Awake Unto Righteousness

“Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak to your shame.”  1^st Corinthians 15:34

 

There is a term that goes around nowadays called ‘woke’.  Everything is being questioned and supposedly new ideas are being interjected into the ‘old way of thinking’.  For instance, the other day I read a brief article describing how some believe that automatic soap dispensers are a cause of systemic racism.  Why?

 

Well apparently they do not ‘see’ the hands of those with darker colored pigment skin, as well as from another, forces ‘black and brown bodies’ to show their palms.  While this might be an extreme example (after all isn’t all of it extreme anyway), nonetheless it is quite simple that these automatic soap dispensers sense anyone’s hands, man or woman, black or white, make’s no difference whatsoever.  So it is a baseless claim, but nonetheless shows the characteristics of how anything that can garner any amount of ‘sense’ by such people who are looking for evidence of supposed wrongdoing can pretty much find such ‘evidence’ anywhere.

 

Things have been getting worse and worse in the United States, as well as around the world, for quite some time.  This is not something that has just happened overnight, but has been ongoing for numerous decades.  However, in the past several years there has really been a ramping up of trying to ignore God’s clear Word regarding certain things in regards to man’s opinion.  One can not scoff at God or His Word.

 

“Do not be led astray, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.”  Galatians 6:7

 

This is not to say that just because we live in the 21^st century that things have always been well, they haven’t.  In fact just read the following verse to see what I mean: 1 Kings 14:24.  So there is nothing new under the sun.

 

“That which has been is that which shall be; and that which has been done is that which shall be done; and there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there a thing of which it may be said, See, this is new? It has already been in the days of antiquity, which were before us.  There is no remembrance of former things, and also no remembrance of following things of what will be; nor a remembrance of those things by those who follow afterwards.”  Ecclesiastes 1:9-11

 

The vast majority of people simply want to live their lives and care to be left alone.  They don’t care about soap dispensers, in fact such thoughts wouldn’t even enter their mind.  They haven’t ‘woke’ up to such a train of thought.  In fact there is a saying that is often repeated, or at least used to be, in the alternative news circles and that idea is that ‘ideas are bulletproof’.  To a large extent I would agree, we must be careful we must realize the dangers of such things, lest we also become ‘woke’.  For we are to awake unto righteousness, not have our minds filled with such trash…let me explain.

 

The other day I was meeting up with someone for a bit to eat.  With us was my wife and my kids.  A conversation got brought up regarding someone whom they had seen that they suspected as being a transgender at a local business.  As they spoke they tried to mask what they were saying, by using alternative words and fewer words, so perhaps the young inquiring minds present would not be able to understand what was being spoken.  Wise?  Perhaps a bit, but just how wise?

 

There is much debate amongst some regarding men wearing women’s clothing (Duet. 22:5), using the bathroom of the opposite sex (Mk. 10:6), showering at a public locker room of the opposite sex (Gen. 1:27), vice versa; this debate many continue on for some time.  Yet should we debate at all?  Should we listen to these people who refuse to listen to what their Creator has said in His Word, the Bible?  Should we even pay attention to such notions, even for a moment of debate, does it even matter?  God will Judge…

 

“And many of those sleeping in the earth’s dust shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to reproach and everlasting abhorrence.”  Daniel 12:2

 

What about these ideas that are worthless babblings, sinful and against the Most High God who Created both the heavens and the earth?  Consider Moses approach to such evil!

 

“And when Moses saw that the people were lacking restraint (for Aaron had let them loose, to the derision of their enemies), that Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Whoever is for Jehovah, come to me. And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.  And he said to them, Thus says Jehovah the God of Israel: Let every man put his sword on his side, and go and return from gate to gate throughout the camp, and let every man kill his brother, every man his companion, and every man his neighbor.”  Exodus 32:25-27

 

How do such ideas get introduced?  How are such things becoming a fabric mixed into our already sinful world?  Let me give you an example.

 

Back in the 1990’s there were movies, not good movies, that would have lustful scenes of two women.  These movies would be the joke of the boy’s locker room at the high school.  They would talk about how they would like to meet a couple of women like that, a two for one philosophy.  There they got their sneaky agenda pushed into a world that was not quite ready to accept sodomite marriage being ‘accepted’ and illegal (Lev. 18:22).

 

Another avenue was also through the entertainment industry.  A popular talk show host back in the 1990’s had ratings through the roof.  Eventually she ‘came out of the closet’, only after having won the hearts of millions of fans.  Sitcoms portrayed the same sort of scenario.

 

The sitcom Roseanne was a very popular 1990’s sitcom.  While there was clear reasons biblically that Believers should not have given the show the time of the day, nonetheless as a whole in our society the show was well watched.  As the show continued, eventually Roseanne’s boss came out gay, then eventually a couple more of the characters on the show came out as lesbians.  So in a sense, viewers were ‘woke’ to such ideas. 

 

Their known resistance (as those who design these shows know how to push the limits of what is acceptable and always have), was challenged.  The challenge was that as they enjoyed watching the show and continued watching it to see how it progressed, finally their moral fabric was challenged.  A choice was given to them and most people simply continued watching it, moral relativism at it’s finest. 

 

The same can be said with the music industry, always pushing their boundaries.  Now a major problem is arising as these ‘woke’ ideas have entered and are entering more and more with a private-public partnership. 

 

Just as many parents used to forego state sanctioned sex education at schools, oftentimes because they taught things that wouldn’t even have entered into the young minds of these students, so too corporations are having classes and ‘waking’ people up to ideas that many would never have considered, thus making them victims of this nonsense that should not even be debated nor argued about.  A brief example:

 

I have cleaned commercial businesses off and on for over 20 years, simply often what my family does.  I enjoy the peace and quiet, being able to work with my family without having to deal with that evil communication (1 Cor. 15:33) that I often have to deal with as a restaurant manager.  Over the past decade the amount of pictures that people have on their desk or their office of themselves with their spouse and/or children has greatly diminished.  Why?

 

Well people are taught either in a college, university or a corporate brainwashing class that these sorts of pictures can be offensive to other workers.  People follow these sort of ‘woke’ ideas, even in areas where there is rarely a man who is wearing women’s clothing walking down the street or at a store.  In order not to offend someone who disagrees with the ‘nuclear’ family, they opt to have no pictures, ‘woke’ and used as a tool to only further push these same agendas. 

 

Just as the last 4^th of July parade that my family attended (2019) there were a group of LGBTQ people literally screaming and running down the street (with other walking with flags), I question where is the ‘straight’ people demonstration also in the parade?  I say that with some sarcasm, but you get my point. 

 

In the last article or radio show I mentioned Amos 8:11 and how eventually there will be a famine for God’s Word.  Well what do you want to bet that one of the reasons will be that people are so ‘woke’ that God’s Word will be seen as nothing but hate speech and systemic racism?  Really what it is, is rebellion towards God and His Word, they refuse to heed.  Yet this is really nothing new as this sort of attitude towards God and rebellion towards their Creator has happened prior to the Flood and it has once again happened prior to the “time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30:7), better known as the Tribulation.  Things will indeed continue on this path (2 Tim. 3:13).

 

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.  And God looked upon the earth, and behold it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way upon the earth.  And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them along with the earth.”  Genesis 6:11-13

 

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.  For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and did not realize until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”  Matthew 24:37-39

 

Sometimes I feel like Elijah and wish to just go into a cave (1 Kings 19:9), though the will of God is that we should be part of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).  

 

The other day I was in midtown Detroit.  I decided to take a walk around a few blocks, just to observe the area.  Here I am surrounded by a people ‘woke’ to evil.  They are well aware of the trouble that is around them with their bars on their windows, the burnt out shells of homes, as well as the numerous abandoned buildings.  People are just trying to live and most people want to simply be left alone, so that they can do that with fear constantly being on their mind.

 

There was a liquor store in my view and I watched as a man walked out drinking a bottle out of a paper bag.  Finally a woman also came out with a paper bag with a liquor bottle in it, throwing down a plastic cup on the ground.  This brought back memories of having lived just outside of the Eastside of Chicago years ago. 

 

Walking down the street I noticed a man coming my way down the sidewalk with a baseball bat in hand, spinning it around a bit, holding it, ready for action.  As we crossed paths we had a brief interaction of simply saying ‘hi’.  A white man out-of-place in a neighborhood passing a black man who simply is trying to protect himself walking down the street.  He, like me, simply wants to be left alone. 

 

Now I can imagine that some would say that it is crazy to walk around such a neighborhood.  Well I was there, I needed to do something, so I took a walk, not purposely putting myself into a bad position, but rather knowing that my life is in the Lord’s hands and therefore whatever happens, happens.  I don’t know how else to say it.  If I were to recount all of the times I have done ‘crazy’ things or been in positions where it was extraordinary unsafe, then I would recount to you the times where I have seen the Creator of the heavens and earth, my Creator (yours as well) intervene and help me, oftentimes when I didn’t even know that I needed help.  Praise be to God Almighty who does not forget His children, who keeps watch over us!

 

“Jehovah is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? Jehovah is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  Psalms 27:1

 

“Jehovah shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.”  Psalms 121:8

 

You see we are to awake unto righteousness, not be ‘woke’ by the world.  We are to wholeheartedly serve Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, and not give heed to the world and it’s ways. 

 

“You have commanded us to keep Your Precepts diligently.”  Psalms 119:4

 

“I will behave wisely in a perfect way. Oh, when will You come to me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.  I will set nothing wicked before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; it shall not cling to me.  A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will not know evil.”  Psalms 101:2-4

 

“Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy; think on these things.”  Philippians 4:8

 

“The man who wanders out of the way of understanding shall rest in the assembly of the spirits of the dead.”  Proverbs 21:16

 

We are to awake unto righteousness, but there will be those who promote this ‘woke’ agenda who will awake unto everlasting destruction.  For we, whether ‘woke’ or not will all stand before God Almighty and unless you have repented (Acts 17:30-31; Luke 13:3) and by faith believed into Jesus Christ (John 14:6) as your Lord and Savior (Acts 20:21), you will be cast into the Lake of Fire for all eternity (Romans 3:23; 6:23).

 

“And the devil, who led them astray, was cast into the Lake of Fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.  And I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heavens fled away. And there was found no place for them.  And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God. And books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, out of the things which were written in the books.  And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one, according to their works.  And Death and Hades were cast into the Lake of Fire. This is the second death.  And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the Lake of Fire.”  Revelation 20:10-15

 

So as this world continues to tear down statues, rename buildings, decide who can and can’t use the bathroom and have government officials in powerful positions who publicly display their sin and rebellion towards their Creator, know this, they are ‘woke’ on their way to Hell and unless they repent, they will indeed bear the fruits of their deeds. 

 

Many will join them, many will be cowardly and not take a stand.  They will tolerate their ‘wokeness’ and even though they disagree their silence will only further the agenda.

 

“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, prostitutes, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”  Revelation 21:8

 

This includes those who preach from their rotten pulpits, preaching to a doomed congregation.  They refuse to stand for God’s truth and have chosen error rather than God’s Word.

 

“Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into the ditch.”  Matthew 15:14

 

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own lusts, desiring to hear pleasant things, they will heap up for themselves teachers;  and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to myths.”  2^nd Timothy 4:3-4

 

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.  And many will follow their destructive ways, through whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.  By covetousness they will exploit you with well-turned words; whose judgment of old is not idle, and their destruction does not slumber.”  2^nd Peter 2:1-3

 

Awake unto righteousness and seek the things of God. 

 

“Now therefore, fear Jehovah, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers have served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve Jehovah!  And if it seems evil to you to serve Jehovah, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers have served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my house, we will serve Jehovah.”  Joshua 24:14-15

 

“And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.  The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.  Let us walk decently, as in the day, not in carousings and drunkenness, not in cohabitation and licentiousness, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.”  Romans 13:11-14

 

Amen!