I have a friend, a very old friend of many years.
I met her at a job I had while in college.
She was a Christian and I was always glad when someone was a Christian.
To me, that meant they were saved and following the same path that I was, which was essentially following Jesus.
Albeit, she and I had our differences.
We became close.
As the years went on, I knew her secrets
and spent time with her and her family both immediate and extended.
I watched her three children grow up into adulthood.
My friend also shared in my life and knew my heart.
We had differences in our walk with the Lord that I noticed.
She happened to go to the church right across the street
from the church I went to when I was younger.
I knew her church.
I had been to her church a few times over the years.
It was a church that taught the prosperity doctrine.
I told her more than once that their foundations were not biblical
and that they were not teaching the truth of the gospel.
She did not agree, but mainly because she did not have
the solid foundations of the gospel to be able to compare the two doctrines.
She had a guy friend from church, whom she developed a relationship with.
He was at her house often, spending time with her and her children.
He helped her on projects and ate meals with them.
I noticed this happening more and more.
I talked to her about this man. He was a married man.
He was having trouble in his marriage.
I warned her about this. She did not listen, she said they were only friends.
I was concerned about her soul.
Since she didn’t listen, I told one pastor of her church what was happening.
He scolded me.
I told him I was doing what the bible says to do:
Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee,
go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone:
if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother.
But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more,
that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church:
but if he neglect to hear the church,
let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Matthew 18:15-17
The pastor told me I didn’t belong to his church.
Many might agree with him that I was overstepping my bounds.
I said this scripture is speaking of the whole body of Christ.
I felt I was following the instructions in the bible.
He did not agree and refused to talk to me anymore.
I told my friend I talked to a pastor at her church and explained why.
She dismissed the whole incident and we went on with life.
The relationship with that man came to an end for other reasons.
The gospel and God and His laws have always been black and white to me.
I understand Jesus’ grace and mercy.
I also understand He is a holy and righteous God and expects much of us.
Years later, after she had become a counselor,
she had also become very sick with cancer.
She told me about the new visualization she believed in
that helped her to overcome cancer.
She had quit going to the prosperity church
and eventually went to a Unitarian Church.
At that time, we talked about where Jesus was in the Unitarian Church
and she said He was one way.
I still talk to her from time to time.
She is not open to the gospel any more.
In one of our conversations, years after she had left Christianity,
I asked her about being a Christian, to see if there was any hope there.
She told me she couldn’t really be a Christian
because she works with trans kids.
She seems to have dismissed biblical value.
I have prayed for her over the years off and on.
I don’t spend a lot of time praying because it is her choice.
I pray for other people who might not have yet made that choice.
I leave her in the hands of God.
I talked to her the other day.
I asked the Lord about her, still concerned for her soul.
He said to me, “If she refuses to repent, she will die in her iniquity.”
Jesus had never said anything about iniquity to me before.
I really didn’t know exactly what it meant.
What was the difference between iniquity and sin?
I have since learned iniquity means justifying sin, even cherishing it.
I looked up the term yesterday and learned some about it
and suspect there is more to learn.
I wrote: “Sin or Iniquity” yesterday after I heard the Lord tell me that.
Dying in Iniquity is not good.
That means separation from God, which means Hell.
Not a pleasant thought.
I have talked to her about her choices but I have never warned her clearly.
While I have spoken to her about her choices, her choices are hers.
But I see the sword coming, so I will pray for the Holy Spirit to give me the right opportunity and to go before me to share this thought with her.
I am certain she did not learn about Hell at her prosperity church.
I will pray the Lord gives me the perfect opportunity to be frank, yet caring.
Depending on her reaction, she may not wish to speak to me again.
I have decided to follow Jesus, no turning back, no turning back.
Scriptural References:
Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them,
When I bring the sword upon a land,
if the people of the land take a man of their coasts,
and set him for their watchman:
If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet,
and warn the people;
Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away,
his blood shall be upon his own head.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning;
his blood shall be upon him.
But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ezekiel 33:1-9