When Trouble Comes

Scripture: Micah 7 v 8:  "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me."

1 John 2 v 1:  "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

When we fall into error we have an Advocate called Jesus Christ who intercedes for us before the Father. When satan accuses us (as he does continually - his very name means Accuser of the Brethren) Jesus responds, Father I did that sin (He took our sins upon Himself) and the Father says to Him, the debt upon You is cancelled, the person is not guilty. 

An advocate in a worldly court stands before the judge and pleads as if he is you.  In an even greater court, in Heaven, Jesus admits His guilt, and because He is in perfect right standing with our Father He obtains a pardon for us.  Here on Earth the Holy Spirit will bring us to our knees, and press us in spirit to put things right.  You would say, my conscience is bothering me.

Sinners in the world need many lawyers, advocates and judges to get them out of trouble for breaking the law.  Even that does not work out in their favour. True Christians live holy lives against which there is no law.  Their lives portray the fruit of the Holy Spirit found in Galatians 5 v 22 - 23: Love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control.  There is no law against any of these attributes as they are the very nature of Jesus.

Christians who do not have a real relationship with Jesus and are not filled with the Holy Spirit, have had to go back to living under the law of Moses. They have lost their Advocate.  They have lost their way.  They have become like the Pharisees of old, proud, hard, traditional, religious keepers of the law that does not belong in New Testament Christianity.  Paul cried out in Galatians 3 v 1: "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that you should not obey the truth?.....Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?"

Paul preaches that the Law can save nobody.  It exists to show you what you are doing wrong.  He was a deeply committed Pharisee until Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus.  He counted everything he had learned under the law as dung. Philippians 3 v 8.  There is no salvation to those who live under it. On the day of Judgment they will hear Jesus say the four darkest words: I never knew you! Matthew 7 v 23.

We have the Bible to guide us with wisdom and knowledge from above.  It was a negotiated settlement when Satan became the ruler of this world.  He knew Jesus would one day be alive on Earth, and tried to kill Him by killing all baby boys under the age of two in Bethlehem after it was known to Herod that the king of Israel had been born.  The Roman ruler was fully under Satan's control.  He failed to find the One who would deliver us from sin and demonic oppression.

When Jesus ascended to heaven, the Holy Spirit was sent to disciple us to this day.  He gave us very powerful and beautiful gifts to enable us to live holy lives in the midst of a sinful world.  Many churches live more on religious tradition than in a vibrant personal relationship with Jesus.  They have modernized the church to man's meagre standards and unless they find a way to relight the candle of true faith, they will find themselves part of the One World Religion under the power of the Antichrist.

If you want to see how that looks Google "2014 South Korean Conference for World Peace" - the video is on YouTube.  It shows us how little time we have left to bring the lost into the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for being everything to us, including our Advocate. Help us to shine Your light of love and forgiveness into the darkness of this world as the night is coming when no man can work.  The time to be obedient and committed to Jesus is now so guide us, Father, in how best to serve You. In Jesus' name.  Amen.