"Who among you will give ear to this? Who will listen and hear for the time to come? Who gave Jacob for plunder, and Israel to the robbers? Was it not the Lord, He against whom we have sinned? For they would not walk in His ways, nor were they obedient to His law. Therefore He has poured on him the fury of His anger and the strength of battle; It has set him on fire all around, yet he did not know; And it burned him, yet he did not take it to heart." Isaiah 42:23-25 (NKJV)
So much history given to learn from, yet so many refuse to learn. The insolence and outright evil occurring in so many places these days is astounding and the rise to designate the followers of Christ as the public enemy increases steadily, seemingly without any true alarm- even in nations that once claimed to embrace God by majority. There's a drive to remove and rewrite the past to eliminate so many things that were learned from actual hard lessons of history, requiring history to repeat the pains of the past again and again as ignorance takes charge. It's even showing up in the scriptural focus of some gatherings. An evil, in both vociferous and silent engagements, slithers into every facet of our lives that are left undefended. And without comparison to God's actual standards, in many cases these things are being regarded as harmless, or an acceptable compromise made to accommodate modern culture and interpretations. There's a huge problem with that- the God who will judge all against His own standards, hasn't changed in all of man's time and never will. It will be revealed in the day of His judgment.
“For I am the Lord, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob." Malachi 3:6 (NKJV)
I'm sadly convinced that there's a passive blindness to many things that are occurring in the world right now and that it's occurring even among some churches. There are things that God Himself, the Eternal Judge has declared detestable, that are being embraced by so many as if their authority to determine what is acceptable is somehow higher than God's, or that it's acceptable to reinterpret what The Unchanging God has said in order to attempt to provide a more compromising, more acceptable rendition of God's word to fit their own preference. If anyone, or any body claiming to be of Christ embraces what God's declared detestable, can they, or it, truthfully claim to be His? I think the answer may be quite obvious if we're honest.
There's sometimes a concern that becoming set apart means standing out. And that's a reasonable thought, but there's no real reason for concern because if we stand with Christ, wherever we stand abiding in Him, He's standing with US. Our faith becomes tested, more real and more muscular as we sense and remember His presence with us and submit ourselves to Him.. As we ask for His wisdom, understanding and discernment, we begin to see more clearly the delineation between the true light and darkness. In truth they stand in stark contrast to each other- either darkness exists, or the true light of God overcomes it, there is no in-between. Any leader passing compromising darkness as light to their people need to consider themselves against God's declarations and history because those declarations and that history are offered as a warning from the God to whom all will give an account. And the warnings of ancient times are carried into the New Testament because the God who made them hasn't changed... at all.
"Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come." 1 Corinthians 10:1-11 (NKJV)
There's a written history- God's inerrant word dictated to men through the Holy Spirit. It carefully documents many lessons of the past for us, including the result of those who've arrogantly and insolently tried to eliminate the immoveable God from life and government, along with His laws, declarations and ways from the order of His people. The penalties were severe when God moved to judge those kinds of people in the past and it should never be that anyone should mistake God's patience in judging them now, even among those who claim to be His own, as being His approval, or His lack of observation as if their compromises were hidden. His judgment is coming to all deserving, whether now or later, and His case is already being made against them. Their time to repent is shorter than they may think. God is not blind to them, He's only momentarily being merciful in the hope of their repentance, but the decision to repent lies with them only for a short time. As I personally compare what I've studied so long in scripture against what I've witnessed in my lifetime against what I see and sense in the world now, I'm convinced that time is very short. I don't propose to know the day, only fakers will do that, and I can say that confidently because only God Himself knows the day. None the less, time is short.
"Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.” But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work. Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." 2 Timothy 2:19-26 (NKJV)
I would contend that if our eyes are truly opened, through sincere and earnest study, to the truth of scripture that God's gracefully provided for our instruction and benefit, we soon become able to discover the truth- that we give up nothing when we refrain from indulging at the world's pig trough of sickening, cancerous slop. We simply pass it up, choosing instead for our souls to dine with God and all of the finest that He has prepared in His loving grace and kindness for those who truly love and submit to Him. They are those willing to truly become set apart as He has directed. I learned long ago that for every good and profitable thing our God has provided for our soul, satan has for millennia promoted a perishing, cancerous imitation with a draw that appeals to our flesh that in his hope will lead to our death - eternally. And as I recognized very long ago, the truth that "you are what you eat" is absolutely as true in a spiritual sense as it is in the physical. What we consume through our eyes and ears, and the unholy thoughts that we allow, cannot help but affect us spiritually if we're not on our guard against it. This highlights the fact that taking great care in our choice of where to dine and what we consume is critically important. If we continually consume harmful, compromising things, we eventually become ill. It's a fact- even a spiritual fact.
Our honest examinations of ourselves in cooperation with the Holy Spirit bring those things against what God desires from us into focus and creates an opportunity to submit to address those things that are outside of His unchanging standards and His desires of us. Sanctification is an ongoing process of our becoming set apart for God alone. And also of our becoming more like the heart and spirit of our Savior Christ in the eyes of our Heavenly Father. The reward for our true submission to Him is both now in this life and forever. It's a matter of trading trash for eternal treasure.
"Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled; lest there be any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright. For you know that afterward, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness and tempest, and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. (For they could not endure what was commanded: “And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow.” And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”) But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel." Hebrews 12:14-24 (NKJV)
I myself am continually dealing with things that the Holy Spirit brings to my attention even at this stage of my life here. This process of refining will undoubtedly continue until my God calls me home. While I'm here though, I'll continue to trade trash for treasure - continually looking toward the scriptures to refresh and expand my understanding of the truth of God and His ways- passing up trash to invest in the treasure that He's provided for both this life and the next- to become further set apart as we're called.
In Scripture...
"He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?" Micah 6:8 (NKJV)
“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the Lord and His statutes which I command you today for your good? Indeed heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it." Deuteronomy 10:12-14 (NKJV)
Comments
Post a Comment