One of the most disconcerting things I have heard from church members is the insistence that voting Republican will save us and save the country. I am baffled by such a statement from someone who would also say ‘Christ is king!’
Politics will not save us. This nation is become completely wicked and if you want to know why our government has become so corrupt, so tyrannical – is because it is a reflection of We The People. The culture our representatives come from is steeped in sin and growing more bold in their efforts to normalize depravity.
Electing men and women to political office is not going to return us to what we have lost, or restore liberty.
To think so is to be looking to the wrong god. Remember Jesus telling us in Matthew 24 – DO NOT BE DECEIVED as the First admonition – ‘many will come in my name saying ‘I am the Christ’ – I am the salvation – follow me. He says, no – do not follow such.
Sadly, we have a people who are too willing to follow men, while paying lip service to God. They make government their god. They make politicians their priests. They follow men, thinking they are following morality – they follow their rules and want to be provided for, so that the burden of responsibility is not required. They allow such men to redefine morality, to tell them that their sinful behavior is good – and that those who cling to biblical values, are an evil.
This is true in the church as well. Many Brethren are content to be told what to believe, or to have itching ears sated with smooth and easy things they like to hear. They do not want the responsibility of their own salvation. They too follow men, thinking they follow God, absolving themselves of responsibility because they were following the rules and believed all the right doctrines. They allow men to redefine morality, to tell them that their sinful behavior is forgiven without the need to repent, and that they are loved ‘just as they are – with all paths going to heaven’.
On one hand you have a society and government that tell you that if you for example, oppose homosexual marriage – you are an evil homophobe, a bigot, a hate-monger that needs to be punished.
On the other, you are told by so-called pastors of large mega-churches that those same wicked men in power pushing that agenda are strong Christians. Such beliefs being spoken from the pulpit bring to mind the condition of two churches the Apostle John wrote down from statements of Jesus Christ Himself:
Revelation 3:1-6:
“And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’
Revelation 3:14-22 –
“And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
This also perfectly describes the condition of the church in America when we say we have need of nothing because we are blessed, which reveals that we are Spiritually dead.
A sick culture that influences the church instead of the church influencing a sick culture with healing righteousness.
We want the nation to do II Chronicles 7:14 – and the church is not leading that charge.
Verse 13 tells us that God will send judgment, and AFTER that judgement if the people repent, he will hear and heal.
I have told you my doubts that the church will even hold onto it’s faith.
How did we get this way? How did the church become so impotent? We ask ask ‘Where have all the Christian soldiers gone?” “Is there no one able to stand up to wickedness”??
When someone DOES stand up – and the media and the government begin a campaign of demonizing them as criminal – we watch the Christian church look away – look down, back off the persecuted brother and let the wicked culture tear into them, alone. We do the same thing with our persecuted Brothers and Sisters in the world. They ask ‘Where is the church”???
How did we get this way? God is providing some answers by showing me my own faults – and it hurts to be shown the truth sometimes. And as God is showing me that I have sin in myself – another truth must also be considered.
Sin is in the church.
The church is become ladled and indifferent to sin, is become a church that will not judge, and therefore has no moral authority. Christians surrendered it to the government and a culture of hedonists. Which should not be surprising considering these times were foretold in scripture:
II Timothy 3:1-7 :
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
This describes the generation we live. The church has a form of religion, of godliness – but has no power. Denies it’s power because it is focused on becoming one with our culture – or refusing to teach and preach the need to repent and transform ourselves.
Look how sin creeps into our households now – via cable TV or the internet – making captives of our families, loaded down with sin and carried away by lust. I had a friend tell me that he learned from his daughter that there are sex clubs in town, with teens and married adults who have orgies. They think nothing of it, as if it were a tree that had been planted on a street corner.
Verse 7 is an indictment of my church culture – one that spent all it’s time learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
So let us ask ourselves, what is that truth? It’s not doctrine – it’s repentance and a relationship with Christ – so we can be transformed, and be His instruments to preach reconciliation to the rest of the world.
Brethren, we have to get real with our condition before Our Father. We are not going to endure what is coming without doing so.
1 John 1:8-9 :
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’
We need to confess them to God – and if you want to know of a prayer that God will ALWAYS answer – ask Him to SHOW YOU. Show you yourself where He wants you to overcome, to grow. To be transformed. THOSE are the kinds of requests that God always answers – and sometimes it is a painful thing to be shown.
Christians are no better than anyone else. We simply have a responsibility that many in the world have not yet made. We need to remind ourselves that ALL fall short of the glory. Not a single one of us is better than another. We are all in a struggle against a superior enemy that has blinded us. That humbleness, God can work with. But there is a balance.
When we sin, or when God shows us our sin – it can be very depressing. I usually go into my ‘safe place’ that my parents taught me that tells me – I am no good. I am a failure. And of course Satan is right there to make sure he accuses you and makes you feel worthless. Then, we might think we can use the flesh to bring about the spirit of forgiveness. I will pray more. Study more. Then we fail again and go right back into despair. We think we are not good enough for God to use us. That we are worthless, maybe we stop trying and go backward into sin.
We are denying Christ’s healing power in our lives. We should never let Satan convince us we are useless because we fell short of the Glory. We need to simply confess out sins to Him, recognize where we fall short and ask for help in overcoming.
1 John 3:21-22:
‘If our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight’
Our heart not condemning us is when we do not tell ourselves that we are worthless and God is not going to hear our prayers. When we remember we have an Advocate before the Father who vouches for you – who by His blood – has already washed you from the sin you desire to overcome. Then we can have confidence. We can go before Our Dad and say – hey – I need help to be more like you.
Some sins we need help from other brethren to overcome. But that is not something most churches teach. My culture told us to go counsel with a minister, someone in authority who can counsel us ‘properly’.
Well if you are struggling with alcoholism, and the minister counseling you has never drank in his life – how is he going to be able to help you? Is he going to tell you to pray and study more? That’s not going to help in some cases. There are people who dearly love the Lord, but cannot overcome a physical struggle with addiction. He needs a person to help him.
Proverbs 27:17
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.
Bear one another’s burdens – help them to overcome. Not to point out sin wherever you see it – but the person trusts you to help them. You will help one another have confidence in the ability to overcome a sin, a trial, a problem.
This is why Paul was admonishing against those who did not fellowship on the Sabbath. Building the relationships that help one another overcome this world. We need that.
Eccleciastes 4:9-12
Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion.
But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.
I’m a private proud person, a loner by nature. But God is showing me the beauty of that scripture. Because when I did fall, and fall badly – a brother was there to help me up. It was not just the lessons God was teaching me by my own failure, he understood that what I was learning, was meant for more than just me.
This is the real hard part for any of us. Something we do not focus on. Yet if we want the church to be ready to be a sword the Father can use to defend righteousness from an evil culture – we need to begin DOING what James 5:16 tells us to do.
James 5:16 :
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.
There are some sins, and perhaps more than we are willing to admit to ourselves, that we need help in overcoming. We of course need prayer to overcome sins we struggle with, and sometimes we need a sincere friend to help us get out of the mire.
There is a balance though. Sometimes there are those in the church who spend their time FINDING sin in others, rather than helping them in confidence to overcome sin.
In those instances The church too often puts those struggling with a sin out of it’s midst. Spends it’s time disfellowshipping people over disagreements over doctrine than truly helping one another face trials and overcome those chains and shackles that rob us of our moral authority as a church to tell a wicked culture to repent.
See, the Enemy is waaay ahead of us. On one hand he has used a secular culture to convince the church that we should not judge sin, and in the other – to make it a sin to call sin what it is, and declare it so. .
Matthew 7:1 :
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye?
See these are the verses used to silence anyone preaching the need to repent or to eschew evil. And this misapplication of scripture has worked against the church. How many brethren say nothing against sin, because they, themselves are struggling with something similar? They tell themselves they have a plank in their eye, so they should not dare talk about the speck in their brother’s eye.
Most of those using this scripture as a club, stop reading at verse 4! Let’s read verse 5:
Matthew 7:5:
Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye
Jesus does NOT tell us to ignore the speck in our brother’s eye, nor does he say NOT to help your brother remove the speck. He tells us to remove the planks from our own eyes SO WE CAN CLEARLY SEE, so as to help remove the speck with clear sight.
Purging out the sin, and leaven in our lives is a necessary function what it means to become a Christian. If sin is hidden in us, we need to pray that it is revealed so we can purge it out.
Romans 12: 1-2 :
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
This culture has poisoned us. It’s claws are in us. We need to renew our minds, to no longer value what this evil culture values, but to be separate in our values – focusing on God and His Word, and many times overcoming our own sins, habits and shortcomings, is going to require helping one another overcome.
That does not mean we go out looking to point out sins in others – when a person truly wants to repent of chains holding them down, they should not only be able to go to the Father with boldness, but to confess their need for help to one another without fear of rejection, shame or reprisal.
Galatians 6:1-3:
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
We all sin and fall short of the glory. None of us are perfect – yet that should not inhibit us from striving for perfection. We are charged with preaching the Gospel of reconciliation to the world, and it should serve to bring hope to others that are lost in sin, that there is a way out – that not only is there redemption and forgiveness, but FREEDOM, and LIBERTY from the chains of sin.
Before we can be instruments against evil, before we help them combat the enemy who seeks to destroy us all – we have to become fit weapons our Father can use – and the church is not ready because it is filled with impurities that need to be driven from it.
If you have ever watched a sword being made, it is a tedious process. The metal must be heated up, and then with a hammer – beating out impurities that would weaken the metal in combat. The metal is then quenched in oil or water – and heated up again and beaten again, and quenched again. And this process goes on and on, sometimes thousands of times. Clay is then used over areas to keep the heat less and other areas left open for the full heat – then quenched to differentially tempter the metal, which changes the metallurgical make-up of the metal, to martensite so the sword is able to hold a sharp edge without shattering, and flexible enough to bend when striking without shattering.
Likewise, we go through trials where the heat and beatings of affliction and trials help drive the sinful impurities in us. We are then quenched in the waters of repentance and the spirit. Sometimes clay spares us from direct heat of trials in areas the Lord needs us to be flexible – while the impurities in us are driven out – and we are able to hold a hard edge of truth – unable to break when used against the evils of untruth and wickedness.
Purge out the impurities in yourselves.
Then we can be the instruments of spiritual warfare Our God wants us to be. We will then be able to help others to overcome, to preach boldly the Gospel of reconciliation through Christ without shame, and we will have the moral authority and power to stand up against wickedness.
Galatians 6:9-10:
And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Satan will accuse us. The world will accost us. But we can say boldly – YES, I have sinned – but that is why I have a savior. He has overcome and sat down with the Father, and He now helps me to overcome and sit on his throne.
The Father’s desire is for ALL to come to repentance.
Let’s bear one another up and over that fence that seeks to keep us slaves to sin and this culture. For only when the church is that good instrument that will not break or bend, can God use us to combat the true source of evil in our culture and give us a shot at pulling a Nineveh.
GAPSTANDER 