“Art
thou become like unto us?”
-
Isa_14:10
“What
must be the apostate professor’s doom when his naked soul appears before God?
How will he bear that voice, “Depart, ye cursed; thou hast rejected me, and I
reject thee; thou hast played the harlot, and departed from me: I also have
banished thee for ever from my presence, and will not have mercy upon thee.” What
will be this wretch’s shame at the last great day when, before assembled
multitudes, the apostate shall be unmasked? See the profane, and sinners who
never professed religion, lifting themselves up from their beds of fire to
point at him. “There he is,” says one, “will he preach the gospel in hell?”
“There he is,” says another, “he rebuked me for cursing, and was a hypocrite
himself!” “Aha!” says another, “here comes a psalm-singing Methodist-one who
was always at his meeting; he is the man who boasted of his being sure of
everlasting life; and here he is!” No greater eagerness will ever be seen among
Satanic tormentors, than in that day when devils drag the hypocrite’s soul down
to perdition. Bunyan pictures this with massive but awful grandeur of poetry
when he speaks of the back-way to hell. Seven devils bound the wretch with nine
cords, and dragged him from the road to heaven, in which he had professed to
walk, and thrust him through the back-door into hell. Mind that back-way to
hell, professors! “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith.” Look well
to your state; see whether you be in Christ or not. It is the easiest thing in
the world to give a lenient verdict when oneself is to be tried; but O, be just
and true here. Be just to all, but be rigorous to yourself. Remember if it be
not a rock on which you build, when the house shall fall, great will be the
fall of it. O may the Lord give you sincerity, constancy, and firmness; and in
no day, however evil, may you be led to turn aside.” (C.H.Spurgeon)
“God resists (opposes) the proud but gives grace to
the humble” – (1Peter 5:5), is a verse I
have emphatically quoted many times throughout my life; it is sweet on the ear,
but I wonder how deceitful my heart has been with its actual meaning? How often
have I quoted it as a way of escape excusing my sin and looking for justification?
When I examine the mirror a little closer I know I am guilty as charged! Please
forgive me Father God and continue in your mercy to renew a right spirit in me.
There is a day coming when your wrath will have it’s vengeance, a day coming
when the hypocrite will be cast into outer darkness for all eternity, a day
coming when your judgment must begin with your household, the household of God will
be judged! “For it is time
for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what
will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Will I be judged faithful to the Lord, will others be
judged faithful? The truth of it all is there will certainly be men and women
found in both camps; The Holy Bible so declares it! God has spoken and His Word
carries amongst so many intricate facets immense power but only can ever declare
truth!
O how I long to hear those words; “And
he said to him, 'Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a
very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.” (Luke 19:17)
Although I do
hold firmly to the five points of Calvinism, which are; Original sin, unconditional predestination, invincible
grace in conversion, particular redemption, and perseverance of saints.
Nevertheless, one would be foolish to bury ones head in the sand ignoring the warnings
throughout scripture about how we as Christians ort to live our lives! There is a day coming of reckoning, not the
reckoning of men but of God; “On that day many will say
to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in
your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from me, you workers of lawlessness.” (Matthew
7:22-23)
Many will stand
as if they belonged to the household of God and yet they would have been
nothing more than deserters or hypocrites. Where do I fit into the equation? Is
it enough to be seated with the congregation; I think not! One must be part of the
body of Christ (His church) or certainly be doomed for all eternity!
The writer of
Hebrews makes a point of getting this exact argument across to the reader; “Therefore we must pay much closer
attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the
message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or
disobedience received a just retribution, how shall we escape if we neglect
such a great salvation?” (Hebrews 2:1-3)
To enter Gods
rest our lives must declare Christ and not depict who we once were those
enslaved to sin! Now once again I look a little closer at my mirror and I am
found wanting! O what is a man to do? “But God, being rich
in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, (Ephesians
2:4) has
been rich in mercy and has once again come through for those who have never
deserved it, I cannot find words to exalt His glorious name but to say I serve
a great and mighty God. Wherever you may find yourself, whether it be in trial
or in the mire with the pigs if God who is rich in mercy chooses to reveal
himself to you, call out unto him for he has been merciful to you. With that
now as our foundation let us strive in His goodness to find grace in times of
need and lift our heads from the sand if need be and to once again run the race
that has been set before us.
“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called
"today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of
sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original
confidence firm to the end. As it is said, "Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion." For who were those who
heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And
with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned,
whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would
not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were
unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:13-19)
“Let us
therefore strive to enter
that rest, so
that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11)
Signing off
Tyrone
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