Are we living in the Past, the Presence or the Future? Part 3: Living in the Future.

Are we living in the Past, the Presence or the Future?

Part 3: Living in the Future.

Today in 2015, we are living in an uncertain world and where the certainties of the past are no longer certain.  Throughout the world we see that we are affected in various ways because we live in a time of uncertainty.

Throughout the history of humanity there have been times of social, economic and political uncertainty, we have seen the decline of old nations, old methods of economic structure and old political systems and their replacement by new nations, new methods of economic structure and new political systems.  Many have tried and failed to hold on to the old in the face of the challenges of the new, then again many have embraced the new and dismissed and destroyed the old. Old enemies have become friends, and old friends have become enemies!

We are seeing the decline of Europe and the continuing rise of the so called BRIC nations, Brazil, Russia, India and China, if anything the replacement of the currencies of some countries in Europe by the single currency or Euro has hastened this decline, instead of making Europe a economic and political superpower, the Europe of 2015 onwards is becoming an ever declining shadow of it’s former glory.

In at attempt to halt this decline we’ve invented new economic structures and new political systems which are really modified old economic structures and political systems, or we have embraced the old ways of doing things because they give us some form of structure in a time when we’re no longer aware of what structure should be!

When we walk down our high streets we see boarded up shops with the for sale or to let signs, we’ve all chosen in the past to forsake our high streets in favour of  the out of town shopping centres or  shopping online with companies like Amazon, because of the word convenience, the religion/s of our fore fathers have been replaced with the new religion/s such as consumerism, our theology and our ethics are no longer guided by religious texts such as the Bible but by the mantras of human rights and equality.

We have turned our backs on the old way of doing things because we have been told there is a better way and a simpler way, and when we’ve travelled this new road. We have found to our cost, that we have been misled.  There are those who would wish to throw the Church and the Christian Faith into the dustbin of history, and see the Christian Faith and Religion in general as an anathema to their new religion of tolerance and equality.

It seems that all hope is gone, and the Church of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God are on their last legs, but as Jesus, our Lord, our Saviour, our Redeemer has said in Matthew 16:18b ESV, “I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”

The Old Testament Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 54:17 NIVUK. “No weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me, declares the LORD.”

There is hope, there is certainty, we the Church are God’s Messengers of Hope, Deliverance, Salvation , we are God’s Messengers of Transformation, yes we face challenges and difficulties but he is within us is by far greater than he is within the world see 1 John 4:4-6 .

1 John 4 The Voice (VOICE)

4 My loved ones, I warn you: do not trust every spirit. Instead, examine them carefully to determine if they come from God, because the corrupt world is filled with the voices of many false prophets. 2 Here is how you know God’s Spirit: if a spirit affirms the truth that Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, has come in human flesh, then that spirit is from God. 3 If a spirit does not affirm the true nature of Jesus the Anointed, then that spirit does not come from God and is, in fact, the spirit of the antiChrist.[a] You have heard about its coming; in fact it is already active in the world. 4 My children, you have come from God and have conquered these spirits because the One who lives within you is greater than the one in this world. 5 But they are of this world, and they articulate the views of the corrupt world, which the world understands. 6 We come from God, and those who know God hear us. Whoever is not from God will not listen to us. This is the way we discern the difference between the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

I know that despite all the difficulties, the opposition that we face as The Church,  we like our brothers and sisters from past generations  will stand, God has raised the heroes of faith, both men and women, in the past the people like John Wesley, William & Catherine Booth, Smith Wigglesworth and others some unknown and others known,  that despite what politicians, scientists etc say about us and tell us,  that The Lord is coming back for a victorious army not a defeated army, that are waiting on the beaches for a Heavenly Rescue Mission. God will raise us up to take our place as the Church Militant alongside the Church Triumphant

We the Church need to take our stand, hold our ground and advance, one famous military tactician once said, that the best form of defence is attack, so let us take back the territory that we and others in the past have lost to the enemy, let us as we win the lost for the Lord, and are lead and equipped by those God has placed in the forefront,( see Ephesians 4:11-13)  advance to recapture lost terriority

Ephesians 4 New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

Unity and maturity in the body of Christ

4 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 8 This is why it[a] says:

‘When he ascended on high,

    he took many captives

    and gave gifts to his people.’[b]

9 (What does ‘he ascended’ mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill the whole universe.) 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

Rise up o Church; let us advance for the sake of our Lord, Saviour & Redeemer Jesus Christ and His past, present and future Kingdom.

Yours in His Grace

Blair Humphreys

Southport.Merseyside.England