I wish I had all the answers to this life's problems. How do we
overcome the pits and snares we come upon on the Road to the Celestial
City? It's getting more and more uncomfortable here on planet earth.
Sometimes there are no easy ways around the obstacles in our path.
We who have been born-again and have new life in Jesus Christ have had
to leave our old life behind. After salvation we no longer fit in with
old friends who continue to live the life Jesus redeemed us from. They
aren't comfortable around us either since we don't laugh at their dirty
jokes nor are we tantalized by their relating their intimate secrets as
we used to be.
We've had to make new friends we've met at church.
Maybe that worked for a while until we dig deeper into Scripture than
they're comfortable with. The church people start seeing us as fanatics
for questioning the worship leader's choice of songs or the pastor's
quoting of questionable sources. Soon we're no longer invited to join
them at their get-togethers. They tired of hearing about Bible prophecy
and what they call 'conspiracy theories.'
When that happens it's
easier to feel more comfortable with the life-long friends we left
behind who are carrying on doing the same things where we left off. We
find some comfort there, like clinging to that old beat up blanket with
holes in it we just don't want to part with. But when we go back there
we find ourselves acting and thinking like we did in our B.C. days and
forget who we are -- new creatures in Christ.
So we are stumbled
by our nostalgia for the good old days and disenchanted with the church
socials when we don't fit into the cliques in those circles. Fiery
darts seem to come from both pre-and-post-kingdoms as we strive to walk
in the Truth without compromise.
The only other option seems to be isolation -- and that's not a good solution either. Just me and my Bible -- alone again.
The current climate of apostasy in the church has left so many sheep in
this condition -- scattered on the hills -- outside the camp. No
Spirit-led leadership to latch onto.
As I said - I do not have
all the answers. It seems to be a dilemma each of us has to work out for
ourselves. Every situation is unique.
May the LORD strengthen
all who find themselves between a rock and a hard place. Jesus has a
place for all amputated members of His body -- at least in the by and
by.
"A Psalm of David when he was in the wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water." Ps 63:1
"That he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh to the
lusts of men, but to the will of God. For the time past of our life may
suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in
lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and
abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not
with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall
give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead." -
1Pet 4:2-5
Keep your chin up - God holds your hand. He is
the Author and Finisher of your faith that is being tested daily in
these perilous times. We are eye-witnesses to the unfolding of Bible
prophecy as we watch in amazement as the visible church and the world march to the beat of the devil's drum.
It will only get worse as the Day approaches. Right now we are
surrounded by a cloud of Judases who hate us because we do not walk in
goose-step with the direction they are taking the church. They tell both
sheep and goat alike that God wants to unify all institutions that name
the name of Christ regardless of their doctrine. And those who do not
go along are the enemy -- that would be you and me.
The Bible
tells us who this unified religious hag is destined to become and you
resisters will be put out of your congregations for voicing any
objections. They will shun you and ridicule you. You will be called
judgmental and divisive and a threat to the peace and tranquility of the
new religious order.
The prophesied persecution that would
increase in the last days is beginning and it is happening within the
walls of the church. You will be hated by all for your stand on the
Truth while all those who go along with the communal direction of the
tide will be given over to believe THE lie, because they did not have a
love for the Truth.
We are little voices crying out in the
wilderness, yet we are labeled as the dreaded religious leaders such as
those who opposed Jesus. But we are not the ones with the miters on our
heads. We are not the ones with clerical salaries and retirement plans.
We are not the professors in the seminaries. We do not have titles of
respect like Reverend and Doctor and Bishop. The ones who hate us and
will persecute us hold those positions. With that we agree that it is
indeed the religious leaders who Jesus rebuked.
We must stay
awake and keep on the lookout and alert others when danger approaches.
Jesus warned us not to be deceived. He told us before He returns that
deception would increase to the point where even the elect could be
misled. We may be scattered around the globe, but we can still join
together in cyberspace and obey the Master's warning to gather ourselves
together as we see the Day approach. If we can't do it in the flesh, we
can online. If our only neighborhood option for a church is to join
with the hag, we will obey the Master's voice and 'come out from among
them' so as not to be in the fallout zone.
Give Him glory today -- Lift up His name wherever you go. Warn all -- He is coming soon and very soon!
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now
restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the
lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath
of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming
of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power,
signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among
those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth,
that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong
delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be
condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in
unrighteousness." -- 2Thes 2:7-12
“And to the angel of the
church in Philadelphia write, ‘These things says He who is holy, He who
is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts,
and shuts and no one opens I know your works. See, I have set before you
an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength,
have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Indeed I will make those
of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but
lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to
know that I have loved you. Because you have kept My command to
persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come
upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am
coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your
crown." Rev. 3:7-11
As we watch the prophesied events of the end times play out in our day, it doesn't deliver the same joyful expectation that it did back in the 1970s & 80s. We would listen to prophecy teachers speak of a coming cashless society, of some new world religion coming, of a new kind of vulture showing up at Megeddo, and a target date of 1988 for a pre-trib rapture. We had Hal Lindsey, Chuck Smith and Doug Clark heralding the coming events with such a thrill of excitement in their preaching that we just all got titillated too.
All those things were somewhere down the line. We didn't see that there would be an entire breakdown of morality - we thought we'd seen it all back then after the age of Aquarius. We never conceived of same-sex marriage -- especially in the church!
We heard from new agers of a coming paradigm shift and didn't realize that the same shift was going to happen in the church and take many of our friends and loved ones along with it. We didn't anticipate that new age altered states of consciousness would take hold in our own circles under the guise of contemplative and soaking prayer.
The shifted worldview has now encompassed the visible church and left us few sheep behind. We don't see the Word of God as a success-motivational tool or a diet book to get in shape by following Daniel and his friends' choice of veggies. I like what Jesus said to the Pharisees who misused the Scriptures: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." - John 5:39
Rather than going along with the paradigm shift in the church we need to see the world and the church through the eyes of Jesus and with the mind of Christ. As we meditate on His Word, not gazing into our navels, we renew our minds and are better able to exist in this world where we do not fit in.
Compromise with the world is one of the most dangerous temptations the devil is using to overcome the saints.
LORD, keep us set apart for Your purposes in these evil days. Amen.
"Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'" - 1 Pet 1:13-16
"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For 'who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?' But we have the mind of Christ." - 1 Cor 2:12-16
There have been many discouraging stories and
news items I've shared with you all this week. From the update of the
evil empire of TBN to the Congress finding that discrimination against
the gay lifestyle is equal to Antisemitism
and anti-Black discrimination. Stories of the apostate church merging
with new age mindlessness and occultism as if it were spiritually
beneficial. The world and the visible church seem to have fallen into
the pit,
It is painful to one's soul to look about us and see
the heathen rage and the church decimated from within. That is the best
time to open up Psalms for the LORD's encouragement -- the balm of
Gilead.
As Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun."
God's people, even back in the Old Testament times, were discouraged by
similar things. The Word of God is eternal -- what blessed them can
bless us today -- as reading Psalms 106 and 107 did for me.
"Then they believed His words; They sang His praise. They soon forgot His works; They did not wait for His counsel, But lusted exceedingly in the wilderness, And tested God in the desert. And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul." Ps 106:12-15
Reading this, I thought of the TBN scandal and remembered in the early
days of the Crouch dynasty how their Praise-a-thons resembled lively
hootenannies but before long devolved into greedy money-grubbing
sessions featuring the demonic faces of evil men laying burdens on the
viewers while flashing their diamond pinkie rings, The Crouches, in
their lust and greed, achieved riches for themselves but ended up with
dark and ugly souls.
Thoughts turned to the apostate church as I continued reading Psalm 106-
"Thus they were defiled by their own works, And played the harlot by their own deeds. Therefore the wrath of the LORD was kindled against His people, So that He abhorred His own inheritance. And He gave them into the hand of the Gentiles, And those who hated them ruled over them. Their enemies also oppressed them, And they were brought into subjection under their hand." vss. 39-42
The church has made friends with the world and used its ways to market
the church and build up mega-church-businesses. Now the world has turned
on the church and soon will force her to perform same-sex weddings or
lose their tax-exemption status. The church loved the world and now the
world hates the church.
Only a remnant has repented of those things and will be rescued from the end result of the love affair with the heathen world.
"Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, And He delivered them out of their distresses. And He led them forth by the right way, That they might go to a city for a dwelling place." Ps 107:6-7
That city, the New Jerusalem, awaits those whose hearts cry out to our
God. Those who are strangers and pilgrims in this world. These verses
are the icing on the cake:
"Then they cry out to the LORD in their trouble, And He brings them out of their distresses. He calms the storm, So that its waves are still. Then they are glad because they are quiet; So He guides them to their desired haven." vss. 28-30
When Jesus calmed the Sea of Galilee He was telling his disciples that
He is the source of peace in their lives. Whatever storms we are facing
today, we can rest assured that He holds all things in His hands and He
will soon gather us to the Celestial City.
The storm clouds are gathering -- Don't look back -- keep looking up!
Have you noticed that the older the institution, the further away
from the Truth of Scripture it has drifted? It is apparent that as soon
as believers come together and appoint elders, the devil sows his tares
in the leadership.
The ecumenical voices in the church do not
offer any solutions to this problem. One ecumenical commentator in a
recent issue of Christianity Today wrote, "Sticking with enemies and
heretics is not for the faint of Spirit." She is saying we must accept
the leaven for the sake of unity. But my Bible says:
"Therefore
purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly
are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us."
- 1 Cor 5:7
We must not retain enemies of the cross of Christ or
heretics who sabotage God's Word and lead people astray. If they enter
in, they must be corrected and removed if they insist on polluting the
fellowship. Putting up with wolves in sheep's clothing is not the
solution to division in the church.
The voices of compromise are
getting louder and louder and drowning out the voices of reason and
faithfulness to the Word of God. All signs point to the nearness of the
LORD's return -- even at the door. This is not the time to make peace
with heresy -- when we do that we become one with spiritual adulterers
and the mother of harlots. Ecumenists say that we have to be one for the
world to know the Lord, but when the world looks on and sees that hag, a
mixture of truth and error, it only confirms their contempt for God is
justified.
So if your church has crossed the line and given
heretics a seat at the table and allows false doctrine and evil workers
in to do their damage, it's time to move on and form a new lump. We are
all one -- those of us who keep separate from doctrines of devils. We
may have friction in our midst where personalities clash and we need to
work toward peace with each other. We have a lot to learn on that front.
But when it comes to making unholy alliances we must draw the line.
We are pilgrims in this world. We need to tune in to the Master's voice
in this wilderness. When the pillar of fire or the pillar of cloud
moves on, we need to move too and not stay in a place that no longer
retains their lampstand.
Onward and upward!!
"For I am
jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one
husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I
fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so
your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For
if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if
you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a
different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with
it!" 2 Cor 11:2-4
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself
ready.” - Rev 19:7
Corporate worship, singing praises to our God,
is a glorious tradition in the church that is becoming a thing of the
past. So many churches select song leaders based on their talent without
any thought to their gifting or calling.
I know a few such gifted men on the planet -- but they are scattered
like the rest of us in the post-Christian age we're in. When I read in
the Bible of all of us worshiping around the Throne, I long to be there
and know I will some day.
The body of Christ is not only
lacking in gifted pastor/teachers, but in all other areas of ministry. I
think the reason for this is that the church has allowed leaven in and
it has grown so exponentially that the entire lump is now leavened. For
this reason many true believers have gotten out of those churches in
obedience to the LORD's call to 'be ye separate.'
It can be a
lonely place up on one of the many hills, metaphorically speaking. I
moved my entire family three thousand miles just to be part of a small
home church where I had hoped for true Christian fellowship. The song
leader was a blessing. She only chose songs that glorified the LORD and
were biblically sound. But the group soon broke up when no gifted
teacher was among us after the removal of one that read sermons of
others to us without attribution.
So many of us find ourselves
with no sound fellowship to attend. I plan on relocating again later in
the year. I've learned a hard lesson that I cannot count on finding a
New Testament church gathering that is leaven-proof. As soon as I think I
have and leaven creeps in, the moment I point that out to the
leadership I'm no longer welcome.
I'll share this song this
morning with others in my same situation. Be transported to the Throne
room as you lift your lone voice to the Most High -- Blessed be His
name!! "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and
of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it
had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the
book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he
had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down
before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full
of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a new song,
saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto
our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth." Rev.
5:6-10
"And David and all the house of Israel played before the
LORD on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and
on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals." 2 Sam.
6:5
Modern life is highly over-rated. I know we have all the
conveniences such as indoor plumbing and the Internet (in that order),
but one thing we lack is a sense of belonging.
This world is not
our home, but must it be so alien? When I read the historical books of
the Bible, or even read biographies of various believers of ages past, I
see people helping people and following God-appointed leaders such as
Moses or David. It makes me envious -- even if I wouldn't want to dress the fattened calf when company calls.
Reading Ezra and Nehemiah this week, it was all for one and one for
all. They had a job to do and they all rolled up their sleeves and
accomplished their God-given mission.
In the New Testament,
getting the Gospel out to the four corners of the Earth to people who
had never heard the name of Jesus stirred the saints into action.
Today we have pastors casting their own visions and wanting the
parishioners to adopt their empty goals as their own. Church goers live
their lives separate from the congregation -- only to come together for
an occasional pot-luck.
Today our attempts at continuing the
Great Commission of spreading the Gospel usually come up empty. The
whole world has heard of Jesus and most of the world connects his name
to Rome or televangelism or Harold Camping or the Tea Party -- and the
walls go up before we can get a tract in their hands.
Perhaps the night is just about upon us where no man can work the works of God -- the wicked will be wicked still.
I know what my assignment is. The faith has been established once and
for all. My job, and I hope yours as well, is to defend it (Jude 3) and
go after those who are doubting (Jude 22) and hold onto my crown.
I just wish we could carry this out side-by-side instead of one on one.
“He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him
be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who
is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My
reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the
Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the
Last.” - Rev 22:11-13
"And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the
words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be
purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and
none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall
understand...But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and
will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.” - Dan 9:9-10,13
“Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you
from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test
those who dwell on the earth. Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast
what you have, that no one may take your crown." - Rev 3:10-11
