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SCRIPTURE – 1Pet 4:17-18                                                                                                                                                           JANUARY, 2023

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the
end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?
And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

SUBJECT – CONSIDER THIS AS A FAIR WARNING!! RIGHTEOUSNESS IS THE KEY!!

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Well, , here we are, in a brand new year. Here's hoping that you and yours have a prosperous one, in the months to come.

However, much of what happens to you, will depend on One thing, and that is what I want to address in this message.

That One thing is, the condition of your relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Obviously, if you don't have one, then, your future months are going to be a 'crap shoot!!!' Anything could happen that could make your life more miserable than you could possibly imagine. It all depends on you!!

For those that name the name of Christ, your future is much more certain because you are His, and your relationship with Him, is solid.

Now you might ask, why do I use the word 'solid?'

I use it to describe the notion that, not everyone that claims to be His, is walking in the paths of, as the Psalmist put it in Psa. 23:3 … He leads me in the paths of Righteousness,.....

Herein lies one of the biggest misconceptions that is plaguing the Church/Christians, today.

That being the idea that because we name the name of Christ that, that automatically opens up the doors to all of God's Blessings to us, and it will be smooth sailing from now on.

We even look forward to leaving this life, to spend eternity with Him, in Heaven.

It is not quite as clear cut as that.

If it were as easy as a lot of Christians seem to believe, then, there would be no need for the first verse of our subject scriptures.

Notice, it says, Judgment must begin at the House of God [the Church /Christians]!!

Now, why would there need to be any judgment at the Church/Christians??

Because Christ wants the world to see how He deals with His own, before He turns His Wrath on the ungodly!!!

We can get an example of that when He unleashed His anger on those that were corrupting the temple, by selling things within its walls. [Mk. 11:15-17, Lk. 19:45-46]

He said that they had turned the Father's House in to a den of thieves.

What He meant was, when it came to the people offering up sacrifices for their sins, there would be vendors in the temple who would sell whatever the person needed for an exorbitantly high price, for profit, and the merchandise may not be undefiled, as required by the Law.

In short, a person may offer a sacrifice to God, that was unacceptable, and leave still unforegiven.

Today, it is a whole lot worse.

Because of leadership, most churches/ Christians, have altered the rules, so that [1]there is no need for repentance, because we are under Grace. And [2] Things that required repentance under the Law, are now acceptable in God's sight.

In both cases, the people, were being led to believe that they were in good standing with God, when in reality, they were not.

The biggest difference is who was selling them that counterfeit 'bill of goods!!' The vendors, in this case are the preachers??

The idea of living a Holy/Righteous/Perfect life, has been rejected by most churches, because it is no longer profitable [business-wise].

Neither does it make sense to keep preaching something that puts them in disfavor with the community.

In short, under Grace, the Law has been totally done away with.

Let me give you several scriptures that totally debunk that idea.

Mat. 5:48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

1Pet 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Mat. 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

Mal. 3:6 I am the Lord, I change not! …..

Now, if you will look at the first 2 scriptures, you will see that they are New testament verses that relay the direction that we are to be perfect/Holy. The first is Jesus speaking, and the second is the apostle Peter, writing, by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Then, the verse, with Jesus speaking says that He didn't come to get rid of the Law, but rather, to fulfil it.

What does that mean??

It means among other things, that the Law, was only the beginning/foundation of God's Plan, to restore him[man] to the position he had with Him, before the 'fall.'

As we know from scripture, Rom. 8:3-10, the Law was not able to do what the Blood of Jesus did, because God required the sacrifice of a Perfect, Righteous, sin-free human, to complete the process.

And last, as we see in the scripture of Malachi above, God does not change.

This means He does not change in His View of sin, and the punishment that is warranted for those living in it.

The only thing that changed, is the method of the sacrifice, which as I said earlier, was part of His plan, from the beginning.

Any other 'change' that the Church leadership promotes, is a lie.

Now, getting back to the subject scriptures, you will notice that it says, it begins with the Church.

God wants the ungodly to see how He deals with His Own people first, so that there will be no misconception of what is coming for them, after He gets through with us.

You know how people will accuse a parent of being soft on their own kids when it comes to their wrongdoing, while being hard on others for the exact same thing??

God removes all doubt!!!

We can read story after story about how He Blessed His people when they followed His directions. And, we can also see how He dealt with them, when they got out of line[sinned]!!

Yet, today, that part of the message is lost!! It can't be God cursing us, because He doesn't do that type of thing anymore!!

But, as God says, 'I change not!!!'

Now, God can use any means He chooses to fulfil His punishment on those of us that are guilty of disobedience. And, in many instances, He will use other people, as the Instruments of His displeasure with us.

Any preacher being led by the Holy Spirit, can see when this is happening, and tell the people that they need to change their ways and repent.

However, a preacher that does not have this anointing, will come up with some idiotic explanation, like blaming someone else, usually along the lines of things like systemic racism, envy, or even 'the religious right', the GOP, Trump, or George Bush, for their problems.

What this does is completely absolve them of any guilt for what is happening to them, and gives them a target to strike out at.

So, the people leave church, feeling emboldened that they are doing just fine, when in reality, they are heading down the road to their own destruction because they are getting even further out of God's Good Graces!!!

This is because they are completely rejecting His correction, and actually entering in to full-blown rebellion.

And, what does God say about rebellion?? 1Sam. 15:23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

So, you can see the mess these people are in, all because of spiritually-blind leadership.

Now, if we will look at the second verse of the subject scriptures, we will see something that should keep every one of us that are Righteous, on our toes.

It says, If the Righteous scarcely be saved[make it in]......

That let's me know that I have to be on my best behaviour, day and night.

Why??

Because the enemy is steadily mounting attack after attack, and deception after deception that, if we are not careful, will wear us down, and we could end up falling away from Him.

Matt. 24:22-24, Mk. 13:20, tells us that it is possible that even the very elect could lose their way, if the enemy were allowed to keep this up indefinitely.

The Bible also tells us in 1Tim. 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

This means, you could be saved, sanctified, speaking in tongues, baptized in Jesus' Name, and still end up on the wrong side of God. And, that means Hell.

You have no doubt heard some Christians promoting the idea of, Once saved, always saved??

Sounds good, but, there is a catch!!

The catch is, it only applies to those that are in God's eyes, Holy/Perfect/Righteous!!

As I said earlier, leadership that gives you the idea that it is not you, but someone else, are putting you on a path of not repenting when you need to, because you will have the wrong idea as to why something negative keeps happening to you.

Now, think about this, as we look at the rest of that second verse in our subject text.

Where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

By the time God gets through with His people, the Church/Christians, it is going to be total Hell for everyone else.

You see, when the people see the way He is dealing with His own, then, that should be a sign to the ungodly/sinner, that they need to hurry up and get right with Him, before it is too late.

What they will have to ask themselves is, do I want to keep on being well spoken of by the politically correct crowd [the ungodly/sinners], and face God's wrath?? Or, do I want to get on track with God, and suffer the wrath of the crowd??

The Bible tells us which we should fear, when it says, Mat. 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell!

God uses suffering, or punishment, as a means to get us to take a time out from our way of thinking, to get us to focus on just why these things are happening to us.

Hopefully, we will see that the problem stems from the fact that we are doing something wrong, and that we need to repent, and change our ways.

Of course, this is something that we, and many of our Church leadership, don't want to hear.

The reason being, we/they are getting so much pleasure out of it!!

The Bible says that Moses, took the position of, when it came to what we call fame and fortune, he chose to suffer the afflictions that the ungodly put on him and others like him, rather than to be a part of them.

Heb. 11:24-25 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter;[fame/fortune]

Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season;

Most Christians today, tend to want to have it both ways!!

They want the fame, fortune and popularity that comes from being associated with the ungodly/sinners, and, the manifold Blessings that come from being a Christian.

Friend, that ain't gonna happen!!!

You probably have heard this saying too, It's Holiness/Perfection/Righteousness, or Hell!

Choose this day, which of the two sayings you want to align your life with!!



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