For those of you who believe that the Lord Jesus Christ was continuously patient, kind and loving to all He met, I offer you these verses.
“He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.” (Mark 9:19)
“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” (John 8:24)
“Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?” (John 14:9)
“And he said unto them, Where is your faith? And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” (Luke 8:25)
We live in days where many, I will not say most, who are indeed born-again who have determined not to pay too close attention to those verses, and if you bring up John 2:15 they will more than likely leave your presence. “And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables;”
If you have been paying attention the last few decades none of this attitude of Christians surprises you, the days are long gone of the man of God yelling, “Thus saith the Lord!” Repentance is rarely taught anymore, rebuking and reproving are a thing of the past, and it is not just because their hearts are growing colder, it is because of fear. Personal fear. Fear of retributions, of reprisals, of being held personally accountable for their words.
Many are dangerously close to forgetting Philippians 1:21, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” And instead are succumbing, albeit slowly, towards Job 2:4, “And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.”
I see much outrage over those few that are being detained and even arrested in what is called the western world for preaching on street corners, for standing against the sodomites, even for praying silently down the street from abortion clinics, but I do not see those same streets filled with those who claim to be crucified with the Lord Jesus Christ the next day, those who claim to be outraged. No, there is too much of a chance that personal retribution may fall upon them, best just to mention the incredulous deed at church on Sunday morning amongst those they can feel safe around.
A line from an old song for you, “Forward he cried from the rear, and the front flank died.”
Perhaps it is just best to pray about it, while it is still fresh in your mind, at least until the next despicable deed is done once again against one who has the courage to be in the front line.
“Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:16) Not any of those who fear for their life, whose own survival is of tantamount importance.
When our Lord began to be heard by the Pharisees, they began to hate Him, to plot a way to kill Him, they sent spies to attempt to trip Him up, but it took one of His own to assist them. “And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.” (Zech. 13:6)
It wasn’t His kindness, it wasn’t that He healed people, it wasn’t even that they were extremely envious of Him or that many of the people were being drawn to Him. It was because He looked them in the eye, face-to-face, and spoke truth to them.
Fear of personal retribution attempts to hide the truth, will acquiesce when these is a perceived danger to oneself. Give it any excuse you want to, if it makes if easier for you to look in the mirror, if it makes it easier for you to sleep at night, but you will in either this life or the one to come see it for what it is, cowardice. Selfishness instead of dying to self.
I will not pen what the Lord will say to these this letter is for, that is not my place. My place is to give the message, nothing more.
