Title: Treated Superficially
Bible Book: Jeremiah 5 : 01-13
Author: Johnny L. Sanders
Subject: Religion, Deceptive
Objective:
Introduction
Bill O’Reilly had really campaigned against the ACLU and others who, in the words of John Gibson, were engaged in The War Against Christmas (which is also the title of Gibson’s book, released before Christmas 2005). O’Reilly hammered away at the efforts of those he calls “progressives” to get Christmas and Christ out of the public eye. David Letterman invited O’Reilly to come on his show early in January, 2006, ostensibly to discuss his opposition to the war against Christmas. David Letterman is supposed to be a comedian, but in reality, he has become more and more a liberal ideologue. He attacked Bill O’Reilly rather viciously, declaring that he thought 60% of everything he said was, shall we say, garbage. Then he admitted that he never watches O’Reilly on TV or hears him on radio. Letterman, who obviously thinks those who resist the ACLU attack on Christ and Christmas are narrow minded extremists, ended the segment by using the name Christ in vain twice. The next day Laura Engles played the interview on her radio program, and took him to task for using Christ’s name in vain.
David Letterman was swearing by the name of Jesus Christ! The Bible is very clear about that: He will not hold them guiltless who take His name in vain. Does that mean that David Letterman is the enemy of God and Bill O’Reilly is t he friend of God? At times, especially before Christmas, one would think so. But in reality, I have heard O’Reilly speak on “religious” issues when he seemed to be guilty of the sin God condemns here: “When they say, “As the Lord lives,’ they are swearing falsely: (Jer. 5:1).
As I have stressed many times, if you want to take a good look at the spiritual climate in America today, take a close look at the Book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah is called the weeping prophet and when you read this book you will see why. Though Jeremiah mirrors modern day America, there are some significant differences. At the same time, when look into that mirror, we should weep over America.
I. GOD CALLED JUDAH’S REBELLION TREACHEROUS , JEREMIAH 5:1-13.
A. God Told Jeremiah to See If He could He Could Find a Single Just Person, 5:1.
“Roam through the streets of Jerusalem. Look and take note; search in her squares. If you find a single person, anyone who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful, then I will forgive her.”
I don’t know about you, but the first time I read that verse, I wondered if I had read it correctly! Could God be serious? Let’s look at their situation. Did they not have the Temple? Of course they did! Had they forsaken the Temple. Absolutely not! In fact, when Jeremiah told them that God had sent them to tell them that because Judah was more treacherous than unfaithful Israel, which He used Assyria to destroy in 722 B.C., He would send His judgment upon them, they refused to listen. In fact, they said as much: “We will not listen!” When Jeremiah announced that God warned that if they did not repent and turn to Him, He was going to send an old nation, a powerful nation down from the north to defeat them and take them into captivity for seventy years, they rejected that prophecy - now get this - on religious grounds. They cried, “the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord, the Temple of the Lord.”
These people were looking to the Temple for their protection. In other words, God could not let any foreign nation overrun Judah because His temple was there and He would be forced to defend His temple. They would not repent, they would force His hand! They were swearing falsely.
The Lord does not waste words, so we must take Him seriously. He told Jeremiah to go out and search the city of Jerusalem for one person was just. Look again at the verse: “Look and take note; search in her squares. If you find a single person, anyone who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful, then I will forgive her.” He did not tell him to poll the people, He told him to make a careful search of the city to see if he could find “a single person...who acts justly, who seeks to be faithful” to Him.
Two women appeared on the Hannity and Colmes program to debate a new sex-ed curriculum being implemented in California. When one lady objected to the School “driving a wedge between a child and her or her parents, the other lady, a civil rights attorney, smirked arrogantly and told her that polls showed that 65% of Christians in their poll supported the program. The other lady stated that them more they were informed about the graphic details, the more the number shrank. God did not leave Jeremiah’s search for one single just person to the fickle nature of the person on the street. He told him to search for a just person.
B. There Are Many Righteous People in America.
The Lord challenged Jeremiah to go out on the streets of Jerusalem to see if he could find one just person in that ancient city. Let me stress right now that God has not told me to go out on the streets of America to see if I can find a just person. But on my own, I have gone out on the streets of America to see if I can find a just person. I have found many - but they are in a shrinking minority.
I grew up in the Mississippi Delta, seven miles west of Sledge, in the Green River Community, where we worshiped at the Green River Baptist Mission (later, Green River Baptist Church). For some time, we had our morning worship service at 9:00 and Sunday School at 10:00. We got home just in time to hear Dr. R. G. Lee preach. We at Sunday dinner, watched Billy Graham, and then played cork ball in the afternoon. We fed the livestock and went back to church. I heard M. C. Waldrup, R. G. Lee, and Billy Graham regularly when I was teenager. I loved The young Billy Graham, But R. G. Lee was the most amazing preacher I have ever heard, and of all the preachers I have ever heard, I would agree with those who called him the prince of preachers. My father in the ministry, M. C. Waldrup, however, fed me more than either of the others.
I have heard W. A. Criswell, Leo Eddleman, Jimmy Draper, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, and Jerry Vines. I could list many more. I loved the late Stephen Olford, and I love John MacArthrur. There are countless preachers who are not so well known who are outstanding preachers and faithful ministers. I have many personal friends who are faithful to the Lord, both preachers, teachers, and lay persons. The Lord has blessed me with the opportunity to work with many just people, both in the local church and in denominational work. I had the privilege of serving on the Executive Board of the Louisiana Baptist Convention for a number of years, both in the early nineties and then in then for another two terms at the turn of the century. I met godly men and women from all over the state. I had the privilege of voting on Dr. David Hankins as the Executive Director of the LBC. I have also worked with outstanding, godly people as a member of the Board of Trustees for LifeWay Christian Resources. Jimmy Drape, former LifeWay President is a valued friend. I had the privilege of voting for Thom Rainer for President of LifeWay, and I have had an opportunity to get to know all the Vice-Presidents, as well as many of the top associates in the various divisions. I am in touch with LifeWay trustees from all over America. What I have discovered is that there are godly, just believers all across the United states. I am aware of a colossal effort on the part of a lot of people to try to reach America for Jesus Christ. Many serve on the mission field throughout North America and throughout the world because God has given them a passion for souls.
Yes, I can find sincere, just people all around me in America. In fact, some of the most godly people in America may not be the most visible. They are the ones who have time to spend with God while leaders are in meetings. A lot of us spend a lot of time in meetings, or in the automobile today. Jonathan Edwards, who has been called the greatest American theologian, got up at 4:30 every morning and spend 13 hours a day in Bible study. There is always the danger that the modern pastor will become too busy to spend several hours a day in the Word of God, but we have lay persons who may well be reading it and applying its message more effectively than a lot of our leaders. I could have pointed to my mother as an outstanding example.
There are millions of just people in American today. Jeremiah was challenged to find just one just person in Jerusalem. If that is the case, why would I say that the Book of Jeremiah mirrors America? The tree is not full grown, but the seeds of rebellion have been planted, they have germinated, and the tender shoots are clearly visible across the field. In some areas, those are no longer young, tender plants of resistence to the Word, but gnarled forests of rebellion.
C. The Lord Announces the Consequences of Their Treachery, 5:2-13
“When they say, “As the Lord lives,” they are swearing falsely. Lord, don’t Your eyes look for faithfulness? You have struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They made their faces harder than rock, and they refused to return” (5:2-3).
“Why should I forgive you? Your children have abandoned Me and sworn by those who are not gods. I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery; they gashed themselves at the prostitute’s house” (vs. 7).
They, the house of Israel and the house of Judah, have dealt very treacherously with Me. This is the Lord’s declaration. They have contradicted the Lord and insisted, “It won’t happen. Harm won’t come to us; we won’t see sword or famine” (vv. 11-12).
“The prophets become [only] wind, for the [Lord’s] word is not in them. This will in fact happen to them” (Jer 5:13).
II. MANY IN AMERICA ARE SWEARING FALSELY.
A. The Masses Swear Falsely When They Speak of “Religious Matters.”
1) The ACLU threatens to bring charges because Marines prayed wearing their uniforms. A navy chaplain has been ordered not to pray in Jesus’ name. The display of the Ten Commandments were removed from the supreme court building in Alabama and Chief Justice Roy Moore was forced from his position for refusing to remove them. It was reported in early January, 2006, that a judge in Connecticut sentenced a man convicted of molesting a seven year old girl for four years to - now get this - to 60 days! Judges are striking down marriage acts that were approved by an overwhelming majority in a number of states.
2) The networks are showing programs that openly mock Jesus Christ, with NBC’s The Book of Daniel ranking among the most offensive. The showed aired first on Sunday evening, January 8, 2006. The following morning I heard a few minutes of the Laura Engles radio show and then turned it off after her response to callers who wanted to express their opinion about the show. One lady called to say that as an Episcopalian, she found the program highly offensive. She could not conceive of a priest with a family as dysfunctional and sinful as this one. The host told her to lighten up, the show was not well written and would not be on too long. Another caller, a man who said he was also Episcopal, said that he found the show hilarious because it was so removed from reality. He said the only thing lacking was that the priest’s wife might have had an affair with a Baptist preacher. The host and her associate laughed at the program, and though they did not advocate the behavior depicted, they were obviously not offended the attempt at humor. As a matter of fact, Laura Engles said that the best humorous writing on TV today is adult humor.
They missed the point. The first caller I heard was absolutely right to have been offended and to have been concerned about how others may view the Episcopal Church after watching that. No one expects to find all of those sins in any one Episcopal church, but many people tend to have the attitude that where there is smoke there must be fire. I don’t blame the lady for resenting that program. More to the point, the show apparently brings God into the humor in a vain and sacrilegious manner. Picture Moses before the burning bush. In the fullest sense of the word, what God told Moses was that he should not be casual in the presence of God. Jesus apparently appears to Daniel, the priest, the lady said, as a wise-cracking side-kick.
A senior editor for TV Guide defended the program, adding that any program featuring a preacher should have a sting to it. John Kassick reminded him of the TV program, Touched By an Angel, which portrayed the angels, not so much as New Testament angels as New Angels, but they were moral and descent.
3) The speech, dress, and entertainment that dishonors God is accepted and defended in the media. As I have said on other occasions, the way some of our church members dress would embarrass the temple prostitutes in Corinth. If anyone finds fault with the Sports Illustrated Swim Suit issue each year, even church members scoff. I dropped my subscription because as far as I am concerned, Sports Illustrated is engaging in soft porn! You don’t see that? Then ask a Muslim what he thinks about it! One cleric reportedly has reportedly told Muslims in another country to rape white women and children down to eleven years of age. He says that the deserve it because of the way they dress. He is not only wrong, he is demonically evil. My only point is that it is amazing that so many church members see nothing wrong with immodest dress.
The language children use in the home and at school would shock their grandparents. I am sick and tired of kids running around talking about body parts and body functions. And I don’t mean in terms of hygiene! A sixth grade boy sits in the principal’s office using vile language. The principal tells him he should not use that language because “There is a lady present.” The kid says, “Tell her to leave.” If I had said something like that my principal...well, it seems that I remember his saying, “When I get through with you your hide won’t hold shucks!” He joked that a sack could have a lot of holes in it and still hold shucks. Whatever my principal did would have been nothing compared with what I would have faced when I got home.
In case anyone wonders about what I know, let me remind you that my wife has taught sixth graders for a long time and my son is a juvenile prosecutor. They both tell me that many parents and most pastors have no idea how their children and young people act when they are away from home and away from church. In other words, we have some serious problems, and these problems promise a very disturbing harvest a generation down the line. Sadly, no matter how many times many of these parents are warned, they don’t hear it because their minds are on their new “relationship.” In other words, a lot of parents today are more interesting in courting than parenting, and only become intensely interested in the children when they face a custody hearing.
4) In what was once Christian America, the nomination of a Supreme Court justice launches another battle because so many politicians are afraid Roe v. Wade will be overturned. People are crusading for evil and telling us it if for our own good. It is interesting to hear some of the attacks on President Bush’s Supreme Court appointments. Liberals discovered what they could do against Judge Bork, so now they seek to “Bork” any appointment they think may vote to overturn Roe v. Wade They almost never tell you what their real concern is. They point to the appointee’s position on other issues, but eventually they get back to the primary fear that a law which has legalized the murder of some 45 million unborn babies will be overturned. I know murder is a strong term, but if Scott Pederson was convicted of two murders when he killed his pregnant wife Lacy, then the killing of an unborn baby is murder.
5) Those who want Christ removed from the public arena tell us they desire this for the most noble of reasons. They view Christianity as narrow, exclusive, and intolerant. Now, I am going to surprise them. Christianity is very narrow: “There is no other name known among men whereby you must be saved.” Period! The way to God is through Jesus and Jesus alone. Is that not exclusive? It is and it is not. It is inclusive in that Jesus invites all: “Who so ever will, let him come.” He said, “Him that comes to Me I will in no wise cast out.” It is exclusive in that all who refuse to come to Him will never go to heaven, but will spend their eternity in hell. Given that choice, what kind of person would say No to Jesus?
I often read letters to the editor in the local Gannett Newspaper, in which people take a position in opposition to the Bible, Christ, and the church for all sorts of noble reasons. They are trying to protect us from ourselves! They lie when they say they believe in religion and only want it limited to the home and church. They are committed to the protection of “the public” from the offensive influences of Christians. Let me stress something right here and now: If you believe Christianity should be restricted to the home and church, you set yourself in direct opposition to the Word of God, and to the God of the Word! If you are so concerned about offending atheists, pagans, and secular people that you would support legislation to restrict the Christian “religion” to the home and church, you are not only not obeying the Lord, you have set yourself IN OPPOSITION TO THE GREAT COMMISSION.
I would warn every lost person, but especially those who actively oppose the spread of the Gospel, that you cannot break God’s Word, but in violating it you will realize that to violate the Word of God is to find yourself broken by your action. You cannot veto it and you cannot amend it. If an out of control ship is driven into a rocky shore we know that is not good. In fact, it is dangerous, even deadly. Why is that bad? Is it because we want to protect the pristine environment of the coastline from deadly ships? No! It us because we are concerned that the ship will break up upon its collision with the rocks. You cannot break the Word of God, you can only break yourself when you set yourself against the Rock of Ages. You can violate the commandments of God, but in the end, they will stand when all opponents are broken.
There are many people around us who call good evil and evil good. The liberal media is giving a pass to Islam and other pagan religions, even as they seek to portray Christianity in a bad light, restrict the celebration of Christmas (“keep religion in the home and church where it belongs”), not in any public place paid for by taxpayers’ money. America was founded upon Christian principles, and we have the word of the Founders for that. Christianity is responsible for the greatness of America. One French observer stated that, based upon his study and observations, America is great because she is good, and that if she ceases to be good she will cease to be great.
Look to any Islamic theocracy and tell me about freedom of the press! Tell me about freedom of religion. Tell me about freedom of speech. Tell me which one assures its citizens of the freedoms provided for Americans in the Bill of Rights. Tell me why so many Muslims have come to America, if not for the freedom it offers. Then why should we restrict Christianity while giving Islam a free pass? By the time the enemies of Christ discover what Islam is really all about it will be to late for them to cry, “Freedom of the press!” If you have any doubt about that, take a fresh look at France, England, and other countries who are at this very moment being overrun by Muslims. The Anglican Church has an office that handles the sale of their empty church buildings to those who are looking for such a facility. Do you know one of their best customers? Muslims are buying them for mosques. And they have plenty of money coming to them from Saudi Arabia.
B. Many Who Profess Faith in Christ Are Swearing Falsely.
1) Not only is the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State swearing falsely, many professing Christians are joining the chorus. The morning after the Supreme Court took prayer out of the classroom, I sat in a class and listened to my professor praise the decision. I was sitting in a Systematic Theology class under a liberal professor - who, by the way, ended up teaching social studies in a state university.
2) I listened to the host of Day Side, a Fox program that comes on at noon each day, as he talked with his guest co-host and audience about the lone survivor of the West Virginia coal mine disaster. Randy McCloy was unconscious in ICU at the time. Mike Jarrek, with surprise written all over his face and expressed as clearly in his voice, spoke of McCloy and his wife: “I understand they prayed every morning! What is THAT all about? Did they think the mine was that dangerous?” It was obvious that this man could not imagine why anyone would pray each morning unless fear had driven them to it.
3) A professional man commented on one of the mega-churches in his area. He said that he and others he knew viewed this huge church as morally and spiritually neutral, unoffensive, benign. Their members, however, speak of their church as though they have arrived at what everyone else is still looking for, but has not found it yet.
4) When the Episcopal Church elected an open homosexual priest as bishop, two priests appeared on Hannity and Colmes to talk about their action. Sean Hannity asked about the Bible, and one of them said rather smugly, “The Bible is not our authority!” The Bible is not their authority?! I talked with Judge Sharon Marchman and she gave me a website to go to so I could see how strongly many Episcopalians oppose the action. In fact the majority oppose it. Regardless of the support, those priests were swearing falsely.
5) Another young lady who had been appointed to a judgship saw me and told me that my son Mark had given her a copy of my book, UNDEFEATED: Finding Peace in a World Full of Trouble. She said, “I liked your book, but I normally don’t like Paul.” Stepping closer she said, knowingly, “Paul was strictly a product of this own time, wasn’t he?” I agreed that Paul was a product of his own time, but that the Scripture he was inspired to write was the product of the Holy Spirit. This lady had sat under some pastor who had sworn falsely to her.
6) You can find some religious figure today who will give the media a favorable quote on homosexuality, abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage. Maybe we should make that a “compromise” statement. After all, many professing Christians who voted for Bill Clinton the first time when they did not know about his gross immorality, turned around and voted for him again after his immoral lifestyle was widely known. Of the man who could not identify “is” or “sex”, they said, “It was only sex, everybody does it.” Church leaders who offer any explanation for watering down the Word of God are swearing falsely. Those preachers, teachers, and lay persons who deny the Trinity, the virgin birth of Jesus Christ, special creation, and the sanctity of life are swearing falsely.
III. JUDAH’S PROPHETS MIRROR SOME MODERN DAY PREACHERS.
A. God Accused the Prophets of Prophesying Lies.
Just what were these prophets preaching which God called a lie? Look with me at Jeremiah 8:8-11
“How can you claim: We are wise; the law of the Lord is with us? In fact, the lying pen of scribes has produced falsehood” (vs. 8).
“The wise will be put to shame; they will be dismayed and snared. They have rejected the word of the Lord, so what wisdom do they really have?” (Vs. 9).
“Therefore, I will give their wives to other men, their fields to new occupants, for from the least to the greatest, everyone is gaining profit unjustly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely” (vs. 10).
“They have treated superficially the brokenness of My dear people, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (vs. 11).
Jeremiah was the only prophet in the land who believed that God would send Judah into captivity, or permit the pagan Babylonians to conquer Jerusalem and destroy the temple. They led the people in the chorus, “The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.” They were far more interested in the temple of the Lord than they were the Lord of the temple. By polluting worship and corrupting the Law, they taught the people how they could both live in violation of both the Law and the sacrifices and still feel good about themselves while doing it.
B. Some Leaders Today are Swearing Falsely.
1) Those prophets and scribes who swear falsely today are not openly denying God, they simply compromise. They find some way to justify failure to take a stand on moral issues, social drinking, and the observance of the Lord’s Day. They deal in generalities, but do not get specific about sin. They find ways to compromise with the world on various issues. Let me illustrate how some of this gets started. In 1925, there was a trial in Dayton, Tennessee, which would be known as the Monkey Trial. A coach named Scopes agreed to volunteer to teach a science class, with the understanding that on a certain day he would offer an evolutionary explanation for origins. Students were set to report him and this man would go to court so that outsiders could come in and challenge the legality of the Tennessee law prohibiting the teaching of evolution. Many years later, Scopes stated that he never got to that lesson that day. When asked why he did not report that at the time, he said he was afraid to do so.
The issue then was to have evolution taught as an alternate theory along with creation. Ten years later, you couldn’t have creation taught as an alternate theory to evolution. In various states, laws have been passed which would allow the teaching of creation as an alternative theory, or to have evolution designated as a theory, only to have some court strike down the law.
Now, here is the sad part. Many preachers, Bible teachers, and lay persons have for decades subscribed to a compromise theory that allows them to be “scientific”, and at the same time state that they believe that God created the world. Some subscribe to the Gap Theory, which allows for millions or billions of years for things to have evolved after creation. This, they conclude, happened during that time when the earth was “without form and void.”
Other Christians hold the Day/Age position, that each day represents a vast amount of time for evolution to have taken place. They settle tell us that the important thing is that God started the process. They do not explain what an inefficient method that would have been. They do not explain why in the Grand Canyon there are “old layers” on top of “young layers”. Dr. Duane Gish, a Paleontologist, has challenged evolutionists around the world to produce one fossil which shows a transitional or intermediate stage. Dr. Henry Morris, founder of the Institute for Creation Research, advocated intelligent design years before someone else discovered that you could use capital letters and start a new movement, complete with the designation, ID.
I spent an hour with Creationist Ken Ham before he spoke at a pastor’s conference before the Louisiana Baptist Convention began many years ago. He questioned me about what kind of reception he could expect from the pastors. I told him that the pastors who attended the Pastor’s Conference would love what he had to say, and that those who would not like it would be at the convention that night but they would not be at the Pastor’s Conference that afternoon.
I am reminded that Francis Shaeffer once said that the most meaningless word in the English language is the world god spelled with a small “g”. I spell my God with a capital “G”. So I have no problem with special creation. Those who reject the biblical account of creation for some form of evolution are swearing falsely.
2) Many swear falsely about other moral and social issues. A lot of Church members joke about that which their parents and grandparents condemned. Professing Christians are joking about things that should shock them. Some church members drink socially, go to bars and dance socially where there is temptation to sin, and go to the cassinos. After all, they tell us, it is gaming, not gambling. When the begin it is gaming, but when one becomes addicted to it, it is gambling.
C. Now, Let’s Look Again at Those Lying Prophets, Jeremiah 6:13-15.
Remember, God is telling Jeremiah what to tell the people of Judah. In other words, this is not the “thus reasoneth the mind of Jeremiah”, but the “thus saith the word of God”:
“For from the least to the greatest of them, everyone is gaining profit unjustly. From prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely” (6:13).
“They have treated My people’s brokenness superficially, claiming: Peace, peace, when there is no peace” (vs. 14).
“Were they ashamed when they acted so abhorrently? They weren’t at all ashamed. They can no longer feel humiliation. Therefore, they will fall among the fallen. When I punish them, they will collapse, says the Lord” (Jer 6:13-15, HCSB).
It really disturbs me when I look at these verses with the fear that these words describe some who have great influence in America today. There is the pastor who will say nothing about the blood because he does not want to offend the people in his area. He is treating the brokenness of the people superficially. There is the popular TV preacher who reads a joke from his e-mail, smiles into the camera and at the audience, and tells them what they want to hear. He has said that he does not preach about sin or repentance because he just wants people to feel good. He is treating people’s brokenness superficially.
One man declared that when the music is over the worship is over. He does not consider the preaching of the Word worship! He is treating the brokenness of the people superficially.
In a lot of churches today, the pastor is willing to compromise on the preaching of the Word of God if he can produce greater numbers without offending anyone. He is treating the brokenness of the people superficially.
My brother is a highly disciplined layman who has very little patience with a pastor who, rather than feeding his people, sits back and watches a worship leader as he tries to create “worship” through choruses and praise songs. Is it unreasonable for Christian to expect to hear a serious sermon when he goes to church or hear a Sunday School teacher really teach the Word of God? He does not appreciate it when leaders dumb down the Gospel. Those who do that are treating the brokenness of the people superficially.
I love a lot of choruses and have encouraged the use of them in the past, but they have taken on a life of their own in recent years. Those who are only trying to create an atmosphere in which people can come “feeling good” and leave “feeling great!” are treating the brokenness of the people superficially.
Those who will not preach or teach that all have sinned, and that the wages of sin is death are treating the brokenness of the people superficially. Those who will not preach the full Gospel which demands repentance of sin and a total commitment to Jesus Christ are treating the brokenness of the people superficially.
Who is guilty of such a thing? Any pastor, Sunday School teacher, denominational worker, evangelist, Bible professor, or deacon who avoids dealing with one issue I have mentioned over and over. The word is “brokenness.” God does not condemn them because they are not doing enough for the unbroken! These people were broken. That is God’s word for it. There are people all around us who are broken and there are many ways to treat their brokenness superficially. John the Baptist did not treat the brokenness of the people superficially, he demanded, “Repent ye, for the kingdom of God is at hand.” Peter and John did not treat the brokenness of the people in Jerusalem superficially, they said what Jesus had told them to say. Paul did not treat the brokenness of the people superficially.
CONCLUSION
Those who treat the brokenness of the people superficially are deceiving the people, regardless of their concern for them, or their commitment to meet their needs. We must not speak lying words to people who need to the hear the truth. They may prefer to hear lies, but they need the truth. If we cry, peace, peace, when there is no peace, we are treating the brokenness of people superficially.
The Bible is very clear. You and I are sinners. Some are sinners saved by the grace of God, while others are sinners who are still under the condemnation of those sins. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. If you are lost, Jesus died for you and He arose for you. He revealed Himself some eleven times, including the time when He appeared before some five-hundred people at one time. Jesus ascended to heaven where He sits at the right hand of the Father, making intercession for us. If you will go to the Father through His Son you will receive everlasting life.
If you are a Christian, but you know you are not growing in the faith, and you are not honoring the Lord with your life as you should, here is what I believe God expects of you - you may think of them as the three Rs:
1) Remorse. The Holy Spirit will convict you of sin, and with a broken and contrite heart you must confess your sin to him.
2) Repent. Repentance is a change of heart that if reflected in a change in one’s behavior. It is not enough to feel remorse, you must repent.
3) Return. Return to fellowship with God. Return to obedience to God. Return to worship, service, and become the witness He wants you to be
