Watch-Pray-Obey
We are living in perilous times!!!
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come (II Timothy 3:1)
What does perilous mean?
Dangerous; hazardous; full of risk
The ancient words of Paul written to warn Timothy could sound like a current news brief:
II Timothy 3:1-5 (The Passion Translation)
1 But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce. 2 People will be self-centered lovers of themselves[a] and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families.[b] They will be ungrateful[c] and ungodly.
3 They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander.[d] Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right. 4 With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the loving God.
5 They may pretend to have respect for God, but in reality, they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these!
We are in a war for the soul of America: (my sermon notes)
a civil-cultural-war has erupted between those that want to restore America to our Christ-centered origin vs those who want to replace God
Conservatives believe the foundation of our country is clearly stated in the Declaration of Independence, the constitution, the bill of rights, and the Bible that inspired the writing of each of these documents
Courageous Believers dedicated to revival and reformation are willing to stand up and speak out and defend the land that we love.
Radical Liberals are attacking, silencing, canceling, arresting, and mandating that conservatives submit, or else they will fire you, rip your livelihood from you and take away your God-given rights.
The anti-god are proudly radical, anti-American who promote intersectionality, depraved forms of immorality, and hope to replace our Republic with a scary version of socialism.
What are we going to do about it?
Common Reactions during the pandemic:
Some Christians act like compliance is the honorable loving thing to do because they take scriptures out of context to justify their passivity.
Indifferent Passivists ignore Jesus overturning tables in the Temple and the many examples of the Apostles being thrown into jail for disobeying the civil authorities of their day to obey God rather than man.
Some people choose to be spectators, they watch injustice (like the murder of the unborn) and the burning down of businesses during violent protests because they are spiritually asleep.
The parable of the talents rings in my ears of the wicked servant who took his portion and buried it in the ground and the master refers to him as a wicked servant.
Some day the spectators will have to apologize to their grandchildren for why they justified their backslidden apathy and allowed godless people to take over their country.
Some people live in the bubble of denial keeping their eyes almost closed and their ears plugged with cotton balls because they can’t handle the truth. They want to go to church where the message never changes; just preach about getting the lost saved don't talk about what it means to live as a courageous Christian. They refuse to talk about it or pray about it because it’s too much. That is until the tragedy strikes their households.
Some people fall into self-pity. They feel sorry for themselves and numb out getting drunk, consuming food, and chasing pleasure and end up in bondage producing lots of emotional pain in their lives.
The Preppers decided they are going to conquer chaos by hiding in a hole. Their bunkers become disaster refuges but the big lie is that somehow when the world runs out of food, water, and shelter they are going to be taken care of by surviving on canned spam and dried beans. Good luck!
Some people murmur and complain about the evil twisted stuff that is happening feeding on hours of technology not realizing that their faith is eroding as they are indoctrinating themselves by the stuff they are watching.
Some are controlled by the spirit of fear. They spend their time reacting like a pinball bouncing around from one situation to another desperately trying to avoid infection, from the viral despotism.
Or…
WE CAN WAKE UP & SEIZE THE MOMENT!!!
We can do what Jesus instructed His disciples to do: Luke 21:34-36
34 “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with [h]carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35 For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36 Watch therefore, and pray always that you may [i]be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”
Now is the time to fulfill your kingdom purpose by getting ready and getting others ready.
Release revival, reformation, and believe God for a 3rd great awakening.
We must do three simple but powerful things:
Watch and Pray and Obey
1. Watch: Why is watching important? To Keep awake
Whatever you watch influences what you believe and whatever you believe you will do.
Be careful what you watch. Learn to see what God is doing and join Him. Don't allow sensualized misinformation to control your worldview. Focus on the truth.
Jesus said Matt. 6:22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is [g]good, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is [h]bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
2. Pray: bring Heaven to earth through being a vessel of faith.
Pray about everything. Everything that is worthy of space in your thinking should lead to prayer.
Prayer must include both individual times of pressing in with the Lord and corporate gatherings where you unify with others to pray for God's will to be done in your community.
Prayer assignments: now is the time to ask for specific prayer assignments. Know the will of God and pray for it to be manifested in your life.
3. Obey: faith plus action advances the kingdom
We must pray but prayer must be followed by action. Do everything you need to do to stand for the truth in this season. Don't get sucked into the mandates. Stand up, speak out and righteously rebel if necessary to protect your God-given freedoms.
You cannot say you believe something until you take action on it.
Watch-Pray-Obey activates God's will in our lives. Practicing these three things releases the Kingdom of God through us. This is the answer to how to respond to perilous times.
II Tim 3:1-5, 4:1-4