Sound The Alarm! The Day Of The Lord Is Coming!

(See 10/24/22 for part 1)

The world system has become so jaded that almost nothing is viewed as wrong. Our society has been conditioned over time to accept sin. A spirit of “inclusion” has been embraced by many churches so that nobody feels left out. Everybody must be accepted regardless of their relationship with God or manner of living. Sure, we are to love all people but the Church of Jesus Christ cannot accept a lifestyle of sin. Sin must be brought before the Lord in repentance!

Gradually the enemy has crept in and performed his despicable work, undermining the very foundation of our existence. From the beginning, our social order was built upon the family unit. God's design for the family has been manipulated to fit every desire and convenience imaginable to mankind. God has His Standard which cannot be manipulated to please anyone! The Word of God calls for the sinner to repent of their sin, turn from their sin and follow after the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul wrote to Timothy of the evil in the last days in 2 Tim. 3:1-5 identifying the total depravity of the human state. "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3. Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4. Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5. Having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

As Christ's return draws near, the depraved conditions will increase. "But evil men...shall wax worse..."v.13. Paul describes mass corruption and lawlessness. The warning is that the condition of the world ultimately presses into the Church. "Having a form of godliness but denying the power..."v5. Having the resemblance of Christian service but without the spiritual dynamic of the Holy Spirit. Peter said, "These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest…" 2 Peter 2:17. The barrenness of this false religion mocks the thirsty soul by promising refreshment but can not deliver. Perhaps Jude states it best in vs.12-13, "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear; clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever."

In. Eph. 6:11 Paul instructs the Church to "put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil." The emphasis is on the "whole armor of God" in its completeness providing power against "the wiles of the devil." Romans 13:12-14, reads, "...put you on the Lord Jesus Christ…"

Paul addresses the armor of God as a complete covering. Its completeness corresponds to the divine perfection of Christ's humanity. We are "to grow up unto Him in all things." Eph. 4:15. We are to put on His image in all the harmony of truth, righteousness, peace, and faith. We are to receive the spiritual energy and power of Christ as the "Word." Jesus Christ is the solution to the present human condition! He is the embodiment of our power and authority to defeat the "flesh."

We will win this war and the Church will most certainly have victory over sin, as we individually put on Christ. We must seek for and receive the power of the Holy Ghost to permeate every fiber of our being so that we become an extension of Christ Himself. 1 Cor. 6:19, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?”