"You have heard that
it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to
you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate
you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may
be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on
the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ” – Matthew 5:43-45
There are things in this life
that happen to all people – the lost and the saved. That is not the measure of
the presence or absence of God. But, since that is true – the Lost might very
well ask “Where is your God? What difference does belief in God make in the lives
of men?” Actually that is a very good question.
Since you were born again by the Spirit through faith in Jesus, you know
what the difference is, but expressing it in words to a world that is speeding pell-mell
toward an eternity in hell, often fails us. The testimony of how you live and love
in the world will speak much louder than any words that you might say or write.
As the world spins its way into eternity, what is not apparent to mankind is
the presence of the Spirit and His influence on the affairs of men.
“And now you know what is
restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of
lawlessness is already at work; only He [The Spirit of God] who now restrains
will do so until He [the Spirit of God] is taken out of the way. And then the
lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His
mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless
one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying
wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because
they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the
lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had
pleasure in unrighteousness.” – 2 Thessalonians 2:6-12
From time to time, we get a
glimpse of “evil unleashed”. When people do horrific things to other people. It
is the presence of the Spirit of God that restrains Evil from its full
revelation on earth. On social media, I
see many Christians asking the question, “Are we entering the End of Days?” Life
on earth is as bad as any of the generations that are living have ever seen –
lawlessness – famine – earthquakes – natural disasters – man-made disasters –
wars. And the Saints cry out – “Jesus come quickly!” But, only the Father knows when that will be –
when He declares it. When the Saints
will meet Jesus in the clouds. Therefore, obviously none of us knows when but what
we do we do know is that it will happen. In the meantime, what to do?
The world is shaking its fist
at God in defiance. Embracing that which God declares as wrong and contrary to
His creative intent. But mankind, since Adam, has wanted to be its own
god. Make its own decisions – decide for
itself what is right and what is wrong. It is the presence of the Spirit of God
that restrains mankind. For now, there is
a limit to what God will allow. But one day, God will remove the influence of
the Spirit and leave mankind to itself. At that time the world will feel the
full weight and furry of sin.
So long as there is a
Christian who walks the earth, the Spirit of God will be present. Think about
it. Firstly, we have been sealed by the Spirit.
“In Him you also trusted,
after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also,
having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise” – Ephesians
1:13
Secondly, we, individually and
so corporately, are the temple of the Holy Spirit!
“Or do you not know that
your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from
God, and you are not your own?” – 1 Corinthians 6:19
Our spiritual birth and nature
is dependent upon the presence of the Holy Spirit in us. His presence in the believer
is what enables each of us to be born again.
“Jesus answered, ‘Most
assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot
enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that
which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You
must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of
it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who
is born of the Spirit.’” – John 3:5-8
Do you see why it is so
important for all Christians to let their light shine in this dark – defiant world? Why we should show love first to other
Christians, and then to the world in the face of the hatred and defiance that
runs rampant in every culture? Do you understand why there should be unity on
the Body of Christ in the face of worldly division between races and cultures? People
will not see God in the weather or in the day to day affairs of men. They will see God in the Body of Christ as it
lives out its purpose of being a peculiar people – a holy nation. The world needs to see Jesus in us by our
love and unity that is derived by our new nature and not our vain attempts to
love and unite by the power of our failed flesh. A Christians we are all His ambassadors.
“These things I command
you, that you love one another. If the world hates you, you know that it hated
Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own.
Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world,
therefore the world hates you.” – John 15:17-19
The world is shaking its fist
at God. Don’t be surprised when it
shakes it fist at you too. Don’t use
your cultures acceptance of you as an indicator that all is well. If the world embraces you, is very likely because
you have embraced the world and have joined the crowd and raised your fist at
God as well.
Let your light shine!
By Faith Alone By His Grace
Alone And For His Glory Alone
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