[Today’s post is lengthy. I hope you will make the sacrifice of time and continue reading.]
God’s controversy with His people reaches its apex at the place of worship. In a context where God demands obedience, exclusivity, and intimacy, there is sometimes the evidence of disobedience, divided hearts, and distance. As Bronx Bethany earnestly enters into the call to build, we must be careful to submit ourselves to the Lord and no other. From God’s perspective, the inclusion and placation of His rivals is an act that ultimately shuts the door to redemption. We see this in the life of Judas Iscariot, whose last-minute pitch for redemption was rejected. He left this world with no money, no Jesus, and no hope.
Now when Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus had been condemned, he regretted what he had done and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders, saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood!” But they said, “What is that to us? You take care of it yourself!” So Judas threw the silver coins into the temple and left. Then he went out and hanged himself. (Matthew 27:3-5)
We also see this on a larger scale in the book of Ezekiel, where God shows the prophet how the priests, though in His house, have distanced themselves from His love. Their worship is divided between God and idols. Ultimately, God sent harsh judgement to the men and women who compromised their relationship with Him.
He said to me, “Go in and see the evil abominations they are practicing here.” So I went in and looked. I noticed every figure of creeping thing and beast – detestable images – and every idol of the house of Israel, engraved on the wall all around. Seventy men from the elders of the house of Israel (with Jaazaniah son of Shaphan standing among them) were standing in front of them, each with a censer in his hand, and fragrant vapors from a cloud of incense were swirling upward. He said to me, “Do you see, son of man, what the elders of the house of Israel are doing in the dark, each in the chamber of his idolatrous images? For they think, ‘The Lord does not see us! The Lord has abandoned the land!’”
Then he brought me to the entrance of the north gate of the Lord’s house. I noticed women sitting there weeping for Tammuz. He said to me, “Do you see this, son of man? You will see even greater abominations than these!” He said to me, “Do you see, son of man? Is it a trivial thing that the house of Judah commits these abominations they are practicing here? For they have filled the land with violence and provoked me to anger still further. Look, they are putting the branch to their nose! Therefore I will act with fury! My eye will not pity them nor will I spare them. When they have shouted in my ears, I will not listen to them.”
Then the glory of the God of Israel went up from the cherub where it had rested to the threshold of the temple. He called to the man dressed in linen who had the writing kit at his side. The Lord said to him, “Go through the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of the people who moan and groan over all the abominations practiced in it.” While I listened, he said to the others, “Go through the city after him and strike people down; do not let your eye pity nor spare anyone! Old men, young men, young women, little children, and women – wipe them out! But do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary!” So they began with the elders who were at the front of the temple. (Ezekiel 8:9-12, 8:14-15, 8:17-18, and 9:3-6)
By stepping into our enacted parable of Jeremiah 1, we have stepped into a new level of worship and service. We have shifted from preparation to prophetic action. The spiritual stakes are higher. The evil one, who does not want redemption to come to the young people of the Bronx, will offer us the option of compromise. Our task is to resist and refuse the offer.
As we learned five years ago in our study of Revelation, the enemy will respond to our resistance and refusal with overt threats. Particular to Revelation 13 is the threat aimed at us from other people of God, those we love who have compromised and therefore have crossed into the enemy’s service. They are still in church attendance, still in church attire, still speaking church lingo, but like Ezekiel’s contemporaries there is another service being conducted in secret. It’s a dangerous way to live. Fortunately, these passages from Matthew and Ezekiel assure us that God sees, and God has determined an end to the practices that turn men’s hearts away from exclusive worship. (Those of you who attend Bronx Bethany services will notice there is a literary echo occurring here, as our senior pastor shared several sermons this past summer on this topic.)
Rather than debating where the line of demarcation is, let’s simply acknowledge that there is a line which, once crossed, closes any further opportunity for redemption. Our task as believers is to lovingly urge one another to remain faithful to Christ Jesus and His cause, “faithful” implying that there are no rivals stealing our attention from Him.
During Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam commented on the use of the word “overthrow” in God’s call to Jeremiah. Our pastor said, and I paraphrase, “If it’s useful and helpful but takes you away from God’s purpose, then it has to go. We must root out the things that are stopping us from reaching our destiny.” We are to remove the influences in our life that stand in opposition to God’s agenda.
What are some clues that show us whether an influence is in opposition to God’s agenda? Here are a few that we see in the Matthew and Ezekiel passages:
*It is negotiated in secret.
*It causes a turning away from the commandments of God.
*It requires isolation and/or separation from the community of faith.
*It involves betrayal of those closest to us.
*It appears to offer some type of benefit or reward.
God is calling us, individually and collectively, to search our hearts. Let us be sure that our walk with God, publicly and privately, is not compromised. God is calling for pure hearts and lives. Let us be a people who reject duplicity and embrace Christ. May His Name be glorified in us.
Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but prefer that the wicked change his behavior and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil deeds! Why should you die, O house of Israel?’ (Ezekiel 33:11)
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