A Call To The Remnant

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Posts Tagged ‘Babylon’

O CHURCH, RETURN FROM THE PIGSTY – A PROPHETIC LAMENT AND CALL

Posted by appolus on August 14, 2025

In the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11–32), Jesus gives us a picture we dare not turn away from. A son goes to his father and demands what he believes is his right. The father, with sorrow in his eyes, grants it. The son leaves for a far country, intoxicated by the noise of sin and the wine of the world. For a time the music is loud and the cups are full, yet the sweetness turns bitter and the music fades into the groan of hunger. All is gone, and he is left with nothing. He takes work feeding swine, longing even for their food, and no one gives him anything (v.15–16). The father does not chase him into the darkness. He waits. He longs. But the son must first come to himself before he can come home (v.17).

In the stench of the pigsty the young man finally sees the truth. His condition pierces his heart like an arrow (Lamentations 3:40). His pride is broken and his hope rests only in mercy. He says, I am no longer worthy to be called your son, make me like one of your hired servants (Luke 15:19). He rises, not in strength but in weakness, not in triumph but in repentance (James 4:10). Step by step, through dust and shame, he walks the long road home (Micah 6:8). The father sees him while he is still far off, runs to him, embraces him, and restores him fully (Luke 15:20).

Church, do you not see? We are that son. We have taken the treasures of heaven, the sharp and living Word of God (Hebrews 4:12), the glory of His presence, the power of His Spirit (Acts 1:8), the holy calling to be a set apart people (1 Peter 2:9), and we have squandered them. We have gone into the far country, embraced its ways (Romans 12:2), and lived as it lives. We have traded holiness for popularity (Hebrews 12:14), truth for comfort (2 Timothy 4:3–4), and the fear of God for the applause of men (John 12:43).

Now the banquet is over and the gold has turned to dust in our hands. Our garments are stained and our lamps are dim (Matthew 25:8). This is the state of the modern church. We are in the pigsty (Isaiah 1:4–6), trying to call it blessing while the stench rises to heaven. And yet, even now, the voice of the Lord is heard, saying, Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28). Return to Me, and I will return to you (Malachi 3:7). Be zealous and repent (Revelation 3:19).

Leaders, shepherds of the flock (Jeremiah 23:1–2), you will give an account before God. Tear your hearts and not your garments (Joel 2:13). Weep between the porch and the altar (Joel 2:17). Let your tears be rivers upon your cheeks (Psalm 126:5). Let cries of repentance rise like incense before the throne (Psalm 141:2). The hour is late and the call is urgent.

We must come to ourselves. We must take the road of humiliation back to the Father’s house, for His thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are His ways our ways (Isaiah 55:8). If we will humble ourselves under His mighty hand (1 Peter 5:6), He will lift us up. He will heal our wounds (Hosea 6:1–2) and restore the joy of His salvation (Psalm 51:12). But if we refuse, the pigsty will be our dwelling still and the stench will only deepen.

The question is not whether the Father is willing to receive us. The question is whether we will rise from the filth, bow low before Him, and begin the journey home. The door stands open. The Father waits. The time to move is now.

Posted in christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Daily devotional, Devotions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Sowing the Wind, Reaping the Whirlwind: A Reflection on Collective Consequences

Posted by appolus on August 4, 2025

History is filled with examples of national or collective consequence, when entire populations suffer the results of ideologies or movements they have supported. After World War II, the German people endured immense suffering. Over 600,000 children were killed. Cities were flattened. Women were raped by the invading Soviets. Hunger and displacement were widespread. While not every German was guilty of Nazism, Hitler and his regime had broad popular support. That support had consequences, natural, inevitable, and devastating.

This was not divine retribution, it was the harsh outcome of cause and effect. When a society builds its identity around hatred, violence, or conquest, it will eventually face the very storm it helped create. This same pattern is unfolding in Gaza. Hamas is not simply a fringe extremist group acting independently. Repeated polling over the years has shown that a strong majority of the Palestinian population, at times over 80 percent, has expressed support for Hamas and its methods. This includes the targeting of civilians and the use of human shields. The suffering that has followed, while tragic, is not inexplicable. It is the bitter fruit of seeds long sown.

That said, two wrongs do not make a right. But when someone has a 100 percent record of only criticizing one side, when outrage is selective and never balanced, that outrage loses moral authority. It becomes ideology rather than truth. And ideology, not principle, is the root of most of the world’s injustices. We must speak differently as followers of Jesus. Our voice must not echo the rage or loyalties of the world. When we become partisan, we compromise our witness. That is how crowds are stirred to cry out, “Give us Barabbas,” choosing political allegiance over righteousness.

The law of sowing and reaping is real and impartial. Everyone is accountable. But in any violent conflict, especially one where survival is at stake, the party that initiates the aggression bears the greater weight of responsibility. The suffering of civilians is always a tragedy, but it does not occur in a moral vacuum. When a people support a movement that glorifies destruction, they must also face the consequences that naturally follow. That does not mean every individual is guilty, but it does mean that actions have repercussions, and movements supported by the many will inevitably shape the fate of the whole.

Yet as Christians, our place is not to take sides in the quarrels of men. Our loyalty is not to any earthly cause but to the Kingdom of God. When Joshua encountered the angel of the Lord and asked, “Are You for us or for our adversaries?” the angel replied, “No, but as Commander of the army of the Lord I have now come” (Joshua 5:13–14, NKJV). This response reveals the true nature of heavenly alignment. It is not about whose side God is on, but whether we are on His.

We are not called to be partisan in the affairs of man. We are ambassadors from another Kingdom, the Kingdom of God. Our response is not to mirror the anger of the world but to weep over its hatred, to mourn the vengeance that devours the children of men, and to speak with clarity, compassion, and conviction from a place that transcends politics, borders, and ideologies.

Posted in end times, End Times Eschatology, Gaza | Tagged: , , , , , , | 3 Comments »

The Rise and Fall of a Movement: From Pentecost to Prosperity

Posted by appolus on August 3, 2025

At the turn of the 20th century, we witnessed the birth of two monumental Pentecostal movements. First, in 1904, came the Welsh Revival in Britain, and then, in 1906, the fires of revival swept through Azusa Street in Los Angeles. These were no ordinary stirrings, they were powerful outpourings of the Holy Spirit that would give rise to entire movements, such as the Elim Pentecostal Church in Britain and the Assemblies of God, which would spread globally and impact hundreds of millions.

From these humble beginnings, in every corner of the land, small Pentecostal churches began to emerge. Their message was simple: salvation through Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the restoration of spiritual gifts. These fellowships sprang up in the shadow of massive denominational institutions, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, and others, hige edifices steeped in their own traditions. Yet right beside them, in modest, unassuming buildings, were these Spirit-filled gatherings where lives were being radically transformed, adults were getting saved, and the gifts of the Spirit were active and alive.

This was a profound blow to the kingdom of darkness. The enemy, seeing the explosive growth of this movement, would not sit idly by. His question became clear: How can we bring this down? And so, beginning in the 1940s, we saw the emergence of new “theological,” trends, the Word of Faith movement, the Prosperity Gospel, and of course the Charismatic movement in the 60s, which would swallow up the others and become indistinguishable.

It was a cunning strategy: If you can’t beat them, buy them. The philosophy was simple, promise the very things that human beings everywhere fear to lose: health and wealth. Whether you’re in New York City or a remote village in the jungle, the universal concerns remain the same, our bodies and our bank accounts. The enemy offered a counterfeit gospel, one that shifted the focus from the cross of Christ to the desires of the flesh.

The Charismatic Movement became a Trojan horse. It infiltrated Pentecostal churches across the globe, not with persecution, but with promises. And it worked, brilliantly, tragically. The smoke from the fire of true revival has been replaced by the smoke machines of performance and entertainment. The altars were replaced by stages, the message by motivational speaking, and the Spirit by self-help and “self,” seeking

What followed was the tearing down of the very pillars upon which the early Pentecostal movement had stood. The purity of the Gospel was traded for a gospel of gain. Faith, once the precious link to Christ Himself, was twisted into a tool to manipulate blessings. Prosperity or tge lack of it, once counted as rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ, became the goal.Christ had become but a means to a materialistic end.

It was a disaster for the Church, and a stunning success for the enemy. The people rose up and played, just as they did before the golden calf in the wilderness. Think of “holy laughter,” and roaring like animals. And today, we stand in the shadow of that fall, in the ruins of what once was a mighty move of God.

These false ideologies, health and wealth, Name It and Claim It, the separation of faith from Christ Himself, have infected almost every corner of the modern Pentecostal and non-denominational world. Rare is the church untouched. Subtle or blatant, this taint remains, and it must be recognized for what it is.

Now, in this late hour, a remnant is rising, a people who are returning to the simplicity and the power of the cross, who walk not in the counsel of the world but in the fear of the Lord. Let us not be seduced by the glitter of gain or the lure of comfort. Let us remember the foundation laid in tears and prayer and holy fire. It is time to leave the circus behind, with all its many forms of entertainment, and “come out from among her.”

Posted in Babylon, bible, Charisma Magazine, Charismatic, Christian, christian blog, christian living, Christianity, Church history, church mafia, churches, consequences of sin, Counterfeit Jesus, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, End Times Eschatology, False Prophets and Teachers, false teachers, Greedy Shepherds, Jesus, remnant church, revival, the crucified life, the deeper life, the gospel, the persectuted church, The presence of God, the remnant, The State of the Chuch and Manifest presence, the state of the church | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments »

Leaving Babylon behind!

Posted by appolus on July 12, 2015

leaving babylonHearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him. For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. Isa 51:1-3

Isaiah is speaking to a people in chapter 51 who have spent a long time away from Jerusalem. He is speaking to holy remnant people who long to return to the place from whence they came. Long have they suffered in a land full of sin. To add to their sufferings, so many of Gods people seem to have been taken by Babylon, seem to be indulging in all of its worldliness and comforts. In fact, when the time came to leave, historians tell us that almost three-quarters of the Israelites did not return but did in fact choose to stay.

But what a joy it is to be comforted by the knowledge that the Lord can and does and will comfort His people in the ” waste places.” He promises to make the desert places like the garden of Eden. Joy and gladness shall be found in the wilderness and the voice of melody shall carry on the hot desert winds. The Body of Christ finds itself in such a time. Long has it dwelt in Babylon. Long has the hearts of the saints been vexed just like righteous Lot’s. There is a grieving in the hearts of the saints as they witness the comfort and those at ease in Babylon. The saints know in their hearts that when made to choose between ease in Babylon or the long winding narrow path through the waste places and wilderness that leads them home, so many will choose to stay in Babylon.

Yet, it is better to experience the joy of the Lord in the wilderness places that to experience the joy of the world for a season. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. (Heb 11:25-26)

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Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology, Uncategorized | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

For the joy of the Lord is your strength

Posted by appolus on March 16, 2015

Neh 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

In Neh chp 8 we see that a solemn assembly has been called. The wall had been completed, the exiles had returned and now they would seek the face of God. Now, in the revival movement of today we recognize well the first nine verses of Nehamiah. The solemn assembly, the reading of Gods word and sermons, the falling on our faces with our faces in the dirt so to speak. In Nehamiah the people wept upon hearing the word of God, they wept upon being convicted of their sins, they wept when they realized how far they had wandered from a Holy God, they wept when they realized just how compromised they had become after years of living in Babylon. In our revival meetings one often witnesses such weeping, such repentance, such dismay at how far we seemed to have wandered from God. The reason is the same today as it was in Nehamiah’s time, the Spirit of conviction falls upon the people and their eyes are opened to their condition and the condition of the church. When we hear Gods law spoken, when we read of it, we can recognize that the law works death to those who violate it even in one part. It strikes terror into the heart. It is true that everyone who finds himself under the law finds himself under a curse, for cursed is the man who violates even one part of it. And so they wept, and so we weep today at our current condition. Yet , praise the Lord we are not under the curse of the Law. It is a good sign to see a tender heart, a broken and a contrite heart, yet even in the day of Nehamiah’s reading of the Word, we find that it was a feast day.

The seasons of God are good and there is a time for weeping and mourning. Yet, if that is all that we have, if we live forever in a perpetual winter of weeping and mourning, whether that is in our personal walk or in our ministries, then nothing will ever grow. We will not grow in the knowledge of God. Yes, there is conviction in the presence of God. There is a time to rent our clothes and throw dust on our heads, yet if this one season becomes the whole then we render ourselves weak and ineffectual. Our real strength comes in the Joy of the Lord. If we cannot put on a garment of praise for a spirit of heaviness then we will not stand in the evil day. We will be overcome by trial and tribulation and persecution. When the Israelites were captured and taken away from Jerusalem, their captors sat them down by the river of Babylon and taunted them. They said to them, lets hear your songs of Zion, your songs of victory now. And the Israelites, once famous for their songs of praise to God, hung their harps on the willow trees, unable to sing, overcome in spirit in their defeat. The enemy had not only robbed them of their earthly freedom, they had robbed them of their joy, they no longer had a song in the night. The willow tree represents sadness, weeping. Can you imagine how powerful it would have been if the Israelites, trusted in a mighty God to eventually redeem them. It is a mark of God’s saints that they can praise the Lord their God despite their circumstances. It is a fruit in the lives of those with deep soil, deep roots, who can, in the heat of trial reach down into the depths of their lives and experiences with God which has been built on trust and the never changing word of God, and rejoice in the sure knowledge that God is with them and has already redeemed them.

This joy leads to praise, this praise leads to joy. And the outpouring of this joy and praise allows the saint to run and not grow weary, to walk and not faint, to mount up with with wings as eagles because every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. (Isa 40:4-5)

Posted in Christian, christian living, Christianity, church of scotland, Daily devotional, Devotions, end times, Jesus, pentecostal, revival, the remnant, the state of the church, theology | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »