What's So Secretive?

I have been thinking about the name of this Blog; Truth or Consequences. Truth is Jesus Christ and abiding in His Word by sweet obedience (John 14:6, 15:7) and consequences is the result of a person not abiding in the truth and making the choice to live in sin. It is not a shocker to know that people saved or unsaved either live their life according to the truth or reap the consequences of their sin. Let’s remember that the wages of sin is death and the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:23) O pastor brothers, be committed along with me to hate the sin in your life as never before and to weep prayerfully for the ones in your churches that are bearing the consequences of not living according to the truth.

We have been discussing Masonry the past few posts. We understand that as ministers of the gospel we are to use the words of Scripture to show Masons their sin. We should not be attacking, but rather deal gently in love with them. It is great to know that as believers in Christ we can and should speak the truth in love as stated in Ephesians 4:15. I would like to recommend a book by Ron Rhodes entitled, Reasoning from the Scriptures with Masons. In this book he states, “Masons establish and maintain children’s hospitals, provide free medical treatment to needy children, work actively in their communities, and promote high moral standards. Unfortunately, these activities do not reveal the true religious nature of Masonry.” He lists some things that the reader may not know about Masons:

-remove the name of Jesus from their rituals and Bible reading to avoid offending anyone.

-must, as part of their initiation, proclaim they are in darkness and seek Masonic “light”—even if they already have the true light of Jesus.

-have a secret name for God that combines Jehovah with the pagan deities Baal and Osiris. He explains the occultic, symbolism, secret oaths, and hidden rituals of Masonic tradition, and shows where they conflict with Scripture.

I appreciate Dr. Danny Akin, President of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary commenting on Masonry. He says, “I do not believe there is any place for a Christian to be part of a private organization conducting private rituals. That would include the Masons. However, if you inherit this in your church move wisely and carefully.” I could not agree with this statement more. These are very wise words from a wise man. Also, you may want to check out a great website on Freemasonry; it is www.emfj.org.

Dear pastor brothers and sisters in the Lord, I pray that you are encouraged with these words as you potentially deal with this system of falsehood in your church. Masonry is just one way for a person to get caught up into wickedness and fall into sin. We understand that their practices are clearly sinful and against God. After all, Masons are redeemable and Christ can save them from their sin and He wants to do that.

When I go to church each Sunday, I am encouraged to know that the worship of Christ is public and welcome for all to participate in; contrary to a secret society like Masonry where only a few are welcome to join. Masonry is a classic example of being close to the world. A person just cannot be close to Christ and the world at the same time. (1 Jn. 2:15) Sadly, it is felt among some that this system brings one closer to God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Speaking of getting close to God, did you know the church of Jesus Christ is no longer important for many Masons because the lodge becomes his or her church? That is why you do not see some of them going to church regularly. One cannot play in witchcraft or some other sin and have a victorious relationship with Jesus Christ. Simply said, God cannot be glorified in the presence of sin. May God's face shine upon you as you faithfully live for Christ.