Believe it or not, I have a lot of Christian Brothers and Sisters, whom I love dearly who for some reason are in panic mode, with all that is going on! Oh for the most part, they might say the right things, but some of their actions and posts on social media, belie much of what they are saying.
Yes, I DO know the Scriptures relating to those weaker in the faith and those of a faith not quite mature yet, but some of those I am talking about SHOULD know better. It’s easy to have faith when everything is going the way you want it and life is routine and comfortable and you can watch the world go by without concerns of it touching you, but when it “LOOKS” like it might affect you, then it’s a different story altogether.
The wisest man in the world once wrote this: “That which has been is what will be, That which is done is what will be done, And there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it may be said, “See, this is new”? It has already been in ancient times before us. There is no remembrance of former things, Nor will there be any remembrance of things that are to come By those who will come after.” – Ecclesiastes 1:9-11.
The point in referring to that Scripture is to let you know that here it is 2020 A.D. and we are not yet destroyed. Why, because God Almighty, the Creator of All that ever was or ever will be is STILL on His Throne and in control. And despite what some believe, He didn’t create everything and the laws that govern all things (scientific laws) and then sit back as if watching a favorite soap-opera to see which way His new creation will go!
There was and is a purpose to His creating all that is and putting us right smack in the middle of it and He has not withdrawn His Hand once from the events of human-kind. The reason is, He is letting mankind decide for themselves if they want a relationship with the One Who created them and the choice is totally that of the individual. But, and here’s the catch, there is a time limit on when you can check the box marked YES, I want to be a part! We don’t know the time. Even Jesus said to His disciples that He and the angels don’t know the time, only the Father in Heaven. Yet He DID tell us to look out for certain things to take place and then we would know that those who check the box YES, would be aware their redemption was very, very close. (Luke 21:28).
So many love to remember their Bible stories from childhood as if they were nothing more than a myth, yet forgetting the moral or significance of the tale. Take for instance the story of the Tower of Babel. Chapter 10 in the Book of Genesis tells us what became of Noah and his sons and the generations after the flood, all this leading into chapter 11 and the story of what has become known as the “Tower of Babel.” By the way, the term Babel has nothing to do with Babylon but rather what happened to man’s language and speech in this story.
Here is the gist of that story from the Bible’s own words:
“Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. And the LORD said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. “Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.” – Genesis 11:1-9.
Now before you start to think that God was just mean and vindictive, let me explain to you what the problem was. It’s right there in the text. “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” Let’s make a name for ourselves, and let’s make something that will reach into the heavens.
Mankind has just been recently saved through a flood that wiped out all but eight people and though we have no idea the population at the time of Babel, we do know many generations had passed. It would have had to be for enough people to come together and state this purpose.
But what was the problem? Surely God isn’t adverse to people building structures or cities! When you just READ the Bible, it is so easy to miss things, but when you ask questions and then try to find the answer in the text, you are delving into the SPIRIT of the matter and not just reading the letter! So what was the problem?
It was the pride and arrogance. Instead of retaining in their hearts the salvation God Almighty afforded them through the flood, it was, “Let’s take it upon ourselves to reach up towards God Himself and make a name for ourselves, lest something happen and we be scattered all over.”
They weren’t trusting in God for anything, so soon after the flood. They were reverting back to trusting in themselves to accomplish something that caused even the greatest angel created to fall. I would venture to say, that Satan himself was whispering into their ears, “You don’t need God to reach heaven! You can do it yourself and then you can take credit for it all yourselves.” Because that is just what they attempted to do.
Now here is where I want to drop in some spiritual advice and principles. IN THE BEGINNING: “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; . . .” – Genesis 1:26.
We were created in His LIKENESS. Not in the way He looks, God is a Spirit (John 4:24), thus we were to be a spiritual creation with attributes, characteristics and a nature LIKE God’s, but not to the full extent of Himself. Thus He formed us of the same material as the earth He created for His planned creation but He breathed a portion of His Spirit into us to create in us that likeness. (Genesis 2:7).
God, our Heavenly Father, Whom we tend to take after in spiritual ways, is a Creator, thus it only stands to reason that the man that He breathed His Spirit into, would have a tendency and desire to be creative. God knew this, God was not against that, nor is He against it today. BUT – where man differs is that God is Holy, Pure and Undefiled in any way. Man has a choice and ability to be Holy, but due to sin entering the world (to offer man the ability to choose) oftentimes man chooses NOT to be Holy. However, this does not negate some of his abilities, such as wanting to create and to gain and pursue more knowledge, etcetera.
Those who chose to build a tower to the heavens, to make a name for themselves rather than honor the name of God Who redeemed them from destruction through the flood. They would ascend to the heavens, however long it took, and they would do it on their own.
Now understand something. From the very beginning God, our Father has had a plan for His own Kingdom, governed by Christ Jesus. That was from the very beginning. Even in the Garden of Eden right before Adam and Eve where expelled, God promised this would be the case. This Kingdom would be for those who CHOSE to honor and worship God for Who He is and not forced as the world’s kings like to do.
Christ Jesus prepared the way for us to enter the Father’s Kingdom, it is our choice whether we want to be a part of it or not. Anyone, any people’s who choose a way other than the one ORDAINED by God Himself, is trying to create their own “heaven” or paradise without God. There can be no such thing, no matter how accomplished man THINKS he is. He will NEVER have the power, knowledge or wisdom that God, Himself has. It will always be just a small very minute “likeness” of the real thing!
So, God knew the heart of man. He knew the arrogance and pride and he knew man would at least continue to attempt what he wanted rather than what God wanted, no matter what and since it was NOT God’s time or place, He did just what they feared the most; He scattered them over the earth and confounded their speech so that they were no longer just one language. Do you ever wonder why all over the world there are ancient structures still partially standing that have so many similarities and yet are different in their own ways? God didn’t confound their knowledge, just the way they communicated, think about it. God still retains control of His creation.
Why do you, the readers, think there have been empires rise and fall due to wars and such. They war with other nations to make those nations subject to themselves. Always trying to conquer the world as it were. But they are only able to go so far before something hinders their progress!
So here we are now, in the age of technology and advancement (remember, nothing new under the sun) and yet we have peoples of all nations willing to give up their sovereignty and their individuality, why? Because we can govern ourselves and be united as one and make a name for ourselves and we don’t need God! Arrogance and pride! Don’t forget, history just loves to repeat itself and why not; there are those who refuse to acknowledge the truth in history and as in the world we are living today, there are actually movements to try and ERASE history. Why would someone want to even attempt that? Here’s the answer; to keep people blinded and thus subservient to their wants and demands.
That old say, “Knowledge is power,” is true and well known even to those that want to rob others of knowledge! But God’s children have a knowledge that can’t and won’t be erased because our Heavenly Father has made His plans known to His children. What we see going on has been prophesied through the Scriptures and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. There WILL be an attempt to establish a one world order, but it will be weaker than any empire that ever came before it and it will also be the shortest lived according to Scripture.
You see, this kingdom won’t just try to create its own heaven, but will actually declare war against God and His children. Now understand something; we have always had persecution for believing in Christ Jesus to one degree or another, but this will be like nothing we have ever seen before and the ground work is right now coming to the surface.
According to Scripture, God’s Holy Spirit filled children will not suffer God’s wrath though we might suffer some of the persecution, but it is the same Holy Spirit within each of us that is keeping the final foundation of the one world order at bay. When that is removed from the earth, the Anti-Christ and his false prophet will be able to step to the forefront and deceive and amaze those that were blind to the truth. But here’s the thing; there will be those who WILL remember others prophesying and predicting what they are going through and there will be a remnant that WILL acknowledge Christ Jesus to there own death. God ALWAYS has a remnant that will be true to Him, for you see it throughout the whole of Scripture!
So, as a Christian, a child of God’s, who has been forewarned and also given assurance of His Hand upon His chosen, why are some panicking today when God has promised over and over and over again to take care of us? If you believe the Bible and the lessons that God has left for us in the text, you will know that He will not let His children starve or go without clothes. It doesn’t mean things might not get a bit uncomfortable compared to how we have had it, but it means our NEEDS WILL be met by God Himself!
We are in a time when we will have to grow up and mature in the spiritual maybe a bit faster than was necessary in the past, but you trust in the Holy Spirit to take care of that for you. You pray, or communicate with the Lord on a daily basis and ask Him what He wants you to do for this day and don’t worry about tomorrow. You open your Bible, even if it is to read just a few Scriptures at a time and you ask the Lord to reveal the Spiritual Truths behind what you are reading and He will NEVER let you down in a request like that.
Then you take that, your prayers, the Word of God, your faith and you spread THAT and not fear, doubt and panic to your loved ones and your neighbors. THAT is how the Body of Christ will grow in strength! When the Body of Christ is stronger, than we as individual members of that Body will gain even greater spiritual strength. Comfort one another with the Word of God.
I will tell you that I went through a similar thing during the year 2000 when everyone was panicking about Y2K, which turned out to be a dud! Big time. Yet, I witnessed peers, whom showed great faith in the past, turn to mush when it came to the possibilities of what MIGHT happen. They took it upon themselves to prepare for something they had no idea would take place or not! Literally, they had more faith in the predictions of Y2K at the time than they did in the Lord’s ability to care for them and I have NEVER forgotten that experience or lesson.
If you are a Christian, it is one thing to be warned by prophesy and dreams, but it is quite another thing to become fearful and panic and decide that YOU yourself will have to take care of tomorrow! You have no idea what tomorrow will hold individually, but as a Child of God, He has PROMISED to look after His children.
Now, do you have faith more so in the predictions of what tomorrow holds, or do you have faith in the Father’s promises to care for you as His child? Only YOU can answer that!!!
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
“Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near–at the doors!” – Matthew 24:29-33.
Evidently this man looked upon himself as a self-appointed dictator, deciding which direction the church under his control should go and it didn’t matter, for what ever reason, the experience and wisdom that others displayed. He definitely demonstrated a prideful arrogance, an inflated ego to be sure, apparently jealousy that others garnered more respect, all for what he apparently, for whatever reason, he considered his right. It is apparent from these brief comments from John that this man had forgotten that the “church” was established by Christ Jesus and that Jesus IS the head of the church and that the Holy Spirit is the Representative of Christ to the Church!
many of these “personalities” forget that their ministry is a SERVICE to the Lord AND to others. They are not, “high and lifted up” above the sheep, but rather, they need to remember that they need to learn first from the Master, the Great Shepherd, before they can serve in the capacity of teaching (feeding) others.
Now notice, according to the Apostle, this man didn’t just REFUSE other true believers, but he excommunicated his own people, as it were, from his church if others did receive these other traveling ministers and teachers! What other, than a self-styled dictator is that?! It appeared that he was exceptionally power-hungry, mad with keeping control of things within the “church.” John even goes so far to say that this man was openly MALICIOUS with his speech towards those who were called and others in authority! Because of social media and the use of camera-phones and such, we see this very thing happening all too often all around us.
In this letter, John gives us two extremes and there is no doubt which is which. Gaius, whose life is actually based in service to others and especially to those doing the Lord’s work, and Diotrephes, who desires the spotlight all to himself, refusing to even acknowledge those doing the Lord’s work, all under the guise of being “religious.” Again, I have to say it, how like what we see so much today. Big, mega-ministries, and I use the term “ministries” lightly, always wanting more, more people, more money, more power, more prestige, all in the NAME of “religious” works, but all the while instead of sending out, instead of encouraging others in good works, instead of sending out to make disciples, bring them in so I can make disciples! Yet they hold up the same Bible you and I read and try to emulate, they say some of the same “Christianese” speak that we use in our conversations about our Lord, yet always with a twist, or emphasis on more, more, more! And sadly that more is hardly or ever about more souls in the Kingdom of God.
Yes, people are getting sick. But they are also getting better with stronger immune systems. People are dying, yes, but they are mostly those that already have compromised immune systems, just like how the yearly flu causes deaths in those susceptible. Just because the government agencies today wish to inflate the statistics, (yes, the truth has come out), doesn’t mean those stats are the truth and yet, so many accept them as truth and in fact the media AND liberal social media sites continue to push those falsehoods! In fact, according to statistics I provided to my followers on Facebook a month back, the flu season between 2017 and 2018 was far worse than anything we have seen from COVID-19 today! What them makes this so different?
Jesus is clearly speaking in spiritual terms and in fact, the Jews He was speaking too, could not fathom the spiritual implication, but kept referring to His words in the natural. He actually chastised or admonished them because of their lack of spiritual insight.
There are liberal leaders who are doing things behind the scenes while everyone is focused not just on COVID-19, but on our response to it, our responsibility to one another, whether we truly care for fellow man or what ever. While we are debating the merits of something that comes and goes each and every year (the flu), because the media (which is owned and paid for by liberals), is keeping each and everyone’s focus centered on that AND keeping everyone divided into camps of compliance or non-compliance!
What we are being told in the news daily and by our liberal politicians is that COVID-19 is SO bad, and the deaths have been so many, that anyone who would think about it would start to see refrigerator trailers parked near the morgues and most likely overrun the parking lots. Yet we don’t see even a hint of that in the news and THAT would be newsworthy! We have seen major cities set up triage centers in the parks, with no occupants and even the Navy sending hospital ships to help the overflow of dead with having to depart due to nothing happening. Even missions organizations like Franklin Graham’s Samaritan’s Purse, had to pack up and leave New York because there was not the activity that was reported.
Understand this; the Anti-Christ will come forth as it’s most likely he is right now waiting in the wings for the liberal agendas that will call upon him. But, right now, because the Holy Spirit IS revealing truth, and the Church of Christ Jesus IS aware and praying, the Anti-Christ’s hands are tied more or less from coming on the scene unfettered. The One-World Order WILL come about, because the Bible, the very Word of God says it will. We will NOT be able to stop it, nor do I believe we should. For in doing so, we would ALSO be praying against the coming of the Kingdom of God, (even though not meaning too), for our Heavenly Father has a plan, a wise plan AND a timeline.
There is a personal connection to hospitality that is often missed in today’s society and its churches. Jesus taught His disciples over two-thousand years ago to make preaching the Gospel and especially in new cities, personal. He even told them, as He sent the disciples out, to search out people with good reputation and bless them and the very city that welcomes them! As I stated, today, it is very much a lost art. But with Gaius, it WAS a lifestyle to him. It was his way of ministering or serving others; and without meaning too, it caused his reputation to become well known within the growing church.
Here is another part of John’s statement in this verse that unless you think about it, you might miss it; 
One thing you do NOT want to do, while preaching the NEED for the Kingdom of God in one’s life, is to take from the unsaved, which in turn MIGHT cause them to have a false sense of self-righteousness and a belief that their good deeds or works alone is enough! It takes Spiritual Wisdom to labor in the Kingdom of God and I’m saddened to say this, but it is a direct and sad statement of admonishment AGAINST the way many large churches and other religious organizations raise money today! Think about it! Especially in the light of Scripture.
