In the early years of the church, a great persecution took place. During that awful period, the apostle John was taken prisoner and sent to Rome. The Roman emperor at that time (either Nero or Diocletian) banished John to the Isle of Patmos. This island was a small, desolate, uninhabited place. Its only populace was a few prisoners who'd been banished there to live out their days. Like them, John was sent to Patmos to die.
Throughout the Bible, God's people are commanded to pray at all times. We're to pray when we're low, in good times and bad. And we're to pray in all seasons -- periods of joy and health, as well as sickness or depression; seasons of rest and prosperity, as well as sadness or grief. No matter what our sitiuation or condition, we're to pray without ceasing.
In a letter to the Christians at Thessalonica, Paul speaks of a future event he calls "the day of the Lord." He writes:
"We beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3).
The Holy Spirit has prompted me to bring a solemn warning to the body of Jesus Christ! The warning is this: There is a sin raging in the church right now that is causing the fall of multitudes of Christians. This particular sin is leading many believers to the very brink of the abyss!
Here at Times Square Church a number of dear, Christ-loving people have already begun slipping left and right. Others are on the brink of a serious slide. I pray this message will open your eyes to your condition — and that the word God has given me here will set you free.
According to Scripture, we are never to think of God as a cold, unfeeling Father. Our God feels deeply! He is touchable. His heart can be moved upon. In fact, He is touched with the feelings of our infirmities (see Hebrews 4:15).
God not only feels pain, but grieves as well. You remember that Jesus wept at Lazarus' tomb. Here is a picture of God in flesh weeping! It shows us that the Lord feels with us and weeps with us. After all, Jesus said, "...he that hath seen me hath seen the Father..." (John 14:9).
I could list for you a whole catalog of sins that believing Christians practice. But none of these sins would come near to the sin that I want to talk about. This sin is the mother of all sins — the one that gives birth to all others. It is the sin of unbelief!
"And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you" (Joel 2:25).
How many years did you waste before you repented and surrendered all to Jesus? How many years of your past life were eaten up by the cankerworm of sin and rebellion?
You know you are forgiven and your past forgotten because it is under the Blood of Jesus. But wouldn't you love to get back those years and live them for the glory of the Lord?
According to God's Word, Christians are to live every day as if "the end of all things is near." We are to be always looking for His coming. We are to be awake and diligent, as servants waiting for their master to return from a long journey. With Paul, we should rejoice that we will be leaving this earth to put on our new bodies. We ought always to long to be with the Lord.
"And he said also unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man, which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward" (Luke 16:1–2).
"…But David encouraged himself in the Lord" (1 Samuel 30:6)
