“If a kingdom is divided against itself, it cannot stand.” Mark 3:5
(“. . . will be ruined. . .” Matthew 12:25)
Words cannot express the grief and sorrow that many in the world face today. Lives have been ravaged by the scourge of COVID-19; scrimmages and wars abound; political upheavals threaten to dismantle our governmental system here and abroad; fires, hurricanes and other natural disasters have decimated our country; the unborn are discarded; the poor and homeless are disposable and racial discrimination abounds toward people of color. The very fabric of our existence is being decimated.
One of the most alarming and heart-rendering of all of these conflicts is the discord among Christians, the Body of Christ. Instead of unifying around the commonality of Jesus, believers are radically divided and marred down in strife. Various Christian groups continue to attack each other in anger, bitterness and vitriol. Much of the vitriol is so negative that it is impossible to distinguish the disgruntle from the unsaved. James 5:9 admonishes believers not to “grumble against one another, . . . or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!” That Judge is Jesus!
Romans 14:10 goes even further. It asks, “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.”
This infighting, no doubt, grieves the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:2 discusses Jesus’ return. It states that Jesus will return to a church “without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she (the Church) might be holy and without blemish.” That is a sobering scripture!
Also sobering for the Church is what God told King Solomon as he dedicated the temple to the Lord. God told Solomon that he had heard his prayers; God also told the king something else. He warned Solomon that if the Israelites (God’s natural seed) turned away from him (sinned), forsook him and his decrees and commands, he would uproot them and bring disaster upon them. But He also said that He would provide a means for atonement. He said that when they sinned (as they would), He would redeem and restore them when they turned from their wickedness. Here is what He said:
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” ( 2 Chronicles 7:13-15)
That should be a solemn warning for the church today! God predicted that His people would sin. The church needs to turn from their wicked ways: “humble themselves and pray and seek my (God’s) face and turn from their wicked ways.” God is ready to heal His church.
Now, I do not believe God brought this pandemic upon this nation and the world. However, I do believe that He allowed it. I also believe that God wants to get the attention of his people who have prioritized their own thoughts, ideas and agenda above His. They have made assumptions and operated in their own soulish tendencies instead of seeking the Lord.
Beware, church of the living God, “Be not be deceived, God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Church of God, as the spiritual seed of God—just remember what happened to God’s natural seed when they sinned!
Also, God is still on the throne and He always has a church remnant just as He had a remnant in Israel. God said in the first chapter of Isaiah that if not for his remnant, the sinning Israelites “should have been as Sodom, and . . . should have been like Gomorrah.” (Isaiah 1:9)
Do not think like the prophet Elijah, 1 Kings 19 who felt that he alone was left when he was pursued by Jezebel. He had just defeated the one hundred and fifty prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel to show the Jewish people that there was only one true God. But right after that great victory over Jezebel’s prophets, Elijah ran for his life when Jezebel threatened to kill him.
The Lord, of course, corrected his prophet in 19th chapter of Jeremiah. He let Elijah know that he was not the only one who had not bowed to Baal (who was standing against evil and idolatry).
. . . I reserve seven thousand in Israel — all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.
God also has a remnant in the church today. He has a people who have stood firm in humility and prayed against Satan’s antics, against the pandemic onslaught and even against a church divided. Psalm 23:4 states:
“Even though I walk through the darkest valley (valley of death), I will fear no evil, for you are with me; . . .”
Remnant of God, stand firm, immovable, and undivided in your faith. Although situations, even in the church, are raging, God is still in control. (Psalm 2: 1-3) Continue to pray for the nation (and the world); continue to pray for the unsaved and continue to pray that the church will repent so that God can heal our land!
Be Blessed.
Scripture References:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
2 Timothy 4:2-4 Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
Ezekiel 18:30 . . . Repent, and turn from all you transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin.
Be First to Comment