Matthew 7:21-23
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
I don’t know how ferociously the heart of God must be split in two at times, but just to have the faintest pang of the pain He must constantly bear, quite literally cuts me to the core. I look at the verses above, and my eyes are suddenly filled with the image of countless souls being ushered into hell fire with the name of Jesus on their lips. How can it be? How can so many claim to be His and yet at the same time deny Him?
There have been many times in recent years that I have been condemned by other Christians for being harsh. So much so that over and over, I have had to check my motives to ensure that they are truly for God and not against Him. Can those numbered amongst those called by the name of Christ, who will hear His words commanding them to depart be as great as the number I fear? Oh how I pray that it is not, but how much more I fear that it is. Unless the Lord in His mercy will shake us from our slumber vigorously, I fear that on that dreadful Day, the bosom of hell will be filled with countless professing Christians that were never known by the One they professed to know as their Saviour.
How many times are we going to be so deceiptful as to attempt to share the Gospel message and remain free of persecution, when the Bible tells us exactly that will happen? Are people really taken in by giving a few mince pies away at Christmas time, or us being really nice to those around us? Are the drug and violence addicted youth in our streets to be awakened by us meeting their social needs, and letting them walk all over us while we suffer silently? Are the homosexuals, the liars, the blasphemers, the paedophiles, the proud, the arrogant, the God haters, the adulterers, the thieves and swindlers, the money lovers, and all the other God forsaken sinners living in our own back yard, going to care less about our luke warm message of redemption? I think not, and neither do I!
Those who do not know the Lord, do not need to be told that He has a purpose and a plan for their life, other than the plan that the Bible proclaims to us. For His wrath hovers over the whole of the earth like a hammer waiting to fall on the ungodly, and the only loving, and compassionate thing a true Christian can do is to make them aware of it, by preaching His Gospel. And how can the good news of the Gospel be good news at all, when we don’t even know or believe what the bad news is? God’s Law is not obsolete because of the atoning sacrifice of Christ, it is only the righteous requirements of the Law that were nailed to the Cross of Christ for those who believe. Jesus Christ is the fulfilment of the Law for those abiding in Him, but according to Christ Himself, He has not come to wipe away one tiny letter of it.
If you are a pastor reading this article, and you know that much of your congregation are living according to the flesh, and you do not preach a message of repentance week in and week out until they get the message, then shame on you! Do you not realise that you are personally responsible for leading people to eternal destruction, and their blood will be on your hands before the Living God? How can you preach a message of abundant life, without first preaching the need to die to ourselves first? If your congregation are not dead to the flesh, and their lives hidden with Christ in God, then they are heading for destruction. There is no such thing as a “carnal” Christian, in the sense that a Christian can be saved and live for the world. There are simply those saved by the grace of God, and those who remain outside of that grace and under the penalty of His wrath.
The Bible commands those who profess Christ to examine themselves to ensure they are truly in Christ. It commands us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Yet we proudly boast someone saved eternally for repeating a few words after us, as though it were some magical incantation to guarantee our salvation. How many people are we going to continue to deceive in such a way? You can rebuke me all you like for this message, but it is not a rebuke I listen to any longer, for I know the source of this I am sharing, and it is God Himself, for all I convey is that which is found in His Word. The Gospel needs to be preached to every creature, and it needs to be preached and preached until it is grasped firmly by those who are listening. Therefore pastors of the flock, it is up to you to preach the Gospel to your congregation, not just once or twice, but constantly!
God is not interested in your wisdom or opinions. He is not interested in your positive confessions, your spiritual manifestations, your contemplative prayer, your being slain in the spirit, your holy laughter, your babbling in tongues, your spiritual warfare strategies, your ministry visions or any other thing. Not unless first of all you are totally and utterly devoted to preaching Christ crucified for our sins and risen again, and the reason it was necessary to happen at all. What’s more, if that is the message being preached constantly, you will have no need to preach much else, for that alone is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe, and the preaching of that message, and the understanding and accepting it by the faith God has apportioned, will be all that is necessary to bring about total transformation for the glory of Christ, to those who believe.
I did not truly know where this message was going until I had started writing, but now I realise only too well that it is addressed mainly to those who have been charged with leading God’s people. Put your selfish pride down once for all, let go of the reigns of your ministry, and hand it over to Christ. Cast your opinions, your wisdom, and all that you think you know away as the dross that it is. And instead feed the Word of God alone to your congregation, that they may be filled with an appetite that is insatiable for the righteousness of God, for His promise is that they may be filled.
I leave you with this final warning from the prophet Jeremiah, concerning those who are shepherds of the flock:
Jeremiah 23:1-22
1 “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the LORD.
2 Therefore thus says the LORD God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: “You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the LORD.
3 “But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.
4 I will set up shepherds over them who will feed them; and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, nor shall they be lacking,” says the LORD.
5 “Behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.
6 In His days Judah will be saved, And Israel will dwell safely; Now this is His name by which He will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.
7 “Therefore, behold, the days are coming,” says the LORD, “that they shall no longer say, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt,’
8 but, ‘As the LORD lives who brought up and led the descendants of the house of Israel from the north country and from all the countries where I had driven them.’ And they shall dwell in their own land.”
9 My heart within me is broken Because of the prophets; All my bones shake. I am like a drunken man, And like a man whom wine has overcome, Because of the LORD, And because of His holy words.
10 For the land is full of adulterers; For because of a curse the land mourns. The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up. Their course of life is evil, And their might is not right.
11 “For both prophet and priest are profane; Yes, in My house I have found their wickedness,” says the LORD.
12 “Therefore their way shall be to them Like slippery ways; In the darkness they shall be driven on And fall in them; For I will bring disaster on them, The year of their punishment,” says the LORD.
13 “And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria: They prophesied by Baal And caused My people Israel to err.
14 Also I have seen a horrible thing in the prophets of Jerusalem: They commit adultery and walk in lies; They also strengthen the hands of evildoers, So that no one turns back from his wickedness. All of them are like Sodom to Me, And her inhabitants like Gomorrah.
15 “Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts concerning the prophets: ‘Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, And make them drink the water of gall; For from the prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness has gone out into all the land.’ ”
16 Thus says the LORD of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They make you worthless; They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17 They continually say to those who despise Me, ‘The LORD has said, “You shall have peace” ‘; And to everyone who walks according to the dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ”
18 For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?
19 Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD has gone forth in fury— A violent whirlwind! It will fall violently on the head of the wicked.
20 The anger of the LORD will not turn back Until He has executed and performed the thoughts of His heart. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.
21 “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.
22 But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings.
Originally posted 2009-10-12 02:23:45. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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