I wanted to ask him how he was able to preach a sermon with that mask on, I wanted to ask him why almost every time I saw him he had a drink in his hand, except at church, I wanted to ask her why she had such high praise for Christ in the Bible study class, but never spoke about Him in public, I wanted to ask him why he cussed like a sinner throughout the week, but sang such high praises of Him on Sunday morning. And do you know what? I do.
I am called judgmental, contentious, too adamant, “None of your business” is not the exact words they say to me, but it is very close to that, I have heard, “That’s between God and me,” but most of the time these responses and questions I pose are either met with silence or the words, “We are not supposed to judge.” I have even been compared to the Pharisee on the wall, (Luke 18:11) and I expect it every time. Such is the path of the messenger; such is the walk of the man on the wall warning all who will hear.
When you are going to show the proof of who people are to them, then you had better be exactly sure that you are speaking the truth in wisdom, the wisdom that only God can bestow upon a man. How will you know if it is the truth? By the Spirit of God, by the manner with which you look upon those you are speaking to, always in love, always in great concern for their soul. You will know when you have struck the right chord, for at least one of the aforementioned items will occur. You will be blessed to be able to hear and discern their excuses, they will begin to become unresponsive to your words, they will not seek you out any longer, of that you may be assured. Why? Because you have shown them the truth of who they are, and like Adam and Eve in the garden, they would rather run and hide from the truth instead of facing it and going through the pain of having to deal with it, to correct it, to turn from it and begin to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord.
The messenger of this sort must never expect his message to be heard in gladness of spirit, every prophet of God knew this, people of God have been put to death because of the message, they last thing they are going to be able to do to you is hurt your feelings, these have been sent by God to speak the truth, the consequences are of no consequence to them. You will be hated, you will be scorned and mocked, you may be tortured and killed, but you do not fear them, and you do not fear to give the message, you fear Him most who sent you with the message to give.
Any man who has been placed upon this path knows these things intimately, loneliness, frustration, and a great fear that he may say the wrong thing. Along with this must come great humility, he must be sure the log is not in his own eye, (Matt. 7:4) he must use great caution that he does not become spiritually proud, (Gal. 6:1) he must at all times guard his heart so that he does not also fall into the same trap that he is warning others that they are in. (Jer. 5:26) This man like Jeremiah feels the Word of God burning in his bones, (Jer. 20:9) he knows no rest, he understands how short this life is, and the message he has been sent to give he will go and give. The lost hate him, for he speaks to their face about their continuing sin against the Most High, he looks them in the eye and tells them that the wrath of God is abiding on them, (John 3:36) that even their thoughts are an abomination to Him. (Prov. 15:26) He speaks the truth to those who profess His glorious name only with their lips, in a few short questions they can be made to see who they truly are, and that truth will make them hate him. And all this he does in love with firm truth, in great humility, knowing he too was once this person, not understanding why God would choose him to stand on the wall and shout the warnings, why he should be seen as worthy to proclaim the truth to anyone.
You must know no fear of death, no fear of man, you must truly trust and obey, you must never be satisfied with anything of this world, the path must be continuously moved forward on, no wavering of the calling must be allowed. The consequences of your actions will be eternity in the presence of the Savior, the purpose must be no other than a deep, devoted love for the One who gave His life for you, the prize is Christ, no other visage should ever come into your mind. You must be willing to be a driven man with no other goal in life but to glorify God.
They will hate you, but few will have the guts to say it to your face, they will mock you, but only behind your back, they will despise you, but only in their mind or in the private company of like-minded individuals. Let them, let them seek the praise of men, let them seek for rewards here, let them walk the path of self-deception, but not until you have heeded the call and obeyed it as you have been commanded to in full. When Almighty God is done talking to them through you, and you had better be one-hundred-percent sure it was Him talking and not you, then you can leave them to their own devices, then you can go and do what you have been commanded to do next.
Expect loneliness, expect frustration, expect rewards beyond all measure, but do not expect any peace anywhere outside of your heart. Don’t expect the path to get any smoother until you pass through that narrow gate, don’t expect anything until you reach the goal, and then everything you have expected will be waiting for you, He will be there to open the gate for you. Your greatest reward? “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
