Making a Differencewith Pastor Phil Erickson

Oct 2nd, 2021 Are You A Curse Among The Heathen? – The Saturday Morning Post

Today’s Passage – Zechariah 6 – 9 (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read – Psalms 6 – 10; Proverbs 2)

Read the “1002 Evening and Morning“ devotion for today, by the late Charles Haddon Spurgeon.

“And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong. For thus saith the LORD of hosts; As I thought to punish you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, saith the LORD of hosts, and I repented not: So again have I thought in these days to do well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.” (Zechariah 8:13-15)

As I mull over this passage that the Lord has given me I have to ask myself am I a curse among the heathen, the unsaved? I sometimes could care less about what other Christians think about me. They need to take a good look at themselves in the mirror. But what kind of impression do I make on the unsaved? Do they see any Jesus, or just me? Verses 16 and 17 instruct us in what to do.

1) Speak the Truth.

“These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates…” (Zechariah 8:16)

If I love my neighbor as myself then I will want to be truthful to him. The Gospel cannot be watered down. Have you broken any of God’s commandments? Welcome to the club: we are all sinners, and as sinners we need a Saviour: Jesus Christ, who shed His precious blood to pay for our sins. As a preacher, I will preach that it was a bad idea that as a Christian nation we tried to keep God out of the government by removing the Bible from schools, the 10 Commandments from offices, and whatever else this anti-Christ ruling class has come up with. I will preach that homosexuality is not an alternate lifestyle, it is an abomination (See Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13). Don’t look down your nose at the sodomite, what about your little white lies? The abominable and all liars have their place in the lake of fire (See Revelation 21:8 ). We all need the Saviour, and that’s the truth…

2) Do The Truth.

The second half of verse 16 tells us to execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates. We all need help in this area: doing the truth. I look forward to our Saturday morning prayer time at the church. Sometimes I don’t make it. But 1Thessalonians 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing. I haven’t mastered that yet. But I going to keep trying and praying. God says that 10% of my income belongs to Him (Malachi 3:8-12). I’m still going to tithe, because I know that I can do more with God and 90% of my income then without God and 100% of my income. God set the tithe up to supply the pastor with his needs and to get the gospel out. When a church is tithing, the pastor can spend more time with God and feed the flock better: he shouldn’t have to work a secular job. Also tracts can be purchased, ‘Done’ books, and the like: things that edify the body of Christ. I’m going to support missions with an offering, because Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” I can’t go into ALL the world, so I’m going to give to missions. And the Bible says…

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

That should lead you to a question to ask yourself: “Am I putting my trust in the all mighty dollar, or the Almighty God?”

So we should Speak the Truth, and Do the Truth, and we should also…

3) Focus and Meditate on the Truth.

“And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.” (Zechariah 8:17)

The Bible also says…

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” (Philippians 2:5)

You will have a love for people: friends, enemies, neighbors. If you love them with the mind of Christ then you will not imagine evil in your hearts against them. Read God’s Word. The more Bible you have, the quicker the Holy Spirit can bring Scripture to mind when you need it. If you have the mind of Christ then speaking and doing the truth should be no problem.

Don’t be a curse among the heathen. If we are going to be called Christians, let’s live like Christians. Speak the Truth. Do the Truth. Focus and Meditate on the Truth.

Peace.