Perplexity in the Last Days

I believe this is a timely message for the Body of Christ. We are living in the End-time hour and a lot of things are happening in the world. Even in the Church life these things are perplexing us. Tremendous disasters are happening daily - extreme weather conditions, floods in unusual places, droughts, earthquakes; buildings and bridges collapsing, tunnels and mines collapsing, airplane, train, buses, cars accidents; senseless kidnapping, murders and rapes; new cases of cancers and other incurable diseases and you name it. Our lives are being visited by evil on the daily basis!

Jesus Himself said people will experience perplexity in the last days - prior to His second coming:

"And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the power of the heavens will be shaken" (Luke 21:25, 26, NKJV, emphasis added).

I have said it before and I say it again - the Bible is more up-to-date than today's Newspapers. It also contains reports of things yet to come because all Bible prophecies are going to be fulfilled. It is so encouraging to read the Words of jesus realizing that He said in the last days we would know perplexity. Perplexity is here to stay and everyone will experience it some time in his life.

Learning to trust God

Thank God, the Bible has the only real answer - We must learn to trust God for who He is and not what Hes does in any given situation. Look around you and you will not fail to notice that there are so many professing Christians who only trust God for what He does. And when God does not do for them what they feel He should do for them at the time in which they wanted done, many of them get so disillusioned and discouraged that they start to depart from the Lord and ultimately stay away from all spiritual involement!

But God wants His people to have the ability to go forward from strength to strength, from faith to faith and from victory to victory even there are things happening round about you to cause perplexity to come into your life.

Hear the Words of Jesus again: "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved" (Matthew 24:11 - 13, emphasis added).

Not only many false prophets will rise up and deceive many in the last days, but also false teachers and Pastors - like the homosexual "pastors"with their partners ministering to homosexual churchgoers. There is also a "pastor" who prayed over the body-parts of female churchgoers to make them sexier. It is totally beyond our imagination how depraved the human mind could become!

The good news is, God is forming into us His endurance so that in the midst of tremedous perplexity we might hold on, be overcomers, and come through into a mighty resurrection! God's people who have the endurance of Christ written in their life are people who trust God for who He is. God is a God of integrity and it is impossible for God to fail us. But we have to learn to trust Him in the midst of perplexity.

All true servants of God trusted God for who He is

The majority of Charismatic Christians generally throughout the world have only learned to trust God in what He does and when He doesn't do what they expected Him, they tend to feel discouraged, despondent and they begin to blame God, blame the Pastor, blame the Pastor's wife and blame the elders of the Church and even blame themselves.

The Bible tells us that all true servants of God went through a period of perplexity at some stage of their life, but they learned to trust God for who He is. Here are some examples, beginning with Jesus.

Jesus Christ

I believe Jesus Himself was perplexed at that moment when He hung on the cross, and cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me" (Matt. 27:46).

The psalmist (David) depicted the perplexity of Jesus when he wrote:

"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, and from the words of My groaning" (Ps. 22:2).

But Jesus held on and "endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).

Jesus could have called upon His Father to "provide Him with more than twelve legions of angels" (Matt. 26:53) to deliver Him, but He held on and in the midst of perplexing situation came forth to a glorious resurrection.

Job

Job was perplexed when he saw the wicked prospered and he complained:

"Some remove landmarks; they seize flocks violently and feed on them, they drive away the donkey of the fatherless; they take the widow's ox as a pledge. They push the needy off the road; all the poor of the land are forced to hide" (Job 24:2 - 4).

Later on Job repented after he learned to trust God for who He is:

"Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:3, 6).

The Psalmist

The psalmist was perplexed when he spoke to God regarding the prosperity of the ungodly and the wicked:

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who are always at ease; they increase in riches. Surely I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocence. For all day long I have been plagued and chastened every morning" (Ps. 73:12 - 14).

It speaks to us today about the prosperity of the people who do not know God but make money their god. But when the psalmist started to seek and trust God for who He is, he began to understand:

"When I thought how to understand this, it was too painful for me - until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understand their end" (Ps. 73:16, 17, emphasis added).

Notice that God is very concerned about the end of people, both His people and the people of the world.

When Israel was tested in the wilderness, Moses said: ".... who (God) fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers did not know, that He might humble you that He might test you, to do you good in the end ..." (Deut. 8:16, emphasis added).

Moses

Moses was perplexed and started to blame God after his first encounter with Pharaoh. Instead of letting Israel go, Pharaoh oppressed them, set taskmasters over them and gave them extra labor.

Moses complained: "So Moses returned to the Lord and said, 'Lord, why have You brought to this people? Why is it You have sent me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done evil to this people; neither have You delivered Your people at all;" (Exodus 5:22, 23).

God assured Moses that at the appointed time Pharaoh "will drive them out of his land" (Exodus 6:1).

Have you ever wondered why God waited 4000 years to send His Son Jesus Christ? The Bible gives us the answer!

Paul said, "But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who are under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons" (Gal. 4:4, 5, emphasis added).

Timing is very important in God's perspective. Many of us have received prophetic words over our life concerning our future ministry, but many of those things have not come into existence yet. While waiting (with perplexity) for that divine moment, God wants us to wait upon Him, spend time in His temple, continue on walking by faith, serving Him and we'll find in the fullness of time, even in our own life and experience, God will bring into existence that which He has spoken over our life.

God commanded Ezekiel to speak to His people:

"Therefore say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: 'None of My word will be postponed any more, but the word which I speak will be done,' says the Lord God'" (Ezekiel 12:28)

Habakkuk

If there was a prophet who had truly learned to trust God for who He is, it was Habakkuk. The message of Habakkuk began with a burden (Hab. 1:1, 2) and turned into a song in the end (Hab 3:19). Right at the beginning we see Habakkuk was so perplexed, so weighed down with heavy burden concerning the nation of Judah which was enjoying a time of prosperity. But as the material prosperity was up the moral level gone down (Please read my earlier message - "An area of the Nature of God").

Habakkuk went forth and declared the Word of the Lord faithfully to the people but God did not respond in doing what God said He would do at that time, and Habakkuk became perplexed.

He was full of questions at the beginning - why Lord? Oh God how long? Wherefore? After God answered him, he decided to take some time out to wait upon the Lord:

"I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me, and what I will answer when I am corrected" (Hab 2:1).

The lesson learned is, when we take time out to wait upon the Lord, in time of perplexity or pressure, the Lord will always answer.

The Lord answered, "For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab. 2:3, emphasis added).

Every vision or prophetic Word of God has a primary and a secondary fulfillment. Part of the vision was revealed: "For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea" (Hab. 2:14).

This vision, being secondary, is still waithing to happen. We have not seen it yet, but it will come very soon - at the end of this age!

Take a look at Joel's prophecy: "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh ...." (Joel 2:28, emphasis added).

All flesh means all un-regenerated flesh, un-regenerated Jews or Gentiles.

The primary fulfillment happened on the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came upon about 120 people in a prayer meeting. The secondary fulfillment wil take place soon - upon this end time generation. But before God does that, He is going to have a people who are ready as His instruments to bring in the harvest. We are part of this generation!

Habakkuk, though perplexed, decided to keep silence and waited upon the Lord by faith, for he knew that, "The just shall live by his faith" (Hab. 2:4).

Habakkuk said, "But the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him" (Hab. 2:20)

Habakkuk knew that God was teaching him how to trust God for who He is. Similarly every time you are perplexed and have many unanswered questions concerning the nations of the world today and wonder why God allows these things to continue on, you can be sure God is teaching His people how to trust in Him for who He is and not just what He does!

What happened that brought about the change? The circumstances were still the same but Habakkuk was clearly changed!

By faith he said, "Though the fig tree my not blossom, nor the fruit be on the vines; ... Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation" (Hab. 3:17, 18).

Some Christians only experience joy in what God does. They get really exited when somebody gets saved or healed or deliverd. Of course it is good to get exited and joyful. But the highest form of joy is in the Person of God Himself!