I remember
it well during President Trump’s inaugural speech. He had mentioned many times
the name “God” and even at one time said that God would protect this nation.
This, I am sure, threw all of the anti-Christians into an uproar. I am sure
that this alone would have spawned many people to call for his impeachment just
minutes after becoming president. On the other hand, I am sure that this gave
much hope to the many Christians out there who had begun to fear that their
faith was going to be outlawed and that full blown persecution was coming to
Christian America. I even remember seeing on Facebook a meme that depicted
Jesus running down a road, carrying multiple suitcases, saying that He was on
his way back to the White House. Many conservative and Christian Americans once
again held their head up high with hopes that we would return to the America of
yesteryear. But when we put our hopes in man, we put our hopes in a false
security. One look at our current President’s past, as well as his current
actions, prove that he is no great Christian leader that we should put an iota
of faith into.
In reality this nation needs to
repent and turn to Jesus Christ. Not a famous orator, leader, or governing
official. Only then would we as people be changed from the inside out. But is
this possible? Could an entire nation repent and thwart God’s judgment against
them? The mighty city Nineveh repented after hearing Jonah’s prophecy. “Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the
son of Amittai, saying, ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out
against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.’” (Jonah 1:1). “And
Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and
said, ‘Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!’” (3:4). “So the people
of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the
greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he
arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth
and sat in ashes… Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil
way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon
them, and He did not do it.” (3:5-6, 10). Not just did the repentance of
Nineveh hold back God’s hand of judgement, but eventually Israel repented. If
you are familiar with the Biblical history of Israel it was their wicked and
idolatrous ways that caused God’s judgement to come upon them and allowed them
to be taken into captivity. What many Christians may not realize was that when
they returned back to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity, they no
longer worshipped the pagan idols and instead worshipped the One true Yahweh.
God brought judgement upon them. He smacked some sense into them. They said
“God is for real. The prophets weren’t kidding”. It took judgment to wake them
up and to get them to turn from idols. Thankfully God remained true to His
promises and did not wipe the entire nation clean off the face of the earth.
Israel, an entire nation, repented. So yes, it is possible for a city and even
an entire nation to turn back to God.
In just the past two weeks there has
been more evidence of a nation of godless, reprobate minds running loose
without the restraint of God within their conscience. I happened upon a video
of a liberal woman who helped instigate the Berkeley protests and riots that I
had mentioned in Part 2. She said that she uses violence to stop others from
speaking and that she promoted violence during that riot against the
conservative speaker because his views could spark violence. The news program
went on to air a video of her arguing with an opposing protester in the street
in which a man who was accompanying her pushed the opposing protester down and
they began kicking and stomping him in the street. So let’s stop violence by
being violent? Another incident involved the conservative speaker (who is also
a homosexual male) in question at Berkeley promoting man-boy (pedophilic) relationships.
He found himself in trouble and those who usually side with him began to
distance himself from him. The third incident involved vandalism to various
Jewish synagogues. When the President’s daughter called for religious
tolerance, the religious intolerant called her a racist and a promoter of hate.
The disturbing part about this typical leftist view is that many who are
against religion because of its stance against the LBGT agenda want to be
allowed to destroy Christians for their beliefs. That’s why they don’t want
religious protection against any religion that opposes LBGT. So therefore we
allow them to hatefully destroy those that they see promote hate. These three
incidents are just a sprinkle on the icing of the cake that is the current
reprobate America. It leaves many to ask “Are these people seriously using
their brains?” Sadly, yes. They are using minds that are void of God and are
left to their own decaying mind (as I had discussed in Part 3). This is how you
end up with a society of cut-throat savages. Every man for himself!
Jesus said to his disciples “Then He came and found them sleeping, and
said to Peter, ‘Simon, are you sleeping? Could you not watch one hour? Watch
and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the
flesh is weak.’” (Mark 14:37-38). The problem with the modern American
church is that it too has fallen asleep. Gone are the preachers who call for
holiness and repentance. Gone are the preachers who could pull out a convincing
“hellfire and brimstone” sermon that would even make saints fall to their knees
in repentance. The popular preacher of the day is one who preaches a hippy
Jesus that is all about love and happiness. Have you even noticed how big of a
following that Joel Osteen has? This “Jesus” gives credence to the sinner for
their wicked ways and condemns those who preach against sin and for repentance.
The “Jesus” of today would’ve been the one to have imprisoned John the Baptist.
The modern church has fallen asleep, and while she was snoring Satan crept in.
This is why the modern American church’s gospel is as watered down as skim
milk. There’s nothing there but fluff. There’s nothing there to counter balance
the godless culture that is spiraling out of control and seeking to destroy the
church. The church is no longer the lion, but is now the little lamb whereas
Satan is the hungry lion.
Jonathan Falwell (Thomas Road
Baptist Church) has a commercial on our local Christian radio station where, at
the end, he says that Christians just want to change the world. It is not our
job to change the world because, as we see in the Book of Revelation, there are
many unbelievers in the tribulation. It is, however, our job to influence the
world with the gospel. We are to be a light in a world of dark as I had
mentioned in Part 4. We are to be a bright light for all to see, not a dim
flickering light that makes everyone say “Is it going to work or die out?”. But
the modern church has lost its influence. It has become complacent in its
position of “strength” and “power”. It
has become all about meeting the felt needs of the congregation, entertaining
everybody, and receiving the applause and accolades of man. (For more of adescription on the modern church click here).
As I had mentioned in Parts 3 and 4, in regards to the
reprobate man and the modern church, respectively, there is hope. That hope is
Jesus. I know that that may sound like a cliché, but it is a fact. As Jesus
said many times “Repent, for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand!” (Matthew 3:2, among others). Just like the men at
Pentecost said after being convicted of their iniquities, “’Men and brethren, what shall we do?’ Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent,
and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your
children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.’”
(Acts 2:37-39). “Repentance” means to turn from your sinful flesh and turn
to Christ as Lord and Savior. “…if you
confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has
raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
(Romans 10:9-10). “Confess” means to agree with. If you agree that Jesus is
Lord and “If we confess (agree that
we are a sinner in need of salvation) our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). The hope is Jesus as Savior.
For the church Jesus said to the church at Ephesus “Nevertheless I have this against you, that
you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen;
repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove
your lampstand from its place—unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5). Even
the bride of Christ is not immune to judgement. But, despite all of their works
and programs, this church had forgotten the basics of their faith. The modern
church needs to wake up and clean house like Jesus cleansed the temple of the
money changers (so much for that happy hippy “Jesus”, huh?). They need to
reacquaint themselves with the God of the Bible, not the god of man.
May we recognize that Jesus is Lord, no matter what side of
salvation we may stand on. “Therefore God
also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on
earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11).
But more on
that in my next series…
In Christ alone.
No comments:
Post a Comment