The Contemporary Church is Z – ZZZZ…Asleep!
- 17 December 2023
This generation of Church leaders cannot see the wood for the trees. They are to be indicted with Jesus’ cutting remarks: “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times” (Matt 16:2-3).
How is it that the constituency of evangelical (allegedly Bible believing) Christians en masse were suckered into the mainstream narrative regarding Covid-19? As I write it is three years since the obvious world-wide conspiracy broke upon the world. This saw insane restrictions on the movement of citizens, an enforced regime of wearing useless masks – worst of all -the legislation of social distancing implemented by authoritarian police brutality, etc. And still so very many of my Church attending brethren refuse to comprehend the lies and deception that attended the whole thing. Why is that? Here’s why: they do not possess a Biblical worldview. Their every thought is not constrained by Scripture but rather what they are told to believe by mainstream news sources which they naively imagine to be ‘religiously neutral.’ Alas, they scorn any notion of globally orchestrated malfeasance as a ridiculous ‘conspiracy theory.’ Their attitude is ‘go along to get along!’ But overwhelming evidence is out there in the public square for anyone who dares to poke his nose down the rabbit holes. They readily cite Romans 13 as their warrant to kow-tow to the establishment Beast and so confirm that their leaders are harlots posturing as spiritual shepherds of their flocks.
Undoubtedly, God ordained the Covid ‘pandemic’ to shake up the Church and to begin the Great Awakening which will inevitably continue until the true soldiers of Christ arise as fleshless skeletons in Ezekiel’s valley of vision from their graves (see Ez 37). Jesus said, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him” (Jn 11:9-10). True disciples of Christ walk in the light of His Word (Ps 36:9) – they interpret all events, all human history and personal experience in terms of what Scripture says. Now let’s check to see whether our discernment faculties are properly anchored:
First, God tells us that since Adam’s momentous transgression all flesh has succumbed to the Devil’s temptation to ‘be as gods’ (Gen 3:5) – determining right and wrong independently of God. Van Til tells us this ‘univocal’ perspective is at the heart of our ‘knowing’ (epistemological) reflex. The same toxins have saturated human history. Consecutive civilisations have come and gone which have sought to elevate creaturely man above his Creator. Several of them are referenced in Scripture (e.g., Dan 2:36-43). The outward manifestation of this rebellion against God IN HISTORY is the setting up of political administrations (kingdoms) which exert power and might over their subjects. They become ‘beastly’ because there is no alternative. By covenantal law, if mankind will not have God to rule over them they must inevitably suffer under the tyrannical rule of man. Ever since creation (Gen 1:3) God has been separating light from darkness, good from evil, truth from falsehood, etc. Maybe that’s what is implied by the slightly enigmatic verses we read in Rev 22:11!? The conclusion of all things will be the final segregation of good from evil – for all eternity!
But second, we should therefore not be surprised to discover evil intentions in the midst of much political manoeuvring. Because man is a social creature he is especially susceptible to participation in corporate crime. Wherefore, ‘conspiracies’ are plainly identified within the Biblical story. Joseph suffered greatly at the hands of his jealous brothers (Gen 50:20); David’s beloved son Absalom ‘stole the hearts’ of the men of Israel (2Sam 15:6 & 12!) forcing David to flee into the wilderness. The whole narrative of Jesus’ crucifixion can only be comprehended as a conspiracy between various factions: Scribes, Pharisees, Pilate, Herod, Judas and Roman soldiers, etc. Why then should we be in any doubt that similarly motivated cabals prevail today? Has human nature changed? God underscores this in Ps 2:
Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His anointed, saying, “Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.” (2:1-3)
Rulers taking counsel together = conspiracy! We are here warned to look out for such evil machinations. We are told to anticipate humanistic cabals fostering antichristian legislation. We are cautioned that the true Church of Christ would ever face (i) a beast from the sea (Rev 13:1) – i.e. a blasphemous political entity wrought of unbelieving pagan hoards and (ii) a beast from the land (Rev 13:11) who had horns like a lamb but spoke like a dragon – i.e. a spurious religious ‘shepherd’ which the Romish Pope for over a thousand years typified!
In our own time, with the advent of mass media and the rise of various international industrial complexes, the antichristian conspiracy has simultaneously gained momentum via ubiquitous lies (cf Jn 8:44) and misinformation whilst, since ‘truth cannot be chained’ (2Tim 2:9), it is also being exposed as God surreptitiously switches on the light (cf Jn 3:19-20). Providentially He makes good use of various individuals and organisations who, like king Cyrus of old (see Isaiah 45) have evidently been raised up as pawns in the Master’s hand to exact judgement and retribution on what we might perhaps recognise as Babylon the Great, the mother of all harlots (Rev 18). Babylon’s (inevitable) Fall is apparently occurring right before our eyes as deep-rooted corruption in institution after institution is systematically being laid bare for all the world to see. The vacuum this collapse leaves behind will cry out for the application of God’s righteous decrees to establish Christ’s reign in every conceivable part of human civilisation. Will the Church be ready to furnish practical solutions from the treasury of God’s Word? Hmmm? That great work – already begun by the Christian Reconstruction Movement of the twentieth century – will then find a warm welcome at last. We who, with the eye of faith, see these things afar off on the horizon of earth history celebrate them ahead of time! The Psalms (e.g., Ps 67) resonate with these considerations!!
…Knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light (Rom 13:11-12).
…have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them… For all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore, He says: “Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph 5:11-14).
