Question: What happens when the Church turns its back on God? Answer No 1. It violates the 1st Commandment of God, You shall have no other gods before Me Exodus 20:2. That’s rebellion. Answer No 2. It violates the 2nd Commandment of God, You shall not make for yourself any carved image Exodus 20:4. Carved into their idolatrous imaginations, is a god they believe the true God ought to be. That’s idolatry. Answer No 3. It violates the 3rd Commandment of God, You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain Exodus 20:7. It speaks in His name, that which the true God does not speak. That’s blasphemy.
Answer No 4. It causes its nation’s Government to turn its back on God. Evidence of such is not immediately observable; it happens by way of gradualism. It takes about four or five decades for it to show up, but here in my country, Australia, evidence is now unmistakably observable. Of our nation’s Federal leaders in very recent years, we’ve had three who told us they were Christians, but there was little biblical evidence of it based on their bowing to the demands of political correctness; another one was a confessed atheist. Similar is the case in other political parties, major and minor, Federal and State. What has been the result of it all? Confusion, infighting, compromise, incompetence, rebellion, jealousy and treachery. If a kingdom is divide against itself, that kingdom cannot stand Mark 3:24.
Answer No 5. It causes its nation’s people to turn their backs on God. So when we hear Church leaders criticizing Governments and society for its compromises, immorality and lawlessness, the majority speak for themselves, not for God. Church Commandment-violators, rebels, idolators and blasphemers are in no position to be criticizing anybody, for they accuse of what they are and do themselves. Take the Roman Catholic Church for example: the pope and his cardinals are forever criticizing and moralizing Governments and society for their compromises, immoralities and lawlessness, but take a look at them with their world-wide sexual perversions, coverups, denials and hypocrisy! They are the masters of such and have been down through church history.
Yes, it is right for Christians to challenge Government and society for its behavior because it bites everybody at some level – especially children and the defenseless. But we better make sure we’re not into the same things, and we better make sure we put ourselves in a position to advise positive, constructive alternatives if ever called upon to offer them. In other words, a sound, working knowledge of how to apply Universal Law and its principles to their situations is a must. In most cases they have the knowledge, but in most cases they have not the wisdom on how to apply their knowledge; that’s where we come into the picture should the Holy Spirit see fit to connect us with them. Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom Proverbs 4:7.
Answer No 6. It causes its nation’s people to hold faulty concepts of God. A primary example of that presently is witnessed world-wide by the “seeker-friendly” church movement. They believe they’re honoring God and Christ by “hopping into bed” with people of faiths who deny, reject and despise the biblical Jesus Christ. “Unity,” they call it, but disunity is the reality. God is not with deniers and despisers; Jesus made that point very clear. He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects (despises) you rejects (despises) Me, and he who rejects (despises) Me rejects (despises) Him who sent Me Luke 10:16. How about that! Here we have people rejecting and despising the very One they believe they’re serving. Talk about religious deception!
Do not be unequally yoked together with un-believers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 2 Corinthians 6:14-15. Note: the seeker-friendly crowd will reject the plain-sense meaning of that Scripture; they’ll make it say whatever they want it to say and those knowing no better will go along with it. Note: The Scripture is not saying we should have nothing to do with unbelievers; we are not to cloister ourselves with a monastic mentality. It is saying we are not to be led astray from Christ by them. We were all unbelievers once and would remain so to this day had the Lord Jesus not first attracted Himself to us.
Answer No 7. It causes a nation’s people to embrace secular humanism. God is denied and “Man is the measure of all things.” God’s name is not denied though, it is cursed and blasphemed instead – especially the name, Jesus. Evolution is spoken of as a scientific fact, creation is spoken of as a myth and fairy tail. Secular humanists believe the Bible is the work of men, they reject it as the word of God to men (people). Human beings are viewed as being basically good at heart, not basically deceitful and wicked at heart. For the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? Jeremiah 17:9. Secular humanists look upon human life as nothing special, hence their condoning and enforcing abortion, euthanasia and infanticide.
Secular humanists believe there is no absolute right and no absolute wrong. What’s right for one may be wrong for another. All is relative, everything depends on the situation. Values, morals and ethics – each person should determine those for him/herself. Secular humanists reject individualism – the principle of independence and self-reliance; they embrace collectivism – the principle of dependence and people-reliance. Hence their disrespect for capitalism and their respect for Communism/Socialism/Marxism. The saddest part of this for me: I’ve met many secular humanists who were brought up to believe there was a God. What brought the change? In both home and church the evidence for God was never demonstrated.
Answer No 8. It causes people who are not secular humanists et al. to believe there is a heaven, but not a hell. Everybody dies and goes to heaven, in other words. It matters not which god one believes in; it matters not what sort of a person they were and what kind of a life they lived here on earth, heaven is for all. So common is this belief, without question everywhere. Christ-denying singers and musicians die, but, “now they’ve joined the great rock ‘n roll band in the sky.” Same applies to famous sports people, actors, do-gooders – all are spoken of as now being in heaven, “making a it a better place now that they’ve arrived there.” There is no judgment to face with this god. Why not? He’s not judgmental! That’s simply, “the fear tactics and hate-speech of those Christian fundamentalists!”
Answer No 9. It causes a sense of hopelessness in the community. The old people get to a stage in life where they simply don’t want to live anymore, so they kill themselves. Most of them had never given God a moment’s thought in life in any case, so to them, to end it here is to end it everywhere. Others of them who had given God some thought in life believe that in ending it here, they’re off to a better place. The young people take their lives for all sorts of reasons but the sense of hopelessness is one of the motivators for them. Masses of them are fatherless; victims of sexual molestation, violence and brutality. They have no role models to advise and guide them through life’s dangers and pitfalls. So sad that is, when that’s exactly what the Church was designed to be!
The Church is not supposed to be a religious institution headed up by a bunch of spiritually dead religious people. It is supposed to be a spiritual organism – the Body of Christ, pulsating with LIFE in all its meaning. Jesus said it, It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit and they are life John 6:63. Again: I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly John 10:10b. Such followers of Christ are nobody’s play-thing and nobody’s door-mat and they will never allow themselves to become those for anyone else. They fully know that to treat another person as such is to treat Jesus Christ as such, whether that person is a believer or a non-believer.
The Church spoken of here has lost its Christ-given spiritual power and influence. That’s what happens when it violates those three Commandments of God. Rebellion, idolatry and blasphemy brings God’s curse, never His blessing. Violate those and you violate God Himself. How spiritually blind and foolish, certificated, titled men and women of letters can be; lots of theological knowledge but no wisdom, therefore no life! Now the good news: Christ always keeps for Himself a Church that will never turn its back on God or violate His Commandments. It’s a remnant Church and most don’t know one another in it. But they know the Lord and, they know they are His spiritual light shining in a spiritually dark place, ready to assist those wanting to step out from there. I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life John 8:12.