I’ve followed several favorite political commentators over the last few years, none of which, I hasten to add, are in the “mainstream” or “legacy” media. I don’t trust any of those any more. They serve a corrupt agenda to take our world into darkness. Who does trust them? Surely only people who are not able or willing to think for themselves, or who love the agenda.
Only two of my favorite commentators are Christian believers. I’ve noticed that the others-unbelievers who are nonetheless worldly wise and well aware that something is seriously wrong in our world-have become increasingly frustrated and confused, particularly after the events which saw Trump accused of everything he could possibly be accused of by his own government, exposing the decadance in our political and media worlds. The one nation that some of us thought could be trusted-our own-has shown itself to be in the hands of the totally untrustworthy.
This really should be of no surprise to any of us who claim to follow the Word of God-the Bible. In it we are clearly told the reason for and the origin of the moral decline, and that our struggle is not just against human stupidity or incompetence:
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12 NIV).
Jesus Christ, having warned us against the huge tide of deception which would come, took the cold message of our reality a step further, when in front of Pilate he refused to defend himself against his accusers:
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place” (John 18:36).
When you look around with eyes open, you have to wonder how it is that human nature descends consistently to such low, disgusting depths as it does. Animals kill each other, but they do it for food, and they do it for self-preservation, and they do it having no conscience or knowledge of right or wrong. We, on the other hand, do have a conscience-one that was built into our nature at creation. And yet we ignore it, and the things we do to each other are far, far worse than just the need for preservation. Without doubt, the Bible is right about the condition of the human soul.
In past generations that fallen nature was in check, to an extent, among those who had a fear of God- and others who were content to live in the shadow of that fear. We had a fairly civilized society for a time, for all its flaws and failings. But that civility is paper-thin. Take away what fear of God there may be, and you expose the raw horror of the human mind and soul.
I speak here of fear of the Judeo-Christian God. Followers of certain other religions see murder as a primary tool to serve their god. And in past ages or even today, in certain parts of the world, gods are appeased by murdering the innocent. That’s the depth of human depravity, in stark contrast to what Western societies once had while walking in the fear of God and of justice. It’s my firm conviction that hatred of the West and its traditions (and its failings) is really just a hatred of Judeo-Christian civilization, and of our God. And some of that hatred, as Paul stated in our text above, has a deep spiritual origin. The war against Christian society is integral to the war against God.
I’ve listened recently to a few of my favourite commentators with a heavy heart. They observe what’s happening to our world, but they have no real explanation for it or answer to it. They are dumbfounded. They are almost beside themselves with grief as they watch the decay, powerless to stop it, besides having a platform to vent their frustrations. But we-those of us who believe what our God has told us-have the answer. It’s in our hearts, and it’s in our minds as a knowledge which will one day be fixed as reality all around us. We just need to appropriate that confidence, to lean on it and give ourselves to it.
Those of us who claim the name of Jesus Christ must look to what He and His servants have said about our times. By that, I mean the Bible, and not the ramblings of self-professed “prophets” and “apostles”. It’s time to anchor ourselves in what we’ve already tasted to be true. It’s time to throw ourselves fully onto the mercy and the infinite power and faithfulness of our Creator.
There is no need for confusion. The God of the Bible has a plan, has stated that He knows the end from the beginning, and has outlined what will happen and what the final outcome will be. If your favourite teachers or preachers are saying what isn’t consistent with what our God and His servants have already said, stop paying attention to them, or correct them. And don’t lean on the idea that you’ll be raptured out of the world before it decays further. As a one -time beliver in this idea for twenty-eight years, I can say with confidence that if your hope is in a pre-Tribulation rapture, you have been misinformed.
The Lord has clearly laid out the future of those who throw themselves on His mercy through His only son, Jesus Christ: it’s bright and eternal, no matter what happens in the here and now.“If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32).
What we see happening to our world should not be a mystery to the believer. We’ve been warned and informed by our God that what we see around us would take place. This world is not God’s world! But be sure that His world is coming. We only need to trust the one who made it all anyway, and who will bring every unrepentant wrongdoer to justice.The future is in His hands. It remains for us just to serve and to trust:
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
You will keep him in perfect peace,
Whose mind is stayed on You,
Because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3).
Fuel for Faith, Food for Thought 