Holy or Harlot? A Church Can't Be Both

Over the years I have come to understand that one of my greatest responsibilities is to hear what the Holy Spirit is speaking to me and to faithfully, and correctly, interpret that message and then to declare it with boldness regardless of whether it tickles the ear or is popular.

I know that there are many messages that I could share, but I must speak what I hear the Holy Spirit saying and I believe that there is an urgency to this message He has given me today.  Today the urgency of the Holy Spirit’s word to me is, Jesus is coming.

I remember when I was growing up, we rarely left a service without hearing, “Jesus is coming.”

We lived with a sense of Urgency of the hour, we were constantly reminded that these are the last days. I literally lived with a fear of missing the rapture, it was that real to me.  There were many times during my rebellion, when my heart was not right with God, I would find myself fearing that I may be left behind, and it was a fearful prospect.

But today something has happened and it seems like the church has fallen into a slumber, many have begun snuggling up to the world, many are falling in love with money and pleasures, and out of love with Jesus.  It seems that most people's lives have become more and more concerned about being happy and less and less concerned about being holy.  They have become more and more concerned about being comfortable and less and less concerned about being consecrated.  Their focus has become more and more on this kingdom and less and less on His.

Just like the Virgins they’ve fallen asleep waiting on the bridegroom.  It is an undeniable fact that the church has been asleep, it has long been referred to as the “Sleeping Giant,” because Satan knows what the church is capable of when it is awake, but when it's asleep the church is laughing stock, and a source of criticism and humiliation.

Why is this point so important?  Because a church that is asleep is powerless, it is without influence in the world, and it becomes tolerant and accepting of everything.

One of the greatest indications of a church that is asleep, is that they have no sense of the urgency concerning Jesus’ return.  All throughout the scriptures we are instructed to keep the soon coming of our Lord in our thoughts and in our hearts, and to live every day in the urgency that He could return at any moment.

There are some things in the scriptures that are conditional and relational and whether they occur depends on our attitudes and our actions. But this is one thing that God has determined will occur, He didn’t ask for our participation or input, He doesn’t care if we agree or like it, and it has been settled forever: Jesus is coming!

The disciples lived with urgency because Jesus said:

- Work while it is day for the night cometh when no man can work. 

- Behold I come Quickly 

- Go into all the world and preach the gospel…

- These signs will follow those who believe…

This urgency filled them with expectancy and it fueled them to preach and reach as many people as they could. This sense of urgency also kept them diligent, alert, and holy.

When the church gets sleepy, the church gets sloppy.  It begins to look like the world, talk like the world and act like the world and sadly in many cases you can't tell the difference between the two.  That is what we are seeing today, a church that has fallen asleep with its head in the lap of the world.

Like Samson the church has been in love with a prostitute, the hedonistic spirit of this age that says, “If it feels right, it must be right.”

I'm talking about apostate churches, a backslidden churches, the churches that accept and ordain homosexuals and lesbians, churches that teach that there is no such thing as hell and your heaven is here on earth, the churches that accept the hedonistic teaching that you are your own god so you decide your own destiny, the churches that teach there's no such thing as the rapture, and there's no such thing as a judgement day.  This is the Apostate church, it is the backslidden church, and it is the harlot church!

·        - They still have Sunday services

·        - They still carry a bible

·        - They still sing religious Songs

·        - They still talk about God

·        - They still lift their hands and go through the motions

·        - They may even speak in tongues, but Jesus said, “Their hearts are far from me and they are just Vain   Babblers.”

I know this message is not politically correct, but it is Biblically correct!

But thank God there is another church, a remnant seed, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ!  She is the bride of Christ and she believes the words of Jesus.  The church of Jesus still:

·       -  Believes in holiness, sanctification, consecration, and separation from the world.

·        - Welcomes the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin

·        - Preaches that without holiness no man shall see the Lord

·        - Understands that there is a Heaven and there is a hell and that there is an eternal judgement and that   those who reject the mercy of Jesus will be eternally lost

·       -  Knows that sin Separates us from God

·        - Sees that sin is darkness and darkness and light cannot dwell together

·        - Are very aware that the coming of the Lord is imminent and only those who are covered by his      blood and robed in His righteousness will go with Him when He comes.

Noah lived every day with the sense of urgency.  He worked, he prayed, he preached, and he pleaded with the urgency and intensity of one who believed that this could be the day the flood is coming, and that judgement is coming.

We are living in just such an hour!  God’s judgement is at the door, while multitudes of people who are sitting in the churches have fallen asleep.

Matthew 25:5-6

“5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.

6 And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’’

That cry is going out today, the Holy Spirit is sounding the wake-up call!  The trumpet of His love and mercy is being sounded from every righteous pulpit of every true man of God.  All over the land and around the world the cry can be heard, “The day of the Lord is at hand!”

Even the media, scientists, and many people who are not believers have a sense that something big is about to happen.  They may not know what they are doing, but they are echoing the prophets as they are forecasting drought, famine, earthquakes, tsunamis, financial collapse, martial law, nuclear war and government take overs.

But I have a message to the true church, the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the called-out ones, those who are sanctified and washed in His blood and clothed in His righteousness: “Lift up your heads, your redemption draweth nigh!”

What is going to be the greatest grief and tragedy that has ever hit this planet is also going to be the church’s finest hour.

Matthew 24:36-44

“36 But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.  37 But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  38 For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, 39 and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  40 Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left.  41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left.  42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.  43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.  44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

To those who are ready, we welcome his return, we've been expecting Him, but to those who are not ready He is coming like a thief in the night.

Are you ready today? Are you covered by his blood, is your name in the lambs book of life?

Acts 2:38

“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”