We are constantly worked on by the Holy Spirit. If anyone is proud of the good things they do or proud of the goodness of their souls, then they are in sin!
Philippians 2:3-11
"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. ..."
If anyone is in competition to be more spiritual or more knowledgeable than other believers, there is sin in the heart that needs to be extracted.
God will do it, even if we do not know it or want it. Beware of rejecting the correction of the Lord.
Proverbs 15:31-33 "…31 He whose ear listens to the life-giving reproof Will dwell among the wise. 32 He who neglects discipline despises himself, But he who listens to reproof acquires understanding. 33 The fear of the LORD is the instruction for wisdom, And before honor comes humility.…"
We are to bless them when we are in proximity to them, but we are also to avoid them if possible. We do what is right and obey God for our own conscience no matter what the hater does. Keeping our distance is obedience to God.
Isaiah 26:10 "10 Though the wicked is shown favor, He does not learn righteousness; He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness, And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD."
1 Corinthians 15:33 "” 33 Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 "3 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these."
I understand that it is popular now to say "pray for America", however I also know there is a point at which God is so angry over the sins and stubbornness of a nation that He tells His prophets to no longer pray for the nation.
I struggle with the idea that we should no longer pray for America. Most people want to preserve their country, it's about them. They like their freedom, their prosperity and their treasures. I don't hear anyone saying we need to get back to the Bible as our standard, in fact some who say they believe the Bible use it as a book of suggestions rather than revering it as the very Word of God to be followed out of deep love for Him.
However, there are more than 60 million babies that have been murdered legally in this country and many other terrible sins that continue, the people's hearts are not changing in fact they are becoming more staunch in their rebellion. Sin is growing, intensifying and proliferating more than ever.
Jeremiah 14:10-12 "…10 Thus says the LORD to this people, "Even so they have loved to wander; they have not kept their feet in check. Therefore the LORD does not accept them; now He will remember their iniquity and call their sins to account." 11 So the LORD said to me, "Do not pray for the welfare of this people. 12"When they fast, I am not going to listen to their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I am not going to accept them. Rather I am going to make an end of them by the sword, famine and pestilence."…"
There is much deception in leadership, the masses are willing to receive a leader who will promise them "peace and safety", but they are not willing to evaluate their own character and direction in life.
1 Thessalonians 2:2-4 "…2 For you are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and security,” destruction will come upon them suddenly, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape. 4 But you, brothers, are not in the darkness so that this day should overtake you like a thief.…"
Those who love the Lord are beginning to see all the unBiblical things that are occurring in the apostate church, they are leaving the institutional church to run toward Christ.
If you are among those who want to return to the basics of the Bible, not just speaking about them but living them out every day, you can expect to feel alone, but fulfilled in a way others do not understand. There will be those who will judge you about silly things, attempting to divert your attention from that which Christ is commanding. Be assured, their punishment is coming for their attempts to hinder believers who love Christ. They will not be successful, but they will be judged anyway.
1 Thessalonians 2:16
"hindering us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved; with the result that they always fill up the measure of their sins But wrath has come upon them to the utmost."
It is a fearful thing to come against the brothers and sisters in the Lord. Those who do this are prideful thinking they know it all and will not listen to good judgement or righteous words.
Jeremiah 7:26-28 "…26 "Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers. 27 "You shall speak all these words to them, but they will not listen to you; and you shall call to them, but they will not answer you. 28 "You shall say to them, 'This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the LORD their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth.…"
Philip Schaff, Nineteenth- Century American Church Historian and Theologian
“That the Christians in the apostolic age erected special houses of worship is out of the question….As the Saviour of the world was born in a stable, and ascended to heaven from a mountain, so his apostles and their successors down to the third century, preached in the streets, the markets, on the mountains, in ships, sepulchers, eaves, and deserts, and in the homes of their converts, But how many thousands of costly churches and chapels have since been built and are constantly being built in all parts of the world to the honor of the crucified Redeemer, who in the days of his humiliation had no place of his own to rest His head!”
"In the process of replacing the old religions, Christianity became a religion." Alexander Schmemann
Many people remain in the institutional church today thinking they are pleasing God, but in reality they are not only, not pleasing Him, they are violating much Scripture, they claim to obey.
We are living in a time when strong rebuke is necessary more than any other time.
I have to wonder exactly what Noah preached for 120 years before the flood came and destroyed all the people with the exception of his family.
Did Noah say in a calm and pleasing voice, "you really should consider God, He can help you." NO, I believe he shouted with deliberate and distinct urgency for the people to repent, they were about to be wiped out forever.
Psychology has managed to dumb down the gospel to such a degree that the people hearing see no urgency, they think God is One they turn to when things get a little rough, for their own sake.
Those who are stubborn and narcissistic hate strong rebuke, even bludgeoning those who are telling the truth to help the people realize the importance of their choice to reject Christ.
Genesis 6:12-13 "12 God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth. 13 Then God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. "
2Pet. 2:5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
The time is short, we need to make that clear to those who think they can mince their way through life feeling happy and good all the time, that they will be destroyed if they do not heed the warnings.
The prophets of God would have laughed at the foolishness in our day, in the softening of the message, the squishy way we speak to people, that shows them how unimportant the message is.
Matt. 24:37 “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.
Matt. 24:38 “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark,
Matt. 24:39 and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.
Genesis 5:5-8
"5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.
6 The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.
7 The Lord said, “I will blot out man whom I have created from the face of the land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky; for I am sorry that I have made them.”
8 But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."
Genesis 5:13 "13 Then God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them; and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth. "
I can just hear the voices of the preachers of our time, if they had been back in the days of Noah. They would have said things like, "just love them", "just show love and enjoy them." "Don't speak harshly because they won't like us or Jesus if we are too harsh with them."
DOES THIS DISGUST ANYONE ELSE!
People are desperately wicked, very violent, without compassion, empathy and remorse for anything they do, but we are suppose to speak softly as though they are just poor injured souls?
God takes sin and wickedness so much more seriously than people do in our day. The people of our day are acting the same way they did in the days of Noah. They are going along feeling haughty, in control and special as they move through life using people, mocking and accusing the prophets of things that are not true, while determined to come against God at every turn, while claiming to be on His side.
"Love" has been the favored mantra of those who love to be loved by others. They use the "love' mantra to field false guilt against those who believe the message is urgent, that being to repent. Those that expose sin and desire confession and repentance on the part of those who have offended God are diminished while the soft and squishy people pleasers continue to make people comfortable in their sin and rebellion.
The people pleasers say the same things that they were saying in the time of Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 6:10-11 "10 To whom shall I speak and give warning That they may hear? Behold, their ears are closed And they cannot listen. Behold, the word of the LORD has become a reproach to them; They have no delight in it. 11 But I am full of the wrath of the LORD; I am weary with holding it in. "Pour it out on the children in the street And on the gathering of young men together; For both husband and wife shall be taken, The aged and the very old.…"
Jeremiah 5:21
'Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, Who have eyes but do not see; Who have ears but do not hear.
Jeremiah 7:26
"Yet they did not listen to Me or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck; they did more evil than their fathers."
Jeremiah 20:8
"For each time I speak, I cry aloud; I proclaim violence and destruction, Because for me the word of the LORD has resulted In reproach and derision all day long."
We are living in the days much like those of Noah and Jeremiah, in which the people only want soft words and praise, thinking this will bring them to the Lord, but it does not, it merely makes them comfortable in their sin.
Those who speak boldly with resolve to warn them are diminished by others who claim to be Christians, those who have been indoctrinated into psychology, steeped in modern church traditions, unwilling to look at things in a new way, the way of the Scriptures. It is new to them, because we have been astray in the churches for two generations now, seeking for personal comfort rather than to be broken and cleansed. They cherry pick Scriptures, explaining away what they don't like and negating anyone who does not speak the things they like to hear that elevate themselves.
If you have ever wondered what it looked like in the days of the prophets and the days of Noah specifically, you are watching it right now.
Jeremiah 9:23-24 "…22 Speak, "Thus says the LORD, 'The corpses of men will fall like dung on the open field, And like the sheaf after the reaper, But no one will gather them.'"
23 Thus says the LORD, "Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;
24 but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things," declares the LORD.…"
There you go, if you act as the prophets acted, say the things the prophets said you will be spoken to by most, disrespectfully as though you did something wrong. They will say, "you are mean spirited", "you didn't say it in love", "it was the way you said it", "we need to say it in a way that people will receive it", sadly we who are bold hear these things all the time. Interesting though, if we were to instruct them to be bolder, less squishy and more direct, they would be enraged that we instructed them at all.
Perhaps they don't like correction themselves so they become angry that we would instruct or correct someone, this is my guess based on my personal experience. Often narcissist cannot stand to be told they are wrong, they rage when this happens, but feel free to instruct or correct others, the height of hypocrisy.
Will live in a world of hypocrisy in which all those who speak truth openly and honestly will be targeted for criticism and abuse.
Matthew 23:25-27 "…25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, so that the outside may become clean as well. 27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside, but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity.…"
Imagine if we spoke to the Pharisees of our time the way the Christ and the prophets spoke to them in His day, there would be outrage that would ensue for our rebuke! And yet, Christ described the evil of His time that is exactly the same as our time.
Christ lives in us, He is the One Who should be speaking through us, He dictates what is to be said and when, if we are depending upon Him every day.
Do not be intimidated by those who attempt to guilt us into silence so they can live in sin without guilt. Those who are in sin without Christ are condemned, not by us, but by God, we are merely the messenger that brings the bad news about their lost state, but then again, we are also the ones who bring with it the good news, the cure, the remedy for eternity.
I don't know about you, but I am more likely to be harsh with a rebellious one who claims to be a Christian than with someone who has not been born again.
Titus 1:12-14 "…12 As one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.” 13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sternly, so that they will be sound in the faith, 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of men who have rejected the truth.…"
Pharisees often accuse others of what they are, but the others are not, it is a tactic to divert attention away from their rebelliousness.
Rebuke and correction ought to be a normal course in these last days of apostasy, however it seems that those who are given rebukes are those who are rebuking for their harsh delivery. Go figure!
Proverbs 27:4-6 "…4 Wrath is fierce and anger is a flood, But who can stand before jealousy? 5 Better is open rebuke Than love that is concealed. 6 Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.…"
When we walk with Christ, hearing Him daily, we need not be intimidated by those who are sent by the devil to come against us. In fact, these attacks make us stronger than we were before.
James 1:2-8
"2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials,
3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.
4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.
6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."
LOL, they do not accuse us of "what" we say, that's not important to them, they accuse us of "how we said it" or that we were the wrong gender to say it. Think about that tactic.
There will always be those who attempt to squash our deepest desires. If your deepest desire is to follow after Christ, speak of Him often and share the wisdom He is giving you, you can expect haters to comes against you.
They will devalue your aspirations, your talents and your joy. These people will attempt to convince you that you are mean, selfish and uncompromising. They will negate most of what you say and do unless it agrees with them.
If you are seeking the Lord through the Holy Spirit, then you will be a target for those who are not doing this. Often I run into people who look at me as if I had two heads, they cannot wrap their minds around total dependence on the Holy Spirit and don't believe it is even possible.
Most "Christians" are depending on what is falsely called knowledge to determine their actions, not wisdom but their idea of knowledge. They have been trained in psychology to make sure that they say and do things that will draw people to them.
Christ did everything perfectly right and most people rejected Him.
Matthew 7:13-14 "13 Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it."
When the goal is to get people to like us, we have gone down the wrong path. Getting people to like us does not mean they will like Christ. When we compromise truth or soften it in order to have a following that elevates us, we have compromised the gospel. The motives of a compromiser is in question. When we know the inevitable rejection that Christ promised those who love Him, we can expect most people to attack our character, our deliver and everything else except address the subject matter before them.
Mark 13:12-13 "…12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated by everyone on account of My name, but the one who perseveres to the end will be saved."
We know that in these end times we will find more people hostile to truth than those who want it. 2 Timothy 3 tells us all about the mentality of the people of the end times.
Never allow another human being to intimidate you into silence or allow them to affect your dependence on the Holy Spirit. There are those who will mock and demean you in order to cause frustration and compromise. It is the devil using these people to bring you into submission to his agenda, which is to intimidate into silence anyone who is walking with Christ.
It is the work of the devil to come against a born again believer who is speaking truth.
1 John 3:7-9 "…7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.…"
