Scripture: Matthew 10 v 14-15: "And whoever will not take you in, or give ear to your words, when you go out from that house or that town, put off its dust from your feet.
15 Truly I say to you, It will be better for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of God's judging than for that town."
Jesus was preaching to the Jews, and His followers, about the powers we have as believers. He has sent us on a solemn assignment to teach and preach about our real heavenly home, the place we came from. Through sin and happenstance we have forgotten Heaven but Jesus came from there to remind us of its peace and goodness.
Those who refuse to hear it and rebuke you, chasing you from their homes, or towns, are asking for trouble. The Lord says we must shake the dust off our feet against that place. This is a symbolic act for our Sovereign Lord to bring His judgment upon them.
Jesus used the worst example He could think of, the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah which caused those cities to be wiped out with a firestorm of brimstone or sulphur. He said those who rejected His servants, and Heaven, would suffer a worse fate than that.
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God for His judgment if you have offended Him. In John 3 v 17 Jesus says that anyone that does not believe in Him is condemned. The sin of unbelief in God's only begotten Son, the rejection of His Word, earns you a place in eternal hell.
False prophets and teachers who bring in heretical doctrines; hypocrites; murderers; adulterers; drunkards; addicts; sex offenders will all be found there. Those who live holy blameless lives before God can try to pierce the pride and sin of the condemned, but mostly our words will be rejected so we must sadly shake the dust off our feet against them.
The Lord knows who will never repent, He did not waste time begging and pleading month after month with sinners. He said to the farmer, Come follow Me! The response was, I must bury my father. Jesus replied, Let the dead bury the dead. And He walked on never to return. He leaves the 99 righteous sheep to seek one fallen lamb. He leaves those with excuses about following Him and moves on.
Our Father does not want anyone to perish. He loves all His children with an everlasting love, but His Word will not return to Him void. It will accomplish the purpose for which it was sent. Our God will separate the sheep from the goats, and all wolves in sheep's clothing are goats. He sends these warnings because so many Christians are following a false gospel. So many denominations have allowed the world to steal the true grace of God from His people.
Those who proclaim the name of Jesus Christ, except when they are in Interfaith meetings where it would offend other religions, need to remember that if they deny Him, when the Day of Judgment dawns they will hear Jesus say words they never want to hear.
"I don't know him, his name is not in the Lamb's Book of Life!" What grief and sorrow God wants to spare them from but their minds refuse the truth.
The true gospel never elevates anyone except Jesus. It humbles those who are truly ashamed of their sins. It causes deep and permanent repentance where we change our minds about every worldly thing that would try to resurrect our sin nature. We lay all our sin at the foot of the Cross where the Blood of the Lamb blots it out forever.
When Abraham was instructed by God to sacrifice his miracle son Isaac, born when Sarah was over ninety years old, he did not hesitate. Hiking up Mount Moriah Isaac asked where would they find a lamb to sacrifice to which Abraham said, God will provide. At the moment he was about to slay his son, an angel stopped him. Then he saw a ram entangled by its horns in a thicket. That became the sacrifice instead of Isaac.
Thousands of years later on that very same spot Jesus Christ the Passover Lamb became the sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. All who believe in Him, no matter how evil they have been, receive forgiveness and salvation as a free gift. God has provided.
There is a constant spiritual fight going on because until this moment we are not aware of the real battle for our souls. The battleground is often within our families and/or close friends. The party animal is now following the Lamb and putting all that behind him, but his wife and friends think it's just a phase. They pressure him to join the fun and sinful pleasures.
He must apply the words of James 4 v 6 - 8: "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
God resists proud, arrogant, superior, high and mighty, haughty people. God responds to the humble, submitted, respectful worshipper of the One true God. When such a one needs help to resist the devil, the whole might of Heaven is there to assist him. What does the devil and all his planned assault do? He flees from him at high speed! We must apply the Word to the devil as Jesus did when He was tempted for forty days but never yielded to sin.
He said in Matthew 4 v 3 - 4: "And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."
Our real life blossoms when we live by every word that proceeds out of God's mouth. Which is the whole Bible plus what He says to us in our prayer closet. The fellowship we have with our Father and His private words to us will never be contrary to the Bible but will be specific instructions for us alone.
When people oppose us and try to divert us from God's will we may need to shake the dust off our feet against them. Our prayers for them, God's blessings upon them, all dry up until they humble themselves and seek His forgiveness. It's God's tough love in action.
The Lord has set me as a Watchman to warn of falseness and approaching danger, even danger in our midst. Only people who truly listen to God value the warnings He sends. But I have to obey Him! I am not brave enough to turn a blind eye in the Light of His Word.
Ezekiel 33 v 6 - 9: "But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
7 So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
8 When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
9 Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul."
I had to speak these very words to someone yesterday! Someone who was operating under a false anointing. He was shivering with shock but he understood. The Lord confirmed it with 1 Corinthians 2 v 3 - 5: " And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.
4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
God knows my heart and love for the righteous and the sinners. His desire is for all to be saved, and that's what I want too. One of the most common failings I have encountered over the 45 years of this ministry is false salvation. People who have accepted Jesus mentally but not in their hearts. People who have been whitewashed but not Bloodwashed. Their sins are covered by self-justification but not blotted out by the Blood of the Lamb. Please check carefully to ensure that your name is in the Lamb's Book of Life. Mistakes cannot be rectified afterwards.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, mockers and scoffers will deny You and Jesus exist but we know You and pray for the world to hear our testimonies. We denounce and repent of everything that offends You in our lives and ask for the cleansing of sin by the Blood of the Lamb. Let us enter into 2025 in perfect righteousness. In Jesus' name. Amen.