As Jesus opened His ministry, He read from the prophet Isaiah –

“The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” – Luke 4:18, 19

He went to the outcasts of society, to those who were bruised and oppressed by the devil, to those who were lame, without sight,  and even to the lepers. He went to the common folk and even to the religious leaders of His day. And to all who responded to Him, He gave deliverance, healing, and new life. He appointed disciples and apostles to be His witnesses and to go and do likewise. To them was committed the words of God to teach and write down that we throughout history might know the truth and respond to it.

These words are as real today as is the God who spoke and inspired them.  But, just as some did not receive Him then, so some do not receive Him today. The Bible warns us about them –

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times (fierce times) will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!” – 2 Tim. 3:1-6

There will be men like Bill Gates who are “lovers of themselves and money”, men who makes money by investing in other people’s misfortune and selling them vaccines. There will be men who are traitors, selling out their country to China or Iran. Then there are those who “have a form of godliness but denying its power” such as the many Christians

Pastor Blessing Abortions

who play at religion but never surrender to the authority of the word of God. They appoint women as pastors when the Scriptures tell us not to (1 Tim. 2:12, 1 Tim. 3:2). They also admit homosexuals and lesbians into the Church and even appoint some of them as pastors. Paul writes specifically about them –

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” – 2 Tim. 4:3, 4

This so-called Covid19 pandemic has caused us to disobey the Scriptures. It tells us to “lock down” and isolate ourselves when Jesus told us to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”  Scripture tells us to NOT forsake the assembling of ourselves together –

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” – Heb. 10:24, 25

Our Governor had locked down churches calling them “non-essential” but our State Supreme Court reversed his order. When one local pastor opened his church, he received an irate telephone call from a local Lutheran pastor reprimanding him for endangering the people. When he used Scriptures to explain why he opened, the Lutheran pastor remarked, “Those are just words from a story book!” I would say he fits the warning in 2nd Timothy, “And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” This Lutheran pastor is the one who is believing in fables, that he can serve God without obeying God’s word.

Now, I do not say that all Lutheran pastors are this way but, there are many today that have a “form of godliness but are denying its power”. They are believing in their infant baptism or their church membership to save them but, Scriptures have a different standard –

“Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.” – 1 John 2:3-6

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” – John 14:21

This Covid19 virus did not catch God by surprise, He is using it to separate the goats from the sheep. He is watching to see those who follow Him with faith and those who react in fear of man. He is watching to see who has a form of godliness but deny its power; power to change and power to protect.

Lord, I pray that I may pass the test, that those of my family might pass the test, that all I witness to might also pass the test and be found ready for Your coming.