We are definitely headed into greater and greater testing as the darkness rises. Judgment always begins in His house first. We who call ourselves His by taking the title “Christian” will be subject to testing to find out if our declaration to Him is really true. We’ve seen tests of this globally in the last two years, and the tests are increasing.
I’m reminded of Judges chapter 6 and 7, when Israel was faced with an overwhelming force (Midianites) that already had subdued them. Please reread it as I think it’s a wonderful example of what we just went through in the last two years. God came to Gideon and chose him out of obscurity to lead them. He wasn’t the one trained by the usual ways or chosen by the ‘religious’ system of leadership. Then there were the tests that God had the men go through to determine which of them would be chosen to fight for Him. First God allowed all those with any kind of fear to leave. Then the ‘water’ test was next. All of those men that remained before the water test were warriors and very willing to fight — yet they were dismissed. Why? The difference had to do with HOW they drank and a readiness and awareness. Those that used their hands were only 300 out of 10,000. That is only 3 percent of the willing warriors. They were the ones God wanted to be His fighters.
When faced with Governmental and societal pressure how many within the Christian ‘church’ succumbed to the jab (and subsequent multiple jabs). Many spiritual leaders / Pastors encouraged those in their congregations to take it. Actually this current jab situation is VERY parallel to the same thing most pastors of Christian churches did in Germany during the rise of Hitler. Now when it comes to be able to actually ‘hear’ the Voice of the Holy Spirit personally and individually without having to get their ‘marching orders’ from their ‘spiritual leader / pastor’ is becoming exceedingly rarer within the modern Christian Church. Is the percentage as low as the time of Gideon’s army? I honestly don’t know, but it certainly now isn’t the majority of those sitting in ‘services’ on Sunday mornings. In fact I believe more and more of God’s current remnant have removed themselves from the large institutional settings of the organized Church. Why? They want to really grow spiritually beyond the third grade and listen to the Holy Spirit as their first Teacher. They are seeking out koinonia / fellowship with the ekkliesia / Body of Christ in small meetings where real relationships are happening and being fostered.
Do you want to be part of the remnant or be comfortable as part of the crowd? The test in the last two years is pretty telling. We are headed into a time where the tests of our faith will become more and more severe. Where we will challenged to deal with the lack of our ability to hear the Holy Spirit’s instructions for us ..daily. Either we press into Him and learn to hear Him for ourselves or be dismissed from going any further. The test will be where our devotion is really centered… on our ‘things’ or our relationship with Him. Will we be willing to take the losses of our things and comforts?
Are we like the apostle Paul yet? The remnant is being asked to choose to go there.
But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:7-11