Do we care? Do we as Christians really care about the people who have never trusted Christ as their Savior or are we just waiting for God to destroy them? Today we hear a lot of preaching about God is just waiting for the harvest to get ripe with wickedness, and He will come back to take vengeance upon the ungodly. One preacher I know said after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage, “I can’t wait for the Lord to come back and straighten this world out”. Of course, his doctrinal belief is that the Lord will come back and rapture the church out before sending the world into seven years of tribulation. But I believe that is what has happened to the church. We have lost our evangelistic concern to a “sic-um Lord” theology.
In 2016, we were called to pray for our nation by Franklin Graham. The concern was that God would move and bring our nation back to a place where we sought Him rather than government as the answer to our problems. Many of us believe God heard and answered our prayers. But the election ended in November 2016. Where is the call for our nation to pray now; I have not heard it. It is as though one election solved all our problems. But has it? Do we not need to continue to seek God’s work in turning our nation, and the world, to Him?
God’s promise of a peaceful world in Isaiah 2 has not come to pass. We are on the brink of war somewhere in the world all the time. Is that okay with us? The answer is a resounding “yes” if it means protecting ourselves and families from destruction. But, is there a better way?
In their book “The Light and the Glory, Peter Marshall and David Manuel recount the story of what was known as King Phillip’s War. King Phillip was the head of a tribe of Indians (native Americans to the politically correct) who hated Christians and Christianity. He decided in 1675 to start a war with the attempt to drive the English settlers back into the ocean. The Puritans had expanded their land purchases from the Indians and left their home towns for the wilderness to establish new towns. Not only did they leave their old towns behind, but many of these Puritans left their religion behind. During this time of war, many of the settlers were wiped out until they repented of their sins and began to seek the Lord again. Finally, on August 26, 1676, King Phillip was killed in battle and the war was over.
“At times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. Then if my people who are called by name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” 2 Chron 7:13-14 (NLT). This scripture is often used during revival meetings in our churches, but many people ask, “what sin do I need to repent of? What have I done that’s wrong?” The answer might be a sin of omission. I believe the church has failed to spend the required time seeking God for a great world-wide awakening and a revival in the churches. We have become distracted with the cares of this life and have forgotten God’s priorities. This may be the greatest sin in the church today; we don’t care about the lost. “If they want to die and go to hell, let them because I don’t care.” That was my attitude for many years because I saw so many people turn their backs on Christ and His message. But the problem was, I was trying to do God’s work instead of asking God to do His work. In both Isaiah and Ezekiel, I have found scripture where God asks, “where are My intercessors”. For the past few years, I have found great peace and encouragement by spending time praying for the salvation of the lost. I hope you will consider joining me. Start by picking one day a week where you prayer for the lost and a great world-wide awakening. Peace can and will come only as Christ establishes His kingdom in the hearts of men, women, boys, and girls. My missionary friends tell me there are still 6,000 tribes of people who have never heard the gospel in any generation not to mention the billions of people who have not heard it in this generation.