Sunday, October 27, 2019

Church Is Warned

Church Is Warned
October 28, 2019
Isaiah 29:13  ". . . .Because this people draw near with their words, and honor me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me. . . "

The Lord is clear that He wants all of us, not just our money or time. He cares not for your money or time; He cares for your heart. In fact, He wants all of you, your hopes and dreams and fears and worries and pain and joy. He wants your heart, most of all, and nothing else matters after that. In Revelation, He even says He would prefer we are cold if we are not hot, for Him, meaning He would rather have us not attempt Christianity at all, if our hearts are not in it. He said if we are lukewarm Christians then He would vomit us out of His mouth.  While this seems harsh, strong even, this is how He feels. Apparently, being lukewarm gives Him a bad reputation among non-believers. He has always been this way.

In the Old Testament, He spoke through Isaiah, against His own people.  He said that they served Him in name almost perfectly, reciting everything correctly, just like they were taught, however it was all just lip service. He warned them that this would result in "woe." While "woe" does not seem especially scary, it the Bible it is akin to physical and spiritual death, the ultimate of punishment, with eternal damnation. He said their lips praised Him perfectly, but their hearts were far from Him and we going to bring about "woe."  And this is the same as in the New Testament, when the Lord says He would spit us out of His mouth for being Christian in name only, nothing to back it up.

It takes a lifetime of service to Him to back it up. I've seen famous people make a life-turnaround into finding Jesus and serving Him in the most public declaration possible, only to fall away after being so overt. I've also see many people serve Him on the mission field for the first half of their adult lives, then throw it all away living like the pagans they attempted to meet with Jesus. I've seen countless Christians in church, but never fully give their hearts over to the Lord, knowing there is a good chance they are still going to hell.

Praising the Lord is not enough, confessing Jesus as the Son of God is not enough. It takes dedication and service to prove it, backing up all the lip service with self-sacrifice. You can tell someone you love them, but they only know you love by how you demonstrate it. This is the same with the Lord. But we have a problem in our churches today. We dummy down the Scriptures, so as to not offend anyone, after all, we don't want them to feel condemned. If you have to cushion Scripture and deliver it in a non-offensive way, then you've take away its power to change someone's life. In church we do a disservice in not fully allowing people to be offended.  If they are never confronted with what the Bible calls sin, then they are allowed to attend church all the way to hell. The Lord warned against this, He said He would bring "woe" to people like this, those who refuse to turn their hearts toward Him fully.  But is it their fault, if we allow them to attend church but never challenge them to give their hearts over fully to Him?  The lukewarm Christian  will be vomited out of the Lord's mouth, but it is the modern church that is keeping the warming light on.

Don't take my word for it; look it up:  Is 3:11, Is 5:20, Is 29:11-16, Rev 3:16

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