“Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” (Prov. 14:7)
If someone begins to tell an inappropriate, what used to be called an “off-color” joke in your presence, you are to turn away, from those whose nature it is to be crude and vulgar, whose thoughts are constantly on the lust of the flesh, the eyes, (1 John 2:16) turn away. This is of course after you have attempted to speak to them of the salvation offered by God through Christ, and not before, of these you are to not have any constant companionship with.
Let them see your good works, and they will glorify God in the day of their visitation, (1 Peter 2:12) but do not make them your traveling companions in this life.
If they think you rude, so be it, light has no place with darkness, and if you have been following Christ for any length of time you know full well that they will draw you back into the world before they will come into the light. Here is the mistake of the church today, “Jesus is only love, and never offend anyone” is their motto, and so instead of turning away, instead of reproving and rebuking in love, they have by default stated that the world is fine as it is, that sin is not always sin, and that everyone should be allowed to behave in any manner they choose to.
One needs only to look briefly at the world to see the collapse of moral standards within it today, and the increasing movements of the forces of darkness as the church hides behind this lie of misrepresented love. It took very little time at all, mere years, for those in authority to determine the path of this loss of action on the part of those who have the Holy Spirit within them, or at least profess to, hate crimes and laws against them, the enabled and all-inclusive society, strict fines and penalties for those who hurt others feelings. A sure sign of the end of the age is Isaiah 5:20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Darkness, evil, is beginning to blanket the entire planet, and in our case that should mean only one thing, our light should be easier to see.
Sadly, for most though, that is not true, the possible repercussions have become personalized, picking them off one at a time is what it used to be called. “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” (Gal. 6:2) This verse can go hand in hand today with one of the first verses in the Scriptures that openly rebelled against the Lord, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” (Gen. 4:9) The answer is yes, when it is shown to be your brother, or sister, in Christ.
People have always died for the cause of Christ, for the glory of God, and each of these deaths was precious in the eyes of the Lord, (Psalm 116:15) “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13) But it is different today in the hearts of many who claim Jesus Christ as Lord. Evil men rule in nearly, if not all, nations of the world, those who have attempted to stand have been killed and replaced, those who would stand with them have been imprisoned, or simply made to disappear, but the majority of those who say they are Christians simply keep their mouths shut, the personal cost to serve up to that point is too high for them, and when in the rare occurrence the pastor reprimands them for their lack of actions on the behalf of these saints of God, he is replaced with one who will tickle their ears. (2 Tim. 4:3)
The cost of serving Christ in all humility has always been high, it is meant to cost us everything, but far too many have determined to only offer a part of themselves to Him who gave all, the fear of obeying at the price of everything they still hold dear is far too much for them. Some will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.” (Matt. 25:23) Others will hear only “Welcome,” but I fear that many more will open their eyes after their last breath here on earth, and wonder “Why is it so dark?”
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 5:16) Are you willing to be noticed in these dark days that are approaching?
