“Great Expectations” Or “The Folly of Endorsing the False Professor”
In a Sermon Charles Spurgeon preached on a sweltering day the 24th of August, 1856, he stated:
“There are, among the professed followers of the humble Man of Galilee, men (Women)…whose aim is not to magnify Christ, but to magnify themselves…it had been thought at one time that a Christian would be holy, a humble man or woman; but it is not so nowadays…we have mere professors; men and women who are as worldly as the worldliest, and have no more of Christ’s Holy Spirit in them than those who have never professed Christ to begin with.”
Alright, let’s get right to it, shall we?
One of the most frustrating situations in which the true convert of Christ finds himself or herself is that of “serving” alongside the counterfeit Christian: those who walk beside the child of God, claiming to be Christ’s, but who do not live according to the Scriptures. Now to be clear, I am suggesting it is the duty of the saved to inspect and scrutinize anyone who professes Christ. But as the Scriptures would have it, there are things that accompany salvation such as:
1. A continual walk in repentance and faith-Gal. 5:16
2. Humility-a life that is marked by it- 1 Peter 5:5
3. Spiritual fruit-Matt. – 13:23
4. Love for the brethren- 1 Peter 1:22
5. Walking in truth-1 John 3:18
6. A transformed life-2 Cor. 5:17
7. Separation from the world-1 John 2:15-16
8.Obedience to the Word of God-Johm 14:15
9. Victory over sin-1 John 5:3-5
10. Holy ambitions- Matt. 5:6
I’m just saying’…
It grieves the true convert of Christ because false professors do nothing but muddy the waters for those who are lost: those seriously considering the plight of their souls, and who. Upon hearing the gospel, are beginning to see the light. Yet, these same seekers can become distracted and confused by what would appear to be various brands of Christianity. It would seem to them, that, there are some Christians who have “very high Bible standards” as one person put it to me years ago, and those “Christians” who do not. The idea that some Christians have high standards and therefore, live upright, godly lives, while professing Christians can live like the world is unscriptural. Pure absurdity in view of what the Word of God teaches. The convert of Christ-throughout every stage of his or her life-is His workmanship-Eh. 2:10. Apparently, by what some endorse and accept as Christianity, they overlook this but it is major significance. Sin will not rule and reign in our lives because God has forbidden it. We cannot love the world and claim we also love Christ. We cannot live double lives. That is incongruent. We have a long way to go-but we are going. And as we continue in the grace of God, we look to the written Word of God for our direction, our instruction and our correction. We sin-but as God’s children we cannot continue there.
The question then becomes, why oh why do people insist on giving credibility to those who claim to be saved but in no way, shape or form line up with biblical salvation? I understand we need to be patient with new converts-of course we do. Older Christians were patient with us, right? The difference is this: there are those who profess Christ, yet there are no signs of life. There is no victory over or concern about sin. Nothing has really changed for them outside of a little reformation. They create contention and division at home and within the church, still maintain many of their worldly associations are are a law to themselves. Jesus confronted this kind f behavior when addressing the Pharisees. Serving notice to them as they professed to be of God that their words and actions amounted to nothing short of blasphemy. As Christians, we align ourselves with everything else we believe with the Bible-but the it comes to this topic- crickets. Consequently, those of us who are saved become contortion artists as we bend and tiptoe around them, extinguishing the brush fires that are continuously starting by there unchristlike words and actions.
There was a visiting preacher and his wife sitting in our living room one summer day years ago. She began to prattle on-as was her custom-about many things. Reference was made to her nephew and niece who were saved many, many years ago. The only problem with them, as she saw it, was that they were not faithful to church. (You may be saying, “Come on Liz, really? Some people can’t attend as much as they’d like! That doesn’t mean they’re not saved!”) Wait. It gets better. She then went on to enlighten me that the reason for this was (and these are her words) “If we could only get them off the bottle!” By the look only face (knowing myself-probably a mix of horror and astonishment) she immediately began to reprimand me, “Not everyones lives the perfect Christian life, Liz!” Rather than engaging I just asked if anyone wanted more lemonade…non-alcoholic, of course. Hindsight, my constant, companion, rebuked me moments later about how I should have responded but I think my expression said it all.
That’s a pretty blatant example of those who profess do not possess Bible salvation. But let’s get a little nit-picky, shall we? What about people who continually gossip? All in the name of Christianity, don’t you know? What about the brawling woman who is always mad at someone, always taking up a cause, and so easily offended? How is this Christlike? What about those who give the pastor the cold shoulder? (1 Thess. 5:12-13) What about the church loner? The detached one who “no one in the whole church understands”? They show up and disappear. Never attend any church functions. Just dutifully attending church and barely tolerating the expressions of joy of those around them. How is this unity? Then there are those who never sever from their worldly associations, but maintain close relationships with a vast assortment of unsaved friends and loved ones. Am I speaking only for myself when I say that I got saved-none of my old friends wanted to be around me! And I wasn’t going to compromise my testimony by going along with them. Then there are those who just never seem to get it. I would even say they are really benign among us. Not the types to be contentious or troublesome, they are really quite nice-but they are not really with us. It’s as if they are on the sidelines-they’re not in the huddle-or even on the bench-just content to be doing their own thing from a distance. Let me assure you rom God’s Word that a real distinction exists between the true convert and the false professor. Now, to bel clear, I am not speaking of the false professor who truly does not understand their condition. Perhaps the gospel is brand new to them. Possibly they have never heard a valid presentation-only a watered down version. I was like that once. I thought I became a christian when I made a little profession at age 13. But when I sat under Bible preaching for the first time in my life-when I married a young guy who was a ball of fire for the Lord-I began to become somewhat suspicious that what I claimed to assess was not quite the genuine article. When I looked at others who claimed the same salvation I professed, my heart was so troubled. I realized more and more that they had something I did not possess. Rather, I speak of those who sit among us in the Bible believing, Bible preaching churches. They hear the truth and yet, they justify themselves knowing full well their profession and subsequent life style does not line up with God’s Word.
In full disclosure, I did that too for a while before I was saved. Sitting under powerful gospel preaching for nearly a year and a half married to a man who was so changed from the guy I used to know, caused me great inner distress as I compared my “Christianity” to what the Bible taught and what everyone else around me lived. There was such genuineness to their faith; such a natural ease. My faith was a daily performance: reinvented, reformed, and manufactured-and I knew it. I tired to live the life, forced myself to read my Bible and made positively pathetic attempts at spirituality. All to no avail. It was not until I was ready to entirely agree with what God’s Word said about me, and not until I desired nothing else in this life but to know Jesus Christ, to want his rule and reign in my heart, that I was ready to be saved. It didn’t matter what I had to admit, confess or repent of-it was all fine me-as long as Christ could be mine. At about midnight, on June 9, 1978 as my good husband cradles our six month old baby girl in his arms, I received Christ.
This is a day when people give any interpretation of Christianity plausibility. Let the true Christians in the Lord’s churches, be more fervent in their love for one another and more pure and devoted in their love for Christ so as to truly distinguish themselves from the false professors. I wonder how many who were truly seeking have been driven from a solid consideration of the truth of the gospel by those who professed Christ, but were his enemies.
Just some points to under as the New Year stretches out before us…
You are a dear for reading, thank you!
Liz
