Did you know there is a dearth of sound, solid, uncompromising men
teaching the Bible in pulpits today? Not exactly a news flash is it?
When a position in the church becomes a career choice, expediency enters
in and chokes the Word and quenches Truth.
A friend told me
recently that pastors do not accept him into the church because he is a
"red-ink Christian." This is not to be confused with a Red-Letter
Christian, popularized by heretic Tony Campolo who only reads red
letters in his Bible. No, a red-ink Christian is one who edits the
pastor's sermon notes to test them by Scripture. One who questions the
pastor if he finds him twisting Scripture. Such members of the church
are not welcome in very many congregations.
Pray that God would
raise up male leadership in these dark times. Ones with the Baptism of
Boldness, as Walter Martin used to call it. We need strong men in the
church who can and will rally the troops and utilize the gifts in the
church to restrain the enemy and reach out to the lost. No one-man show
will get the job done.
Did you know that God put His endorsement
on His favorite OT male servants? He named those who He would hold up as
role-models for men. Missing from that list are David, Solomon, Joseph,
Moses, and even Abraham didn't make the cut.
"The word of the
Lord came again to me, saying, Son of man, when the land sinneth against
me by trespassing grievously, then will I stretch out mine hand upon
it, and will break the staff of the bread thereof, and will send famine
upon it, and will cut off man and beast from it: Though these three men,
Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own
souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord God." - Ez 14:12-14
Pray that God would raise up some Noahs, Daniels, and Jobs. These were
all godly men who had no blood on their hands and would not tolerate
idolatry. It would behoove every pastor to learn from these three. If
they impressed God, think what men today could learn from them.
"Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me.
And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men
have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of
their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by
them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord
God; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his
heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face,
and cometh to the prophet; I the Lord will answer him that cometh
according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of
Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me
through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith
the Lord God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away
your faces from all your abominations." - Ez 14:1-6
"But all
these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man
severally as he will. For as the body is one, and hath many members, and
all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is
Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we
be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made
to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many." - 1
Cor 12:11-114
Aren't you glad that Christ has put the Hope of His coming into your hearts? The Bible tells us:
"To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation." - Heb 9:28b
We love Him because He first loved us. With that in mind, how can we
not be thrilled that He is coming soon to bring about the restoration of
all things? Even if that means this world will suffer under the hand of
His judgment unless they repent, we can look beyond those unpleasant
things to the ultimate end: His return and His Kingdom established on
Earth as it is in Heaven.
Those wanting the kingdom without the
King strive for success in this life and to fit in with the culture.
They scoff at us who are warning the earth dwellers of impending
judgment to turn or burn. They tell us no one is listening to us --
we're too negative.
Do these kingdom builders cry out to the LORD
for the evil that is all around us? Are their souls vexed within them,
like Lot's was as he saw such evil at his doorstep?
We Rapture
Ready people are accused of 'crying wolf.' But even in the fable, the
wolf finally did show up and no one was ready.
I do believe that
those who are busy chasing after success in this life - even using the
name of Christ to realize their dreams - will be overlooked when the
rapture does come. God always removed His people before pouring out His
wrath -- like the times of Noah and Lot. But the invited guests who
can't be bothered from their worldly pursuits, prove they are of this
world, not citizens of the one to come.
God would say this to the Osteen-type 'Christians':
"Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the LORD guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain." --Psalms 127:1
The biggest mistake we could make now is to get too comfortable here
and just get apathetic about the evil all around. We must set our hands
to the plow and not look back. We must hate what He hates and love what
He loves. It's time to look up and snatch some out of the fire on the
way up.
Maranatha!!
"Now the glory of the God of Israel
had gone up from the cherub, where it had been, to the threshold of the
temple. And He called to the man clothed with linen, who had the
writer’s inkhorn at his side; and the LORD said to him, 'Go through the
midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the
foreheads of the men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that
are done within it.' To the others He said in my hearing, 'Go after him
through the city and kill; do not let your eye spare, nor have any
pity.'" - Ez 9:3-5
Are you finding it harder to fit in? Does this world seem more and
more foreign to you? Are you perpetually grieved at the rise of
wickedness? When you hear of same-sex marriage, abortion, and unmarried
couples playing house, do you grieve in your spirit? If you answered
'no' -- you need a spiritual check-up.
We have come to the time
when good is called evil; and evil good. Our culture has deteriorated.
Godly role-models are scarce.
Political leaders are apathetic
and ho-hum. The true Church cannot point to a single voice in the
public eye that represents the LORD and the Truth of Scripture without
compromise.
Even among
those who preach Bible prophecy and the coming of the LORD (and they are
a dying breed), they join in with enemies of the cross of Christ for
the sake of expediency. They linger on the sets of TBN and hold hands
with heretics at GodTV, while calling themselves prophets. They warn of
harbingers while breaking bread with false prophets.
The LORD has something to say to those compromisers:
"Seek good and not evil, That you may live; So the LORD God of hosts will be with you... Hate evil, love good... Woe to you who desire the day of the LORD! For what good is the day of the LORD to you? It will be darkness, and not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion, And a bear met him! Or as though he went into the house, Leaned his hand on the wall, And a serpent bit him! Is not the day of the LORD darkness, and not light? Is it not very dark, with no brightness in it? I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies." - Amos 5:14a, 15a, 18-21
Please do not support these compromisers -- but speak up. Those who
compromise with evil, God is giving them over to it. God is removing
their discernment. They are not to be listened to, lest you be led
astray.
If that means a diminished circle of Bible teachers, so
be it. You just may find that it is the ones that are not eloquent in
speech or appearance that God's Spirit is leading, not the great
speakers who wax eloquently. Even the Apostle Paul put people to sleep
when he spoke. As he said,
"And I, brethren, when I came to you,
did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the
testimony of God." - 1 Cor 2:1
Our only defense is to keep on
the alert - stay on the lookout for each other -- and know our bibles.
Selfish ambition is shutting the eyes of many a spokesman.
The biggest threat and danger to our Faith is the love of this world --
worldly pursuits. Jesus spoke of this in the parable of the seeds and
soil:
"Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears
the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches
choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful."
It is a difficult balancing act to put the LORD's concerns above our
own. And spiritual apathy is pandemic in the church in this time of the
famine of the hearing of the Word of God. At this point in time ALL the
virgins are sleeping.
Some of the hardest things to resist that I can think of include:
* Compromising with truth to be acceptable to unsaved family/friends; * Hiding one's beliefs to fit in at work; * Falling in love with an unbeliever in hopes of converting him/her; * Forsaking daily reading of the Word, after all, you've read the entire Bible; * Justifying sleeping with unmarried lover, after all, 'we love the LORD and each other'; * Giving in to same-sex attraction, 'God made me that way'; * Backsliding into old habits you forsook when you got saved (smoking, drinking, carousing); * Keeping quiet when Christian friends speak highly of false teachers and not caring enough to warn them.
I do believe that watching for the signs of His appearing and getting
excited about His coming does indeed help with our sanctification. This
is an advantage we have over those who are preterists and post-mils and
a-mils.
Let's keep on eagerly awaiting the Time of our Visitation and hold onto our crowns!!
“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with
carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you
unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the
face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may
be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man.”" - Luke 21:34-36
"If then
you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where
Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things
above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also
will appear with Him in glory. Therefore put to death your members which
are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and
covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things the wrath of
God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, in which you yourselves
once walked when you lived in them. " - Col 3:1-7
