If we read in Acts 7 what Stephen did to get himself killed, we realize that today anyone would do the same thing.
Stephen's words were insulting to a group of people who believed they were right with God. Stephen's words did not seem very loving, they seemed lacking in delicacy, too hurtful.
Unfortunately, if someone like Stephen stood up today, Christians would do exactly the same thing and have actually done it many times. Today someone would tell him that he does not have the love of God, they would call him unloving, they would call him offensive, evil, religious, and just as Acts 7 relates, we would begin to see people gnashing their teeth and saying: "look how he offends us" "look how he is attacking us" "look how he attacks us and the priests!" "God is not like that, God is love" and in the end they would end up stoning him just like Stephen.
The way people's hearts are has not changed. There are still those who defend their "Status Quo" in the church who will attack to death those whom God sends to warn them of the real state of the church.
Because they live in a kind of Matrix where they claim they are fine, where they receive words supposedly from God that make them stand firm in their positions.
These days I remembered that King David took as his wife the wife of one of his officers who loved him the most, then he made a whole plan to kill that officer who loved him so much and at no time did David think he was doing wrong.
It's tremendous that he didn't even have problems of conscience. Making such a macabre plan that involved asking that the person who loved you the most be left alone in the middle of the battle and you didn't have problems of conscience? That's horrible!
How many pastors will we have like that? And how many leaders will we have like that? They have their hands full of blood and injustice and they assure that they are fine and they don't even have problems of conscience. And when God sends someone to warn, instead of taking the attitude of David, they take the attitude of those who murdered Stephen.
It is tremendous, biblically we know that everything continued to go well for David, even when he had done that. This shows us that economic stability is not at any time a sign that things are being done well.
The issue is that many expect that what God sends them is a "high-ranking" prophet because, please, they are ministers of God! But since God does what he wants, he is the one who decides whether to send a Nathan or an Stephen.
And glory to God for the Stephens. One of the few men who has the authority to speak about Revival (because he is dead and was in one) once said: "Revival will not come until there are men willing to be martyrs."
Let us not expect revivals for our countries without the arrival of the "John the Baptists" and the "Stephens," those offensive ones, those who make people gnash their teeth and want to kill them, those of whom Jesus says "there is no prophet like him" but modern Christians want to take their heads off.
Do you want revival but hate the "Stephens"?
Do you want revival, but hate the words that tell you that you are wrong? You do not want revival, you just want someone to pat your belly while you are quietly living in your matrix.
There is a phrase I always say and it is this: "Sometimes truly loving someone involves saying the harshest things you have ever heard."
And sometimes the harshest thing you can say to someone who believes they are right with God is: "You are wrong."
Do we still want revival for our countries?
Then let us take the attitude of David and not that of the Pharisees. David's kingdom was established forever but Saul's kingdom was taken away. Both sinned, one made excuses and the other repented. The case of the current church is worse because Saul accepted that he had sinned, but he made excuses, the current church does not even accept that it is wrong. But we are still waiting for the promised revival...
In the book Why Revival Terries? Pastor Leonard Ravenhill does not make it clear: "There is no Revival without the "John the Baptist" coming first. And revival will not come until there are a few of us willing to be stoned by the same people who claim to be right with God.
Kisses I am El Profe Bubba
No comments:
Post a Comment