We are at the very end of the last days, things on earth are getting worse and worse, and the Lord will be coming soon to collect his true believers, all as prophesied. I have written much about all this.
In all that is happening around us, we believers have the great joy of expecting the Lord. Still, while we are yet here, there is much work to do. Decades ago in Germany in the 1930’s, before WWII, the signs were ominous. A terribly frightening political group was in the process of seizing power. Only a few of the church leaders saw what was happening, the most well known of which was Dietrich Bonhoeffer. They tried to wake up the German church, but it was far too comfortable, far too in bed historically with the government. Most of the establishment just could not envision that this group would soon take over the government and would trash the church, the historical status quo, human decency. They could not perceive the absolute evil that was afoot. I wonder if some ever did. I remember when I lived in Texas many years ago an older neighbor who had been in Germany during the war said he never knew what was happening, all the atrocities.
So Bonhoeffer and a few others tried to speak out. But others, the majority of the church leaders, did not. Soon it was too late. The Nazi government was upon Germany, and hell on earth had arrived.
Bonhoeffer had some excellent phrases he used to describe all this. You’ve seen me use them in recent writings and on Twitter.
“Silence in the face of evil is evil itself.”
“Not to act is to act.”
“Not to speak is to speak.”
“God will not hold us guiltless.”
We now are at such a time as he and his associates were facing. Thankfully, there is of course a real difference - we know that soon the Lord will come to collect his believers. The prophecies are fulfilled. That said, we still see that evil is racing everywhere to gain power and to sow immorality and horror and fear, all on the way to a one-world government the Antichrist will lead.
In these times we believers in the Lord, serious individual believers and those serious churches that are indeed focused on the truth, cannot but help to step out and speak up. In no way can we remain silent. In no way can we remain without any action.
Remember Jesus’ words: “He who acknowledges me before men I will acknowledge before my father.” But then he went on to say the obvious concerning those who do not acknowledge him before men.
Wherever lies and deception and assault and murder and violence and mayhem are about, evil is active. Wherever and whenever you hear the outrageous untruths we hear all the time today, we should do whatever we can to counter that. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance. There is still time for more and more people to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and to join us in the Kingdom. We know the truth. We can speak the truth in love. In the face of evil.
I know this is a frightening time. Remember when I told the story of one time being with a minister friend at lunch in a restaurant, discussing the times and why people behaved as they did? We wondered why the American people were so silent. And as we walked away from our table, an older lady sitting nearby turned to us and said “I’ll tell you why. It’s because they are scared.”
Right. She was right. I know that. Despite all the knowledge of believers and their assurance of eternity in the Kingdom, people still hesitate to get involved in countering what is obviously wrong and evil. All this massive wrong behavior on the part of the national government and the educational institutions and the media and the entertainment world and many in the corporate world – it’s just all so big, how can believers counter that?
But believers do have something overwhelmingly powerful on their side. They have Jesus. They have truth. They can speak out in whatever ways are possible to them. They can take action, as some parents have done to counter dreadful school boards pushing terrible views on children. A great question of our time is this: Why are believers and pastors not speaking out more against the horrors of our time, like the pushing of blatant lies like critical race theory or the woke and cancel culture or terrible wrong and harmful policies like defund the police and not enforcing law and order and the government’s openly backing deviant sexual lifestyles and girls’ athletics being so threatened by the transgender movement? That’s the question. Do they not realize their silence is feeding the delusional and crazed views of the people putting them forth, those who have seized such earthly power right now? These times call for boldness on behalf of our pastors and all serious believers – boldness, and listening to and being guided by the Lord, by God, by the Holy Spirit in all that we do.
The more those with knowledge of the truth are silent, the more those of the evil side will be emboldened. The more those with knowledge of the truth speak up and act, the more others with knowledge of the truth will be encouraged to speak up and act. And the forces of evil will not be able to advance and destroy as rapidly as they might otherwise in these last days.
I am always encouraging you to ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in your speaking about the gospel, about Jesus, to those God puts in your path. That still is certainly one of your and my roles. Here I’m pointing out our role is more than that. It is representing truth wherever we are. It is representing good versus evil. It is representing Jesus wherever we are.
Jesus always spoke up against evil. Remember Jesus at the temple confronting the money changers and venting against the religious leaders there? Remember what he called the Pharisees? Remember how God acted through Moses against evil groups the Israelites confronted when going from Egypt to the promised land? Remember the actions he had them undertake against horribly evil tribes? There is so much more to following Jesus, to obeying God than just reading scripture, quietly attending a church once a week, leading others to say the sinners’ prayer. I have written in the past of what Jesus expects and requires of those to be in the Kingdom, and I will write of it again. Beyond truly accepting him as their Lord, it includes doing the will of his father and having the faith of little children, the absolute faith. It’s all about truly believing God, truly believing Jesus overcame death and evil. It’s not about intellectual faith and belief.
Whenever you speak up for truth, for the Lord, you are not alone. He is there. He is with you. He is in you. Most people will never meet Jesus in the flesh on this planet. But they will see you. They will see Jesus in you. The injured man by the road saw the Good Samaritan who helped him. He didn’t see Jesus. Or did he? Yes is the answer.
God bless all of you. We are living in a time all others who ever lived could only imagine. Yes, it is so very unpleasant. But it is the time of the wonderful coming of the Lord.
January 2023
Copyright © 2023 by John Newlin
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