Here we are at the beginning of another month. It’s hard to believe that 2012 is almost half gone. If you have watched The End Times video, you may have thought how privileged we are to be able to step back from the hustle and bustle of life and take a broad biblical look at the spectrum of His-story from Paradise lost to Paradise regained. How cool is it to know that you can play a vital role in what God Almighty is doing, and trying to do, on the earth today? You are much more than a “spec” on the spectrum of His-story.
As the world careens to a close, let’s remember that what God and Christ are trying to do is “snatch people out of the fire” (Jude 23), that is, get them saved—and then help them “…come unto the knowledge of the truth” so they can help others do the same. Most significantly, the Greek word for “snatch” is the same word translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, which of course refers to the Lord Jesus “snatching” us out of this world to meet him in the air. When we share the Gospel of salvation with someone who believes it, we snatch him from Satan’s purse and guarantee that one day he will be totally snatched to everlasting safety.
To succeed in this endeavor, God and the Lord Jesus must have human cooperation. Uh, that would be you and me, as in “fellow laborers.” With each passing day, I can identify more with Lot, whom the Word says was: “…a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)” (2 Pet. 2:7 and 8). I believe God uses the word “righteous” three times to draw the contrast between Lot and those around him. Ditto for us, because as the world grows darker and more wicked, we have more opportunity to shine as lights.
Each day I feel more and more “vexed” to know that the pain and suffering I see is only a small slice of what’s going on in the lives of seven billion people on the planet. I just cannot imagine the pain God and the Lord must feel when they watch day after day the carnage on the earth God created to be a Paradise for His loving family.
I have no idea why you and I know the Word of God we do, when all around us the vast majority of mankind continues to be “…destroyed for lack of knowledge….” What did I do to deserve to know the Truth? Nothing I can think of, but being in such a minority motivates me to share with others the Truth someone shared with me. I guess I’m in the second half of my life now (you get 120 years, right?), and I am more “pumped” than ever about making known God’s Word to people for as long as I can. Recently I saw the following verses, which touched me deeply:
Psalm 71:17 and 18
17 Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds. 18 Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come.
Speaking of “the next generation,” the Lord needs some “yutes” to get fired up about learning and sharing the Word of Truth. As you read this, you may, like I, be able to think back 20, 30, 40 years to when you first heard the Word and how your heart burned within you. How awesome was that?! By the way, I hope you still have “heartburn.” As we seek the Lord’s guidance regarding how to share with others the Truth we know, the following verses leap to mind:
2 Timothy 2:1 and 2
1 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.
The “things” Timothy had heard Paul say were the marvelous truths we now read in the Church Epistles, in particular, the Sacred Secret and all it entails. Earlier in that last epistle to his young protégé, Paul lamented that “…all those in Asia have turned away from me…,” and thus from the Truth that Paul held dear. In essence, we see the same thing today. So few Christians know what the Word really says about many vital issues. If we don’t tell them, who will?
In an essay titled, Why Christianity Lost America? Vishal Mangalwadi (author of The Book That Made Your World: How the Bible Created the Soul of Western Civilization) wrote:
Original Christian settlers in America chose Truth as Harvard’s motto because it is a central theme in the Gospel of John. Words such as ‘true’ and ‘truth’ appear more than 40 times in 21 chapters. Facing crucifixion, Jesus stated the rationale for his coming into a world that was lost in darkness of ignorance: ‘For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world— to bear witness to the truth’ (John 18:37). After his resurrection, Jesus sent [his disciples] out as witnesses: truth-tellers.
Now we live in a society that in large part embraces Post-modernism, a worldview that declares: “There is no such thing as absolute Truth.” Gimme an “H,” gimme a “U,” gimme another “H.” What d’ya got? HUH?! Isn’t that itself an absolute statement? Sure, just like this curious Post-modern tenet: “It’s wrong to say something is wrong.” Obviously, such jaded thinking will lead a person to believe that there is no such thing as a standard of right and wrong, so each man gets to decide that for himself, and thus becomes his own god.
In the second in a series of essays titled, Mo and PoMo (short for Modernism and Postmodernism), Dr. John MacArthur wrote:
That is the one essential, non-negotiable demand Post-modernism makes of everyone: we are not supposed to think we know any objective truth. Post-modernists often suggest that every opinion should be shown equal respect.
When it comes to Christianity and Postmodernism, he warns:
But what really underlies the Post-modernist belief system is an utter intolerance for every world-view that makes any universal truth-claims —particularly biblical Christianity. In other words, Post-modernism begins with a presupposition that is irreconcilable with the objective, divinely-revealed truth of Scripture. Like Modernism, Post-modernism is fundamentally and diametrically opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
MacArthur explains this further in another article outside the series but also related to Post-modernism. In The Rise of Extreme Tolerance, he observes:
In the Church today, there is a growing reluctance to take a definitive stand on any issue. Discernment is frankly not very welcome in a culture like ours. In fact, the Post-modern perspective is more than merely hostile to discernment; it is practically the polar opposite. Think about it: pronouncing anything ‘truth’ and calling its antithesis ‘error’ is a breach of Post-modernism’s one last impregnable dogma. That is why to a Post-modernist nothing is more uncouth than voicing strong opinions on spiritual, moral, or ethical matters. People are expected to hold their most important convictions with as much slack as possible. Certainty about anything is out of the question, and all who refuse to equivocate on any point of principle or doctrine are therefore automatically labeled too narrow. Zeal for the truth has become politically incorrect.
We who ascribe to The Living Truth Fellowship’s beliefs and teachings from Scripture are committed to proclaiming, and practicing, the truth that there is TRUTH and that God has revealed it to man in writing, such that anyone who so desires can know both the written Truth and the Living Truth, Jesus Christ. Why? So that we can BE and DO like Jesus and thus leave a wake of deliverance in our lives.
God is aching to be God, and the Lord Jesus is aching to be the Lord. That is, they LOVE to do what ONLY THEY CAN DO. They LOVE to show mankind their goodness, grace, mercy, and power. What do they need from us in order for them to be able to “do their thing?” Faith. What is faith? Biblically, it is trust in a promise of God. The more we re-HEAR-se the words of God between our ears, the deeper our neurological “faith grooves” become and the more we believe Him and act accordingly (Rom. 10:17). That’s why it is so vital that we put our eyes on the pages of God’s Word, meditate on it during our busy days, and regularly hang out with others who do likewise.
Even a cursory glance at the people in our world reveals that most are “lost in space.” Satan has been so successful in manipulating our culture that the majority of people on earth have no idea why they are unhappy, unfulfilled, frustrated, and empty. Seldom taking time to ponder the deeper issues of life, they scurry to two or three jobs that even then do not get them out of debt. They have little or no time for their families, let alone a pursuit of spiritual matters. When, on occasion, they are forced to ask, “What’s the point of my life?” they have no answer, and many numb their frustration with drugs, alcohol, pornography, television, video games, or a slavish devotion to their local sports team.
You and I have God’s Truth to give to those who want it, so let us continue to pray that the Lord Jesus leads us to hungry people and that many of them rise up to teach others also.
