"Just as they have chosen their own ways,
and their soul delights in their abominations,
SO WILL I CHOOSE THEIR DELUSIONS,
and bring their fears on them;
because, when I called, no one answered,
when I spoke they did not hear;
but they did evil before my eyes,
and chose that in which I do not delight."
Isaiah 66:3-4
If you turn from God, HE will choose your delusions...
Freedom of choice is one of the greatest, but most dangerous of gifts given to mankind. When a person chooses his own way rather than the Lord's, the Lord will allow him his choice. And that can be very scary.
One of the scariest passages in the Bible is the story of the rich young ruler who came to Jesus asking what he should do. When Jesus said he should give up his riches and come follow him, the young man turned around and left because he was too attached to his riches and just couldn't bring himself to do what Jesus told him to do. The scary part is this: Jesus let him go. If I had been there, I would have run after that young man to try to reason with him, to try to convince him that whatever you "lose" in following Jesus, you gain back a hundredfold (Mark 10:29-30). But Jesus ...let him go. Without argument, he just let him make the choice, and let him go. What a sobering picture.
But that's not all. When someone chooses against the Lord, then the Lord chooses his/her delusions. Think on that a moment. One who makes the choice not to surrender to Christ, will come into delusion. A delusion is deception. The person will become deceived. He won't realize he's deceived, the very nature of deception is that the one deceived thinks he's right. But he's wrong. Because it is the Lord himself who has consigned such a one to deception.
Looking at the world today, we see this in play right before our eyes. Two lesbians became pastors of a denominational church in America - and they think that's ok. And those who will go to that church think it's ok. This is delusion. Is there any way on God's green earth that such a thing is ok with God? God forbid! But because they have chosen their way rather than surrender to the Lord and his clear teachings on the subject, they have come under the delusion that homosexuality is ok, and that homosexual women no less, can be pastors of a church. The Word of God is clear even on this: women are NOT to have authority over men. So what these women are doing shows their utter disdain for the Word of God and the delusion he has consigned them to.
If only they knew, if only they realized the fate of those who despise the Word of God. What a shock it will be when they stand before him and give an account for their choices.
Friends, God gave us his Word for a reason. The Word of God, the Bible, tells us all we need to know about life. He explains who he is, who we are, why we are in the predicament we're in as fallen human beings, he tells us how to be saved, and what our salvation cost HIM.
The Word of God is the most precious gift God has given to mankind. It's no wonder that Satan has made such elaborate efforts to bring it into disrepute before the people in this world. The attacks of Satan on the Word of God are not just random happenings that so often make up our news, no, they are the most heinous actions Satan can take to destroy a man, a woman, a child, a country, a world.
As the days of the Judeo-Christian ethic which ruled our nation for so long wane, and as we near the end of the age, Satan will become more and more obvious through all that he does, in all that he perpetrates against God, against his people, and against his Word. But only those surrendered to Christ will be able to perceive it. Those who can't, can't - because they live under a delusion.
Do not believe the lies the world promulgates against the Bible. In other words do not make yourself vulnerable to be brought into delusion. Examine your heart now: if you have disdain for the Word of God, consider that someone here is telling you, is bringing to your attention, that YOU have come under delusion, and it is my prayer for you that the Spirit of God will give you a chance, will prick your conscience one last time, and will help you to come to repentance. Hear him, lest your "conscience be seared with a hot iron..." ...and you be lost. (1st Timothy 4:2)
"Now the son of an Israelite woman, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the children of Israel; and this Israelite woman’s son and a man of Israel fought each other in the camp. And the Israelite woman’s son blasphemed the Name of the Lord and cursed; and so they brought him to Moses." Leviticus 24:10-11 Today, cursing the Name of the Lord is hardly even recognized as a sin. People don't think about sin anymore, that's just so old fashioned. Men have risen up teaching that sin is an archaic idea based on Scriptures that were written thousands of years ago and are no longer relevant in "modern" society. But those are lies. God's Word does NOT change with the times, it remains forever because it is the Word of God. "For I am the Lord, I DO NOT CHANGE;" Malachi 3:6 "The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.” 1st Peter 1:24-25 Moses was directed by God to pronounce the death penalty upon the man who cursed the Name of God. "And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Take outside the camp him who has cursed; then let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.'" Leviticus 24:13-14 vs 16: "...whoever blasphemes the Name of the Lord shall surely be put to death." To the modern mind this seems crazy, it seems so extreme. Why is it so serious that it brings the death penalty? Why were so many of the sins listed in the Old Testament worthy of something as drastic as the death penalty? Well Scripture answers this question for us. "For whatever things were written before WERE WRITTEN FOR OUR LEARNING..." Romans 15:4 Man needs to know the seriousness of sin. In today's society everything is relative. Little white lies are laughed at. The huge sins are those most people don't commit, murder, rape, incest, etc. Many would agree that heinous sins perhaps might draw the death penalty, but to be stoned for a "minor" sin? The whole point is to drive home the DEADLINESS of sin. ALL sin. Because once one has broken the law of God, he's broken the whole law, just as a break in a glass breaks the whole glass. And one who has broken the law of God is forever guilty. "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10 The penalty for sin is death, both in the Old Testament and in the New: "For the wages of sin is death..." Romans 6:23 (in the New Testament) In our world today, this just isn't the case. But in God's economy, the wages of sin is still death. Once a man understands this, what will his reaction be? If he truly understands it, he will become aware of the hopeless burden of guilt he bears. Whether it's in "minor" sin or great sin, the penalty of sin is death. If he truly understands this, he will realize he is TOTALLY LOST. And that's the point: the law is meant to bring us to the realization that we are all sinners, guilty of great sins and "minor" sins, and every sinner is totally lost. Knowing that mankind is lost, God himself provided the solution. He sent his Son into the world for one purpose: to take upon himself the penalty of our sin and bear the curse of sin on himself - IN OUR PLACE. This is why Jesus died, and this is why it is exclusively through him that a person can be saved. No other "religion" offers us someone sinless, someone who bore the penalty of death for all believers, thus promising the believer eternal life. If there were any other way to salvation, that would have made the crucifixion of Jesus Christ unnecessary. Jesus Christ said: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME." John 14:6 The solution the Lord provided is the ONLY solution, and it is granted to him who turns to the Savior, confessing his own sin and in all humility asking the Savior to save him. If he is willing to surrender his sinful self to the Lord Jesus Christ, pardon is granted because Jesus Christ has born the judgment on his sin on his behalf. Salvation is not cheap - it cost Jesus Christ his life. But that wasn't the end of the story. Three days later, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, promising believers that they too, as long as they are in him, will be raised from the dead and brought to heaven for all eternity. Why were there two criminals crucified with Jesus on Calvary? Those two criminals represented all of sinful mankind, because all of mankind is criminal. One rejected Christ with sarcasm, the other criminal humbled himself before the Lord and asked him to remember him when he came into his Kingdom. The first represented all who reject the Savior, and the second represented all who receive him. The first sinner was lost, the second sinner was saved. It's all or nothing. Which are you?
"When the wicked comes, contempt comes also;" Proverbs 18:3 Contempt... There was a time when all was right in America, and I'm old enough to remember it. But today, the wicked have taken control. They have turned America upside down. What always was good is now deemed evil, and what was soundly rejected as evil is now what they call good. America has become the land of lawlessness and when the wicked oppose righteousness, then comes contempt, the wicked's contempt for those who refuse their ways and the wicked's out-and-out contempt for the Word of God. Why do the wicked hurl contempt toward those who are believers in the Word of God? Why not just leave them alone? And the answer is that it is not the believers who are hated, but it is their God who is hated. And why do they hate God? It is because the Creator has legislated righteousness, and the wicked are hell-bent on refusing to submit to anyone, especially to God. They raise their fists in prideful defiance of God and they make it known - loudly and everywhere - that they absolutely refuse righteousness. How the wicked are fearless! What pride they revel in! And how the wicked are DECEIVED. They rise up in their debauchery and utter their contempt with words of fearless hatred. They have no idea what is coming. They will perish in their sin because they have suppressed all truth in unrighteousness. "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, WHO SUPPRESS THE TRUTH IN UNRIGHTEOUSNESS..." Romans 1:18 And HOW they suppress the truth! They don't want to hear it. They've made up their minds, and they insist on living in their pride, and in stark defiance they declare their "rights" in their all-encompassing foolishness. vs 22: "Professing to be wise, they became fools..." And that is obvious to all but the fools. They gather together to parade and revel, totally unaware that they are marching right into hell. And finally, God gives them up to their own way. vs 24-25: "Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, WHO EXCHANGED THE TRUTH OF GOD FOR THE LIE..." Satan is delighted. He has managed to take over their souls. He has become their god, and all the evil he suggests to their evil hearts, that they will do - and delight in it. vs 27: "Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful..." It is clearly written in the Word of God that all that they are doing is pure evil, but they despise the Word of God. They defile his Word, twisting Scriptures to suggest that what they are doing is good. But to accept the truth - they absolutely refuse, to repent would be anathema to them. They have made up their minds, and no one, not even God, will change them. vs 28: "And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God GAVE THEM OVER TO A DEBASED MIND, to do those things which are not fitting;" When God has given a person over to a debased mind, there is no longer any hope of repentance. They have become their own gods. They not only have chosen this way for themselves, but they force their evil onto others, never satisfied until they have silenced every voice that rises up against them. They set traps to catch the righteous and punish them. They have managed to infect the lawmakers of the land with their debased lifestyles, and have turned the hearts of the people to have sympathy for their outlandish behavior. There will be no mercy for them, and ...for those who approve them. vs 32: "...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same BUT ALSO APPROVE OF THOSE WHO PRACTICE THEM." He who shakes his fist in God's face will reap what he has sown. The country is headed for great judgment, and it surely will come. They won't know what hit them. The faithful, on the other hand, have an eternity ahead of them, a life of joy and happiness in the heaven God has prepared for them. God rejoices in them, who remain faithful regardless of the pressures put upon them in the fallen world. There they received the wrath of Satan, there they were rejected, hated, mocked, laughed at, and in many cases they forfeited their lives. But that's not the end of the story. They will be crowned with crowns of righteousness, and they will enjoy the delights of heaven for all eternity. For all eternity!