"For John the Baptist came neither eating bread nor drinking wine; and ye say, He hath a devil. The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners!" —Luke 7:33,34
The people back in Jesus' day were no different
than people today. People are going to be people, and we are all
sinners. Mankind is inherently evil, contrary to the teachings of Wicca
witchcraft and other devilish doctrines. In the Scriptures above, Jesus
tells the people that they will not accept God's man, regardless. If
someone is your enemy, no matter what you do... they will still find fault in
you.
Many people mocked John the Baptist, calling him a nut case, a religious fanatic. John was a rugged man who lived off the land, eating locusts and wild honey (Mark 1:6). I believe that John also lived in the wild, thus avoiding the temptations of sin which are more prevalent in the city. Every major city in America is nothing less than a large Sodom (a city who's people were so wicked that God destroyed them as an EXAMPLE to the rest of the world, to those who would live ungodly).
Jesus was a friend of sinners, He associated with them, ate with them, talked with them, but Jesus did NOT sin with them. Jesus' only contact with the unsaved was to try to bring salvation to them, and to help them and care for them. Jesus healed the sick, He fed the hungry, He comforted the broken-hearted, He clothed the naked and even raised the dead. Jesus did NOT drink intoxicating alcohol, He drank grape juice. Wine in the Bible has over a dozen different possible meanings. Our Lord knew the stern warnings from Old Testament Scriptures such as Proverb 20:1, "Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise." Jesus would not do something unwise. Yet, Jesus' critics accused him of being an alcoholic anyway. They also accused Jesus of being a "gluttonous" man, eating and drinking in excess.
No matter what Jesus did, most of the people in His generation weren't going to accept Him because they hated Him without a cause...
"But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause." —John 15:25
John the Baptist wasn't a very sociable fellow. I don't think a camel's hair garment was the latest fashion of the day. John drank no juice from the vine nor did he eat of the finer foods of the day. Society as a whole had labeled John the Baptist as a crackpot religious wacko out of touch with reality. Jesus on the other hand was very sociable and often accepted invitations into people's homes to eat for dinner. The people accused Jesus of being a glutton and a winebibber. Jesus loved to be around the people, John avoided them and chose rather to live off the land. Either way... both men were scorned, ridiculed, and discredited by the masses of their day.
Is it no different today? Has anything really changed? I agree that most pastors are phonies who are just taking advantage of their people. However, there are many faithful men of God still remaining in this world today. The heathen world refuses to differentiate between the good and the bad. I remember when the Jim and Tammy Faye Baker (1942-2007) scandal came out in the 1980's. When people heard that Jim and Tammy had purchased an air-conditioned dog house for their mutt, the public went on a witch hunt to mock all religious people. I remember being ridiculed during that time by the unsaved men at my job. Someone had placed a comic on my locker that read, "Flash news! ... a TV evangelist has been seen with his wife!" Jim and Tammy brought MUCH reproach to the name of Christ. Jim went to prison, Tammy divorced him, and then she became an open supporter of the homosexual agenda until her death.
I realize that there are plenty of evil people becoming filthy rich by exploiting the ignorant public using religion (creeps such as Benny Hinn). However, there are still many great men of God alive today (and none of them are on TV). The unsaved world looks for reasons to hate Christians. If they hated Jesus without a cause, then they will also hate God's children without a cause. It's not us they hate as Christians, it's Christ in us. The world is wicked (1st John 5:19) and hates God. Ironically, 90% of those God-haters are religious. They think they have God in their lives, but they don't... they only have religion. Can you imagine an entire planet filled with religious people, but totally ignorant of the God Who created them? The Apostle Paul addressed a group of such people...
"For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you." —Acts 17:23
How can this be? The answer is Satan! 2nd Corinthians 4:4 tells us that Satan has BLINDED the minds of the unbelieving masses to prevent them from finding the truth. Have you been blinded?
"Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." —Matthew 7:7
Do you worship God in vain? Most people do! Roman Catholics worship God in vain; so do the Seventh Day Adventists, the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, Christian Scientists, Scientologists, Muslims, Lutherans, Wiccans, Freemasons, Church of Christ, et cetera. These are all false religions, teaching damnable heresies. Martin Luther was no Christian; read his small catechism (or the large if you have insomnia). If we are to worship God, then we must worship Him in spirit and in TRUTH (John 4:24). The only truth we need is the truths found in the King James Bible (not the perverted "new" King James either). God's Word is truth (John 17:17).
I hope I have opened your eyes a bit to the truth. Religion wants to fit us with glasses, but the Lord wants to open our eyes! Most of the people in the world are religious, yet hate God's Word. Oh sure, they love THEIR god, but it's a false God. The God of the Catholics is a false god. Millions of Roman Catholicism recognizes MOTHER MARY as a co-redeemer with Jesus. They also recognize Mary as being virgin born too (the immaculate conception of Mary). These are lies of the Devil, not found anywhere in the Bible. You had better find the right Jesus or you'll end up in Hell. Mary was no more special than any other godly mother. There are thousands of gods in this world (Wicca alone has several hundred). But there is ONLY one true and living God, Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3,14; John 10:33; Colossians 2:9; 1st Timothy 3:16; Revelation 1:8. Note: all references are only to the inspired King James Bible).
The world's masses are devoid of God, worshipping all sorts of false gods. Those same people are hostile toward true Biblical Christianity. They hate Jesus Christ and anyone who lives for Jesus. The world hated Jesus because He was Good and holy. Jesus spoke the TRUTH. The Apostle Paul was also hated for speaking the truth, by other believers...
"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" —Galatians 4:16
If immature believers are capable of hating someone who speaks the truth, then surely we cannot expect anything more from the heathen world. Some of my harshest criticisms are from other professed believers who think my website should be nothing but a love fiesta of sermonettes and weak-kneed articles. Well, I'm giving you the TRUTH, like or or not. I do this because I love people. If you love someone, you tell them the truth. You may not agree with me, but at least I've tried to wake you up concerning the truth about many things on this website.
Jesus said that He was hated without a cause. Jesus did nothing to hurt anyone, yet the Jews wanted Him crucified! It was the wickedness of the people's hearts that caused them to hate the Lord, Who had only tried to help them. They bit the hand that was trying to spiritually feed them. Let us be careful to seek the truth and not be guilty of hating those who are trying to help us. We may not agree with someone on every issue, but we should at least be willing to hear what they have to say and look fully into the matter for ourselves. People today are not listening to God, just as the Jews didn't in the Bible. The wicked don't want to hear the TRUTH, they just prefer to hate someone without a cause.
