“And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God.” (2 Chronicles 19:1-3)
All scripture is given for our instruction and admonition. Biblical characters are set forth, whether good, bad, or mixed, as an example for us to learn from. One such “mixed” example is king Jehoshaphat. “Good things” were found in him: he sought God and purged the land of the idolatrous groves. But he fell prey to what many “good” men have always fallen prey to: an ecumenical spirit which led him into league with “brethren” he should have distanced himself from. Such misguided “love” caused God’s wrath to come upon him.
We are living in such a fractured, divisive day that the world is yearning for what unites us. The cause of man, and his well-being, is touted as what we need to unite behind. But Jesus said that Satan himself “savors” the things that are of men. Man is not the measure of all things. God loves men, but He does not exist for man’s pleasure; He has created man for His own pleasure.
A church that is man-centered will find enough common cause with a world that is man-centered to enter into league with them. Together they will unite behind the idea that it is not the will of God that anyone should suffer. Increasingly, this type of man-centered thinking concludes that a God of love has nothing to do with anything that would cause man pain, therefore He could not send anyone to a fiery place of torment called hell. What then will a world and a worldly “church” do with a God who unleashes untold pain upon the earth and its inhabitants in the day of His wrath? They will surely deem Him an evil being along the lines of Darth Vader, who needs to be resisted and fought against.
There is a “force” at work in the world today that hates the true and living God. It is more subtle than we realize. It has infiltrated the church. Do not make friends with this spirit. Distance yourself from the spirit of Antichrist. Be on the right side at the Battle of Armageddon.