Tuesday, March 6, 2018
* BEING THE WEATHERMAN
…“When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.”… – (Jesus speaking, Matthew 16:2-4 NIV)
In our modern America people watch weathermen all the time. On local news programs, the weatherman occupies a huge proportion of the broadcasts. Even if it is just to hear the temperatures and the forecast that the weather will be mild or may rain a bit, people are fixated on the weather. These weathermen are not precisely accurate as we all know, but they generally are in the ballpark. They do give a decent picture of what is coming the next day or two. Of course, many normal people not weathermen can do that too, usually just by looking outside, or by looking at a map of isobars and isotherms. They know the signs to look for.
So it was in Jesus’ day. People could discern the immediate weather and what might happen the next day or so. People had the ability to comment on the future as far as weather was concerned.
But notice – Jesus chastised the people for their inability to discern the times, to understand what of great significance was happening around them. What was that? God was in their midst as a human being. They were getting teaching straight from God. Miracles were happening. And this Son of God was about to reconcile humanity to God. But the bulk of the people could not see. A few could a bit – Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, the disciples eventually, a few others.
Notice Jesus’ phrasing: a wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none other than the sign of Jonah will be given to it. The mass of the people just could not see and understand.
And here we are today. The time of the return of the Lord. The bulk of humanity does not know nor recognize nor understand this. The signs given are numerous – the fulfilled Biblical prophecies. True believers whose spiritual eyes and minds are open see and realize and understand. But today’s wicked and adulterous generation cannot see. They can’t recognize the signs. At all.
In past healing services and ministry programs I used to be amazed at how the Holy Spirit would come with such great power, touching so many so dramatically, and there would be wonderful healings. People would sometimes even return to stand up and testify to the healings. And I always wondered why didn’t everyone present run home and get all their neighbors and relatives and especially the sick and bring them back to the next program to receive and be healed. But they didn’t. Few indeed took that approach. Only one time in an inner city area did we see this really - while leading a healing service we discovered a woman in the back calling everyone she knew and telling them to get down to the church right now. She knew and saw what was happening.
But a wicked and adulterous generation does not. Another way of saying that is that most people today - even those people who attend churches but are not serious spirit-led believers who know the Word and have the gift of discernment - do not understand and see. They can’t grasp what is happening right before their eyes.
And now we are in the season of the Lord’s return. It is imminent indeed. Our coming new book WAKE UP AMERICA! is all about that. The remarks of Anne Graham Lotz at her father’s funeral were all about that.
We started this talking about weathermen. I am a real weatherman of this generation. There are others, but not many I have discovered these past many years. And I give you the forecast that truly matters. Rather than temperature and pressure and rain forecasts, I give you Biblical prophecies fulfilled and interpretation of events and the assessment of just where we are and what is coming. It’s a bit more important that the physical weather. In Ezekiel God had another term for this weatherman role I have: he called it a watchman.
Many people do not want to hear my weather forecast. A wicked and adulterous generation does not want to hear. Ah, but the Nicodemuses and Joseph of Arimatheas and Peters and Pauls and others do and will.
It really is a remnant that is going with the Lord when he returns so very soon. Narrow is the road that leads to life and few are they who find it. Jesus said that (Matthew 7:14). Not a lot of traffic on that road even today. Hopefully there will be more.
Keep Your Eyes on Jesus!
(March 2018)
Copyright © 2018 by John Newlin
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