Jeremiah 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Are you sleeping brother /sister?
There is growing concern today about the sleepy and unwatchful state that our Christian community is in. What is content of the messages that we hear on the radio or TV and in our churches? In the verse from Jeremiah 5, the leaders are turning away from God. They are allowing sin to affect the community of believers and there is no call to repentance from the leaders. In my opinion, that is pretty much what we are seeing today also. We see warnings being put out by well known Bible teachers (such as Irwin Lutzer, Anne Graham Lotz, Billy Graham, Joel Rosenberg, John McTernan) calls of warnings and calls to repentance from them - But no warnings are coming on a local level. I find it troubling that, generally speaking, no one in the Christian community at a local level is noticing God speak to us through the world events, the riots among Muslims, financial woes, wars looming, the heat and drought and other weather events we've had this summer, or through the homosexual issues that are surfacing in our communities. It is as though God is shouting to us but it is falling on mostly deaf ears. There is never a mention of any of these global warnings from the pulpits of our churches. It seems that though there are good outreaches to the lost going on in some places, in the majority scope of things, Christians are not noticing any of these warnings but are going on blindly wandering within their own "small bubbles" consummed with the things of this world - money, fashion,TV shows, pleasures, music, movies, travel, etc. Matthew 13: 14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
In my opinion, it is time to open our eyes and ears - look up, listen and watch - and encourage one another to prepare for persecution of our faith, to prepare to stand for truth and righteousness. How are Christians going to be prepared to stand in the face of persecution if they do not even know that it is getting very very close? With the outrage over the controversial movie - the " Innocence of Muslims", we can see that there is a closing-in on of the freedoms of Christians. Proverbs 6:4-5 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
As we see rough times approaching, we need to draw ever closer to our Lord Jesus, go deeper with the Lord and spend more time in the Bible and in prayer. We need to alert one another to what is going on around us and encourage each other in the Lord. We need to hear the warning bells sounding from our church pulpits! and we need to hear words of encouragement to prepare!
Hebrews 10: 23-27 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
Revelation 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
Are you sleeping brother /sister?
There is growing concern today about the sleepy and unwatchful state that our Christian community is in. What is content of the messages that we hear on the radio or TV and in our churches? In the verse from Jeremiah 5, the leaders are turning away from God. They are allowing sin to affect the community of believers and there is no call to repentance from the leaders. In my opinion, that is pretty much what we are seeing today also. We see warnings being put out by well known Bible teachers (such as Irwin Lutzer, Anne Graham Lotz, Billy Graham, Joel Rosenberg, John McTernan) calls of warnings and calls to repentance from them - But no warnings are coming on a local level. I find it troubling that, generally speaking, no one in the Christian community at a local level is noticing God speak to us through the world events, the riots among Muslims, financial woes, wars looming, the heat and drought and other weather events we've had this summer, or through the homosexual issues that are surfacing in our communities. It is as though God is shouting to us but it is falling on mostly deaf ears. There is never a mention of any of these global warnings from the pulpits of our churches. It seems that though there are good outreaches to the lost going on in some places, in the majority scope of things, Christians are not noticing any of these warnings but are going on blindly wandering within their own "small bubbles" consummed with the things of this world - money, fashion,TV shows, pleasures, music, movies, travel, etc. Matthew 13: 14-16 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
In my opinion, it is time to open our eyes and ears - look up, listen and watch - and encourage one another to prepare for persecution of our faith, to prepare to stand for truth and righteousness. How are Christians going to be prepared to stand in the face of persecution if they do not even know that it is getting very very close? With the outrage over the controversial movie - the " Innocence of Muslims", we can see that there is a closing-in on of the freedoms of Christians. Proverbs 6:4-5 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
As we see rough times approaching, we need to draw ever closer to our Lord Jesus, go deeper with the Lord and spend more time in the Bible and in prayer. We need to alert one another to what is going on around us and encourage each other in the Lord. We need to hear the warning bells sounding from our church pulpits! and we need to hear words of encouragement to prepare!
Hebrews 10: 23-27 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
No comments:
Post a Comment