Lost or Found
“And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in path that they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them.” (Isa. 42:16)
When we look around at today’s world, including the church world, one must of need ask the question, “What in the world is going on?” In Daniel’s last chapter (12:4) we read where the Lord tells Daniel to seal the book of this last prophecy until the time of the end. “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
To most of us who read and study our Bible it is a well-established fact that we are in the End Times. We are rapidly approaching the end of the church age, which will culminate at the Lord’s return. “Many shall run to and fro” is a sure indication of the present-day confusion that seems to especially have the modern church in its grips. “And knowledge shall be increased”. There is no denying the fact that knowledge had been increased. In the last hundred or hundred and fifty years, mankind has seen advances in medicine, transportation, farming, electronics, etc. on a scale never before in the history of the human race. Yet, it seems that in these end times, knowledge is sadly lacking wisdom and common sense. Through the use of computers, I-Pads, and smart phones, people have lost the ability to converse, to think, and to reason for themselves. Sad, sad, sad!
This malady is not only confined to the secular segment of our society but is also very evident in the church world today. Most church goers seldom read and study their Bibles in their own homes and instead only listen to the Word of God, as some texts are read when they attend the service in their local church. Home Bible study is by and large a thing of the past. It is sad but most church goers are Bible illiterate, completely relying on their Pastors to guide them in their spiritual needs. And, pastors themselves, who, in many cases are just as spiritually blind. It seems that those same parishioners and Pastors accept a make-believe religion, in which some Divine being uttered some vague words in the distant past, that really have no merit in today’s world, but just makes a person feel good. Scant attention, if any, is paid to the Word of God, uttered through His chosen prophets, in regard to the Lord’s plan and dealings with a people that the Almighty set aside for His own purpose. The people who live in that realm are lost to the full meaning of God’s Divine Word, to the reason of their being and to who they really are. They are just lost souls, sailing along in a mist of confusion.
Still, it need not be so, for the Bible is replete with warnings and promises uttered by our Lord, regarding the conduct and future of the Lord’s people. Time and again we are told that God will forgive the sins of His people and gather them again into a flock worthy of His name. He tells us that we, who love Him, will be called His people, and He will be our God. He would change our name (Isa. 62:2), He would change our tongue (language) (Mark 16::17), in other words He, God, would completely change our identity, but regardless of all those changes we are still the people that the Lord chose for Himself. We, as people might be confused as to who and what we are, but you can be assured that our God has never lost sight of those He ordained to be His servants amongst the nations. We should take the Bereans, as mentioned in Acts 1:11 as an example, and diligently study Scripture to find the truth.
In Matt. 15:24 Jesus said He was not sent but unto the lost sheep of Israel. In John 10:16 He tells of other sheep, not of the fold found in Palestine, that He would bring to make one-fold under Him, and in that same chapter verses 27, 28 He tells that His sheep will hear His voice and follow Him, and they will never be lost or perish. The sheep not of that fold in Palestine are the Israelites in dispersion, the lost sheep. When we compare these words of Jesus with the prophetic statement about Israel in the OT, we come to the conclusion that the Lord and the prophets were and are talking about the self-same people, namely us, the people of the Book, the people with the Book. “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” We have no choice, it is in our blood to follow the Shepherd of Israel. In our veins flows the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is a heritage that is richer than silver and gold. Only ignorance and or stubbornness will cause us to reject these facts, and we do so at our own peril. If we accept these facts as found in the Holy Bible, we can consider ourselves found, not only of God, but also of our own selves. We will know who and what we are as to what Scripture teaches. Thus, the question remains, are you lost or found?
If you are among those that are still lost, and if your heritage is found among the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian and kindred peoples, I post this challenge to you. Study the prophets and compare those with the words of our Lord and those of the Apostles and try to find your answer. If your pride and apathy prevent you from doing so, you will remain lost to your identity forever, and when the time comes you will have to say, Lord your book is full of nice words but I could not believe them.
May the Lord help those that seek. Amen
