Consent Thou Not
Posted by israeliteindeed on June 2, 2011
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. (Prov. 1:10)
I really love short phrases in the Bible that are easy to remember right in the moment of temptation. This phrase–”Consent thou not”–is one such phrase.
Professing Christians sometimes tell me that they can’t stop sinning against the Lord, and they are continually in a cycle of backsliding. Often they have wicked friends they refuse to stop spending time with. Because they spend time with these friends, they are influenced to do this or that. After all, refusing to do this or that might get them labeled a “holier-than-thou”! Besides, what’s wrong with having a couple of drinks? What’s wrong with listening to a secular radio station? What’s wrong with a little “harmless” flirting with a worldly person of the opposite sex? What’s wrong with this movie that takes God’s name in vain?–after all it has some good morals in it!
As Christians, we shouldn’t be asking, “What’s wrong with…” but rather “What’s RIGHT with this?”…”Will this help me to be closer to God?”…”Will this help my neighbor to be holier?” If the answer isn’t a clear YES, the truly wise man will reject the activity rather than risk hurting his relationship with God, or stumbling his neighbor. If you are seeking to justify questionable activities, rather than actively pursuing activities that are unquestionably pure, you have a divided heart.
Professing Christian, you must work out your own salvation with FEAR and TREMBLING (Phil. 2:12). This is no game. The Lord is testing your heart and your mind (Psa. 7:9) to see if you love Him more than your life on this earth, including your friends and your fleshly desires. If you love the world or the things in the world, the love of God is not in you (I Jn. 2:15), but you have become an enemy of God (James 4:4).
You certainly CAN stop sinning–for you can do ALL THINGS through Christ who strengthens you–and you MUST separate from those who are stumbling you. Come out from among such people and STOP touching unclean things, and THEN God will receive you and be a father to you! (2 Cor. 6:17-18) If you think you are accepted while you continue to choose the vile over the good, you are deceived. You are not tempted more than any other person, and God is faithful to not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability to withstand; He provides a way out of every temptation, but you must take that WAY (I Cor. 10:13)–you must choose the good and reject the evil.
Often the Way out of temptation is simply this: “If sinners entice thee, consent thou not.” You must say no to sin. You must, at times, say no to friends, family, & co-workers. You must make a covenant with God in your heart that you will not join sinners in their sin, and that you will separate from those who continually tempt you–”Make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.” (Rom. 13:14)
If your friend asks you to go to the bar for a few drinks, consent thou not.
If your friend asks you to look at a perverted web page, consent thou not.
If your friend wants you to laugh at a dirty joke, consent thou not.
If your friend wants you to cheat or lie, consent thou not.
If your friend wants you to stop living for Jesus in any way, shape, or form, consent thou not.
Who will be like a fruitful and green tree, bringing forth holy fruit in season? The man who “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in His law he meditates day and night.” (Psa. 1:1-2)
Remember–If sinners entice you, Consent Thou Not.
God bless you!
smilesback said
It’s sad that “Christians” seem to enjoy getting as close to sin as they can while thinking they can leap away from it at the last second. And then when they hardly ever do leap away, they blame some hidden force, saying, “Well, we’re all human and we all sin every day. But I’m working on getting better.”
Here’s step one in working on it: “Submit to God.” (See James 4:7) This means to unconditionally submit our will to God’s will. In other words, to make Him Lord (Boss, Master, Ruler) of one’s heart, mind, lifestyle, and life.
Here’s step two: “Resist the devil.” (Also v. 7) We do this by staying away from those people who like sin; for those who like sin, do sin, and “He who does what is sinful is of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)
Step three: “Come near to God.” (v. 8 ) We come near to God by totally and completely turning our backs on sin, by asking God to forgive us for having sinned against Him, by daily meditating on His Word, and by obeying His Word as led by the Spirit. If the Lord finds us faithfully obedient, then He will entrust Himself to us (see John 2:23-25) and come to indwell us. (14:23 & Acts 5:32) But it is not enough to believe in Him. (See John 2:23-25 again.)
Just yesterday I stopped to exhort some friends at their home. The guy has been a preacher in the past and has numerous Scripture verses memorized, yet he came to live with my friend (a very lukewarm Christian) about a year ago, in spite of my warnings to them. Now he admits his life is in shambles. I reminded him that step one in getting things right is to submit our will to God’s will and put an immediate stop to sin. I then reminded him that sexual immorality is what they are in and it absolutely does reap Hell as 1 Cor. 6:9,10 (as well as Eph. 5:5 & Rev. 21:8) make clear. This guy nodded and looked very sad. But he also said that I inspire him. I knew he meant that I inspire him to do what it takes to obey God. However, I wait for the day when the inspiration turns into action.
Another weird thing about what this guy said, is this: When I mentioned the Hell thing, he said, “Well, I don’t think it’s going to land me in Hell.” What? So I quoted Heb. 10:26,27 to him. But here’s what’s so weird and so sad: This guy was a preacher. He still does the announcements at his church. He knows (by memory) hundreds of verses of Scripture. Yet he thinks this continuous sin of sexual immorality isn’t leading him straight to Hell? Unbelievable! But that’s just it: The preachers themselves are much of the cause of the back-sliding. For “Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.” (Isa. 9:16) This is another reason why everyone needs to read God’s Word for themselves.
Therefore “The LORD enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of His people: ‘It is you who have ruined My vineyard…” (Isa. 3:14) “it is you, O priests, who despise My name.” (Mal. 1:6) “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, and from his mouth men should seek instruction –because he is the messenger of the LORD Almighty. But you have turned from the way and by your teaching have caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant…” (2:7,8) The “priests do violence to My law and profane My holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean…” (Ezek. 22:26) This is just what most preachers and pastors are doing now, for they teach that God will fellowship with, and save, both holy and unholy Christians. It just isn’t so. Not one bit so.
Well, I appreciate your post. I totally agree and hope many read it and take the message to heart.
Blessings,
Rachel