It’s a very prominent sign of the times that many who call themselves Christian have strayed far from God’s truth.
A few days ago, I overheard a conversation where an older woman was bragging about being an ordained preacher and was inviting someone to attend her church. We all need to share the Gospel, but we need to be sure we’re Biblical. The reason for attending her church was that they didn’t preach about anything that would upset people and accepted everyone as they are. On the surface, that sounds nice, but it isn’t the way Jesus taught, nor is it how the disciples spread the Gospel.
It’s a sign of the times that people would rather hear a feel-good sermon than be told they must repent and turn from sin. I wish I could say that this was the only problem with that church, but as she spoke, there was so much more error. It seems as if that woman thought it was better to make sure people were comfortable in their sins, and let them march straight to Hell than to stand on God’s word. This sort of teaching is a sign that we are living in the end times.
“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; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).
When we read the account of the rich man and Lazarus, we see that the rich man was happy in his life, but he cared only for his own comforts and turned a blind eye to the sufferings of Lazarus, who was ill and had no food. Both men died, and the rich man ended up in torments for eternity, while Lazarus went to the place of comfort in Abraham’s Bosom. The torment and suffering that the rich man knew was eternal made him deeply concerned for his family, who were as self-centered as he was. He desperately wanted Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers to change their ways.
“Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them” (Luke 16:29).
Our choice for eternity must be made while we are on this side of eternity. We also have Moses and the prophets, but we have even more. We have the New Testament and the assurance that God entered His creation to give us the only way to eternal life. That way is through acknowledging we are sinners, repenting of that sin, and putting our faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Unless we understand what separates us from God (sin) and repent (change our minds about sin), we cannot be born again. Sitting in a feel-good, non-biblical church won’t allow anyone to realize they are sinners in need of Jesus for salvation.
When we use Scripture as our guide, we can see that Jesus met many people, but when someone was dying in sin, He didn’t tell them not to worry because God loves them just the way they are, but showed them that they must turn away from sin. For instance, He told the woman taken in adultery to “Go and sin no more.” Could she stop sinning? No, but she could stop her adultery and then recognize other sin in her life and repent of that sin.
Sin is what separates us from God, and shedding blood of animals could cover sin, but sin could only be taken away by the shedding of God’s pure blood. That was done on the cross nearly 2,000 years ago. Jesus Christ was God incarnate, and chose to shed His blood to take our sin away. Jesus fulfilled all of the Law and the Prophets, but that doesn’t mean God doesn’t see sin as sin anymore.
Today, it seems that the worldly people are dictating Christian beliefs rather than God. We’re expected to “not judge,” although Scripture never says we aren’t to judge. We make decisions every day which depend upon making judgments.
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matthew 7:1-2).
Most people stop there, but the following verses put this in context. Jesus went on to say that you need to get sin out of your own life before you can call a brother a sinner. If you stand around gossiping about another person who gossips, you need to see your own sin of gossiping and deal with it before you can judge someone else; you will be judged as a gossip, so you can’t pass judgment on others.
Judging situations is important in life. If you’re a young lady and are asked out on a date by a man who is a known drunkard, are you going to get into his car? Is that judging him or discerning a bad situation that could cause you injury or death? On the other hand, if you invite that man to attend a worship service with you, and the preacher happens to be preaching against sin, including drunkenness, that man may change his mind (repent) about being a drunkard.
God made sure we have instructions in Scripture for judging, and the Apostle John is a great example of a man who gently but firmly stood on God’s word. John had been a fisherman when Jesus called Him, and must have been a very unruly guy. Jesus nicknamed John and his brother James the Sons of Thunder. It was John who wanted to call fire from heaven to destroy people who rejected Jesus. By following Jesus and learning from Him, John learned a firm but gentle way to bring others to salvation.
Because John was willing to learn, we have the Gospel of John, three letters written by him, as well as the Book of Revelation. All of us must learn to stand firmly on God’s truth with no compromise while not turning people away with a judgmental attitude.
From the first words of 1 John, we know that John wasn’t ashamed to stand on God’s truth. John began this letter in the same way that he began his Gospel, and in Revelation Jesus is declared as the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. John declared that Jesus existed in the beginning and was the Creator of all things. He also dispels the woke teachings of the Gnostics, who held heretical ideas such as saying Jesus wasn’t a real person but was more of a vision or ghost-like, with no real body.
Have you ever heard of the false teaching of the “Christ conscience”? That one will lead you to Hell. Gnostics said things like He didn’t leave footprints when He walked. Today, there are many heresies entering Christian teachings, and the only way to know God’s truth is to study God’s word.
“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:1-3).
John was an eyewitness to all that Jesus did, so we can be certain that he knew exactly who Jesus was. How can we know about any historical figure? The people who were around George Washington gave accounts, as did people who were around Queen Victoria, or any other person in history. Nobody living today has ever seen these people, but there were eyewitnesses. Jesus, who is greater than any person in history, chose men to follow Him and learn. The Holy Spirit dictated their letters, so Scripture, as written in the original language, is God’s inerrant word.
John drew contrasts in his writing to make his points clear, such as the difference between darkness and light. “This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
That’s a very clear description and lets us know there is a big difference between God’s way and any other way. Darkness makes us stumble; we cannot see where we’re going, and it’s easy to step in a hole or run into an obstacle in our path. Don’t ask me how I know!
The Psalmist knew this truth when he wrote “NUN. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments” (Psalm 119:105-106).
True wisdom and truth come from God. When Adam sinned, he ignored God’s truth and chose the dark path of rejecting God’s words. Death has been a part of our world ever since. Too many people reject God’s only cure for the curse of eternal death and choose to walk the dark path that leads to destruction. We cannot walk on the path of light and the path of darkness at the same time. We cannot live a life of sin and say that we have fellowship with God.
“If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:6-7).
To that I want to shout “Hallelujah!” The blood of Jesus takes away all sin. When we’re born again, we are justified by Christ’s sacrifice. That’s not a license to continue to sin, but a blessing we will be eternally thankful for. Don’t ever let your guard down and think because you sit in a pew and listen to a preacher that you’re being shown God’s light. I have sat in many pews during my life, and right now I cannot find a place to worship that I trust to preach truth.
God’s word has not changed over the years, and if you’re sitting in a pew where the preacher only preaches a watered-down Gospel, never addresses sin, ignores prophecy, and teaches that we are to welcome gender-confused people into our fellowship without trying to teach God’s truth, then you need to find a Christian congregation, not a New Age, politically correct teacher who is leading you down the dark path to destruction. Jesus never rejected a sinner who was repentant, but neither did He leave sinners in their sin to die.
It’s easy to see sin all around us, but we need to see our own sin, ask forgiveness, and turn from it. Too often, we make excuses for the sin we embrace, while condemning others around us. Go back and study what Jesus said about taking the mote out of our own eye before trying to take a speck out of another person’s eye. He didn’t say not to discern sin, but that we need to get ourselves right before we judge others. We all sin, and need to repent daily.
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make hm a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10).
Jesus will always forgive, but don’t be so prideful that you think you’re sinless. Even thinking bad thoughts toward another person is a sin. Examine yourself against Scripture and get the mote out of your life. Ask God to forgive you in Jesus’ name. It may be necessary to ask the person you’ve sinned against for forgiveness, but confessing to a human priest won’t bring forgiveness. Just like Jesus told the woman taken in adultery, go and sin no more.
It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see that sin is permeating the world around us. As we see sin being legalized by people who are on the dark path of worldliness, we should see a mission field and share the Gospel. Jesus will forgive any sin if you are truly repentant. God hasn’t changed His mind about sins such as lying, stealing, killing, and so on. Why do we think that we are a “special generation” that has grown beyond God’s truth?
If your pastor only preaches politically correct and woke sermons, your pastor is leading you down a dark road.
Paul wrote to a very “woke” congregation in Corinth that was very much like congregations today. He lambasted them for their acceptance of sin. John was very clear about leading a person to God’s truth in love, while Paul took a more direct approach. Either way, we are in error if we condone sin. We will face persecution for our beliefs, but that just means we are honoring Christ instead of Satan.
“If ye were of the world, the world would love his own, but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).
Come out of the dark path of worldly ways, and come into the light of the Gospel.
Learn from John. He learned from Jesus.
God bless you all,
Nathele Graham
Recommended prophecy sites:
All original Scripture is “theopneustos,” God-breathed.
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“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).