In his book I Surrender, Patrick Morley writes that the church's integrity problem is in the misconception "that we can add Christ to our lives, but not subtract sin. It is a change in belief without a change in behavior." He goes on to say, "It is revival without reformation, without repentance."
David’s descendants defied God and paid a high price. When Zedekiah rebelled against the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar put the city to siege and eventually killed King Zedekiah’s descendants before his eyes and then blinded him. In T. S. Eliot’s words, the world of Judah ended not with a bang, but with a whimper.
What can Christians learn from God’s judgment on Judah? R. G. Lee preached a famous sermon called, “Payday, someday.” He argued that our holy God judges sin. God is not mocked. Whatever we sow, we will also reap. So let us worship God acceptably “with reverence and awe for our God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:28-29).
