Faces in an Open Door
Barbara Henderson
Heroes from the past being dead yet
speak. Their legacy lives on.
From the past I see heroes. I see Winston Churchill. He was the leader of Great Britian during WW2. He took a mighty nation
through a nightmare to victory.
I see King David when a boy, facing a
giant. Through the mighty hand of God on
David for good, he slew the giant and became a leader of a great nation.
I see Nehemiah who rebuilt the walls
of his beloved Jerusalem in less than two months.
I see Joseph who never wavered in his
allegiance to God though sold into slavery and thrown into prison.
I see Daniel the prophet, the Hebrew
captive, who stood before kings and proclaimed God without regard to personal
safety.
I see three Hebrew brothers who were
thrown alive into a furnace so hot it burned up the men who cast them into the
fire. Yet the brothers were not even
singed.
I see Hezekiah, King of the Jews, who
cast himself and his nation on the mercy of the Lord, and lived to see victory
through the power of God.
I see George Washington who led a new
nation to independence.
I see soldiers who laid down their
lives for others.
I see mothers who sacrificed
everything to give their children a better life.
I see fathers who worked themselves
into an early grave to provide for their children.
I see Christian Missionaries standing
at the door of violent tribes of lost people pleading with them to turn to
Jesus. I see the first missionaries murdered by those they sought to tell about
Jesus. I see their families going back
to try again to take them the story of Jesus Christ.
I see more of the great men and women
of history standing up for what is good and right.
These people were leaders of their
day. Though not always given a title
that indicated a leader, yet that is what they were.
And I see Methuselah. What a mighty man he must have been. For when he was gone the flood came. Did the people mourn him? Or did they rejoice that he was gone?
I see Noah standing at the door of the
ark pleading with the lost to repent and come in to safety.
I see John Huss, Martin Luther, John
Knox, and many other godly men standing up for truth and right.
I see the Apostles and the early
believers accepting death rather than turn from their faith in Christ.
I see Christians today facing death
around the globe rather than turn from Jesus Christ to worship a false god.
I see Christians standing up for truth
and right regardless of personal loss.
I see some preachers of the gospel
standing for truth and right in this time of hatred of truth and right.
I see individual Christians taking a
stand.
I see Billy Graham. He is not a perfect man, but he is a godly
man. In him the world has seen the
gospel preached to the world. I wonder if
he is like Methuselah in that the Lord will delay his judgment while Graham yet
lives. Pray for a long for this
man. God have mercy on us all.
I see Jesus Christ standing at the
door pleading with the lost to be saved.
The legacy of evil from the past is
also visible today.
I see faces standing in the open door
of hell calling out to the lost, ‘Reject the God who formed you and follow me.’
I see Hitler screaming out hatred.
I see Stalin screaming out hatred.
I see false prophets coercing people
to follow them to hell or be murdered.
They wind up in hell anyway unless they follow Jesus, so the false
prophets really don’t care if their death is sooner or later.
I see some people living still who are
standing at the door of hell.
They have made their choice. They are pulling others into their world of
torment. Some know where they are
going. You can see the torment in their
eyes and on their faces. Yet they refuse
to turn from the door of hell to the door of heaven.
Into the void created by the death of
a leader, whether he is good or evil, comes another leader. I think when a great and godly leader dies
there is a great danger of a weak and ineffective leader taking his place. Or
when an evil leader dies there is a real danger of an even greater tyrant
replacing him. The people know this. In addition to sorrow they are faced with
fear of a weak or perhaps even evil leader.
There has not been a leader like Churchill since the end of WW2. Israel has never had a leader like King
David, although there were a few really great kings. I recently watched a YouTube video of the
funeral of Winston Churchill. The faces
of the people were more than sad. They
saw the passing of Britain’s greatness. Whether
Churchill was a Christian or not God used him to lead a nation through a time
of terror. Britain has never seen a
greater leader since. Today the leaders
of Britain are like our leaders here for the most part. They are completely sold out to personal greed
and an evil world system. Truth and
right based on a solid foundation are completely foreign to their thoughts.
When was the last great leader of the
USA? In my lifetime it was Ronald
Reagan. He was great in part because he loved America. He loved truth, right, and justice. Since Reagan we have had ineffective or evil
leaders. Looking through the door to the
past the great leaders are screaming out for someone to stand up and lead the
nation down the path of righteousness.
Will we ever see such a leader again this side of heaven? Only God knows.
With the death of Adolph Hitler the
world rejoiced. People today believe
they have advanced beyond the people of that era so one like Hitler will never
arise again. Not true. The evil void left by Hitler has been filled
by many who have not risen to Hitler’s level of power. Those who support the murder of the unborn are
far worse murderers than Hitler.
Eventually Hitler’s eternal home will be filled by the Antichrist spoken
of in the Bible. Many little
antichrists, those against Christ, are walking to and fro throughout the world
today. They are proclaiming justice in
the murder of unborn children and actions that God Himself has labeled as
sin. With every evil action the door of
hell is opened a bit wider. And the
followers of wickedness are crying out for others to follow them down their
evil path.
As of today Jesus is still standing at
the door and knocking. People have an opportunity to be saved from hell and
reconciled to God. Jesus is faithful and
just to forgive individuals and cleanse them of all unrighteousness.
But the day is coming when like the
ark, the door of salvation will be shut for those who reject Jesus. The death of individuals will come and their
eternity will be eternally sealed in heaven or hell. The rapture will come. The tribulation will come. The death of almost of all mankind will come. People now and in the future are faced with
two open doors. In one door is Jesus
Christ inviting in all who will come. In
the other door stands Satan. He
disguises himself in many ways, but he is not so clever that those honestly
seeking the truth will not recognize that he is a counterfeit. He has no power to save. He only has power to destroy.
Today the USA is facing evil leaders such as we have never known. These evil leaders praise
planned parenthood for the slaughter of unborn children and blaspheme the name
of God by thanking Him for this organization. As Christians we cry out for a godly man to lead this nation. We do not want to give politics such a place
of importance as to sink down to preaching a social gospel. Actually, there is no such thing as a social
gospel. That is just a term for a false
gospel that cares more for social issues than for the souls of the lost. Our job today is the cry out to our God for
mercy and deliverance from evil. Our job
is to live like the Christians we profess to be. Our faces should continually be pointed
toward the open door of Jesus Christ.
Our way is His way. We are headed
home. Let us not take any detours for they are very costly!
Our God is always in charge. Our God always has a plan. Perhaps He is
going to raise up an earthly leader for such a time as this. It may be a man. It may even be a woman. Remember that He raised up a Jewish girl to
be queen. In God’s good time Esther
brought the king to the aid of her people.
Perhaps God is stirring up His children to pray for His aid today. Do you feel called to pray like never
before? Do you feel called to speak up
for the Lord like never before? It is
definitely best to pray like never before – before opening your mouth. Christians know the main things that will
happen in the future, and it is probably the near future. We don’t know the exact details. We do know that our God hears us when we call
out to Him.
There is an old slogan that says, ‘Now
is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.’ Today we could say that now is the time for
all Christians to come to the aid of our country. That is done through constant prayer and
obedience to God. When I look through the
portals to the past and see great leaders and Christian faith displayed, I long
for God’s goodness to be shown to us today with mighty Christian leaders and
mighty national leaders. When I see the
evil leaders of the past I almost see the horrors of hell’s flames. I cry out for mercy for the lost.
Let us like-minded Christians join
together to pray for God’s mercy in all things. It appears that darkness is
covering the land; yet, our God is able to deliver us.
Daniel Chapter 3 tell the true story
of three Hebrew brothers who lived in the palace of a pagan king. The King demanded that he be worshiped the
brothers refused. The king decided to
throw them in the furnace. Facing what
looked like certain death the brothers said to the king, ‘ Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are
not careful to answer thee in this matter.
17 If
it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery
furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.
18 But if
not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor
worship the golden image which thou hast set up.’
The Bible goes on to tell us that the
three brothers were miraculous saved from the fire. Christians today are facing dreadful things. God is still able to deliver. Let all Christians ask that God give us
courage and strength to stand like the brothers who refused to worship a false
god regardless of the consequences. Like
the brothers we don’t know the exact outcome of trials, but we do know that God
is able to deliver us if He so chooses.
He is able to take us to heaven for the ultimate deliverance if He does
not delight to deliver us in this life.
‘To
every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:’.
Ecclesiastes
3:1
Our time is now. Like any generation
of the past that has been called to fight a great battle; the Christians of
this generation are called today to stand no matter what the cost. Let us all
pray for each individual to have the courage and strength for their personal
battle. Let us all pray for God to raise
up a leader like Paul or Peter or even greater.
Let us all pray that we will see our true leader Jesus Christ more
clearly. Remember, Jesus is coming soon
– and He is able to deliver!
‘He
which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus.’ Revelation 22:20
He is Able to Deliver Thee
- ’Tis
the grandest theme through the ages rung;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal tongue;
’Tis the grandest theme that the world e’er sung,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.” - Refrain:
He is able to deliver thee,
He is able to deliver thee;
Though by sin oppressed, go to Him for rest;
“Our God is able to deliver thee.” - ’Tis
the grandest theme in the earth or main;
’Tis the grandest theme for a mortal strain;
’Tis the grandest theme, tell the world again,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.” - ’Tis
the grandest theme, let the tidings roll,
To the guilty heart, to the sinful soul;
Look to God in faith, He will make thee whole,
“Our God is able to deliver thee.”
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