THE SECRET PLACE
Offend me with the truth but please never comfort me with a lie
PART 33
GOD’S LOVE TELLS THE TRUTH

“But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe NOT, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.” (II Corinthians 4:3-4)
I would like to continue with what we were talking about last week. This is a very important subject and one that I hope we can all learn from. I am certain that many of us will face this issue at some time or another in the future, and for some of us it may be from our own immediate family. A growing number of Christians are finding that it is increasingly difficult to live peacefully in a darkening world while holding firm the light of truth. Desiring to be accepted by the socially and politically correct leaders of the world’s agenda, Christians are sadly exchanging light for darkness. Of course there are many sins that are tempting the Christian and we know our weaknesses and the pleasures of our flesh that we battle daily, however, in this article I am referring to the particular sin of compromising our boldness to speak God’s truth without fear! Let me say that when ANYONE that ceases to guard against the dangers of this SIN – they are allowing the gates of hell to enter into their midst! This is exactly what is happening in the church today. Christians have let their guard down and become lukewarm in their personal relationship with God and this in turn has opened the floodgates of compromise in the Christian community until now you cannot tell the church people from any other secular organization. You can write it down – when sin is NOT resisted – it always increases! Sin presents itself as completely harmless but is never satisfied. Sin stays hungry and always pushes a little farther until the door is opened completely. Sin has a hidden agenda and operates like an infection! What begins as a tiny concession that looks as adorable as a baby kitten, has every intention of growing into a ferocious beast and devouring you and everything you have including your family! Yet we are seeing a growing number of people who claim to have heard from God proclaim that love is more important than doctrine. The new religious strategy say’s that what people do is none of our business and that we must tolerate them and accept them with God’s love. It is true that we must love everyone – but we cannot have God’s love without God’s truth. Selah.
It is no secret that God’s truth has been attacked through the centuries from a long line of “new thinkers.” Philosophy is one of the oldest passions among humans that can be traced all the way to Adam and Eve. Satan was an experienced philosopher in the garden by denying God’s perfect truth and our first parents fell right behind him when they also compromised what the Lord had told them by creating their own ideas. As the ability to communicate advances, this new generation of philosophers can spread their imaginations and opinions much faster and to more people than ever in history. There was a time when someone would stare up at the sky and have a new idea, then spend the rest of their life writing their thoughts by hand and giving it out one page at a time. The speed at which these pages would need to be re-copied and distributed usually took an entire lifetime, where now mental concepts can go worldwide (viral) within hours. These young pioneers are a part of a new world that is focused on a society of order and correctness. They are proud and empowered by the thought of tearing down biblical truth and re-structuring a new “revelation” that is focused on a personal identity. To these intelligent seekers of peace and harmony, they have become militant as they prepare to dominate our culture with their “interpretation” of the way everything needs to be. Will you choose to stand against it or concede?
Who is to blame for this sad direction? The Christians can take some of the blame for a couple of reasons. The first is not really their fault, because they have been simply outnumbered and in politics the majority rules. What they really can be blamed for is the lackadaisical attitude that has been the “norm” for especially the last 75 years. We have never been a Christian nation from a government standpoint but Christians have “tried’ to be the conscience of society. Of course we realize that many who called themselves Christians were just religiously zealous but in many cases the true Christians did the best they could under the circumstances and tried to raise their children with the fear and reverence of God. However, as the modern age of industry allowed for a more prosperous society, the passion for holiness became more relaxed. The flesh loves pleasure and Satan is always willing to “bless” people in order to distract them from their disciplined spiritual lives. Through the years instead of God’s people praying and fasting, they indulged themselves with the rewards of abundance. Materialism created an infection that caused lukewarmness and it spread like wildfire throughout the Nation. As each generation has become spiritually weaker – in turn they have grown more open to other ways of thinking. The concept of absolute truth was questioned and the older ones have been too lazy and unconcerned to explain its validity. These open minded thinkers grew up and had children that were even more liberal and as you can see the deterioration of solid doctrine has become washed away from a river of doubt. Now we are dealing with a new world of grown-ups that have very little or no memories of God’s presence. Most have not experienced the fiery preaching, the miracle power of God or a personal relationship with Christ. Those who have tried Christianity are now saying that what they were taught was wrong. They are saying that Christianity has failed them and they have been twisted up with their perception of God. But, instead of getting right with God in their heart – they are determined to remove and exchange their outward identification of what they believe a Christian should be. Those that have a religious background have faced the attack from this new social way of thinking and have been challenged in the worldviews they were taught. They have felt the heat of the world disagreeing with them and do not like the persecution. So, instead of siding with God and walking through the fire of rejection, they are abandoning the truth so they can be accepted. Instead of standing strong with God they are selling out and compromising to save their own popularity. Satan has given them a way out – he has influenced an entire generation that was spiritually weak with a fleshly plan to escape the pain of spiritual persecution. They have modified, re-painted and restored the oldest command in the world and now proclaim they have found the meaning of love.
In some ways I do sympathize with these young thinkers, because the religious circus over the years would drive anyone into discouragement. The normal Christian family did not hold strong in their commitment to being serious about God’s Word. They did not become active in politics or their community. They did not pray like they should have and did not LIVE a strong witness in front of their children like they should have. Taking their children to Sunday school was NOT enough biblical training to develop strong Christian leaders! I cannot imagine how disappointed God is with the church world because they went to sleep at the most crucial time, just like the disciples did in the garden when Jesus really needed them to stay awake. Yes, at least the young ones see a problem that needs to be fixed but I believe they are looking in the wrong places. I sense a real danger with a generation that is taking control of the steering wheel when they do not know what they are doing or where they are going. Walking in the flesh is the opposite of walking with God and if you are creating your own concept of God because you hate to offend the world – your dream is going to turn into a nightmare. Hello – the gospel is supposed to be an OFFENSE! This is what causes CONVICTION within the conscience of the hearer who needs the transforming power of Jesus Christ to save them from their sin! When we water down God’s truth, we have diluted His way of awakening the lost by turning His gospel into a philosophic apology.
Love is the strongest emotion in the universe, but to create a “generic” form of it is like turning off the highway onto a dirt road without a GPS. God is THE Master of divine order and His love is a perfect – undefiled love. We do not have the power or authority to reproduce our own version of love or modify His love into something it is not. His love must be used in its original form. You see, He is the one who makes all the rules and we are His servants that are to obey what He says. The New World Order wants to throw God’s Word in the trash can and create their own image of spiritual reality. This may sound good to the masses – but it is a lie from hell! The idea that love agrees with all ideas, while ignoring God’s command to always speak His truth to everyone – even if it offends, is committing the sin of disobedience! Evangelism is the “vehicle” of the gospel and standing for God’s truth is embedded in the heart for the burden for souls. Being afraid to tell the truth is placing our feelings of embarrassment over the CALLING to rescue others from eternal judgment. It would be like being afraid to give an antidote to those who have a deadly virus because they might think we are trying to tell them what to do. If we are too afraid to speak God’s truth, then maybe we should get to know Him better and discover what His Word really teaches. If we change God’s truth into a comfortable lifestyle for the sake of protecting ourselves from harassment and affliction, we are living a lie and making a mockery out of righteousness and the witness we are supposed to be. “Let no man deceive you with vain (empty) words: for because of these things comes the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. BE YE NOT partakers with them! Proving (demonstrating) what is acceptable (pleasing) unto the Lord. And have NO fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather REPROVE THEM.” (Ephesians 5: 6,7,10,11)