There’s an old saying: “Be careful what you wish for.”
Listen, If God were to get rid of all sin at midnight tonight as we sleep in restful slumber, He would do a complete job of it, which means that many of us may not wake up to the smell of fresh coffee and toast in the morning, but fire and brimstone and the cries and shrieks of those awaking in hell for the first time. Why? Well, because this God of ours hates, despises and loathes sin. Many of us don’t. We think that our little ‘white lies’ are no big deal, and that our roving eyes are ‘understandable’, but God will sentence such people who have such a flippant attitude to sin FOREVER. Why is this?
Each of is born to live a life – what a gift! Yet, death will visit each one of us someday. We try not to think about this, and even avoid it, but Death is on his way as surely as the sun will rise tomorrow morning. In the end Christ will stand before us with a sword in His left hand and the Book of Life in His right hand. Thank your lucky stars that satan is not in the place of your final judge, though each of us deserves him. Thank God that He has positioned His One and Only Son as our Judge, Who will calmly and encouragingly look each one of us in the eye as we stand before Him, when He says, “You will get justice here.”
Behind Christ, lays Paradise. Behind you is a lake of fire.
Like the gentleman that He is, Christ will intently and earnestly listen to all of our arguments: why each of us believes we deserve to be in His paradise, but it all comes down to this: if you hated God all of your life, why would you want to spend a single moment with Him – and forever!? Wouldn’t you be much more comfortable among your own – those, like most, who despised Him, ridiculed Him, took His name in vain – hated Him and His Church, and were nauseated by His people – especially on Fox News?
God’s ultimate solution to the problem of evil awaits us in the future. As sobering as this is, He does not permit evil to run unchecked. For instance, where Nero meant to destroy all Christians under his thumb, he ended up committing suicide in a sweaty, dank peasant’s closet, hiding from his own soldiers. Hitler pathetically committed suicide in an underground bunker – unbeknownst to him, an open grave already prepared for him. Can you see the mocking, humor of God in this? Believe me – you do not want to be an enemy of God.
Though it may appear that evil wins out, all of us still fall under the ‘law of the land’ (Romans 13: 1-7). God founded the Church to be a light in the darkness and also to be the salt of the earth. Ever get a pinch of salt thrown into an open wound? It hurts. It’s the nature of the purity of salt to cause pain in an open, festering wound. Does the Church do this today? Is this your experience of the Church today? No? Well let’s sum up:
The Church is intended to:
1. Strengthen God’s people (Acts 2:42, Ephesians 4:14, Romans 12:10, Romans 15:14, Ephesians 4:32, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, Acts 2:42, Philippians 4:6-7, ) and MOST importantly, lest any of us forget: 1 John 3:11.
2. Restrain the wickedness of the world (Matthew 5:13, 14-16, James 1:27, 1 Corinthians 12: 12-27, Psalm 14:3, Romans 8:8, Luke 6:35). Here’s a good one for so-called Christians – brothers and sisters in the faith that cannot get along with each other and as a result, give the world an opportunity to see us as insincere hypocrites: Matthew 9:50 and perhaps, Luke 14:34-35.
3. Be a beacon of hope for the lost (Matthew 28: 18-20, Acts 1:8 and 1 Peter 3:15). Is your local church the “Lighthouse” of your community, or is it just some building among many others that wouldn’t make a passerby blink twice?
Is your church following this three-tier mandate? The litmus test is this: if it isn’t, then it is likely that your Church’s pastor and his session (as well as much of the congregation) is fast asleep, and really comfy with this dream, from which no one wants to be awakened.
Have any of you been spit in the face for standing up for what is right? I can tell you, it’s a very humiliating experience, but from my own pitiful experience of being spit in the face from a woman who hated me for my “Right-to-Life” representation of the sanctity of life back on the streets of the early 2000’s Nashua, NH, it’s one I will never forget. I sometimes wonder what this woman thinks about this today… I just stood there with a smile on my face, with her spit dripping down my jaw. I didn’t wipe it off, as though I wanted her to think that even her spit was meaningful – how much more the blood of babies splayed on hospital walls and the abortionist’s facial masks in support of tearing these poor little babies to pieces while “The Church” remains quiet in its 45+ year nap.