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About Jesus Steve Sweetman Arrogantly
Stubborn Proverbs 16:18 says that
pride goes before destruction. From
my vantage point, I see our western culture, especially in the world of
entertainment, becoming one of the most self indulgent and prideful
cultures in history. If my
assessment is accurate, then according to this proverb, you know what
lies ahead for western culture.
One of While commenting on the
recently released http://crooksandliars.com/2014/03/bill-maher-disses-noah The language and content
of Maher's rants would have pushed him off the airwaves a few years
back, but not any more. I
recall Jeannie C. Riley's "Harper Valley PTA" and the Rolling
Stones' "Let's Spend The Night Together" being banned on many
top 40 radio stations. This
is far from the case today. In
the name of tolerance and moral relevance the stuff that was banned in
the 1960's is the stuff that young children learn in school today.
Blasphemous vulgarities have become the norm in our free for all
social media forums. I don't
challenge Maher's freedom to say what he wants, when he wants, and, how
he wants. I do point out
however, that Christians have the same freedom.
I'd only hope we'd express ourselves with more civility than Bill
Maher, but that's not always the case.
All this reminds me of
Revelation 16:10 – 11. "…
Men gnawed their tongues in agony … and cursed the God of heaven
…" Revelation 6:16
tells us that these men will cry out to the mountains to fall on them
just to escape "the One who sits on the throne and from the wrath
of the Lamb". At some
future date, there will be no atheist.
These verses tell us that men and women will know God exists
because they curse Him and attempt to escape His wrath.
You don't try to escape a God you believe doesn't exist.
In their stubbornness they cannot bring themselves to admit that
they've been wrong about God. Revelation
9:20 says that they will not repent, even after God has pinned them down
to the floor in judgment. I
know the atheist will tell me that Revelation is a fanciful prophetic
fable, but when the majority of Biblical prophecies have already been
fulfilled, I wouldn't bet on Revelation not being fulfilled.
It's amazing how man can be so arrogantly stubborn, even in the
face of such horrors they clearly know are from the God they've
consistently denied. Bill Maher's arrogant and
vulgar rants show us a glimpse into the world of God mockers, but as we
know, "God cannot be mocked. A
man will reap what he sows". (Galatians 6:7)
Even natural law tells us that what is sown will in one way or
other be reaped. The day
will come when the reaper's sickle will swing its way across the earth
in judgment. The apostle Peter put it
bluntly when he spoke about arrogant blasphemers. "These people
blaspheme in matters they do not understand.
They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born
only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals, they too will
perish". (2 Peter 2:12) Ironically,
Peter wrote these words just 7 verses after mentioning that Noah was a
righteous preacher in a world of arrogant blasphemers.
Peter wasn't the only
Biblical personality that spoke like this.
All of the prophets and apostles, and Jesus Himself, concur.
Look at John the Baptist. He
exercised his prophetic ministry in a world that knew no freedom of
speech. His public rebuke of
King Herod's immorality and other sins cost him his head.
You may be glad you don't have the same type of prophetic
ministry that John had. Not
all of us are prophets, but in the broadest sense of the word, all of us
should prophesy. Every one
of us who has handed his life over to Jesus has become His
representative here on earth. In
other words, Christians are Jesus' spokespeople to both individuals and
to nations. When we speak on
the behalf of Jesus, Biblically speaking, we prophesy.
Let us never neglect being the spokespeople we are meant to be,
and let's do so while we still have a measure of freedom afforded us in
our western democracies. The
day will come when being a spokesperson for Jesus will be a costly
venture.
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