Are We Losing?

“Be strong and of good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them; for the Lord thy God, he it is who doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” (Deut. 31:6).

We live in a world today that is rapidly falling apart in many ways as far as our Christian values are concerned. Morality is fading away. Honesty at the highest levels is basically non-existent. Truth has disappeared and spiritual values are by and large gone out of fashion. We live in a feel good society that has little use for the ways of our God and the mindset of the majority is that man is in control. The humanist agenda rules our daily life at every level and God’s Holy Bible lies on most shelves collecting dust. Yes, my dear friends, not a nice scenario, but true just the same. And yes, we are at the present time losing something important! We as a people are losing our Christian and moral values against the ways of the world.

Jesus said, when talking to His disciples and subsequently to us, His followers, “If ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, there for the world hateth you.” (John 15:19). Oh yes! There is a great conflict, because the world hates everything Christians stand for and wants to win and have everything the way the humanist mind dictates. And we as Christians are in this war for survival and things have not been going our way for some time now. As in any conflict or war the dominating force rules by suppression and fear, and the Soldiers of the Cross are in retreat or should I say we are in strategic withdrawal. The latter sounds better and it keeps the morale of the populace lifted, even though we should know that it is a sham. So, why are the forces of the Christian soldiers retreating? They do so because of a lack of logistics and ordinance. But why are we lacking these things since we have the most profound battle manual available to us that can be found anywhere? It is called The Holy Bible! So where then does the problem lie? Our general staff and our non-commissioned officers are lacking. In other words, our pulpits are quiet or deluded and our Laity is either AWOL or on the run.

So,  should we get out of our Christian fox holes and regroup and go on the offensive, so to speak. We could begin in our local churches or community. You know, in the 7th chapter of the Book of Judges we read the account of Gideon. He started out with thirty-two thousand men. God told him that was too many, so twenty-two thousand were eliminated and of the remaining ten thousand only three hundred were chosen due to their vigilance because those three hundred kept their eyes peeled for a possible enemy. Their simple weapons were a lamp and a trumpet and the cry the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. So what do these few simple things stand for? The lamp in our case is the Light of the Gospel, the trumpet is to announce the coming of the Lord, and the sword is the Word of God. These three form an awesome arsenal that is unbeatable. God works in mysterious ways and if we can convert and save only one soul, there will be rejoicing in Heaven.

So, let’s pray to our Lord for strength and guidance and deliverance, and He will not let us down. Sadly, our nations have gone a whoring after others gods and idols and our God is angry! “The Lord saw this in Gideon’s day and spurned the transgressors. Then he said, I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be, for they are a perverse generation, sons in whom is no faithfulness. They have made me jealous with what is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their idols. For they are a nation lacking counsel, and there is no understanding in them. Vengeance is mine, and retribution, in due time their foot will slip; for the day of their calamity is near and impending things are hastening upon them. For the Lord will vindicate his people, and will have compassion on his servants. When he sees that their strength is gone, and there is none remaining, bond or free.” (Deut. 32:19-21, 28, 35, 36) (N.A.S.) Sounds like today, doesn’t it? Yet, why would the Lord still have compassion on us after we have rejected him time and again? We can find the answer to that question in Judges 10:16, “He could bear the misery of Israel no longer. (N.A.S.)

So, to answer the question at the start of this article, “Are we losing the war?” No! We might have lost some battles but the war will be won, for “greater is He who is with us, that he who is in the world.” That is God’s promise and He who is faithful has yet to break one of His promises to us, His people. Yet,  it will take some good courageous men and women to put on the armour of the Gospel of Christ and lead the charge. In Luke 18:8 Jesus asks a very profound question while talking with His disciples when He said, “However, when the Son of man comes will he find faith on the earth?” Some might think that that was a moot question with still so many churches in our land and still a lot of people proclaiming to be Christians and followers of Christ. But James tells us that “faith without works is dead”. (James 2:17). So if we do not practice what we preach we are sadly only empty vessels.

We are all given certain talents and gifts by our Maker, so let us use them to the best of our abilities, that we can say together with the Apostle Paul, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengtheneth me.” (Phil4:13).

Friends, be not dismayed or give up, for we can do it with God at our sides. Psalm 27 tells us, “The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? …

Save thy people, and bless thine inheritance; feed them also, and lift them up forever.” (Psa. 27:1,9). AMEN. (slightly abridged)