The Word Of The Lord To His People In A Time Of Declension.

The Word Of The Lord To His People In A Time Of Declension.


Here is the word of the Lord to his people in a time of serious spiritual declension & moral crisis in the church, in a time when strange fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness has become rife, the norm & the order of the day in professed christendom, in a time when those who by grace were once quickened out of deadness in sin, are found living as among the dead in sin; bereft of sobriety which is the mark of those that wait for their Lord, spiritually numb and insensitive, undiscerning, unbecoming in conduct & speech such that filthy things which should not be once named amongst saints, is that which we now revel in as having fun, entertaining & being entertained by foolish talking & jesting that are not convenient, comfortably walking in darkness & not as children of light.

This is the word of the Lord to us in the midst of all these 👇🏽

Wherefore he says, Wake up, thou that sleepest, and arise from among the dead, and Christ shall shine upon thee.
Ephesians 5:14

In the original greek lexicon, it is not "Christ shall give thee light" as in the common english translation but "Christ shall shine upon thee" that means Christ himself will become your light, your armour of light by which the works of darkness are cast off as darkness itself is dispelled.

Notice that this word of the Lord was brought forth by the inspired apostle to those whom he had earlier spoken to as having being quickened with Christ & raised out of deadness in sin & trespasses - Ephesians 2:1-7.

The light is abidingly in the face of Jesus Christ for us but we are to stay awake to it, ever beholding the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

The call of God to awake from slumber & rise up from among the dead, is thus a call to awake to the reality of that which God has already wrought for us in Christ.

In Romans 13:11-14 he says:
"And this also, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, and the day is near; let us cast away therefore the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. As in the day, let us walk becomingly; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and lasciviousness, not in strife and emulation. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not take forethought for the flesh to fulfil its lusts.

Note that he said "put on the armour of light" and went on to say "put on the Lord Jesus Christ". The Lord Jesus Christ is clearly the armour of light we are to put on, and it is in doing so that we make no provision for the flesh.

The word translated as "provision" in the common english version is "pronoia" in the greek & it means forethought, care, concern for.

We make provision for the flesh by taking forethought for it.
Take no thought of what to eat, what to drink, what to put on says the Lord.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, be occupied with Christ, let Christ become your preoccupation, take forethought for the Spirit, be minded on the things of the Spirit, for to be minded on the things of the flesh is death.

One might want to still ask: but why would the Lord tells us not to take thought or be anxious and occupied with the concerns of this life, even of most basic needs as food, water & clothing?  Matthew 6:25.

The reason is clearly stated in what he said in the preceding verse(24): "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and will love the other, or he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

When the heart of the believer is preoccupied with & given to the concerns of this life, serving mammon becomes a very easy & subtle seamless switch that replaces serving God & that can be rarely discerned or detected.

In another place in the gospels, we see in the Lord's words to us, how the cares & concerns of this life naturally comes with the deceitfulness of riches & pleasures of this life, and how these things entering/invading the heart, chokes the word of God and makes one unfruitful/barren in the knowledge of God - Mark 4:19.

Finally, in Luke 21:34-36 the Lord says to us:

"Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be laden with surfeiting(excesses or over indulgence) and drinking and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly unawares; for as a snare shall it come upon all them that dwell upon the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, praying at every season, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things which are about to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."

Wishing You All A Glorious New Year Of Greater Walk With God!

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