Devotions

Hebrews 12:1 tells us that the world is encircled by a cloud of witnesses who are with Christ in glory. What does this multitude of heavenly witnesses have to say to the present world?

Our day is one of great prosperity. Our economy has been blessed, yet our society has become so immoral, violent and anti-God that even secularists bemoan how far we have fallen. Christians everywhere wonder why God has delayed his judgments on such a wicked society.

We who love Christ may not understand why such gross evil is allowed to continue. But the cloud of heavenly witnesses understands. They don’t question the mercy and patience that God has shown.

The Apostle Paul is among that cloud of witnesses, and he bears witness to God’s unlimited love for even “the chief of sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul’s life and writings tell us that he cursed the name of Christ. He was a terrorist, hunting down God’s people and dragging them off to be jailed or killed. Paul would say to us that God is being patient with this present generation because there are many who are like he was, people who sin in ignorance.

The apostle Peter is also among the cloud of witnesses, and he too understands why God is so patient. Peter’s life and writings remind us that he cursed Jesus, swearing he never knew him. God withholds his judgment because there are multitudes still who curse and deny him, just as Peter did. The Lord won’t give up on them, just as he never gave up on Peter. There are many like him whom Christ still prays for.

As I consider this cloud of witnesses, I see the faces of former drug addicts and alcoholics, former prostitutes and homosexuals, former gangsters and pushers, former murderers and wife-beaters, former infidels and pornography addicts—multitudes whom society had given up on. They all repented and died in the arms of Jesus, and now they are witnesses to the mercy and patience of a loving Father.

I believe all of these would say, in one unified witness, that Jesus didn’t judge them before they received his mercy. May he help us to love the lost as he does. And may we pray to have the love and patience he is showing the world right now.

Never once in the Bible do you see Peter, James and John have a problem with the beatings or the commands from authorities not to preach the gospel. That’s not going to slow the church down. It’s not external pressures or external persecutions that will put off God’s work among his people. It will be chaos and conflict that comes from within the church.

“Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews” (Acts 6:1, ESV). Whenever a church grows, whenever there are a lot of people around, conflict happens. “This person acted in a way I didn’t like; those people are prejudiced.” Suddenly, there’s a complaint against other believers in the church. 

When this stuff starts happening, look out. How quickly complaining goes downhill! This is one of the most dangerous things that can take hold of a church.

Bickering, backbiting, failing to serve one another and harming one another will destroy the church. It will corrupt our witness. This will block the flow of anointing that comes from the Holy Spirit. What troubles me most is not the political situation in our country or the ‘sexual revolution,’ although those things are often horrifying. It’s not the world being worldly that worries me. It’s the church being worldly that troubles me.

In the middle of those external pressures, Jesus has a light and a witness with his people, but if that witness is corrupted by conflict, then where are we? If salt loses its saltiness, what is it good for?

Let there be such a hunger for righteousness among us that we move quickly to deal with worldliness within ourselves and also resolve conflict with other believers. Let us strive to serve one another in all humility and love.

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm” (Ephesians 6:13, ESV).

It was the apostle Paul who penned those words to exhort the believers in Ephesus. Another translation says it this way: “Then after the battle you will still be standing firm” (NLT). Of course, there would not be much weight to Paul’s words had he himself not gone through the fire and ultimately been able to stand.

From the very onset of his ministry, the apostle Paul was entrusted with great suffering and trials. Shortly after the Lord stopped Paul on the road to Damascus, our Savior appeared in a vision to a man named Ananias and told him to pray for Paul. “He is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (Acts 9:15-16).

Paul clearly understood that he was appointed by God to be his witness, thus he embraced the suffering that accompanied this call. In fact, he even went so far as to regard suffering as “fellowship.” Notice what he said to the Philippian church: “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10).

It is tragic that this truth about suffering in the Christian life is largely neglected in much of today’s theology. I find it appalling that there are even places where people completely discount Paul’s life and the things he had to go through. Instead, they use the words of Paul to somehow convince people that suffering and trials should not be part of the Christian experience. It is almost inconceivable, especially as we see in the scriptures that Paul certainly did not try to hide his trials from the early church. Paul was constantly delivered into places in which he could not have survived in his own strength. He experienced suffering and trials to such a degree that without the infusion of Christ’s life within, he could not have endured in his own human ability.

Paul possessed an inner core, however, that proves to us today that ordinary people are able to withstand all the adversity and opposition they encounter by the life of Christ within them.

Suffering is part of the Christian life, and our faith becomes deeper each time we are tested, thanks be to God!

^{Carter Conlon joined the pastoral staff of Times Square Church in 1994 and was appointed Senior Pastor in 2001. In May of 2020 he transitioned into a continuing role as General Overseer of Times Square Church, Inc.}

The prophet Isaiah describes what happens when the Holy Spirit falls upon a people. Isaiah prophesies, “Until the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the wilderness becomes a fruitful field, and the fruitful field is counted as a forest” (Isaiah 32:15).

Isaiah adds, “Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field” (32:16). According to the prophet, the Holy Ghost also brings with him a message of judgment against sin. And that message produces righteousness in the people.

Isaiah isn’t speaking of a one-time outpouring of the Spirit, what some people think of as “revival.” Isaiah is describing something that lasts. Studies by Christian sociologists show that most present-day revivals last for an average of five years, and leave in their wake much confusion and dissension. I know of some churches where so-called revivals took place, but now, within just a few years, there is no trace of the Spirit left. Those churches are dead, dry, empty. Houses that once held 1,000 are now cavernous tombs, with only fifty people in attendance.

Isaiah continues: “The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places” (Isaiah 32:17-18).

The Holy Spirit is busy sweeping out all unrest, disturbances and condemnation. What follows is peace of mind, peace in the home, and peace in God’s house. And when God’s people have the peace of Christ, they aren’t easily moved from it: “Though hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey” (32:19-20).

Isaiah’s prophecy about the Holy Spirit was directed to Israel during Uzziah’s reign. Yet it also applies to God’s people today. It is known as a dual prophecy. The fact is, every generation needs an outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And I believe the church today hasn’t seen anything compared to what the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish.

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek” (Matthew 6:31-32).

Jesus tells us that worry—about the future of our family, about jobs, about how we are to survive—is a heathen’s way of life. Jesus is talking here about those who have no heavenly Father. They do not know God as he wants to be known, as a caring, providing, loving Father in heaven.

“Do not worry about tomorrow” (v. 34). In these plain words, Jesus commands us, “Do not give a thought, do not give a worry, about what might or might not happen tomorrow. You can’t change anything. And you can’t help by worrying. When you do, you’re only doing as the heathen do.” Then Jesus says, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (v. 33). In other words, you are to go on loving Jesus. You are to move on, casting all your cares on him. You are to go on resting in his faithfulness. Your heavenly Father will see to it that you are supplied with all the essential things of life.

I wonder if the angels are baffled by all the worrying and anxiousness of those who claim to trust in God. To them it must seem so degrading, so insulting to the Lord, that we worry as if we had no caring Father in heaven. What perplexing questions the angels must ask among themselves: “Have they no Father who is in heaven? Do they not believe he loves them? Did he not tell them he knows all about their needs? Do they not believe that he who feeds the birds and the whole animal kingdom will feed and clothe them? How can they fret and worry if they know he owns all power, all wealth, and can supply the needs of all creation? Would they accuse their heavenly Father of neglect, as if he was not true to his word?”

You have a heavenly Father. Trust him!