Hal Garms eWord Messages

“Let not your heart be troubled” (John 14:1a)

The Scriptures foretell of the time when “perilous times will come…” (1 Timothy 3:1 NKJ). The complete passage (verses 1-6) seems like a capsulization of today’s culture and events. What is happening in our world is not trivial. Franklin Graham recently declared that “it sems like every demon in hell has been turned loose” as he warned of a coming storm that will seek to silence and shut up anyone proclaiming the gospel. 2 Thessalonians 2:3 warns of the coming apostasy before the day of the Lord comes. This apostasy is even much more than a falling away from the genuine faith of Christ. In classical Greek, the word apostasia refers to a “political revolt.” This word encompasses more than sinfulness and massive backsliding. It tells of an all-out affront against godliness and open defiance of all that is of God. Francis Frangipane declares it as a time of “warlike aggression against godliness in general,” and defines it as “a political insurrection against the laws of God” (From, Ask of Me, by Francis Frangipane).

We are in a time of war as the god of this world seeks to lay hold of the nations, cities, families, and souls. We are experiencing a direct mounting up of demonic influence against the authority and power of God, Christ, and His people. Two different orders – two different worlds, the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Heaven, are colliding in our time and space in a cataclysmic fashion. But what should be our composure and what are we to do as these two worlds collide? God has determined triumph and victory for His Kingdom, the church, and the gospel even in the darkest of hours.

Nothing Changes

Amid swift revolutionary changes in the world, and amidst the directive of God’s Spirit to lead the church into maturity – into the fullness of Christ, some things are to remain the same. There are areas where God has ordained that nothing would change.

We are the light of the world; nothing changes. We are the salt of the earth; nothing changes. However, what we are prophetically and what we are in actuality are stunningly different. Yet nothing changes in terms of what God has ordained us to be. Even in the darkest of hours, it remains thus: God has ordained us, the body of Christ, to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. Here nothing changes. What must change depends on how we measure up to the standard of Christ concerning these two realities. Are we the light of the world and the salt of the earth? In reality, we have fallen short for decades and herein there must be change. We must seek God to transform our minds and lives so that we become what we have been declared to be.

It is vital that in what these two realities represent that we be formed by the hammer and anvil of God’s grace at the quarry. We have been content in our form of godliness for so long that we have become set in our way of doing and being the church. Therefore, there is a shaping and forming that can only be found at the quarry. At the quarry, we are transformed from the useless rock that we’ve become as God forms us into living stones (see 1 Peter 2:4-5) amidst troublesome and intensely hard and trying times. In these extremely trying times, God will bring us to maturity, completion, and perfection (see James 1:3-5). Our flesh finds no comfort here; our self-will must surrender or be crushed here. It is here where the determination and the propensity to resist change must be defeated. Here God will bring change. This change comes through the transformation of this aspect of His grace as God breaks the outer man. Let us not be among those who have remained the same and unchanged by insisting and being persistent that nothing changes.

In these perilous times, there must be a light – the Light of Jesus must shine through us, therefore the Life of Jesus must be manifested within us. We must be conformed to the image of Christ so that God may raise us and establish us as that city that is set on a hill, and that we unveil the light that has been hidden by the bushel of lukewarmness, compromise, and cold love. We must be salt that has savor – that has the strength and proactive attributes of the salt God ordained us to be. It is time we are shaken from our stupor and proceed to the quarry and be determined in this: We must not give place to contending for no changes here. We must present ourselves to God, as a living sacrifice, so that we may be changed and formed by the hammer of God’s grace because we have been set in our ways for far too long.

Love Without Dissimulation

We are commanded to “let love be without dissimulation” (Romans 12:9a NKJ). Love should not be dissembled; it should be more than a veneer set in place to disguise and conceal our intent. Too many churches and too many Christians profess a love for the lost they do not possess. And “too many” is a vast understatement! Sincere love, love that is not an act of hypocrisy, loves the lost of the world as God does. We know the Scripture. “For God so loved the world that He gave…” (John 3:16). The giving of ourselves will often be done sacrificially so that the lost may be saved. Jesus included our generation when He commanded His disciples, “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (John 20:21 NASB). Jesus’ love for the lost was more than lip service. He went forth to seek and save those who are lost and He gave His life for His sheep (see Luke 19:10; John 10:11).

“Let love be without dissimulation” (Romans 12:9a emphasis mine). If we, as the church,  sincerely loved the lost as God loves the world, our culture would be much different today. We are the salt of the earth. Listen, when we love Jesus, we will tend and shepherd His sheep (see John 21:15-17). Jesus’ sheep includes those who are lost, who have not yet been saved! We are so set on maintaining our routines and lifestyles that we are unwilling to lay these parts of our life down for His sheep. We are content and growing congregations through commodity exchange when our congregational growth should be the result of reaching into the harvest and winning new souls to the Kingdom of God. The idea of shepherding here refers to all of us, not just pastors and other leaders of the church. The Shepherd of our souls abides in each of us, and while not all are pastors, we all have pastoral attributes in Christ as we reach out to tend and shepherd the lost into the Kingdom of God! The compassion of God’s love in our hearts is the driving force, we can either let it have its course, or we can quench it. We are commanded to let love be love. Let it do through us what God ordained it to do. Otherwise, our love is nothing more than lip service.

Intercession and The Great Commission

It is very easy for many in this hour to be engulfed and driven by anger and even wrath in response to the societal revolutions taking place. But our warfare is not carnal, and we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, and the powers and rulers of the darkness of this age. As iniquity abounds it is very easy for our love to grow cold. Jesus warned us about this. Our love for the lost, for our families, communities, cities, and nation must not waver – despite what is happening. We must be careful not to allow loveless attitudes to root in our hearts and souls. We should be ever more fervent in making intercession for the lost, for our leaders, our cities, and our nation. We should also beware of being bated into becoming soap box prophets expressing their anger while giving such anger to the name of Jesus! We can give warnings about sin while expressing love of God and sharing the power of theGospel that will change and heal the lives of the sinner.

All sin must be confessed, and we must repent from any and all sin. While God loves the whole world, we must not lose sight of the fact He calls us to lay all sin at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. At the same time, God has compassion for how sin affects us! Imagine the pain of not knowing what or who you are! Many people are painfully lost! God cares about our condition. Jesus is easily touched by the feelings of our infirmities (see Hebrews 4:15). There is a reason to hate sin. It is more than a transgression; it is an agent of Death working evil – hurtful destruction – upon all of creation. Through Jesus, we have forgiveness of sin, but He also will save us from sin and its effects upon our lives! We are agents of His salvation. We are carriers of the precious cargo of Heaven that has the power to transform lives and to heal and bind up the brokenhearted (See Isaiah 61:2-3). Intercession merely begins as we pray and seek God in fervent love on behalf of others accordingly. Intercession is consummated as we go into the world and step into the lives of those who are lost delivering Heaven’s cargo assigned to them.

Maturity of The Tares And The Wheat: Worlds Collide

There is a time Jesus foretold when both the tares and the wheat will mature. We are witnessing and experiencing the maturity of wickedness at a very rapid pace. In contrast, so much of the church remains cemented in doing business as usual. These days are numbered. There will come a dividing of the sheep from the goats amid these turbulent times. And there must be a maturing of the wheat. The wind of the Spirit of God is moving to bring forth full-stature Christians. Many do not hear the sound of it; they are unaware of its coming and do not perceive where it is going. But the Spirit of God is moving. The wheat must mature; it shall mature!

In a time when gross darkness shall cover the nations (see Isaiah 60:1-3), God shall call to the church, established in the stature that belongs to the fullness of Christ, to rise and shine! Two forces shall collide, Light and Darkness. Two orders shall collide, the Kingdom of Heaven and the world order. As the Light of the Heart of Christ radiates from the church which both possesses and is possessed by it, we shall be orchestrated in the power of the Holy Spirit as we bring in a great harvest. Like a great and mighty army, we will touch the lives of millions of people bringing healing, wholeness, deliverance, and salvation to the lost. This is during troublesome times. This is during strong persecution in unprecedented places. This is the prophetic destiny of the church as these two dominions collide!

There is a call of the Spirit to every child of God in this hour to embrace and pursue the composure of Christ toward the lost – whomever they are. The love we need, the grace we need, and the power of the Spirit that we truly need are realized in the pursuit of becoming like Jesus. God did not intend that only the guy or the woman with the microphone would be those that signs would follow. The gifts of the Spirit and the signs that will follow those who believe are ordained by God to be working throughout the many-membered Body of Christ! Do not let the enemy sell you short and rob you of the destiny God has for you in Christ! Today, you are an intercessor. Today, you must draw from the love of God. Today, while it is today, begin or be encouraged in passionately determined to become like Christ. God is moving and He will bring forth full-stature Christians (Christ ones) in this hour.

Father, we have been set in our ways for far too long. We confess that we have been hesitant and resistant to surrender all. We have compromised and have tried negotiating the cost of discipleship. We recognize and confess that we need change. Bring us into a fresh and new hunger for Your Word – Your complete Word. Enrich our relationships so that they become Christ-centered. Lead us into earnest prayer, and anoint us to become passionate in obtaining the nature, character, and virtues of Christ. Forgive us of our anger and lovelessness. We ask that Your Compassion rise up within us as we pray for and go into the world of those who are lost. As we are conformed to the image of Christ through the transformation of Your grace, anoint us to bring healing and to bind up the brokenhearted. In Jesus’ name. Amen.