WORDS OF LIFE

Yesterday as I was reading through a portion of Acts and this verse stood out to me.  Acts 5:20 Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life.

Many people were being healed and many people were being saved.  The apostles had been put in prison by the religious leaders because they were jealous of what the apostles were doing.  During the night the angel of the Lord came and freed the apostles from prison and told them to go into the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.  They were to preach life eternal through Jesus Christ to the people stuck in the dead religion of that day.  The very religious leaders whom Jesus called whited sepulchres (Matthew 23:27) were at it again..  These that looked good on the outside and yet were dead on the inside are the very ones who crucifed the Prince of life. (Acts 3:15) These same spiritually dead people were trying to stop the ones who now had the Holy Spirit of the Prince of life living within them.  Gamaliel was a wise man when he counseled these spiritually dead ones to let the apostles go for if this was truly of God they would not be able to stop it and they would find themselves fighting against God Himself.  There is no way to stop the Prince of life.

I don’t want to be a whited sepulchre.  I want to be one preaching the words of life.  Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father but by me.  In Jesus is life and that life is the light of men. 

Matthew 23:27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.

Acts 3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 1:4 In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

We Must Stand

I believe we are in a time in this country when we as Christians are going to have to make some tough choices and we are going to have to band together like never before. Our battle is not with human beings, but with spiritual forces.  The body of Christ is going to have to truly become the body of Christ. We need to pray for one another, that we may boldly stand for Truth clothed in the full armor of God and having done all to stand.  We must stand together.

Ephesians 6:10-18 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. ¹¹ Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. ¹² For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. ¹³ Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ¹⁴ Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; ¹⁵ And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. ¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: ¹⁸ Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 Daniel stood firm for God in the midst of a spiritually dark nation.  No matter what happened he stood firm in his relationship with God. As a young lad, when he was first taken to Babylon and was beginning his training there he refused to defile himself. (Daniel 1:8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.)  This set the tone for his many decades of leadership within the spiritually dark nation of Babylon, even after Babylon had been taken over by the Medes and Persians.  During those years God caused him to have favor and spoke a clear word through him to the leaders. 

Daniel always remained humble and dependant on God, realizing where his help came from.  When the decree was signed that would mean his death if he prayed to his God, he went and prayed to his God like he always did.  Even in the face of death while headed to the lion’s den, Daniel’s trust remained in his God.  (Daniel chapter 6, espec. vs. 10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. )  In Daniel 6:3 we are told that “an excellent spirit was in him.”  And I pray that the same could be said of me and you in the days ahead.

WHERE ARE WE?

...from bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
from liberty to abundance;
from abundance to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependence back again into bondage.
Life Cycle of Nations by Alexander Tyler, 1750 
 

After studying the history of many nations and noticing the life cycle that nations went through Alexander Tyler, laid out the cycle noted above. We can see where our natin has been.  But we can also see where our nation is now.  Unfortunately, I believe the USA  has moved from apathy into dependency and are on the edge of bondage.  Actually in some ways we have already headed into bondage.  The bondage into which Israel was taken was God’s judgment, out of which they cried out to God and were restored to spiritual faith.  We see this cycle over and over in the Bible, especially in the book of Judges.  I believe, from what I see in the scriptures, that God’s judgment is redemptive.  God’s judgment is for the purpose of turning hearts back to Him.

The United States has for several decades been telling God we do not want Him involved in our lives.  As a nation in a lot of ways we have turned our backs on God.  We have allowed prayer and Bible reading to be removed from our schools. The occult is being embraced more and more. Just look at the movies, TV shows, and books that are popular. We have allowed the killing of millions of unborn babies within their mother’s wombs. Across the country the homosexual lifestyle is embraced, even within churches and by our president. For these things alone we deserve judgment as a nation

You may say, but we are in the end times and these things are supposed to be happening.  That may be true, but I don’t buy that as an excuse to not stand as Christians.  I don’t believe just because we are in the end times that the church is supposed to just give up ground to the enemy and just wait to get out of here. This is a time to stand firm and fight.  This is a time to allow God to work in and through our lives as never before. I, like many others, am looking for an end time harvest that we have not yet seen, and then the end will come.