There is a frightening thing I’ve seen under the sun, as Solomon would say. Christians who end up following their heart, calling it God.
Jeremiah 17:9: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked"
There is a terrible curse I have seen happen to Christians who reject the love of the truth. And because of that, God gives them a strong delusion. (2 Thes. 2:10-11)
For some time I struggled with that “delusion,” but after seeing it on full perverse display, I know what it is.
Spiritual Blindness
Revelation 3:17: "and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"
It comes from being wretched, and once you understand that word, you’ll understand the pattern.
WRETCHED, adjective: Very miserable; sunk into deep affliction or distress, either from want, anxiety, or grief.
But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing. 2 Thes. 3:13
As a Christian, you can get weary in well-doing. This happens when you try to shoulder the load and get work done for the Lord. You get to a burnt-out spot, and you find yourself like Elijah under a juniper tree, ready to die.
You think you’re the only one left. No one else cares or works as you do, so what’s the point? You're striving for hope, and it’s deferred, so as Scripture says, your heart becomes sick (Prov. 13:12)
What God tends to do during this time is send you truth—the truth you should love. But if we’re not careful, like children, we will reject His love because it’s unpleasant at the time, and after continual rejection we become Wretched.
Here’s where the curse happens: in the delusion, we start to follow our own hearts. “Hark, 'tis the voice of my beloved,” but in actuality it’s our own voice.
This leads us to do things we never would, and while doing it, think we are serving God. Or even experiencing Him on a different level.
I’ve seen this:
Living in open sin, calling it freedom in Christ.
Sowing discord among brethren and calling it a ministry of truth.
Despising Christian brothers and sisters, and wishing and even praying for their destruction.
Coming up with your own little checklist of rules and regulations for holiness and holding others who don’t keep them in contempt.
This week, I'm going to write a series of essays on this subject. It’s painful for me to write because I’ve been wretched and trapped in spiritual blindness. If not for some long-suffering brothers and sisters in Christ, a faithful and diligent pastor, and, most importantly, Jesus Christ, taking Him up on His offer of eye salve, I'd still be there. I’d still be there.
