Morning By Morning #319

I will cut off…those who bow down and swear by the LORD and who also swear by Molech.

Zephaniah 1:4 – 5

From the pen of Charles Spurgeon:

The people referred to in these verses thought they were safe because they were pandering to both sides; they went along with the followers of Jehovah while also bowing down to Molech. But duplicity is an abomination to God, and His soul hates hypocrisy. An idolater who completely gives himself to his false god is not as great a sinner as someone who takes his defiled and detestable sacrifice to the temple of the Lord while his heart is consumed with the world and its sins. To pretend to live with the hares but run with the hounds is a despicable practice. A double-minded person is despised in any area of life, but in the area of faith he is repulsive to the nth degree. And the penalty the Lord decreed in our text is terrible but well deserved, for how can God’s divine justice spare a sinner who knows what is right, approving it and professing to follow it, but all the while loving evil and allowing it to rule his heart instead?

Dear soul, search yourself this morning to see if you are guilty of double-dealing. If you profess to be a follower of Jesus, do you truly love Him? Is your heart right with God? Are you of the family of old Father Honest or a relative of Mr. By-ends? [Editor’s note: Both of these are characters in The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan, (1628 – 1688).] Professing to live by a godly name is of little value if I am indeed “dead in…transgressions and sins” (Eph. 2:1). Having one foot in the land of truth and another on the sea of falsehood ultimately leads to a terrible downfall and total ruin, for Christ demands all or nothing. God fills the entire universe; thus, there is no room for another god. If He reigns in your heart, there is no room for any other power to reign.

Do I trust solely in Jesus crucified and live for Him alone? Is He truly the desire of my heart? If so, blessed be His mighty grace that has led me to salvation!

If this is not true of me, O Lord, forgive my grievous offense, grant me unity of heart, and cause me to fear Your name.

From the pen of Jim Reimann:

Today double-mindedness is politically correct in our modern society where all standards have been abandoned, especially the standard of the Bible. But God abhors it, as did the psalmist who said, “I hate double-minded men, but I love your law” (Ps. 119:113). Listen to what Jesus said to the church of Laodicea:

I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.” But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent.

Revelation 3:15 – 19

And in the following, we see James in full agreement:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

James 4:7 – 8