It saddens me that men and women on God seem to be afraid to wield the sword that we have been given. We are the voices of one crying in the wilderness, just as John the Baptist did, “Make straight the way of the LORD”. That means the crooked and wicked must be cast down. Instead, many churches and ministers, seeking “peace with the world”, are being silent against the wickedness presently being flaunted in the world today. These false prophets think if we just keep our mouths shut against evil, that everything will be fine. Well, it won’t.

. I don’t believe for a moment that God is pleased with milktoast Christians, who fear to stand against evil. We have an account in Acts 4:33-Acts 5:
33 And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold,
35 And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.
36 And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus,
37 Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a possession,
2 And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4 Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5 And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6 And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7 And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not knowing what was done, came in.
8 And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
9 Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10 Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.
11 And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things.

Now, after reading that, do you believe God is playing games? Why do you think there was such a move of God in that day? People found out that God is real, and that He means business. Yes, He is also LOVE, but love demands repentance from sin, because you can’t love and sin against God and your neighbor at the same time.

Personally, I’d like to see some of that happening today, because it would put the fear of God back in people. As long as there is no fear of God, there will be no real and lasting repentance from sin. God is a HOLY God, and He expects His children to be HOLY, not blending in with the rest of this wicked and unholy world.

Back in Paul’s day, the disciples of God were different than we see today. Paul wasn’t a “milktoast” minister of the Gospel; he operated in the authority and power of God, and wasn’t afraid to make use of it. Paul preached love, but he backed up that preaching with power from on high.
Let’s pick up one particular account in Acts 13:1-12,

1 Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2 As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.
3 And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.
4 So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister.
6 And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Barjesus:
7 Which was with the deputy of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul, and desired to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the faith.
9 Then Saul, (who also is called Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
10 And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?
11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.

Please make note, this deputy was astonished at “the doctrine of the LORD”. Today, Christians, if they preach at all, would rather preach “peace, peace”, rather than stand against evil and root it out. They allow sin and confusion to come into their churches and embrace it, apparently blind to the fact that Christians, representing CHRIST, are to be the LIGHT of the world, not dimming our light so that we don’t blind the sinners too much.

Tell me, how does God tell the difference between HIS people and the devil’s people? Obviously by our fruit! They say “If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck.” Well, that’s not altogether true, because one day I saw a trained parrot that walked like a duck, and quacked like a duck, but it wasn’t a duck. I laughed till my sides hurt! It could also cluck like a chicken, and peck and scratch like a chicken, but it wasn’t a chicken. It was a trained parrot. God doesn’t want “trained parrots” either, He wants the genuine article, HOLY men and women of God, preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and He will back us up with power from on high.

Blending in with the world only compromises the light we are supposed to be shining into this world. The light is to “draw the bugs to the light so they can be zapped with the Holy Spirit and changed into men and women of God”.

God is not playing games. There are so many lost and unsaved souls out there, and if we as God’s representatives don’t stand out from the rest of the world, they will remain lost and unsaved. We aren’t to just TALK Jesus, we are to BE Jesus to those around us. That means standing up against evil, not being afraid to “make waves” when necessary.

Will it bring persecution to us? Well yes, just as it did to the early disciples, but what do you want for your “forever”? To be with the LORD and hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your LORD!”, or to BE “well done”? The choice is really very simple: serve the LORD, or serve the world. If you aren’t serving the LORD, the default setting is that you’re serving the world. As I said, God isn’t playing games; choose your future wisely!