The Pleasures of Sin
Eli
http://www.pastorrandyshupe.com
The following was taken from http://www.babylonthegreatisfalling.net
The Pleasures of Sin
2002-08-01
Before I became an atheist back in the 60's, my parents taught me what
they knew about the God of Israel, his son Jesus Christ, and the
importance of living a life that was pleasing to God. From an early
age, my mother trotted me off to Sunday School every week, where I
learned the American version of the Christian faith. But, as I grew
older, I rebelled against the church and my mother. The rebellion only
intensified as I became a young man during the time the Vietnam war was
in full bloom. So off to the Army and war I went with all the other
young men of my generation. It was at this time in my life when I
decided to toss my faith in God out the window. I didn't know until
later that my mother, who was raised in the church, was at the same
time realizing she wasn't really a Christian, that she never had been
born again. Her church was like most, they only had part of the truth,
and outer form, with no convicting power to convert anyone. They were
all erroneously led to think baptism as infants was the beginning of
their salvation.
For over ten years I wandered around in the darkness of atheism. I
lived a life that seemed to come naturally. At the time it didn't seem
to be darkness, for I enjoyed the pleasures of this life. The pursuit
and love of money and the things it can buy was very rewarding. After
all, I was living the American dream. The desire for sexual pleasures
in those days had no boundaries. Pornography came easily and naturally,
especially in Vietnam. I shamefully admit this because there are
multitudes who are today trapped in this Satanic pleasure and delusion.
It is not the unpardonable sin, there is forgiveness and hope, but only
through the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, there are many in Christendom who
look down on or condemn those who are bound by pornography. They sit in
their church pews and think how holy they are because they don't watch
dirty movies, and yet every Saturday night go to the local theaters and
watch the latest PG-13 or R rated Hollywood production. In their self
righteousness, they fail to understand that pornography is just the
deep end of the same cesspool of movies they watch. I have learned this
truth the hard way and I still struggle at times with worldly
entertainment, trying somehow to justify it in my mind. Honestly, I
think we should all be very careful what we watch. For most of what
comes out of Hollywood is designed by demonic forces who manipulate the
writers and producers of films.
During my years as an atheist, I was filled with self love and
arrogance, and enjoyed mocking people who believed in God. I had a
great self image and loved no one more than me, especially not any
supreme being. There was no need in my life for the psychologist's
couch to improve my self esteem and image. I thought most Christians
were a bunch of weak hypocrites who needed some God as a crutch. I
could care less what they thought of my way of life. They were the ones
in need of the couch, not me.
As this lifestyle went on for years, I had no idea that my newly born
again mother was praying for me all this time. The God of Israel heard
my mother's prayers; he saw her crying for her lost son. The real Jesus
of the Bible came after me, he confronted me with my sin head on. My
atheism had made me a fool and an idiot. I had become my own god. The
psycho-babble of self image and self esteem had taken its toll on my
mind and heart. In my mind, I saw myself nailing Jesus to the cross. Oh
what sadness and shame filled my heart. Was Jesus truly alive and
coming back in power and judgment any day as I was now reading in the
Bible? A fear of God and the threat of an eternal Hell filled my mind
and heart. Was my mother right; was there a God in Heaven? My life of
pleasures coming from money, sex, and pride began crumbling around me.
These things were just not as fulfilling anymore, no matter how much I
tried. I had a choice to make deep in my heart and it was astonishingly
simple; acknowledge and confess my sin, turn to the God of Israel and
his son Jesus, or die and go to Hell! I was now convinced that Jesus
loved me and provided the only way of escape from the horror of an
eternal Hell. He gave his life for me, a wretched self-absorbed sinner,
who deserved nothing but his wrath.
Read carefully Hebrews 11:24-26. "By faith Moses, when he was come to
years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, Choosing
rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the
pleasures of sin for a season, Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater
riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he had respect unto the
recompense of the reward."
As Jesus confronted me personally then, the God of Israel is now
confronting the entire world. And he will ultimately bring everyone to
their knees, whether they want to or not. Even Satan will bend his knee
to the Lord Jesus Christ. God the father is also hearing the tearful
broken-hearted prayers of mothers and grandmothers for their lost
children. Like Moses, everyone on Earth is now faced with a clear
choice: The pleasures of sin that Satan is dangling in front of us, via
the American New World Order, cleverly disguised in the language of,
"life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness;" or we can choose to suffer
with the people of God, who love the living resurrected Jesus and his
return.
The Bible exposes the deceitful pleasures of sin. The polluted, twisted
desires for sex, money, and the arrogance of self love are described by
the Apostle John as the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eyes, and
the pride of life, 1 John 2:16. Because of our fallen Adamic natures,
the original desires for love and pleasure given by God to the human
race have been perverted and distorted. This explains why it's hard for
men to give up sinning because.....some sins just feel good. This is
why Jesus said we must be born again. Only Jesus can cut away the
sinful nature from our hearts or spirits that we are all born with.
Only Jesus can give us a new nature that restores the original love and
desires given by God to Adam and Eve. Only Jesus in our hearts, through
the indwelling Holy Spirit, can overcome the sinful impulses yet
remaining in our bodies. The daily battleground between our new hearts
and our old bodies of sin is in our minds. When Jesus returns he will
then change our sinful bodies and make them like unto his own, which is
one of the reasons I long for his coming.
As I listen and watch America's so-called Christian political leaders
struggle with the complexities of the religious holy war unfolding in
Israel, which is enflaming all the world, I don't hear them proclaiming
the only message that can bring the peace they're seeking. Why aren't
President Bush and his "Christian" cabinet boldly, and from a broken
heart, crying out to the Moslems, Hindus, and Jews, the true gospel of
Jesus Christ and his return in power and glory to take back the
government of the nations? Are they ashamed of him? Do they believe
what Jesus said to all men..."Ye must be born again to enter the
Kingdom of God?" Do they believe that only repentance and faith in the
shed blood of Jesus can bring peace and security to mankind? Allied
with America's church leaders, have they together become the wolves
dressed in sheepskin suits that Jesus warned us about?
America's Christian leaders, from President Bush on down, and from
George Washington until today, have been deceived by the pleasures of
sin. Keep in mind that one does not have to sink to the level of my
depravity to enjoy sin's reward. Many have fooled themselves by
comparing their self righteous lifestyles with men like me, who had
degenerated to the lowest levels of morality and ungodliness. They have
cast aside Jesus, the lamb of God, and replaced him with another Jesus,
another gospel. It is the prosperity, patriotic, and psychology gospel
of Laodicea they are following, Revelation 3:16-17. They are walking in
the footsteps of the Christian militarism of Emperor Constantine, who
seduced most of Christendom in the fourth century. They have bit into
the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. They were all
born that way, as we all were, and just plain enjoy the taste of the
deadly fruit. But the pleasure of sin is only for a season. This
Laodicean perversion within Christendom, which will produce the
Antichrist, is one of the greatest signs that this season of sin is
about to come to an end. Putting that together with the return of the
nation of Israel in 1948, and the violent uproar as to who controls
Jerusalem, clearly indicates the climactic end of this evil generation
is near. Discouragement, despair, destruction and death always follow
the pleasures of sin, so beware.
Many people have angrily responded to my online book and articles
stating that Christian politicians must do their civil jobs by
separating their faith from their public work. They tell me, "Mr. Bush
was elected to be President, not an evangelist." Listen carefully, if a
politician publicly announces that he is a Christian, it becomes the
business of the body of Christ, not only to love and pray for him, but
also to warn him when his words and deeds are contrary to the teachings
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christian men who want to be civil leaders
can't leave the prophecies, principles, and person of Jesus Christ at
home while they go off to work. The Apostle Paul said that whatever we
do in word or deed, to do it all in the name of Jesus Christ,
Colossians 3:17. Honestly, I can't imagine how a true follower of Jesus
could get elected in any nation, let alone to the Presidency, the most
powerful office in Satan's world system. Think about it for a moment.
Jesus said of his followers that the world system would hate them
because they first hated him. He said that people hated him because he
testified that their works were evil.
To my critics, who say I shouldn't say such things as this about the
President and his men, I am fully aware of the biblical admonition to
love, pray, respect, and honor the civil authorities, which by the way,
America's founding fathers conveniently ignored or forgot to do in
1776, as they made war against England. As followers of Jesus we are to
obey and never violently resist or overthrow the leaders of any nation,
no matter how evil they may be. That judgment is reserved for Jesus.
God is allowing the Gentiles to rule this world system, under Satan's
control, until that day when Jesus sets up his kingdom from Jerusalem.
However, we are to warn them of the wrath of God to come and to be
saved from sin and Hell by the blood of Jesus. America's polluted
Christian system will reap the whirlwind of God's judgment for cherry
picking the teachings of Jesus and tossing out or changing doctrines
they don't like. I plead with them all to reconsider their ways before
it is too late.