NOW, more than ever, in our lifetime we must demonstrate the truth of what we believe! We must stand out in the crowd, must offer, not despair, but the evidence of Christ in us, which is above all things, hope and faith!
This is why we need to bring positive, good news for 2009! As believers, Jesus said that we are the light of the world! We must rise above the recession, show that our feet are on rock, that when others around us are panicking, God will deliver us! Our feet must stand on a firm foundation, the Word of God itself. – Then, the flood of despair will not drown us, nor extinguish our lamps which will become a beacon of faith and hope in the darkness, pointing men to salvation in Christ!
If we fail now – if we cannot demonstrate the difference now – when will we have another chance?! This is our moment of opportunity – this is our greatest moment in living memory to bring a Gospel message of hope, salvation and a coming Kingdom!
Non-believers will look to us – don’t disappoint them! The flood will not drown us nor the fire burn us. We are facing the biggest economic crisis in 100 years – yet this itself is presenting the greatest opportunity for evangelism worldwide!
Is our present predicament an indictment, a punishment, or simply a demonstration that men without God are lost?
I write thisat the turn of the year, on January 2nd.Neither the politicians nor the financiersknow either the answer, or the future. Theyare lost, groping in the darkness. They have served Mammon as their god, and look what he has given them! While Mammon ruled, the nations did not need our Jesus, but now that Mammon has
betrayed them by devaluing or destroying everything that he gave them – the corrupt financial systems – promised wealth – money itself – their only hope is in Christ.
Through 2008 we have witnessed a credit crisis which has seen the burden of debt spiralling out of control, the collapse of businesses, banks and building societies. Although interest rates have fallen to an all-time low – in Britain the lowest since the establishment of our banking system – yet credit is more difficult to obtain because the money supply has dried up. We’re living in a generation that saw the collapse of communism 20 years ago and right now, in 2009, the possible collapse of capitalism in Russia, China and…??! – With the possible breakdown of political stability in these and other emerging market nations
as a result.
We’re in a battle – but I believe this shaking that we’re in will create the biggest opportunity we’ve ever had to evangelise!
I believe God is shaking the nations so that they will not only need Christ, but find that there is no other answer. People todayneed Jesus. More and more they will wantto see the power of God in action. Theywill need to see men and women who areliving by faith, who have become victoriousthrough faith! As in the time of Christ,and in my own ministry today, the powerof the message is in the miraculous and inits overwhelming evidence of the veracityof the message!
So now that demonstration must be in the financial world, through of men of faith who live to see the power of God – not through the so-called ‘prosperity message’, but through individuals triumphing over every adversity.
We are living in the most dangerous and difficult period of Christian history ever. The world is controlled by atheists who have rejected God and chosen Mammon – this is both cause and effect!
I am challenging you: put your faith in God to the test. – God has the answer, God has a plan, God has a purpose in your life! From the very beginning God has always known everything in advance.
The evidence is clear. The Bible says regarding today’s sin in the world – that ‘before sincame, God had made the way ofescape’. – Jesus is described as ‘the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world’.
Ifthis is not enough, it says of us in Romans 8:29, ‘whom He did foreknow He predestined’. Very soon Jesus is coming back. He will take away the government from the politicians, He will overthrow the presidents. – We’re talking about the Kingdom of God on earth! When Jesus is here, there will be no more sickness, no more poverty, no more crime, the devil will be cast out, his power broken – and Jesus Christ will be King of kings, Lord of lords – not in Heaven, but on earth!
We are saved, but for what?
1 Peter 1:3 says: ‘The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has…begotten us…by the resurrection of Jesus…to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled…that fades not away, reserved in Heaven for you who are kept…through faith unto a salvation… revealed in the last time!’ Look at this prophetically.
Today, we have the collapseof the world economic system.Money has lost all sense and all meaning.People who, a few months ago were thewealthiest people in the world, have lostmuch of it. We’ve seen the collapse of thestock market, the collapse of the propertymarket, and other things which peoplehave counted as their wealth have been devalued. But God has given us an inheritance that cannot be corrupted or devalued, that’s not dependent on finance, nor
the world system – it’s dependent on the power of your faith in God!
Not in Mammon, nor in the corrupt system of the world! God has given you an incorruptible inheritance, a pension, a life, in Christ! This is the Gospel which must be preached, this is the real meaning of the angels’ message – to all men today!