Pastor Gary Wilkerson urges the church to run from corrupt community. Run from churches who promote comfort and ease. Run from false teachers who preach only self-help and prosperity, rather than conviction and repentance of sin. Our best life is not now, but with Jesus in Eternity. Cling to the cross tightly and be encouraged. God will bring you into biblical gospel community.
Paul was imprisoned, shipwrecked and bit by a viper, but he never murmured or complained. He pressed on in the calling that God had placed on his life. You too probably feel shipwrecked at times with the vipers of fear, anxiety, addiction, etc. trying to poison you. Paul was able to shake off the viper and so can you. When you fully rely on the truth of Scripture and the power of the Holy Spirit, you will see God bring you through every situation that arises in life.
There are no coincidences with God, His hand is in every situation. Through the life of Paul, we learn that we have been captivated for a divine purpose and if Christ is in us, then God’s purpose for us cannot be stopped by hard circumstances. When we stop asking God to get us out of where we are and allow Him to show us the reason why He’s positioned us in difficult situations, our lives become a lighthouse that guides others out of danger and darkness. Don’t think what you’re going through is strange, like Paul, use your place of captivation as an opportunity to spread the Gospel and free those around you from their chains.
They wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them.
Ezekiel 34:6 ESV
The altar in the modern church is a place, whether physically at the front of a church or spiritually in our heart, where we go to draw close to God and commune with Him—often petitioning God for some personal need. We make the altar about us; but in Matthew, Jesus shows us that the altar is also about our brothers and sisters in Christ. He instructs us to leave the altar and go be reconciled to anyone who may have something against us. True intimacy with God, will birth in us a genuine concern for those around us. When the church is unified, God can move and bring revival.
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you’” (Genesis 12:1). In spite of this incredible promise, the descendants of Abraham ended up in another place and in another spiritual condition serving their taskmasters. Like many of God’s people, you may have settled in a place that is far short of what you’re called to be, and you’re doing things that you know you shouldn’t be doing. A little bit of sexual play, a little snort; a little peek, what can it hurt? Then these things that offered you comfort become your taskmaster.
God in His mercy would not leave His own people in captivity, and neither will He leave you in captivity when you make the choice to cry out to Him. So cry out to Him. God will free you and take you on an incredible journey. It won’t be a journey where you’re always running from your former enemies, but a journey with a song and a vision that will give you endurance to get through even the hottest fire and the deepest river.
God always prepares His people for what is ahead. We see this in John when Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death and departure. How did Jesus prepare them? He changed the relationship. Jesus tells them they are no longer servants but friends. A servant is one who follows with blind, unquestioning obedience. A friend submits to authority with understanding. God knows you have questions, and He longs to answer them. Some of those answers will come in solitary times or from the pulpit, but many of our deepest questions are answered when we, like those in the book of Acts, devote ourselves to fellowship.
When we are facing a flood of godlessness trying to purport itself as good; when we are at a moment in history when we are being marginalized; when we are being vilified; when we are being pushed to the side-lines of society, Jesus Christ, because of His mercy, will make His church aware of our need of Him again.
By mercy and grace, just like he did with Paul, God will allow this buffeting of His body to finally bring us to the place of saying, “God, we can’t do this without you!” To finally bring us to the place where we, in humility, go back to prayer again.
Humankind typically despises weakness. We have a tendency throughout history to shun the simplicity of faith, and gravitate to something more visual, more hands-on, more self-satisfying. Do we live our whole life trying to get out of the very things that God has sent to make us strong?
God says, I have to make you weak first, so you can be strong because your strength is not in yourself! Your strength is in Me; it’s in the power of My Spirit within your life. But it only comes when we are out of the way. It’s the ultimate irony in a sense, when we become weak, we become strong.
It is obvious that there is a rising tide of evil and filth in our generation. As the Bible warns, people and powers are plotting against God and His Anointed. Compromise, lukewarmness and apathy have even creeped into the church. We are not left without hope though. God promises to pour out His Holy Spirit on His people. Pastor Gary Wilkerson exhorts the church to plead with God for a fresh filling of fire, power and boldness to be a witness in these dark days.