Are You Listening?

“I told you but you wouldn’t listen. You rebelled at the plain Word of God.” Deuteronomy 1:43

Jesus said, “…Don’t you recognize my voice?… Those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind… If you were truly blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you’re accountable for every fault and failure.” John 9:37, 39, 41

“First of all, you should know this: No prophesy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, because no prophesy ever came by the will of man; instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. But there were many false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies…many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. They will exploit you with their greed and deceptive words.” 2 Peter 1:20-2:3

There is a common theme in the Bible, besides Jesus. That theme is deception, and that deception is caused by two things: 1. not listening to God; 2. being misled by religious leaders.

We are discovering that more and more mega church leaders are neglecting Biblical/Godly truths and fundamentals, and making their own interpretations on holy Scriptures. Shamefully, they are bringing down many followers of Christ only to appease the masses and fill the pews and feed their greedy wide pockets.

Moses warned the Israelites: “I told you…but you wouldn’t listen.” But the story doesn’t end there. Read on you’ll see that God was furious with the people for not listening. So angry, that The Message version puts it this way: “God didn’t give you the time of day.”

Romans 1:18-24 (The New Testament, mind you, NOT the Old Testament) says, “But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to shroud over truth… But when they didn’t treat Him like God, refusing to worship Him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion… So God said, in effect, ‘If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.’”

Now the reason I reiterated that this is New Testament scripture is that many “grace messages” will speak against the wrath of God. They want you to believe it no longer exists. They want to convince you that sin doesn’t matter anymore. It’s irrelevant.  How is that possible? Read this scripture and the warning that proceeds it: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Don’t be led astray by various kinds of strange teachings…” (Hebrews 13:8-9) This means that Jesus is the same today and forever as He was before the beginning of time.

The New Testament declares His righteous anger all over the place, but many refuse to acknowledge it. Look at what He says to the Pharisees in John 9:41. He is rebuking them and condemning them for their refusal to acknowledge who He is; for seeing the Truth before their very eyes, yet proudly remaining blind to it.

Yet, the mega churches are filled to the brim with itching ears, as my neighbor so rightly defined it. Today’s Christian doesn’t seek Truth. They seek easy excuses, justifications, and psychological “labels” to their sins. The church isn’t TALKING about sin anymore! They reject it!! They claim we are sinless by the blood of Christ and His “grace.” Please stop misinterpreting the message of grace! We are all still sinners, struggling with our own sin and messes. “If we claim we have not sinned, we make [Jesus] out to be a liar and His word is not in us.” (1 John 1:10, again NT). The Message continues, saying: “A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.”

The church is truly showing off their ignorance of God, and the sad reality is that Christians are eating it up. They like this “new and improved” God that can’t be found anywhere in the Bible. This god they speak of doesn’t exist outside of their own fantasy land. “How can we be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep His commandments,” John continues (2:2-3). It doesn’t say throw His commandments out the window, it says that the ONLY way we will “know” God—the real, true God that created Heaven and Earth—is by obeying His commandments. They aren’t useless and pointless. You are still bound by sin until you see Jesus face to face, and God’s commandments are our guide to righteous living.

What’s the good news? God LOVES a repentant heart. Those who admit their faults and sins and come to Him in repentance will see true grace. The message of grace is mercy, and mercy is not having God’s just wrath poured on us because we instead seek Him AND his grace, acknowledging our weaknesses and sin.

We need to follow King David’s example and ask God: “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns. See if there is any offensive way in me; lead me in the everlasting way” (Psalm 139:23-24). And continue to ask for “protection from the clutches of the wicked” (Psalm 140:4).

Our eternal lives are at stake. Are we putting our faith in man’s “new” god and risking our salvation? Or are we willing to KNOW God through His Word, and recognize when we are being lied to and speak against it, while keeping our souls out of the clutches of the wicked? 

Remember, “They’ll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on” (2 Peter 2:3).