God - He Needs You not
The Core of the Decay in America Originates from its Attitude, and Mischaracterization of God
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God, Knowing Him Correctly
As with any relationship it is important for each party to know their position in that relationship. When I am in the courtroom presenting my arguments to the judge on behalf of a client, there is one critical reality I had better respect. The judge is the judge, and I am not. He or she is the final arbiter. If I get that wrong there can be substantial consequences for not just my client, but for me as a licensed attorney.
Except for a handful, most of the leaders in our nation’s capital, our state houses, major corporations, and institutions are godless. They are rudderless with no guiding morality except for their own. Wherever there is a concentration of power and money, corruption abounds. But they had help getting there. From false teachers in our church pulpits to the sinful indifference, and toxic toleration of the people - evil flourishes everywhere and in every one of our institutions.
How did this happen? Our relationship to this world, and particularly its creator, God, is at the core. It’s the most essential relationship to get correct in this existence if you desire to prosper in the here and after. Some say, “well I don’t believe,” or “I have my own truth.” Quite bluntly, your belief system changes nothing about reality regardless of how you attempt to redefine it. Reality always wins. And so will God. He needs you not, but you will need Him in His merciful and salvivic character sooner or later. There are many aspects of God’s character, but the first one in priority is fearsome and wrathful.
There is a term for those who detach from reality, and it is called psychosis. No, you are not entitled to do as you please and create your own reality, truth, or facts. You may feel sovereign and entitled to create your own reality, but that’s delusional. Your disbelief in God affects neither His character, nature nor existence as some think. We see this psychosis being played out in the transgender movement. Men can become women and the reverse. It’s as ridiculous and absurd as believing that you should be able to fly like a bird because you have become your own god, and you are going to make it so by sheer will. Be my guest, your belief will not change the consequences of jumping off a ten-story building. As with the transgender movement, it’s man trying to be God and change nature and reality.
No, God is not one of the gods on Mount Olympus so needy for your belief in Him. Truly, atheism will ultimately bring about mental illness in the end as one cannot live detached from reality without consequence and in all cases, it is ultimately fatal. Your disbelief, and historical or factual revisionism impacts only you.
Atheists and Suppressors of Truth
As Dr. R. C. Sproul taught, the existence of God is not an intellectual question, it’s a moral one. I’ve always been amused at those claiming they are atheists. If you really give it some thought, atheists are believers in nothing. Their whole life is built around pretending that something doesn’t exist. The absurdity is astounding when you do a deep dive into the reality of an atheist’s whole life construct. They live to disbelieve. They practice the psychology of suppression, suppression of the truth, and reality. But that void, that vacuum that is created will be and must be filled. The atheist engages in what the Greeks called metallasso. That is, they exchange the truth for a lie. With the Godless in control, men can now get pregnant, and women become men, or so they think. This is the consequence of a Godless leadership and an increasingly Godless society.
God’s wrath burned hottest toward those who suppressed the truth. In the Greek they were referred to as the katechontōn, or in some English translations it means to stifle. This is an intentional, volitional, and active suppression, as if you were physically pushing down on something. However, that exercise is all in vain as the truth has flooded the world through countless medium or medias such that God declared that ignorance won’t stand as an excuse at judgment as the evidence of His existence has been made clear.
Nothing exercises an atheist into a rage quicker than to disclose that the ruse they profess is a lie. Yes, the atheist doesn’t have the luxury upon judgment of later claiming they simply were ignorant. No, they know the truth and suppress it. This makes them liars, they know it, and it enrages them when it is pointed out. They, and all humans have what is called an a priori knowledge, a knowledge that is innate, in born. It’s inescapable, inexcusable, but nevertheless repressed by atheists.
The old canard that there is no proof of God, is only true for the willfully blind. In fact, if you have been living in the observable world then you know that the believer has more proof of the existence of God than the unbeliever has that there is no God. Better yet, objective science (that means unprostituted science not paid to come to a pre-drawn conclusion), along with archeology, is one of faith’s greatest friends. It should daily smack any objective observer in the face with the reality of God such that to not get it is revelatory of some mental illness born of the repression of that a priori knowledge.
The cause of the corruption in America and the world today and the resultant consequences to come is so succinctly and clearly revealed in,
Romans 1:18-25 (ESV)
God's Wrath on Unrighteousness
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world,[g] in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, …
We are living amid the consequences which are the chaos and decay - but this is just the beginning of the horrors to come from God’s wrath.
Now, this message is not intended to tread over already well plowed ground by theologians. Rather it is to give a contemporary application, targeting the hedonistic, and godless leaders controlling our government, the false teachers within our churches and the self-satisfied stupid masses who tolerate them and keep them in power.
While ignorance in some rare cases can be excusable, the abundance of information today eliminates the easy escape many hope to use to avoid responsibility and accountability. The truth they suppressed they knew and know. The masses have never been in love with the truth and most use lies today as a shield to continue the perverse lifestyles they desire.
The masses have ceased to be innocent bystanders but are now active participants. As such they become a danger to others as they are not content just doing their own thing. They want to eradicate the truth and its believers, much like Hamas wants to eradicate the Jews. Why? Because believers serve as a source of uncomfortable guilt.
Remember, the counterfeit always hates the original or genuine article as only it can reveal the fraud of the counterfeit. The counterfeit derives its power from the original, which is what makes the counterfeit so dangerous. For example, when God is diminished and government or man become God, death follows. This gets back to the core of the problem in America. God has been replaced, not defeated. When you do not know the character of God there are consequences, deadly ones, and we are living them now.
A Warning to Evil Leaders and the Saved
So, this message is more a warning, and a poke in the eye to those in various forms of leadership, whether corporately or governmentally, than it is to the saved. However, there are many in the saved category that need a good reminder of the reality and character of God. It is also a warning for those who are men of the cloth, but complicit with those suppressing the truth by way of their own indolence or fear of man, not God.
No matter how high up you are perched in the hierarchy of power, influence, or wealth in this world, God does not need your belief to exist. Moreover, God will ultimately have His way with you and judgment is gradient based on what you have been given. Allow me to disabuse the notion that God is only a God of
love. That is all you hear today. That is a 21st century God, not the God of the Bible.
To be brutally clear, everyone alive today will die. That is the curse and the first judgment we are all under. Now I know this is like a bucket of cold water for the wicked in control of this world, but they need to be reminded frequently, if not daily, that the time for their wickedness and glorifying themselves will come to an end, sooner than they think. This point they cannot deny. The church would do well to remind them. The Schwab’s, Soros’s, Gate’s, Zuckerberg’s, et al, have a destiny with death, (as we all do), despite their attempts to remake mankind. The inscriptions on their tombs will bring them no comforts.
Frankly, I enjoy leaving the wicked with that nagging anxiety that there will be a consequence to how they have lived. The best they can hope for is annihilation, which they are convinced happens. So, their script is already written. They lose. All their wickedness will come to an end. Then they are left with that haunting question, will there be a consequence for how they have lived? They know that answer. It’s the one they have suppressed.
God is not like the gods of Mount Olympus in Greek mythology wherein they derived their powers from the prayers of their subjects. The God of our existence has no needs. He is self-sufficient and existent, dependent upon nothing. Thus, the reason for the title of this article. What you do or don’t believe does not alter God’s reality. He needs you not and if atheists think they can, by majority vote, destroy God, then they are on a fool’s errand. Neither reality nor the kingdom operate as a democracy. If such were the case I’ sure death would have lost the vote. It didn’t and that curse is coming, followed by a wrathful God’s judgment.
Apologetics and the Character of God
Let’s briefly talk about apologetics. Much of today’s problems come from Christian misunderstanding and error. No, that does not mean anyone is apologizing for a wrong or error, but rather apologetics as used in the religious sense. It is and means defending the doctrines of the faith through systematic argumentation and discourse. In Christianity, it also means having a reason for the belief you have and giving a defense of your faith. But don’t forget, Proverbs teach us not to argue with a fool. I will get back to that momentarily.
Many Christians have apologetics wrong. Christians need to be less apologetic, in a servile way about their faith, and live and profess with a boldness to the world, than they do. We need apologia (Latin root), but one with a fierceness, conviction, and boldness as if you really do believe in a God that is the creator of all. He is a God we are to fear. After all, to do so is the beginning of wisdom. God is the one who can destroy both body and soul. He can unmake you as easily as He made you. Many Christians should, but don’t, live and profess as if they are under such a fearsome God.
Today they are taught that God is only love and that He accepts you just as you are. This is wrong and heretical. This must change and if your church teaches that wrong apologia, then leave.
The chaos in America today has its roots in the failure of the church shepherding the flock and correctly teaching the character of God. It has also failed to warn the wicked, in and out of leadership, that there will be a personal consequence for their actions, regardless of their title. Titles matter not to God.
Yes, it is important to be ready with an answer for the faith you have, but I don’t concern myself with the numbers of who accept the truth or who reject it in a missional sense. That’s not my responsibility nor anyone else’s. No one will perish that God has pre-ordained for salvation. If God is God, and He is, nothing can thwart His will.
If by your inaction or error someone was lost for eternity, when God ordained otherwise, then God is not God. I believe in God’s ultimate and incomparable sovereignty regardless of what acronyms or terms some theologians want to attach to it as God ordains all that happens. He is in unshared control of the world and the universe, and nothing occurs contrary to His will. Some will say when tragedy occurs that God is mean and unjust to allow it. So what? He cares not about your self-righteous imbecilic conclusions or your emotionally reactive opinions of Him. You are already under a death sentence. Be grateful that He has given you a way out.
The mind of God is so far above that of man that nothing in our existence can give an accurate comparison. Only a fool presumes to know the mind of God and God forbid that the fool would dare question or sit as judge on God’s ways.
I am amused at some who say in debate that if God is a certain way or rules His kingdom in a certain way then they would not have Him as their God, as if they had a choice. Again, He cares not. He made you and is the only one who can destroy you in both body and soul. One’s protestations based on their puny intellect is a Quixotic tilting at windmills. It’s the fool slashing about the air as if in an imaginary battle. Their blows strike nothing.
The God I love is not one I made up to suit my sensibilities or for me to be comfortable, but the one that is. Here’s a favorite verse of mine that describes part of God’s character before which all knees will bow. He’s unapologetic, needless of man’s approval. His decrees are just whether man likes them or not and I’m perfectly at peace with the God that is and as He is. What a blessing because it wouldn’t matter if I wasn’t. God said to Moses;
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” Romans 9:14-15. ESV
He shares His sovereignty with no one and as evidenced by this verse in Roman’s, God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. Need I ponder this fact or this decision of His any further? Need I question why or critique it? Of course not. If you don’t like it, tough! To whom are you going to appeal?
The profane leadership in our nation and the world is bringing about an apocalypse. We see in all 50 states and our national government profound corruption. Lying has become institutionalized. Even more profound is the indifference of the public. In the recent re-election of the leftist Democrat (redundant) governor of Kentucky, every one of his political campaign commercials were filled with well documented lies. The voters did not hold him accountable. The public has a toxic toleration for corruption. They will ultimately pay the price – the point being an immoral population will invariably deliver itself into the self-selected chains of its bondage.
The corrupt leadership at all levels of this country has apparently learned from Emperor Nero to ply the people with wine and entertainment and they will excuse any abuse of power. The corruption in the country is not just confined to leadership, it’s the people as well for the leadership is merely a reflection of the people’s will. And the church seems to no longer have any sway in the affairs of men. Its salt has lost its savor. No one fears the wrath of God.
The people have gone astray as the church has gone astray. Few churches preach the true character of God. Today, God is a needy old grandfather, gushing with love and poses no threat to anyone, much less those in leadership who glorify themselves as demi-gods and promote every perversity known to man. We are nearly back to Noah’s pre-flood days in wickedness. Government and those directing it are now God. They would deny it but deep down they see themselves as God as revealed in their mandates, laws, and regulations they decree.
God is God and you are not, nor is government or our leaders. To debate the point is foolish. Only a fool argues with a fool. Therefore, it is foolish to argue established facts and place them back on the alter for re-examination and debate. It’s like double jeopardy in the law, exposing a fixed and decided point for re-trial.
We all know something is terribly amiss in the country and world. A corrupted society is like the dog returning to his vomit. They keep committing the same wrongs, sins and conduct expecting a different result. We sense the approaching doom yet continue to engage in foolish debate with fools such as whether a man can become pregnant. Judgment is near and there is nothing new about it. This has all occurred before.
Truth, Missions, and Servile Christianity
Our founding fathers spoke of “self-evident” truths. That means an established fact that needs no further investigation. It’s like a “given” in a geometry exam. It’s the foundational fact upon which you build to a correct conclusion. If you are not one that can recognize truth, (or if you are a suppressor of truth, which God so hates and condemns), then you fit into the category of either the fool or as mentioned, the katechontōn (the Greek word for suppressors of the truth). In America we have destroyed the “given.” We have destroyed self-evident truths and now everyone has their own truth.
Think on this…if everyone has their own truth then their truth has no power. There is no transcendency to it or greater authority from which it is derived. Why would anyone place any stock or value in what another made up?
In a missional sense, i.e., on the mission field or just dealing with the protestors of unbelief, you must be discerning if someone or a group of people have a teachable spirit or not. Waste not your time on a fool. You cannot save anyone. It is not dependent upon your skill or technique or tenacity. Only God has the power to regenerate and draw people to Him which is the initial step in salvation. Many in the pulpits today and many Christians, or self-proclaimed Christian groups, believe and act as if it is solely up to them to save the world. Many act as if it comes down to human technique, skill, or perseverance. Again, God is sovereign - not part way or limited in any way. Nothing happens that He has not ordained. Think how different the impact of sermons would be if the fear of God and His wrath were taught first, instead of self-help sessions.
As the world and this nation becomes more aggressively anti-Christian, I must admit to getting some joy out of telling people that I am ok with God being exactly how scripture describes Him. He cares not what you think in your flawed and culturally influenced sensibilities. If comparisons were even possible the brain and thoughts of a man are like that of an ant to a man - that is if man were even comparable to God. It’s perfectly logical to declare any man legally insane who attempts to understand the mind of God, much less judge His character or any of His actions.
I weary of the servile approach of so many Christians toward the world as they nauseatingly and repeatedly say, God is love. He’s a heck of a lot more than that. First, God is the God of the Old and New Testaments. He wipes out nations. He destroys worlds. He exacts punishment and judgment. He’s unapologetic as to all He does and takes no counsel of man. He glorifies Himself as only a God could and should. He has mercy upon whom he will have mercy. I don’t apologize to mental midgets for God being who He is. It’s a take-it-or-leave-it proposition. If you don’t like it, tough!
Yes, I’m glad God is a God of love, merciful and so much more. But before that one must understand who God is and why it is so astounding that He would even love such a wicked world. Who appointed any of us to redefine God as some weak, needy, servile, obsequious being waiting for one of us to have a discussion with Him through prayer?
Some will say, well, if He’s the kind of God that would order the Israelites to cross the Jordan and wipe out all the Canaanites, then He is no God of mine. Well, that is not just the God that I worship, but love as well. He is THE God. The one and only. He is who He is. Like it or not He shares His sovereign authority with no one. It’s that kind of God that is worthy of worship. Those who don’t like it are reminded, He needs you not and He will have His way with everyone sooner or later. You will bow to Him, and you will either glorify Him in Heaven or by your presence in Hell.
Again, my thoughts revert to the pompous, arrogant, corrupt, wicked, and godless leaders of this nation and world. They are not reminded enough of the dire personal consequences of their actions. Not that it will change anything, but they will have to pursue their wicked course in known contravention to God. They will have to live with the threat and anxiety that there will be eternal personal consequences for them. It is essential to speak truth to power in the hopes of inhibiting some of their evil until God’s judgment.
Now, many have endlessly debated the issues of election and predestination and I’m not going to apologize here for it being in the Bible or being a sound doctrine or part of God’s plan. Far be it from me to try to rewrite scripture to make others feel more comfortable in marketing God, as if He needed some slick Madison Avenue public relations firm. For example, if arguendo God was unjust or a brut or unfair (which only a mind trapped in fantasy could conjure up) I’m ok with that as He is my maker and I have no control over it and desire none. I learned long ago that I have no desire to be God.
As an anecdote, in my life I have had two wonderful pets that provided and added much joy to life. When they grew old and were dying, I agonized over when and how to put them out of their misery. I knew that I held the power over when they would die, but I prayed and prayed that God would make that decision for me and take them in their sleep, sparing me the agony of making that life and death decision. I finally had to place my suffering pets to rest and in those moments before the end I loathed the position of being like God in a very small way and wanted nothing to ever do with it again. Consequently, I gave up having any more pets because I could not bear going through that trauma again. I’m grateful to God that He is God, and I am not.
Back to God’s sovereignty and dominion over everything, and in all He does and the way He does what He does. Far be it for the pot, me, to criticize the potter, my maker. The doctrines spoken of are unambiguously in the Bible, and I’m not going to labor my ears nor eyes, listening, or reading, contorted excuses as to why some may say those doctrines are wrong to appease the sensibilities of this modern age. I know such conclusions and arguments come from a man centered agenda, not a divine one. It’s an uninformed opinion looking for validation because its proponent finds it inconvenient.
Questions about Mission Approach and Priority
So, many professing (and that is not the same thing as possessing) Christians feverishly evangelize (a good thing) but then one must wonder at times just how much do they really believe in the sovereignty of God. That is the true character of God. It’s as if they are trying to satisfy something else within that is amiss or missing within their own psychological make-up as opposed to letting God oversee the, what, when and where, as to who is saved and how many are saved.
Remember the path to salvation is narrow and the path to destruction is broad. That has not changed. Many are called but few will find the way or accept it. This refers not just to unbelievers, but also those who claim to have a Christian faith and sit in church every Sunday but lack the salvation they think they have. This raises the difficult specter of those believing they are saved but who are falsely assured. Maybe it’s because they know not the wrathful character of God.
This is not to say that taking the word to the world is wrong. In fact, it would be wrong not to. However, I cannot help but question some motives when the church in our nation is dying. Many abandon the need at home for some adventure abroad. Often it is done improperly, and many become convinced that it is they who are doing the saving and that someone’s salvation is all upon their shoulders as to whether the evangelized get saved. Or, maybe it stems more from a psychological need or maybe an attempt at earning one’s own salvation in part. Or, maybe the task of preserving the church here at home is more of a challenge than they can manage. Maybe it is a Jonah/Ninevah issue.
My father often talked about the primary responsibility and priority one must feed their own family first before feeding others. There is such a thing as priorities. Our nation is now under judgment as it has lost every moral and culture war over the last fifty years as the churches have become apostate, infested with wolves, but we think ourselves so righteous because we traipsed around the world evangelizing while we let our own children at home starve. Our priorities have been misaligned. Our primary mission field is here.
But back to apologetics. I, neither any other Christian, need prove nor explain all the mysteries of the Bible. This is no contest or debate. The outcome is already predetermined. The penalty of being on the wrong side of who or who’s are we, the so-called debate over the consequence of death and heaven or hell, is on the individual. The Bible needs no apology nor does God.
Thinking of apologetics in the contemporary sense, so many think Christianity needs to appear softer and gentler. This is the trap the Republican Party fell into in 1992 leading to the defeat of George H. W. Bush, as he campaigned on a softer and gentler theme. Truth does not need a makeover. The truth is tough, brutal, and harsh, but only to a lost world. The lie, is like a pain killer, numbing you to the reality we are all facing. America is like Nineveh needing a Jonah, but a Jonah acting in power and with frightening courage, not a coward on the run.
What right do any of us have to take up that task of spreading the truth in a weak, servile, and obsequious way, which way too many Christians do? We waste so much time and effort straining over trying to explain the hard sayings and mysteries in the Bible as if Christendom will end if not explained adequately to a deaf world. Not so! You will never explain the difficult sayings in the Bible to the satisfaction of the world. Don’t waste your time. I’m perfectly okay with God and His word being who He is and just as the word has been written.
Christendom would do well to unapologetically preach the word as is. I take comfort in it, as is. As to the world, I say, take it or leave it. You have now heard the truth and the consequence is on you. The world has a destiny with death. Nothing will change that.
Remember, let not your hearts be troubled for nothing happens that is not in God’s full control and ordination. The threat of evil in the world today, that have so many Christians’ cowering, is because their shepherds did not preach and teach boldly and occupy, until the return of Christ. So many in the pulpit today cannot give application of the Gospel to the events of today as they are woefully ignorant of what is going on in the world and or compromised with fear of man more than God.
As God has said, “I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.” It is His prerogative, and we are in no position to judge God or negotiate. If He wants to judge a city or country or a people and wipe them all out, who am I to complain? It is all His, and to think we are capable of determining what is fair and just is laughable. We can only operate in a world of what we know, are taught, and much of that is false. After all we are too busy running around the world, maybe to avoid the tremendous task, the missional task, needed here in America.
We are so infected with the lies and distortions of the world that we have no hope of discerning the propriety of God’s actions, as if judging propriety was something we humans were capable of in relation to God. It is not even something to be asked of God, for Him to justify His actions. One thing is for sure; whatever He decides to do is perfect, good, just, and righteous and since He created language, and meanings He gets to say what is good and bad. He defines our words, giving them meaning and import. Good is what God says it is and bad is what He says it is. He is our celestial dictionary. He is our divine Webster’s Dictionary.
The bottom-line is we already know most of the world will never accept the truth in the Bible. Simply put, only true Christians can understand truth and particularly the truth the Bible speaks. Let’s take this one level deeper. We as humans are not one dimensional or simply flesh. Although the way many of us act you would think so. We cannot escape the fact that we are two dimensional, or that is, physical and spiritual.
Humans, unique among creation, are made up of the physical and spiritual. So how does that relate to the Christian and the truth? Only the Christian can understand the truth that the Holy Spirit imparts to him. We as Christians relate to God spiritually, not physically and if you are not a Christian you are spiritually deaf, dumb, and dead. You hear not and see not. That’s not to say there are not many virtuous people in the world. But virtue will not get you into the Kingdom nor reveal the important and essential truths to life.
As stated, atheism is a mental illness brought on by the rejection of the truth and the rejection of God, who is truth. Absent God you cannot know the essential truths of life. For the atheist the truth is undiscernible. The atheist is like a dog on a leash. He’s going nowhere. Many Christians steward their time poorly arguing with fools (atheists) as if should they lose the argument then Christendom is doomed. Not so! You are not the savior of the world.
However, when our churches were strong and bold and practiced fidelity to scripture, they had a powerful impact upon the conduct of society and government in general. The fools were held at bay. Unfortunately, Christianity has lost its influence. How many pastors in 2020 stood their ground as did John MacArthur and defied the powerful, like the governor of the state of California? These are the kind of shepherds that are missing from the pulpits.
My father had a great saying that saved him and I a lot of valuable time in our professions. It goes like this; “A mind changed against its will, is of the same opinion still.” So, be a good steward of your time. Argue not with a fool. Fret not over a battle that has already been won. God needs us not but gives us the employ to spread the good news for it only enhances the justice of His judgment when it is declared. Be mindful and strategic in the expenditures of your time, talent, and treasures and on whom they are expended. Be unapologetic. Be forceful and bold. To be otherwise says much about your faith in an all-powerful omniscient and omnipotent God.
Those on the path to destruction cannot see, hear, or understand many truths of life, particularly the truth contained within scripture or of the spiritual world. Don’t forget, many who we categorize as simply lost are truly those who have made an intentional decision to hate, reject and oppose God. It’s not that they don’t know Him. They Do. They simply hate and reject Him. Many in the church seem to have forgotten this and pursue dead ends. So, Christians need to be more discerning, but also courageous and bold.
I do not concern myself with trying to re-prove established fact to lovers of lies, and committed nonbelievers, or committed atheists. They know the truth but suppress it. As with their father the Devil, the truth is like the symbol of the cross is to Dracula. It burns them, but it glorifies God in that they have heard the truth and God will be justified and glorified upon His judgment.
The chaos in America and the world today comes from the failure of Christians, the Church, to unceasingly remind wicked leaders, in the clearest terms, not in nuanced words, what they are, who God is and His ownership of everything, even them. They need to hear about the God who will rain down upon them personally, a judgment, regardless of their position or title. They need to know and hear there will be a personal and endless consequence for them.
Salvation is God’s – Beginning to End
Those who reject the truth are no accident. There is nothing you can do to change what is predestined, so be a good steward and find receptive ears, teachable spirits, not empty bodies, or the walking dead. God will bring before you those who He wants.
You save no one. God does the saving, from beginning to end. It is His work. Not yours. Get your head on straight. Stop begging people to believe. Stop diminishing the faith with your obsequious behavior and approach. Learn to put the Word out there boldly and unapologetically, then kick the dust from your proverbial sandals and move on if people will not listen.
The Word is like a seed – plant it and move on. You don’t need to wait to see it germinate. I like the metaphor of the Word being like a grenade. Pull the pin and toss it. The Word will not come back empty. Linger and tarry not. Where’s the faith you profess?
The point being is to give you joy in your labors for the Lord as well as your sufferings. It is to help you operate in this world more effectively, efficiently, and prosperously to the glory of God, but do so in power, not weakness. Oh, I can just hear some religious geeks gearing up for a battle of words and theological argumentation, while our world spirals into chaos. As I contend in the political sphere of my life, we do not need to be firing our weapons inside the tent. The enemy is outside. Either fight the real enemy and lead or get out of the way.
Many have engaged in unending theological quarrels, (that’s not to say some are not justified or needed) and are today where they were twenty or thirty years ago, with nothing to show for all their verbosity. So be it. The truth I’ve just spoken is timely for a world and church in chaos. The world is on fire. There is no time for theological gymnastics. It’s time to grab the fire hose. Its time to speak of the real God – the one who should make all mankind fearful. So, act as a soldier in the army of the almighty.
When someone approaches to engage in an attack upon Scripture I just smile and say, well maybe you’re not able to understand, or that maybe you haven’t the tools with which to understand. That doesn’t make them happy, but I’m not responsible for their happiness. But it does get their attention.
The world lives in a lie, and basically loves the lie. Speak the brutal truth. God has never commanded anyone to sugarcoat His word. Pull the pin on the Word-grenade and walk away. Let fools battle with the truth on their own. It’s more likely to do more good in their solitude than arguing with their ego which demands they strike a pose in front of you. Be smart, confident, and psychologically strategic.
As an attorney, in so many of my settlement negotiations, I never begged anyone to accept a settlement offer. I would place the offer on the table and if not accepted I would withdraw the offer and get up to leave. Amazingly, when you show a resolve to walk away, and are not in need, the offers get accepted and usually before I got to the door.
You must be discerning whether someone has a teachable spirit or are they just protecting their sinful turf and the lies they love. Confronting them with their likely inability to know the truth or understand it will confound an attack, as you have put the aggressor on the defensive. The main point is you need not prove anything. Neither God nor scripture, is dependent upon you winning the argument, much less engage it.
When you present the truth to someone not equipped to know or understand it, they will defend their ego in the moment, but don’t think for a moment that when they are out of your sight they won’t ponder and think about it in their solitude. After all, you cannot unhear something. Moreover, they already know the truth, and have that a prioriknowledge and are without excuse. Again, the leaders of our country need to hear the brutal truth of the personal consequences they face. If nothing else, it may cause them to pause on their path of destruction, if not make them change and reconsider their course and decisions.
We are tasked with planting the seed, not the harvest. Be of good cheer. Everything is as it should be or as prophesied. The die has been cast. Now your task is you dealing with you. For most of us that is more than we can handle.
I’m thankful for those apologists who are very gifted in theological debate, but for the rest I’ve said my piece and suggest you best be about the limited time you have left in this life and start living it boldly, unapologetically, confrontationally, and with the correct perspective of being good stewards over your precious time, talents, and treasures.
Remind the godless, no matter what their status in this world or how powerful they are, of their destiny, once to die, which is on its way for us all. They will not avoid it, and then they must face judgment. Time to aggressively hold your ground with the assurance that you have nothing to lose as the game has already been won. Stop trying to be liked at the sacrifice of truth. Bold Christian confrontation with the world has been lacking. Jesus did not mince words with the world and neither did His apostles.
Now, go out and walk the earth with dominion, as an inheritor, and as a winner. Just as “faint heart never won fair lady,” proceed not with a spirit of timidity, but with one of power. Now, the question for you is, do you have the strength of faith to do that? Do you know the real character of the God of the Bible? There is a cause for everything and the core of the chaos in America today originates from its attitude and misunderstanding or characterization of God. Are you part of the problem or the solution?
Jack L. Richardson, IV
Jack, this should be required reading for all pastors and seminary students as well as any of the redeemed. It is excellent. I hope to share it widely.