Then I Heard

After these things I heard something like a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God; because His judgments are true and righteous; for He has judged the great harlot who was corrupting the earth with her immorality, and He has avenged the blood of His bond-servants on her.” And a second time they said, “Hallelujah! Her smoke rises up forever and ever.” And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne saying, “Amen. Hallelujah!” And a voice came from the throne, saying, “Give praise to our God, all you His bond-servants, you who fear Him, the small and the great.” Then I heard something like the voice of a great multitude and like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, saying, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, reigns.  Revelation 19:1-6 NASB

My friends, what a lifetime we have been born into! God is moving in unprecedented ways today. This is not a time when we can sit on the sidelines and simply watch. The church, (the body of Christ and each individual believer) has a tremendous role and responsibility in what is happening and what is about to happen in our world. And in order to carry out this role, we must first accept our deep need of Holy Spirit’s wisdom, correction, knowledge, His very presence within us, because every single day we need Him!

Yes Lord! We need Holy Spirit within us, especially in the current cultural moment, where outrage has become more expected than surprising and all too often more encouraged than discouraged. 

When we have given our lives over to Jesus Christ, accepting Him, receiving Him, acknowledging Jesus as the saviour, we will have the only source that enables us to respond to outrage and wrath in a healing, productive, and life-giving way. Because Jesus Christ has loved us at our worst, we can love others at their worst. Because Jesus Christ has forgiven us for all of our wrongs, we can forgive others who have wronged us. Because Jesus Christ offered a gentle answer instead of pouring out punishment and rejection for our offensive and sinful ways, we can offer gentle answers to those who behave offensively and sinfully toward us and others. 

Ephesians 4:30-32 NASB Do not grieve Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Jesus has been gentle toward us so we have good reason to become gentle toward others, including those who treat us like enemies.  Because Jesus has covered all of our offences, we can be among the least offensive and least offended people in the world. 

The gentle answer that comes from Jesus defuses wrath instead of fanning its flame (Proverbs 15:1). Within it resides the power to subdue fruitless arguments; break vicious cycles; turn enemies into friends; end wars and change history.

Hope for this kind of world and future has a prerequisite. Before our hearts can be warmed by the idea of such radical reconciliation and peace, they must first be melted and softened by allowing Holy Spirit to teach us, correct us, encourage us.  We must become settled in the truth that whatever Jesus asks from us, He has already done for us. 

It is never our repentance that causes God to be kind to us. It is only God’s kindness that causes us to repent (Romans 2:4).

Because Jesus Christ has rescued those of us who were once His former enemies, we are now able to navigate the world in the same manner as our Lord. We get to embody a bold gentleness that our outraged world will begin to notice, evidence that we are distinctly His disciples (John 17:1–26). 

The world is perplexed by problems - natural disasters; environmental distress; diseases, illnesses, and plagues; corrupt governments; divisive politics; and economic unpredictability. Additionally, we are worried about ongoing security issues, such as political instability throughout most nations and then we also struggle with perplexity in our personal lives.

Why has God allowed a spirit of confusion to operate on earth amid all our advanced human knowledge? It is because human beings must come to the understanding that, without God, His Word, and His Spirit, we will not find the answers to the great problems confronting our generation. 

Only with the power of Holy Spirit can we grow thicker skin, receive criticism graciously, forgive all the way, bless our own betrayers, befriend our fellow sinners, resist our inner moralist, disarm guarded postures, and anything else Jesus asks of us. 

At the cross of Calvary, He confronted our violence with His nonviolence, our hostility with His forgiveness, and our wrath with His gentle answer.