Living in this present evil age

Living in this present evil age

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We live in days where evil is called good and good evil and lawlessness is abounding

In these days of lawlessness and darkness, evil is abounding seemingly unchecked. Around the world we see evidence of the devil’s work; violence, cruelty, senseless bloodshed, wars and rumors of wars, sexual perversion of all kinds, the blatant disregard for the sanctity of life, deception, and moral decline in general. We are truly living in an evil age. We are also seeing Biblical prophecy dealing with the days before the Lord’s return unfolding right before our eyes (for those that know and believe the prophecies of the Bible). Where is all of this leading?

There seems to me to be only two possible scenarios.  

[2Ch 7:14 NKJV] 14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

1. If we, God’s people, will humble ourselves, pray, seek His face, and turn for our wicked ways, God says that He will hear and heal our land. But will we? So much of the so called church is becoming “politically correct”, in other words, following the ways of the world. So how many true believers will it require to cause the healing?  

2. The second possible scenario is the story of Noah and Sodom and Gomorrah. At some point the evil becomes so great that God moves in judgment to deal with the situation.

Noah - [Gen 6:13, 22 NKJV] 13 And God said to Noah, "The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. ... 22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

[Gen 7:1 NKJV] 1 Then the LORD said to Noah, "Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen [that] you [are] righteous before Me in this generation.

For Noah, when Noah and his family were the only righteous ones left, they were taken out of the judgment and judgment came to those that remained.

Sodom and Gomorrah - [Gen 18:20-21, 26, 29, 31-32 NKJV] 20 And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, 21 "I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know." ... 26 So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes." ... 29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do [it] for the sake of forty." ... 31 And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of twenty." 32 Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy [it] for the sake of ten."

For Lot, when the righteous of the land went below ten, judgment came and lot and his family were taken out of the judgment.

 [Gen 19:13-17 NKJV] 13 "For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. 15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."

All of this tells us that at some point, evil becomes so great that God removes the righteous and brings judgment to the earth. Where are we today? It is my personal feeling that considering the condition of the world today, and the end time prophecies that have been fulfill, and those that are in the process of being fulfilled, we are quickly approaching the day when God will remove the righteous remnant and bring the judgments of the book of the Revelation upon the earth.

So, what is the righteous remnant to be doing in days such as these?

      Luke 12:35-44 - 35“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit. 36“Be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. 37“Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them.38“Whether he comes in the second watch, or even in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves.

      39“But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 40“You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect.”

      41Peter said, “Lord, are You addressing this parable to us, or to everyone else as well?” 42And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? 43“Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes. 44“Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 

In short, we are to ready, alert and found busy doing the Lord’s work.

And what is that?

We are to be His ambassadors, His representative to re-present Him to the world around us. We are to destroy the works of the enemy, set captives free, call people out of this present darkness and into His marvelous light, and make disciples!

[Isa 61:1-2 NASB] 1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; 2 To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn,

[Mat 28:19-20 NASB] 19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

[1Jo 3:8 NKJV] 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.

And as the Father sent Jesus, so He sends us: [Jhn 20:21 NKJV] 21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you."

From the letters to the Churches in the book of the Revelation, the Lord gives us these general words of counsel regarding how to live in these days of evil:

From Rev. 2 and 3, we are to:

·         Love God with all our heart,

·         Serve Him faithfully and diligently,

·         Have no fear,

·         Be faithful even unto death,

·         Repent of sexual immorality and idol worship in any form,

·         Hold fast to what we have,

·         Be watchful and remember what we have received and heard,

·         Keep the Lord’s commandments and persevere,

·         Seek His righteousness,

·         Seek discernment and revelation of truth from the Holy Spirit,

·         Be zealous for the things of God,

·         Listen for His voice, and

·         Open the door wide for Him to come into our hearts.

[Rev 3:22 NKJV] 22 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches." ' "

Let’s pray that the true Church will rise up in this hour, strong, courageous, not afraid and not discouraged!

[Jos 1:9 NLT] 9 This is my command--be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

The course and future of this present evil age of darkness is clear. Judgment will come. God’s master plan is made clear in the scriptures. Our task is to call people out of this present age of darkness and evil and into His marvelous Kingdom of light.

[Gal 1:3-5 NKJV] 3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom [be] glory forever and ever. Amen.

The future of God’s people is secure and glorious. We are already citizens of the Kingdom of God destined to rule and reign with our Lord forever by virtue of redemption and wedlock to The King of Kings; Jesus. This is our hope of glory.

[Col 1:27 NKJV] 27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[Rom 5:2 NKJV] 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

[Eph 1:18 NKJV] 18 the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

Remember: [1Co 2:9-10 NKJV] 9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 10 But God has revealed [them] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

And we pray:

[Mat 6:10 NLT] 10 May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

[Rev 22:20-21 NKJV] 20 He who testifies to these things says, "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! 

Maranatha!  

21 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ [be] with you all. Amen.