Jesus as He was coming to the end of His mission on earth was one day confronted by the Pharisees. Having had enough of their “talk” Christ rebuked them:
Matthew 15: 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.
He rebuked them with Isaiah:
Isaiah 29:13 And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Today I see this very clearly in today’s society. Most go about going to their churches once a week living in their dogmatic rules made by men and think they are good with God. But as you can see above this is something that has plagued humanity for centuries.
Many religions do this. Some teach that Christ’s mother has a special role, but nothing in the Bible supports this. Some say that once you are saved you can never loss your salvation, yet four times the Bible states you can and three of these times straight from Jesus Christ Himself.
Yet none want to hear this or acknowledge that there may be truth to any of this.
Most do not read the Bible themselves they just go off of what they are being told by the person that stands upon a dais every Sunday before them. Forgetting that he too is only human and can make mistakes. Some mistakes that are so drastic people’s faiths are destroyed and others suffer from financial, mental or physical damage caused by these flawed humans they have placed all their hopes and desires into what is said.
The thing is their hopes and desires were not aimed at the correct target. They should have been going to God through His Son our Savior the Lord Jesus Christ. For Jesus made it clear that ONLY through Him can you get to His Father, God.
I have yet to hear someone teach that you MUST place God first in all that you do. Many on the dais hardly talk of repentance, and those that do, do it sparingly. Most want to keep you in their church so they give “feel good” sermons meant to give joy to those that have come to hear them.
The last time I heard a preacher speak of damnation I was 17, I am now 56.
So yes I see many that profess to be a “Christian.” I see how they honor God and Christ with their lips yet the next six days are like they never even heard of a church, or Jesus, or God.
They are more interested in their job, getting a bigger and a better home, car, and golf clubs. I hear how they speak more of sports of any type than to acknowledge the glory and salvation that Jesus Christ offers to all that will only listen.
Yet you challenge them on these facts and you are suddenly the pariah, the nut job, the Holy Roller or worse they throw the judgment card. This alone showing how truly ignorant they are of the teachings of the Bible. For to judge someone you must be guilty of the same sin they suffer from. For what Christ was talking about was hypocrisy not judgment.
For in 2 Timothy 4 we are told we are to reprove, rebuke and to exhort our fellows in Christ so that they may become stronger in their faith and believe in the one true God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not nor has it ever been judging when we use the Bible itself as our guide.
It is now that all that call themselves “Christian” and live their faith 24/7/365 to stand and make themselves heard for the end truly is close. How close? Only God knows the answer to that question. Within the Bible though we can learn the signs of what to look for and know that the soon return of the glorified Christ is near. I dare you to find out for yourself, especially if you say you are a child of God yet live the life of the world about you.
Understand that this life we now live offers us no TRUE reward because you cannot take things of this reality into the eternal. So any reward, or happiness that you seek here in this life you now live is not worth the true reward that is to come. For how we live here determines how we are to be rewarded in the eternal life.
There will be many that say “Lord you know me, for I prayed to you, and Jesus will look down upon them and say: “I never knew you.”