“Now therefore let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the counsel of my lord, and of those that tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law.” (Ezra 10:3)
If you offer them the message of the love and mercy of the Lord, they will feel uplifted, if you speak to them of the evil of the world, they will feel a sense of despondency and hopefully attempt to reach out to those who are still living in sin.
If you speak to them though about the sin in their own lives, and here I reference those who profess the Lord Jesus Christ, one of two things will happen. Either they will confess their sins, fall on their face, and repent of them, or they will hate you.
The latter my friends is usually what happens.
“Now therefore make confession unto the LORD God of your fathers, and do his pleasure: and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from the strange wives.” (Ezra 10:11)
Think of the dedication and commitment it took to send away one you loved, children you have raised, because the Lord said obey me and do this.
“If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:” (2nd John 1:10)
There are people you know, people that you love, that do not serve the Savior, there are people in your church that are hypocrites, that are spots and blemishes in your feasts of praise and worship. Does our opening verse still hold merit for those who have been crucified with Christ, do these verses from the New Testament align with the Old Testament, with the thoughts of the Almighty for those who have been born-again?
“And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” (Matt. 18:17)
How are Gentile believers to treat Gentile unbelievers, or even those who are of the bloodline of Abraham who deny that Jesus Christ is Lord? And how are we to respond to those whom, when the truth is revealed to us, we find they are only professing Him with their lips? How is love shown when we are not even to invite them into our house?
When the everlasting love of the Living God is revealed to those who love Him, their hearts soar, but when they are told, “But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.” (1st Cor. 5:13)
And when they envision those they call friends and companions, those they love who do not serve the Almighty, their hearts sink, and they will blame you for revealing those truths to them. They will look for a way out, a way around the commandments of the Word of God.
“You have to be their friend first,” is the most common reply.
Yours must simply be, “Thus saith the Lord.”
“But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:” (1st Peter 2:9)
They love to hear the accounts, they love to be uplifted, but if you make it personal, if you reveal to them the truths of the Scriptures, especially those penned in this short letter to you, they will hate you.
“For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife?” (1st Cor. 7:16)
Well and good, but how does that verse answer to unrepentant friends and family members, to your own children?
The pews would empty out even quicker than they have over the last few decades if this message was preached, if the message of defilement by association on a personal level continuously with those of the world was offered.
It seems not only unloving, but downright hateful.
Who do you know that is living in sin that you associate with on a personal basis that is causing spots to appear on your garment that is to be unspotted by the world? How many of the pearls of God do you need to cast before them before you will come to the realization that they are swine, and the mud they live in is causing blemishes to appear on you?
These are hard truths, these are truths meant to be absorbed personally, what you do with them is up to you.
