The Christian churches of today are acting wickedly against the new covenant that God has made through Christ. Under the new covenant we are to present our body a living sacrifice to God. The people are not presenting their bodies a living sacrifice because such stern consecration to God is not being preached. Instead, we are being taught a false doctrine of grace, a perversion of the teaching of the Apostle Paul, and are being entertained by professional musicians who "book concert tours."

The Word of God of the new covenant, a covenant God intends to produce righteousness, holiness, and obedience to God, because it is being misinterpreted is resulting in even less godly behavior than was true of many who walked (and are walking today) according to the first covenant.

Because people are acting wickedly against the covenant, Satan is able to corrupt them by flatteries. The Christian people of our day suppose God is with them and blessing them—the great Santa Claus in Heaven. How little they know of the Lord! How little they understand the Fire of Israel! What a surprise will be theirs when they come face to face with a Christ whose words have been spurned in favor of a "grace" that permits man to live as he pleases.

In the last days, the people who truly know God will be strong and perform tremendous acts of faith. Many of them will be of the first rank of the Kingdom of God, eating at Jesus's table with the "mighty men of valor." Ours is the day of greatest spiritual danger and greatest spiritual opportunity. The tares of wickedness and the wheat of righteousness are coming to maturity side by side.

Because the spirit of humanism has entered Christian thinking, the believers, along with secular society, have become lovers of themselves. Flattery is an effective way of corrupting self-centered Christians. We observe this corruption on every hand. The Christians are self-centered, self-willed, doing what is right in the sight of their own eyes.

There is little fear of God in the land. The churches are drying up. The believers are wandering about looking for God. They run here and there hoping to feel the Presence of the Lord. The spiritual leaders have become self-centered and foolish. They are occupied with their building programs, the expansion of their self-fulfilling projects. Their eyes have been blinded. They cannot see that they are spiritually blind, naked, and altogether wretched.

This condition of spiritual impoverishment appears to be worsening each day as we hear of pastors falling into adultery and fornication, homosexuality and drunkenness, violence and thievery. They have been corrupted with the flatteries of the enemy. Because they love themselves rather than Jesus they are easily led astray by Satan. They have been burned and they do not realize it.

To be continued.