UNDERSTANDING THE TIMES

At the end of this article are two videos; the last one should be viewed carefully, humbly, and without assuming it cannot be true.

The Evils of Division in the Church

There are Christians on both sides of an evil divide today, a chasm that tears at the fabric of Jesus' words when He was on the brink of the most terrible punishment, men can only contemplate but never comprehend. The death whereby the infinite, perfect, holy, righteous, eternal God absorbed the full weight of His own hatred for sin. His words were these, "I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that You did send Me" (John 17:20, 21).

Jesus left us the word He spoke at that time, that the world would know the Father sent him because of His people's unity. Paul, the Apostle, gave a positive admonition to the Church at Philippi. "Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose" (Philippians 2:2). Paul's admonition is also in the context of Philippians two or Jesus' suffering so that the Church would understand the vital importance of unity. A matter that Church history tells us their words have been all but completely ignored.

The unity of which Jesus spoke is to transcend time and unite disciples of different ages. New philosophies may arise and the lies they tell, but the truth remains the same in every generation. What the Bible means in one generation, culture, and people, it means in every other. Therefore, reducing our present dilemma to a matter of conscience will only magnify our willingness to disagree with one another; it is a distraction and a lie. If I agree with God and my brother agrees with God, we must agree with each other. God is not confused.

Politics or Morality

John MacArthur has said, "we are not talking about politics but morality." Let us not forget our morality is attached to Jesus' death. So why the division? Are some side-stepping the truth so they can vote their conscience and keep it clear. Has the Church declined to Israel's immoral state, when they had no king, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes?

So what's the problem, and how did we get here? It is a highly complicated discussion, so let's simplify it for time. Loyalty is good and godly, but misplaced loyalties are deadly dangerous to the soul. Therefore, commitment to human relationships when considering morality cannot be part of the equation because it is too easy to call human relations a devotion to Christ. We must all be honest with ourselves.

Spiritual Warfare

Next, we are fighting a war on many fronts, not the least of which is demonic. Some will feel compelled at this point to leave the discussion, thinking I am scape-goating. Spiritual warfare has been dismissed by many in the 20th and 21st century Christians because of abuses by misled Charismatics and secular Psychology. The medical doctor and spirit-filled preacher and pastor, Martin Lloyd Jones, said the same. We can say we believe in it, but do our praying and preaching reflect that we do.

Let us remember how confusion and sin all began in the Garden. "(1) Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'? (2) "You surely will not die! (3) "For God knows that in the day you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Genesis 3:1, 3). Deception always begins and proceeds by (1) questioning what God has said, (2) changing His words to mean something He did intend, and (3) rationalizing for lust's sake, in the name of understanding.

During Bill Clinton's campaign, a lie broadly circulated was, "Character doesn't matter." O' how the deception has turned on its heal. Today, a candidate's internally corrupted character is said to be equivalent to an entire party's actions. Not in the sight of God, mind you, but the destruction resulting in the lives of a nation. Please, think about that proposition.

The rhetoric goes something like this. "Bad judges, laws, and policies equate to the culture-infecting spread of sinful self-exaltation, boasting, and strife-stirring. It is baffling to assume that pro-abortion policies kill more people than a culture-saturating, pro-self pride." Now I'm baffled!

Wise men agree with the Apostle Paul, "...if I have forgiven anything, I did it for your sakes in the presence of Christ, in order that no advantage be taken of us by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his schemes ("schemes" planned like a schematic)" (2 Corinthians 2:10, 11). If we do not forgive one another and call good, good, and evil, evil, Satan will surely take advantage of us. God is sovereign. However, no one can depend on His sovereignty to rescue us from chastizement and a temporal judgment because no one knows what God will do.

The following verses are not merely theoretical but powerfully practical at this juncture. "Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil." "With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints" (Ephesians 6:11, 18).

If it is accurate, the answer to a poll taken a short time ago, and if it does not change immediately, nothing that needs to change will likely change the possible chastening to come upon the Church in America. The poll said, "The average pastor prays seven minutes a day."

God strengthen us all!

In the following video, you will see two opinions that could not be further apart from each other.

My take away from the video:

Let me see if I get this straight. A man says, "According to the law, you shall not kill, and if you do, your life should be taken; I will stand behind the law." A man, out of reaction to the leader's stand, goes out and kills someone. The one at fault in this situation is the leader. Really? My reaction, don't tell me spiritual warfare does not control the minds of the people today.