“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.” (2nd Chronicles 16:9a)
If you have been born-again, you are expected to serve the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of God, with a willing heart, zealous of good works, without complaining, being content in whatever state He places you in, never seeking any vainglory or accolades for yourself. You are expected to adhere fully to John 14:15.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
This is who the Almighty is searching for, and even with eight billion of us on this planet, it is a rare day when He finds that person. We conform ourselves to this world, if even in the smallest way, for not only do we desire to be liked, we do not want to seem disagreeable or unfriendly.
I met two pastors, one whom I believe is truly a man of God, who have told me that the reason they are part of the local interfaith association is because they do not want to be “left out” of the Spiritual direction of this town. And so, they sit peaceably with Romanists and Charismatics.
When I meet those who attend Biblically based churches, the conversations initiated by them are rarely of a Scriptural nature, but instead revolve around the cares and woes of this world, and when I interject Spiritual items, the conversation generally comes to an end.
“But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.” (James 5:12)
Yes to being obedient to the Most High, no to the world.
There are far too many today that believe the Lord will gloss over these instances, that to reach those in the world we ourselves must become, at least in part, like the world. We are to dress as they do, speak of those things they believe are of value, associate ourselves with the moral constructs they believe are right and true, we are to separate ourselves, but not fully, for then we would not be able to reach them with the truths.
“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.” (Prov. 18:24)
“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” (James 4:4)
Guess which verse these I speak of here have chosen to adhere to, and which one they attempt to skirt around, believing within themselves that the Most High will understand, because, after all, they would not want to seem unfriendly, would they?
It is almost impossible today to find someone who wants to be sanctified, who will stand for the truths of the Word of God no matter what, who carries the light of Christ into the darkness without that light being dimmed. They do not see themselves as enemies of God, for they are not completely conformed to this world, just partially, and that only because they do not want to come across as contentious, as judgmental, as too adamant in their obedience to the Almighty in their minds and the company of like-minded people that they know.
One foot in the world and one in heaven.
“So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Rev. 3:16)
The wicked are not convicted of their sins by friendly people, they are convicted by the truths of the Word of God of their sins.
Men of God do not sit with sinners and converse about the Spiritual path of their city, they do not spend long hours conversing about the cares of this world or the weather, they speak of the truths of where they will spend eternity if they do not repent and call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the salvation of their soul.
You have two choices here, you can continue to be friendly, even become their friends and skirt around the topic that should be addressed, or you can speak the truths to them, and either gain a brother or sister in Christ, or be hated by them.
Sanctified means to be set apart, fully, not partially, but sadly, lukewarm seems to be the path of many today.
