Courting Disaster With Unholy Laughter.

We have a few people at Bronx Bethany who hate the prospect of fully submitting to the Holy Spirit.

In the midst of an appeal from Christ through Sister Joann, what do we hear? Derisive laughter. Who is laughing? Older adults who are comfortable and set in their ways, who are minimally affected by the current economic storm, and who have bought into the lie that a mere acknowledgement of the Lordship of Christ is sufficient to buy them a ticket into heaven.

Well, people, read the Gospels. You'll find evil spirits bowing before Jesus and calling Him Lord. What makes us different from them? In a framework where we know, according to Isaiah 45:23, that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, what distinguishes the righteous from the wicked?

I'd encourage you to read the book of Matthew. See Jesus equipping His disciples and giving them an assignment: preach the good news of the kingdom, heal the sick, cast out demons. Some of you, I know, are not going to take up the challenge of reading 28 chapters in one weekend- so I'll give you a couple of things here. This is what JESUS said: "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8).

The righteous hear the command of the Lord and put it into practice.

And, see Jesus giving this warning to the crowd: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 7:21).

The foolish, having heard the desire of the Lord, choose not to carry out His desire.

The word to the Pharisees, recorded in Matthew, is a reminder of the word to the prophet recorded in Hosea 6:6. God desires mercy, not sacrifice (also see Matthew 9:13, 12:7, 16:6-12). And that's a reminder to us. Don't just sit in the pew, worship the King. Don't just give your money, give Jesus total control over your life. Don't show up at events to placate the pastors, instead be sure that your actions are led by the Holy Spirit.

Bronx Bethany, stop laughing. Get uncomfortable.