I’ve written nearly a million words (true story!) since this blog began back in 2010. Today, as I sat down to write the next instalment, it occurred to me that for all that writing, the only value I can add to anyone is pointing to what is written in the Word of God. No matter how clever the phrase or profound the thought, it is utterly meaningless because all truth is found in the Word of God (John 17:17).
There is no wisdom apart from knowing Christ (Job 28:28; Colossians 2:3). Nothing I write will ever save your soul. Only the power of God’s Word can do that (Romans 1:16). So, as much as I genuinely appreciate you reading my work, if it’s a choice between reading this and spending some time in God’s Word, then I implore you to put this down and pick up your Bible.
Christian brothers and sisters, our world is in crisis because sin is running rampant and God is judging mankind. We are indeed living in days like Noah (Genesis 6:5-7; Matthew 24:37-39). For the last couple of centuries, the Church has stood in the gap, offering prayers of intercession for our faltering race. Today’s church is mostly silent and even complicit in the depravity and fallenness of man. We don’t call out sin because we would rather the world see us as tolerant of the very things God deplores and finds offensive.
Somehow, we think compromising with the world will bring more people to know Christ. That’s absurd. Light cannot coexist with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). If we love the things of this world, we cannot love God (1 John 2:15). At best, our compromise is one of ignorance, but the presence of the Holy Spirit makes that impossible. He convicts us of sin and wrong thinking (John 16:8). It is we who choose to ignore Him. The only way we can ignore Him is by not being in the Word. There is no way you can regularly study God’s truth and ignore the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is God! You can have truth or compromise, but cannot have both.
We sin because we want to sin. We neglect the Word of God because we’d rather feed our carnal lusts and desires. Our world is hurtling into the abyss of Hell because we refuse to stand up and speak the truth declared in the written Word of our Creator and King. We refuse to speak His truth because the truth is we don’t love Him. We say we do, but all the evidence says otherwise.
Again, all my words mean nothing. God’s words mean everything. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and there is no darkness in Him (John 14:6; 1 John 1:5). It is only through Jesus and His Word that we can be saved. There is no other way. The Bible is not vague in its stance on sin. It does not accommodate our every whim and fancy. We are called out of the world to be separate, not to go along or get along (Romans 12:2). Jesus said He came to bring a sword, not peace (Matthew 10:34). He also said the world would hate us because of Him (John 15:18).
I cannot understand His patience and unconditional love for such a weak, timid, and feckless group of people like me and like you. If we love Him, we will keep His commands (John 14:15). If we keep His commands, we will not compromise with the world and we will not be silent when the world mocks God. Instead, we will be strong and act like men (1 Corinthians 16:13), we will be courageous in times of trial (Isaiah 41:10), and we will never compromise the message of the glorious gospel of Christ (Revelation 3:15-16). Pick up your Bible, dive in, and stand firm.