SERVICE PART 4
Service to the Lord of the Harvest is not a sometimes event. As Christians we should be available at all times to serve our Lord. We should be regular and committed to the ministry that God has called us. I come to the crossroads on a regular basis. To me it is very serious business. People are deciding what they will do with their eternal soul for all eternity. I'm constantly amazed at how people fight the truth. Most will accept errors and untruths easily enough but those same people will fight tooth-and-nail against receiving the truth. They are blinded by the enemy.
2 Cor 4:
3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
4 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.
I come to the crossroads faithfully and pray that God will save some of these blinded people. They are heading for the cliff of destruction and need to turn aside to the narrow road in Jesus. After a good resting I head out again to the crossroads. I have lots of invitations and am ready for another session serving my Lord. After a prayer I begin to invite people to turn aside from the broad road.
After awhile I meet a man called PASTOR-BARRY-THE-HIRELING. Barry went to Bible school and studied for the ministry. He got his degree and became pastor of a church. Barry really does not love God even though he is a pastor. Of course Barry claims to love God but his actions deny his words. If Barry loved God then he would love sound doctrine. Barry does not like controversy so he does not stand up against false doctrine. He just lets the errors come into his congregation unchecked. Barry prides himself on the fact that he is "loving" and does not like those "unloving" people who nit-pick at doctrine. When someone in his congregation is offended by a false speaking guest speaker or some other "wolf' in sheep's clothing, Pastor Barry gets angry at the person who complains! He wonders what the real motivation is for that person who is complaining and disturbing the "peace" in his congregation. Pastor Barry has a brother named Joe. Joe also went into the ministry and became a pastor. However Pastor Joe is different from Pastor Barry. Joe is in it for what he can get. Pastor Joe has found ways to increase himself financially from the giving of sincere Christians. People give to pastor Joe's ministry and make the assumption that the money will be used for Godly purposes. Little do they know that the money bag has a direct leak right into Pastor Joe's bank account. Both Pastor Barry and Pastor Joe are nothing more than hirelings who will answer to God directly in this life and in the next!
BARRY: Hello fellow Christian. I'm the pastor at the First Bible church just up the road.
ANDREW: Hi.. Yes, I've heard about that church. Isn't that the church that had a guest speaker come in and deny that Jesus is God in your Bible study? If I recall that false teacher suggested to people not to make the claim that Jesus is God as it may confuse some people.
BARRY: My, My... we certainly are judgmental and unloving aren't we? That speaker you are referring to is an excellent member of my congregation and has been teaching in our mid-week Bible study for 6 weeks now. After 8 weeks he will finish his study and then I'll bring in another guest speaker. He'll soon be going back to the mission field as he is an excellent servant of God. You shouldn't say things like that about a fellow Christian.
ANDREW: Well who says he is a Christian if he teaches heresy and it goes unchecked in your church?
BARRY: You really don't understand, do you? I've always wondered about what motivates people like you who nit-pick within the Body of Christ. Why do you do that? For money? For glory? For the attention? I've had several other persons complain about him so you and your unloving, nit-picking crowd are not alone!
ANDREW: Why do you, as a pastor, allow this false preacher to come in and deceive God's people? Don't you care? Do you not fear the Lord of the harvest of whom you claim to serve?
Ezek 22:
26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.
Ezek 44:
11 Yet they shall be ministers in my sanctuary, having charge at the gates of the house, and ministering to the house: they shall slay the burnt offering and the sacrifice for the people, and they shall stand before them to minister unto them.
12 Because they ministered unto them before their idols, and caused the house of Israel to fall into iniquity; therefore have I lifted up mine hand against them, saith the Lord GOD, and they shall bear their iniquity.
13 And they shall not come near unto me, to do the office of a priest unto me, nor to come near to any of my holy things, in the most holy place: but they shall bear their shame, and their abominations which they have committed.
BARRY: Well I've heard enough of this!! First you attack a member of my church and now you indicate that I am not a good pastor! I'll have you know that I've been pastoring now for over 20 years, so I know what I'm doing! Do You?
After getting in the last word, BARRY stomps away down the broad road. I hesitate to call him a 'pastor' because he is really just a hireling. He is a false pastor and one day will be severely judged for pastoring a church and leading people astray. After the rapture BARRY will be left here with the other wicked to help put things together for the Antichrist. Men like BARRY do not realize that it is a very serious matter to become a pastor. God wants faithful servants to become pastors and obviously BARRY does not qualify.
Another thing I have noticed about churches (or individuals). You can tell if they love God by their attitude toward sound doctrine. A church that loves sound doctrine also loves God. On the other hand, a church that does not hold fast to sound doctrine does not love God. Just by proclaiming love for God is not enough. Actions speak louder than words. Those who truly love God also love sound Biblical doctrine.
Titus 1:
16 They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
As I stand there thinking for a moment about the hireling pastor, a girl comes up and grabs an invitation. Her name is MARSHA-ANY-WAY: Marsha believes that all paths lead to God. She has respect for Christians because if it works for them then fine. Good for them if it works and makes life better! She personally rejects Christ as it is all fairy tales to her. But each to his own is her motto. No concern for eternity as she doesn't believe it exists.
MARSHA: Are you a real Christian?
ANDREW: Yes, I've accepted the Lord Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Saviour.
MARSHA: So you aren't a phony, you really are living the Christian life?
ANDREW: Yes I've been walking with Jesus now for almost 20 years.
MARSHA: That's really great. It's good to meet someone where religion has worked for them! Myself I don't have any place for it in my life. But if it works for you and does you good then I think that is great. I think everyone should stick with what works for them. If Hinduism works then fine, if Mormonism works then fine, if atheism works then that's fine too.
ANDREW: There is a problem in what you said. You see the Lord Jesus is the ONLY way to God and to heaven. All other so-called paths actually lead to an eternity in hell.
John 14:
6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Acts 4:
12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
MARSHA: Yes that's certainly true for you because you believe the Bible. However, others may have their religious book that they believe. Their truths may very well be different from yours. I'm not religious at all so none of what you say really applies to me.
ANDREW: Actually that is not true. You see God is able to communicate with men and He has done so in His Word, the Bible. God is not a scatterbrain where He is going to write one thing in one religious book and another thing in another religious book. Each book would then contradict each other. No, God has given us His revelation in His Word, the Bible. The Bible certainly applies to you!
MARSHA: Well each to his own is what I always say.
ANDREW: I would encourage you one day to make a commitment to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see we will both live forever. We will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. The choice is up to us and what we do with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Prov 14:
12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
MARSHA: Well I'm not against what you are doing or saying. It obviously works well for you therefore it is good. But your truths are not my truths.
As Marsha leaves, I notice that she stops and takes an invitation down the broad road from a religious cult. She gladly accepts it and after a few moments of conversation, heads out of sight down the broad road. I pray to God for her understanding to be opened to the fact that Jesus is real and He is the only Saviour.
Marsha suffers from a common attitude today of relativism. To Marsha there is no truth. Each person is left to decide what is truth and absolute for them. In her case she just blindly accept everything while believing in nothing.
Another problem with the philosophy of relativism is Christianity itself. The relativist has no problem with a person believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. One person may believe in Jesus and another in Buddah etc. Again the goal is if it works for you then fine. However to say that the Lord Jesus is the ONLY way to God and all other ways to God will end up in hell, enrages the relativist. That is an absolute statement which the relativist cannot make. Relativism rejects the notion of absolutes. It is like one person arguing that the planet pluto is green and another person says the planet pluto is red. Since no one has ever been there no one really knows which is true. Relativism fails to realize that the God of the Bible knows Spiritual truth. God knows about eternal life in heaven or hell and has revealed all that information in His Word the Bible.
As we get closer to the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ watch for deception to increase. Christianity will be hated by the world because of the claims made by the Lord Jesus Christ. The absolute statement that the only way to God is through the Lord Jesus is rejected by the relativist. Since the relativist rejects anything absolute they also reject Christianity. Christians are called narrow minded, closed minded people who think they have the market cornered on truth. The fact is that the Christian does have the Word of God, the Bible which is TRUTH. Since the relativist rejects God and His Word there is a clash between those who follow God and relativism.
Here is an interesting contradiction made by the relativist. Since they claim to be tolerant and to accept all truth it is interesting to see their reaction to Christianity. I have seen those who believe the religion of tolerance (relativism) violently reject Christianity. The claim that the Lord Jesus made about being the ONLY way to God brings out the intolerance in the relativist. Relativism is a teaching of no absolutes and all of a sudden when confronted by the claims of Christ, the relativist becomes very 'absolute' in the rejection of Christianity, God, and the Bible. The 'tolerant' become very intolerant! This statement is not true of all relativists because some just don't care. Some say things like: 'if it works for you then fine', and 'I know you THINK you are right' etc.... However, others do indeed react quite violently and become intolerant to Christianity and the claims of the Lord Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, Christians do not have such problems because they have absolutes. Christians know that God IS and that He has written and preserved His Word in the Bible. Those are two anchors for the soul. In light of that Christians can take God simply at His Word. He clearly said in the Bible that the Lord Jesus is the ONLY Saviour and the ONLY way to God (Acts 4:12, John 14:6). That is an absolute not a relative statement. We can trust in an all-knowing God to tell us Spiritual truths in His Word, the Bible. The Christian stands firm with many solid beliefs and absolute truths given by God in His Word.
The next person who stops by is called CHURCH-GIRL. She lives for her church. She attends a church that denies the foundational doctrines of Christianity while calling themselves 'Christian'. Her whole social life and family is involved in the church. She hopes to marry a good man from church one day. However she will not consider the truth as that would upset her family and church life. So she blindly clings to church and rejects sound Biblical counsel and doctrine. At work when people come back on Monday and say what they did over the weekend, Church-girl tells everyone what she did at church. She will live faithfully for her church right up to the time that she dies and perishes forever in the lake of fire. The cliff at the end of the broad road is approaching but Church-girl is too busy with her church activities to notice.
2 Tim 4:
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
CHURCH: Hi, thanks for the paper. I attend the Christian church of the no-Trinity up the street. Whenever the doors are open I'm there! I just got out of a Bible study that was really challenging. It is called the Oneness of God.
ANDREW: The Church of the no-Trinity is nothing more than a false religion and a cult. It denies the several foundational doctrines in Christianity ... while at the same time calling themselves 'Christian'. You see the Bible clearly teaches that there is only ONE God. The Bible also teaches there is a person and He is called the Father and He is God. Next there is another person called the Son and He is God. Finally there is a person called the Holy Spirit and He is God. There is only one God but three Divine persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
CHURCH: Well we don't believe that in our church. In fact teaching the trinity was started around 300AD by Constantine. After all the word 'trinity' isn't even found in the Bible!
ANDREW: No the doctrine of the Trinity is clearly found in the Bible. Your cult are the ones that gave you the line about it being started in 300AD. You shouldn't blindly accept everything they tell you. If you don't check things out on your own with the Bible it is very easy to be deceived. Let me also point out to you that the word 'Bible' is also not found in the Scriptures. Even though the word 'Trinity' is not found in the Bible, the concept certainly is in there. Let me give you some points to consider:
** Who RAISED Jesus from the dead?
The Father (Romans 6:4)?
The Son (John 2:19-21; 10:17,18)?
The Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11)?
Or God ???(Acts 3:26, 13:30, 17:30,31; 1 Thessalonians 1:9,10;
Hebrews 13:20)?
** Who does the Bible say is God?
The Father (Ephesians 4:6)?
The Son (Titus 2:13; John 1:1, 20:28)?
The Holy Spirit (Acts 5:3-4)?
The one and only true God (Deuteronomy 4:35)?
** Who CREATED the world?
The Father (John 14:2)?
The Son (Colossians1:16,17; John 1:1-3)?
The Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2; Psalm 104:30)?
Or God (Genesis 1:1; Hebrews 11:3)?
** Who SAVES man?
Who REGENERATES man?
The Father (1 Peter 1:3)?
The Son (John 5:21, 4:14)?
The Holy Spirit (John 3:6; Titus 3:5)?
Or God (1 John 3:9)?
CHURCH: Well my church has given me several Bible studies and I've followed them so I know that they are right. After all, my church is from God so they would not mislead me.
ANDREW: You're not hearing me. I said do not blindly accept everything your Church gives you. That can be very dangerous. What if they are wrong and you just blindly accept their teachings?
CHURCH: Well I know that would never happen as they are from God. They have also warned me about Trinitarians.
ANDREW: There is a very good saying you should consider: If you are wrong about God and who He is then you are wrong enough to lose your soul for all eternity! Your cult has presented you with another God than is found in the Bible. You are in danger of hell-fire by following a false god:
Gal 1:
8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.
CHURCH: Well we believe in the ONE true God so I'm not in any danger.
I tried to reason with CHURCH-GIRL but found it very tough. The teachings of her cult had blinded her and she was not receptive to the truth at all. She left still thinking she was in the true church. She just blindly accepts all her church teaches as if it was the very words of God Himself. Unfortunately some people have a brain like a dry sponge. They just soak up (without thinking) anything their false religion gives them. I prayed for her understanding to be opened so she would know she has been lied to by her cult. I prayed for God to touch her heart, deliver her from the cult, and save her.
It is interesting to note that most people do not like to be lied to or cheated. If you get into a business deal and someone lies and cheats you, the reaction is anger and avoidance of that person in future deals. However this is not true in the area of 'religion'. Men and women blindly accept false teaching, lies, and deception from their false religion or cult. When confronted with Biblical truths they actually fight against receiving the knowledge of God and the truth. I guess with many it is acceptable to lie and deceive in matters of religion but not in matters of finances.
As I continued handing out invitations I was approached by a young lady. Her name was BUG-GIRL. She is married and claims to have a Christian family. However church attendance and Bible reading are unheard of. She shows up in church maybe once every 3 months. She likes to go to bars to celebrate birthdays and the odd other occasion. Her husband can't stand the nagging so he works long hours. He is a work-a-holic. The house they live in is a dump with trash and filth scattered about as bug-girl is a lazy housekeeper. Their place is a real pigs sty. But one can get used to cockroaches over time. Even though bug-girl claims to be a Christian, it is very hard to see any Godly fruit manifest in her life.
John 14:
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.
BUG: Hi, thanks for the invitation. I'm a Christian too. It's my birthday this weekend. I'm down here to celebrate with some girlfriends of mine.
ANDREW: Happy Birthday. But where can you celebrate in such a sinful area as this?
BUG: Well we are going to that bar over there. It has the latest rock group and a huge dance floor. My husband doesn't mind.
ANDREW: Why would you want to embrace the sinful pleasures of the world at a drinking, dancing, and pick-up establishment?
BUG: Well I don't drink much so there is not much problem there. I only have 1 or 2 drinks. I spend most of the time on the dance floor.
ANDREW: You mentioned that you are a Christian... what church do you attend?
BUG: Well we go to the First Baptist on the other side of town. We don't go there very often though. Maybe once every 3 months.
ANDREW: It sounds like you need to commit yourself to the Lord. You cannot embrace the sin of the world and claim to know the Lord at the same time. Either you are backslidden or not saved in the first place. The Bible says:
I Jn 2:
15 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
BUG: But I'm a Christian. I just like to celebrate occasionally at the bars. My husband doesn't mind. Besides he's at work tonight and my child is with a baby-sitter. Anyway I've got to go my friends are calling out for me to come. Bye .. bye.
BUG-GIRL caught up to her friends and they all went inside the bar to commence their 'celebration'. One of the changes in a persons life when they become a Christian is a hatred of sin. Yes a Christian still sins but he no longer loves the sin. An unsaved person sins and it doesn't bother him at all. He enjoys his sin. However once he accepts the salvation only found in the Lord Jesus then things change. That person is a new creation with a new heart.
2 Cor 5:
17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Sin is no longer a pleasure to a Christian. It becomes a struggle as we desire to live in such a way to please God. One of the signs of true saving faith is an awareness and dislike of sin in a person's life. However when a person loves their sin and things of the Christian life become boredom then perhaps that person was never really saved in the first place. If a person claims to be a Christian but is bored with: regular Church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, and witnessing to the lost, then is that person really a Christian? Has that person been born-again with a new heart with new desires? Those new desires are to please God and to be faithful to Him. People like BUG-LADY like to be called a Christian but they are disinterested in Christian things and the Christian life. Perhaps they do not even know the Lord and the Lord does not know them:
Matt 25:
11 Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us.
12 But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not.
13 Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.
I continue handing out invitations. A few here and there enter the narrow gate. But the majority of people are pleased to stay on the broad road and have no intention of changing their course. The next person I meet is WORK-A-HOLIC: He has a great set of priorities. Work comes first, second, and third. Family and God are there somewhere but not really prominent. He has a severe obedience problem. Why obey God if the Bible is rarely read? If reading brings conviction then just stop the reading then the conviction goes away. Besides there is work to do and projects to finish in the wonderful world of employment. Thoughts about the return of Jesus and eternity in heaven are not considered as he lives to work and works to live.
James 5:
1 Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you.
2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten.
3 Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.
WORK: What's this? An invitation? To what? Oh.... Jesus stuff. Well I already gave at the office!
ANDREW: You gave at the office. How nice. I don't recall asking for any donations. Besides you may have given at the office but Jesus gave at the cross. The Bible says:
John 3:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
WORK: I really don't have much time for this. I work about 70 hours per week. I've got a mortgage to pay and children to feed. I don't see my kids much but I support them financially!
ANDREW: There's more to life than work. A person can work all his life then die and spend eternity in hell separated from God forever. Then what profit did 'work' accomplish in your life? It's good to work but there are other blessings in life that you are missing. Like watching your children grow up and being a father that is involved in their lives. There are many great blessings that money cannot buy. Salvation is one such a blessing. God became a man and died on the cross and purchased a place for you in heaven which He now offers as a free gift. It is up to you to receive or reject salvation.
WORK: I hear you buddy, but I've got too many commitments. I've got to go as I have to go into work early tomorrow morning. I've got a big project due at 9am.. then a meeting at 11am ... and another meeting at 5pm with some clients. After all that I have to start work on my budgets for the department.
After that WORK rushed off on down the broad road. He had a full briefcase in one hand and a laptop computer in the other. I prayed for God to get through to this man and have him see his great need for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus. So many people are too busy in this world. They fill their lives up with useless things and ignore the most important...their eternal soul. We are here on earth to choose where we will spend eternity. One day everyone will die and stand before God. At that point 'work' will not matter at all. The only issue will be: What did YOU do with the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation He freely offers?
John 6:
28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.
The next person I meet is JULIE-THE-CHURCH-HELPER. Julie is married. However she is also married to church service. Whenever the doors of the church is open she is there doing service of some kind. She sings in the choir, teaches Sunday school and volunteers for all kinds of projects. Her husband and children are neglected. In fact all her children have gone astray. For example her son left home as a teenager and lived on the street with his friends. He got involved in immorality and drinking and is addicted to rock and roll (both religious and secular). Julie is now a grandma. Her son shacked up with a honey he met on the street and they produced a grandson. Through it all Julie keeps busy as there is always something to do in the church. Julie professes to be saved and a spirit-reborn Christian. However she is addicted to service and puts church work before her family.
1 Tim 5:
8 But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.
JULIE: Hi... glad to see you out here inviting people to the narrow way through the Lord Jesus. I just got out of Bible study and am heading home. Tomorrow I do volunteer work in the church all day. I'm looking for my son. He's living somewhere down here in a room on the broad road with his girlfriend and their baby.
ANDREW: Sounds like you are busy serving the Lord and your family is lost.
JULIE: Well my children attended church when they were young, so I did all that I could do. I can't help it if I'm always busy with some kind of church work for the Lord.
ANDREW: A servant of the Lord should have some priorities in their life. First is the relationship with God. Second is their family. Third is your service. It is possible to do good service and lose your family to the devil. That is something that you want to avoid. Never let church service damage your family. Your son is lost and on the way to hell. He probably thinks Christians are hypocrites and wants nothing to do with God or the Bible.
JULIE: He did say to me he didn't want to go to church anymore. That is just before he moved out to come and live on the street with his friends. But there is nothing I can do about that. It is his choice. He's a teenager and old enough to decide for himself.
ANDREW: You need to work on repairing the broken walls down between you and your son. Perhaps an apology about the years of neglect because you were too busy in church service to spend much time with him. That would be a good place to start. The next thing would be to greatly reduce your church service so you would have more time for your family.
JULIE: I'd never do that. I'm a servant of the Lord and I trust him to take care of my family. Anyway I've got to go! There is another busy day for me tomorrow at church.
As she left I said a quick prayer for her and the neglected family. I asked God to save her son and to get JULIE's priorities in the correct perspective. Getting over-involved is a snare every Christian needs to be aware of. The family must not be neglected in service to God. There is nothing worse than to see a man do great works and then to hear all his children went astray as their daddy was never home. Children need their mother and father and they should never be neglected for church service. I think it pleases God to see parents committed to their children with the goal of raising up a Godly seed to carry on in the next generation. Of course this may also mean having one parent stay home with the children to raise them. Sending children off to daycare while mommy and daddy earn the bucks is not the best way to raise children. It is the way of the world. Christians committed to raising their children should arrange their lives in such a way that the kids do not have to grow up in day care with people that really do not care about them. There is no substitute for mom and dad. Besides I've heard that children raised in daycare have a greater potential for crime and getting into trouble when they are older. Having a parent stay home with the children adds a major stabilizing element to the children's lives. This also includes church service. Constantly leaving the children while some 'ministry' is pursued is not a good thing. Children should come first and should not be neglected for ministry work. I'm not saying don't get involved in church. However I am suggesting to limit the involvement for the sake of your children and family.
As I lifted up my head from praying I saw a man standing before me. His name is MR.HYPOCRITE. He is tired of playing the Christian game. While he was a so-called Christian he still partook of evil. He just did it secretly. Now he is fed up with sneaking around to sin and has openly rejected the Lord Jesus. His father is proud of him as he didn't want him to become a Christian in the first place. He says he does not wish to be a hypocrite so he openly indulges in the sin he once kept secret. In this world there are many hypocrites. Most are still in the secret stage of their earthly walk going to church and doing evil secret sins. Most hypocrites like to attend church and some even have positions of authority in their church. The Bible refers to these type of people as 'tares' among the wheat.
Matt 13:
30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
Matt 13:
40 As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world.
41 The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
42 And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.
HYPROCRITE: I used to be a Christian once....did you know that?
ANDREW: No can't say I did. How does a person be a born-again new creature in Christ and suddenly... NOT BE?
HYPROCRITE: I played all the Christian games. I went to church. I witnessed. I even came down here at the crossroads and saw many turn to the narrow gate. However all along I had my doubts but kept them silent. I kept on drinking after I became a 'Christian'. I just did it in secret. Over the years I got tired of doing the things I wanted to do in secret. So I openly renounced my faith and now I do as I please. In fact I'm on my way to go drinking at the nudie bar! No more rules and limitations for me! I'll do as I please.
ANDREW: It sounds to me like you were never saved in the first place! The Bible says:
I Jn 2:
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
HYPROCRITE: That's your opinion, but I've been there and I'm NOT going back to Jesus!
ANDREW: Well that is your choice. Everyone must choose to either accept or reject Jesus.
John 3:
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
HYPROCRITE: I'll probably go to hell, that is if it even exists in the first place. Oh well that is where all my friends will be! I'd rather laugh it up in hell then be bored in heaven.
ANDREW: Who said hell would be a place where there is any laughter. The Bible states that hell is a place where there is weeping and grinding of teeth. The torments of hell are forever.
Rev 14:
10 The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
MR.HYPROCRITE left at this point. He never took a invitation as he was not interested. He is a good description of a tare in the wheatfield. When he was 'serving' the Lord, he looked just like a Christian. He talked like a Christian and he acted like a Christian. However, in secret he was someone else. Over the years he got tired of hiding his sin so he just renounced Jesus and turned to living as he pleases. The Bible warns that there are many tares in the wheat field. We are to be alert for deceivers and false Christians. They are there among us and we cannot tell who they all are. God, one day will remove them all in judgment. Until that time just keep your eyes on Jesus and keep into God's Word on a daily basis. God will deal with the tares. But beware of deception as we have been warned that wolves would arise from AMONG us teaching heresies.
2 Peter 2
1 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.