The Bible asks in 1 Corinthians 14:8, “…if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?” This admonition by the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Paul, states that clarity of message is of utmost importance when conditions are perilous. We are told that one cannot give mixed signals and expect the army to respond properly in the day of battle.
For all of us engaged in ministry, whether Word or Worship, it is imperative that we heed this guidance of the Spirit. No matter what the cost, we must publicly and persuasively declare the unfiltered, undiluted Word of God to our generation. You see, friends, the Church is at war. We are being attacked by evil forces unlike any we have ever seen in our lifetimes. Satan has ramped up his campaign aimed at destroying the Body of Christ.
The pernicious manner in which he has come against us has been the subtlety of the assault. There was no siren to sound an alarm, no press conference to declare his intentions, and no mushroom cloud to signal he had laid down the gauntlet. He and his forces of evil slithered silently into our society with a venomous bite that was hardly noticed. However, the damage was done, and many have fallen prey to these serpents of sin.
I can hardly believe the radical changes have occurred in recent years. We have heard of them ex post facto. We have read the headlines that declare sin is now a societal norm. What used to be considered depraved, is now permitted by statutory law. Things God considers an abomination, have now become acceptable in our society. We do not need to list these depravities, you can see them portrayed on your television sets each night, or hear them flaunted by your popular TV hosts.
How did this happen? What was the Church doing when these things were allowed to become lawful? The sad answer lies in the fact that our “trumpeters” were playing the “Boogie Woogie, Honkie Tonk, Dixieland, Jazz, Mariachi, or Lullabies,” when we should have been sounding the battle cry! In our slumbered stupor, we did not need to hear Taps, but Reveille. Webster’s Dictionary defines “Reveille” as meaning to “awaken, keep watch, stay awake, and be vigilant.” Webster further declares it as, “a military term referring to the signal to get up in the mornings. It is a bugle call at about sunrise signaling the first military formation of the day.” Soldiers are trained to respond to Reveille and fall into formation. Sadly, the Church is not so well trained!
Paul implored us to give a distinct sound of alarm at the first sign of serpentine activity. When we failed to see and hear the warning signals the Holy Spirit was giving us, we passively played on the harp instead of sounding an alarm. That is why prayer was taken from our schools, abortions became legal, and a whole host of other amoral decisions was made. To borrow an old adage, “The Church fiddled while Rome burned.” Now we have the ashes to prove it.
Is it too late for the Church to engage our enemy? If not, how do we enter the theater of war? It is a very simple answer for both questions. The answer to the first is, we must engage the enemy or we will become extinct. Since we know God has a plan and a destiny for His Church, then we know He will not allow that to happen. The answer to the second question is we must assume the same mindset as the early Church. We must dare to be bold in our faith and allegiance to Christ, no matter what the cost. We cannot sit idly by while Satan steals our families. There is a spiritual militancy that we must adopt where we refuse to be overtaken by these servants of sin.
This will be accomplished by the “Bugle Brigade” who will dare to sound the alarm. The question arises as to what we should be looking for as a sign for marshalling the troops. The answer is given by Christ who said in Luke 17: 26-27, “And as it was in the days of Noe (Noah), so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.”
While it is never our intention to diminish Christ’s words, we will include something that also brings great insight from His Word. Genesis 6:11-13 tells us that a major characteristic of Noah’s day was the unparalleled VIOLENCE that was pervading the land. Notice what God said to Noah about that situation:
“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.”
At God’s warning, Noah began to sound the alarm, and continued to do so until the Ark was finished and his family climbed aboard. Unfortunately, the scoffing public refused to hear the preaching of Noah. As he sounded the alarm for them to prepare for God’s judgment, they ignored his Reveille. This society that was “sin-soaked” and rife with violence, continued to live the way they had grown accustomed. Violence was a way of life for them, and they were not about to change at the ranting of someone they considered a fanatic.
Violence has continued to escalate, and it is now very prevalent in our world. Crimes of every description are now being committed in our precious country, as well as around the world. News headlines resound with the reality that violence has become rampant, even pandemic, in America. While this is not the only “sign of the times” given in Scripture, it is one that has been primarily overlooked. God foretold us that crime would be on the increase and lawlessness would abound in the last days before the return of Christ (See Matt.24:12).
There are many verses in the Bible that warn us about the proliferation of violence as a precursor to the Rapture and return of Christ. We are now seeing daily the massive bloodshed of the innocent in living color. This should be a wake-up call to all who are part of God’s “Early Warning System.” We must put the trumpet to our lips and sound the prophetic alarm! The KEY to our message is the resounding prophecy repeated throughout the Bible: “Jesus is coming. Get ready. Get ready. Get ready.”
****A Personal Word to Our Readers from Dr. Frazier****
I would like to encourage you to tune into Universal Christian Radio (http://www.universalchristianradio.com) and listen to our program, “Adventures in Faith.” It airs every Saturday night at 11:30 PM (EDT), and again on Sunday at 2:30 PM. It is also available “On Demand” 24/7 through their website.
Please feel free to share your questions, observations, or insights with our readers and me. Website: http://www.donfrazier.com
Written: 06/02/2009 |
Author: Donald Frazier |
Category:
Golden Nuggets
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Comments: 2
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When our President says that people use an "insignificant scripture" to prove that homosexuality is wrong, it makes one wonder how much of the Bible he actually knows about. I don't think anything in it is "insignificant!" God help our leaders to support the teachings of His Word in governing our nation!
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