Paul,
Thank
you so much for posting A. W. Tozer every day!! It has meant so much
to me and I look forward to reading him here each day. I also found a
number of Tozer audios on YouTube that people might be interested in
hearing. I had read Tozer almost 30 years ago but it is much better
getting acquainted with him again!
I
believe with all my heart that what is said here in Matthew 10:22 is so
very true. All who live godly in Jesus will be persecuted.
Why are not Christians being persecuted in America today? (I only know of two who died for their faith in Miami)
Because
the vast majority of them are not living godly in Jesus! If they were
there would be witnessing in public places and street preaching just
like in the book of Acts.
The
obvious conclusion from Jesus here is to be hated for His sake but what
about the second part? We must endure until the end.
What
does this mean? That we grow in Jesus every day, that we meditate on
His Word all day and night just like in Psalms 1, that we do good works
so that we show men our faith is not dead.
And
Tozer brings this out so very well: That we reject EVERYTHING that is
contrary to Him. EVERYTHING - that is contrary to Him. And that means
we are supposed to search for those things to reject and also ask God
to search us and lead us out of those things just like David asked him
in Psalm 139.
Tozer
lived a very simple life with his family. He did not lavish himself
with things expensive or worldly. He is an example just like Paul who
said to imitate him as he imitated Christ.
So,
the secret to be learned here is that we are to judge everything we
come into contact with every single day to determine if it is contrary
to Christ.
Most
people do not talk about what those things are these days. Very hard
to go into a church and hear anyone saying what those things are that
are contrary to Christ. Most simply repeat their favorite scriptures
to scratch their itching ears!
The
first place to start is in the heart. It starts with getting down on
our knees and saying “not my will by Your Will be done in my life”.
The
second place is in the home. Observe the magazines in the house. The
radio in the house. The TV in the house. Any form of media from the
outside world. Does it glorify Christ? No? Then get rid of it. Just
simply throw it out. Going to keep cable TV? How is that possible to
keep cable or network TV and glorify Christ? It’s not possible. Can
you picture Jesus sitting around watching football games? I can’t.
All
these media markets are false idols leading millions of people away
from Christ every day, week, month, and year. From sports to reality
TV, to soap operas, to talk shows, to movies, to news shows. I have
been a political activist for 28 years on the Christian Right. There
has hardly been any change in America during all this time.
Why?
The answer to that question is that people in churches are following
after false idols. The great apostasy is right here among us. The
great falling away. So many people in churches thinking they are saved
and still worshipping their false idols. Anything that does not
glorify Christ and we watch it or listen to it is a false idol.
I
used to love FOX news. Supposedly a conservative voice for the most
part. I work at home and would leave it on all day in case something
important came up. At one time I used to be a Republican Party County
Chairman, so I was politically attune and followed all the news. I
still get the news off the internet or the newspaper online but I do
not watch Sean Hannity anymore and his interviews with Kim Kardashian.
Thank God and praise His holy name! FOX news is supposed to be the
conservative channel and they have so much on there that glorifies
another master. Now the Republican Party is rampant with homosexuals
and even liberals and Glenn Beck even showed up on the same stage, in
Chicago, my state, to support the Republicans running, among them Mark
Kirk a gay, liberal, Republican newly elected US Senator who in the
House voted for 2nd and 3rd term abortions. Beck on the same stage. Thank God Sarah Palin did not support Kirk!
A
year ago I got rid of cable and network TV. It has been the best year
of my life. The Lord gave me a prison ministry this year. His ways
are higher than our ways. We, as watchmen, have to tell these truths
to the people in the churches. I am 54 years old. Fit as a fiddle!
But. I have only been approached with someone sharing the Gospel 2
times in my life. And the last time was 30 years ago. Both men that
approached me were soldiers for Christ. Both men found out quickly
that I was a Christian. We need to shout it from the rooftops and in
the streets, the malls, the parks, the train stations, everywhere.
If we followed the book of Acts lead, they would be making laws to outlaw witnessing. Then we would be getting down to 1st century Christianity. Just like it was meant to be and just like it is still meant to be.
Tozer says:
Everyone who has lived for Christ in a Christless world has suffered some losses and endured some pains that he could have avoided by the simple expedient of laying down his cross.
Where is the latter rain in these last days?
Until we share Christ in public, not in churches where people are supposed to be saved, then there will be no latter rain.
Watchmen,
it is up to you to sound the alarm, for the enemy is upon us. The
enemy is upon every aspect of life in these last days.
You must sound the alarm. Blow the horn!
God bless your works,
Marshall
Our Moral Climate
Does Not Encourage Faith
By A. W. Tozer
And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake:
but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
-- Matthew 10:22
There is a plain and evident fact in genuine Christianity
that is often overlooked by eager evangelists bent on
getting results: that to accept Christ it is necessary that
we reject whatever is contrary to Him!
Let us not be shocked by the suggestion that there are
disadvantages to the life in Christ. Everyone who has
lived for Christ in a Christless world has suffered some
losses and endured some pains that he could have avoided
by the simple expedient of laying down his cross.
The contemporary moral climate does not favor a
faith as tough and fibrous as that taught by our Lord and
His apostles. The delicate, brittle saints being produced in
our religious hothouses today are hardly to be compared
with the committed, expendable believers who once gave
their witness among men. And the fault lies with our leaders. They are too timid to tell the people all the truth. They are now asking men to give to God that which costs them nothing!
When will Christians learn that to love righteousness,
it is necessary to hate sin? -- that to accept Christ it is
necessary to reject self? -- that to follow the good way we
must flee from evil? -- that a friend of the world is an
enemy of God? -- that God allows no twilight zone
between two altogethers, where the fearful and the
doubting may take refuge at once from hell to come
and the rigors of present discipline?