362. Is It a Shame to Be God-Fearing?

Yes, among the ungodly it is a shame! “I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children.” Psalm 69:8. Where does this alienation come from? It comes from the spiritual change that occurs in those who are God-fearing. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. When those who have a life-giving spirit from God meet their brothers according to the flesh, those with a stagnant and dead spirit, there is friction and reproach.

“When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting, that became my reproach.” Psalm 69:10.

“Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness; I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none; and for my comforters, but I found none.” Verse 20.

This was how it was for the Messiah, and so it will be for us. The more God-fearing you are, the lonelier you will be, and the more you will experience reproach and hate. It is the law of sin in the ungodly that reacts with the Spirit of Christ that lives in you. Nominal Christians are the most offended. These were the first to cry out, “Crucify, crucify.” “For certain men have crept in unnoticed . . . ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness.” Jude, verse 4. These ungodly men are traitors in God’s kingdom. Unfortunately, many naive Christians have placed their confidence in them. “But these speak evil of whatever they do not know.” Verse 10.

But what does the Master say about these ungodly people? “Add iniquity to their iniquity, and let them not come into Your righteousness. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous.” Psalm 69:27-28.

“Salt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it?” Mark 9:50.

Let us be vigilant and pray so that we can preserve the salt and power, “Because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” 1 John 4:1-2.