Those Who Hate Him

“Know therefore that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that LOVE HIM and KEEP his commandments to a thousand generations. BUT those who hate him he will repay to their face by DESTRUCTION; He will NOT BE SLOW to repay to their face those who hate him.” (Deut. 7:9-10)

Many of you may say I do not hate God, and this is Old Testament stuff so it doesn’t apply to us. Well, here is what Jesus said in the New Testament and how He discerns who loves Him and who hates Him:

“Anyone who LOVES me WILL obey my teaching…Anyone who does not love me (or HATE me) will NOT obey my teaching” (John 14:23-24)

Simple enough concept right? To Love Jesus is to obey Him, to hate Him is to disobey Him. If u need more clarification you can look these up as well: John 14:21; John 15:10; 1 John 2:3; 2 John 1:6

Truth is, when we refuse to change our lives to reflect Jesus’ teachings; support unnatural relationships (LGBTQ+) and anti-Christian beliefs; live immoral lifestyles and rebel against scripture – ALL of these are signs of HATE against God.

People and even devout Christians question why bad things happen to them or why this war in Ukraine could potentially lead to the end of humanity. Well professing Christian or not, just because you claim to love God, as scripture points out doesn’t necessarily mean you do.

Bottom line is, you can either continue your ways of hate against God and face His destruction or love Him by simply OBEYING His word.

Thank About It.
Marc

The World Would Love It’s Own

“…Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world…They are FROM THE WORLD and therefore SPEAK from the VIEWPOINT OF THE WORLD, and THE WORLD LISTENS TO THEM. We are from God, and whoever KNOWS GOD LISTENS TO US; but whoever is NOT FROM GOD DOES NOT LISTEN TO US. This is how we RECOGNIZE the Spirit of TRUTH and the spirit of FALSEHOOD“

(1 John 4:1,5,6)

Falsehood and False Prophets are easily recognized by how the world reacts to their teachings, if the world embraces them it is definitely false and not of God.

Do You Believe in Hell?

Do you believe in Hell?

I know non-believers, New Age religions and anti/false Christian beliefs could care less of what happens to them after they die. This is why their main focus is living life to its fullest and being filled with positive thoughts and feelings because they believe when we die we either are reincarnated into animals and trees; roam the earth as wandering spirits or simply turn to dust.

However, Christians on the other hand should take the idea of Hell and eternal torment much more serious. But do they?

Woe To Those Who Call Evil Good…

“…Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness…” (Isaiah 5:20)

For Christians, LOVE means what God did for us by giving His son Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sins (John 4:9-12); UNITY means the common belief among true believers (1 Cor. 1:10); TRUTH means the God-breathed words of scripture (2 Tim. 3:16-17) and PEACE is what Jesus gave to us when He left to be with the Father in Heaven (John 14:27).

In today’s world however, LOVE means the embracing of homosexuality; UNITY means the acceptance of anti-Christian religions; TRUTH means rejecting God’s Word and PEACE means the freedom to do whatever we like and live in Sin (drunkenness, fornication, rebellion, etc.)

Hearing Problems

In knowing that God chooses whose prayers to hear and whose to ignore, as mentioned in my recent post, many of us are very offended by this message. But when it comes to listening to His commands, it is a double-standard for we seem to choose what to listen to and what to ignore as well.

Truth is, we want God to hear us and do what we ask when we pray, but we are not willing to listen and do what He asks through His Word.

Does God Hear Our Prayers?

It is imperative to mention prayers are not a way for us to get what we selfishly desire. As “true” Christians we shouldn’t be treating prayer or God for that matter like a genie in a bottle ready to grant our every wish.

Rather prayer is a means of communication regarding the will of our Lord in our everyday lives. Sure we are told in John 14:13 to ask anything in Jesus’ name and He will do it, however this is a message to those who “love Him and KEEP His commandments” (John 14:15) not those who are living in disobedience and sinful lifestyles. And because of this, in knowing God is in control Christians will pray according to His will and His purpose never their own (Matt. 6:10).

Having said that, there are a lot of truth from the bible that most people will refuse to accept. Whether it doesn’t fit in their lifestyles or just down-right offensive, because of sin the human race cannot embrace the truths of scripture unless they “truly” embrace Christ.

One of these truths, and this may offend many of you, is the fact God chooses whose prayers to listen to and whose prayers to ignore.

A Threat to Satan’s Kingdom

John MacArthur once wrote:

“…if you’ve slipped into spiritual complacency and your life isn’t much of a threat to Satan’s kingdom, you need to repent and become more zealous for the Lord!” (From Drawing Near by John MacArthur Copyright © 1993)

Zeal for the Lord can come in many ways: never missing a day of church, heading out to every mission and signing up for every church event is something most new Christians will find themselves doing. This type of zeal for the Lord is definitely commendable for a new Christian, and we should be thankful our passion is not directed for things of the world.

However if we are not careful we may make the mistake of confusing zeal with narcissism – always wanting attention and doing things that can be seen by others. In fact, I once knew of a person who used to sit in the center of the congregation just so people could see he’s at attendance. Some jump at every chance to speak up in church, while others make sure to take part of anything that can be seen by other parishioners.

JUDGING – the most misused word in scripture

“…why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.” (Rom. 14:10)

“…Therefore let us not judge one another anymore.” (Rom. 14:13)

Recently in regards to welcoming the LGBTQ community into the Catholic church, Pope Francis said “Who am I to judge?” Like Francis, millions of Christians will use this excuse whenever faced with sin or falsehood in “fellow Christians.” I emphasize “fellow Christians” because as you will see, here is where Francis and millions of others get the lesson of “judging” dead wrong.

When we look at the passages above from Romans 14 it is crystal clear that Paul is instructing the church of Rome not to judge one another. But was this instruction regarding judging sin or foolish motives?

When we read the entire chapter of Romans 14 we will find it was the latter. People were judging each other based on what they ate and to Paul this was foolish and wrong. It is no different than how Christians today will judge each other based on the clothes they wear or the type of car they drive. This has nothing to do with “sin”, rather like the church of Rome it is foolish judgment based on appearance.

Jesus Himself taught this very lesson when He said: “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” (John 7:24) Jesus didn’t say not to judge, rather He said to “judge” righteously.

Furthermore, this is why Paul did not contradict himself when he instructed the church of Rome “not to judge” then later condemn the church of Corinth, saying their “…worship is no good” because they could not “…judge those within their own church.” (1 Cor. 5:6; 5:12)

Just like Pope Francis who refuse to judge these so-called professing LGBTQ Christian community, his worship and glory is flawed. As you see, it is because they “profess” themselves to be Christian (within the church) that we ought to judge them. For those who do not profess themselves to be Christian God will judge. (1 Cor. 5:13)

We don’t have to be mean-spirited and cruel when confronting sin in fellow Christians (Gal. 6:1), but we cannot be passive and unresponsive to sin either (Col. 3:5). Thus to judge a fellow Christian’s sin is a reflection of God’s love, it is when we do not judge we are using “man’s” love.

As I quoted countless times before, John Macarthur said it well when he said:

“Not to rebuke sin is a form of HATRED, not love. Refusing to warn a person about his sin is just as unloving as refusing to warn him about a serious disease he may have. A person who does not warn a friend about his sin cannot claim love as his motive.”

So the next time you’re in church joyfully worshiping and glorifying God, you need to seriously think about this: If you refuse to judge fellow Christians, snatching them from the consequences of sin and falsehood, then like the Corinthian Church your glory is NOT GOOD either (1 Cor. 5:6).

Think About It

Marc

 

Don’t Grumble, Be Humble

“No Grumble, Be Humble” That saying is a very popular bumper sticker here in Hawaii proudly displayed by an apparent “humble” Christian. However with the many worldly entertainment filled congregations throughout the state, and the openly sinning and disobedient professing Christians, it makes me wonder if we truly understand what “humbleness” really is?

Before I was saved I’ve witness many people who professed themselves to be Christian, transform into meek, soft-spoken, humble people, but when it came to “sin” and “false-doctrine” they seem to always overlook it. This definitely made me question if their humility was genuine or not, however because I didn’t know better I truly thought this new “Christian behavior” was what it meant to be humble.

Every Knee Will Bow, Every Tongue Will Confess

“For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil. 2:9-11)

Here’s an interesting thought: Whether you’re an Atheist; Agnostic; Scientist; New Age Follower; World Religion Believer or even a “superficial” Christian who spends all their time in church, caught up with church services yet haven’t changed their lifestyle – we will all one day bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.