Creeping in Un-Aware
Gary Waddell ♦ Victory Ministries Middle Tennessee ♦ 6 / 12 / 2020
For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4).
One of Vine’s definitions of “crept” is this: "to enter in by the side", to insinuate oneself into, by stealth, to creep in stealthily. Last summer a snake got into my garage by creeping in under the seal of the garage door. As I was opening the freezer door to get some frozen roasting ears, I glanced up and was looking into the face of a Chicken Snake with its tongue wagging in the air. What a surprise that was! It “crept in” so to speak. Another way to look at this verse is that the individuals basically “sneaked in.” The word ‘lasciviousness’ in the KJV is “lewdness” in other versions so we all know what this speaks about. For the purpose of growing a church or increasing its membership, many acts of unholiness are now accepted in many groups that label themselves as “followers of Christ” in many churches. The Bible reads in the NT as well as the OT to “be ye holy for I am holy” (1 Pet 1:16). This is GOD speaking, not man.
The word “ungodly men” (women too) simply means those who refuse to submit to God. “I will do what is right in my own eyes, it is okay to watch this and that movie, it is okay to divorce your husband / wife, it is okay to live with another outside of marriage, it is okay to lead a sodomite lifestyle (now called ‘gay’ or ‘homosexual’), and more”. And by the way, if you have a pastor that will marry two men, flee that church quickly. Many are mis-interpreting the word saying that God gives us free will in our lives without consequence, but remember what Paul said. All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not (1 Cor 10:23). God must be glorified. We must all carefully examine new ideas, thoughts, programs to draw the youth, and changes in worship in the church. Some ideas have been brought into the church even by some that have good intentions but the ideas and programs do not hold to Biblical views. We need to have discernment about changes. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself, how does this glorify God? None of these things came upon us suddenly. This has been happening for a long time. All of the evil that has come upon our nation and the world was not brought to us overnight. Much of it was allowed to creep in. I have heard it said that if you put a live frog in a pot of water and start heating the water slowly, it would eventually boil to death before it has the chance to jump out (By the way, that sounds sick - I wouldn’t do this).
Changes being made ‘little by little’ have turned many hearts away from God. Again, This is not an overnight event. Civil and society laws and rules have been made over the years without regard to God and His rules. One good example: Prayer was taken out of the public school system in the U.S. in the sixties and little by little we have sunk to the depravity we see today. Here is an interesting article you should read.
The "so called (an evil thing) right" to murder an infant in the womb was started by one individual and one group in January 1973. This was started by haters of God and today, abortion is considered "just a procedure" or "inconvenience". Planned Parenthood and abortion doctors have made untold millions off the killing of innocent babies. Of course, as a “follower of Christ” we know that “God hates hands that shed innocent blood” (Pro 6:17). We know that it is "murder". What could be more innocent in this world than an unborn infant / child. And all of this was based on a lie. Evil crept in and is still creeping in today. Woe to them who call evil good. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21). Some tell us as "followers of Christ" that we should obey the law as in (Romans 13:1), since abortion is 'legal' - "However, we ought to obey God rather than men" (Acts 5:29) when it comes to God's word.
All of us need to explain the scriptures to the “un-learned” audience or congregation. (Acts 17:11) "These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so". That means that we need to know the scriptures ourselves so that we may teach others. There are many that need to know about the grace and forgiveness of God Almighty and how they can be set free from the hidden guilt that plagues their lives. Jesus paid the price for all who will receive Him (John 1:12-13).
Jesus said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life:
and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).
Let’s not move the standards or landmarks which God has set to protect each and everyone of us. We must not allow anyone or anything to "creep in" to change God’s holy word. Stay in His word daily and we will all recognize those who have crept in unaware. We have God's word, the Bible, in our hands (2 Tim 3:16). Now we must cement it in our hearts. Let us all remember, that Every word of God is pure (Pro 30:5).
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set (Pro 22:28).
Thanks for “Taking 5" • Gary Waddell • Victory Ministries Middle Tennessee
iamnotashamed.com • God bless and bless GOD
