Those whom Christ will allow to be in His heavenly kingdom, shall for ever have access to all that God is and does. Whereas, those whom Christ rejects (because they have rejected Christ), shall never have access to anything that God is and does (except, the torments of the lake of fire and the unmitigated anguish of eternal separation).
All of which leads to the conclusion that with God, it's "all or nothing." Only those who are "all in" for Christ, can walk with God in this life and in the life which is to come.
Scripture abundantly and explicitly agrees with the conclusion just stated. Here are just a few of the relevant passages (of which there are many more):
"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it." Matthew 10:37-39
"[W]hosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33
"Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: and thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. And it shall be, when the LORD thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities, which thou buildedst not, and houses full of all good things, which thou filledst not, and wells digged, which thou diggedst not, vineyards and olive trees, which thou plantedst not; when thou shalt have eaten and be full; then beware lest thou forget the LORD, which brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. Thou shalt fear the LORD thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (for the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth." Deuteronomy 6:4-15In his letter to the Christian Church, the apostle James wrote (in James 4:4):
"Ye [spiritual] adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity [hostility, hatred] with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."Jesus himself said that Christians would be "hated of [by] all men, for my [Christ's] name's sake" (Matthew 24:9; Mark 13:13; Luke 21:17).
The world hates Christ and everything which in truth has to do with Christ. How is it, then, that the presence of hundreds of millions of professing Christians and tens of thousands of so-called Christian churches in America, is tolerated ~ and in many ways even facilitated?
Indeed, American society does not tolerate (much less facilitate) anyone or anything that is genuinely Christian; but American society does tolerate and even facilitate what I call, "polite Christianity" ~ the initials of which (PC), incidentally, also stand for that euphemistic phrase, "politically correct." American society reluctantly tolerates 'politically correct Christianity.' But American society has absolutely no tolerance whatsoever for the real thing.
While writing and contemplating these things, I thought about the untold millions of Christians who were martyred, throughout the world since the time of Christ. I wondered how many of those might not have been martyred, had they lived in America. I turned from that line of thought then to consider why it has instead been the case that, since the founding of America, there have been very few martyrs in this country. Although a majority of the various colonies which were established along the east coast of this continent, from the early 1600's and onward, were largely comprised of devout Christians who fled brutal persecution in Europe (throughout the time of the Protestant Reformation); nevertheless, that does not necessarily account for the absence of Christian persecution in America since the latter part of the 1600's. For, then began to appear on this continent a generation which had never known persecution for the name of Christ.
By the mid-1700's, in Colonial America there were intensive evangelistic efforts led by such notable Revivalists as the Wesley brothers, George Whitefield, and others. Throughout the next two-hundred years or so, until about the mid-1900's, American society was blessed to receive wave after wave of national Revivals, led by a succession of godly Christian leaders. America truly was once a largely Christian nation.
But all of that began to change after World War II. After which the only Revival movements in America (of which I am aware) were the so-called "Jesus Movement" in the 1960's, and the Asbury College Revival (in Kentucky), in 1970. Since that time, however, I am aware of no significant Revivals having occurred in America. Since the 1970's, however, there have been many pseudo-Revivals in America ~ which really are nothing else but fruit of the great Apostasy; concerning which I have written extensively.
Ever since post-WWII, American society has experienced probably the greatest epoch of prosperity the world has ever known. In the context of his sermon (here) titled, "The Last Revival," David Wilkerson had this to say about how that prosperity has affected America (and the world):
"Isaiah said, 'Let favor be shown to the wicked, and he will not learn righteousness....' The world is right now in the greatest prosperity in the history of the world. The greatest worldwide prosperity is here, now.... And the Bible says [that] in a time of prosperity, they [sinners] will not hear.... I'm telling you that [Revival] can't happen as long as the spirit of Babylon and greed grips the nations. And this prosperity is keeping people away from the heart of God."It has now been 46 years since the Asbury College Revival (significant, too, the last important Revival in Canada occurred during that same time); and even that (Asbury) Revival, as best I have been able to learn, exerted not a national but, rather, a regional influence. In other words, there is now an entire generation of Americans which has never known anything like true Revival; amongst which generation I am also included.
This generation of Americans nevertheless is strapped with a behemoth: that is, a strangely monolithic hodgepodge of religious beliefs and practices supposed to represent Christianity; but which, in fact, is anything but Christian. This present generation of Americans ~ the heirs and descendants of a formerly Christian nation, actually knows almost nothing about Biblical and historical Christianity. Importantly, many in this generation are disaffected with that relic of religious ideology which they inherited from their parents, who spent their lives pursuing the American Dream ~ instead of God and his kingdom. Given, that the so-called American Dream is no longer within the reach of most Americans; and, that this generation knows only an empty form of religion which can never satisfy the hungry soul: thus, this generation of Americans is exceedingly vulnerable to the powers of Darkness, which ever seek to corrupt and abuse, in the course of destroying, not the souls of men merely, but whole nations of men.
How did America fall so rapidly, as a nation? Here is one of the most important videos ever produced which speaks directly to that question. It is of a speech delivered in 1984, by Dr. Francis Schaeffer. His speech is even more relevant and important, today, than when it was recorded almost 33 years ago. It is just over an hour in length ~ but well worth watching it all.
All of the foregoing discussion is necessary in order not only to understand American society at present, but also to anticipate where it is that this nation is likely headed. The Bible clearly tells us what we may expect: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God" (Psalm 9:17). It would do everyone good, who reads those words, to meditate upon their meaning until it moves the soul to seek God earnestly.
We in America have lately (especially, since the recent Presidential election) had numerous occasions to witness various expressions of widespread cultural insanity ~ which practically in all cases demonstrates a propensity to violence, and which is yet being expressed in a manner and on a scale hitherto unknown in American society. Not only is it the case that pseudo-Christianity, which predominates in American society, is powerless to ameliorate cultural insanity or to curtail its violent spirit. On the contrary, pseudo-Christianity (which is universally and radically pacifistic) serves to accommodate the spirit of antichrist, by pacifying large numbers of the population which otherwise should, but will not, resist those who trouble society; not unlike how that "polite Christianity," in the days of Nazi Germany, reportedly in some cases "turned up the music" in the churches, in order to avoid hearing the sounds of violence in the streets.
I know that it sounds unreal ~ especially, in light of the recent Trump victory-apparent (and I stress "apparent"), to say that America is already witnessing in her streets the very same kind of tactics that were employed by the Nazi "brown-shirts," in the days leading up to Hitler's rise to power. Whether or not God may yet be willing to grant to the Body of Christ a peaceable season during which to pray and labor for an End-time Revival, remains to be seen. David Wilkerson evidently did not believe that would be the case; though he did believe that the is going to be a "last Revival" in America (and the world). Here's what he said, in his (above mentioned) sermon titled, "The Last Revival:"
"God's chief concern in the world today is His Church. He's not focused on the economy. He is not focused on the roaring of the heathen. He's not focused on what is happening in the world events today.... He is in full control; He still rules and reigns.... The world is not just running off in chaos without God being aware.... But His focus is His Church.
"We hear of sudden destruction coming on the earth. I know that there's going to be a time of Tribulation: there's an Antichrist; there's Tribulation; there's so many things out there, in the book of Revelation. But this Revival that I'm talking about, this last Revival, is going to be precipitated by a shaking of all things; the Bible says. There's going to be ~ I don't know what it is; but the Bible says it so clearly, 'suddenly, in one hour, in one day.'
"[The last Revival] is not going to happen till the pocket book is affected. It's not going to happen until the spirit of Babylon is stricken!... Isaiah then went on to say, 'When your judgments, O Lord, are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will then learn righteousness.'"David Wilkerson's prophecies are hard to hear, because, in them, Wilkerson did not withhold from speaking the raw truth pertaining to the wickedness of human nature and the brutality of demonic powers. Yet, Wilkerson was neither an alarmist nor was he fatalistic; but Wilkerson's prophecies always pointed to the victory and power of Jesus Christ in and through His Church.
As I've pleaded many times before: Revival is the one and only hope for any of us in America. There is no other option. I can absolutely guarantee that a Trump Administration cannot possibly withstand against God's judgments upon this nation which, throughout the past two generations at least, has largely spurned the grace of God.
I can hardly believe that, in closing, I now recommend to your thoughtful reading an essay titled, "The Crisis" (here); which was authored by Thomas Paine ~ the same man who wrote both "The Age of Reason" and "Common Sense," in the era of America's War of Independence. I believe you will recognize in Paine's essay, some of the principles which I have herein alluded to.
And may I remind my Readers, once again, that Revival may never be expected to spring forth from amongst the apostate churches. Revival, if it ever does come, can only come to and then through a devout and earnestly-praying people of God. Now, more than ever before, we must seek the Lord for this nation. May God help many to see the absolute necessity to be "all in" for Christ.
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