Sue J Love
Loyal
- Joined
- Mar 27, 2015
- Messages
- 3,645
This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent to him priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” And he confessed and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” They asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” And he *said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” Then they said to him, “Who are you, so that we may give an answer to those who sent us? What do you say about yourself?” He said, “I am a voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.” (John 1:19-23 NASB1995)
The wilderness spoken of here could certainly have been a physical place, but I believe it was also or only intended to mean a state of spiritual dryness and emptiness, kind of like what is described for us in Revelation 3:14-22. There the church was neither cold nor hot spiritually, but was spiritually lukewarm (halfhearted, indifferent, apathetic), just going through the motions of religious practice, but not with hearts sold out to Jesus Christ to follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living, in service to God.
Now, I live in the USA, so my perspective of the present condition of the church overall, today, is based largely on my experiences mostly with institutional market-driven incorporated (merged, partnered) under the state “churches” (businesses) which are marketing “the church” to the people of the world, and so they have become like the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings. And so they have also altered the character of God/Christ, of his church, and of his gospel to not offend the ungodly.
But it is not just my own experiences by which I estimate that the present spiritual condition of the church here in America is in this wilderness. I can see it in what other people professing faith in Jesus Christ write on the internet, by the lifestyles that they choose to live, and by reading other people’s experiences and hearing a few pastors or Christian authors who actually have expressed the same or similar concerns. And this covers at least 26 years of experience since I became aware of what is going on.
And this is not speaking of every individual congregation, but is an overall evaluation of the church at large here in America. And this can be seen largely in the primary gospel being taught today, which is not the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, not if taught in the appropriate context and not out of context. Very few teach the necessity of us dying to sin and obeying our Lord’s commands, and even fewer teach that if sin is our practice, and not obedience, we’ll not have eternal life with God.
So, as those who believe in Jesus Christ, we are to be ministers of the gospel of Christ, not only in sharing the truth of the gospel of Christ, but also as those who are refuting the lies of the enemy which are being taught today as truth. In a sense, we are also to be voices crying out in the wilderness, i.e. in this time of spiritual apathy and dryness, and we are to be telling the people to make straight the way of the Lord, for far too many people today are making the way of the Lord crooked and opposite of what Jesus taught.
[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Ephesians 5:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]
And to make the way of the Lord straight is to make it honest (truthful), law-abiding (obeying God’s commands), upright, morally pure, free from slavery (addiction) to sin, and pleasing to God in submission to him as Lord and in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. For by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we now die with Christ to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him no longer to live as slaves to sin but in walks of obedience to God and to his New Covenant commandments.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
So, if we are teaching the gospel that Jesus taught, and that Paul and the other New Testament apostles taught, in their appropriate context, and not out of context, we are going to be in the minority, and we are not going to be well accepted or well received, and we will not be popular among the people. And we will be opposed, rejected, cast aside as unwanted, ridiculed, mocked, ignored, harassed, persecuted, and even falsely accused of teaching “works salvation,” even though we teach what Jesus taught.
We may have a handful of encouragers that we are aware of, but we may never know the impact that our obedience is having upon the lives of people who we will probably never meet on this earth, until we all meet in heaven one day. And that is okay. Our job is just to obey God, to share his word with others, in writing or in speaking, and then just trust the Lord that he will use our obedience to minister his gospel message to the people who do listen. And he told us we would be persecuted, so we should not get discouraged.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
It Will Be Worth It All
By Esther Kerr Rusthoi (1909-1962)
Sometimes the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair;
But Christ will soon appear to catch His Bride away,
All tears forever over in God's eternal day.
Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We're tossed and driven on , no human help in sight;
But there is one in heav'n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problem - just go to Him in prayer.
Life's day will soon be o'er, all storms forever past,
We'll cross the great divide, to glory, safe at last;
We'll share the joys of heav'n - a harp, a home, a crown,
The tempter will be banished; we'll lay our burden down.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Make It Straight
An Original Work / May 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
The wilderness spoken of here could certainly have been a physical place, but I believe it was also or only intended to mean a state of spiritual dryness and emptiness, kind of like what is described for us in Revelation 3:14-22. There the church was neither cold nor hot spiritually, but was spiritually lukewarm (halfhearted, indifferent, apathetic), just going through the motions of religious practice, but not with hearts sold out to Jesus Christ to follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living, in service to God.
Now, I live in the USA, so my perspective of the present condition of the church overall, today, is based largely on my experiences mostly with institutional market-driven incorporated (merged, partnered) under the state “churches” (businesses) which are marketing “the church” to the people of the world, and so they have become like the world in order to attract the world to their gatherings. And so they have also altered the character of God/Christ, of his church, and of his gospel to not offend the ungodly.
But it is not just my own experiences by which I estimate that the present spiritual condition of the church here in America is in this wilderness. I can see it in what other people professing faith in Jesus Christ write on the internet, by the lifestyles that they choose to live, and by reading other people’s experiences and hearing a few pastors or Christian authors who actually have expressed the same or similar concerns. And this covers at least 26 years of experience since I became aware of what is going on.
And this is not speaking of every individual congregation, but is an overall evaluation of the church at large here in America. And this can be seen largely in the primary gospel being taught today, which is not the gospel taught by Jesus and by his New Testament apostles, not if taught in the appropriate context and not out of context. Very few teach the necessity of us dying to sin and obeying our Lord’s commands, and even fewer teach that if sin is our practice, and not obedience, we’ll not have eternal life with God.
So, as those who believe in Jesus Christ, we are to be ministers of the gospel of Christ, not only in sharing the truth of the gospel of Christ, but also as those who are refuting the lies of the enemy which are being taught today as truth. In a sense, we are also to be voices crying out in the wilderness, i.e. in this time of spiritual apathy and dryness, and we are to be telling the people to make straight the way of the Lord, for far too many people today are making the way of the Lord crooked and opposite of what Jesus taught.
[Matthew 5:13-16; Matthew 28:18-20; John 4:31-38; John 13:13-17; John 14:12; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Romans 10:14-15; Ephesians 5:11-14; 1 Peter 2:9,21; 1 John 2:6]
And to make the way of the Lord straight is to make it honest (truthful), law-abiding (obeying God’s commands), upright, morally pure, free from slavery (addiction) to sin, and pleasing to God in submission to him as Lord and in surrender to his will and purpose for our lives. For by God-persuaded faith in Jesus Christ we now die with Christ to sin and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him no longer to live as slaves to sin but in walks of obedience to God and to his New Covenant commandments.
For Jesus Christ taught that to come to him we must deny self, take up our cross daily (die daily to sin), and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to living in sin and for self, we will lose our lives for eternity. But if we deny self, die daily to sin, by the Spirit, and we walk in obedience to our Lord and to his commands, in his power, then we have eternal life with God. For not everyone who calls him “Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one DOING (obeying) the will of God (see Luke 9:23-26; Matthew 7:21-23).
So, if we are teaching the gospel that Jesus taught, and that Paul and the other New Testament apostles taught, in their appropriate context, and not out of context, we are going to be in the minority, and we are not going to be well accepted or well received, and we will not be popular among the people. And we will be opposed, rejected, cast aside as unwanted, ridiculed, mocked, ignored, harassed, persecuted, and even falsely accused of teaching “works salvation,” even though we teach what Jesus taught.
We may have a handful of encouragers that we are aware of, but we may never know the impact that our obedience is having upon the lives of people who we will probably never meet on this earth, until we all meet in heaven one day. And that is okay. Our job is just to obey God, to share his word with others, in writing or in speaking, and then just trust the Lord that he will use our obedience to minister his gospel message to the people who do listen. And he told us we would be persecuted, so we should not get discouraged.
[Matt 5:10-12; Matt 10:16-39; Matt 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 12:49-53; Luke 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; John 16:33; John 17:14; Acts 14:22; Rom 5:3-5; Eph 6:10-20; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Rev 6:9-11; Rev 7:9-17; Rev 11:1-3; Rev 12:17; Rev 13:1-18; Rev 14:1-13]
It Will Be Worth It All
By Esther Kerr Rusthoi (1909-1962)
Sometimes the day seems long, our trials hard to bear,
We're tempted to complain, to murmur and despair;
But Christ will soon appear to catch His Bride away,
All tears forever over in God's eternal day.
Sometimes the sky looks dark with not a ray of light,
We're tossed and driven on , no human help in sight;
But there is one in heav'n who knows our deepest care,
Let Jesus solve your problem - just go to Him in prayer.
Life's day will soon be o'er, all storms forever past,
We'll cross the great divide, to glory, safe at last;
We'll share the joys of heav'n - a harp, a home, a crown,
The tempter will be banished; we'll lay our burden down.
It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,
Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ;
One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race till we see Christ.
Caution: This link may contain ads
Make It Straight
An Original Work / May 15, 2025
Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love
