Based on Isaiah 33:1-16 (New King James Version)
“Woe to you who plunder, though you have not been plundered; and you who deal treacherously, though they have not dealt treacherously with you! When you cease plundering, you will be plundered; when you make an end of dealing treacherously, they will deal treacherously with you. O Lord, be gracious to us; we have waited for You. Be their arm every morning, our salvation also in the time of trouble. At the noise of the tumult the people shall flee; when You lift Yourself up, the nations shall be scattered; and Your plunder shall be gathered like the gathering of the caterpillar; as the running to and fro of locusts, He shall run upon them. The Lord is exalted, for He dwells on high; He has filled Zion with justice and righteousness. Wisdom and knowledge will be the stability of your times, and the strength of salvation; the fear of the Lord is His treasure. Surely their valiant ones shall cry outside, the ambassadors of peace shall weep bitterly. The highways lie waste, the traveling man ceases. He has broken the covenant, He has despised the cities, He regards no man. The earth mourns and languishes, Lebanon is shamed and shriveled; Sharon is like a wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel shake off their fruits. ‘Now I will rise,’ says the Lord; ‘Now I will be exalted, now I will lift Myself up. You shall conceive chaff, you shall bring forth stubble; your breath, as fire, shall devour you. And the people shall be like the burnings of lime; like thorns cut up they shall be burned in the fire. Hear, you who are afar off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge My might.’ The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness has seized the hypocrites: ‘Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?’ He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, he who despises the gain of oppressions, who gestures with his hands, refusing bribes, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil: he will dwell on high; his place of defense will be the fortress of rocks; bread will be given him, his water will be sure.”
Many people believe that because they don’t see fire fall from heaven or other extremely unusual things happen that there is no judgment from God, or they even doubt that God exists. Many think that God is like a myth or a part of an ancient tradition. And moreover, if “something” exists (like some think), that it or He is so good that He will not take into consideration sin, and that His existence, in the end, does not affect our existence. Many supposed Christians believe in this manner, or at least, that’s what they demonstrate. But the Truth is that God does exist, and He is Almighty, Holy, Sublime, and He has all authority and power to carry out the judgment that is on its way, whether they want to believe it or not. The Lord will not turn a blind eye to the rebellions and abominations of the world, and least of all, ignore what those who call themselves His people do. God will judge evil, no matter how nice and pleasing the so-called servants of God preach, and the way how they practically incite people to trample His divine grace, and everything based in that God is a loving and good God, and extremely patient. They use wrongly the Word that says: “…is not provoked… …bears all things… …endures all things…” That kind of teaching is not in agreement with what the Bible teaches. God is God, and He must be treated as such.
From where does this error come from that God does not judge? Like everything evil, it comes from Satan, from his ministers, just as the Scriptures say: …doctrines of demons. This is what the Word truly says: “The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, ‘Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord, all you of Judah who enter in at these gates to worship the Lord!’’ Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: ‘Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Do not trust in these lying words, saying, ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord are these.’ ‘For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings, if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, or walk after other gods to your hurt, then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers forever and ever. ‘Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, ‘We are delivered to do all these abominations’? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it,’ says the Lord.” Jeremiah 7:1-11. Many believe that because they made some sort of decision for the Lord, or because they go to some sort of church, or because they do something that seems good (although they don’t truly respect what the Word says), they believe they are part of God’s people, or “temple of the Lord”. But, we saw in this recent passage that it is not enough to think of yourself as God’s temple, but rather, there must be a change, and a continual change, and doing the things He commands. That is why I can confidently say that there cannot be the practice sin in a person that calls themselves part of the Lord’s people, because otherwise, sooner or later, the Lord’s punishment will come. Let us look at the history that is shown in the Scriptures, the same people of Judah that were addressed here. They sinned so much against the Lord with so many different evils before His eyes that the Lord allowed for them to be conquered by their enemies, and their land was left desolate and their cities destroyed, and even most of the few survivors were taken as slaves. Thousands of people died by the sword, so it was not even necessary for the elements to be affected. There are many ways in which God can show His profound disapproval. This was left for us as an example, if we choose to persist to sin.
This is what the Word commands regarding the problem of trying to abuse God’s grace: “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?” Galatians 6:11-16. This is the greatest reality that we should fear (yes, be afraid of, even within God’s grace): “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:7-8. You cannot fool God.
And finally, do not be led by your own opinion, by what appears good to you, and certainly do not try to abuse God’s grace. This is the advice we get: “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and depart from evil.” Proverbs 3:7. So then, do you live your life as if God sees everything you do, and that you will one day give an account, whether it be here on earth, or in eternity? Lord bless! John