God must not be mocked
Too many Christians fall into the trap of mocking God, according to American evangelist Steve Hill, who died in March following a long battle with cancer
How sad that people throughout the world are ignoring the Scripture which says that God is not mocked (Galatians 5).
There are many ways of mocking God but, for some reason, despite frightening consequences, the world and the Church continue to commit this horrible sin.
Some people have heard the Word all of their lives and they know the truth, but for whatever reason they turn away and foolishly disobey it. What mockery to turn right around and go against the rules and regulations which your Father has set in place. How rude to go behind his back and choose another route like many Christians do.
Others mock God by judging and criticising his ministers.
They will watch them on TV or in the big arena and make fun of them in their minds. We must realise that these are anointed holy vessels which God Almighty has raised up. Throughout church history God hasn’t always used the most eloquent, or the best dressed or most educated, and some people can’t accept this.
Another way of mocking God is by mocking creation itself.
The very world that we live in is testimony of God’s influencing presence on this earth. Just look at bumblebees, which fly without knowing they can fly – they just take off. What a mockery to look at that and say there is no God.
We ourselves are created in his image, yet often we don’t like the way we have been made – what a mockery. We are a temple of the Holy Spirit.
When Paul was speaking to the folks on Mars Hill at Athens, the Bible says that some mocked; others said, “We will hear you again on this.” And others followed – these are the three responses to the gospel.
There will always be the people who mock and make fun, but then there are those who say ‘we will hear you again’. They feel like they have an extra day, but tomorrow is a word only found in a fool’s calendar. We don’t always have a tomorrow. If we could bring back those people from Athens then they would tell us not to mess about, because the Bible says that Paul didn’t come back. He left with those who believed.
Mocking God can have serious consequences, the greatest for me being distance from the Lord. When we dare to mock Almighty God and step into the arena of sin, we separate ourselves from the Lord. What a horrible place to be in when God is not on your side.
Imagine all the times you’ve poked fun and mocked him and the things he’s created, and suddenly one day you don’t feel his presence. I can’t imagine being in that place where I wake up one morning and don’t have God as my best friend. But some people stand like that.
The people of England may feel that their nation is mocking God, but I’ve got good news for them – the darker it gets the greater the light will shine. I’m certain a great move of God is coming.
As England keeps running from the Lord and keeps rejecting his very existence, then I know there will be a light that shines.
Because of my own life as a former drug addict, I can’t just give up on people and I can’t give up on England. In the days of Wesley there was open sin in the streets and it was a horrible time. Yet God used that man to change the nation, so why can’t he do it again?
I’ve got so much hope – he’s coming back for a glorious bride.
A lot of people are praying and believing God for revival. England has been touched by seasons of revival in the last hundreds of years, and it’s going to happen again. There’s going to be a massive move of God.
But pastors, it all starts by having a passion for the lost. The warrior is not tested in the sunshine but in the rain. And preachers are not tested in the barracks but in the battlefield.
I’ve learned in 31 years of preaching that instead of spending my life rebuking the sin it’s better to love the sinner. I’m certainly not light concerning sin, but it’s the preacher’s job to make people feel very bad and then make them feel very good again.
You make people feel bad by telling them there’s sin in their life, but then you let them feel good by telling them that there’s someone who can change their lives, and his name is Jesus. It doesn’t matter what they’re involved in or how much they’ve mocked God, the Lord can penetrate their hearts and forgive and wash them.
He said, “Listen boys I don’t care about how you’re dressed or what homes you live in. I’m not bothered about how many friends you have. What matters to me is that you take this torch and travel the world with it.” Most of us pastors, including myself, started with this passion. Don’t lose the passion. Get back on your knees.
As ministers we can’t drop the torch. I’m not going to be held accountable and let England go to hell during my watch. We’re the ones God has set as the watchmen on the wall, so we can’t let England die. We are the ones who must keep praying and believing and preaching the Word because his Word will not return void. It will bring forth the fruit that he desires.
Another thing, pastor, is to go out of the church walls and lead someone to Jesus – forget the masses for a moment and find a teenager or some lonely person sitting in a park and tell them about Jesus. Once they’re saved, that person knows 50-100 people they can tell about Jesus.
At my crusades and when I preach at church, I don’t see mass thousands, but I see one man or woman being changed by the Word of God.
No matter how dark it gets, God is God and he will move. The man who walks down the street mocking God and shouting and swearing, will one day join every human being in history and bow his knee to Jesus Christ.
