Sound the Alarm

All of us have heard some version of the story of the little boy sent out to watch his father’s sheep who called “wolf, wolf”, when there was no wolf.  But just because there was no wolf, – at least not that day – the threat of there being any wolf at all soon faded from mind and the alarm lost its power to bring warning or help.

How many times have we heard the alarms of the Bible sounded without there being any apparent danger? Life in our part of the pasture was fine, or at least manageable. We were busy getting ready for something or trying to recover from it or rewarding ourselves for being so good or clever or successful or pulling ourselves out of some bad mood or relationship dysfunction.

We have frittered away our lives on most of what does not matter, at least, in light of eternity. God calls those activities wood, hay and stubble. (I Cor. 2:12-15). ( They will not withstand the fiery trial or the examination of the truth.  And there will be NO EXCUSES!!!

But the alarm, though sounded very clearly over 2000 years ago by Jesus Christ and some of His most prophetic disciples, rings as true and current today, as it did on the first day it was given. If you are hearing the sound of God’s warning, in the natural disasters, the political events, the budding of the fig tree, (Israel), and the hardening of the hearts, you know we have come into perilous times. (II Tim. 3:1-7).

“Evil men and seducers (imposters ), NKJV, will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” ( II Tim. 3:13).  Your first response might well be one of deep sadness or fear. Personally, I live in a mixture of joy and urgency over what has happened to us under the rule of fear.

Fear of rocking the proverbial boat, fear of what people might say or think, as if there is any lasting value or permanence in anything mankind does or thinks, becomes our guide to christianity. We are afraid to step up to the plate, step out, be seen, speak up, or  get shot down.

The only thing that is certain is that for which we cannot take a stand is evidently not worth dying for either. I would wonder if, for some of us, that might include our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, His Word, and the eternal life He died to give us.

I am saddened to see how even the most straight forward passages of the Word of God have been so twisted as to endorse the very sin God hates (Rom. 1:20-32) and  we have been so silent to defend it. (I want you to notice, that the war against all that is holy is so vicious that if we would even mention or name any specific “sin” or “behavior that God would disapprove of”, we would be in jeopardy of being publicly shamed and held in reproach and called haters or bible-bangers.)

The time is upon us when all who live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. All of us who espouse the love of God and loyalty to another kingdom, a kingdom not of this world, are the designated enemy of this world. All those so  identified as “enemies of the state”, will be dealt with more harshly than  with a mere slime-ing of the biased media  or a political betrayal with slap on the hand. And although persecution is not new to the followers of Jesus Christ, it is time to step across the line fear has drawn in the sand of your life to intimidate you and say, ENOUGH!

How has it come to this? That God would call the righteous to take a stand against evil? How could He ask us to leave our “nice, safe little niches” to sound the alarm? Jesus’ opening statement in beginning His public ministry was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17).

Actually, “Repentance” is the perfect place to start, or to start over. Repentance means change your mind. The truth is worth dying for if it is God’s truth. Any other opinion under any other name or endorsed by any other system is not God’s truth but the counterfeit. The counterfeit of truth is better knows as the Lie. Satan is the author and originator of all lies, and is the power behind those of us who tell or believe them.

It is pretty simple. There are only 2 kingdoms, and they are at war. We cannot serve God and mammon. (Matt. 6:24). “No one  can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”

This was His declaration of war. Did He not say, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword.” (Matt. 10: 34).  He goes on to say, “and he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matt. 10:38-39).

I wonder if Jesus would be treated any differently on earth today as He was the first time He came? For all the talk we hear, even among ourselves about revival, we are not interested enough in revival to repent, or to make the personal sacrifices called for in the procuring of either.

There’s a little saying that says, “when nothing changes, nothing changes.” The truth is doing nothing changes everything, – usually,  for the worse. All of us will have to give an account of those things we did and did not do. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” ( II Cor. 5:10)

How many more times will we dismiss God’s warnings about Hell and cast off God’s Word as merely Him crying “wolf, wolf”?  How much longer will we delay in our obedience?  How many more times will we reject the truth about the danger of rejecting Him or His return because it has not happened yet? What will it take for YOU and ME to take a stand?

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?

What has He called you to do? Read your Bible? Live a god-fearing, holy life? Love your wife? Honor your husband? Train up your children is righteousness? Speak up to defend the truth? Repent?  Turn away from evil, including the indulgences of the appetites?

Allow God to search your heart and deliver you from lies that the enemy has used to control you? Turn away from those things that erode and contaminate your faith? Love one another? Stop participating in things God warns against, those little sins and white lies? Take a stand with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords? Turn your eyes away from the  perverted images, games, show, and movies?

Contact your congressman? Blog? Vote? Pray? Forgive? Put your financial house in order? Speak kindly to your kids? Teach them the truth about Jesus Christ and His salvation? Help the downtrodden? Participate in the war against evil? Give of your money to support those called to devote their lives full-time to the cause of Christ? Support and pray for the other people of God, the Remnant of believers?Pass this blog on to your friends?

Is the problem one of confusion, condemnation or fear? Do we let fear rule where the love of God would feed?? When will the time be convenient for us to heed the warnings? An alarm never goes off at a convenient time!!!