The days spoken of and the perils warned of two thousand
years ago are here. We are living them in the present and witnessing them in
real-time. Although denying reality has become a pastime of many in our modern
age, it ought not to be so with the children of God and the household of faith.
As those who walk in the truth, we must be the most honest and realistic among
our fellow men, seeing things as they are and not as we would like them to be.
There are enough cautionary tales to fit an encyclopedia just
from the last twelve months alone, from men being exposed for being something
other than what they claimed to be to men committing unspeakable sins while
standing behind pulpits until their sins find them out to those in spiritual
authority exploiting the sheep for their own profit.
Knowing that men can fall, and men do fall, knowing that they
can be led astray at various times for various reasons, our hope and trust must
be in the One who is unchanging, in whom there is permanence, and who is able
to see us through every valley as long as we cling to the hem of His garment.
Once we are His, our duty is to remain in Him. This means staying
connected to God through prayer, reading His word, and living according to His
teachings. Once we have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus, our duty is to
watch and pray that we do not enter into temptation, that we do not return to
the mud pit from whence we were snatched or the shackles from which we were set
free.
Contrary to many modern-day preachers, God’s purpose isn’t
your prosperity, fame, or comfort. God’s purpose is for you to be conformed to
the image of His Son. If you’ve ever prayed to be made more like Jesus, then
your world got turned upside down and inside out—it was just God answering your
prayer. What He has to prune, burn away, reshape, and transform in order to
conform you to the image of His Son should not be pined over or missed.
If we begin to look back to the things we walked away from as
anything other than the dung it was, then that prayer we prayed about wanting
to be made more like Jesus was not a cry of our heart but words that held no
depth or true conviction.
Those who remain will remain, and those who depart will
depart. Heartbreaking as it may seem, this is what it boils down to because all
any of us can do is rightly divide the word, preach the gospel, and pray for
those who hear that they, too, might come to the knowledge of truth. You can’t
force someone, bribe someone, or coerce them into following Jesus; it must be
done voluntarily and with the full knowledge of what doing so will cost.
Revelation 22:11, “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still;
he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be
righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.”
The time is at hand. The last days of the church are not
something generations twice or three times removed will have to contend with. They
are here. They are now. We are living them, are in the midst of them, and must
live accordingly. Those who have prepared their hearts, those who have cemented
their convictions, and those who stand on the Word of God and are firmly
planted therein will continue to be the living witnesses the Bible speaks of.
It is inevitable that you will feel more out of place the closer
we get to the end of all things because the lukewarm within the church and the godlessness
of the world will wax worse in tandem. If we were to ponder which is dragging
which down further into the murky depths, we would be rehashing the age-old
question of which came first, the chicken or the egg. Permissiveness,
acceptance, validation, celebration, and the overall predisposition to wink at
sin within the church embolden those outside the church to pursue ever more
hedonistic urges, and the worse they get, the more permissive the church has to
become in order to cater to them.
That feeling that you don’t belong within a certain circle or
among certain people is because you don’t. Not anymore. Perhaps once, long ago,
before you surrendered, before the potter went to work and molded you into a
vessel of honor, but no longer.
If not for the perpetual presence of Christ walking beside
you, it would be a lonely road indeed, but He is there, ever-present, eager for
fellowship and intimacy with you. Rather than look elsewhere to fill your time
or fight off the sense of loneliness, run to Him and know that He is more than
enough.
Only the spirit and presence of God can produce men of God.
What we lack in most churches today isn’t talent, good orators, or worship
leaders who can carry a tune but genuine men of God who understand the importance
of remaining in Christ, no matter how many might choose to disavow themselves
of Him, His teachings, or His example.
2 Timothy 3:16-17, “All scripture is given by inspiration of
God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.”
All means all, even the uncomfortable parts, even the parts
we wish weren’t there, or the ones we wish said something different than they
do. It would be nice to go to heaven on a bed of roses, snatched out of your
indoor pool and translated to your mansion by the crystal sea, but the notion
of enduring does not elicit pictures of skipping down easy street while
whistling a tune or a carefree ending. We endure because we must. We endure
because our singular desire is to be with Him in eternity and hear well done.
Life is but a vapor here, appearing for a little time and vanishing away, but
on the other side is life without end, whether in His presence, sitting at His
table, or in the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Choose this day whom you will serve, and determine your level
of commitment. The task of the preacher, teacher, or evangelist is to highlight
the danger. The task of the hearer is to respond in kind. I can’t choose for
you; you must choose for yourself, count the cost for yourself, and decide your
course, but know that it is appointed unto man once to die, then judgment.
Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea, Jr.
Posted on 4 September 2024 | 9:03 am
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