How to React to Unsettling Times

As we look around us and view world events, we realize that times are certainly unsettling. Even on one hand to be a citizen of the greatest country in the world, it does not change the fact that on the other hand, our society within America is morally and spiritually falling apart and indications show it moving further and further away from God. In spite of the best of efforts of Christians, we are facing the reality that the vast majority care not for God or the blessings associated with the church of our Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Matt. 7:13-14). Therefore, how are we to react in these unsettling times?

I recall a statement that Jesus made to His Jewish disciples in their own circumstances of unsettling times. In Mark 13, He was forewarning them of events that would take place less than forty years in the future—a horribly violent time when the Roman Empire would destroy the city of Jerusalem. He refers to this act with the term “abomination of desolation” (Mark 13:14—sounds horrible, does it not?) and points from the prophecy of Daniel to its fulfillment. Just casually read through this chapter, and you will hear many things that show an unsettling situation. In the midst of this, and in view of our own impending Judgment Day forthcoming, Jesus said, “Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is” (Mark 13:33). We may see the unsettling nature of the approaching Judgment Day with the clarifying words, “…for ye know not when the time is,” just as He also mentioned in the preceding verse (Mark 13:32).

In the first place, He begins with the words, “Take ye heed….” It comes from a single Greek verb that indicates the act of beholding and taking caution. It very often renders itself with the idea of looking. Thus, it is as if Jesus is encouraging them, “Stop! Open your eyes!” Other places render it as, “Beware!” (cf. Mark 8:15; 12:38; Phil. 3:2; Col. 2:8). As a matter of fact, Mark uses this word five times in this chapter alone. Therefore, we cannot close our eyes to what is ongoing around us. This is not a time to get “tunnel vision.” We cannot afford to act as ostriches with our heads buried in the sand, completely oblivious to what is happening in the world. The very first reaction from us is to become aware of what is happening, because the very first step in falling to deception is when we close our eyes to what is happening (cf. Matt. 24:4).

Second, Jesus continues with the encouragement to watch. It was not enough to open their eyes momentarily, but they were to keep them open. The term literally means, “Do not fall asleep!” What a wonderful encouragement we gain in one of the few occasions we see this term when the Hebrew writer states of elders, “…for they watch for your souls” (Heb. 13:17). In other words, elders never fall asleep at their watch when it comes to their role of shepherding the flock, because the moment they fall asleep, this is when wolves will sneak in and devour the sheep. Pertaining to our discussion of how we are to react in unsettling times, because of the unsettling nature of these times, we cannot afford to fall asleep at the wheel! We must not only open our eyes, but keep them open and avoid falling asleep!

Third, we react in unsettling times through prayer. Mrs. MA Kidder wrote,

When you met with great temptation, did you think to pray? When sore trials came upon you, did you think to pray? When your soul was bowed in sorrow, Balm of Gideon did you borrow at the gates of day? O, how praying rests the weary! Prayer will change the night to day; so when life seems dark and dreary, don’t forget to pray.

By the encouragement of our Lord to pray, He was encouraging His disciples to stay near to God. Through His admonition to pray, He was encouraging His disciples to rely upon God and realize their need for Him! So many times in difficult and trying situations, we throw up our hands and turn our backs on God. However, whenever we face these unsettling times, we evermore need to pray!

Therefore, as we may face unsettling times, Jesus provides us with the encouragement to react in the proper way—become aware of what is happening, stay alert and focused so that proper preparations may be in order, and “pray without ceasing” (cf. 1 Thess. 5:17).

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The Need for Pulpit Preaching

We find a fascinating factor concerning preaching in Nehemiah 8. As the Israelites were involved in their own restoration, they demonstrated a hunger for the word of God that prompted them to ask Ezra to read the Law of Moses unto them (Neh. 8:1). Thus, to accommodate their request, he stood upon “a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose” (Neh. 8:4). In this manner, in proclaiming the word of God to the gathered assembly, he could stand “above all the people” to facilitate this endeavor (Neh. 8:5). The Hebrew word for “pulpit” better translates as “tower,” since all but three of the forty-five verses render it as such and this is the only passage in the Bible in which we find the term “pulpit.” Nevertheless, by purpose, it may remind us of the brazen scaffold that Solomon used in standing and leading the gathered assembly in prayer at the dedication of the temple (2 Chron. 6:13). Here in Nehemiah 8, this was no simple block of wood, but a rostrum that was large enough to accommodate thirteen other priests for a total of fourteen people, by which they would assist in causing “the people to understand the law” (Neh. 8:7) when “they read in the book of the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense” (Neh. 8:8). Hence, pulpit preaching was produced!

There is a definite need for pulpit preaching today! Statistics seem to indicate that more preachers are leaving the pulpit than are being produced each year. In fact, some statistics pointed to the fact that 25 percent of all pulpits among churches of Christ in the USA are empty. Moreover, since more and more Bible graduates shun pulpit preaching for other “specialized” forms of ministry, it seems to be robbing the pulpits from great and talented preachers. In addition, consider this quote:

The role of the pulpit minister has been somewhat de-emphasized in recent years as the church of Christ has placed more and more stress on the importance of personal evangelism. The research reported in this book, however, tends to support a view of the evangelistic process in which the preacher plays a very important role. The identification of the subject with the local congregation is a crucial part of the evangelistic process. The preacher is perhaps the most important single factor in projecting the image of the congregation. Furthermore, pulpit preaching provides the subject with exposure to a Christian personality in a more powerful way than almost any other means of evangelism. Dynamic, Christcentered pulpit preaching allows the subject to see the Christ who lives in the heart of the preacher. [Flavil R. Yeakley, Jr., “Why Churches Grow,” 3rd
ed., Christian Communications: Nashville, TN, 1986, p. 49]

According to his statistics that he presented just four years ago at Freed-Hardeman University, Yeakley showed that the church has only plateaued over the past thirty years, holding at a membership of just a bit over 1.2 million in the USA. Yet, in the same time, the population of our country grew by 30 percent. In other words, we are not keeping up! As Paul, we need pulpit preachers who are “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believeth” (Rom. 1:16)! As Jeremiah, we are in dire need of pulpit preachers who look upon the word of God “as a burning fire shut up in my bones” (Jer. 20:9)!

Pulpit preaching is necessary because this is the method of God in declaring the good news of the kingdom of God and the church of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 4:23). Pulpit preaching is necessary because it is integral to the plan of redemption in heralding the news of salvation to a lost and dying world (Mark 16:15-16). Pulpit preaching is necessary because it is authorized by Jesus: “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name…” (Luke 24:47); in fact, Peter says that Jesus commanded it (cf. Acts 10:42). Pulpit preaching is necessary because our world needs “the word of faith” (Rom. 10:8). Paul summed up the necessity of preaching when he declared, “And how shall they hear without a preacher?” (Rom. 10:14-15).

Thus, proper pulpit preaching honors God because it follows in the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ, who also preached (Luke 4:16-21), and proper pulpit preaching honors God because it resounds with preaching that centers on none other than Christ (Acts 8:5), which is why Paul declared, “But we preach Christ crucified…For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord” (1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Cor. 4:5).

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Preaching as Worship

God once spoke directly to the children of Israel in Exodus 20:1-17; their response is recorded in verse 19: “And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” God’s direct revelation of the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel was so fearsome that the people did not want to endure it again. Instead, they asked Moses to be God’s spokesperson; his was a voice that they could endure. From that time forward until his death, Moses was God’s man for delivering His message to Israel.

Preaching was not a new phenomenon to the children of Israel. 2 Peter 2:5 informs us that preaching went at least as far back as Noah who was a preacher of righteousness himself. Joseph appears to have been a very good public speaker when addressing Pharaoh’s concerns (Gen. 41:25-36). And in Genesis 44:18-34, Judah presented a most eloquent speech to Joseph regarding sparing his Brother Benjamin’s captivity in Egypt. Though God promised to be with them, and even give His inspired men their words, we need not merely dismiss their personal abilities, because “the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets” (1 Cor. 14:32).

It was on Mount Horeb that God appeared to Moses to make him a prophet, and preacher, to the children of Israel. Moses resisted initially; he said, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue” (Ex. 4:10). God responded, “Who hath made man’s mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the Lord? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say” (Ex. 4:11-12). Since that time, preaching the word of God has become a time honored institution.

The Hebrew word qara, which means to call, proclaim, or read aloud, captures the essential notion of preaching. In Exodus 33:19 God said to Moses, “I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the Lord before thee….” The word “proclaim” is the Hebrew word qara. It is translated “preach” in Nehemiah 6:7 and Jonah 3:2. In Greek, the word kerusso has the same force. The idea is to proclaim a message after the manner of a herald so that all may hear. Jesus used this word in Mark 16:15 to command the apostles to “preach the gospel,” and we find them doing just that in Acts 5:42: “And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

Preaching has always been central to the life of God’s people. From the time of Noah, to Moses, to Nehemiah, to Jesus and His apostles—preaching is God’s way of communicating with His people. Ideally, preaching is supposed to embody the very voice of God. If we consider prayer to be speaking to God, we should consider preaching to be God speaking to us, and when God speaks, we had better maintain a worshipful attitude toward Him and His message.

But this places a grave and solemn responsibility upon the proclaimer of God’s truths. He has divine authority to explain and “give the sense” of God’s word (Neh. 8:8). However, he must not turn to the right hand nor to the left when it comes to preaching God’s message (Deut. 5:32, 12:32, 28:14). He must not put forth his opinion as God’s divine precept, but speak distinctly what is God’s will for man. He must speak as the oracles of God (1 Pet. 4:11).

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You Can Do Better

Watching the election year primaries unfold, it is clear disgust surrounds the individual in the White House and the top two challengers for the office of President of the United States.   The man in the White House characterized his last three years with deception, poor stewardship, and immoral decision making.  One of his challengers has a past characterized by philandering and broken trust while the other has demonstrated immoral choices involving support of homosexuality, abortion, and stem cell research.  This speaks completely to their moral fiber; it does not address their failures of ideology or misdirected spirituality.  Presently and historically, America stands as a land of many moral people with sound ideologies; however, the current abomination presented before the nation represents their choice to accept something less than great.  America could do better.

I Samuel 5b-7 – “…now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD. And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

The false choice society often believes to be their only choice is:  “Choose the lesser of two (three, four, etc.) evils.”  Consider a young boy presented with two choices for a dinner vegetable.  The first choice is creamed spinach.  The second choice is brussel sprouts.  Yuck!  He has been down that road before and knows he doesn’t like these vegetables.  The child, believing these to be the only choices, feels miserable.  Yet, not all children believe this scenario to be true.  They know other good vegetables exist.  When not offered other choices, some children see a bigger picture where they refuse to swallow what has been presented.  They know they can do better.

Isaiah 5:20 – “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

Again consider the child who won’t eat the choices of vegetable put before him.  Will there be pressure for the child to accept the choices?  Yes!  The voices telling America to swallow what they know they don’t like, come from sources of power.  For instance, the media with far reaching access tries to force its own choices down the throat of the citizenry.  They coax, cajole, and try every tactic they can to get Americans to accept their choice.  “This item looks the same but try it again, you will like it”.  “Don’t worry, this choice only sat in the garbage for 30 seconds”.   Because they have the power to put their choices before Americans while ignoring other better choices, they do.  They have their own agendas and they get money or favors to put forth specific agendas by other sources of power.  Unfortunately, these human sources of power do not put forth the best interests of the people.  They choose the rich or powerful.  They choose the good looking or well articulated.  Their standards are not built upon foundation, but upon fascia.  They could do better.

1 Samuel 16:6-7 – “And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before him. But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

 Though America chose the motto, “In God We Trust”, in 1956, a wide swath of the country chooses not to follow God’s precepts.  In doing so, they follow their own notions of what seems right.  The citizenry allows human sources of power to limit the field of governing choices based upon faulty criteria. In 2008, Americans were presented with two lousy choices to fill the office of president.  One of those choices was picked and America suffered for it.  In 2010, Americans came out in droves supporting the choices of morality, justice, and honesty across the land.  In most cases, they were successful.  They chose from the ground up to choose representatives who represented a godly model.  Yet, now, in the presidential election year of 2012, the presidential choices placed before them appear so souring the citizenry agonizes.  What happened?  Americans once again gave over the decision making for their choices to others.  They could have done better.

Deuteronomy 12:8 – “Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes for ye are not as yet come to the rest and to the inheritance, which Jehovah thy God giveth thee.”

The scenario looks bleak.  On Election Day, many will choose simply not to swallow the choices.  By this, it is meant they will not vote at all.  They will not make a false choice.  This will likely mean many good candidates will not be elected in state and local positions, because votes will be absent.  Evil will abound!  Yet, there is a scripture from the Bible which says, “Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)  Those who claim to follow God should be present on Election Day to provide votes for those who will lead in a righteous manner.  But doesn’t this then force the individual to accept a distasteful choice for president?  No.  Acting in that fashion would be a false choice.  Americans can show up to their polling places, vote for the righteous men in local races and either write in an appropriate choice for president or refrain from voting for the poor choices.  No “lesser evil” exists.  Choosing something against God’s Will is always wrong.  Americans can do better.

1 Samuel 13:11-13 – “And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines assembled themselves together at Michmash; therefore said I, Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Gilgal, and I have not entreated the favor of Jehovah: I forced myself therefore, and offered the burnt-offering. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly; thou hast not kept the commandment of Jehovah thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would Jehovah have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.”

 In the I Samuel text, King Saul of Israel was faced with a dilemma.  The Philistines were preparing to attack.  A prophet of the Lord, Samuel, told King Saul he would come and present offerings to God.  Yet, the time had come and no Samuel.  God had not given Saul permission to offer a sacrifice himself, but there was no one around to do it.  Saul’s apparent choices: Offer sacrifices to entreat the favor of the Lord or not.  In Saul’s mind it seemed right to sacrifice to God.  However, his human reasoning was wrong.  Doing something which God has not authorized is evil.  Man may not reason it as evil, but this does not alter the facts.  Applying this to the political situation in the United States, when only an unrighteous choice for president seems to be present, it is really a false choice.  Do not be like Saul and make the false choice.  Do not swallow the poison.  Is it possible the citizenry will choose evil?  Yes.  That would be quite likely.  However consider:  first, the individual will not have done evil offending God.  Second, God will cause the result to work out for good (Romans 8:28).  If Americans truly believe the motto “In God We Trust”, then they will indeed approach it not only in word, but deed also.  When Americans return to only accepting Godly choices from the beginning, the choices will be far more abundant and tasteful than present.  American can do better.

Joshua 24:15 – And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

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How Often Does God Talk to You?

Prayer stands as a key component of a Christian’s life.  When a Christian prays they share their gratefulness, reverence, thoughts, concerns, and needs with the Eternal Father.  Even non-Christians talk to God at times in their lives.  However, prayer represents only one side of communication with God.  Men need to let God talk.  Unfortunately, the wide majority of the world refuses to give God the opportunity.  If they would let Him talk, they would be much better equipped for the lives that they have been given.

Those who give God the chance to talk to them learn:

  • God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1).
  • God does not listen to the prayer of the sinner (Isaiah 59:1-2).
  • There exists only one way to heaven, not many (John 14:6).
  • Few people find their way into eternal life, the majority find only destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
  • Faith only does not save (James 2:17).
  • A Christian’s life was created in Christ for good works (Ephesians2:10).
  • Those who disobey the truth will meet the wrath of God (Romans 2:7-8).
  • God does not wish anyone to perish, but gives them time to choose repentance (2 Peter 3:9).
  • Man can understand the Will of God (Ephesians 3:4).
  • God requires man to study His Truth (2 Timothy 2:15).
  • The truth of God is to be shared with all creation (Mark 16:15).
  • The Love of God is that man keeps his commandments (I John 5:3).

Christians to whom God talks demonstrate a far better understanding of their life purpose than others.  How can a person know for certain if God has talked to them?  Is it an emotion or feeling?  Will they see visions or dreams?  No.  Outside of the reminder of creation, God talks to man only in one way today.  He talks to man when they listen to His Word, the Bible.  The best way of letting God talk is picking up the Bible and reading.  How often does God talk to you?  Do you schedule time each day for him to talk?  If you haven’t taken the time before, no better time exists to start than today.  He wants to talk to you soon and often!  Let him share with you the knowledge which pertains to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3-4).

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