Don’t Get Waxed

Beloved! Don’t get waxed!

My sincerest greetings to you, my favorite church family. Last week, as many of you know, I ministered a very hard message. I knew when I was ministering it that it was going to be a bit tenuous to hear. Yet, one of the things that so often encourages me about the type of people that are in our Beloved family is their sincerity and authenticity for the real things of God. Y’all know plastic, fake ministry and the cotton-candy, sugar-coated Gospel of the Chuch-i-anity in America. One of those real things of God, in an authentic believer, is being able to hear hard truth and yet still have a tender heart towards the person that is giving that truth. It was very touching for me that many of you reached out and encouraged me about the message and its necessity in our culture and society today.

They did not crucify Jesus because they loved His soft messages and kind words… they killed Him because they hated the hard, radical truth.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.
Matthew 24:9-13 ESV

I believe every generation, since the ascension of our Lord Jesus, has had an, “end time,” experience. If you view the Scriptures as having opportunity to minister to any person, in any place, in any era, then you have to come to the conclusion that many of the end time (apocalyptic, eschatology) places in scripture have much more application to our lives than just being some far off future event or just a retelling of historic happenings. This is huge for a person who truly wants the power of the scriptures and the presence of God to be realized in their life and time.

In the above declaration within scripture by Jesus, please note, in a personal way, the language that He uses to describes our, “end time,” experience:

• First, we will be delivered up for tribulation. This means that other people will have the purpose in life, believing (like Saul did) that they are doing the righteous thing, of snitching on authentic believers like us. If this makes you angry, you are in ever greater trouble than their tribulation could ever bring. The fact that Jesus warns us about this should predicate a steady heart without wrath. Our Godly response is to have a stable soul, unshakeable by these temporal pains, and a prayerful attitude towards the deceived minions who advance the enemy’s desires. To, “tribulate,” means to, “agitate or stir up.” Do not fall into their trap, Beloved. If they cannot get you agitated or stirred-up, then they cannot trap your soul.
• Next, we will be hated by ALL nations. ALL means ALL in the Greek (and Hebrew). If you think there is some euphoric place or people where we can all move to and everything will be rainbows, butterflies, and Jesus… think again. When you accepted the Lordship of Jesus, His name as your name, His ways as your ways, you defiantly set yourself as an, “enemy of the state.” Friendship with the world is enmity with God, and friendship with God is being at war with the world. It is not personal. We are hated because of the One in us… that HERO within makes the world as psychotic as a mosquito in a mannequin warehouse.
• Then, the falling away. We are seeing this exploding in front of our faces. Believers giving up their faith by the masses. The closure of the churches. The, “church-hurt,” epidemic of a, “my feelings are god,” generation (who could have never handled Sunday’s message). The sissification of our culture turning men into boys, and boys into girls. The skyrocketing divorce rate and quitter mentality that normalizes the surgical removal of another from your heart and life as indicative of a pro-abortion era. A person today can walk away from Biblical faith quicker than a politician can change their position, and with the same smug smile.
• This all culminates into a, “lawless,” society. This is the place where the mad-scientist (satan) can seethe over his cauldron of wickedness to cook up a potion capable of blowing up even the strongest foundations. Lawlessness breeds unhindered anger, justification for anarchy, formation of vengeance seeking mobs, misuse of the Gospel and scriptures that accommodates hatred and violent philosophy, and even turning the soon return of King Jesus into some kind of heavenly SWAT team who will kick down the doors of vile places and create a blood-bath of apocalyptic, militant scenery. Just an FYI… the second coming of Jesus will have the same Jesus as the first coming of Jesus.
• THEN, the love of many grows cold. The King James says, “wax cold.” This creates exceptional mental imagery. The way a candle was made in Bible days was by taking a wick and dipping it slowly into heated wax, then lifting it out until that layer would harden. Repeat the process a thousand times and you eventually have, “wax-ed,” a candle. Jesus is saying that this end-time progression being perpetrated by the enemy is to remove the love of God from our heart slowly, one layer at a time until our wicks (center, heart) are exposed enough to be consumed by even the smallest flame. Then, we cannot be the light of the world, or even the room for that matter. We are just a small flash and then ash. Beloved, do you see how this is happening all around us right now? Where is the love of God? Even in our churches the people are contentious, self-centered, narcissistic, and just flat mean.

Dear, amazing Beloved Church… WE ARE NOT THESE PEOPLE!

By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.
John 13:35 BSB

We are the BE-loved… the ones who are being loved and being love. We will not be waxed by this world and their evil activities. We are destined to mature in this love until it is perfected, which I believe is a part of this Great Awakening. Folks awakening to the love of God to them, in them, and through them.

But in all these things, we more than conquer through the One having loved us.
Romans 8:37 BLB

Dear Beloved, I love you… but, sadly, a bit less than how Jesus loves you. However, I am trying harder everyday.
Steve