You know what's really bad about all the false teaching and the way many churches have turned into country clubs? Look at what God says about it in Isaiah:
Isaiah 29:13–14 —The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. *Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” *
When people have been told the Truth and refuse to listen to it, refuse to accept it, which is exactly what we're seeing today, then God makes them spiritually blind, just like He did Israel over 2000 years ago. It's not a sudden blindness, but rather their hearts harden more each time they refuse to accept the Truth, and each time that happens, they become more spiritually blind, until finally God says "enough!" and then they will just accept more and more lies, never the Truth. (See John 9:39–41 and 2 Thes 2:1–12.)
That's what scared me every time I told someone the Truth, and they refused to accept it. Most of them continued to deny it as truth, insisting that the false teachings they were following were instead. I knew their hearts had just been hardened again, whether they realized it or not, because God says so. It made me not want to tell them the truth sometimes but the Lord says we must, and so I continued. But what was even worse, were those who would hear or see something and acknowledge that it was something God had said, but would still refuse to accept it. Oh, they "believed" it, but they wouldn't accept it and would literally say so! Those are the ones I felt the worst about and feared for the most.
And then, you all know how many times, and how many ways, I've tried to call people back to God's Word, and remind them that God commands us to "stay" in His Word daily; that it's to be like our daily food and drink. Again, many have "believed", but also many have refused to accept it, to apply it. That makes me just weep for them, for we never know when our chance to accept God's Truth will be over. Like that verse from Isaiah says, they come near to God with their mouths, but not with their hearts. In Ezekiel 33:31, God says that they listen to his words, but don't put them into practice, with their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. They seek God's hand but not His face, they want what He will give them, but not enough to do what He says or to seek Him with all their hearts. And again, that's what we're seeing today. Over and over Jesus and the apostles tell us not to be just hearers of the Word but doers of it, and that too isn't just a suggestion.
We know that we are living in the last days of the end times and that Satan is very active right now. We've talked about how the list of what people will be like during these times in 2 Timothy 3, is about "Christians", which should really shake us up because it sounds like the worst of unbelievers! But the Christians it's talking about are those who refuse to acknowledge or accept the Truth, and insist on hanging on to lies instead.
What's the next thing to happen after this? 2 Thessalonians 2 says, next, the lawless one is revealed! We know that the rapture happens before that (which is in that passage too) but I wonder how many people really realize just how close we are to that???? We've heard the expressions like "He's standing at the door", or "you can almost hear His footsteps" and others like that so many times, that I think it's kind of lulled us to sleep somewhat. Instead we need to be fully awake and alert, waiting expectantly for His call to join Him, and doing all we can till He calls us, to wake up everyone we know that's still sleeping. For as long as we're here, they still may have a chance to accept the Truth. We really need to act on that, praying that the Lord will open their eyes and soften their hearts so they'll accept His Word with the honor it deserves.
Romans 13:12–14 —The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. *Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. *Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. *
1 Peter 4:7–8 —The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. *Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Isaiah 29:13–14 —The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. *Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” *
When people have been told the Truth and refuse to listen to it, refuse to accept it, which is exactly what we're seeing today, then God makes them spiritually blind, just like He did Israel over 2000 years ago. It's not a sudden blindness, but rather their hearts harden more each time they refuse to accept the Truth, and each time that happens, they become more spiritually blind, until finally God says "enough!" and then they will just accept more and more lies, never the Truth. (See John 9:39–41 and 2 Thes 2:1–12.)
That's what scared me every time I told someone the Truth, and they refused to accept it. Most of them continued to deny it as truth, insisting that the false teachings they were following were instead. I knew their hearts had just been hardened again, whether they realized it or not, because God says so. It made me not want to tell them the truth sometimes but the Lord says we must, and so I continued. But what was even worse, were those who would hear or see something and acknowledge that it was something God had said, but would still refuse to accept it. Oh, they "believed" it, but they wouldn't accept it and would literally say so! Those are the ones I felt the worst about and feared for the most.
And then, you all know how many times, and how many ways, I've tried to call people back to God's Word, and remind them that God commands us to "stay" in His Word daily; that it's to be like our daily food and drink. Again, many have "believed", but also many have refused to accept it, to apply it. That makes me just weep for them, for we never know when our chance to accept God's Truth will be over. Like that verse from Isaiah says, they come near to God with their mouths, but not with their hearts. In Ezekiel 33:31, God says that they listen to his words, but don't put them into practice, with their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. They seek God's hand but not His face, they want what He will give them, but not enough to do what He says or to seek Him with all their hearts. And again, that's what we're seeing today. Over and over Jesus and the apostles tell us not to be just hearers of the Word but doers of it, and that too isn't just a suggestion.
We know that we are living in the last days of the end times and that Satan is very active right now. We've talked about how the list of what people will be like during these times in 2 Timothy 3, is about "Christians", which should really shake us up because it sounds like the worst of unbelievers! But the Christians it's talking about are those who refuse to acknowledge or accept the Truth, and insist on hanging on to lies instead.
What's the next thing to happen after this? 2 Thessalonians 2 says, next, the lawless one is revealed! We know that the rapture happens before that (which is in that passage too) but I wonder how many people really realize just how close we are to that???? We've heard the expressions like "He's standing at the door", or "you can almost hear His footsteps" and others like that so many times, that I think it's kind of lulled us to sleep somewhat. Instead we need to be fully awake and alert, waiting expectantly for His call to join Him, and doing all we can till He calls us, to wake up everyone we know that's still sleeping. For as long as we're here, they still may have a chance to accept the Truth. We really need to act on that, praying that the Lord will open their eyes and soften their hearts so they'll accept His Word with the honor it deserves.
Romans 13:12–14 —The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. *Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. *Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. *
1 Peter 4:7–8 —The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. *Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
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