January 02

“The kings of the earth stand together, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Christ, saying ‘Let us tear apart their bonds and cast away from us their yoke” (Psalm 2:2-3).

This is the age in which we live. The leaders of the Christian world have spent the last fifty years tearing down the social structure and the moral fabric that had been erected previously by more godly generations and which had brought great blessings to the nations, just as the Psalmist had prophesied; “Ask of Me and I will give you the nations for your inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for your possession” (verse 8). And didn’t this happen? There was hardly a corner of the globe that was not ruled by the nations who acknowledged Christ at the end of the 19th century.

But the Christian world, basking in the comforts of God’s blessings, forgot from Whom they came; they imagined it to be their own efforts, their own worthiness, that had brought such great glory and material benefits. In doing so, they overlooked the Psalmist’s instruction; “Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits” (Psalm 103:2). The verb “bless” here is in the imperative. But they forgot where the benefits came from and they neglected to bless the Lord.

But it is not only the world that has rejected the Lordship of Christ; the former Christian world is now unable to hand on the inheritance it once received; the unfaithfulness of the Church in this generation has brought upon itself the wrath of God. Failing to be salt and light, it has been trodden down under the feet of men, just as Jesus prophesied. Instead of being a light to the world, it has become a mirror of the world and echoes the spirit of the world by living in such a way that it is saying, in effect;

“We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14).

The Church has abandoned Christ as Lord and instead, receives Him only as Saviour, mistakenly presuming that He can be divided. This is the deception that Satan has brought over the Church in these latter days. It is a mark of the withdrawal of the restrainer, as prophesied by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2, in which God’s people do not take hold of, and bear with, “the love of the truth so as to be saved and because of this, God sends upon them a supernatural activity of deception so that they believe the lie” (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11).

These days are upon us and the way ahead for believers is to recapture, individually, the fundamental exercises of the faith; abide in Him, Love God, obey the commandments, love one another etc. Fellowship will be found where it was always meant to be, “with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3).

There is a fundamental re-ordering of the way that the faith is to be lived as the last days are ushered in. We must learn what it is to truly abide in Him, rather than to abide in Churches. The Church, alas, has followed and will follow the world, but that is only because it is prophesied that this should happen. It is a time of separation of the sheep from the goats; the sheep hear His voice and follow Him (John 10:27); the goats follow after the “doctrines of men” (Matthew 15:9). While there are and always have been, great men in the Christian Church, we are to follow none of them but Christ, and Christ alone.

It is very important to be sure of the one to whom we are listening, whose voice we are hearing. Deception is one of the key indicators that will characterise these last days; but Jesus promises us that “everyone being of the truth will hear My voice” (John 18:38). So we must press in and seek to hear that voice, of the One in Whom is life and life eternal.