Sports, entertainment, materialism, education…these are your gods America. These are the gods of many within the Church who perhaps have not yet even entered the kingdom. This Coronavirus crisis is exposing these gods. Not just here in America but globally it seems God is shutting these things down.
Movies theaters and malls are closed. Restaurants are closed. Colleges, universities, and schools are closed. It’s not necessarily sinful to enjoy these centers of entertainment and institutions of learning, but remember Lot’s wife. Remember the lessons and Biblical accounts from Noah’s day and Lot’s day and what Jesus warned us of.
“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot: They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built; but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed” (Luke 17:26-30).
Now that our lives are less consumed with these gods, less busy with our own agendas… now that we have more down time at home… perhaps people are learning to be a family again, perhaps parents and children are having more communication and time to evaluate their spiritual lives, and even erect a family altar of soul searching, repentance, and prayer as well as Bible time. At least that is my hope.
Some may disagree, but this crisis is not really God’s severe judgment, but actually an act of mercy to prepare us for something more. Something far worse is coming in the not-so-distant future. Right now we need to be purged and cleansed from our idols and positioned for a tumultuous decade that has only just begun (The Tumultuous 2020s). God grieves over the condition of many hearts in this hour, the sin and idolatry in our lives, the many distractions and lack of wholeheartedness in us. God wants our hearts, because without this surrender He knows it will not be well for us going forward.
Many are praying amiss concerning the Coronavirus. It is a time of testing, soul searching, repentance, and submission to God — not a time of wrangling and debating this crisis, wondering whether it is a big conspiracy that China or our own government is behind, and/or flippantly rebuking, binding, and loosing everything that upsets our comfortable, cozy little life.
It is a time for sobriety and sincere repentance from the god of mammon, and looking away from the temporal toward that which is eternal.
“While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:18).
God is silencing the temporal so we can hear the eternal. He is silencing the voices of these gods and idols we’ve made, so we can hear His voice clearly. He’s removing the distractions that have kept you from Him. If American Christians would now give time and space for humility and repentance, fasting, praying, and seeking God we could stay the hand of God’s judgment. Realize though, that some things can be stopped or delayed but not changed.
GREAT TRIBULATION COMING
Some will label me a doomsday preacher for my next words, but in actuality, I’m very excited about my future. The Bible paints a very positive picture for the saints without skipping over how bleak and terrible the future is for the sinful, the evil, and the unrepentant. Call that doomsday if you’d like, but while the Scriptures declare God’s mercy in abundance, it does not avoid the reality of God’s judgments.
This world is on the verge of the greatest tribulation it has ever faced in its entire history, and God loves us too much to not give us opportunities to turn whole-heartedly to Him. God does not want to allow devastation to come to this earth without granting us a chance to get our hearts right. What makes us think that we are exempt from what the Bible has already foretold. A time of tribulation and then great tribulation is coming. The sky is blackened. Storm clouds are appearing on the horizon. The worse may not come tomorrow, or next month, or next year, or even in the next few years (although I personally believe we’re at the door), but be assured that the storm is coming… one unlike anything most of us have ever seen in our lifetimes. This is not a scare tactic or gloom and doom hyper-drama, but it is reality. It is what Jesus foretold.
“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken” (Lk. 21:25-26).
Too many people are afraid of a little pandemic that is a light affliction compared to what is coming, but they are not afraid of God Almighty. People are afraid of a virus that causes flu-like symptoms, which has been way overblown by globalist interests and the lying media, but they’re not afraid of a hell that burns with fire and brimstone. They’re afraid the economy might sink, but they’re not afraid they’ll sink into Satan’s damnable abyss, forever lost without God.
With every worsening crisis God is telling us that Jesus is coming soon. With every worldwide calamity His voice speaks that His coming is near. The Church is slumbering and sleeping and many foolish virgins lack the oil of the Holy Ghost, and they are not hearing the Bridegroom’s knock nor ready for His entrance.
May I encourage you to shut off the voices of these modern gods. Shut off the voices of the media pundits and talking heads who know nothing of the kingdom of God. Shut off the voices of entertainment and technological gadgets and games. Please start listening to God.
Once again, this virus doesn’t compare to the catastrophes that will unfold in these end times. There is a time when the very earth will shake with the greatest seismic tremors ever, the seas will roar with the greatest tsunamis ever, the heavens will be shaken, too and the stars will fall, and there is even a time where men will wish for the rocks from the mountains to fall on them so they can die.
“And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev. 6:15-16)!
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The Flaming Herald 