Woe to him who covets
evil
gain for his house.
that he may set his
nest on high,
that he may be
delivered from
the power of
disaster!
You give shameful
counsel
to your house,
cutting off
many peoples,
and sin against your
soul.
Habakkuk 2:9–10
Habakkuk
sees the hardheartedness of the people of Israel and cries out to God asking; “O
LORD, how long shall I cry, and you will not hear? Even cry out to You
‘Violence!’ ”Why do You not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to
see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and
contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes
forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment
proceeds” (Habakkuk 1:2–4). God is not slow as to His promises or His
judgments, He will act in all His Providence to exercise His will according to
His purpose. God answers Habakkuk: “Then the LORD answered me and said;
‘Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it.
For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and
it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come,
it will not tarry. Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the
just shall live by his faith: (Habakkuk 2:2–4; cf. Romans 1:17; Galatians
3:11). What Habakkuk saw in his day is what we see in our day; men
unfaithful, transgressors of the law, some even bow down to images which God
condemns: “What profit is the image, that its maker should carve it, the
molded image, a teacher of lies, the maker of its mold should trust in it, to
make mute idols? Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ To silent stone, ‘Arise!
It shall teach!’ Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there
is not breath at all” (Habakkuk 2:18–19). Man has and is attempting to make
God to as he sees Him to be, what he has vision God to be, he designs
theologies to make men fall prey to his teaching, and then Habakkuk states this
fact: “But the LORD is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence
before Him” (Habakkuk 2:20). Many Churches are unfaithful to God and have
allowed in various forms those heresies that the Apostles fought against, that
the early Church fathers fought against allowing must falseness to enter into the
Church. An example of having been taught that which is unscriptural: Many
object about the Roman Catholic Church with their idols, the saints, the
pictures of Mary, and Joseph, even of baby Jesus and the cry goes out: “Idols!”
Yet, those same persons have at least one picture of Jesus as though this was a
camera shot of Him. Oh! They say, I don’t worship Him, and that may be true,
even Roman Catholics will say that, and both say the same thing, it is to
remind them of Jesus; some go further and even give some form of worship to
this picture ass though it was holy. Don’t touch it! The cry goes forth!
Indians would say that such a person speaks with forked tongue.
Many of
those who teach liberalism and not true historical Biblical doctrine seem to be
genuine in their confession of faith but their fruits are not Scriptural. Jesus
spoke: “Beware of false prophets who came to you in sheep’ clothing, but
inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men
gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles” (Matthew 7:15–16. Ministry
in many Churches have allowed men, and women, who have an attitude towards the
Gospel which is the very reverse of an Authentic Biblical Christians attitude.
As I have attempted to show that false doctrine due to the influence of such
philosophies as Platoism, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, etc., did and are now
infecting the Church, that may be you for you are the Church, and the attack is
not from some outside invasion, the invasion is within the Church. We can see
this invasion by examining what is occurring, the fruits, by Scripture, and not
just some interpretation of Scripture, rather the grammatical/ historical
interpretation. We see within some Churches the allowance of women preachers,
men and women who are living in sin, admitted to positions of leadership, and
the result is a dilution of the truth. There has been by this liberalization of
Christianity and opening of Pandora’s box that is filled with the culture of
this world. Many have and are now being influenced to this liberal view, this
liberal theology and leaving in their wake, Authentic Biblical Faith.
There
is great need for men to stand up for the faith, for women to teach their
children, to those married to live in total commitment to their husbands and
for husbands to love their wives, and a cleansing of that which is
unscriptural, the removal from positions of leadership, those living in sin,
the homosexual, the adulterer, the drunk, etc., men who will die for the truth.
After all, this life is temporal, we are, as God’s children already legally in
heaven. Jesus gives us this important narrative when a child was brought to
Him, and He teaches us: “…and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are
converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom
of heaven”(Matthew 18:3). Are you converted to Jesus? Are you sold out to
Him? Are you willing to stand for your faith under any and all circumstances?
Do you have a heart, the same as Jesus, for those who are lost and need to be
found, those who have been called by God but need to hear the Gospel? Yes, we
have life to live and as Augustine said, “Live life; Love God!” May others see
Jesus in you as you are being formed into His image.
But I will sacrifice to You
With the
voice of thanksgiving;
I will pay what I have vowed.
Salvation
is of the LORD.
Jonah
2:9
Heed the words of our God
Richard L. Crumb
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