The Disease

There is a virus that has come upon the world today, an epidemic that has a specific host, which it feeds upon and degrades to the point of a slow, agonizing death. No, the Center for Disease Control does not recognize it. They are not even aware of it. It has been birthed, developed, and perfected for thousands of years, and while there is a cure, the sick have yet to recognize their need for it. Rather than recognizing its existence, we, in fact, embrace and accept it as a normal condition, an acceptable state of being. While, in fact, this state of being, which has overcome the church in America and beyond, is not acceptable to God but rather, I believe, offensive to Him—repulsive and nothing short of blaspheme. Upon reading, many of you will be offended and turn away discounting my words as those of a man with an out-of-date mindset, unable to relate to the twenty-first-century world. This I understand and accept, as prophets are most accepted after the damage has been done; yet even so, I encourage you to seek the Lord for His wisdom. You see, a spirit of complacency has infected believers today and will, if left untethered, lead to death and destruction. It truly is something the enemy has spent thousands of years perfecting, and this and other plans of his are working. What plan, you ask? his plan to minimize the cost of the “blood of Jesus” by minimizing the pain of sin. We have preached so much the love of God that we have forgotten to preach against the disease of ongoing and perpetual sin. We speak and sing of God’s love, all He has done for us, and the great lengths He has gone through to restore fellowship with man; all true, yes; however, we have forgotten sin breaks that bond! Jesus’ blood to many has become a salve that can be applied to an open wound, there for the purpose of healing and removal of pain, yet we never truly deliver the people from the cause of the wounds. The wounds of sin have become painless, and we as believers often walk around with open sores we ourselves do not see; yet the world recognizes them all too well. They are open sores that bring pain to God and His people, sores from ongoing and perpetual sin. We apply the salve of Jesus when it begins to hurt, and when the pain becomes overwhelming, we attend church and have the pastor and/or the Worship team apply more salve, but we never heal the cause of the infection. Worship has become, in many cases, a euphoric and emotional event as opposed to the recognition from the depths of our souls for a Holy God and all that He has done. Preaching all too often has now become the feel-good-in-your-sin sermon because, after all, God loves you so much! True yes, but in order to be saved, we must recognize we need a Savior. Am I legalistic, a follower of the law? Of course not. We who believe must, in fact, confess and know that the blood of Jesus covers our sin. Yet if you wonder how Jesus feels about sin and the effect it will have on the church, simply read Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. If that does not convince you Jesus hates sin in the church, what will? Where is the hatred for sin? Where is the avoidance of the things of this world? Where is the power of the Holy Spirit that causes men to flee from ongoing sinful behavior? Today we can turn on our radio, modify our playlist, and even attend church and hear songs that cause us to feel good and to have an emotional response to the wonderful words of redemption and praise of God. We feel so good about us and how much God loves us that we become euphoric about God and Jesus. When I feel bad about my behavior, when guilt comes in, all I need to do is turn on my music or plug in a favorite message from any one of thousands of feel-good preachers to find relief. Yet as with any disease, the painkiller does not provide a cure! There is only one cure for repetitive sin—deliverance! We’re not preaching deliverance any longer; we are rather preaching acceptance. Oh, you may say that is not at all what we are preaching. How dare you say that, Gene! Well maybe not, but when is the last time you heard a message about Jesus’ hatred for sin? When is the last time you were faced with the truth of passages proclaiming the need to be transformed before you will see the kingdom of heaven? passages like John 3:3, where Jesus Himself states, “unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Being born again in this context means to literally go through a metamorphosis that transforms who you are, much like a caterpillar and a moth. Are you different? Do you hate sin? Are you transformed? Read Galatians 5:16–23, one of the greatest, in my humble opinion, descriptions in the New Testament of how we as believers are to walk and the greatest description of how we are not to walk. How about John 15? Jesus’ own words that we are to bear fruit, His fruit, not the fruit of this world. Look at Romans, chapters 8 or 12, and how about 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, just to name a few? Yes, the blood of Jesus covers all sin, yet do you continue in sin, seeking more blood to cover your willful disobedience? If so, do you truly understand the value of that blood? Do you truly believe Jesus is who He says He is? Is He Lord of your life? Some would say, well pastor, that's just one passage; there are many that speak of Jesus’ love and desire to reconcile us of His grace and of His mercy. What about those? Yes, we serve a merciful and gracious God; we also serve a God who will not be mocked, a God who hates sin because sin separates man from God. Galatians 6:7–8 is very clear: “whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” If you sow in to ongoing sin, what will you reap? The answer is clear. If you sow sin, you will reap the benefits of sin and the crop of sin, which is death! I am not speaking against the day-to-day cases where we fail or miss the mark. I am speaking of the things we don’t even wrestle with because grace has become too easily applied—ongoing pornography, lying, unfaithfulness, envy, gossip, and more worldly behaviors. Again, Galatians 5 has a great description. You cannot live in two worlds. You cannot serve two gods. Wake up. Please wake up! There are many of you reading this now who are living a lie, and that lie will lead to your death without repentance! You can hide your sins from man, but the Lord will reveal all you have done, for He sees all. You cannot fool God! Please understand, yes, God loves you, and He has sent His Son to save you from your sins, all sin. He then sent his Holy Spirit to help us keep from sin. The reality is we have the choice, and no, it is not easy! We must choose to deny our flesh and walk in the light of the Spirit. God does not condemn man, but He does condemn sin (John 3:16–21). Am I the only one right now who is wondering why we are not hearing this preached from pulpits across this nation? People are in churches dying from a disease the church has perpetuated in order to fill seats. Bigger is not better, folks. In Matthew 7:13–14 Jesus says these words: “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Jesus goes on to warn against false prophets who come in as ravenous wolves. Who are they? Those who preach wide and easy is the way, for one! Wake up!