“When Herod’s birthday came, the daughter of Herodias danced before the company and pleased Herod, so that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a platter.’ And the king was sorry, but because of his oaths and his guests he commanded it to be given. He sent and had John beheaded in the prison, and his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother.” [1]
One of the sorriest spectacles in the entirety of the realm of human interactions, has to be that of an old man who trades moral standing for some titillating display from a woman young enough to be his daughter. Such a sorry display can only be matched by a cougar who is besotted with some young male. Perhaps those old fogeys imagine they can somehow recapture their youthful days, a youth that has receded so far into the distant past that it can only be vaguely remembered.
When the daughter of Herodias danced before Herod and his guests, it is apparent that he was appreciative for more than her terpsichorean skill. Her artistic abilities seem not to have motivated him to make the generous offer he made. Young women don’t understand men. I know that it is a source of great amusement to speak of how men don’t understand women—and I admit that men really don’t understand women! As an aside, this is a strong argument against the current fad of men claiming to be women. Such is an impossibility if for no other reason than men simply can’t understand women. A man can never be a woman, no matter how he feels. He simply will never understand how a woman thinks or what she feels. She has her own logic.
However, it is equally important to note that this inability to understand one another is a two-way street—women cannot really understand men. When they do finally begin to gain some knowledge of how men think, they will be tempted to become manipulative and destructive. That is what happened when this young woman danced for her stepfather. Her mother used the event to school her daughter in the dark art of seduction for malicious purposes.
RASH DECISIONS AND HAUNTING MEMORIES — As is almost always true, this story begins somewhat before the salacious dance that has mesmerised Bible readers for years. You are aware that decisions made in the heat of a moment have a way of coming back to haunt us. Oh, there are consequences enough when we are acting with integrity, but you may be assured that our rash decisions are especially problematic.
In order to fully grasp what was taking place, we will want to focus on the king and a rash decision he made. Herod reacted negatively to John’s bold message. Herod was outraged because John’s message stung! Candidly, Herod failed to think through a decision he was about to make. Herod had imprisoned John. Herod didn’t like what John was preaching and decided to silence him by locking him away. That decision would have grave consequences for John, and for Herod.
Our study begins with Jesus ministering to the crowds, as He always did. This is the account as Peter reported it and Mark wrote it. “[Jesus] called the twelve and began to send them out two-by-two, and gave them authority over the unclean spirits. He charged them to take nothing for their journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in their belts—but to wear sandals and not put on two tunics. And he said to them, ‘Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you depart from there. And if any place will not receive you and they will not listen to you, when you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.’ So, they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. And they cast out many demons and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them.
“King Herod heard of it, for Jesus’ name had become known. Some said, ‘John the Baptist has been raised from the dead. That is why these miraculous powers are at work in him.’ But others said, ‘He is Elijah.’ And others said, ‘He is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old.’ But when Herod heard of it, he said, ‘John, whom I beheaded, has been raised’” [MARK 6:7-13].
The people respected the Baptist. He wasn’t a loveable character, but he spoke truth and called people to live holy, godly lives. He was consistently righteous, and he was universally respected as result of his life. When he had been murdered, the people mourned the death of John as a loss for all. Herod, however, was haunted by John’s death. When Jesus appeared on the scene, people attempted to account for His power, speculating on His origin. Herod, however, was tortured by his own conscience and by the way in which he had been manipulated into ordering John’s death. The appearance of Jesus frightened Herod and compelled him to recall his own cowardice.
Herod had sought entertainment for his birthday party. The entertainment he procured was his stepdaughter, the daughter of Herodias, who would dance for his assembled guests. Herodias is a dark individual, a woman determined to make the prophet of God pay for his failure to approve of her wicked choices. There is something perverse in Herod’s request. It is apparent that he didn’t want this young girl to dance because he wanted to showcase her abilities; he seems to have been on the cusp of being exposed as a paedophile. The king sought titillation from watching her dance.
This young woman’s dance was so exciting to the king that he made her a promise—he would give her whatever she wanted. He emphasised his commitment with an oath. Unlike this day, when an oath means precisely whatever the oath-taker wants it to mean, an oath in that day was inviolate. And because the oath had been pronounced in front of guests, it was even more binding—there was no wiggle room for the king to say he didn’t mean it or to claim that his she had misunderstood him. Herod made a promise and strengthened the promise with an oath. His promise was rash, and now, his rash decision would come back to haunt him.
Isn’t it strange how indiscretions can seem so exciting at the moment we act while we are still youths? We have no way of knowing when we are eighteen or twenty or even thirty years of age, how those acts that excited us so greatly at that moment, the actions that were so gratifying when we were younger, will come back to haunt our memory when we are fifty, or sixty, or even seventy years old. I can’t fully escape the memories of choices I made when I was a teenager. Those memories rise like a spectre at the most inopportune times to remind me of the wickedness that lies within. Decisions that seemed so reasonable at that time, have a way of lingering even though we gain maturity.
It is quite possible that we each have negative memories—memories of choices we made that dishonoured God or disappointed our loved ones, memories of things we said that hurt those we love or words that even destroyed someone undeserving of such injury, memories of actions for which we are responsible—actions that hurt another or actions that destroyed friendships. Tragically, such negative memories do linger in the recesses of our minds, bursting to the surface at the most inopportune times to remind us of past failures and to point out our faults.
With maturity, and certainty we have been adopted into the Family of God, we will realise that we were in error in many of these choices, in many of the statements we once made, in many of the actions we performed. Though we who are redeemed know that our sin is forgiven, and though we know that God has put our sins behind Him, we are nevertheless often tormented by our memory of past events. The memory of lives that were tarnished, or perhaps lives that were even ruined through our own actions haunt us. Memories of friendships that were broken because of a thoughtless word or deed seem to contaminate our minds even years after the relationship was broken. It is not God who condemns us—it is our own memories that condemn us and plague us now.
As an aside, one of the dreadful prospects of eternity separated from God is the fact that memory persists. One of the dreadful revelations concerning the lost who are incarcerated in that dark hold we speak of as Hell, is that those consigned to that dark realm do remember, and those memories haunt them. Jesus told a story of a man who went to Hades, and there he is held against the day when the dead are delivered up to stand before the Great White Throne.
This is the story Jesus told. “There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’ And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead’” [LUKE 16:19-31].
That memory functions, and may in fact be part of the sentence of being away from the mercy and love of God, is Jesus’ revelation that this rich man who lived only for his own pleasure, remembered his brothers. He had compassion at last, but his compassion was too late to have any positive impact on anyone. He would be eternally tormented by the knowledge of his failure to live righteously or to warn those he loved of the futility of living only for one’s self.
Is there to be found in Scripture a suggestion that such negative memories are wiped from the consciousness of the redeemed? Perhaps. As John draws the Apocalypse to a conclusion, he writes, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away’” [REVELATION 21:1-4].
If the Lord shall wipe away every tear, if there shall be neither mourning, nor crying, nor pain, then it must be that God will not allow memories that might haunt us to remain. All that shall remain, I am convinced on the authority of this Holy Word, is the perfection of the work that Christ has performed in our lives. He will receive the glory for His perfect work, and we shall no longer be tormented by our past.
Will we remember the perfection of His work? Assuredly, because we shall stand in His glory. Will we recall those who were turned to righteousness through our witness? That does appear to be the case when we are informed, “Then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known” [1 CORINTHIANS 13:12b]. What won’t be remembered will be the sorrow, the heartache, the grief we experienced resulting from the foolish and thoughtless acts we performed. In heaven, we shall be perfected. We shall stand in Christ’s righteousness, just as we now stand before the throne of God in Christ’s perfect righteousness. Though this body is dying, though it shows the effects of ageing and the wear of this fallen world is ever more evident, my soul is redeemed, and my spirit is new through faith in the Son of God.
I am always encouraged when I read the promise given to those who know the Saviour as delivered through the Apostle of Love. You will remember that John wrote, “Now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” [1 JOHN 2:28-3:2]. Think of that! We shall be like Him! And the reason we shall be like Him is that we shall see Him as He is. That is something to thrill the soul!
I have often mused as I gaze out on the congregation of the Lord, wondering what we will see before His throne. We look at one another, and we see with eyes that can only see as the inhabitants of this world see. We see, and we think in terms of possessing, in terms of self-flattery. However, what will it be when we begin to see with eyes of faith? Will we see beautiful silken locks? A shape that is defined by the precepts of the world? Will we see beauty as the world defines beauty? Or is it not evident that we shall see beauty as God intended beauty to be. In eternity, for the first time, I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And I can’t even imagine what that entails. However, I am confident that what shall be will glorify the Lord. It will be beyond anything I could ever imagine at this time.
SEXUAL DYNAMICS PERVERTING THE CONVERSATION — Scripture teaches the people of God, “This is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness” [1 THESSALONIANS 4:3-7].
The Lord expects that His people will be pure in life. The great challenge of this generation—indeed, of every generation—is maintaining sexual purity. Listening to the conversation of this dying generation, watching the entertainment provided on television, movies on the Internet, or listening to the music of the day, the follower of Christ is assaulted with a message normalising licentiousness. Sexual perversion of every form is exalted as though it was the summum bonum of life.
The presence of the people of God is the great means by which the Spirit of God restrains this attitude from spreading unchecked in the world. In 1987, a neuropsychiatry researcher named Marshall Kirk and a social scientist named Hunter Madsen (using the pen name Erastes Pill) wrote an essay entitled, “The Overhauling of Straight America.” The essay, a plan for transforming the morality of the nation, succeeded beyond their wildest imaginations.
Among the recommendations the authors made in their essay was this one critical to their argument. “When conservative churches condemn gays, there are only two things we can do to confound the homophobia of true believers. First, we can use talk to muddy the moral waters. This means publicizing support for gays by more moderate churches, raising theological objections of our own about conservative interpretations of biblical teachings, and exposing hatred and inconsistency. Second, we can undermine the moral authority of homophobic churches by portraying them as antiquated backwaters, badly out of step with the times and with the latest findings of psychology. Against the mighty pull of institutional Religion one must set the mightier draw of Science & Public Opinion (the shield and sword of that accursed ‘secular humanism’). Such an unholy alliance has worked well against churches before, on such topics as divorce and abortion. With enough open talk about the prevalence and acceptability of homosexuality, that alliance can work again here.” [2]
This essay deals with one aspect of moral purity. However, had the churches not surrendered the field to immorality, tacitly approving of adultery, pornography, and salacious speech long before modern paederasty and LGBTQ burst on the scene, this would never have become a crisis. As it is, the churches were hit with a tsunami of moral change and they were unprepared because they had already experienced sapping of moral strength through failure to stand firm in the Faith. Pastors thought it proper to be silent concerning the immorality that was even then invading the churches. The result is the surrender of our children to wickedness and a failure to preserve the nation from ruin.
We cannot blame those who embrace blatant evil as the cause of the moral turpitude of the day—they are acting consistently with their own character. It is we who profess to be followers of Christ who are the problem. We are the proximate cause of the decline in godliness in our society. We who name the Name of Christ failed to be what we were commanded to be. Jesus has taught those who would follow Him, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” [MATTHEW 5:13-16].
The salt has lost its saltiness. The light glows but dimly. We are the reason for the moral decline observed in this generation. We cannot blame anyone but ourselves. We grew complacent and thought that by being good, people would be somehow compelled to act in a righteous, godly manner. We loved the praise of men more than the praise of God, so we refused to declare the hard truths of the Word. We wanted people in the world to speak well of us, so we refused to make them uncomfortable by speaking about sin, especially their sin. We Christians have sown the wind, and I fear that we shall now reap the whirlwind [see HOSEA 8:7].
A command similar to that Jesus delivered is found in Paul’s first letter to Timothy. The Apostle charges Timothy, and thus charges all who follow Christ, “Do not rebuke an older man but encourage him as you would a father, younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, in all purity” [1 TIMOTHY 5:1-2]. For the purpose of this message, I want you to focus on that final command: “[Encourage] younger women as sisters, in all purity.”
At one time I would have thought this command was restricted to men as a check on their attitude toward women. I admit male crassness can be a problem since men can be boorish in the absence of the restraint provided by the Holy Spirit. This situation is especially true when young men have not been trained by adult males to be respectful toward others or to employ their strength on behalf of the vulnerable. The problem is exaggerated in the absence of moderation expected whenever women are present.
However, our culture has now entered a day when young women attempt to present themselves as coarse as the men. It is shocking, disgusting, to hear young girls giggling and using coarse language while speaking of seducing boys and men. It is as if they are attempting to show how vulgar they can be, as though their lack of moral restraint will make them more desirable to males. As a certified male, I can assure young women that crude language may draw attention, but it will never make those using such language attractive or desirable to men. They are advertising their low morals, but they are not selecting men based on noble character. I cannot help but grieve as I consider the consequences that must surely come to the nation when the women have lowered their moral standards, failing to restrain the coarseness that now permeates society.
I am astonished at the way coarse, crude, vulgar language increasingly marks the speech of the women of our nation. It is bad enough when men spew such filth, but when women—young girls and even mature women—speak in such a manner that even a sailor would blush, it is an indication that the day of grace is fading rapidly. Godliness appears to be an increasingly scarce commodity in this day.
I am no prude; I worked on a crew of pipe fitters and I once wore the uniform of a United States Marine—I have spent time in the presence of rough men, and I have shared the life of those rough men. However, the degeneration in speech during my lifetime leaves me breathless. I recall an instance when I had consulted a lawyer concerning a need for legal representation. During our initial conversation, she fielded a phone call. As she spoke to the caller, her language was crude, her words coarse and vulgar as she made a slighting remark about a fellow lawyer. When she hung up the phone, she looked at me and casually dismissed her language by pleading, “Excuse my French, Reverend.”
I responded, “Madam, that was not French, and I shall not excuse it. If that reflects your grasp of the language, then I doubt that you are capable of representing me in before the courts. Thank you; good day.” With that, I stood and left her office.
Life is too short and opportunities for ennobling others too fleeting for me to fill my mind with the filth that characterises this dying world. I have discovered that I am too easily influenced toward evil to allow myself to spend time feasting on the rotted fruit of this dying world. Certainly, I have no need to break down the spiritual barriers God has erected against sexual degradation. Watching perversion and displays of gross sexual gratification as a form of entertainment will not make me a better person. Assuredly, such activity will not glorify the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
RAGE AGAINST THE FAITH — The account provided in the Word informs readers that Herod wanted to put John to death. John had insulted the king, publicly rebuking him, and Herod did not welcome such honesty, especially when it was directed at himself. However, as is true of bullies, Herod was craven, he was a coward. The text informs us, “Though [Herod] wanted to put [John] to death, he feared the people, because they held him to be a prophet” [MATTHEW 14:5].
Herod was enraged, but he wasn’t alone in his rage against John. In a parallel passage provided by Mark, we read, “Herodias had a grudge against [John] and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe” [MARK 6:19-20a]. We are left with the distinct impression that Herod might eventually have gotten past his anger had he not been egged on by his wife. The Restoration playwright, Congreve, was correct in his assessment that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. [3] This woman perverted every conceivable wile to wreak vengeance on the Baptist. She was even prepared to prostitute her daughter in order to seduce Herod into killing the man of God,
It has always been thus—righteousness angers the ungodly. A godly life enrages those held in thrall by sinful behaviour. A holy life condemns the godless, and when the wicked person feels condemned, she is livid. She will allow nothing to stand in her way to accomplish the foul evil that struggles to burst out of her heart.
It is hard to believe that this young girl danced on her own accord for Herod and his guests. We witness her mother’s hand when Herod promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. Thus, the Word informs us, “Prompted by her mother, she said, ‘Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist’” [MATTHEW 14:8 ISV].
It is a certainty that the world will always be enraged by the faithful. Unbelievers will always seek to silence believers—they are offended by the faithful because they are offended by the Faith. Jesus Himself warned His followers, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you” [JOHN 15:18-19].
People do not act rationally when they are enraged; their anger consumes them, their mind clouded with their anger. They cannot think clearly as they plot how they can exact their revenge on the one against whom their rage burns. Herodias, her emotions overwhelming her ability to think rationally, appears to have been consumed with flaming fury. John had insulted her by rebuking her, and she would have her revenge! Much like modern social justice warriors who plead for tolerance, all the while plotting how to get back at those against whom they rage, the queen would misuse her position. Once they are in power, tyrants reveal their intent to extirpate anyone and any community who fails to agree with their self-centred position. Herodias would not tolerate anyone openly disagreeing with her desires. She would cudgel into submission anyone who dared demean her self-importance; she would not permit anyone to challenge her choices.
Why does the unbelieving world rage against the Faith? Why do wicked people hate Christians, endeavouring to stifle the saint’s desire to honour the Son of God? Is it not that unbelievers are enraged by the very idea that there is a God, that Christ the Lord lives? They can’t get their hands of the Risen Saviour, so they turn their rage on His people. In the words of Jesus just quoted, the Master continued instructing His disciples, teaching them, “Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me” [JOHN 15:20-21].
Follow along as I read the next several verses in which the Master tells His disciples the reason behind the burning anger that is demonstrated against the righteous. “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have any sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. The person who hates me also hates my Father. If I had not done among them the actions that no one else did, they would not have any sin. But now they have seen and hated both me and my Father. But this happened so that what has been written in their Law might be fulfilled: ‘They hated me for no reason’” [JOHN 15:22-25].
PERSECUTING THE FAITHFUL — Herodias conspired to persecute God’s servant. She was the consort of a ruler; she should have been renowned for grace and courtesy. Instead, she stood in a dark line that continues to this day; hers was a dirty heritage of tawdry souls distinguished by evil as she persecuted the faithful. If possible, raging souls such as Herodias would extirpate the Faith. Like modern persecutors, the enraged woman sought to make the faithful servant of God pay for his audacity. He made her feel bad, and she was determined to make certain that he understood just how upset she was.
Have you ever noticed how evil talks about tolerance, until it is in a position of power? I’m old enough to remember that the LGBTQ movement talked about tolerance, until they were in favour with politicians. Then, we witnessed repeated and sustained attempts to silence the churches, to make conscientious Christians be quiet, to shut down anyone who dared refuse to approve of their choices.
Some seven years ago, the Catholic Archbishop of Philadelphia wrote, “As the historian Gertrude Himmelfarb observed more than a decade ago, ‘What was once stigmatized as deviant behavior is now tolerated and even sanctioned; what was once regarded as abnormal has been normalized.’ But even more importantly, she added, ‘As deviancy is normalized, so what was once normal becomes deviant. The kind of family that has been regarded for centuries as natural and moral—the “bourgeois” family as it is invidiously called—is now seen as pathological’ and exclusionary, concealing the worst forms of psychic and physical oppression.’
“My point is this: Evil talks about tolerance only when it’s weak. When it gains the upper hand, its vanity always requires the destruction of the good and the innocent, because the example of good and innocent lives is an ongoing witness against it. So it always has been. So it always will be.” [4] His words are stinging, but true.
Of course, those of us who have been around for more than a couple of decades remember when those who advocated for abortion said they wanted the procedure to be safe, legal, and rare. We know how that has worked out. Abortion has depopulated North America by tens of millions of children since the procedure was legalised. As for the issue of safety, one need but cite the names of Kermit Gosnell [5] and Robert Rho [6] to point to the immediate dangers to women that are associated with the procedure. And to these notorious names, one could add James Pendergraft, Bruce Elliot Norman, and Abraham Hodari. [7] Long term physical and emotional consequences attend the procedure. And yet, the popular view among those advocating for unrestricted abortion is that anyone who questions what is being done is extreme.
Beverly McMillan, an obstetrician who operated an abortion clinic in Mississippi from 1975 until 1978, at which time she became convinced that the abortions she was then performing caused more harm than good, argues that since legalising abortions, medical complications are as severe, and perhaps more severe, than when the procedure was illegal. [8] In our present world, when questions are raised concerning third trimester abortions and the obvious death of a child, those raising the question are said to be extreme. It is those defending life who are attacked and marginalised as extreme!
If our spiritual forefathers were to return to Canada today, they would be both astonished and horrified. They would be astonished at the change in social attitudes. They would be horrified at what is now tolerated as normal in our society. That this transformation of society has taken place within only a couple of decades can only be described as breathtaking. The Stonewall Riots took place only five decades past, and the AIDS epidemic began less than three decades before this day.
These important events served to create sympathy for what had, to that point, been a movement that was outside of the mainstream. What is important for Christians to realise is that by themselves these events would have had no impact had society not already been seriously morally and spiritually compromised. For years, pastors had been suffering with lockjaw when confronted with the sinful behaviour of their parishioners. We thought it was enough to talk about being nice, to urge listeners to cultivate a pleasant demeanour that would ensure people liked us. We were far less concerned with fidelity to the Word or with pleasing the holy Son of God. We transformed the pulpit into a job for people who were able to string together words in a manner that entertained, always being careful not to make anyone feel uncomfortable. The churches no longer held parishioners accountable to what is written in the Word. We were far more concerned with the numbers filling the auditoriums and the size of the offerings. Thus, we have no one to blame for our current state except ourselves. We are the reason for the challenges to our continued ministries we now face. As Jeremiah lamented,
“The crown has fallen from our head;
woe to us, for we have sinned.”
[LAMENTATIONS 5:16]
As I preach, I feel more-and-more a kinship with Jeremiah. You will recall that the weeping prophet wrote,
“Whenever I speak, I cry out,
I shout, ‘Violence and destruction!’
For the word of the LORD has become for me
a reproach and derision all day long.
If I say, ‘I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,’
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.”
[JEREMIAH 20:8-9]
Reviewing the message I’m bringing at this hour leads me to honest confession: I have often wished that I was permitted to preach pleasant things. I’m a sensitive soul, and I have wished on many occasions that the Lord would permit me to declare such things as those that affirm listeners. I wish I was permitted to speak a positive message that makes people feel good about themselves. However, the LORD God has spoken, and like Jeremiah, I am compelled to warn God’s people. As Amos has written,
“The lion has roared;
who will not fear?
The Lord GOD has spoken;
who can but prophesy?”
[AMOS 3:8]
Those identified with the world system hate the Faith; they are offended by those who hold to the Faith of Christ the Lord. During the Great Tribulation, the glittering husk of what was once the Faith of Christ the Lord is portrayed as “the great prostitute” [see REVELATION 17:2 ff.]. The world system—the antichrist and the false prophet—will use this religious husk, until they have no further need of her. Then, the antichrist and the false prophet, the world system with which apostate religion will have allied herself, will destroy all pretense of accepting or tolerating religion. The Revelator informs us, “The ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked, and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire” [REVELATION 17:16]. If the world system in the days of the Great Tribulation will hate religion, how much more does the world system in this day hate the true Faith of Christ the Lord!
Christians who are tepid in the pursuit of righteousness, Christians who have failed to confess their own sinful nature, Christians who attempt to maintain a façade become the people that invite assault against the Faith. This, then, is what must be done. We must confess our sin, renouncing all past instances when we dishonoured the Lord who saved us. We must live boldly and openly as a people dedicated to the Son of God, refusing to allow ourselves to be guilted into silence because of what we may have done at some point in the past. We must prepare ourselves for assault from the wicked. Why would we think that the world will love us? And why would we ever imagine that we can use the world for holy ends?
In confessing our sins, we must acknowledge past instances when the churches dishonoured Christ the Lord. Sin cannot be hidden; God Himself will expose His people! It is always the best course to openly confess and renounce our sin, being specific about what we have done. Perhaps we should have times of open confession as we seek forgiveness for our wickedness.
We must become radical in our pursuit of holiness. The ardent pursuit of righteousness is never fanatical. We must not be content to merely wear our religion as some sort of cloak that we can put on and take off at will; the longing for righteousness must be apparent by the manner in which we choose to live. We must be holy!
We must not be surprised when the world attacks us, questioning our motives and speaking ill of us because we choose to pursue God with our whole heart. The world can only do what the world is programmed to do. Because the Spirit of God does not motivate the world system, it cannot seek to be holy—it can only react harshly against that which offends it. Let God’s holy people choose to obey Him. Amen.
[1] Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2016. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
[2] Marshall Kirk and Erastes Pill, “The Overhauling of Straight America,” November, 1987, http://library.gayhomeland.org/0018/EN/EN_Overhauling_Straight.htm?utm_source=The+Daily+Article&utm_campaign=0abbede8e6-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_04_16_05_39_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_51f776a552-0abbede8e6-273271905&mc_cid=0abbede8e6&mc_eid=68bbc7e894, accessed 29 May 2019
[3] Attributed to William Congreve, spoken by Zara in “The Mourning Bride,” Act III, Scene VIII, 1697. “Heav’n has no Rage, like Love to Hatred Turn’d, Nor Hell a Fury, like a woman scorn’d.” Alternatively, the idea may be attributed to Colley Cribber in “Love’s Last Shift,” 1696, “He shall find no Fiend in Hell can match the fury of a disappointed Woman!—Scorned! slighted! dismissed without a parting Pang!”
[4] Archbishop Charles Chaput, “Disability: A Thread for Weaving Joy,” January 24, 2012, accessed 4 June 2019
[5] Charlie Spiering, “58 horrific details from the Kermit Gosnell trial that you do not want to read,” Washington Examiner, April 18, 2013, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/58-horrific-details-from-the-kermit-gosnell-trial-that-you-do-not-want-to-read, accessed 4 June 2019; Jon Hurdle and Trip Gabriel, “Philadelphia Abortion Doctor Guilty of Murder in Late-Term Procedures,” New York Times, May 13, 2013, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/us/kermit-gosnell-abortion-doctor-found-guilty-of-murder.html, accessed 4 June 2019
[6] Tony Perkins, “A Young Mom Is Far From Only Victim of Abortionist Robert Rho,” The Daily Signal, May 14, 2018, https://www.dailysignal.com/2018/05/14/a-young-mom-is-far-from-only-victim-of-abortionist-robert-rho/, accessed 4 June 2019; Dave Andrusko, “Abortionist sentenced in death of woman he aborted at 25 weeks, NRL News Today, July 2, 2018, https://www.nationalrighttolifenews.org/2018/07/abortionist-sentenced-in-death-of-woman-he-aborted-at-25-weeks/, accessed 4 June 2019
[7] Petra Wallenmeyer, “Abortionist Robert Rho Receives Prison Time For Killing Woman in Botched Abortion—He’s Not Alone,” Human Defense, July 2, 2018, https://humandefense.com/abortionist-robert-rho-gets-jail-time-for-killing-woman-in-botched-abortion-hes-not-alone/, accessed 4 June 4, 2019
[8] Beverly McMillan, M.D., “How Safe is Abortion? Dr. Beverly McMillan, former abortionist,” https://afterabortion.org/1999/how-safe-is-abortion-dr-beverly-mcmillan-former-abortionist/, accessed 4 June 2019
