Why has this generation gone insane?

How did we get here?

When looking through the lens of HIS-story, we flawed humans have a few major faults in common. 1. We are all born slaves to sin. 2. We all have a propensity to forget our past, and rather quickly. Hmm, what was I writing about? Oh yeah… Let’s focus our attention on item two.

If we look at the canon of God’s word (The Bible), we see God chose a family to bring His salvation to all the tongues, tribes, and nations of the earth. The promise-keeping Lord God said to the family father (Abraham):

“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Genesis 22:18). Indeed, the Jewish people were elected by God to bring forth Salvation (Jesus Christ). The Lord made an everlasting covenant with these people to be a people before Him forever. The Lord also (with condition) appointed them a Holy (set apart) nation of priests:

“‘Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel'” (Exodus 19:5-6). We can easily see throughout scripture that Israel failed that duty, quite a bit, and God judged accordingly. In hindsight, it’s easy to look back through scripture and say, “Oh my, how dumb could these people be? How could they forget the Lord and all He has done?” Well, look in a mirror; you (we) are guilty of the same.

I believe we are living in days not unlike the Book of Judges. This book begins with Joshua and his generation dying off: “All that generation also were gathered to their fathers; and there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor yet the work which He had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10).

Sound familiar? It should! I’m 52 years old, so I’ve been around long enough to witness a God-fearing people totally forget the Lord God within ONE generation. True, my generation was crazy and had its own issues; but despite that, when I was a propagator of evil actions, I always knew deep down inside I was sinning against a Holy Just God. I was raised at a time when if you said “God,” I immediately associated “God” with The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; The God of the Bible who came in the flesh, Jesus Christ. It was a time when Capitalism was the good-guy system (righty so) and Marxism was the bad-guy system that murdered 100 million in the last century. HELLO!

Sadly, better than half the millennial generation identify as agnostic or atheist (according to Pew Research). If you mention “God” to the younger generation, they’ll very often ask, “which God”? They have no sense of history, are ignorant of God’s Word, and hold to some form of moral relativism. Sound familiar? The book of Judges ends with, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).

So then, does the prevailing news of the day surprise you? We are bombarded with Godlessness, lawlessness, looting, rioting, lying and murder on full display. Just as Paul described: “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:1-5).

And, if you seek the truth or reason, you are yourself decried as evil. Just as Isaiah wrote: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20).

Brethren, this is our reality.

But why?

Let’s examine what happened after Joshua died: “Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals, and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them; thus they provoked the LORD to anger. So they forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth” (Judges 2:11-13).

But wait, you may say. We haven’t gone that far! Oh yeah? Let’s see about that:

Right, we don’t carve idols of wood and worship them. Yes, true! However, in a sense we do just that. Maybe we don’t worship carved gods, but we most certainly worship things and stuff. The big TV, the nice car, the nice house… WE must outdo our neighbors, the Smiths. “Look what they got.” We even have forums such as Facebook to put our stuff on display. “HEY, LOOK AT ME AND MY STUFF.” Just like the Canaanites, we have become a nation of twisted sexual perversion, sorcery (drugs), rampant gambling, gross apathy, and open hatred of God. Surely, we don’t burn our children to Moloch. Oh yeah, ever heard of abortion? I believe in America alone; we are approaching 70 million unborn lives snuffed out, upon the altar of death.

You see, we aren’t so different than our forbearers, are we? Somehow a generation is rising that “did not know the Lord.”

The history presented in HIS-story (the Bible) is something we as believers ought not overlook. After all, it is scripture. God put it there as a lesson for all of humanity. If God severely disciplined His beloved people Israel, DO NOT think He will not do the same to us.

There are true believing brethren living in the world under the yoke of oppression for faith in Jesus.  They look at us (the Christian West) and groan. Many say the church in the West needs persecution to refine its faith. You know, they may be right. Paul said as much: “And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:3-5).

It certainly will separate the saints from the ain’ts.

What can I do; what can I do!?

Isn’t it easy to isolate and curl up in a ball crying, “WOE IS ME”? Perhaps we can just write off this world and hunker down. God will rapture me away anyway! Well, let us consult the TOME OF TRUTH (The Bible) and see what HIS-stories Author has to say. If we claim we serve our Lord and Master Jesus the Messiah, when He departed this earth, he left us specific orders: “And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

So, when we see the lawless mob tearing down statues; tearing down the nation state; tearing down our common heritage; and tearing down God Himself, we, of course, need to oppose them. However, we also need to serve them. “WHAT? ARE YOU INSANE?” you may think. Brethren, these people do not know what is coming. The wrath of God is like a huge rubber band pulled back so far and ready to snap. They will be condemned to a lake of fire forever. Forever is an awfully long time for an unbelievably bad thing to be happening to you. You cannot escape; you cannot die. This is a fate that You and I deserve. Yet: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

There was someone, somewhere that shared this Gospel with us. The knowledge that my enmity with God was removed. That God declared me righteous by HIS work. We all as born-again believers had an insurmountable debt paid in full, on a rugged tree. The ONE who took our sin away commands us to share this with the lost.

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16).

Let us then STOP pulling our hair out and banging our heads off a wall concerning current events. Brethren, embrace these times. It is in a dark time that WE are required to be the ambassadors of Christ He commands us to be. “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

Let us each work in the harvest field. Sow those seeds of the Gospel to all that will hear. If they reject you, do not be discouraged. Perhaps God will send another servant to come along and water those seeds? “What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:5-6).

Do not get offended if they reject you giving testimony. It is God they truly are rejecting. Do not burden them any further than needed as this can be very counterproductive (learned this from experience). “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7:6).

When you are hated for the Gospel do not be surprised. “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18).

“Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN’S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39).

The Lord is noticeably clear on His instruction. If it’s not clear, I challenge you to get into HIS word more. Start working those spiritual muscles. Become equipped for the days coming upon us. It is, after all, “Such a time as this.”

Shalom,

Brian Lazewski

People talk about going to Heaven and living in a great big mansion that is unparalleled here. My personal thought is, I would be satisfied with a one-room cabin without all the amenities. My absolute joy will be to be near my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, and to serve Him faithfully all through eternity. Besides, in this earthly human form, we are mortal and need a certain amount of rest in order to survive and thrive. This shell we occupy is temporary, thanks to the first humans that God created. (any emphasis mine)

Once we are called up and receive our immortal forever bodies, we will rest when we want to, not because we have to. Also, there will be no darkness as our Savior will provide continuous light. Only that time of going through the millennium will be significant, and then mostly for the mortal humans that are there. As part of the Savior’s “army”, we will be there to serve Him in whatever tasks He will have for us.

Although this message is about another hymn, Hank Williams, Sr. had a song in which the chorus is special for me.

“Lord build me a cabin in the corner of Gloryland; in the shade of the Tree of Life that it may ever stand. Where I can just hear the angels sing, and shake Jesus’ hand. Lord build me a cabin in the corner of Gloryland.”

When Jesus made the statement that He was going to “prepare a place” for us (John 14:1-3), He was trying to give a glimpse of Heaven that the disciples could relate to and understand. No one could ever possibly imagine or describe just how beautiful and wonderful it will be when we are with Him forever.

When Jesus was talking with Nicodemus, a Pharisee, in John 3:12, He said, “If I have told you earthly things, and you do not believe, how can I tell you Heavenly things?” It should be noted that this Pharisee and Joseph of Arimathea got permission from Pilate to bury Jesus’ body after the crucifixion. Even though they secretly believed in Jesus because of a fear of unbelieving Jews, they put Him in a tomb that they probably thought He would be in from then on. Can you just imagine how Joseph later felt when he was told that his tomb was again available?

I have heard it said that if we actually knew what Heaven is like, we could not bear being on this earth another minute. Think of Paul and John who got a real glimpse of the Throne of God and all the splendor there. Paul spoke in 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 about “a man in Christ, having been caught up to the third Heaven.” He said that man (himself) heard things he could not repeat, and saw things he could not talk about. To keep him humble and from being conceited, he was given a thorn in the flesh. Although he asked that it be removed, the Lord answered in V.9, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul was able to face all persecutions thrown at him, knowing he had a wonderful eternity ahead.

All through the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John attempted to give descriptions of things He saw and in words that he could understand at that time in history. All the future things he saw just about overwhelmed him. He even tried to bow and worship angels, but was told they were servants the same as him.

For “true believers,” John gave Jesus’ promise that we would not go through the “hour of trial” or tribulation that will be coming on the whole world (Revelation 3:10-11). We are concerned for all who will be left behind; however, it’s sad that this will be due to their own choices they have made. It will be the worst seven-year period of time this earth has ever experienced. The mayhem today is but a prelude to the total lawlessness and terror that will be here then.

A gospel songwriter of the mid-twentieth century was Ira Forest Stamphill. He wrote numerous songs, but in 1949 he wrote “Mansion Over the Hilltop.” It has been performed by many artists from just about every category, and even by Elvis Presley. It’s not a song of greed, but one of anticipation of just how wonderful and amazing our eternity in Heaven will be. The treasures he speaks of, though priceless on this earth, will seem to be ordinary compared to being in the presence of our Jesus.

(1) I’m satisfied with just a cottage below; a little silver, and a little gold. But in that city, where the ransomed will shine, I want a gold one that’s silver-lined.

(ref) I’ve got a mansion just over the hilltop, in that bright land where we’ll never grow old. And someday yonder, we will never more wander, but walk on streets that are purest gold.

(2) Tho often tempted, tormented and tested; and like the prophet, my pillow is a stone. And tho I find here no permanent dwelling, I know He’ll give me a mansion of my own. (ref)

(3) Don’t think me poor, or deserted or lonely; I’m not discouraged; I’m Heaven bound. I’m just a pilgrim in search of a City. I want a mansion, a harp and a crown. (ref)

The treasures of our Heavenly Home will be there for all of Jesus’ flock to enjoy. Can you just imagine a huge gate to the City that is made from just one pearl? Streets of gold; a river that appears to be glass. Yes, we will appreciate these things, but nowhere in comparison to experiencing the love of our Father, Son and Holy Spirit that we will have in Heaven.

But on the other hand, all who do not have Jesus as their Savior will experience a totally different eternity. Total darkness, despair, no hope, just wishing for a drop of water for their burning tongues (Luke 16:24) Once a person’s last breath is taken here, their eternity is set. Heaven for all the believers; Hell for all others. There are no exceptions, no pardons for those facing the Lake of Fire – it’s forever!

The Savior would love to prepare your living space with Him if you will just call out sincerely to Him to be saved (Acts 2:21; Romans 10:9-13). You have not sinned so great that you cannot be forgiven. The one that is unforgiveable is to leave here without the Father’s Son as your Redeemer, Savior, Shepherd and absolute best Friend.

Today would not be too early to call on Him – tomorrow may just be too late!

Come Lord Jesus!

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