I love this. God keeps his children protected – we need only obey the Spirit and stay pure. The rest is God takes care of.
John, I do have a question about this part of what you said:
“If any group of saints will keep themselves pure, God will not allow an ungodly person to stand for long among them.”
In Jesus parable of the wheat and the tares, he says to leave the tares till the end, and then, they will be separated… so are there also cases where the ungodly ARE allowed to stand among the righteous (until the end, in that time of separation)?
Gary
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Excellent question, Gary! As with so many other spiritual matters, such as free-will vs. predestination, and in this case, there is a time to emphasize one way and a time to emphasize the other.
Once a backslidden soul is committed to his sin and will no longer receive correction, God may keep him among His saints, but only to try the hearts of those who still have hope. That spiritual condition, that of continuing among the saints in a permanently backslidden state, is called being “tartarized” (2Pet. 2:4), and it is the very worst spiritual condition of all.
So, you are correct to point out that sometimes, God does keep a stubborn, backslidden believer among His saints. But whenever He does so, it is never for that person’s good. It would be better for that poor soul never to have known the way of righteousness (2Pet. 2:20-21). Even being dead and in Hell would be a better place for him. At least, in Hell he would not be continuing to sin.
Thank you for bringing up that side of the issue.
Pastor John
Who Will Be Able to Stand?
The wicked shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
Psalm 1:5
Moved by the Spirit of God, David declared that in the Final Judgment, not one ungodly person will escape the wrath of God; not one ungodly soul will be able to stand before God. It will not be possible. David said again, “You alone are to be feared, for who can stand before you, once you are angered?” (Ps. 76:7). Other prophets asked the same rhetorical question. Nahum: “Who can stand before His indignation? Who can withstand the fury of His anger?” (Nah. 1:6). And Malachi: “Who can endure the day of his coming, and who will stand when he appears?” (Mal. 3:2). The obvious answer is, only the righteous. To be judged worthy to stand in God’s presence will be a very great blessing, and Jesus exhorted his disciples to pray for it: “Stay alert and always pray, so that you might be counted worthy to escape all the things that are to come, and to stand before the Son of man” (Lk. 21:36).
But David did not limit his declaration to the Final Judgment; he said also that the ungodly will not stand in a righteous congregation. God’s children who drift away from righteousness can no more stand in a congregation of godly people now than they will be able to stand in the Final Judgment. For just as God will be the Judge in the end, so “God presides in the Assembly of God, and He judges among the gods [His people]” (Ps. 82:1).
If any group of saints will keep themselves pure, God will not allow an ungodly person to stand for long among them. And if any member of that congregation becomes ungodly, and sets his mind to it, he will not be able to stand among them, either. God will give him a “good” reason to leave. That judgment of God has always been, is now, and will always be the same. That is why “the wicked shall not stand in the Judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.”
In Psalm 15, David asked God to reveal to him who would be allowed to stand in His presence. Take good heed to God’s response:
Psalm 15
- O Lord, who shall abide in your tabernacle? Who shall dwell on your holy mountain?
- He who lives blamelessly, and does righteousness, and speaks truth in his heart,
- he who does not gossip with his tongue, nor does evil to his fellow, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
- in whose eyes a reprobate is despised, but he honors those who fear the Lord; he who swears tohis ownhurt, yet does not change;
- he who does not lend his money at interest; and a bribe against the innocent, he does not take. He who does these things shall never be moved.