O LORD, you have deceived me, and I was deceived; you are stronger than I, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all the day; everyone mocks me. For whenever I speak, I cry out, I shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long. If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.

For I hear many whispering. Terror is on every side! “Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” say all my close friends, watching for my fall. “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we can overcome him and take our revenge on him.” But the LORD is with me as a dread warrior; therefore my persecutors will stumble; they will not overcome me. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten. (Jeremiah 20:7-11)

Time To Wake Up Now And You’d Best Know The Times In Which You Live

I have said this at Apprising Ministries on a number of occasions over the 5+ years we’ve been here, but it remains just as true, the Christian had better understand the time in which he currently lives. We are now witnessing even more blending of the pragmatic Purpose Driven/Seeker Driven Church, the neo-liberal Emerging Church, and the worldly Word Faith Church further forming the major pillars of the Devil’s Ecumenical Church of Deceit (ECOD)—duplicitous daughter of apostate Roman Catholicism. Yet even just a couple years ago one would never imagine any common bonds developing between them.

What each of them share at their corrupt core is the warped psycho-babble version of “love” largely foisted upon the Body of Christ through Robert Schuller ala his man-pleasing mantra, “God loves you, and so do I,” at the heart of his new reformation. But best you come to see that this “Love Train” of apostatizing evangelicalism has some seriously misguided misunderstandings about God’s view of sin, and how He wants His Body of Christ to react to it. Yes, the Lord tells us to love our enemies; however, the Scripture teaches that we must surely also abhor what these people are doing in His Name, e.g see—Proverbs 13:5.

So let’s think for a moment about what the prophet Jeremiah himself says in our opening text above. You do know that his words have only passed the test to be included in the canon of Holy Scripture twice—recognized as God’s Voice by both Jews and Christians. Well, below you’ll find some important background into the man many refer to as “the weeping prophet”:

Any study of the person of Jeremiah makes one immediately aware of his uniqueness. His life is unlike any other in Scripture… His was not a happy life, at least outwardly, for it was marked by constant sadness; his expressions of sorrow are classic… To study him carefully is to ascertain the meaning and ministry of the prophet of God. Only he among the prophets shows his personal feeling as he proclaims God’s message;…

by birth a priest, by grace a prophet; by the trials of life a bulwark for God’s truth; by daily spiritual experience one of the greatest exponents of prophetic faith in his unique relation to God; by temperament gentle and timid, yet constantly contending against the forces of sin; and by natural desire a seeker after the love of a companion, his family, friends, and, above all, his people—which were all denied him…

His life may be characterized as being one long martyrdom… Jeremiah was born at Anathoth about 646 B.C. and died, probably in Egypt, not long after 586. He was called to the prophetic office in 626 (1:2; 25:3) and served in it for more than forty years. The Lord did not permit him to marry (16:2). Though his public ministry was long and checkered, there is no indication that he ever had any disciples; and his closest companion was his faithful secretary and scribe, Baruch the son of Neriah. [1]

The Time Has Now Arrived To Tell The Truth—No Matter What; To The End

Sound like a fun job; or can you now see the life of the faithful prophet Jeremiah in stark contradiction to our current version of evangelical Christianity? All of this people-pleasing preaching put forth by today’s semi-pelagian evangelical compromisers in the ECoD that somehow we are entitled to—and even expected to—have a “successful” purpose of self-introspective spirituality leading to a distorted view of an abundant best life now. So what is the faithful Christian going to do? Should we simply smile and tell everyone, “all is well” while the visible Christian Church is on fire and crumbling down all around them?

As Dr. Walter Martin (1928-1989) once said, “It is not unloving to tell the truth. You can get in a lot of trouble for doing it; but it’s not unloving.” He was absolutely right; and more importantly, he is backed up by what Jesus Himself tells us as His disciples:

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

“Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.” (John 15:18-21)

It’s been pointed out many, many times; but the above simply does not appear to be a mandate that at some point in time the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Dr. John MacArthur has rightly stated is “hard to believe,” is suddenly going to become popular with the world. The “if” in verse 18 above warns that the genuine Christian is eventually going to come into conflict with the world system of Satan, which quitely literally hates the one true and living God, as well as His adopted children in Christ. This is absolutely inevitable; and it’s made crystal clear from the end of verse 19 — “therefore the world hates you.”

________________________________________________________________________________
Endnotes:

 [1] The Expositor’s Bible Commentary. CD Rom. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003.

See also:

JESUS’ PERSPECTIVE ON SOLA FIDE

QUESTIONS CONCERNING DR. JOHN PIPER

RICK WARREN DECEPTION ALREADY INVADING REFORMED CAMP

INFLUENCES: RICK WARREN AND C. PETER WAGNER OF NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION

RISING CHRISTIAN IMPERIALISM FUELED BY DOMINION THEOLOGY

THE COALESCING OF THE CHRISTIAN RIGHT WITH APOSTOLIC DOMINIONISM

THE ROOTS AND FRUITS OF THE NEW APOSTOLIC REFORMATION