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EVERY KNEE WILL BOW
One day, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Those who denied that Jesus was real will bow. Everyone who denied that Jesus was the Son of God will bow. Everyone who has denied that Jesus was God will bow. Everyone who has denied that Jesus was the Messiah will bow. Everyone who has denied that Jesus was the only way will bow. That means that Mormons will bow, Muslims will bow, Jehovah’s Witnesses will bow, Satanists will bow, and atheists will bow. Even Hitler will bow. Pharaoh will bow. Hussein will bow. Satan will bow. Everyone will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Will you bow now by choice?
Praise God from whom all blessing flow, praise Him all creatures here below; praise Him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Amen
LESSONS FROM THE BUTTERFLY
This is from my book, “For Such a Time as This: The Darkness Cometh” available from Friesen Press. It is also available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.
One of the lessons we studied in my Christian Education class was on spiritual transformation. The lesson spoke abo
ut how we as Christians need to be transformed from the people we are into the image of Christ. In the lesson, the author used the analogy of a butterfly. He spoke about how the caterpillar would crawl up the tree and create the cocoon. When he emerged, he was a beautiful butterfly. “The idea,” my class teacher, Jerry, eloquently put it,”is that the caterpillar had the DNA of a butterfly in him all along, but he had to go through that transformation or morphing stage in order to become all he was created to be.”
I remember, over 10 years ago, I used the same analogy to illustrate a different truth. In the mid 90’s, I was doing a study on Heaven. I had just finished listening to John McArthur doing a study on heaven on his Grace to You radio program. Next, Woodrow Kroll of Back to the Bible started a study on Heaven. I’d also purchased John McArthur’s book, the Glory of Heaven, and later, Joni Eareckson Tada’s, Heaven: Your Real Home. From that came the sermon I preached at the sites where I ministered. Since this was pre-seminary, it didn’t have a title, but it went something like this:
Colossians 3:1-2 say, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Of all the verses I read on Heaven, those two verses are the ones that stayed with me. A more accurate translation would be “Since you were raised with Christ…” This is not our home. We are, as they used to say, pilgrims passing through a barren land. Hebrews 11:13-16 say, “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them,[c] embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
{One of the places I ministered to was a rehabilitation center. I would ask, “How many of you when you came here brought your furniture, your dishes, and all your clothes? When no one would raise their hand, I would ask why not? It’s because when you came here, none of you intended to stay. Therefore, you didn’t bring the things that would make you comfortable here. Likewise, as Christians we are not to be comfortable in this world. Just as many of you are looking forward to going home, we are to be concentrating on and looking forward to going to our heavenly home.}
2 Peter 3:10:13 tells us “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.[c] 11Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.” Since we are not of this world and but in it, we should be more concerned about heaven than earth. We are ambassadors (2 Cor. 5:20) of Heaven. We speak for Christ. We should live like Christ. We should influence this world and not let this world influence us.
The time is coming when we will be released to go home. Either the Lord will call or the Death Angel, but we will go home. Therefore, let us set our minds on that place. What will that place be like? It will be a place where we will have new bodies, new minds, no more pain, no more suffering, no more tears, no more sorrows, no more good-byes, no more death, for the old things have passed away. Just as Jesus said the old heaven and earth passed away and there was found no place for them, so will all the bad things of this world.
With our new bodies, we will be able to move at the speed of light. We will be able to walk the solid objects. We will be able to defy gravity. I know this may all sound like science fiction, but Jesus was able to do all these things with His glorified body. Read Luke 24. We will be able to fall from great heights and not get hurt. We will be able to swim in the ocean and not drown. Why? We can do this because there is no more death.
Right now, we are made of dust; therefore, we are subject to the laws of physics. But soon, that will change. Take the caterpillar, for example. As a caterpillar, it is a creature of the dust. But when it crawls into a cocoon, it essentially dies and is reborn a butterfly. Because it is now a creature of the heavens, it can defy the laws of gravity. Likewise, we are creatures of the dust. We are of the offspring of Adam. But when we die in Christ, we are transformed into creatures of Heaven. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation…” We are transformed inwardly and outwardly. Inward transformation is called sanctification. The outward transformation we are looking forward to is called glorification.
1 Corinthians 15:20-22: “20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. 22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” Right now we in the image of the man of dust (Adam), but soon we will bear the image of the Man of Heaven (1 John 3:2). Now we are subject to the laws of the earth, but soon the laws of the earth will be subject to us.
The Great Falling Away: The Apostasy of the Church
One of the lessons we can learn from the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation is that the church has cycles (or a cycle). Much like any organization, there is growth, a plateau, then a decline. After the decline there can be a rebound, another incline, or death. The church will not die. History has taught us that and Jesus has promised it. Yet, the church does have a cycle that it seems to follow.
In the beginning, when the people first come to Christ, they are on fire for Him. They worship in spirit and truth. They serve. They give generously. Then the fire starts to cool. Worldly cares seep in. People don’t read their Bibles like they once did. People don’t pray like they once did. People don’t attend church like they once did. Preachers don’t preach like they used to. Preachers and teachers don’t prepare like they used to. As Jesus said, they will have left their first love. Eventually, in the life of the believer, as in the life of the church itself, worship goes from relationship to ritual.
It is no longer about Christ. It becomes more about the process than the Person. People just go through the motions. The come; they read; they pray; they give; they leave but no real change has taken place. They had no real encounter with the Savior. They received no fuel to carry them throughout the week. Like a charcoal removed from the fire, they all soon grow cold. Now, they no longer have a faith, they have a religion.
I believe every church started out on fire for God. I believe this is true of the Catholics, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptist. But over time, their love for the Lord has started to grow cold. Their devotion, our devotion, is moving from relationship to ritual. Once we move in this direction, it won’t be long before the church is compromising with the world—embracing ecumenism in the name of peace.
In several of Paul’s letters, he speaks of the falling away or the apostasy of the church. In 1 Timothy he wrote that people would ‘depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons’. In 2 Timothy he wrote that the time is coming when people would no longer tolerate sound doctrine but will acquire for themselves teachers that teach things that appease the flesh. In 2 Thessalonians he wrote that the falling away would precede the Rapture of the Church.
What is the ‘falling away’ that Paul refers to? As one preacher once said, I don’t believe that it is some mass exodus from the church and that Jesus has to come back or there would be no Church for Him to come back for. Instead, I believe the falling away is encompassed in the words of Paul.
First, there would be a drop in church attendance. It is no secret that church attendance is on the decline. Many churches have more empty pews now than they had in the past. This is likely due to several factors. Parents stopped teaching their children the fear of the Lord. When these children grew up, church was not on their radar. Another reason is that people are too busy with the cares of the world. Many people work on Sunday because businesses are open 7 days a week. People also use Sunday as a day of rest and Saturday (the Biblical day of rest) as pleasure day. Society frowns on church and religion. It is mocked in the media. It is satire on television. It is outlawed in schools and public buildings. Of course, the biggest reason is sin. Sin draws people from God not to Him. And since sin is so prevalent and even welcomed in today’s society, church attendance suffers.
Second, people will depart from the faith. It is not that they stopped attending church. It’s just that they attend churches that don’t preach sin and repentance, hellfire and brimstone. Instead, these churches preach a social gospel—an I’m-OK-you’re-OK gospel. In this gospel, people don’t sin, they err. Yet, even without Christ, they can still live their best life yet. Regardless as to whether they are a Christian or not, everyday can still be a Friday. Others preach a prosperity gospel—a name-it-and-claim-it, call-it-and-haul-it gospel. Preachers in this gospel say all you have to do is lay your hands on it and claim it in the name of Jesus. God told Joshua that anyplace your feet trod I will give to you. Therefore, if you want a piece of land, walk its distance and claim God’s promise in the name of Jesus. If you want God’s best for your life, all you have to do is plant this faith seed and God will send you a harvest. As I said in my first book, God cannot be bribed!
Finally, mainstream religions will depart from the fundamentals of the faith. Pastors (and deacons) are committing all sorts of immoral acts and the churches (congregations) are not holding them accountable. Instead, they are standing by their pastor or priest. There are Christian denominations that actually question the infallibility (without error) of God’s Word. There are Christian faiths that actually question the deity of Christ—who actually do not believe that Christ was God. Now there are Christian denominations that are ordaining homosexual ministers—people who are living in open defiance to God’s command. First of all, God called homosexuality a sin, not me. (Lev. 20:13, Romans 1:26-27) Second, God, through Paul, told Christians to avoid people who ‘have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Third, Paul said that all homosexuals will have their part in the Lake of Fire (1 Cor. 6:9). Not only are they ordaining homosexuals, some are even performing civil unions for them!
In these last days, the apostasy is only going to grow. This is why it will be easier for the antichrist to come into power. What “Christians” are left behind will be so ignorant of the Word that they won’t recognize him until it is too late. On the other hand, the Bible encourages us to stay read up and prayed up. We are to work out our own soul salvation. We are to make our call and election sure. In other words, we are to stay on the straight and narrow and not to stray from God Word. We are to read it, learn it, and hide it in our hearts. We are to cling to it and stick with it no matter what the world or the church does. God’s Word is the only thing that will last. Jesus is not coming back for a congregation. He is coming back for a Bride who has made herself ready and who has remained faithful to Him.
Cyber-Discipleship 