It would serve us well to consider and to heed the words of the ancient Biblical prophets. The present-day church would be revolutionized, resulting in the restoration of contemporary culture.
Ezekiel tells God’s people that ignoring the commands and promises of God provides justification for a declining civilization. (Ezekiel 16:52) The ramifications of this failure resulted in sexual perversion, religious paganism, personal presumption, and philosophical pragmatism. As the Body of Christ, like Israel of old, “we must bear our disgrace” and plead for mercy.
“How then shall we live?!” (Ezekiel 33:10) Without much elaboration, we must heed the words of Old and New Testament saints alike.
- I Peter 4:7-19 with emphasis on v 17…Judgment (purging and purification) must begin with the people of God.
- I Peter 3:8-17 with emphasis on v 15…be ready to give a reason for the hope that we possess.
- II Corinthians 10:1-6, emphasizing vs 3-5…we are to engage in pulling down evil strongholds (arguments, speculations, reasonings, ideologies, philosophies) and bring every thought captive and obedient to Christ.
- Isaiah 58:1-14 with emphasis on v 12…become repairers of the breach and restorers of righteous pathways.
- Isaiah 33:5-6 emphasizing v 6…Our God is the sure foundation for our times.
- Proverbs 2:1-5 with emphasis on v5…To know God intimately we must take God seriously.
Annie Dillard, in her book Teaching a Stone to Talk, concludes these thoughts with intention and intensity. “The sleeping god may awake someday and take offense, or the waking god may draw us out to where we can never return.”