I was trying to recall something from the Scriptures today, attempting to remember if anyone in the Word of God was ever called by Him who refused the call. I could be wrong, but the only one that came to my mind was the rich man that Jesus spoke to, (Matt. 19:16-23) and that wasn’t really a personal calling, but an answer to the young man’s question. There were few even of His twelve disciples that He personally called, the others were brought to Him by those He spoke to at the first, simply saying “Follow me.” In the Old Testament I can think of no example, no prophet that turned the Almighty down when He appeared to them, all answered the call immediately, although not always willingly at first.
I do not know how a man can deny Christ once he has met Him, but it has happened in the past and continues to today with even greater fervency. What we see we believe, but even then there are many ways to deceive a man, even a personal encounter with Christ Himself was denied not only by the religious hierarchy of the day, but by most of the people. When the way, as it was called then, (Acts 22:4) was followed by an individual, it came at great cost, one would not only be cast out of the synagogue, but could lose all of their possessions along with their lives, and many did. We do not have that problem in many of the countries of this world today. Persecution is growing at a rampant pace yes, but it is being outpaced by those who are denying the way, that have determined that since He is not visible amongst us, He is not paying that much attention.
These facts are self-evident, the Evangelical churches have been losing members by the handful for many years now, so it should come as no surprise that they are acquiescing to the demands placed upon them and locking their doors, it should not be an amazing fact that many who call Him Lord are wearing masks instead of trusting in Him. He is not around to rebuke them, and so the fear of any personal reprisals are put on hold, but those who are clinging to Him are still more than amazed, they are dumb founded, for to speak one thing and then do another should not be the life of any man, much less that of a born-again believer. A life of integrity cannot be lived by heeding the orders of man instead of the Word of God, when the truth is revealed, it must be adhered to, or our faith is in vain.
Those who have locked their doors are not trusting, they have done no serious research into the reasons behind these intentions to close the churches of the world down, and my friends, the persecutions are only going to grow. They hate us because we will not serve them completely, they hate us because we do not need to visibly see the Risen Savior with our eyes, because the world holds no enticement for us any longer, because we say no to them and yes to Christ. There are still many to be sifted out yet, the Lord God is gracious to us, He reveals His plans slowly, only when necessary, always easily visible to all who will but look. “Having eyes, see ye not? and having ears, hear ye not? and do ye not remember?” (Mark 8:18)
Here is what faith is, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1) We are not the blind being led by the blind, (Matt. 15:14) we have seen the Light, we know our Redeemer lives, and we believe the promises that He has told us, for we have found Him faithful who promised. The world is in a downward spiral, if we do not holdfast to the truth that is Christ, we will be caught in the undertow, and we will not even see it until it is too late. “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.” (Rev. 3:11)
