[Early last week this Sign of the Times came to me just as
many of the past Signs of the Times
and Watchman Warnings have come. After I had written it down and considering
the subject matter, I thought to hold it for distribution until after the
joyous Christmas season had passed. But
now, after the events in Connecticut on last Friday, I see I should have sent
it out immediately. So I do now, with
just a couple modifications.]
There is a great depression in the
country right now. I would suggest it is
a gradual waking up to the realities of the times we are living in.
For some time now I have sensed
this great darkness all around. All of this
year, and especially in the late summer and early fall. And it continues in an even darker mode. This depression or darkness is actually
settling over the land, and now those serious Christians who had not realized
its presence so greatly in the past are having to come to grips with its
reality.
Yes, there really is evil on
earth. Yes, there really are evil people
– lots of evil people. Now as Paul
wrote, our battle is not with flesh and blood but with all the forces of evil
which he identifies as the rulers, the authorities, and the powers of this dark
world and the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. But of course in this physical environment in
which we live, those evil forces usually play out through people who are led by
and even dominated by such evil forces. These
are lost people who have not known God or the Bible or how to fight evil and
protect themselves, and they are easy prey for satan and his forces.
Americans have for the most part lived
their lives in a most extraordinary country, one that is modern and urbane and
sophisticated and free and offers all sorts of opportunities. So many have had very comfortable lives even
though they have had to work hard in their jobs. And they just haven’t often had to face obvious
evil, except for those who have encountered criminals and terrorists or been
sent off to war in a foreign land.
So most are just not so aware of
evil. A poll a couple years ago by
George Barna even had the amazing finding that half of those saying they are
Christians do not believe the devil is real.
Well, of course, that to me means they aren’t Christians, for Jesus
talked about the devil at some length and warned about him and described
him. Not believing he is real is not
believing. Jesus tells the truth. And
how then can Jesus be your Lord if you so believe? He can’t.
But now those Americans are
finding out evil is real. They are going
to discover the devil is real.
Residents of many countries have
known evil is real for a long time. Ask
the residents of Romania about evil, or North Korea, or Afghanistan or Iraq, or
Nigeria, or Rwanda, or Liberia, or those whose family members perished in the
concentration camps of Nazi Germany, or later those killed in the killing
fields of Cambodia, or those currently in Mexico encountering the drug horror,
or those dealing with Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, or …well, you get
the point. All those places suffered
under darkness, great darkness.
The USA has been protected I would
suggest because of the core of Christian believers and God’s respecting and
providing for them. But the US has slid
mightily. There has been a great fall in
morality, in civility, in decency, in integrity, and in faith in God. There has been a falling away, an
apostasy.
Much of the world is way ahead in
this falling away. Europe for years has
existed in a post Christian age. Many
countries in the world have lived under false gods and thus demonic influences
for decades and hundreds of years. Actually
in some of these places today God is making breakthroughs.
But back to the USA – and
recognizing evil. We now have a highly
non-godly intelligentsia, ruling government, entertainment community, news
media, and more. While there are still
many who fear God and believe in him and the Bible, there at the high and
visible levels of society are a group of lost people setting the agenda and
culture and government policies and such.
So there is a reason to be down,
to feel depressed. If you are you are
probably sensing the spiritual darkness that has been growing here for some
time. You are just joining others in
that realization. We are on the steady
path to the return of the Lord, and his timing will not be deterred. It is an appointed time.
Those who are pushing ever more to
the gradual move to a one-world government and a universal religion are the
ones to fear and stay away from. Those
doing the pushing really don’t know what they are doing, but they are pushing
in the direction of the prophesied events of the end of the age.
Yes, there really is evil on earth. And not just obvious evil. It also takes the forms of many leaders and
media reporters and entertainers in our own country that in their way are just
as dangerous to what once was an amazing place.
We can recognize and be saddened
by evil in what we are seeing in our country and the world. But still, we believers know that even though
the presence of evil is increasing, it is all defeated by Jesus at Armageddon
and thereafter as described in Revelation 19 and 20 and Zechariah 14.
And we still know that the joy of
the Lord is our strength. So always,
alwaysKeep Your Eyes on Jesus!
No comments:
Post a Comment