The most spectacular of victories
come without firing a single bullet but so do the most devastating of
defeats. Professing Christian Korbin
Albert, playing for a U.S. women’s soccer team had initially shared some posts
condemning the evil of the LGBT agenda, but after facing severe castigation
from the LGBT community and from Megan Rapinoe in particular, she recanted and
deleted the posts and gave the following sad, shameful apology that any typical
coward would give:
I want to sincerely apologize for my
actions on social media. Liking and sharing posts that are offensive,
insensitive and hurtful was immature and disrespectful which was never my
intent…I’m really disappointed in myself and am deeply sorry for the hurt that
I have caused to my teammates, other players, fans, friends and anyone who was
offended…I truly believe that everyone should feel safe and respected
everywhere and on all playing fields. I know my actions have not lived up to
that and for that I sincerely apologize. It’s an honor and a privilege to get
to play this sport and on the world stage and I promise to do better [1]
Korbin valued the favor of man above
the favor of God and feared the ridicule and castigation of men more than the
displeasure of the God she claims to serve when she should have valued the
favor of God above that of men and feared the Lord more than man and she placed
her soccer career above her service to Christ when she should have placed her
commitment to Jesus above her soccer career and should have trusted more in Him
to provide for her needs than a soccer salary and sadly, this is an all too
common problem within the body of Christ today.
I thank God for those among us who
are steadfast and who do not allow themselves to be shamed by ridicule and
castigation, who are willing to risk family and friend cutting tie with them,
and who brave the threats of civic punishment and even threats made against
them and even their families, but unfortunately, the Korbin Alberts among us
sadly outnumber the Peters, Pauls, Daniels, Elijahs, Elishas, Mordecais,
Jeremiahs, and in history, the John Wycliffes, Hussites, Martin Luthers,
William Tyndales, and Waldensians among us; men and people who risked
everything and even gave up their very lives for the sake of the Gospel and in
the name of righteousness and the authority of scripture by which the Gospel of
salvation is delivered; their suffering on behalf of Christ and the Kingdom to
come far exceeding what might be required of many of us.
How can we possibly show ourselves to
be servants and followers of a victorious Christ if we cower before such things
as mild as ridicule, mockery, slander, castigation which is nothing compared to
what many Christians around the world have to risk on behalf of their faith?
Many saints throughout the world and
history have not only endured on account of their faith in Christ ridicule,
slander, marginalization, discrimination, and social ostracization, but also
civic punishment in the forms of fines, imprisonment, torture, and have even
faced threats of violence and death not only against themselves, but also their
families and not only have they had to face such threats but in some cases have
even had to endure violence and even lay down their lives for the sake of the
Gospel and yet they, in the face of the most cruel and fiercest of persecutions,
have remained bold, committed, and steadfast in their faith up to the very end.
We ought to all take some time to
read about what the prophets and Apostles of old had to endure on account of
their faithfulness to God in scripture, and not only that, we should also take
some time to study history and read about what the Maccabees had to endure for
their faithfulness to God, the immense amount of periodic persecutions the
post-Apostolic Church between the first and fourth centuries suffered for the
sake of the Gospel and their faith in Christ, what the reformers had to risk
and face in their efforts to ensure that the light of God’s Word by which the
Gospel is delivered was made available to all men and not limited to the
confines of an elite class of clergy, and what Christians around the world are
risking and suffering on account of their faith and then take time to prepare
ourselves mentally, emotionally, and spiritually to face persecution when it
comes our way and in some form or fashion, it will to any and all those
determined to be faithful followers of the Lord.
And not only that, we need to take
time to think about what it is about Christ and the Gospel of salvation that is
worth risking everything for, including our own lives to ensure that everyone
is given the opportunity to both hear the Gospel message and give themselves
over to Christ in sincere repentance and we need to think greatly as to what
the message of the Gospel is, what it has done for us who have received it, and
what it does for the world, and furthermore what it is about the Gospel message
that offends so many to the point that they would have such a severe animosity
towards the people of God who dedicate themselves to preaching this message as
the scripture warns that we will suffer persecution on account of the Gospel (Mt.
10:17-25) which includes social division and ostracization (v. 34-36) civic punishment (v. 17-18) and even death.
(Mt. 24:9)
Even here in a nation in which
persecutions may seem fairly mild, scripture warns and admonishes us to prepare
for persecution of any sort, including even the most severe forms ever to be
faced at any given time for even here, some of us may face not only ridicule,
castigation, discrimination, and ostracization for our faith, but we may also face
civic punishment, be threatened with violence, and even be called to lay down
our lives for Christ and in fact, though to a much lesser extent than in other
nations, some saints already have faced violence, threats thereof, and in a few
cases, have even laid down their lives for Christ in this nation and have faced
punishment or threats of punishment at the hands of certain levels of
government.
And even if most of us may never face
civic punishment at the hands of our own governing authorities, we may still
face violence and even threats against our very lives from fellow citizens.
We hear much about the love and mercy
of God being preached. We may hear much
about the transformative power of Christ, but how often do we hear sermons
about the cost of following Christ?
Probably not as much as we should, just as there are many other things
within the scriptures that are not preached on as often as they should be.
Jesus prepared His disciples for the
cost of following Him and the testimony of most them was sealed in blood but
how well have has the leadership within the body of Christ today been preparing
their congregants for the cost of following Christ? I doubt that much attention
has been given attention to that subject because if it were, we might not have
too many cowards within the body of Christ and I can promise you this: The cowardly Korbin Alberts in the world will
never change anything and will never make any impact for the Kingdom of God in
the world. It is only the steadfast and
unwaveringly courageous who will make an impact on the culture for the Kingdom
of God because they fear God more than man,
they value His favor and honor above
that of man,
they desire the eternal heavenly
rewards and honors more than they do those of earth,
they seek to store up for themselves
treasures in Heaven more than the temporal treasures of earth, and they fear
the righteous judgments of God more than they do the wrath of man and the temporal sufferings of the earth and because
they would rather be judged of man and commended of God than to be condemned by
God and commended by men.
For it is not men who will give the
final rewards and sentences on the day of judgment, but it is God who is the
Almighty Creator of the universe who will hand out the final honors and
sentences on the day of judgment because it is God before whom all men will
stand and have to give an account for all that has been said and done in this
life; even the very thoughts, motives, and attitudes of the heart by which the
things said and done are produced.
The mockers will be made into an
eternal spectacle.
The slanderers will be subject to
everlasting contempt.
The liars and deceivers will be
exposed and put to an everlasting shame.
They who have ostracized the people
of God will themselves be ostracized into an everlasting darkness wherein
dwells no light.
They who deprive us of our
possessions and wealth will themselves be deprived of both wealth and
possessions for all eternity while the followers of Christ will be blessed with
possessions and wealth of an everlasting nature.
They who bring us before the courts
will find themselves before the courts of Heaven and be given their final
sentence.
They who imprison us for our faith
will find themselves in an everlasting prison filled with an unrelenting and
unimaginable torment.
They who inflict violence and misery
upon us will themselves be subject to a misery and punishment unending.
And they who shed our blood will one
day find themselves subject to a living death filled with an astronomical
amount of pain, grief, and suffering beyond anything that anyone can
comprehend.
And they will see from afar off all
the saints they had hated and persecuted in this present life in the Kingdom of
Heaven in the presence of the Lord filled with an everlasting peace, happiness,
contentment, and joy that is beyond imagining.
But if the Korbin Alberts of the
world were to spend thirty seconds in Hell, hear all the unrelenting screams,
howls, cries, and sobbings of the damned and if they were to themselves
experience the immense amount of unrelenting torment there during that brief
moment, they would no longer be afraid of the castigations and criticisms of
the Megan Rapinoes of the world and they would no longer be afraid of anything
that might befall them for their faith in Christ because they would clearly
understand that the persecutions and sufferings of this present life are
temporal whereas the everlasting torments of hell are never-ending and while I
do not intend to go into an in-depth study of Hell in this blogpost, it should
be clear to anyone who has taken time to consider what kind of a place Hell
have taken time to read what the Bible says about Hell that it is a place that
they do not want to be and if they have not taken time to find out how to
prevent themselves from going there, they would do well to knowing that a day
is coming that they will die and have to face judgment and not only should they
want to find out how they can keep themselves from going there, but they should
want to tell as many other people as they can as how to avoid going there as
well no matter the temporal risk to themselves in doing so.
But if we allow ourselves to be
shamed and intimidated into hiding our faith and keeping silent about what it
is that we profess to believe, scripture warns us that the cowardly will not
inherit the Kingdom of God (Rev. 21:8) and in light of that, if Korbin Alberts should
stand before Christ today, I would hate to be in her position as I fear our
Lord would be ashamed of her cowardice as I would rather suffer the temporal
disfavor of man and receive an everlasting honor and favor from Christ than to
curry the temporal favor of man and stand in shame before our King and Savior.
I can only pray that Korbin Alberts
will repent of her cowardice and receive in her a much greater resolve to take
a much stronger stand for righteousness and to no longer be afraid to speak out
against the things that are evil in the sight of the Lord and from this point
on purpose in her heart to remain steadfast against the ridicule, castigations,
and threats of the LGBT “woke” mob and all other forces of evil come what may
for though I would rather that all the saints of God would be spared suffering,
hardship, and the persecutions of which we are warned, at the same time, I do
not want to see them cower before the wicked and ungodly nor do I want to see
them capitulate to and appease the things of evil and therefore would rather
that we all boldly proclaim our faith and love for Christ Jesus and to
courageously preach the Gospel of salvation to as many as will hear it in as
often as opportunity is given to us because the God who made us takes no
pleasure in punishment but in love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, and redemption
and therefore has commissioned and
commanded the redeemed to go forth and tell as many as possible about the way
of redemption in Christ Jesus and though our efforts to get this message out
may come at great risk and at a great cost, but we are promised a reward for the
sufferings that we are willing to face in the name of Christ and the sacrifices
we are willing to make for the sake of His Holy name (Mt. 10:36-39) and the
rewards we are given will far exceed what are willing to leave behind,
relinquish, and sacrifice for Christ (Mk. 10:30) but rather than set our sites
on those honors and rewards superior to the temporal things that we may be
required to relinquish on behalf of the Kingdom of Heaven and rather than look
forward to the glory and joy to come that will surpass all the sufferings of
this present life, (Rom. 8:18) we surrender to evil and cower before the
ungodly when those temporal things we cherish are threatened or when we are
placed in a position of having to choose between our devotion to Christ and to
the things of this present life which can also include even friends, family,
spouses, and even children because we do not have enough faith God to provide a
compensation that is able to surpass what we may be called on to sacrifice and
let go of for the sake of the Gospel which we have received and have been called
upon to preach.
There is an adversary in the world
who stops at nothing to hinder the spread of the Gospel message throughout the
world and if he could, he would even like to prevent it from spreading any
further and even stamp the message out and cause it to be completely forgotten
and there is no victory that he is able to achieve over any follower of Christ
that can be more spectacular and more greater than by causing them to cease the
preaching of the Gospel without the shedding of any blood and he does this often
through confronting professing followers of Christ with criticisms, ridicules,
castigation, rebuke, threats, and intimidation and with such, dissuades them
from openly proclaiming their faith any further and when he is able to succeed
at this, he does not need to bring them before the courts of men, he does not
need to cast them into prison, nor subject them to torture, nor does he need to
cause them to be socially ostracized, and he does not even need to bring
violence against them or even martyrdom because he has already succeeded in
silencing them.
And it is when he is able to silence
the preaching of the Gospel and discredit the testimony of those who preach it without
the use of force that he laughs with the most delight for we are more often
defeated by giving into the things of the flesh rather than surrendering
ourselves to the things of the spirit, submitting to cowardice rather than remaining
steadfast and courageous, placing our faith more in the in the things of this
present world to meet our needs than we do in God, honoring our earthly
relationships above our relationship with God, preferring earthly riches more
than the treasures of Heaven, loving the favor of men more than the favor of
God, valuing earthly fame more than heavenly honor and glory, and getting
caught up and distracted by the cares and worries of this present life rather
than the things pertaining to the next life, than by the courts, prison
sentences, torture, violence and even death.
Most of the defeats suffered in the
body of Christ never had to be and still do not have to be but happen because
we allow defeat; we give away victory that could have been ours, just as Korbin
Alberts and sadly many others have done.
If we are to be the best representatives of a victorious Savior and
King, then we cannot fear ridicule, criticism, slander, shunning,
ostracization, lawsuits, civic punishment, loss of livelihoods, goods, property,
or possessions, nor can we fear violence, martyrdom nor threats thereof.
Scripture tells us often that we are
to expect persecution and the threat thereof of any kind and of any given
severity but it also tells us that for those of who are willing to risk and
face such for the Gospel, that there is a reward that awaits them (Mt. 5:11-12)
and we should all strive for the highest honors that we are able to receive
because we are up against forces that will stop at nothing to prevent souls
lost from escaping the damnation of which they are in danger and they will do
everything in their power to keep them blind to that danger by keeping them
oblivious to their sinful condition by which they are made estranged from their
Maker and condemned to an eternity of unrelenting torment because they who are
in sin cannot and will not be allowed into a Kingdom in which there is no sin
lest the Kingdom of Heaven be defiled by sin just as the earth itself is
defiled by sin (Rom. 8:19-22)
But before sin entered into the
world, the earth was a pure and undefiled place for God had created everything
in it to be good (Gen. 1) including man.
The universe that God had made was a place of peace, love, joy,
contentment, and harmony between God, man, and nature before evil had entered
into it in the form of a serpent who had led man into an act of disobedience that
brought evil and death into the world which has from that day on turn the world
into a place filled with suffering, pain, grief, sorrow, hardship, misery,
adversity, and darkness.
And that serpent who had brought death
upon mankind and ruin upon a once perfect and wholly good creation was none
other than an angel called Lucifer who had once served as the guardian of the cherub
before the throne of God before he, in his pride, thought to make himself equal
with God and therefore, take for himself what rightfully belongs to God alone which
resulted in him and those who sided with him being cast from their positions in
heaven (Is. 14:11-21, Ezek. 28:12-19) and it was at that moment that Lucifer also
became Satan, as he is better known, and it was at that time that the age-long
war between God and Satan began it became a war for the souls of men when Satan
had caused the first man Adam and his wife Eve, the first woman, to do the very
thing of which they were warned not to do and that was the eating of a certain
fruit from a certain tree called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,
having been warned that in the day that they ate thereof, they would surely die.
(Gen. 2:16-17, 3:3)
But the serpent falsely assured them
that if they ate of that forbidden fruit, that they would not die (v. 4) but
that they would become divine and more enlightened (v. 5) and when they had
both eaten of that fruit, the only enlightenment they received was to the shame
of their nakedness (v. 7) which beforehand, they never felt and instead of
becoming divine, they fell to a state inferior to that in which they were first
created and then were subject to death as they had been warned (v. 19) for it
was when they had eaten of that forbidden fruit that sin had entered into them;
sin not being confined to merely a bad action, inappropriate behavior, or even
the words we speak, but a corruption of our inward person. Before sin had entered into us, we were created
by God to be by nature good, but when sin entered into man, it made him by
nature evil and contrary to what God created him to be and as a consequence of the
disobedience of Adam and his wife Eve, sin entered into them and then brought death
to them, and not only to them but to all of mankind because the sin that
entered into them was then passed down to all of mankind since we all descend
from them (Rom. 5:12) and because of the inherited corruption of our nature, we
all sin and as a consequence, we all die (Rom. 6:23) and not only did sin bring
death to mankind, but it also brought decay corruption, grief, misery, pain,
and hardship to all of creation which is why it is written that the entire
creation travails in pain to this day (Rom. 8:19-22) but the consequences of that
transgression in the garden extend even further because the dominion that man
was initially given over all of creation was diminished because Satan feels
justified in claiming lordship over the nations, peoples, kingdoms, and empires
of the world (Mt. 4:8-9, Lk. 4:6-7) which is why he is called the prince of
this world. (Jn. 12:31, 16:11)
By a lie he caused Adam and Eve to
commit a transgression that they otherwise might not have committed.
And in by causing Adam and Eve to eat
of that forbidden fruit by the lie he told them, he caused sin to enter into
them and by causing sin to enter into them, he brought death upon them and not just
to them, but to all of humanity because the sin that entered into Adam and Eve
is also within every single human being who is born into this world and the
reason why all people die.
By a lie he also brought suffering,
misery, hardship, grief, sorrow, anguish, turmoil, and adversity of every kind
and severity imaginable not just to man, but all of creation for it is by the
sin of man that entire creation is brought under a curse to this day and it is
because of sin that all that God has created is subject to defilement,
corruption, and perversion; a departure from what it was intended to be.
And it is the lie that brought sin,
death, evil, and every kind of suffering that there ever could be into this
world that is the first known lie ever told which is why Satan is called the
father of lies (Jn. 8:44) and because that very lie brought death to man by way
of sin, he is also called a murderer (v. 44) and he also called the thief who
comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (Jn. 10:10)
By a lie, he stole dominion from man.
By a lie, he brought death to man
through sin.
And by a lie, he brought destruction
and ruin upon all of creation through a very slow and agonizing decay and
death.
And he who by a lie caused Adam and
Eve to commit the transgression that caused sin to enter into them which
brought eventual death to them both and then to all of mankind who are the
offspring of Adam and Eve, caused the slow ongoing destruction and ruin of
creation, and usurp the dominion that was given to man is also hard at work hiding
and suppressing the very truth that might cause the lost to earnestly seek the
Lord God who made them and find salvation in Christ Jesus. Naturally, the enmity that Satan has towards
God causes him to be at enmity towards all that God has made including man and
therefore seeks nothing more than to destroy all that is made and loved of God
and he does so through ever so subtle means for just as he through subtlety brought
death to Adam and Eve, so he is also through subtle and deceptive means leading
as many as he can to death, destruction, and eternal damnation by lulling them
into a false sense of security about their eternity, by making sin seem pleasurable
and appear inconsequential, by poisoning their minds and hardening their hearts
against call to repentance, by blinding them to the truth of their spiritual
inward condition and the implications thereof, by hiding and suppressing
anything that might exonerate the Gospel and the authority of scripture in the
eyes of many and when that fails, he will try to intimidate, shame, and embarrass
they who would otherwise preach the Gospel in its full counsel and purity and those
who would otherwise teach the full counsel of scripture in accordance to its
given context into silence and when that fails, he will incite they who hate
and despise the things of the Lord to shun and ostracize those who dare to
dedicate themselves to the service of the eternal Kingdom and if that has no
affect, he will then resort to stirring governments hostile to the faith into
carrying out civic punishment of various sorts and if not the governments
themselves, the people themselves into taking whatever actions set in their
hearts to hinder and stop the spread of the Gospel including resorting to the
destruction of property, and committing acts of violence, including bloodshed
against the saints.
And what Satan cannot destroy from
without, he will attempt to infiltrate, corrupt, sabotage, and destroy from within
through the introductions of false doctrines that present a gospel, a god, and a
Jesus different than what is written, recorded, and taught in scripture, that make
the Word of God out to be more obscure than what it actually is, and even cast
doubt upon the authority of the scriptures, the faith itself, even unto the
overthrowing of the faith of some, bringing hypocrisies, and causing professing
saints to disgrace themselves and discredit the testimony they bear on behalf
of Christ.
And what he seeks to hide from those whom
he is leading into eternal damnation is the fact that we are born into the sin
that we have inherited from the first man Adam into whom it had entered when he
and his wife Eve were led into eating that forbidden fruit from which the sin
that entered into them was produced and that the sin which entered into them and
is now passed down to all of us not only brings death to us bodily, but also
estranges us from our Creator who cannot allow that which is in sin to enter
into the Kingdom of Heaven lest Heaven be defiled as the earth has been defiled.
The adversary would have us measure
ourselves by our outward performance when God does not measure just our outward
performance but the thoughts, motives, and attitudes of the inward person of
which the deeds performed and words spoken are but the end result are also
taken into account; such is the severity of the justice of God because it is
not that which is from without by which we are defiled, but rather the defilement
comes from within (Mt. 15:11, 17-20) and it is this defilement of the inward
person that causes all to sin and fall short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23)
rendering it impossible for anyone to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven by their
own goodness or merit for no matter how good and morally upright we attempt to
be, sin, being present within us, will always cause us to fall short of the
perfect goodness of God and His standard of moral perfection and if the eyes of
all people were opened to the seriousness of our fallen state and what
ramifications that holds for us, they might then understand why it is that we
are in need of a Savior and Redeemer to take upon Himself the demanded penalty
of sin on our behalf which Christ Jesus did when He, in whom there is no sin (2
Cor. 5:21) offered Himself up unto death through the shedding of His blood upon
the cross on which He was crucified and after having in His death purchased
redemption our behalf, was raised from the dead so that we might be justified
in Him (Rom. 4:25) if we will but, in all faith and sincerity, call upon His name
for the forgiveness of sins (Rom. 10:13) and upon doing so, we are made anew in
Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and reconciled to the Creator from whom our sins had once
estranged us (2 Cor. 5:18) thereby producing in us a change that causes us to
no longer desire to follow after selfish and worldly pursuits but after those
things that pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven, (Mt. 6:33)
to no longer take pleasure in those
things that are evil and displeasing in the sight of the Lord, but in that
which is good, right, and pleasing in His sight,
to no longer desire to walk in the
lies of this present world, but only in the truth that comes from Christ
Almighty, (Jn. 14:6) no longer placing our hopes in the things of this present
world, but looking forward to that new and better world to come, (Rev. 21-22)
to no longer rely on worldly
resources, men, or even our own power, abilities, skills, and wisdom for our
needs and provision but upon God who is able to meet all of our needs, (Mt.
6:25-33) recognizing that the resources of this world and even the people He
brings into our lives are but instruments and vessels through which God meets
our needs and that the skills, power, knowledge, and wisdom by which we might
acquire our provision are provided and instilled in us by God,
to no longer fear what men can do to
us, but rather fearing the God before whom we will have to one day give an
account for how we lived our lives, (Mt. 10:28)
to no longer look to corruptible
institutions within our society for direction and order in our lives but to God
who, by His written Word has given us laws and precepts to be applied to our
lives and which serve to produce and maintain an ordered life, and who, by His
Holy Spirit which comes to dwell within us upon repentance, establishes in our
lives a course and direction in our lives to pursue for His glory,
to no longer seek our own glory but
the glory of God,
to no longer rally behind corruptible
men, but instead behind the incorruptible God in Heaven bearing in mind that
those men and women God raises up for our edification are but instruments and
servants of His for that respective purpose to which He has called them,
to no longer seek to align ourselves
with the things of darkness but only with the things of the light,
to no longer trust in the wisdom of
the world but only on the wisdom and knowledge that comes from above, nor
depend on corruptible earthly authorities to swiftly administer justice, but
only in the power of God to deliver us from evil.
Every converted soul is a blow to the
power of Satan on earth because that converted soul may go onto convert an
entire household, which may then draw an entire neighborhood to repentance in
Christ, which may then go to draw an entire community to do the same, and from
there, draw other communities to repentance thus resulting in this repentance
spreading throughout entire regions, states, provinces, and nations, thus
changing how individual lives are lived and what our priorities are, how
households are run, how even worship services are conducted, how education is
taught, how businesses are operated, how news is reported, what form of
entertainment is produced, and how governments are run.
And there is coming a time when
Satan, the current prince of this world will be cast out (Jn. 12:31) and when
he is cast out, he will be awaiting his final sentence when he and all who have
sided with him are forever cast into the lake of fire where they will be
tormented day and night without any relief (Rev. 20:10-15) while they who have
submitted themselves unto God and who have placed their trust in Christ for the
salvation of their souls will be ushered into a world and a Kingdom far better
than the one in which we are in now for this present world will be done away
with and in its place will be a new Heaven and a new earth in which there will
be no death, no decay, nor any pain, nor any hardship, no oppression, no
misery, no cruelty, no despair, or any grief for all of these things will have
passed away with the old corrupted creation.
Instead, in this new and undefiled
creation, there will only be life, light, goodness, happiness, joy, peace, and
contentment before the Lord God Almighty. (Rev. 21-22)
But for the time being, Satan is
doing all that he can to hold as many souls captive as he can in order to take
as many as he can to everlasting damnation and eternal separation from God but
because the Lord is not willing that any should perish but that all would come
to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9) we should be doing all that we can to persuade as
many as can and will be persuaded to turn away from their sins and call upon
the name of Jesus for the forgiveness sins before it is too late and if there
is anything we need to be apologizing for, it should be the following:
We should be apologizing for our
cowardice when we should have been courageous
We should apologize for remaining
silent when we should have spoken up
We should apologize for our lack of
faith when we should have trusted God to meet all of our needs.
We should apologize for fearing man more
than God before whom all men will be judged.
We should apologize for valuing the temporal
honors and favors of this present world when we should have valued the eternal
honors and favor of God more than the temporal ones of this present life.
We should apologize for being
distracted by the cares and worries of this life when we should have been
keeping our focus on the next life.
We should apologize for allowing
ourselves to be more consumed with storing up treasures on earth than treasures
in Heaven.
We should apologize for being
complacent when we should have been vigilant in preserving the purity of the
doctrine of our faith.
We should apologize for being lazy in
our service to Christ when we should have been more diligent.
We should apologize for being
apathetic when we should have retained in ourselves an ongoing zeal for the
things of God.
We should apologize for harboring,
tolerating, and even celebrating within our ranks the things that dishonor and
displease the God we claim to serve when we should have held they among us
accountable for doing those things and teaching those things contrary to the
teachings of the divinely inspired scriptures.
We should apologize for trusting in
the wisdom and philosophies of this world rather than in the wisdom that comes
from God.
We should apologize for relying on
the counsel of so-called experts instead of the counsel that comes from God.
We should apologize for compromising
our approach to the scriptures by which the Gospel is delivered to us when we
should have relied upon the sufficiency of its teachings and placed our full
faith therein.
I can only imagine what could be done
for the Kingdom of God on earth and how far Heaven would be able to advance
itself if we but had the zeal and passion of an Apostle Paul, the courage of a
Caleb or Joshua, and in our own day, even the determination and fortitude of a
Donald Trump.
I can only pray that we who know
Christ would indeed be given a spirit of such zeal, faith, courage,
determination, and fortitude because if we did we would not be afraid of the
Megan Rapinoes of this world for we would both the fear and love of God ever
burning within us.
Granted that this blogpost was intended
for a Christian audience but if you reader by some chance have not yet accepted
Jesus Christ to be your Savior and Lord but sense in yourself the call to
repentance, then I urge you to call upon the name of Christ for the salvation
of your soul today and do not let the fear of man nor the fear of man’s displeasure
keep you from doing so because Hell is for eternity and once one is taken into
that place, there is nothing to look forward to but an everlasting unrelenting torment
beyond comprehension and far worse than any kind of anguish to be suffered in
this present life.
If you reader were to spend but a
brief moment in Hell, I can promise you, you will not find it to be a place to
which you would wish to return and remain for any reason nor for any
person. You would want to find out how
to keep yourself from going there and not only yourself but others as well and
there is a way of escape that has already been made for us in Christ Jesus if
you will be but willing to call upon His name for the forgiveness of sins so
that you will be kept from going to Hell but instead be granted admittance into
the Kingdom of God wherein there is unspeakable joy, happiness, peace, and
contentment before the Lord for all eternity.
It is but a simple prayer of repentance away:
"Lord Jesus I need you.
I realize that I am a sinner
who has fallen short of the glory of
God
and that my goodness falls short
of your standard of Moral perfection.
Please forgive me of all of my sins.
Come into my heart and into my life
to be the Savior and Lord of my life.
Make me into the servant and follower
that you want me to be.
In your name Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen."
Know that God is not concerned with
the words that you use to call upon Him forgiveness, but with the attitude of
your heart and if you have, with all sincerity, have asked Christ to forgive
you of your sins, placing your trust in Him only for your salvation and in
nothing else, then your sins are forgiven and your place in Heaven is certain.
End notes:
1. Michael Shwarz, “Christian US Soccer Player
Apologizes After Megan Rapinoe Scolds Her for Sharing Her Beliefs,”
Western
Journal, March 29, 2024
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