Almost daily now you hear something about climate change and what man must do to fix it, all the while temperatures soar, fires rage and the seas churn and lakes dry up. We have also seen, even with all of man’s ingenuity, covid ravage the earth’s population, yet you continue to hear either just ignore it or get vaccinated. What you don’t hear is anything about God. Man must come to the consensus that they are not in charge nor do the have the power to be in charge, God is. Job said Job 9:4 “His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed? 5 He moves mountains without their knowing it and overturns them in his anger. 6 He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble. 7 He speaks to the sun and it does not shine; he seals off the light of the stars. 8 He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea. 9 He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south. 10 He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. 11 When he passes me, I cannot see him; when he goes by, I cannot perceive him. 12 If he snatches away, who can stop him? Who can say to him, ‘What are you doing?’ 13 God does not restrain his anger; even the cohorts of Rahab cowered at his feet.” Later God said to Job in Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? 32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? 33 Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” Amos said Amos 5:8 “He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns midnight into dawn and darkens day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours them out over the face of the land— the Lord is his name.” Wouldn’t it make sense to turn to the creator of the heavens and the earth?
The problem is the answer is most will keep on thinking they are in charge instead of turning to God and repenting. They will continue to try to fix things on their own and continue to formulate their own ideas based on man’s finite knowledge. I had to smile when they started to show the pictures from the James Webb telescope. One article said, “There were 10 times more galaxies just like our own Milky Way in the early Universe than previously thought.” Instead of bowing before the creator of those galaxies, they still tried to come up with the beginning. The answer is quite simple. Genesis tells us that in the beginning God spoke! They should join in saying Nehemiah 9:5 “Blessed be your glorious name, and may it be exalted above all blessing and praise. 6 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.” But because most refuse to exalt the creator, those very galaxies hold everyone who look at them accountable. Romans 1:18 “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”
Yes, the world refuses to accept and bow to our Sovereign God but one day every knee will bow. Romans 14:11 “Every knee will bow before me; every tongue will acknowledge God.’” 12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.” That doesn’t mean everyone goes to heaven though. Words cannot describe an eternity in hell, but I think you can imagine what it would be like knowing there was a God and you refused to bow to Him. The same goes for the church. Today, just because the word church or Christian is used does not mean it is so. The church like the world has rejected the word of God, even though God’s word is truth. John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus said John 17:17 “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.” Moses also said Deuteronomy 32:46 “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you—they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” The church has turned away from the words of truth to go their own way. Jesus said John 7:16 “My teaching is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him. 19 Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill me?” “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.”
That Spirit would come at Pentecost, yet today God has turned His face from the church. Due to the church rebelling against His word, He no longer clothes the church with power from on High. The only way for that to happen again is to turn from our wicked ways. Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” If we want His kingdom to come near, we must return to Him. The gospels showed us what that looked like. Haggai said Haggai 1:2 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’” 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord.” Those days are already here.
The good news is Haggai goes on to say Haggai 2:6 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all nations, and what is desired by all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory,’ says the Lord Almighty. 8 ‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty. 9 ‘The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘And in this place I will grant peace,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Zachariah said Zechariah 4:6 ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.” While many Christians and their churches use this verse, it is not happening. The church today looks nothing like the church that began at Pentecost, the power of the church that Jesus showed us in the gospels. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.”
When God does turn His face to shine on His church (remnant that is left), His power will once again flow and the church will go to the ends of the earth clothed with power from on high. Turn from the ways of man and return to the word of God. Isaiah 40:8 “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever. 10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. 18 With whom, then, will you compare God? To what image will you liken him? 21 Do you not know? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood since the earth was founded? 22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 23 He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff. 25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing. 27 Why do you complain, Jacob? Why do you say, Israel, “My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God”? 28 Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”
Stand before God and say Hosea 14:3 “Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!”
