II CHRONICLES 7:14 OR HELL?
Perhaps it is my imagination, but it seems that II Chronicles 7:14 has become obsolete in the watchwords of church revivalism. About five years ago, when our country was in the throes of the COVID pandemic in the hands of a corrupt administration and economics going down the tubes, the Church saw what was happening and feared what she saw.
We had prayer meetings on-line. Large gatherings on the National Mall unified believers as they called out to God, seeking Him for mercy and revival. But that has pretty much faded now.
Why? What happened to the urgency of leaders during those hours? Where has the burden for revival gone? What about "If My people who are called by My name...?"
Is it because those who called Trump's reelection a victory for the Church have since rested on their oars? Is it because instead of being the responsibility of the Church, she sees the government curbing ungodly transgenderism and the sexualizing of our childrin in public schools and defers her need to pray for revival? Why is there little to no call to repentance in the Church?
Israel's Backsliding
Ezekiel 22 and 23 expose the backsliding and blatant idolatry of Israel. She had been the recipient of God's revelation of Himself and how to worship Him alone. He had commanded Israel to obey His precepts and counsels in order to enjoy blessings from His hand. She knew by prophets' declarations that someday the Messiah would be bestowed on the world through her.
Yet, God exposes and accuses her refusal to obey and follow His precepts. Israel chose to serve the gods of her pagan neighbors instead. Out of that idolatry sprang the grossest of sins including the sacrifice of their children by burning them to death as food sacrifice to the demons inhabiting their idols. God detested Israel's practices, but more so her refusal to repent.
What she reaped is not what she expected. Judgment was threatened for a time in God's effort to turn her heart back to Him. When that failed, God told His adulterous bride what would happen to her---and happen it did! Following Jesus' crucifixion and Israel's rejection of the risen Christ, Jerusalem fell to the Romans in 70 AD and the people of Israel were scattered far and wide. Not until 1948 did Israel possess her own land again. Only history documents the depths of agony the Jews suffered in the almost 2000 year interim!
Today's Church
We know from studying history that we don't learn from history, but instead repeat the same mistakes of earlier generations to our detriment. Such is the case with the present-day Church. God has blessed her with His written Word. Everything she needs to know and do is documented by God on the printed pages of the most popular book ever sold.
Likewise, He poured out His Holy Spirit early in the 20th century to enable His Church to walk the world in pure robes while having the power to proclaim the Good News about Jesus' atoning death for those who believe on His Name.
It appears that today the Church does not love and feed on the Word of God. Her lack of such knowledge makes her vulnerable to wild wolves that rise among her numbers as pastors or leaders. Unwise followers are led into ungodly and idolatrous practices while Jesus languishes in the shadows. No amount of urging lures professing believers to read the Bible for themselves; they prefer to have leaders feed them instead, and what they swallow from false teachers is arsenic to the life hidden in their spirits---it kills! if they knew the Scriptures, they would identify and expel false teachers and leaders. Instead, they are woefully mislead!
But back to II Chronicles 7:14, which says:
"...and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, THEN I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
"My people" refers to the Church, those who claim to belong to God. For the most part, we do not see movement to do as God directed. No humility before Him, no prolonged prayer to seek His face and His favor; no repentance from her wicked ways---and that is where the real rub enters the picture.
Idolatry?
The church does not see herself as having wicked ways. She is perfectly content to be just what she is while going through the motions of praying, as though all is well between herself and God. Believers are satisfied to give tithes, attend services, take part in special outreach efforts to the community, and to be generally active in church. Because those around them do the same sorts of behaviors, believers think what they do is the acceptable standard for what a Christian looks and acts like and they need look no farther.
If that is true, then from what should they repent? Repentance requires humility and bowing before God as unworthy. Ezekiel 22 and 23 leave no room for wondering. Either follow God and all His precepts, commandments and ways or we don't. Either we follow God completely or we worship idols. One or the other!
Today's Western culture debunks the idea of idols and demons, but God sees things differently. Anything, anything at all that displaces God from being ALL in our affection and attention is an idol. Examples include family, education, house and cars, education, skills, money and fame or social position. Not so obvious idols involve social media in all its forms and faces. Electronics and time spent searching the internet and dwelling on specific sites are definitely idols. Perhaps a better term for them is distractions that absorb time and what captivates our thinking.
Christians are willing to devote hours to TV programs, but don't have time for Bible reading and meditation on what they have read. They are consumed with knowing and seeing the latest on social media. The ways of society absorb their interest. Church attendance on Sunday and saying 'grace' at the table before eating mey be the extent of any time spent with God.
Not Laodicean!!
Howard Pittman was a Baptist pastor who suffered an internal hemorrhage that led to his near-death experience (NDE). While clinically dead, he recited to God all his good works as a minister, but God called them "an abomination" to Him. He also said Pittman was a "Laodicean" minister, referring to Revelation 3 and the luke-warm church. Had Pittman died right then he would have been relegated to hell.
Most believers today are Laodicean church members. Satisfied with what they are and striving to get more of what they want, God is NOT first in their heart and life. He is a convenience, not a treasure. He is not the meditaton of their heart, but an afterthought, if He is given any thought at all.
Perhaps, when all is said and done, most who call themselves Christians are not Christians at all. Theirs is a false religion, patterned in part after what people do in church, just enough to satisfy their consciences.
God let Pittman know that just 2.5 percent of the eight billion persons on earth will go to heaven. That is equal to 200 million currently. For a comparison, today's population of India is 1,484,324,249 people. Heaven's population from today's generation will be many fewer! Why aren't the professors of Christianity more concerned about being one of the 2.5 percent? Do they think God winks at their sin? If they believe in eternal security, how duped they are! It is the devil's lie!
Repent or Else...
According to Ezekiel 22 and 23, He does not wink at sin. God comes to a point where His overtures to repent and return to Him are not received by the ones who claim His name. His only recourse is judgment, for He is a just God. He is also holy, and holiness cannot look on sin.
America is on the brink of judgment and destruction. The Church is the only body that can change the course. She must humble herself and repent before God, and turn from her wicked ways back to walking in God's ways. Then God will hear from heaven, and will forgive HER sin and heal HER land." Wake up, Church, before it's too late!