Something that is titillating in my heart today comes from reflecting on Israel, the Church, and the last days. Let me first define my terms. By "last days," I mean that last Tribulation that the world will suffer before the coming of Christ. How do we prepare for it? What do we do now in order to not find ourselves at want in those days?
David Wilkerson gave a series of messages on this very thing. The conclusion that he continued to give was this: you live like Jesus told you to. If we have two coats, we give our brother in need one. If someone desires to sue us, we give them also our tunic (in modern language, we strip down to our underwear in front of them and allow them to also take our clothing). If someone persecutes us, we pray for them. If they curse us, we bless them. If they hate us, we love them. We do not return evil for evil. We give everything we have. If we have extra in any manner, we supply for others in need. We share all things in common with one another. Nothing is ours. We don't take money with us, but believe that God will provide for us clothes and food. Does He not give more splendor to the flowers than what even Solomon had?
I like this response. There is just one problem: what do I do now? To a certain extent, I live like Jesus told me to. I pursue that lifestyle so that when it really matters, I already have the habit of being generous. There is one other thing that is going through my heart, though. It deals with Elijah. Elijah went to a woman at Zerephath. This woman had nothing. In fact, she so had nothing that she was gathering sticks to eat her last meal with her son so that they could die together.
This woman is a representation of a religious system that is raising up children unto death. They are rejecting the religion of their mother, even while sitting in the pew with her. This son is our generation. The millennials are "leaving church." They have had enough. They have seen what they care to see. They are dying.
What was it that Elijah did when the woman's son did die? He took that child to his own bed chambers. He laid the boy upon his own bed. This, to me, speaks of taking in this generation. We bring them into our homes. We allow them to see our daily lives. They see the good, the bad, and the ugly. They see everything. We live in front of them a life that is worth living. This, of course, requires that we have that life that is worth living. We stretch ourselves upon that boy, and we seek God that He would give us something to breath into this generation.
That boy MUST live. If we allow him to die, then the widow dies too. It isn't enough to think that the millennials are leaving, and we'll get them back when they have kids. If that boy dies, the mother dies too. She won't continue on without her son. This is life and death for the church.
I am only 25 years old, but I feel as though God is granting me the heart of a father. If you don't want your kids, send them to me. If you don't want this generation, send them to me. I will take them in. I don't have much, but my God is greater than what I have. I will not stand by and watch this generation die and go to hell. There is a battle coming up on Mount Carmel where I will be required to face off with the false religious system of the day and give such a demonstration before Israel that they return to their God upon their faces crying, "The Lord - He is God! The Lord - He is God!"
Before that Tribulation comes and I take in the Jew, I need to take in that dead boy. I need to take him in, because if I don't raise that widow's son, there will be no Carmel. What we need to do as the Church is to take in this generation. We cannot put them off. Without this next generation, we will utterly fail in the ultimate purposes of God. We need them as much as they need us. They will be required to go through hell. They will be called upon to be a martyr generation, and someone needs to prepare them for it. Someone needs to reveal what martyrdom looks like. They need to know that martyrdom doesn't come at the end of life to a select few; it is a lifestyle lived out.
To the select few that do get called upon to be martyrs, the reaction they have to that call is based entirely on the life that they have lived. If their lives are still unto self, and they enjoy convenience and luxury, the end of their lives will also be lived to themselves. But there are martyrs that die silently. They die singing hymns. They die in such a way to bring glory to God, and to blow the whistle on everything the world says is truth. They display an alternate reality. What we have been living from is not truth. It is fake.
But the true martyrs are the ones that are so heavenly minded and eternally focused that they can say any suffering that they bear is momentary and light. That is what this generation needs. They need martyrs that live. They need to see in the deepest places of our being that we love not our lived even unto death. They need to see the power of the resurrection, or they won't themselves be raised from the dead. This is my call to everyone. Times are coming, and they will be difficult. What you do now will determine what you will do then. Pour yourself out like a drink offering to this generation, because that alone is what will save many lives - both physically and spiritually.
HALLELUJAH!
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