I have spoken much lately, either vocally or via the printed word, about the troublous times the entire world is experiencing presently. These times of severe agitation that we see in the climate, the inner workings of governments and in individual lives are not limited to the unsaved. We who know Christ intimately are tossed about by the upheavals all around us like the rest of the world’s inhabitants, some of us more, some less.
I have posited that we are entering the “beginning of sorrows” of which Jesus predicted (Mat. 24.8). If we are trusting in God, we are not driven to despair by the gloomy tidings that come gushing forth daily from the TV newscasts. The doomsday world news is no doubt touching our own lives and we have to remind ourselves God has promised to keep us in the world, not take us out of the world. The constant barrage of bad news affects us economically, physically or emotionally – sometimes in all three areas – but we are not like the world. “…for [we] know whom [we] have believed, and [are] persuaded that he is able to keep that which [we] have committed unto him against that day.” (2Tim. 1.12b)
It is probable that to some of us these signs of the times present a small problem. Jesus tells us in Mat 24:6-8,
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.”
Jesus also said (Luk 6:22-23),
(22) Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
(23) Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.
(Note: I have not yet learned to “leap for joy” at my tests and trials, but I do greatly appreciate their place in my life.)
It is to be expected that we would want deliverance from this world’s troubles, especially since we have the biblical promise of a better day coming. Everything points to such a day just beyond the next sunset, BUT there is a fly in the ointment: we have many relatives and friends we dearly love and it tears our heart to think of them facing the unending torment of hell.
While we are sending up our prayers for the dawning of a New Day, some of us are going on a serious guilt trip about it. How can we pray so fervently for the New Day when its arrival will mean the death of any hope for our unsaved friends and relatives – a fate from which they will never be delivered? And “never” is a long, long time with never a hope or a prayer for them.
But you can and should pray for speedy deliverance, and you can do it without feeling you are not showing the love that is the hallmark of the Christian. God is a God of symmetry, evenness and balance. We can see it in the universe, which, except for some anomalies brought into the perfectly balanced cosmos – by man, not by Lucifer – is a model of symmetry and balance.
You [Lucifer in a secondary sense] said in your heart, "I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of the sacred mountain. I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High. But you are brought down to the grave [cast onto Planet Earth], to the depths of the pit.
When Lucifer sinned it did not unsettle all Creation. It affected only Earth into which he was summarily cast. There is no biblical record that any other part of the universe suffered for Lucifer’s sin. It was only sin by the human in the Garden of Eden that caused the lasting inequities in the world and the occasional hiccup by Creation resulting from the same unsettling effect of sin. Sin was a toxic item that the Spirit of God temporarily soothed at the time (Gen. 1.2), but the permanent cure will not be realized until the work of redemption is perfected in mankind.
(Rom 8:19-2)
(19) For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God.
(20) For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope
(21) that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God.
(22) For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Man is God’s jewel in Creation. He is a tarnished jewel at this time, but he will soon to be a refurbished gem unmatched in all Creation.
Now back to God being a balanced evenhanded God. When it comes to being in the will of God, the ideal place is to be in the center of His will. Imagine a circle representing the divine will; it is far better to be in the center of the will than to lollygag on the edges. That makes for imbalance and a lack of symmetry. Some misguided saints seem to think this is a game we are playing, seeing who can go to the furthest extreme of God's good pleasure without crossing the line and stepping outside of God's will. The playful saint who flirts with danger will, soon or later, break across the boundary and end up sinning.
Were the apostles, who were God’s direct descendants in the Church, a bunch of jokesters? Did they lightly esteem their mission? Did Christ suffer and die so that we might play games in our service and worship?
The world is watching us and they can discern who are the serious disciples of Christ and who are the buffoons, that is, those who want to play on the edge of what God is pleased with and are engaging in a dangerous game of Russian roulette. If we sincerely desire to bring souls to Christ, we will have to discard this dangerous gamesmanship with God (He does not play games) and get down to the serious business of serving and living for Christ. If we want above all to do His will and to win souls to Christ, we have to get down to the nitty-gritty of slavishly (yes, slavishly) following our Master.
There you have the answer to the question of how we can pray for our deliverance from this sinful world with its mounting dangers all around us and still love our fellow creatures: We should emulate the Apostle John who cried “Even so, come Lord Jesus!” and we can simultaneously redouble our efforts to pluck as many of these brands from the burning as we can. We still have some time left. For the love of Christ let’s get zealous about our task of witnessing and also plead earnestly for the Lord’s soon return. It is all we can do and that is what our evenhanded, balanced God wants from us. He will answer both requests in His own way and His own time.
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