CHAPLAIN’S PAGE: HIGH TIME TO WAKE UP, BRITAIN
Everything that surrounds us these days is old, impersonal, ugly and unfriendly. Those we meet on a daily basis, some are remote, dare I say it, on another planet? It is not difficult to trace the origin of this misery, the Wuhan death factory. There is an air of misery wherever we look.
Going back into my memory eighty years, the mood of the people was ‘let’s all pull together, win the war and forge a new beginning’. It is a matter of history that we did indeed achieve this goal. There was at that time a driving force within us, spurring us on to make a new beginning after five years of battle. What was that spark which motivated the nation to clear the debris of war and begin afresh? In a few words, joy and thankfulness to the Almighty for a wonderful victory over the forces of evil. For a while, all went well, but slowly that early enthusiasm waned and an old enemy manifested itself. That enemy was the Labour Party who instilled into the masses that they must work to rule. No stepping over the lines; no extra effort to get a job done ahead of schedule. Like zombies the workers blindly obeyed their masters, and the result? Everything ground to a halt. ‘Everybody out!’ was the order of the day. Slowly but surely, new projects which would have given us the edge over nations were abandoned.
While the ‘everybody out!’ brigade were having their field day, the nations who, only a short while previously had been our enemies, had geared themselves up and their industry was booming. To add insult to injury, their factories were working flat out, financed by … guess who? Yes, the very nations who had beaten them only a few years previously.
By now you may be wondering why I have brought up history of almost eighty years ago. My reason is to remind ourselves that in every generation we believe in the same way as we always have done. Our history aptly highlighted in the Old Testament clearly shows those peculiar traits of our nature which have never changed from earliest times. Like Father, like Son from one generation to the next.
Some historians have seen this national trait which has convinced them that we are of the seed of Israel. Those who should identify our lineage, the Christians, are blind and wander in a spiritual fog. They are happy in their euphoria ‘Jesus loves us’ but beyond that concept their spiritual knowledge is grossly inadequate. Even worse, they have no desire to increase their knowledge. They are well and truly stuck in a spiritual quagmire with no thoughts to struggle free.
“Blindness in part is happening to Israel” lamented Paul in Romans 11. To this day inertia is the driving force of Israel. What will it take to break this deadlock? Only the Lord knows because His plan for the nation was forged even before Abraham. Nothing that Satan can orchestrate will change what has been pre-written in the Creator’s timetable. Everything is coming to pass on schedule. As bibleÂ-believing Christians we should rejoice and thank our wonderful Lord that He has allowed us to be a part of His great masterplan for His people.
“For such a time as this” has been the subject matter for some time of those who are blessed with our identity knowledge. Truly, the clock is ticking towards that great day of the Lord’s appearing. “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first “(1 Thessalonians 4.16).
However hard we may try, our human minds cannot fully comprehend this soon-coming incredible event. It goes beyond all human understanding and transcends us into the realms of eternal glory. All this made possible because our wonderful Saviour took upon himself the full might and burden of our sins. For He was made sin in order that we may live. What a plan! What a concept! No human mind could be the architect of so great a plan. Only the mind of the Creator could carry out so great a prospect.
This world is running out of momentum and needs to be renewed by God’s Almighty Power. He has pulled back the curtain and given us a tiny glimpse of an everlasting future bathed in the glorious light of the Everlasting King of Glory.
Praise His Holy Name. Amen
