Given the time of year it is, here in the United States, we are in what we refer to as storm season. This is the time of year that deadly tornadoes can quickly develop with little notice, heavy rains can bring flooding, and strong winds can cause a lot of damage. For some time now, I have been sensing in my spirit that for believers, followers of Christ, that we need to be seriously preparing for a coming season of storms, but sadly many of us are not. As I prayed about it, I came up with two reasons as to why many will find themselves in the predicament of being unprepared.
First, I would have us look
at the current state of the mainline churches. Of course, the finger is very
easily pointed at the Church. But in this instance, it is a very valid
criticism. Most of today's churches are caught up more in the social issues of
the day, trying to determine how they can grow their congregation and how the
newer building can be attained. In order to not offend, the Gospel message has
been watered down so much that it is no longer served as a meal full of the
truth that saves and restores the hearer, but is rather a soupy serving of what
the people feel more comfortable swallowing.
Those who sit in the pews are
no longer being taught how to be strong, but how to get along. We do not want
to be seen as being intolerant and unloving, so the Gospel message of
repentance and needing a Savior is hardly heard any more. In fact, some pastors are teaching that a God
who would require a Savior to be sacrificed is a heartless,
ruthless God that they would not want to follow! With this in mind, the mood has to always be
upbeat, the music has to be appealing enough to get one's emotions stirred up.
The goal is for all to feel good about their walk with God, but not to bring up
any discussions about anything that may make us do serious self examination
about how we are living, or how we are allowing sin and our flesh to keep us as
babes who still need milk, who cannot tolerate even the sight of meaty truth.
There is no longer the focus
on preparing for the second coming of Christ (Revelation 1:7). It, too, has been modified to
suit the needs of many pastors and preachers, and is often dismissed as pessimistic
ramblings of a small group of people who really do not understand that God is a
God of love, who loves all and will accept all. What is not surprising,
therefore, is that those same attendees are not being prepared for how to live
when times change. We can ignore Scripture and downplay or reinterpret what it
says, but that will not change what will happen, what must happen, according to
God's Holy Word.
How will believers, who are
being taught to expect only the best from God, that they will have no
difficulties in life, and who have feel-good sermons and worship services on a
weekly basis, be able to handle the
persecution that is soon to come? How will they be able to discern good from evil when Scripture tells us that
it is only the spiritually mature that will be able to do such a thing? Hebrews 5:14 reads, "But solid food is
for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good
from evil." How are these babes in
Christ (if they are truly born-again believers) going to handle things when all
they can handle now is milk and not the solid meat of the Word?
But all blame cannot be
placed at the feet of the Church. Believers, themselves, have become lazy,
enjoying these watered down, feel-good church services. Why do they not demand more from their
leaders? Why do they not question their leaders when they speak things that go
against the very truths found in God's Word? Why do they not leave their church
if they feel it is not meeting their need for growth and spiritual maturity, or
has replaced the Word of God with man's opinion or man's philosophy? It is
simply the nature of fallen man, to want to have the pretense of religion in
their lives but not be willing to make the sacrifices for which it calls. Death
to self, that is what being a true follower and believer requires, and for
those who still want to remain independent, they do not want to face the truth
that following Christ does have a cost, as they would rather be blessed than
have to sacrifice anything.
Sadly, many have little
desire to learn about what they consider tedious Scriptural teachings such as the
need to become spiritually mature and holy, how to pray and intercede, the need
and benefits of fasting, and more importantly the lessons regarding spiritual
warfare. They see no need to learn how
to defend themselves from the attacks of the enemy by growing closer to their
Lord and Savior. The enemy is gathering
his troops, planning his strategy and the first line of attack will be against
these very people who were too complacent or did not want to be bothered to
learn how to grow strong through prayer and a stronger relationship with their
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
The prophet Ezekiel was alive
during the time the Israelites were taken captive to Babylon, and was taken
along with them. The book of Ezekiel is his record of what happened while in
Babylon. While he was trying to reassure his fellow captives that they would be
restored to their own land after the time of God's chastening, there were many influential false prophets who, claiming to
speak for God, tried to convince the captive Israelites that everything would
be okay, that there would be peace regardless of what they were hearing from
Ezekiel. They were doing everything they could think of to undermine God's
warning that was being brought forth from Ezekiel.
We read in the book of
Ezekiel 13:1-5 that the Word of the Lord condemned the false prophets who were
saying all the things they knew the people wanted to hear, that they were not conveying what the Lord really
wanted His people to hear and understand. They were claiming that what they
were saying were the true words of God, all the while they were blatantly lying
to the people in order to keep them deceived. Later on in verse 10 it says,
"Because they lead my people astray, saying, 'Peace, when there is no
peace' ".
Ezekiel was the sole voice of
warning against these lying, deceptive false prophets. Scripture tells us that
these false prophets were men who did not pray and seek God, they had
absolutely no relationship with Him, but were in it merely for their own gain,
and most likely for the enemy's purpose of flattering God's people with vain
hopes, rather than calling them to repent for their evil ways in order to be
reconciled once again to their true God.
As I read this account, it
struck me that this is exactly what is happening today. Those who study
prophecy are giving loud warnings that
the false religions, the lukewarm churches are coming together, and rather than
preparing us for the coming storm, most churches have lulled everyone into a
false sense of security. They are saying peace when there is no peace! The
question is this, my friend: Will you shake off this lethargy that has lulled
you into a false sense of security, and instead, prepare for the coming storm,
or will you be one of the many who will be caught off guard and wonder how on
earth it happened?
Of course, your anger will be against
your church leadership who did not warn, who did not prepare you, and to some
degree that is valid. But in the end, it is each of us who is responsible for
our own spiritual growth and development, and if we are not receiving it where
we are, it is our responsibility to seek it elsewhere! God will not allow
those who are earnestly seeking Him and desiring to be prepared for the coming
storm to be left alone and helpless. He will show the way that we should
walk, but it has to be with the willingness to do whatever He asks of us, and
with the humility that it will require.
If we find ourselves in the position of
being spiritually immature and unprepared, we cannot spend time blaming our
church, instead we must spend it crying out to God. We must pray that He will
show us how to become spiritually mature through the reading of His Word,
spending time alone with Him, in addition to our being willing to be changed
from the inside out. Only then will we be ready to face the coming
storm. We each need to ask ourselves, are we prepared as much as we
should be for what is coming?
