The words ring in the ears of people around the world today. “This did not have to happen.” The warning signs…the evaluations…….the purposeful intent. It was all there. One man made his choice. He wanted to do what had never been done before in the history of the United States. He set his goal higher than an Olympic pole-vaulter. He would not be outdone. Worse than Columbine, worse than any other fatal shooting spree recorded in media archives this man took the steps to make a name for himself. Today, he is known around the world. His fame however, came at someone else’s expense. An expense he declares, as his body decays in a Virginia morgue, that could have been avoided. “This did not have to happen.”
You are aware of the story. You’ve heard of the rampage, the hatred…the grossly skewed yet focused intent. Questions are hurling through the air like fallout from an atomic bomb. Unfortunately for the 33 victims, their families, the university and the nation at large the questions come too late. There is a crime scene, there will be funerals, hearts are bleeding because those who saw the intensity of emotional distress in the life of one man refused to ask the right question. They saw it. They were alarmed by his behavior. Some reported the quirks. But no one asked, “What shall we do?”
Choices
Life or Death
Prayer or Guns
Rejoice or Mourn
When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn. Pr 29:2
There is an alternative. We have a choice. One man smuggled handguns into the classroom. He declared his manifesto to the media. A nation which bans prayer in schools is reeling from the reality of one wrong choice. Yes, there is a connection. In an arena of free speech you can say anything in the corridors of our schools. Anything from “Put you hands up. I’m going to kill you.” to “Pull your pants down we’ll have sex” all under the guise of “Have it your way.” The tidal wave of darkness intensifies. But the wicked keep saying, “Don’t mention the name of Jesus.” The message for us, as Bible-quoting believers, is evident. “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” There will be no rejoicing as long as the wicked rule. Apathy and indifference are wicked rulers even when the thoughts take up residence in the mind and heart of a Believer.
America is mourning today. Who is at fault? The parents? School authorities? The judicial system? Or could it be us, the believer, the church? For some the Monday Massacre is evidence of Sunday’s Mascarade. It is a question we need to answer today before the next committed, intent, purposeful manslayer rises with a manifesto of destruction.
My skin is crawling this morning. It’s not caused by the media reports. THE CHURCH IS ASLEEP! It’s time to sound the alarm.
This message is not about the atrocities at Virginia Tech, it’s about the atrocities in our pews. It is not my intent to identify and rehash a psychopath’s behavior nor the visible signs of the severity of his needs. It is my intent to identify and rehearse to you, the believing Christian, your responsibility. What could you have done? What can you do NOW? Please make note of the operative verb….DO!
The disciples asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works of the Lord?” (Jn 6:28:29) His answer was concise, “Believe on him who is sent.” Jesus came to this earth to accomplish a mission for a select group of people. He was given clear boundary lines of operation, “I am sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.” He came to do the Father’s will.
When needs arose in areas outside his divine mandate he taught his disciples to pray in agreement with him. What was that request? “Lord of the harvest send someone.” (Mth 9:38)When confronted with the needs in a city outside his jurisdiction he went to the very limit of his mandated instructions and waited. Enduring the heat of day, his own weariness and a growing thrist….he waited. Why would he spend so much time waiting at that well? Could it be he was waiting for someone whom he could send to do the work in a city whose boundaries he could not cross? It wasn’t his responsibility to go there. It was his responsibility to equip the person who should.
Jesus is waiting for us today. He has reserved a block of time in which he will remove every restraint, answer every question and infuse every yielded heart with his own manifesto of destruction. Read it for yourself.
“For this cause was the son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the evil one.”
That’s the mandate. That IS our manifesto. We must shed the cloak of apathy and rise up. Both the crazed gunman and the woman at the well left a mark upon their city. Both went with intent and purpose. Ironic as it may seem the double-fisted gunman said the truth, “This did not have to happen.” I say to you, “It doesn’t have to happen again.” Here’s why.
The role of every God-ordained minister is to give you the Word at his mouth.
“For the priest’s lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts.” Mal 2:;7
It’s our responsibility to tell you what HE is saying, what His Word declares, and what our responsibility is in the challenges which loom before us. Unfortunately too many ministers have bought in to a pass-the-buck gospel. Let someone else do it. Let me explain.
First of all, the call to rule as kings goes beyond the acclaim, the feasting and the royal robes. There is a responsibility involved. The king is given authority to protect the realm over which he presides. A righteous king scatters the evil. What does that say to us who are called to rule as kings and priests? I’m glad you asked. Let’s see what the Word of God has to say about it. Then we can know what God requires of us.
And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;2 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:3 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it. And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man’s inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit. But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell. Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.
Make special note. Who is Moses speaking to as he delivers these instructions?
God sent His word to heal us and deliver us from OUR DESTRUCTIONS. He spoke to Moses. Give the divine instructions to those entrusted to your care. This is what it means to keep the word at his mouth. As leaders it is our responsibility to hear what the Lord is saying and speak it. In this case, Moses is not told to speak to Aaron (the High Priest) but to the people. The people are given a mandate.
I would to God you hear this message in the depths of your spirit. Moses gave the people INSTRUCTIONS from God, a divine mandate. Let me pause here for a moment. Dorm-mates, college professors, judges and college officials saw the signs. Seeing the signs did not stop the onslaught. The problem at Virginia Tech, in our judicial system and in our church leadership is the same. Authority-infused instructions are not forth coming. The result? People who saw the problem stopped short of doing the right thing. God, in his foresight, caused Moses to write a set of instructions for such a time as this. As is His style, he gives us a choice. Choose life or choose death. Follow the instructions and have life or ignore the divine mandate and have death. Many in this hour want to pass the buck. We’ve seen it modeled enough we can do it in our sleep of apathy as we snuggle in a blanket of indifference.We want to feel good. We want to be comfortable. But the days of sleeping in needs to stop here. There is a mandate. The set of instructions are clearly defined in Numbers 33:55. It’s my responsibility. It’s your responsibility. The moment you accept that truth all heaven will back you with an authority that can not be vanquished.
God took full responsibility for getting Israel out of captivity and through the wilderness. On the threshold of the promise God delegated His responsibility to the people. “You drive them out.” Did you hear that? You! Yes, you and me and all those who call themselves followers of Jesus Christ. Hear the Lord’s instructions to you today. “Drive them out?” The solution is not in passing a gun-control law. It's not about having increased security systems. The answer lies in our fulfilling the law, the instructions, of the Lord. God said, “Drive them out.” But how do we do that?
What can one man do?
What can an overlooked under-achiever do to impact the city where they live? Can you continue to pull the wool over your own eyes? Look what one man did on April 16th, 2007. One man with a mission. One man with a plan. One man commited to the process. He DID something. His motive operandi however, was corrupt. His manifesto of destruction came from the wrong source.
CHURCH ARISE. Do something to destroy the works of the evil one. That’s why Jesus came. (Jn 3:8) That’s why all creation mourns for the manifestation of the sons of God. (Rom 8:19) How, you may ask? Well it’s quite simple. Follow the instructions. “Drive them out!”
Before you make any abrupt moves however make sure you understand the instructions. It would be wise for each of us to ask a very important question at this juncture. “How do I drive them out?” I thought you would never ask. Thank you for that timely question. Let me start with this. “Jesus did nothing unless he saw the father do it.” (Jn 5:19) This is not a fight with carnal weapons. Our greatest asset is a call away. I asked this question myself just this morning. “Lord, what are you doing?” Show me so I can do what I SEE you do. Do you want to know what I saw? It was simple. He is sitting in judgment.
A king that sitteth in the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes. Prov 20:8
Do you see it? Do you understand? A king, one given a realm of responsibility, sits in the throne. For this assignment you’re going to have to don your kingly robe. No commoner can sit in rags on the king’s throne. You can’t come to this chair singing the wrong song! Whistling, “I did it my way” as you saunter along non-chantilly is a sure guarantee of a short life in the palace. Ask Vashti. You must come in submission to the divine invitation from the King of Kings. Come and sit in the throne of judgment. Judge with righteous judgment.
To drive out the enemy we must first take our place as approved workman. Our ability to rule effectively is in direct proportion to our depth of study. We must know HIM, how he thinks, what his principles and precepts are and what is required of us. Jesus knew the will of the Father. He knew what he was called to do. Anything which hindered that mission was never overlooked in his sight. HE dealt with it..........with just a look. He cast Satan out of His presence. He would not....could not tolerate any form of rebellion.
We see the problem but we don't see our responsibility. We haven’t sat down and looked at it from a position of moral responsibility. A king that sits in the throne of judgment scatters. We need to sit at the feet of Jesus, look upon Him and do what we see him do.
The crazed gunman positioned himself as judge over the lives of men. He sat in judgment with a law unto himself. Though he likens himself to Jesus we all know his actions were not reflective of that name. His actions caused much scattering. The difference is this. When the wicked are in authority the people mourn. Are we mourning right now? What caused it? One man, a loner, a nobody, made up his mind to do something. To sit in apathetic indifference is no different and no less deadly than the 9mm handguns he used to accomplish the task. The results are the same. People die and the voice of the gunman speaks, “This did not have to happen.”
What can one person do? Learn this lesson in the aftermath of evil.
It’s time for some wisdom. We need to scatter all evil. But how?
Get into the presence of the Lord. Cry out to him. Repent for your apathetic idleness and plead with him to LOOK upon you as he sits in judgment on the throne. You’ve been telling people for years he sits at the right hand of the Father forever making intercession for you. Well, what’s holding you back? Get to his feet. Cry out to him. Ask Him to scatter every evil thought of indifference within you with his eyes of loving compassion. Cry with all your might and beg him to rid you of apathy. He will take responsibility for those who come to him. He will look upon you and scatter the indifference. Then remind him of Num 33:55. There must come a time when we confess our sins. We have not driven out the enemy. We have not followed the instructions of the Lord. We must repent.
Destroy their pictures.
Read the rest of Num 33:55. There’s more.
destroy all their pictures,
destroy all their molten images,
pluck down all their high places:
Church, that is our responsibility. Those images must come down. But guess who is putting them up for all to see? The media. The box office. The internet. The entertainment mongrels. You can now get streaming pornography delivered to your cell phone. How can we drive out the hate, the murder, the drugs, the suicide, the promiscuity and the demise as long as the media is the parade master and politicians defend it as freedom of speech and the church snores through it all too comfortable in the idleness to arise and do something.
Destroy the pictures.
Throw out the videos, dvds, rap music and the subtle propaganda that keeps these viral infections before the eyes of a Holy People. God says, “Be Holy as I am Holy.” He is too holy to behold evil. Why then do we?
Scatter this evil with your eyes. Until you, John Q. professing believer, say this is unholy, this is ungodly and I refuse to look upon it as entertaining...... the enemy will remain. It is your choice to follow the instructions or not. God says, “Drive it out.” Quit saying, “It’s so sad. Can you believe it? Isn’t it awful.” Those words do nothing to usher in the Kingdom of God.
You may think you are insignificant. But God told the people to drive out the enemy. He gave you the responsibility. Who are you to tell God “no I won’t do what you said to do?”
If you don’t drive them out be forewarned. The results are certain.
1. those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes,
2. those which ye let remain shall be thorns in your side
3. those you let remain shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.
Does the 21st century church have pricks in their eyes? Look at Strong’s definition for pricks.
7899 שֵׂךְ [sek /sake/] n m. From 5526 in the sense of 7753; TWOT 2262a; GK 8493; AV
5526 סוּךְ, סוּךְ, סָכַךְ, סָכַךְ, ׳סכֵךְ, שָׂכַךְ [cakak, sakak /saw·kak/] v. A primitive root; TWOT 1475, 1492, 2259, 2260; GK 6056 and 6058 and 6114 and 6115 and 6116 and 8503; 23 occurrences; AV translates as “cover” 15 times, “covering” twice, “defence” once, “defendest” once, “hedge in” once, “join together” once, “set” once, and “shut up” once. 1 (Qal) to hedge, fence about, shut in. 2 to block, overshadow, screen, stop the approach, shut off, cover. 2a (Qal). 2a1 to screen, cover. 2a2 to cover oneself. 2a3 protector (participle). 2b (Hiphil). 2b1 to screen, cover. 2b2 to cover, defecate (euphemism). 3 (Qal) to cover, lay over. 4 to weave together. 4a (Qal) to weave together. 4b (Pilpel) to weave, weave together.
Let me make this plain. Doing nothing when the instructions are clearly mandated is APATHY. It is an unwritten, unspoken and subtle agreement with the enemy. This is not the fault of the American judicial authorities, the border patrol or the college administrators. It’s our fault. We have accepted the gunman’s manifesto of destruction as norm when we remain idle, when we say nothing and refuse to take a stand.
“Moreover it shall come to pass, that I shall do unto you, as I thought to do unto them.”
Will you accept the mandate? Will you rise up and be counted? Will you finally accept the reality? You must do something.
For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father’s house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this? Esther 4:14
This are not the scripted lines for drug-crazed actors in the entertainment industry. Deliverance and enlargement will come. But if you refuse to do what you have been strategically placed in a position to do…………you shall be destroyed. God will get the victory. He will save his people with or without your help. Today, you must choose what side you’re on.
To sit in apathetic indifference is to partner with the thief. To do nothing will have the same impact as loading the guns, barring the doors and opening fire that we saw this week. To do nothing insures that many will die a senseless, needless death. Today, you must choose or the choice will be made for you.
Rev. Deborah Howard is an international evangelist and freelance writer. Phone 919 539 0670.
April 19th, 2007
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