent this from happening. We pray each day, "Lead me not into temptation."

Only God can keep us on the path that leads to life. It is a tortuous trail filled with traps and snares of all kinds. We do well to remain humble. The wicked, particularly the religious wicked, not only do not hear from God, refuse to admit their sin, and lack understanding, they also are proud and arrogant. They are filled with their own ways.

Like the chief priests and elders of Jesus’ day the religiously ambitious strut about, making sure that everyone is aware of their superior position. The lovers of pre-eminence do have ability! They managed to murder the Lord’s Anointed, and that was no small accomplishment.

After praying that Christ’s blood would be on them and on their children they continued to emphasize their superiority. They had succeeded in bringing persecution and finally the Holocaust on their descendants. What a fine day’s work! May God forever deliver us from such!

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