Word Weld

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.

II Corinthians 4:8-10

We live in troubling times, by the standards of some. While not by far the “worst year in history,” 2020 is the year in which we as American Christians have begun to realize how much things can and will change for us as time passes. The Covid-19 virus, along with numerous hurricanes, civil unrest, political upheaval, and the lessening of religious freedom (and freedom in general) has many Christians wondering what is going to happen next. Sadly, many Christians in this country have decided that our lifestyle can only be preserved by putting our faith and trust in political machinations. Many believe Donald Trump is the answer, a Christ-appointed champion who will right the wrongs and undo the evil establishment in our government. Some trust in mysterious behind-the-veil operators, like the enigmatic “Q.” We want to believe there is a force for good out there working to preserve our freedoms and way of life.

Let me submit to you: there is indeed a mysterious Force for Good, working behind the scenes. But He isn’t working to ensure that your kids can go to VBS; or that your chosen political candidate will stay in office; or that you can go to church in a nice, air conditioned building with a state of the art nursery, sound system, and lighted parking lot. God is behind the scenes, working all for good to them that love Him, and are called according to His purpose. And we can have peace and comfort knowing that He is present, more powerful than Donald Trump, more potent and knowledgeable than “Q.” Donald Trump and Q (if he is real) are men, as is Ted Cruz, as is Rand Paul, as is Dan Crenshaw, as is Justice Amy Barrett. There is no human force that can save us from the inevitable downfall of American freedom of religion. It is time for Christians to come to terms with the fact that the America of the 50’s and 60’s no longer exists. Christianity is loosely tolerated at best and actively despised at worst.

My fellow American Christians, the time is coming for Revival in this country. But not to make Christianity acceptable and mainstream once again. It is time for true Revival to come to this country, as it has in others.

Reining as Kings

When American pastors talk of revival, they are really talking about another Great Awakening. This was a brief period in American history when Christian churchgoers had gotten complacent and stopped taking their faith seriously, and God sent some very gifted preachers to our country. As a result, people got saved left and right, and Christians regained their zeal for God. Ever since then, this has been the ideal. But there is no evidence that this is how God revives His church. And I propose that there is a much more likely and simple way to revive the church.

Yes, I am speaking of persecution. It is a simple and well-known analogy, but if left alone, precious metals are full of impurities which take away from their utility and beauty. In order to refine them, precious metals like gold and silver must be fired. They must be heated and subjected to stresses and pressures. Only then do they lose the slag and dross that accumulates outside and within them.

The Church of God is no different. We have lived well. We have “reigned as kings,” as Paul said to the believers at Corinth. We have enjoyed the fruits of those who sacrificed in the past, and Christianity has never been more accepted as it has been in this country. However, because of human nature, and the corrupt nature of the world, this cannot endure. Entropy applies to the hearts of believers too, it seems, for we as Christians have become too addicted to our freedom, too assured of our comforts, too accustomed to toleration. As Jesus wrote to the church at Laodicea:

Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.

Revelation 3:17-18

Fittingly, right in the middle is that analogy about being “tried in the fire.” Many people say that the church of the last days is the church of Laodicea, that it is the church of our era, and I would not be surprised if it was. To be completely honest, American Christians are fat, arrogant, ignorant (of their own faith), and entitled. They are, in a word, and as a generalization: carnal.

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

I Corinthians 3:1-3

American Christians are infantile in their faith, myself included of course. We tremble at the prospect that we may lose freedoms and comforts. We desperately try to cling to hope, but not the hope of Christ, not the hope of the Gospel. We cling to the hopes of men and the promises of men, like the unbelievers amongst whom we dwell and from whom we are often indistinguishable. What power does Donald Trump have? Even if he were capable of saving us, would he? And even if he were willing, what could prevent him from being stopped? He is a man. If we put our faith in men, they will fail us, no matter their true motives and intentions.

The Lord taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.

Psalm 118:7-9

While I understand that you can’t boycott everything, Christians are unwilling to take their children out of public schools, simply because it’s “free,” or they feel dissatisfied with the alternatives, despite the fact that the American public schools are actively brainwashing their children against their faith. Christians are unwilling to not shop at Target even though there are other choices, even though Target has declared war on women. Christians are unwilling to cancel their Netflix subscriptions because the service has their kids’ (and their) favorite shows, despite the fact that the company is fully depraved, to the point they will peddle horror to children (Stranger Things), promote and laugh at the slaughter of innocent life (Michelle Wolf), and defend and extol the exploitation of children in the name of trying to combat the exploitation of children (Cuties). In essence, American Christians are unable to live by faith. We have faith, but we don’t live by it. We believe God when He says not to be unequally yoked with non-believers, but we do it anyway. We believe God when He says to be separate from the world, to be sanctified and set apart, but we jump right into the world and blend in. We believe that Christ is salvation and life, but we don’t tell anybody that. I indict myself as well. Until we can learn to live by faith, we are not ready for true Revival. But whether we are ready or not, Revival is coming.

The Feeble Knees

Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

Isaiah 35:3-4

Eventually, there will come a turning point in this country. At some point, the culture will say to us plainly (as it is saying in places like Australia): “You can’t go on living like you do, and believing what you believe. You have to renounce it. And if you don’t, there will be consequences.” We will lose our freedoms. We will lose our comforts. We will be torn from our opulence and we will be ripped from our indulgences. Christianity will very soon become intolerable to the society in which we live. It will not be possible to quietly dissent from popular opinion. It will not be possible to “mind your own business.” Things will start to get really bad.

At this point, there will be Revival. The church, which in America slumbers now, will awaken. Those who were not strong in their faith will be swept off with the world quickly. Let me be clear: the church will be purged of those who do not truly believe:

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

I John 2:19

But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Matthew 13:21-22

But for those who remain, they are the true Church of God. They will endure. They will live by faith. And God will be with them. That is when, as the above verse in Isaiah says, we must strengthen that which is weak. Confirm that which is feeble (fix it!). We must not fear. Because God will come and save us. We may endure hardship, real hardship. We may endure persecution like we’ve never seen (but the rest of the world sees daily). But God will bring us through it. And I’m excited, frankly. I would be lying if I said I want myself and my family to endure persecution, but I do look forward to what it will produce in my walk with God. As the above verse in II Corinthians tell us, we are troubled, but not distressed. We bear in our bodies Jesus’ death. We carry His death with us, always remembering what did for us. Nothing that we could suffer would compare with that. Are we facing trouble? Yes. Should we be wringing our hands? No. We are not to be distressed. But we are. I see it across this country: people who are afraid that the defeat of Donald Trump (legitimate or not) in the most recent election will spell doom for our country, and therefore, Christianity. They see Donald Trump as the dam holding back the flood. They believe that unless the America of yesteryear is restored, all hope will be lost.

I am all for trying to preserve (or conserve, if you will) what good things are left in this country, that have not been cancelled by our rulers and the elites. I am all for America. But I understand, better now than ever, that America in its current form is transitory. It is a product of this flawed, sinful, cursed world as much as any other country, and that no matter how good it is or once was, it will eventually fall from glory, possibly even from existence. What will happen then? What will Christians do? If this is America’s twilight, what dawn do we hope for?

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.

John 18:36

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

I John 2:15-17

These [Old Testament Saints] all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.

Hebrews 11:12-14

It’s easy to grow accustomed to the “American Dream,” and truly there has not been a country with greater freedom and opportunity than America. But to imagine that America, even with all its safeguards, and checks and balances in government, and even with its robust Constitution, could endure forever is simply hubris. Like the children of Israel after they entered the Promised Land, another generation has risen up in America, one that does not know God, or the things that God did for this country or its founders. Some of us were taught, but not enough, not enough to keep this country from its inevitable descent. The good news is that we are not American Christians. We are Christians, who happen to be American. As Hebrews says, we seek a country. As Jesus said, our Kingdom is not from hence. We as Americans must be willing to let America go at some point. Perhaps it is not today. Today we vote. Today we share information. Today we speak out. But what happens tomorrow, when we can’t vote unless we recant? What happens when we can’t speak out anymore unless we speak approved words? What happens when we’ve lost our ability to defend ourselves? What happens when all the world has turned against us? Then we remember: before all else, we are Christians. So strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees. Our God is in control. Our God will save us. Love not the things of the world so much that we are afraid to lose them. Walk by faith, and not by sight.

Happy Are Ye

But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye; for the spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified.

1 Peter 4:13-15

What is the conclusion then? Brethren, the time is coming, even this very hour, when all that we have known may begin to disappear. The protections and freedoms of our forefathers, as long as they have lasted, will eventually be overthrown. Slowly but surely, America has rotted from within. Whereas once we possessed a degree of greatness, now we are full of corruption. We slaughter our unborn children, and poison and brainwash the rest. We punish those who speak out for marriage as God intended. We persecute those we deem a “threat” to the health of those around them. We deny the existence of God altogether and accept ludicrous theories of evolution as fact and science. We talk of science and facts, yet deny that there are only two genders, and argue that men can be women and women men. We are on the verge of permitting children to be sexually used by adults. We call good evil and evil good. How can this country stand much longer?

The reality is, what we have known and what our parents and our forefathers have known is not typical Christianity. We have enjoyed peace and we have enjoyed freedom, but these are not Christianity’s “natural environment.” Rather, Christianity’s natural environment is persecution. Never is the Church of God stronger, never does it grow more, never are Christians more committed, more knowledgeable, more full of the Spirit, than in times of trouble. Indeed, we have seen that in peace and plenty Christianity withers. Believers become distracted by the pleasures of the world, addicted to those things John wrote about: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. It is in times of distress that our faith is strongest. It is in times of persecution that the Church of God grows, equal in opposition to that which seeks to destroy it. There is great persecution coming in America, I believe, but persecution is Christianity’s specialty.

Are we happy to be mistreated? No. But we are happy because that persecution means something. It means we are getting it right. It means we are on the right side. That persecution is leveled at us makes us worthy of God’s delight, worthy of the reward we shall receive, which does not pass away.

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Romans 8:18

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:11-13

Make no mistake: Revival is coming to the Church of God. Because Persecution is coming to the Church of God. I pray only that I am not among those who fall away when the fire intensifies. I want to be gold, not dross. I want to be one of those who remains, even when trouble and adversity find me. I want to be one who still speaks out even when speaking out is no longer permitted. I want to be one who cries out for compassion on the unborn, who cries out for the sanctity of marriage, who cries out for the innocence of our children, who cries out of the freedom to decide for ourselves what goes in our bodies, and who cries out that the church of God will never stop meeting, singing, worshiping, and sharing the Gospel, even when the whole world wants me be quiet and follow the masses. I want to be a part of that Revival.