Post by Cindy on Jun 5, 2015 12:10:57 GMT -5
Ezekiel 20 strongly reminds me of just how much like Israel we are today, and I include myself in this - at least the first half of my life or more. The Elders came to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord. The Lord saw this and it made Him very angry, so He immediately told Ezekiel what to say to them. He basically gives them a history lesson, telling them yet again how they continually rebelled against Him by doing the opposite of what He'd told them. He'd promise them something and they'd promise to follow Him, but within a very short time, they'd be right back to their old ways, and rebelling against Him. He'd warn them. They wouldn't stop. He'd discipline them harshly and they'd turn back to Him. He'd again begin to fulfill His promises to them and they'd again turn back to their old ways, rebelling against Him. This continued for centuries, each time they'd rebel even worse then the time before. And each time when He'd discipline them, they'd beg His forgiveness, promising to follow Him, but never with all their heart. Certainly, there were always a few in each generation who had given the Lord their whole heart, but the vast majority were always only pretending to worship Him. As their society became more and more corrupt each time, their sins were done out in the open instead of in secret. Once that happened, the end was in sight for what started as one group sinning outwardly, quickly became the entire country rebelling against God.
Sounds like our world today, doesn't it? Sin is contagious, and spreads like wildfire, whether it's done in secret or in the open. First it spreads within the individual - starting with one small sin perhaps, but growing until there is constant gross sin in their life. Then it spreads to others. When the society is one that generally obeys God, that sin can be stopped by the people holding each other accountable, and letting the person know that they've sinned against a Holy God, defiled themselves, and that God will judge them if they don't repent. In that type of environment, the sinner often turns from their sin and their relationship with the Lord is restored. But once society has gone so far as to allow sin to be done in the open without any consequences, by even a few people, it soon spreads like wildfire and contaminates and defiles almost everyone. In that type of environment, the people have gone so far from God that very few hold others accountable for their sin, and the few who do are either laughed at or condemned as being unloving. This is what happened to Israel and what has happened to the world in general in our time as well.
Do you know what angered God the most though? It was the people coming to Him and asking for His help when they really worshiped other gods in their hearts. (just as we worship self, money, relationships, etc) When someone like Daniel appealed to the Lord, the Lord would answer them and honor them, for they truly loved Him and did their best to obey Him in all things, regardless of what the consequences might be in this life. We see that in the book of Daniel which is taking place at this same time. But when the vast majority of the Jew's in captivity prayed or went to see God's prophet for guidance, it made God angry. It made Him angry because He saw their hearts and knew they were lying to themselves as well as to Him. They pretended to follow Him by keeping the laws they could without causing any problems with the current rulers of the land. They'd say their blessings at meal time, light their candles, wash their hands and feet, pretend to honor the Sabbath by not working etc. and all the other rituals they had. But their hearts were far from God and He knew it.
Do you know what He told them? It's kind of shocking really. “ ‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols.” (Ezekiel 20:39) God told them that He'd rather have them be outright idolaters then having them pretend to follow Him. The reason He says that afterward they will surely listen to Him is because He will purge all the idolaters from Israel during the Tribulation, so only those who truly love and obey Him will enter the Millennium. When I read that, it immediately reminded me of another place that the Lord tells us the same thing. I bet you thought of it too: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15–16) Amos and Jeremiah said it similarly in Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25. Look around you today at the other people you see; reflect on what you see and then reflect on your own life as well, which is what I'm doing too. It's easy to condemn others, but do we dare condemn them without first checking to see what our own life's look like? Are we cold, hot, or lukewarm? Do we call ourselves Christian and yet keep quiet when others sin because we don't want to rock the boat and perhaps lose someone's friendship, or risk a family member leaving us, or risk society putting us down or even other Christians? When other people see us, can they tell that God dwells within us, or do our lives look pretty much like everyone else's life? If the government was going to arrest all the true Christians, would we be arrested or would they pass us by?
What did Jesus tell us about this? “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25) What does loving our life look like? It's someone who doesn't condemn sin for fear that they won't like the consequences; who will go along with others to see a movie or show that they know God wouldn't approve of, so those friends won't look down on them; who will allow their spouse to go to Hell, because they're afraid that if they tell them the truth that their spouse might leave them or divorce them. Or will let their child go to Hell, again for the fear that they will stop loving them in some way. They'll allow open rebellion against God, (sin) in their home. They may say they are a Christian and yet will swear and cuss at others; (or you can insert any other sin) and then tell people that they shouldn't judge them because God loves them just as they are; forgetting that while that's true, God also expects and commands us to stop that sort of behavior and live holy lives for Him. They may do things like allowing their children to dress in ways that are unacceptable to God, figuring that they have to pick their battles and that one isn't worth fighting, or maybe if they're far gone enough, they'll dress the same way themselves and not even think of it being against God. As I said before though, sin is horribly contagious and spreads like wildfire, both in the individual committing the sin, and to others. If they ever read their bible regularly, and many never have, they'll slowly but surely stop doing so. If they ever spoke to God regularly, that too will slowly but surely stop, until the only time they think of praying is when they're in such a bad situation they can't get out of it without supernatural help. They may have said they were Christians for years and yet still not know their Bible, and therefore not know Him very well, or His Will, regardless of what they think. If they go to church, that may eventually stop as well. Sin is like that and the consequences of it follow a pretty predictable pattern. It's a shame too because the better we know His Word, the better we will know the Lord, and the more we will hate sin, especially our own, and the quicker we will repent when we see it in ourselves. All this makes for a much closer relationship with the Lord, for His power will be at work in our lives, changing us from the inside out. The opposite is also true. When we don't know His Word well, we also won't know Him well, for Jesus IS the Word, and we will not hate sin anywhere near the way someone who does know Him will. Instead of Him changing us by the power of His Word, we'll be trying to change ourselves, and probably getting frustrated because it doesn't work very well that way.
Just like Israel. And just as God hated it when they did that, so He hates it when one of us does that. God called them idolaters and adulterers. Not because they all worshiped wood and stone idols, or because they all committed adultery, but because to God, living the way I described, living like an unbeliever but pretending to be a Christian, is an idolater. Anyone who is an idolater in God's eyes, are also committing spiritual adultery. We are "engaged" to Christ, so every time we sin, especially knowingly, and especially when we don't care that it's happening enough to repent of it or hold someone we know accountable for it, we are committing spiritual adultery because at best we have gone from being God centered to being self centered. (At worst, if we have gotten into the occult or other pagan religions, then we're worshiping not only self, but demons as well). That's why it angers God so much, and why we need to really examine our own lives as the Bible says, to make sure we are "in the faith". (2 Corinthians 13:5; Proverbs 14:8; Haggai 1:5; )
Once we examine ourselves, we need to repent, turn back to the Lord and obey Him. Let's see what He tells Laodicea in Revelation to do since we saw that verse was similar to the one in Ezekiel. “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” (Rev 3:18–19) This first part about buying gold refined in the fire is talking about a persons character that has been refined by going through trials. I've often said that all the signs we're seeing these days, which are bringing trials into everyone's life, are God's way of separating the wheat from the chaff. In a way, that's what this is saying too. Those who truly are saved, will be refined by the trials in their life and come out of them even stronger in their faith, while those who are not really saved, will eventually be shown for what they are. The white clothes speak of the righteousness of Christ with which we are clothed when we are saved, and which we are told to "put on" daily, which is basically telling us to abide in Him. (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 4:24) Lastly He tells us to put salve on our eyes so we can see. This shows us, like Peter says, that those who fail to grow in their faith are shortsighted and even blind. They have no discernment. “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (2 Pet 1:9) They only see what the world, Satan and their flesh want them to see, instead of seeing the Truth. Where do we get this gold, the clothes, and the salve? From being in His Word daily. God gives us a new nature when we're saved, but if we do not feed it daily with His Word so it can grow strong, then our sinful nature will rear it's ugly head and we will begin to disobey God and sin more and more. Godly living is the result of cultivating the new nature within us.
It's pretty obvious by looking around us that not many people are living a godly life. The very few that are, stand out like a sore thumb because they're so very different then anyone else. Most people professing to be Christians have what Paul called, a form of godliness but deny it's power. There is no power of God in their lives. Or as the NET bible translates it: They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. (2 Timothy 3:5) Again, just exactly what God was saying about Israel in Ezekiel 20! Do you see how much like them we are today? Do you see how the contagion of sin has infected everyone, and why we must be alert and on guard constantly to keep the filth of this world off of us? We need to be able to walk among the people of this world, serving them, telling them about our God, without becoming filthy and defiled by them, and the only way we can do that is by staying in God's Word, just like Jesus tells us to do. We were saved so we could bear fruit for God; so we could be His priests and lead holy life's. How many people do you know personally that you could honestly look at and say, "that person is holy." Do you know anyone you can say that about? Can you say it about yourself? I'm not asking you if anyone is perfect, you know that. I'm asking what people's life's look more like: Satan and the world, or God the Father. It's fairly easy to tell when a child is becoming more like their parents all the time, and that's true of us as well. We can look at our life and the fruit of our life and tell who we are taking after....whether it's God, the world, or Satan. (and the world is really the same as Satan) Are we more interested in what's going on in this world, or what God says in His Word, and working to store up treasure in Heaven for the life to come? What do we spend the most time thinking about, things and people of this life and this world, or God, His Word, and our life to come? The answers to those questions will tell us a lot about where our hearts are at.
I'm working hard to make my life holy and my thoughts mainly about God, His Word and my life to come, as those are the things that are most important to me. I know what most people think and say about me. To me, their remarks are a badge of honor and tell me that I'm going in the right direction. Jesus told us we'd be persecuted if we were living the way He told us to, so I expect it. Sure, it hurts sometimes, but it hurts because I wish so badly that they understood the Truth that I know, and would be saved. Many, many people in today's world are going to get the shock of their life when they are left behind at the rapture. Enough so that in many people's eyes it will validate their claims that what happened wasn't the rapture because they weren't taken. As God said, they will be deceived. They already are. They think they're saved because they said a "sinners prayer" but then continued to live their life as they always have, except perhaps adding going to church to their routine. That's not what God calls salvation though. He says that when someone is truly saved, they're changed, and their life is changed. They no longer act or think the same way they did before hand because once they're saved, they have Him within them and they begin to hate sin and love godliness, the opposite of everyone else. They won't be perfect, but they'll continually grow in their faith. Our God is a merciful God and gives us all more then enough time to repent and turn to Him. Our God loves us and wants more than anything for us to love Him and walk with Him every day. His love, mercy and grace are astounding to me. At the same time though, our God is also Holy, just and righteous. He hates sin and will not allow it to go unpunished. Those who are saved had their sins taken care of at the cross, but everyone else will have to pay for their sins one of these days and I shudder to think of that. It's what compels me to keep writing and keep trying to tell people the Truth, even if they don't want to hear it. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot mess around with the occult and serve a Holy God who demands that we stay away from the occult. We cannot play with astrology and serve a Holy God who says not to do that. We cannot tolerate sin in our own life's or in the life's of friends and loved ones, and serve a Holy God who tells us: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”” (1 Pet 1:15–16)
Let me end reminding you yet again of what God told Israel: “ ‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols.” (Ezek 20:39) That He'd rather have them be outright idolaters then having them pretend to follow Him. He's not interested in those who are lukewarm. He wants others to know that we belong to Him. Not because we say so, but because our life says so. This scripture tells us what it should be like: “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Mal 3:18) And so toward the end of Revelation He also says: “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Rev 22:11–12)
Sounds like our world today, doesn't it? Sin is contagious, and spreads like wildfire, whether it's done in secret or in the open. First it spreads within the individual - starting with one small sin perhaps, but growing until there is constant gross sin in their life. Then it spreads to others. When the society is one that generally obeys God, that sin can be stopped by the people holding each other accountable, and letting the person know that they've sinned against a Holy God, defiled themselves, and that God will judge them if they don't repent. In that type of environment, the sinner often turns from their sin and their relationship with the Lord is restored. But once society has gone so far as to allow sin to be done in the open without any consequences, by even a few people, it soon spreads like wildfire and contaminates and defiles almost everyone. In that type of environment, the people have gone so far from God that very few hold others accountable for their sin, and the few who do are either laughed at or condemned as being unloving. This is what happened to Israel and what has happened to the world in general in our time as well.
Do you know what angered God the most though? It was the people coming to Him and asking for His help when they really worshiped other gods in their hearts. (just as we worship self, money, relationships, etc) When someone like Daniel appealed to the Lord, the Lord would answer them and honor them, for they truly loved Him and did their best to obey Him in all things, regardless of what the consequences might be in this life. We see that in the book of Daniel which is taking place at this same time. But when the vast majority of the Jew's in captivity prayed or went to see God's prophet for guidance, it made God angry. It made Him angry because He saw their hearts and knew they were lying to themselves as well as to Him. They pretended to follow Him by keeping the laws they could without causing any problems with the current rulers of the land. They'd say their blessings at meal time, light their candles, wash their hands and feet, pretend to honor the Sabbath by not working etc. and all the other rituals they had. But their hearts were far from God and He knew it.
Do you know what He told them? It's kind of shocking really. “ ‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols.” (Ezekiel 20:39) God told them that He'd rather have them be outright idolaters then having them pretend to follow Him. The reason He says that afterward they will surely listen to Him is because He will purge all the idolaters from Israel during the Tribulation, so only those who truly love and obey Him will enter the Millennium. When I read that, it immediately reminded me of another place that the Lord tells us the same thing. I bet you thought of it too: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15–16) Amos and Jeremiah said it similarly in Amos 4:4 and Jer 44:25. Look around you today at the other people you see; reflect on what you see and then reflect on your own life as well, which is what I'm doing too. It's easy to condemn others, but do we dare condemn them without first checking to see what our own life's look like? Are we cold, hot, or lukewarm? Do we call ourselves Christian and yet keep quiet when others sin because we don't want to rock the boat and perhaps lose someone's friendship, or risk a family member leaving us, or risk society putting us down or even other Christians? When other people see us, can they tell that God dwells within us, or do our lives look pretty much like everyone else's life? If the government was going to arrest all the true Christians, would we be arrested or would they pass us by?
What did Jesus tell us about this? “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25) What does loving our life look like? It's someone who doesn't condemn sin for fear that they won't like the consequences; who will go along with others to see a movie or show that they know God wouldn't approve of, so those friends won't look down on them; who will allow their spouse to go to Hell, because they're afraid that if they tell them the truth that their spouse might leave them or divorce them. Or will let their child go to Hell, again for the fear that they will stop loving them in some way. They'll allow open rebellion against God, (sin) in their home. They may say they are a Christian and yet will swear and cuss at others; (or you can insert any other sin) and then tell people that they shouldn't judge them because God loves them just as they are; forgetting that while that's true, God also expects and commands us to stop that sort of behavior and live holy lives for Him. They may do things like allowing their children to dress in ways that are unacceptable to God, figuring that they have to pick their battles and that one isn't worth fighting, or maybe if they're far gone enough, they'll dress the same way themselves and not even think of it being against God. As I said before though, sin is horribly contagious and spreads like wildfire, both in the individual committing the sin, and to others. If they ever read their bible regularly, and many never have, they'll slowly but surely stop doing so. If they ever spoke to God regularly, that too will slowly but surely stop, until the only time they think of praying is when they're in such a bad situation they can't get out of it without supernatural help. They may have said they were Christians for years and yet still not know their Bible, and therefore not know Him very well, or His Will, regardless of what they think. If they go to church, that may eventually stop as well. Sin is like that and the consequences of it follow a pretty predictable pattern. It's a shame too because the better we know His Word, the better we will know the Lord, and the more we will hate sin, especially our own, and the quicker we will repent when we see it in ourselves. All this makes for a much closer relationship with the Lord, for His power will be at work in our lives, changing us from the inside out. The opposite is also true. When we don't know His Word well, we also won't know Him well, for Jesus IS the Word, and we will not hate sin anywhere near the way someone who does know Him will. Instead of Him changing us by the power of His Word, we'll be trying to change ourselves, and probably getting frustrated because it doesn't work very well that way.
Just like Israel. And just as God hated it when they did that, so He hates it when one of us does that. God called them idolaters and adulterers. Not because they all worshiped wood and stone idols, or because they all committed adultery, but because to God, living the way I described, living like an unbeliever but pretending to be a Christian, is an idolater. Anyone who is an idolater in God's eyes, are also committing spiritual adultery. We are "engaged" to Christ, so every time we sin, especially knowingly, and especially when we don't care that it's happening enough to repent of it or hold someone we know accountable for it, we are committing spiritual adultery because at best we have gone from being God centered to being self centered. (At worst, if we have gotten into the occult or other pagan religions, then we're worshiping not only self, but demons as well). That's why it angers God so much, and why we need to really examine our own lives as the Bible says, to make sure we are "in the faith". (2 Corinthians 13:5; Proverbs 14:8; Haggai 1:5; )
Once we examine ourselves, we need to repent, turn back to the Lord and obey Him. Let's see what He tells Laodicea in Revelation to do since we saw that verse was similar to the one in Ezekiel. “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.” (Rev 3:18–19) This first part about buying gold refined in the fire is talking about a persons character that has been refined by going through trials. I've often said that all the signs we're seeing these days, which are bringing trials into everyone's life, are God's way of separating the wheat from the chaff. In a way, that's what this is saying too. Those who truly are saved, will be refined by the trials in their life and come out of them even stronger in their faith, while those who are not really saved, will eventually be shown for what they are. The white clothes speak of the righteousness of Christ with which we are clothed when we are saved, and which we are told to "put on" daily, which is basically telling us to abide in Him. (Galatians 3:27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Philippians 3:9; Ephesians 4:24) Lastly He tells us to put salve on our eyes so we can see. This shows us, like Peter says, that those who fail to grow in their faith are shortsighted and even blind. They have no discernment. “But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.” (2 Pet 1:9) They only see what the world, Satan and their flesh want them to see, instead of seeing the Truth. Where do we get this gold, the clothes, and the salve? From being in His Word daily. God gives us a new nature when we're saved, but if we do not feed it daily with His Word so it can grow strong, then our sinful nature will rear it's ugly head and we will begin to disobey God and sin more and more. Godly living is the result of cultivating the new nature within us.
It's pretty obvious by looking around us that not many people are living a godly life. The very few that are, stand out like a sore thumb because they're so very different then anyone else. Most people professing to be Christians have what Paul called, a form of godliness but deny it's power. There is no power of God in their lives. Or as the NET bible translates it: They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. (2 Timothy 3:5) Again, just exactly what God was saying about Israel in Ezekiel 20! Do you see how much like them we are today? Do you see how the contagion of sin has infected everyone, and why we must be alert and on guard constantly to keep the filth of this world off of us? We need to be able to walk among the people of this world, serving them, telling them about our God, without becoming filthy and defiled by them, and the only way we can do that is by staying in God's Word, just like Jesus tells us to do. We were saved so we could bear fruit for God; so we could be His priests and lead holy life's. How many people do you know personally that you could honestly look at and say, "that person is holy." Do you know anyone you can say that about? Can you say it about yourself? I'm not asking you if anyone is perfect, you know that. I'm asking what people's life's look more like: Satan and the world, or God the Father. It's fairly easy to tell when a child is becoming more like their parents all the time, and that's true of us as well. We can look at our life and the fruit of our life and tell who we are taking after....whether it's God, the world, or Satan. (and the world is really the same as Satan) Are we more interested in what's going on in this world, or what God says in His Word, and working to store up treasure in Heaven for the life to come? What do we spend the most time thinking about, things and people of this life and this world, or God, His Word, and our life to come? The answers to those questions will tell us a lot about where our hearts are at.
I'm working hard to make my life holy and my thoughts mainly about God, His Word and my life to come, as those are the things that are most important to me. I know what most people think and say about me. To me, their remarks are a badge of honor and tell me that I'm going in the right direction. Jesus told us we'd be persecuted if we were living the way He told us to, so I expect it. Sure, it hurts sometimes, but it hurts because I wish so badly that they understood the Truth that I know, and would be saved. Many, many people in today's world are going to get the shock of their life when they are left behind at the rapture. Enough so that in many people's eyes it will validate their claims that what happened wasn't the rapture because they weren't taken. As God said, they will be deceived. They already are. They think they're saved because they said a "sinners prayer" but then continued to live their life as they always have, except perhaps adding going to church to their routine. That's not what God calls salvation though. He says that when someone is truly saved, they're changed, and their life is changed. They no longer act or think the same way they did before hand because once they're saved, they have Him within them and they begin to hate sin and love godliness, the opposite of everyone else. They won't be perfect, but they'll continually grow in their faith. Our God is a merciful God and gives us all more then enough time to repent and turn to Him. Our God loves us and wants more than anything for us to love Him and walk with Him every day. His love, mercy and grace are astounding to me. At the same time though, our God is also Holy, just and righteous. He hates sin and will not allow it to go unpunished. Those who are saved had their sins taken care of at the cross, but everyone else will have to pay for their sins one of these days and I shudder to think of that. It's what compels me to keep writing and keep trying to tell people the Truth, even if they don't want to hear it. We cannot serve two masters. We cannot mess around with the occult and serve a Holy God who demands that we stay away from the occult. We cannot play with astrology and serve a Holy God who says not to do that. We cannot tolerate sin in our own life's or in the life's of friends and loved ones, and serve a Holy God who tells us: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”” (1 Pet 1:15–16)
Let me end reminding you yet again of what God told Israel: “ ‘As for you, O house of Israel, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: Go and serve your idols, every one of you! But afterward you will surely listen to me and no longer profane my holy name with your gifts and idols.” (Ezek 20:39) That He'd rather have them be outright idolaters then having them pretend to follow Him. He's not interested in those who are lukewarm. He wants others to know that we belong to Him. Not because we say so, but because our life says so. This scripture tells us what it should be like: “And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.” (Mal 3:18) And so toward the end of Revelation He also says: “Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” “Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” (Rev 22:11–12)