When the world is hopeless with fear - you are to tell them that great is the anger of the LORD against this people. Calamity has come by their own hand, because they refused to obey their God.

"...and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, 'Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their [He who sits on the throne and the Lamb] wrath has come, and who is able to stand?'" Revelation 6:16-17

"...and they repented not of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts" Revelation 9:21

"Peter said to them, 'Repent, and each of you be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit..."' Acts 2:38

When we spend more time in the world than we do in the Word, we are separated from God and capable of anything.

No man has truly repented until his sin has wounded him until the wound has broken him and defeated him and taken all the fight and self-assurance out of him and he sees himself as the one who nailed his Saviour on the tree.

We must be changed by the Word. We need to - read it through, write it down, pray it in, work it out, and pass it on.

Jehovah God is calling His body to come out and be ye separate. Out of compromise, out of deception, out of self-importance and greed, out of the world and back to the security and peace only found in Him.

IF you do not know the truth, you will believe the lie. IF you do not know the truth, you will believe anything.

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things..." 2 Timothy 4:2-5

"We must tell people what we have learned. . . that no darkness can keep out God's marvelous light. They will believe us, because we've been here." - Betsie ten Boom (died in Nazi concentration camp)

"It is one of the greatest wonders in the world, how the church subsists under such fierce and frequent assaults as are made upon it by its enemies." - John Flavel

We live in a day when many Christian Right political leaders are telling people how to survive the difficult times that are coming. One recent evangelical presidential candidate, in a recent column, remarked that "we are on the precipice of some potentially catastrophic -- or at the very least, challenging --days." His practical solutions for preparation include "moving to a more rural location," stocking up on provisions, getting in shape physically, and preparing for self-defense with firearms. After many paragraphs describing various weapons, he concludes with a brief nod to faith:

"I strongly suggest that you seek to possess a personal relationship with God's only begotten Son."

If we could choose for ourselves, we would escape trials and tribulations. The glory and praise must be given to God, another difficult doctrine for those who want their ears tickled.

Flavel explains that: "Moreover, by exposing His people to grievous sufferings, G-D gives a fit opportunity to manifest the glory of His power in their support, and of His wisdom, in the marvellous ways of their escape and deliverance."

"Affliction is a furnace to separate the dross from the more pure and noble gold.

Multitudes of hypocrites, like flies in a hot summer, are generated by the church's prosperity; but winter weather kills them: Many gaudy professors [of the faith] grow within the enclosure of the church, like beautiful flowers in the field, where they stand during its peace and prosperity, in the pride and bravery of their gifts and professions; but the wind passeth over them, and they are gone, and their places shall know them no more."

The Truth:"

And our hope of you is steadfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." (2 Corinthians 1:7)

The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business, for those who do not know about God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.

The church appears to be no different than the world. Our churches are filled with Christians who are idling in intellectual neutral. As Christians, their minds are going to waste. One result of this is an immature, superficial faith. The depth of so many church-goers' theology goes no further than a collection of Biblical sounding, pop-Christian slogans and catch-phrases.

Their theology is summed up in ~ "Let go and let God!', Do your best and God will do the rest', You need to expect to meet God when you...' and What Would Jesus Do?'... "

Too many are content to read devotionals of familiar passages of Scripture linked together with a few inspirational stories and jokes but have no time nor interest to read the Word of G-D with a hunger to know the truth.

It is uniquely American to want an easy way out, especially a way out that is not painful and requires no work. That American value has crept into our American Christianity. So we have these seminars to get it all taken care of in a weekend.

Want mental health? Get hands laid on you and you'll have mental health overnight. Want spirituality? Have a vision, get the baptism, or speak in tongues. Want your problems to disappear? Simply praise the Lord. Want to be rid of temptation and sin? Have the demon cast out? Want to be done with the aggravation of decision making? Let God speak to you.

Instead of being devoted to developing spiritual maturity and attaining Scriptural knowledge, we want the quick and easy fix. Instead of developing mastery and maturity, we seek magic and manipulation. Instead of learning our lessons, we want the Master sitting next to us during the tests of life whispering His answers into our ears. We anticipate an A in the exam of life not because we know the material, not because we've mastered the content and it has become a part of who and what we are, BUT because we deserve it.

There are no shortcuts, but there is a secret to long-term stability and genuine maturity. There is an antidote to the quick fix:

"Be diligent to present yourself approved to G-D. a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth. But shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness." 2 Timothy 2:15-16

"My son, if you receive my Words, and treasure My commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understand: yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasure; then you will understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of G-D. For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding..." Proverbs 2:1-6

"Not by works of righteousness which we have done,but according to His mercy, He saved us...." -Titus 3:5

As Christians of the western world we are generally contented in our faith. Many of us have become satisfied with what we have been told.

"Jesus has done it all. Therefore there is no call on me to do anything in response."

The blood of Christ has been shed, the atoning blood of Jesus/Yeshua is the complete and finished sacrifice, the issue of the price of our redemption is settled. The matter of the covenant, paying the purchase price of our redemption, is finished. Our great salvation has been paid in full by the Sacrificial Lamb of G-D.

Our free ticket to heaven just fell out of the sky. Grabbing it, we do not stop to think on what this means. We are rich and popular and in need of nothing. We are jam packed full of religion, yet we do not know our G-D. Continuing to compromise with the powers of this world, we dodge the higher calling of our faith, unaware of the perilous situation we are now in. Enticed and seduced by Mammon, we proceeded to re-process, re-engineer, and re-package the message. The Gospel is now a "product" for sale to the masses. In order to sell our message it must be cooked, artificially sweetened, repackaged and rendered palatable and appealing to the average middle of the road carnal "Christian".

God is at work in His people even now. And in the fullness of time the true Bride of Christ will emerge. She is in the world now. She must go up onto center stage in the times to come. There she will bring her testimony before kings and rulers. History demands it.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14

So we as Christian believers are not passive in the covenant. We are His witnesses.Our Christian witness to the Good News is our side of the covenant. This response we have to the indwelling Christ comes by a ministry of His divine grace. It is not a matter of our "works". Our witness to His Great Salvation flows out of the blessings of the covenant. Our power to witness comes as we open our hearts to Him. And our witness is a response He produces in us by His Holy Spirit.

It is a response to His wooing. It is a response to His love.

This is the "rest of the story".

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.... In Him was life, and the life was the light of men." John 1:1-3

"...the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him....." John 1:10-13

God doesn't value earthly success, prosperity, human skills, or large crowds as we do. Instead, He seeks out the weak and lowly who would best demonstrate His strength and wisdom. As Paul wrote,

"...not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty... that no flesh should glory in His presence.” 1 Corinthians 1:26-31

Only a few poor shepherds heard the angels' joyous announcement and saw the newborn King. The highly respected men of Jerusalem neither heard nor saw the fulfillment of the long awaited prophesies. Content with their world and committed to their ways, they were oblivious to history's most momentous event and to the times in which they lived.

Much like today.

"In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter1:6-7

Testing the Genuineness of our Faith
Pastor Charles Haddon Spurgeon, 1834-1892

Untested faith may be true faith, but it is sure to be small faith, and it is likely to remain little as long as it is without trials. Faith never prospers so well as when all things are against her: Tempests are her trainers, and bolts of lightning are her illuminators.

When a calm reigns on the sea, spread the sails as you will, the ship does not move to its harbor; for on a slumbering ocean the keel sleeps too. Let the winds rush and howl, and let the waters lift themselves, though the vessel may rock and her deck may be washed with waves and her mast may creak under the pressure of the full and swelling sail, it is then that she makes headway toward her desired haven.

No flowers are as lovely a blue as those that grow at the foot of the frozen glacier; no stars gleam as brightly as those that glisten in the midnight sky; no water tastes as sweet as that which springs up in the desert sand; and no faith is so precious as that which lives and triumphs in adversity.

Tested faith brings experience. You could not have believed your own weakness if you had not been compelled to pass through the rivers; and you would never have known God’s strength if you had not been supported in the flood. Faith increases in quality, assurance, and intensity the more it is exercised with tribulation. Faith is precious, and its trial is precious too.

Do not let this, however, discourage those who are young in faith. You will have trials enough without seeking them: The full portion will be measured out to you in due course.

Meanwhile, if you cannot yet claim the result of long experience, thank God for what grace you have; praise Him for that degree of holy confidence you have now attained: Walk according to that rule, and you will still have more and more of the blessing of God, until your faith will remove mountains and conquer impossibilities.

Days of testing are coming. Will you be able to say with confidence:

"When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food." Job 23:10-12