Five Visions Series

Second, people who profess faith in God must measure themselves by God’s word and not any other standard. The vision of the plumb line calls God’s people to walk in uprightness. How is that done? It is done by walking in a way that is consistent with the word of God. When professing believers and churches try to accommodate the culture, it is a recipe for disaster. Culture is never the standard by which we live. It is always the word of God.

Third, the loss of God’s word is a terrible disaster. This is what happened in the vision of the summer fruit. People today care less and less for God’s word. I am not talking about non-Christians. I am talking about Christians. A recent article in Christianity Today stated the following:

Bible reading dropped dramatically in 2022. It is unclear why. Roughly 50 percent of American adults reported opening Scripture at least three times a year every year from 2011 to 2021, according to American Bible Society surveys. Then, in 2022, that number declined to 39 percent.

That means that amid record inflation, threats of nuclear war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, and ongoing debates about the state of democracy, there were about 26 million Americans who stopped reading the Bible.

And fourth, God will punish those who profess faith but have no vital relationship with God. It is not enough to profess faith in God. You must possess faith in God. In the vision of the Lord beside the altar, we should be surprised. The altar is the place of God’s mercy. But a time will come when there is no more mercy, and there will be only judgment.

Conclusion

So, let us be sure that our profession of allegiance to God is more than merely a profession. Let us be sure that we possess God himself.

2 Corinthians 13:5 states, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?”

May God help each one of us to examine ourselves and come to a clear and accurate assessment of our standing with God.

If it should be lacking, turn to God in faith and repentance. And he will forgive you and have his judgment fall on Jesus. Amen.