HE IS TRYING TO TELL US: ARE WE LISTENING?

By Kevin Rutherford

Through the centuries the ancient documents have been preserved. Their message is more powerful than any ever written. The significance of their contents is beyond measure. That which is written upon all those ancient well preserved manuscripts and which has been translated into hundreds of languages is a message that affects the destiny of an entire world. The Bible was given us to us by God through inspired men (1 Corinthians 2:13; 2 Timothy 3:16, 17). It is His divine revelation which He has preserved, and will continue to preserve for every generation (1 Peter 1:25).

What is it that God is trying to tell us in this most ancient book? When I say “trying” to tell us I don’t mean to hint that He is in any way inadequate to express Himself effectively (Ephesians 3:4). I mean that we so often fail to see what He is saying because we have closed our hearts, or because we are not as interested as we should be. God is trying to tell us that we are involved in a genuine, authentic, real, actual war between good and evil. Are we listening to Him?

Are we ignoring the reality of this war as Satan continues to spread his evil all around us (1 Peter 5:8)? Are we so focused on the mundane affairs of physical and material life that we fail to see the implications of failure in the spiritual war against sin (Luke 8:14)? Do we not realize that our children are in danger? We are in danger, our children are in danger. Satan wants their souls. Satan wants society corrupted, destroyed, blackened with the everlasting stains of evil for which men do not repent - sin for which people feel no remorse. And all the while the very ones who should be fighting the hardest against this ancient enemy of man blissfully skip, dance, and flit their way through life, ignoring the war around them. Ignoring the evil around them. Ignoring the eternal consequences of spiritual failure. Ignorance can be fatal (Hosea 4:6).

Christian soldiers, it is time for us to awaken. It is time for us to cast off the works of darkness. It is time for us to put on the amour of light (Romans 13:11-14). You must do battle today! You might fight your mortal enemy now! You must pick up the spiritual weapons that “...are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God...” (2 Corinthians 10:4, 5). Put your armor on and wade deep into the battle swinging the mighty sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:10-20). We must not fail (2 Peter 2:20-22). With true faith in God we cannot fail (Romans 8:31). “And this is the victory that has overcome the world-our faith” (1 John 5:4).

Fight Satan’s influence at work, at school, at home. Stand against the evil he sends into your home through the television, the newspaper, the internet, books, and magazines. Be wise to the subtle ways in which he seeks to deceive you and pull you over to his side. He seeks to destroy you, your family, your loved ones, and your friends. He seeks your soul for eternity. You must not let him have it! You must fight him with prayer. You must fight him with Scripture. You must fight him with love. You must fight him with righteousness, purity, wisdom, strength, and might (Galatians 5:16-26).

Good will triumph victoriously in the end (Revelation). God will defeat all evil. With Him for eternity will stand the conquering saints who endured and who remained faithful (Revelation 2:10). Will you be with Him? Do not fall. Do not fail. Open your eyes and see evil for what it is. Open your heart to God and fill it with the Scriptures that can save your soul. The Scriptures that bear the ancient message, the Holy Word of God that tells us we are in the middle of a real life epic struggle between good and evil, the Scriptures through which God is speaking to you. Are you listening?