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
