Sunday, January 13, 2008

Unification, a Scandalous Effort

Paul's precision to throw a warning dart and hit it in the bullseye was masterful. When he warned that Christians should not be yoked, should not take company with unbelievers, he was forseeing an epidemic that was soon to come. The epidemic came, however, and we have seen the affects of this flesh eating disease, as it gorged itself on the body of Christ.

What disease? The disease of false unification, that is to say, the infection of unification with those who profess to be lovers of God, but are really lovers of the world. I have heard it preached, teached and fed to believers around the world (but mostly in the west), that the body of Christ needs to be unified, that they need to have likemindedness. The ministers of our day see division, they see disagreement, they witness disfunctional religiosity. And they assume that it is unification that is the key- Insteat of GOD! This philosophy has crept itself, like a drunken harlot, into the bed where the body of Christ sleeps. How have we been so blind to see the obvious? I have been accused of beating the sheep. I have been rejected for being critical on the church--But it is not the church that offends me! It is the world. . . The world that is filled with every manner of evil thing that is unglorifying to God. And it is those who have proclaimed the name of Christ, but have fornicated in every naked way with this "World" of sin. Those who call themselves followers of God, and yet in their evil hearts, they love their sin. They are consumed with it. And in this action they have rejected God, rejected his ways. Because it is not just by words we know God, but by our hearts.

So, the problem is, that we have accepted these worldly fornicators as true believers. We have assumed that if a man or woman says the sinners prayer, they are saved. That somehow God, in all of his sovereignty, must save them, because, after all, they did say the words. But there will be a day when God judges the hearts of man, and he will say to those who were not transformed unto his likeness, "Depart from me, you worker of iniquity, for I never knew you." And in that day, part of that guilt will fall on our shoulders, because we saw them sin, we saw their unrepentent hearts, and we did nothing! Because, who are we to judge another? And since we did not preach repentance to the unrepentant, and preach God's Glory to the blind, because we were too affraid of confrontation, we preached unification. But unification has already happened. It is already here, in the true hearts and minds of God's people. They know who they are, they see the living God as the only source of life, the only thing that is worthy to live for. They care nothing about their lives, and are even willing to go to hell in order to glorify God. This church, this body I speak of, is indeed unified, because they have been so broken by their wickedness that they no longer lean on their own understanding. And they are not willing to conform to the world in any way. For the world is full of sin, it is full of deceit, bitterness, wrath, lust, sexuallness and depravity. All one has to do is look around and see who has compromised with Babylon, to see who has bowed their faces to the Golden Statue of Nebechanezzar (for there were thousands of prophesing jews at that time, but only three did not worship the idol of gold; and they were thrown into a firey furnace for their lack of cultural understanding).

Is it really that complicated? Haven't we simply made a mockery of God, by taking his name and causing the "gentiles" to blaspheme it? It is simple! God's people know who they are, and will not be enslaved by the philosophies of the world, but will stand tall, proud in their God. But those who want the benefit of Heaven, but don't really want God, it is a scandalous effort to unify them with the true body of Christ, because they will have nothing to do with what is really right.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Anonymous said...

Joel
Truly, the church has always consisted of "saints & hypocrites". There is the visible church and the invisible church. The remnant and the corporate. Perhaps the invisible church is the only thing we need concern ourselves with, and yet we ask- what is the invisible church? The hard thing I struggle with is when even the saints find themselves hypocrites at times. I can attest to this in my own life, as I struggle with my fallen nature. We have new natures in Christ, and yet that old man is always trying to come back. Oh the depths of my depravity, praise God who has the power to save the worst of sinners through His sovereign free grace. We all want renewal for the church God's people, but finding the way there is often a hard struggle with a church mixed with the world in so many ways. We need true repentance, and apart from that I have few answers. Your Bro -Jordan