Elijah, just be Positive!

The prophet Elijah said, How long do you halt between two opinions? If the LORD be God, follow Him but if Baal, then follow him [1KI 18:21].

To our generation we repeat Elijah's question, How long do you halt between two opinions? If the God of the Bible is the only true God, follow Him but if Idolatry, Modernism, Liberalism, Cults or Humanism really be true, then follow them. These are two mutually exclusive religions–the God of the Bible on the one hand and on the other hand all the other religions of the world. There can be no compromise between the two. There can be no agreement between them. They are as diverse as light and darkness, righteousness and wickedness, belief and unbelief and Christ and Satan. God is at war with the various "Baal's". He does not dialogue with the Devil or his spokesmen. Modernism and Liberalism may dialogue with Moslems, Buddhists, Hindus, and Christ rejecting Jews but God does not. Jesus said very plainly, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life: NO ONE comes to the Father, BUT BY ME [John 14:6].

When church leaders cannot tell the difference between Bible Christianity and idolatry we have indeed fallen upon hard times, yes into a great apostasy. An exceedingly large number, even of those who loudly proclaim that they are Evangelical or Fundamentalist Christians, are either ignorant of today's religions or are simply wolves in sheep's clothing seeking to rub out any distinction between the people of God and the people of Satan. Religious leaders may piously boast of their being "led of the Spirit" but if they cannot discern the difference between Satan's crowd and God's crowd it must be because the spirit leading them is not the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit cannot lead contrary to the Bible.

What should born again Christians do? The answer is plainly given in Elijah's centuries old challenge–If the LORD be God, follow Him: if the various human religions be true then follow them. Remove the false teachers. Turn your churches back to the Bible. If you cannot bring about a return to Bible teaching and practice then come out yourself. God said plainly, Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins [REV 18:4]. Yes, CAST OUT OR COME OUT.

We ought to pray FOR the lost, not pray WITH them. We ought to witness TO the lost, not witness WITH them. We ought to DELIGHT IN THE LAW OF JEHOVAH, not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, or stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of the scorners [PSA 1:1, 2].

Sometimes people take offense when we name false doctrines and their teachers. It is just fine to talk about the liquor traffic and other drugs or murder, with little objection. We seem to be far more concerned with what destroys the body than what destroys the soul. Yet truer words were never spoken than these of Jesus, For what will a man be benefited, if he should gain the whole world, but lose his soul [MAT 16:26]? Talk about boycotting Nestle or advocate taking the land from the farmers in third world countries and that is fine, but cry out against the infidels in the pulpits, the denominational leadership and in the seminaries and that is a "no no"! Denounce the murder of the helpless unborn and unwanted children and the crowd cries out that you are infringing on the right of a woman to do as she likes. Oh, it's O.K. to show a slaughtered moose and it’s calves. The same crowd that calls for abortion cries that the slaughter of a dumb animal is a terribly immoral thing to do. Those are bad, horrible men who would do such a thing! Of course it is senseless and wrong to kill the moose at such a time. But our values are tragically perverted when we turn right around and plea for the right to abort our own kind! Talk about the poor and even call for civil disobedience and revolution, or talk about the evils of big business and that is the most important issue in prominent churches of our day. It is even paraded before a gullible public as "preaching the gospel". But warn a man that he is lost and on his way to the Devil’s Hell and then watch the sparks fly! Speak out against the peddlers of smut and pornography and that is infringing on a man’s freedom. But it is just fine to restrict the preaching of the gospel–confine it to the inside of four walls where the vast throng who are hopelessly lost will never hear it and be offended. To the lost, the Gospel of the grace of God is "hate literature". When the world tells us, "Just be positive", what they really mean is, "Just tell me what I want to hear".

In order to be faithful, God’s witnesses must not only tell sinners things that are pleasant but also things that may be very unpleasant as well. It is fine to tell them, God loves you [JOH 3:16]. However, it is also necessary to warn them that God will send them to a place of everlasting torment unless they turn from their wicked ways and receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior.

Be positive! If God’s preachers are to follow the example of the Bible they will be far more NEGATIVE than positive. For example only two of the Ten Commandments are stated in the positive form and that only in part. The other eight are straight forward You shall NOT. What is the example of Jesus? He, Creator and Ruler of all things, He, Who showed His love for sinners in an unmistakable manner–by dying for His enemies spoke in the harshest tones possible in His condemnation of the wicked. Was it the "scum" of the Earth that he addressed? No, it was the "upper crust", community leaders, the religious leaders of His day, to whom He said: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like white-washed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but within are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. . . . Snakes, offspring of vipers, how can you escape the judgment of Hell [MAT 23:27, 33]?

Perhaps someone is reading this who is not, as Jesus put it, born again. You know all too well that your sins are not forgiven. You are without hope–lost. You know you need to be saved. The current religious scene is one of tragic confusion. In your despair, turn not to men who promise "hope" for your earnest works but to the eternal God who promises everlasting life by faith alone. Why do we tell you unpleasant truths as well as the pleasant? It is because we love you and want you to have the joy and knowledge of having your name written in the Lamb's book of life [REV 21:27]. We desire to see you have everlasting life and the peace of God which passes all understanding [PHI 4:7]. Will you heed the warning and now accept the invitation to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ?–THE CHRIST OF THE BIBLE. He who believes on the Son HAS everlasting life [JOH 3:36].

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This Page Last Updated: 12/07/98 A. Allison Lewis aalewis@christianbeliefs.org