All hell broke loose during April this year when a well-known Christian International Rugby Union player here in Australia was asked by someone on “Social” Media, “What was God’s plan for gays?” His reply, “HELL, unless they repent of their sins and turn to God.” As can be imagined, he won himself few friends with that reply; he lost plenty though! A few days later he released an 11-minute You Tube clip of the late David Wilkerson speaking about hell:“It’s time to get right with God.” The man has one sure Friend however, his Lord Jesus Christ, the Man who spoke more about hell than heaven.
Within moments of his original reply the same tired old mantras came spewing forth from the unbelieving world; “homophobic” “bigoted” “hater” ad nauseam. “There is no place for homophobia or any form of discrimination in our game……,” says an unnamed Rugby Union official. No form of discrimination that is, unless it’s a Bible Christian who dares to stand and speak the warning words of Jesus Christ. Sad it is that the warning about hell for the unrepentant has to come from a well-known sports person and not from a well-known preacher! If he’s forced to, the Rugby player says he will walk away from the game. I wonder how many preachers would have the courage to do the same. How easy it is for one to declare their beliefs within the four walls of a church.
To my knowledge, public support from fellow Rugby players and others well-known in sport has been limited to five or six people. There will be others who agree with him privately, but I pray they too will have the courage to speak up if the Lord lays it on their heart to do so. Every Bible Christian gets tested for their stand in Christ sooner or later and the test is not limited to, “God loves you.” It is, God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life John 3:16. (Underline mine). Perish: ‘destroy’ ‘die’ ‘lose’ – hell, in other words. It is not God’s desire that anyone goes to hell, but unless we have a change of heart about ourselves and about Christ the Savior, God has no other alternative.
The God-sent moment of truth comes to all; it is to see yourself as you really are in the eyes of God. And, seeing themselves as they really are, is what is happening to all the haters and accusers of this Rugby man. God has confronted them with their sinful selves and they despise Him for it. That’s the reality of what’s taking place here. All protests, accusations, chastising, insults and name-calling are merely smokescreens; they know it, as we know it. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them…………, so that they are without excuse Romans 1:18-20.
“The Bible is supposed to be all about love,” said the Bible-ignorant early morning TV breakfast host. Wrong! It’s not all about love, it’s all about reality! When the love of God gets rejected, the wrath of God must come. When it comes, only God knows, for He’s the only One who knows the heart of a person. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance 2 Peter 3:9 NASB. ‘Repentance’: It means, turn around – do a U-Turn; get off Self-Will Highway so as to avoid the disaster waiting up ahead. That’s what the Rugby man was/is saying in essence. He was not singling out homosexual people per se.
But we Bible Christians are being singled out, that’s for sure. We who affirm Jesus Christ, as the Rugby man affirms Him, are under no illusions about that. Praise God that many of us have experienced decades of vitriol from family members, so-called friends and associates for our biblical stand; we are greatly prepared for whoever and whatever comes against us in the days ahead. While all the while we’ve been thought of, spoken of, ridiculed and judged by them as ignorant fools, God has been filling us with massive doses of His knowledge, wisdom, insight, understanding, discernment, love, power and authority. That’s another reason we’re singled out; those who despise us see the truth of this and it fills them with envy.
A sound heart is life to the body, but envy is rottenness to the bones Proverbs 14:30. Quote: “A heart made so by the grace of God, in which are sound principles of truth, righteousness and holiness; these preserve from sin, and so from many diseases; whereby the life of the flesh or body is kept safe and sound……, kept in health and vigor…… but envy, the rottenness of the bones; a man that envies the happiness and prosperity of others, this preys upon his own spirits, and not only wastes his flesh, but weakens and consumes the stronger parts of his body, the bones.” John Gill. (Underlines mine). It is no surprise then, why many who deeply despise Jesus Christ suffer long from sickness and disease then die before their time.
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:10. So who is the thief? Satan, the devil. But people say there is no such thing as a devil. That’s right; but where does that belief come from? It doesn’t come from the mind of those who say that. None us are independent thinkers; we’re either under the influence of God or under the influence of the devil. And given that the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one 1 John 5:19, most people’s minds are swayed by his mind. That’s why the word of God on matters concerning hell are rejected. A messenger of God proclaims the truth; the devil denies it and the listeners embrace the denial.
Some of the Rugby man’s haters and accusers were faced with the God-sent moment of truth for the last time. It’s not the first time they were warned of hell unless they repent, but it is the last warning. If they don’t act upon it, then God Almighty will harden their hearts to the point where they’ll be unable to repent in the future even if they want to. So common it is for people to think, “I’m not yet ready to turn around and give myself to Christ; I’ll do it later.” All too often there is no “later.” That’s why the apostle Paul declared now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation 2 Corinthians 6:2. Nobody knows the day when they will die, but we do know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
The Rugby man was accused of, “not moving with the times.” That’s another lie from the devil, as well as being another mantra from hell! Satan knows God does not change; he knows Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever Hebrews 13:8. The word of God never changes either. It is just as timely in our time as every other time. To believe otherwise is to believe God has succumbed to the devil’s political correctness like so many men and women in church pulpits and pews have succumbed to it! And speaking of such people, they are the reason repentance is rarely spoken of and called for in churches today. “Come to Jesus,” they say. “Make a decision for Jesus.” That’s not repentance, that’s tacking Jesus on to the end one’s own agenda.
Recently I was asked for my thoughts on a popular mega church here in Australia. I’m disturbed by what I read of it and see of it on You Tube, but I’ve not attended any of its services so I gave the following thoughts instead: The test of a true church is its Bible-based preaching against sin and the need to be delivered from the habitual practice of it. I reject the doctrine of sinless perfection, but we must learn to sin less and less; we must heed the call to become holy and righteous people of God, separated from the world’s standards and practices. That’s true spiritual freedom/liberty, and the witness of it will be evident among mature believers in such a church, who will then be an example for younger people to want to follow.
Such churches are a rarity anywhere in the Western world these days. Holiness and righteousness have been slowly but surely shunned and worldliness has been slowly but surely embraced. Church leadership then, has bought the lie that it must move with the times. That’s why people can attend those places for years on end yet never get to see themselves as they really are in the eyes of God. The God-sent moment of truth may still come to them at some point, but the longer one sits under worldly preaching the less likely will one act on what they really are, or, stand shoulder to shoulder with a brother in Christ such as the Rugby man. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been…….. John 3:20-21.