Living Right In A Wrong World
“But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith…” Jude 20
Up until verse twenty in the book of Jude, we have been walking through the darkness. We have witnessed the beliefs and behaviors of apostates. But in verse twenty, we turn the spiritual corner and the Lord says, “But ye.” He speaks to His children.
When we read the expression, “But ye,” we realize that God is trying to get our attention! He turns from these apostates and speaks to genuine Christians.
We are called upon to live right in a wrong world. There is a difference between the way a Christian lives and the way an unbeliever lives. Unbelievers think differently than believers think. The world should be able to look at someone who is a Christian and know from the way that person lives and speaks that he is a Christian.
THE CALL TO LIVE RIGHT
In a wrong world, God’s children must live right. Notice Isaiah 5:20-21. God said that His people were living in darkness and calling it light. Christ instructed His disciples in Matthew 5:13, “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savor, wherewith shall it be salted?” The chemical makeup of salt cannot be destroyed, but salt becomes ineffective when it is contaminated with other things. If we are contaminated with the world, we have no power or influence for Christ. Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-18. We must love the lost, and we should win the lost; but this cannot be done by living like the lost. God says we should be separated. This is two-fold — separated to the Lord and from the world.
THE COST OF LIVING RIGHT
It costs something to live right. It costs the loss of personal freedom. If we belong to the Lord, we are to yield our personal freedom and say, “Lord, I am not seeking my own will; I want Thy will to be done.” Living right will also cost us our social standing. When we identify strongly with the Lord on the job or in public places, the world does not respond kindly. Do you know why? It is because we are living in a world that calls darkness light and light darkness.
THE COURSE FOR LIVING RIGHT
The Lord tells us how to live right. He has a course for us to follow. Put these things from Jude 20-21 to work in your life.
• Build Yourself Up – Acts 20:32 says that “the word of his grace” is able to build us up. In order to live right in a wrong world, we must build ourselves up with God’s Word.
• Pray in the Holy Ghost – When we are walking with the Lord, walking in the Holy Spirit, praying in the Spirit in the name of the Lord, we are doing what God has called us to do. Read John 14:13.
• Keep Yourself in the Love of God – This does not mean to try to get God to love you. God already loves you. This means to obey the Lord and stay in the place of blessing. Keep your eyes on the Lord Jesus.
• Look for the Lord’s Return – Jude 21 also says, “Looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.” If we truly believe that Christ could come today, we will choose to live right in a wrong world.
–Clarence Sexton
SHARING
The Malignant Growth Of Undenied, Unconfessed, Uncleansed Sin
“Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?” 1 Corinthians 5:6
Sin has only one direction–to go from bad to worse: “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren.” James 1:15-16
No one can have the mastery over sin, to just use it for one’s own advantage: “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.” John 8:34
All who have tried to use sin to serve themselves always end up serving sin.
The problem is, sin is the power of Satan, a power greater than man.
As Adam and Eve enjoyed serving themselves with sin, they soon discovered they had brought the bondage of sin’s consequences upon themselves and their whole world.
Leaven is very small in and of itself, but it permeates the whole of the substance it comes in communion with. At that point, it overpowers and takes on the size and strengths of the whole substance.
Sin starts out as just a thought, a desire, a lust. At that point and time, it is just something to kick around and toy with. But allowed to remain and be entertained for personal gratification, it grows unto infusing itself into one’s choices and actions.
As one becomes more committed to the allowance of sin in one’s person, one’s person begins to take on the effects of that sin. As sin continues to grow, it will eventually come to power in one’s pride, thus gaining command over one’s strengths in defending one’s pride.
At this point, rather than it be just a fight with the sin, one finds that it now has become a fight with their whole self.
SHARINGBlind and Bound
“And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson. And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison house. Then the lords of the Philistines gathered them together for to offer a great sacrifice unto Dagon their god, and to rejoice: for they said, Our god hath delivered Samson our enemy into our hand.” Judges 16:20,21,23
America has hatred and opposition against her for being a Christian nation. But within, her unchristian conditions are depriving her of the help and power of God, to continue to make her victorious.
So, America is quickly falling into the self-made demise as did Samson–under attack because of the great things God’s power has wrought within her, but lately lacking the power of God to exalt her.
The enemies of America are determined to mar her pride and overthrow her power. They want to put out America’s eyes and make her blindly enslaved to grinding in the prison house before their god.
Sadly, America’s lack of Divine given victories will be interpreted by her enemies as being, “their god delivering America, their enemy, into their hands.”
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” Psalm 9:17
America’s quest to become a humanist state, where all Divine influence is forbidden, shall leave her destitute of God’s power for to keep her strong. As America seeks to exalt moral perversion to have judicial dominion over her social order, she shall reap the harvest of corruption and violence in her streets.
As it was in the Garden of Eden, so it shall be wherever people do not have the will to abide in the Lord–Satan overthrows!
SHARINGThe Pride Of Life
“For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.” 1 John 2:16
The Bible teaches us that our human passions are carnal, not spiritual. Our fleshly man is sinful in nature. Thus, both our fleshly desires and our feelings about ourselves are sinful. Sinful means they are opposite in nature to God. Thus by our natural desires and pride, we are turned away from God. Through human desire and pride, man is alienated from God, God’s will, and God’s Word. “…fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” Ephesians 2:3
The desires of the flesh lead one on a course different from God, and human pride keeps one there, feeding on self satisfaction and self esteem. “Thou art wearied in the greatness of thy way; yet saidst thou not, There is no hope: thou hast found the life of thine hand; therefore thou wast not grieved.” Isaiah 57:10 We know how pride seals a person’s mind up in their time of success, leaving them without concern about their need of God’s salvation. But pride also leaves one indifferent to one’s need of God’s salvation even in difficult times, because it is confident in one’s own ability to overcome all things.
These last days, as in Noah’s day, are times of self exaltation, with man glorying in man. Man is so full of himself today that he does not concern himself with what God’s Word has to say about his sinful condition before God. Because of pride, neither his guilt of sin before God (Romans 3:19), nor the fact that because he is a sinner, he has come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23), concerns him.
By pride, man has no interest or use for the things of God, because it appeals not to his fancy and self esteem. By pride, man even looks down on the things of God as being burdensome to self. By pride, man considers that he would lose out on life, rather than gain, if he were to become a Christian.
By pride, man scorns the teachings of God’s Word, since they do not appeal to his desires (the way he loves to live.) So through pride, man considers the ways of God to be foolishness, thus removing himself that much further from God, God’s will, and God’s way. By pride, man separates himself from those who live separate unto God, considering them to be fanatical, while he admires those who boldly project themselves in their own lusts, for their own glory.
So, by pride, man respects only those things that are of this world while keeping his mind closed to spiritual values and that which has eternal value. Pride prevents man from reasoning with God. Thus, the only solution is for man to repent; otherwise, he will perish.
SHARINGWhat Does The Devil Want You To Do?
“…the spirit that now worketh…” “…in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind…” Ephesians 2:2-3
Sometimes people think only of Satan as some sinister force of danger and evil, warping people’s minds unto gross evil deeds. Also, when the warnings against Satan are issued, such as, “Don’t listen to Satan. Don’t do what Satan wants you to do. Don’t follow the path of the Devil,” etc., many conclude they are well armed against him. People may say, “I don’t belong to the occult. I stay away from Satan worshippers.” But Satan is no fool. He knows that most people will not sell their souls to Satanic worship. And when some do some blood curdling thing, it is bad publicity for Satan. So, rather than seek to influence all that way, he uses other devices to influence the masses.
Satan’s ways are ways of deception. His way is to influence us to think something is right for us that really isn’t. Thus, he doesn’t have to force us to do what he wants. We do it because we want to.
One of Satan’s best ways to deceive is to convince us that, since we are not doing some things that Satan would want people to do, such as drinking, doing drugs, lying, stealing, etc., we are staying clear of Satan’s devices. But the truth of the matter is SATAN DOESN’T WANT YOU TO DO WHAT HE WANTS YOU TO DO. Rather, he works by deceit to get from you what he wants. Satan always approaches man with subtlety.
The following three steps clue us in to his way of doing things:
1. SATAN WANTS YOU TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO.
2. WHEN YOU ARE DOING WHAT YOU WANT, YOU ARE DOING WHAT HE WANTS.
3. SATAN WANTS YOU TO DO ANYTHING BUT WHAT GOD WANTS.
Satan works with our natural desire, not against it. He promotes us in doing things the way we want to. He encourages us to stick with our thoughts on everything. Satan wants you to be you. He wants you to get the things you want, to go where you want to go, to pick your own friends, to do what you like to do. Satan works to see to it that your desires are being fulfilled. He wants you to obtain your dreams. But HOW CAN SATAN ACHIEVE HIS GOAL BY DOING THIS? ONLY THE WORD OF GOD CAN UNLOCK THIS MYSTERY. You see, we all by nature are sinners. Our mind, our will, our way, our desires, our wants and wishes are all sinful. Our will is not God’s will. Our way is not God’s way. Our thoughts (our mind) are not subject to God. Doing our thing, living our life the way we want, we are always going in an opposite direction from God. Satan’s way is to exploit this. DO YOU SEE THIS IN YOU?
Satan doesn’t care if you teach CPR, or teach against alcoholism or drug addiction, just as long as you don’t teach the Bible. He doesn’t care if you visit sick relatives, collect for the Red Cross, or do other worthy causes, just so long as you don’t go to God’s house. HOW WISE ARE YOU TO WHAT THE DEVIL WANTS YOU TO DO?
SHARING
