From 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If My people, who are called by My Name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land.” (ESV any emphasis mine)

This would be for people who know they have done wrong and have sinned but repented and turned back to the Father, who was willing to forgive them. Prior to Calvary, all who were in the will of God have an eternal home with Him. From Calvary and extending to the end of the Millennial reign of Jesus, all who receive and accept His gift of Salvation will be in Heaven forever.

On the other hand, I was directed by a very dear friend to look at a Facebook site that Barry McGuire’s song would have aptly described in one line; “And you tell me you don’t believe we’re on the eve of destruction.” What I saw and read was absolutely disgusting.

What was the title of that site and the message being given? It was “Global Middle Finger to End Christianity” scheduled for August 12, 2021. Somehow, I don’t see the Creator of the Universe, our Heavenly Father, the Lord God Jehovah just letting that pass with no repercussions. There was a picture on the site of a group of people who were smiling and extending their middle fingers for the camera to record.

The message given on the site was to “end Christianity, and create more atheists while fighting the global prayer so their ‘sky daddy’ won’t snatch us up.” I don’t believe they will have to worry about being “snatched up” in the coming Rapture. This is absolute blasphemy against God, His Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Our Heavenly Father has no illusions as to what is about to take place, as He has given us a complete preview in His Holy Word about what the end of this age will be like. Jesus said His followers would be hated, which is exactly what is happening right now. He said that more would be in the pathway to destruction than on the path that leads to eternal life. Christianity in America is at an all-time low, with the “alphabet” groups challenging anything that has to do with Jesus. They hate us, but we are called the haters.

During the judgments in Revelation, we’re told the people cursed God rather than repent when the judgments were applied. These will have succumbed to the evil antichrist, and in effect, will have sold their souls to Satan.

Satan knows he has no path to forgiveness and that his ultimate eternal destiny is the worst possible punishment forever in the Lake of Fire. The fallen angels, or demons, are next in line. They will be followed by every other lost, sinful soul from the beginning of time to the last day this earth is here (Matthew 25:41).

How many times have we heard that God will not be mocked (Galatians 6:7-8); yet, that is exactly what this demonstration was doing. There was another march in Southern California about a year ago where the people were photographed carrying signs that read, “God, Get Out of California.” A quick question here: has California and the whole west coast, for that matter, been subject to any abnormal weather conditions? How about record-setting fires or any other abnormal issues? Seems we hear about record-breaking events having taken place almost daily since that demonstration, and the severity is only increasing.

My feeling after looking at that Facebook post was a sick and disgusting feeling. This is totally an “in Your face, God” demonstration with absolutely no doubt about it. Going to 2 Timothy 3:1-5, we have an extensive list of what end-time attitudes and actions would be by the followers of Satan. Each and every one of them is present today, and for the first time, all at once.

Please understand that even though all this and other actions are sickening, my prayer is that these folks would come to realize the consequences of their acts and ultimately repent and call on Jesus to be forgiven.

Though this is not possible for Lucifer and his demons, humans do have an option to change. Every human, from our parents in the Garden of Eden all the way through today, has sinned. Romans 3:23; “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:10; “As it is written, none is righteous, no not one.” Then Romans 6:23; “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus Our Lord.”

The main stipulation to receive forgiveness is to receive and accept Jesus before taking our last breath on this earth. Once we have gone past that point, our eternity is set. All the lost will get in a very long line at the Great White Throne of Revelation 20:11-15, and they will be shown what their eternal punishment will be. They will have no option for forgiveness there, and they will be shown what they could have done differently to have been saved.

Romans 10:9-13 says that all who truly admit and confess they are sinners, believe Jesus is the true Son of God who died for all of our sins and is the only way to Heaven (John 14:6), and all that call on the name of the Lord will be saved. This is not something just to recite but is to be believed and have faith in our hearts that God’s word is truth. The demonstrators do not accept the Bible, as they believe it’s full of fairytales and myths.

Our Heavenly Father does not want any of us to fail (2 Peter 3:9), and He supplied the only sacrifice He could accept that would cover all of our sins. Only the pure, sinless blood of Jesus would qualify for this gift. We have that opportunity to call out and be saved, but there are many who will not do so because they have a love for the things of this world rather than love and have Jesus as their Savior and Redeemer. Satan is a master of deception, and his goal is to pull as many souls away from Jesus as possible.

For a brief moment, think about your eternity. Will it be Heaven or Hell? It’s completely your choice and the most important decision you will ever make. While these demonstrators may think they’re clever, one day they will regret their actions if they don’t repent.

Instead of getting on that evil bandwagon, please recognize that Satan is not our friend by any stretch of the imagination.

My prayer? Lord, please touch each and every one of these souls and open their eyes to what they are actually doing. Please give them one more chance to repent, Heavenly Father, and if they refuse, it will be their own choice.

Amen; Come, Lord Jesus!

huebshman46@gmail.conm

Ephesians, Chapter 5:1-14, NKJV:

Walking in Jesus’ Footsteps

Walking in Love (vv.1-7)

“Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. ² And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. ³ But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; ⁴ neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. ⁵ For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. ⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. ⁷ Therefore do not be partakers with them.”

We are to imitate Christ and to trust Him as a child trusts his parents. He will guide us into all that is good and beneficial for us. We are to walk in the type and style of love that He demonstrated for us while here on Earth, and to let it be as a sweet-smelling sacrifice to Him. As children of God, we are to avoid all types of uncleanness or covetousness such as sexual immorality and fornication, foul and crude language, coarse jesting that turns something precious into a target of obscenities. Our true course of action is to be in a spirit and attitude of thanksgiving. Remember that He has rescued us from such a life and worldview and brought into His presence and security (John 10:28-30).

Paul re-emphasizes the consequences of sexual immorality and other sins that will forbid one from entering the kingdom of God. To keep up a life of debauchery and still claim to be a follower of Jesus Christ is to show that your claims are built upon sand and wishful thinking, and you are not really saved (Matthew 7:21-23; Hebrews 6:4-6).

Sexual sin is no different than any other sin in that it will keep you out of heaven if you are not fully surrendered to Christ. Immorality is as old as humanity itself, and the tidal wave of pornography and deviancy that is sweeping up the minds and emotional character of both men and women is thrown at us every minute of the day. Even the best of us succumb to eyeing that good-looking man or woman and think of intimacy with them. The key is how to resist going any further down the rabbit hole of deviancy before it wrecks you, your family, and your relationship with God.

If you have stumbled and did something with someone that ended up going farther than you expected, I pray that right now you get that sin settled and confessed before the LORD. He saw it all anyway, and if you persist in such behavior, it will be used against you at the Day of Judgment. I pray that any sin you commit is confessed before God and that you repent of it and do everything in your power to keep away from it, such is its severity (Matthew 5:27-30).

Ask the LORD to make such things as porn sickening and disgusting to your soul. Use your computer with family present. Get a filter placed on it by your spouse; anything to rid yourself of the sick and vile cesspool that it is. Do not let the devil get the better of you.

Another issue Paul deals with is one that many churches tend to overlook or ignore altogether, and that is the need for spiritual discernment and caution. We need to guard ourselves against the words and actions of deceitful people who sound pious and righteous but who are used of the devil to get a foot in the door of a thriving church. These wolves begin to cut away at the foundations by various ways such as gossip, rumor, innuendos, and accusations against the elders or other authority. Many churches have new members classes where the doctrines, beliefs, and expectations are presented to any new and prospective member. Classes such as these will tend to separate the authentic from the deviant and any trouble they may want to cause.

My family and I joined a Presbyterian congregation while we were living in Louisiana, and before they accepted us as members, we had to attend a new members class that included giving our testimony, a series of lessons on the Confessions of Faith and the Catechisms (teachings), a basic knowledge of the Word, and an examination before the elders and pastor. All of that took a couple of months, and then we were given the “right hand of fellowship” at the morning service. My daughter was not able to pass to the next grade of Sunday School until she had learned the first five questions of the Shorter Catechism and had memorized the Ten Commandments and explained them.

By the way, she was seven years old at the time. Tedious? Yes, but the church’s membership was faithful and knowledgeable of the Word and procedures of worship. It is not a bad model to follow for any church that is serious about real growth and maturity of spirit.

Walk in the Light of Christ (vv.8-14)

“⁸ For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), ¹⁰ finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. ¹¹ And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. ¹² For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. ¹³ But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. ¹⁴ Therefore He says: ‘Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.’”

The former life of the Ephesians has been adequately described by Paul. He has presented the traits of their evil past and now tells them to present a holy contrast and be imitators of God. They had been in the bonds of spiritual darkness and were now transformed by Jesus Christ into being the children of light, which will also be presented by the apostle John in describing true Christian character (1 John 1:7). Paul now breaks down the specifics of spiritual darkness and its nature to show them and us the horrid effects of being ensnared in such a life.

All of it is the work of Satan. Unbelievers do his bidding because they are under his control in a “dominion of darkness” (John 8:44; Ephesians 6:12; Colossians 1:13; 1 John 5:19) and are hopelessly bound until freed by coming to Christ in faith (Matthew 11:28-30; John 14:6). Spiritual darkness also brings with it the wrath of God (Romans 1:18), and if the Gospel message is rejected by anyone, they are cast into eternal darkness, which is one of the traits of hell and its everlasting horrors.

The authentic follower of Jesus Christ is to walk in a manner evident by the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) and to find out through prayer, study of the Word, and counsel from the elders of the church what the will and plan of God is for them. A mark of a serious believer is their willingness to watch out for and expose the works of darkness based on the Scriptures (Acts 17:11), not opinion or a self-anointed role. The church is never to tolerate or be complacent in matters of what is taught and preached from the pulpits. We MUST be students and experts in the Word of God, always being aware of anything that is out of line with the Scriptures and the sound doctrine of the faith (2 Timothy 4:1-5).

If we ignore evil, it is the same as encouraging it, and if we stay quiet, all we do is promote it.

Some things are so disgraceful that they need little exposure by discussion, as the danger posed by them is too great a risk. Any situation such as this needs to be dealt with immediately and thrown out of the church. The light of Christ always exposes the works of darkness, and we are to always be in the light of Christ in all we say and do. Evil, corruption, compromise, and avoidance of sin by both pastors and members are certain signs that the church of today has not complied with what the Scriptures teach us to do when we do see maliciousness and malevolence both in society and within the walls of what is supposed to be the house of the LORD.

Either we celebrate Immanuel, God with us (Isaiah 7:14), or we paint the words “Ichabod” on the doors, for the glory has departed and Ephraim is content with his idols to be left alone (1 Samuel 4:21-22; Hosea 4:17).

Listen, if you have ears to hear.

Donaldwhitchard@gmail.com

www.realitycityreverend.com