We know that freedom is not free.  A price was paid for our freedom, not just as an American, but also as a Christian.  When I think of a soldier, I think of sacrifice.  The soldier sacrifices by leaving his or her home and family to possibly serve and fight in foreign lands.  The soldier leaves all of the conveniences we enjoy and willingly puts his or her life in the way of danger so we can enjoy the peace of safety.  Our culture, our way of life, and our heritage that we hope to pass on to our children happens because of a willing soldier.

I am also thankful that a price was paid for us so we can enjoy a relationship with our Heavenly Father.  God sent His Son, Jesus, to live and die for us so that we can be saved and obtain peace.

Colossians 1:20 says, “And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, I say whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”

Jesus made peace for us through the blood He shed.  Fallen soldiers in our military have also given their life so we can enjoy peace and liberty.

Celebrate Memorial Day this weekend by first thanking our Heavenly Father for Jesus and also remember others who gave their lives so that you are free today.   

Remember that freedom isn’t free, but it has been paid for.

“And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come (Feast of Pentecost that took place 50 days after Passover), they were all with one accord in one place.” (Acts 2:1)   I want to focus on the fact that these people were in one mindset and in one physical place (in the Upper Room in Jerusalem).  These folks understood the instructions of Jesus.  They were waiting to receive that Power from on high!  “And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.  And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.  And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other Tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  The fact is that Jesus appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection, but there were only 120 present in the Upper Room on the Day of Pentecost. (Acts 1:15).  These 120 people had personally witnessed the Resurrected Jesus and they were convinced in agreement (spiritually, mentally and physically) together to wait on the Power of the Holy Spirit!  (Acts 1:8).  They had an experience but needed this Power for service so they could go out and spread the Good News to this world. 

Nothing is impossible when you have believers agree together in the Name of Jesus.  Today we have the Third Person of the Trinity, the Sweet Holy Spirit that abides with us to teach and guide us.  We believe in the experience of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Do you have an understanding, or are you a witness?  “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” (Acts 19:2).

The calendar says it is May 2013, not the 19^th century when Pember wrote his work.  I am going to list out a few of the characteristic signs Pember noted in his work about the Days of Noah.  Remember, Pember wrote this work in the 19^th century.  Here are a few of the signs:

1. An overemphasis of God’s mercy at the expense of His holiness.
2. A disregard for gender roles and contempt for marriage.
3. How technology and entertainment entice men away from worshipping God.
4. The alliance between the nominal church and the world.
5. A vast population increase.
6. The rejection of prophetic warnings and preaching.

There are more signs, but we will focus on the six above.  Many pulpits are in fear of ever dealing with the topic of sin or the reality of hell or judgment.  Most focus just on the beauty of love and mercy, of which they are, however there is no focus on the attributes of God and His holiness.  Many pulpits have relegated Christ simply to more of a wise teacher instead of our Lord and Savior who is the Way, Truth and Life.  Today many preach anything goes, as long as there is love, and we can see this attitude in the world as it has spilled over into the churches.  There is an alliance between the nominal church and the world.  We have bible studies based on popular television shows.  We actually have churches that meet at the local bar for Bible study and a beer!  Technology and entertainment can be used for good or bad, however it is being used as a tool to draw men and women away from worshipping God.  Pember believed science, art and luxury were leading to depravity.  Keep in mind that this was written during an age with no electricity, internet porn, or Hollywood films.  Today there is a spirit of “gray” relativism instead of the “black and white” reality of sin. Today there is no such this as “right and wrong.”  Of course, I don’t have to mention the assault that is now on the covenant of marriage.  We are literally attempting to completely redefine God’s definition of marriage from His creation of man and woman in Genesis.  There is also a vast population increase.  There are more people walking on earth now (approximately 7.4 billion) than ever before.  Those that point to the Word of God and its prophetic revelation of the days ahead are scorned and mocked.  Man has become “enlightened” and he is in no need of any prophetic utterance from a person of God.  There is a spirit of antichrist that is prevalent in the world today.  All religion can be tolerated, but if the Name of Jesus is spoken in the public forum, there is an attitude of intolerance and disrespect, because many who are in authority are under the influence of the principality of the power of the air or as scripture calls him, “the god of this world.” (2 Corinthians 4:4)  Jesus addressed Satan as the “ruler of this world” in John 12:31 and John 14:30.

Remember, Pember wrote this in the 19^th century.  Can you imagine what he would write if he was walking the earth today?  I believe many of these signs were apparent when Noah was building the ark and preparing for the flood of God’s judgment.  Man was set in his way then and had no desire to know God.  Are we there again today?  I’ll let you be the judge, or better yet God will be soon.

I encourage you to be ready to meet God.  No one is promised tomorrow, despite their age or health.  Your soul could be required of you today.  Are you prepared?

“By Faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the Righteousness which is by Faith.”  Hebrews 11:7

I’m reminded of passage in the Bible found in the Gospel of John chapter 20, when Jesus reveals Himself to His disciples after His resurrection.   Jesus came to ten disciples the same day He arose, later that evening.  The doors were shut and the disciples were in fear, because they thought they were next to be killed by the religious authorities.  Jesus actually came and stood in their midst and said unto them, “Peace be unto you.”  Jesus then showed them His hands and His side.  The Disciples were then glad!  Jesus said “Peace be unto you” again.  “As My Father has sent Me, even so I send you.”  Jesus knew that they needed to see Him. This was the cold, hard fact that they needed to examine with their five senses. They believed!  Jesus did this to put the issue to rest….He had indeed done what He said He would do.  He had risen! 

Did you notice that I said Jesus revealed Himself that evening to ten Disciples?  There’s one more….You are correct, and His name was Thomas.  Now we are sort of tough on Thomas.  He has  gained the moniker throughout history as “Doubting Thomas.”  We are tough on him, but I think what Thomas suffered from is something we all have and that is doubt.  Let’s read on:  “But Thomas, one of the Twelve, called Didymus was not with them when Jesus came.  The other Disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.  But Thomas said unto them, ‘Except I shall see in His Hands the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His side, I will not believe.’  After eight days again the disciples were gathered together, now this time with Thomas included.  The doors were shut and then Jesus, came and stood in their midst and said, ‘Peace be unto you.’  Then Jesus said to Thomas, Reach your finger, and look at my Hands, and put your hand and touch my side….and don’t be faithless, but believing.” 

Did you notice that eight days had passed from the Disciples first encounter with the Risen Savior?  I can imagine Thomas had become hardened in his deep unbelief.  There were probably some strong arguments by the others to convince Thomas without any success.  Perhaps Thomas was at the point, when he was just going to give up on this belief of Jesus being risen.  Thomas demanded the cold, hard facts.  He wasn’t going to believe unless he could examine Jesus with his five senses.  Jesus knew this too and that is why He returned again to them…just for Thomas.  “Don’t be faithless, but believe!”  What a message to all of us today. Jesus wasn’t just revealing Himself to Thomas for that moment, but He was also teaching us a lesson today.  We must operate in faith and believe!

Thomas met the Master with his five senses that day and I love his response…”My Lord and My God.”  Did you know that Thomas was the first to give this title to Jesus other than the prophets?  See Isaiah 9:6-7 and Psalm 45: 6-7.  Thomas recognized who Jesus was, but it wasn’t necessarily by faith.  What if Jesus never showed up eight days later to reveal Himself to Thomas…Would Thomas ever have believed that Jesus rose from the dead?  I’m sure the rumors were hot and heavy as the religious authorities of the day were throwing around as much propaganda as possible to discredit Jesus’ resurrection.  If Jesus didn’t show up so Thomas could analyze Him with his five senses, would Thomas have ever believed?

Now here is the lesson for us today.  “Jesus said unto Him, Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed:  blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”    This statement of Jesus concerns the entirety of the Church, through all ages.  Today, we believe even though we haven’t personally seen Him; but one day we will!  We operate by faith, which has always pleased God throughout the entirety of His Word.

“Now Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

I think you would agree that the United States of America has been treading on shaky moral ground over the past several decades.  We have witnessed the legalized murder of untold millions of unborn children since the legal decision of Roe v. Wade in 1973.  We have also stood by watching the decay of the American family explode as increased violence and filth stream from Hollywood and our media outlets.  It would be rather easy to “raise the white flag” and spiritually give up on America, however that is not what the Body of Christ, His Church is called to do!  Yes, America is in sin, therefore we need to call out to God for repentance.  Repentance is needed for all of us, including the Church.  We have waited much too long to not just address and recognize our trespasses against God, instead we have slumbered in our responsibility to pray for our hearts as a people to turn back to the Father.   I encourage you to pray that we, the Church, would serve a vital role to reach the lost and influence those who make decisions for this country.  Pray that we, as a nation, would recognize our wrongs and support and elect those who will stand for Godly morals and principles.  We pray all of this, but we start with the prayer of repentance.  Lord, please forgive us for our iniquity and our lack of prayer when it comes to the transgression of our nation. Forgive us for our apathy and lazy approach we have taken when it comes the matters of Your heart. We ask that You withhold Your judgment so that we will have time to reach others.  We ask that You continue to bless this nation as You clearly have since its inception  that has allowed Your Word to be preached and taught not only here, but serving as an instrument of grace and mercy to all the nations of this world.  We, Your people called by Your Name, humble ourselves and pray, seeking Your Face.  We turn from our wicked ways.  When we do these things, You will hear from heaven, forgive our sins and heal our land!

Lord, we put our hope in You!  We are not giving up on America!  We are still thankful that our country recognizes the importance of communication with You.

“In His Name, the nations will place their trust.”  Matthew 12:21

Of course, murder has been in our midst from the founding of this nation, but senseless killing has never been seen on the scale we are experiencing in our day. There have been some twenty-five incidents in the United States since 911 where at least five people have been murdered in wanton killing sprees. What is going on with people?

I believe Scripture holds the key to understanding the “helter skelter” happening in our culture. The spiritual deterioration of individuals (1 Corinthians 1:18) and even an entire nation (Amos 8:1-2) are both documented in the Bible. However, I think what we are seeing today reflects something of much grander proportions than either of these historical phenomena.

It seems that we are witnessing one of the final stages of the spiritual downfall of mankind. In Matthew 13, Jesus described false believers as “tares” the angels would reap “at the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39-40). The book of Revelation described the unbelievers alive in the last days as rotten grapes ready for “the great wine press of the wrath of God” (14:19). The apostle Paul skipped the metaphor of maturing plants and simply said that in the end times, “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse…” (2 Timothy 3:13).

Just as it takes time for plants to ripen to the point of harvest, so too the sinful condition of mankind has taken several thousand years to arrive at its final state of evil. While this reasoning may sound good in a seminary course, does it really hold water in the real world? For instance, how do a couple hundred killings in America compare to the numerous occasions down through history when entire people groups have been exterminated?

It is true that there have been certain periods when Satan was able to possess a man and direct his followers to the point of massacring large numbers of people (e.g. Adolph Hitler, Idi Amin, etc.), but the number of victimizers in these cases were typically limited. What we are seeing in the U.S. and throughout the world now is an escalation of wickedness amongst the masses—not the few. I can see two predominant contributing factors for this phenomenon.

First, the technological advances of our time have made it possible for people to indulge sin at a level and intensity never before imaginable. The book of Daniel predicted the last days would be a time of a great increase in knowledge (12:4). What other generation has experienced the increase of knowledge that we have seen? Perhaps you are aware of the fact that it took nearly eighteen centuries from the time of Christ for man’s knowledge level to double. From 1750-1900 it doubled again and once again from 1900-1950. By 1997, it was doubling every two years and today it probably doubles within months. No generation in the history of mankind has experienced anything remotely comparable to what is occurring in our time.

“Yes, but many of those scientific advances have been for the betterment of mankind,” some would contend. It is true that they have made temporal earth-life more comfortable and safe, but how much of it has contributed to man’s eternal wellbeing?

Consider some of the ways these technological advances have contributed to the wickedness of our day. For instance, what American living in the 1900’s could have imagined being able to view sexual deviancy of all kinds on a screen sitting in their homes? What early pioneer could have comprehended a day when fifty million unborn babies would be slaughtered in our country? How could those simple folks have envisioned an entire city of people being vaporized with the push of a button?

Perhaps even more close to home for most of us is what today’s technology has meant to our personal lives. We now live in such a fast-paced society that we can have nearly anything we desire on the spot. Not only does such a lifestyle of instant gratification keep a person’s carnal nature inflamed, it also quickly hollows out people of the normal contentment that comes with a decent life. The prosperity and technology of our day has enabled people to quickly immerse themselves and burn themselves out in their sin of choice. These zombie-like burnouts who commit bizarre crimes are only going to increase.

The other major contributing factor in the escalation of evil we are witnessing is the increasing latitude God is allowing the enemy as the end approaches. “Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time” (Revelation 12:12). This ripening of evil is preparing the masses of humanity to come to the point that they will accept the mark of the beast.

You know that nice neighbor lady who always gives you a bright smile and a friendly greeting? One day she will be openly worshiping Satan (Revelation 13:8). Those close family members you pray for? They will be the very ones who turn you into the authorities (Luke 21:16). Those conservative pundits you admire? One day they will be calling for your execution (Revelation 6:9-11). That is where humanity is heading.

Considering the rapidity of the changes we are witnessing and the shocking way people are reacting to them, one must conclude that the final, terrible period of mankind’s history is nearly upon us. The closer we come to that frightful time, the more we are sure to see people like Ted Bundy, James Holmes, Jared Lee Loughner and the Tsarnaev brothers emerge from the shadows to commit their diabolical crimes. What is even more disconcerting however, is the change that is coming over “decent” citizens. It all points to the eventual demonic takeover of unredeemed mankind.

How do believers handle such foreboding predictions? First, we must live in God’s reality. We cannot afford to seek escape in the world’s entertainment system. Not only does it deaden the spiritual discernment so crucial for such a time, but it also puts us in the same spirit that is at the bottom of these atrocities. Second, we must move forward in faith. Each of us has a rich history of God’s love and faithfulness. When indiscriminate killings and human tragedies are occurring all around us, we must remember that the same God who has proven His trustworthiness to us in the past is on His heavenly throne ruling sovereignly over all earth’s activities. He will take us through victoriously whatever mayhem the dark lord of this world instigates. Third, we must remind ourselves that we are citizens of heaven not earth. Whatever we face on earth is meant to better prepare us for our eternal home. Perhaps the best advice we can receive is from the One whose coming we all anticipate: “When these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).

For more information about the ministry of Steve Gallagher, please visit www.eternalweight.com