Looking at this part of this verse and, if we back up the the verse before this one we see this. ( verse 6 ) And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed at this time.

( I believe ) that these verses are speaking of the Holy Spirit of God. He also says that ( the mystery of iniquity doth already work ). The Holt Spirit is the power that withholds the ( man of sin ) from being revealed at this time.

I say all these things to seek to make a point about what I am seeing; basically; in every avenue of our lives today. As a man that has been born again for forty-five years, I’ve seen a lot of changes in the way we go about the average Church service in our land. If I were to use a metaphor about it; I’d say this. If we were to say that manys years ago our Churches were completely white but, we began to drop one drop of black paint within them and, now the color of our Churches has drastically changed because of the paint that’s been mixed within the original color.

Another metaphor I often use is this. At one time there was a man rowing a little boat down the Niagara River; not knowing there was a great fall up ahead. At that time there were thousands of people standing on the banks screaming at that man to ( come to the bank ) there’s ( danger up ahead ). Now, there are thousands of people rowing in that same river and, only a few people doing the best they can to make them understand ( there is trouble up ahead ).

In my lifetime I have seen that change. I remember when simple, uneducated men, filled with the Spirit of God preached with God’s power on their lives. I also remember when both, men and women within the average Church sought to know truth about their place to stand as guided by the Holy Spirit of God. I remember when the word of God was the most important asset in any Church and, most people sought to understand it as directed by God the Spirit within them.

( I believe ) that the biggest reason for this down fall is the lack of teaching and understanding what truly being ( Born Again ) is all about. I’ll use another metaphor here to make my point. My wife is from Ohio. On our last trip there we went through a place called ( Shakker Town ). I don’t know if that is spelled correctly but, she revealed to me that the Shakkers didn’t believe in having sex. To make a long story short, they all died out. I just wonder; what in the world would cause them to die out? That question has a very simple answer.

The art of being born again is exactly the same picture. When we stop teaching the art of how that comes about and, people simply just become Church members them there is no Spirit of God within those that say they believe. Therefore, we have a Church filled with people but, those that are truly born again slowly die off and all we have is an empty shell of a Church.

We all know that it takes both, male and female to bring about child birth. Well, in reality it takes the very same thing to bring about spiritual birth. The Church being the female part and, the man of God, preaching or injecting the Spirit of God to the Church as he speaks as God directs him to speak. Actually, the Church does not have to be a willing participant. It only has to be ( truth spoken ) and ( revealed by the power of God ).

I’ll share with you a true story that actually happen at a Church I was a member of once. The Church, at that time was at odds with tha pastor for whatever reason. This pastor was a very powerful voice for the power of God. No doubt, he preached, being filled with the Spirit of God. As a matter of fact, he was preaching whrn I was born again.

On this Wednesday night, as he began to preach, a man stood up and rebuked him, stopping him from what he was preaching because of a selfish motive he had, of his own. The Church actually went into an argument, first one person voiced their opinion then another. All of a sudden, this young lady stood up and begin to weep. She said, I don’t know what this is all about but, I truly need to be saved, can someone please help me?

The pastor left the pulpit, went out, took this young lady by the hand and took her to the alter. Even in that invironment, God’s Spirit was able to speak to this young lady. Now, I won’t say that it all came about that night but, the normal invironment of this Church was one of being ( Holy Spirit filled ). In reality, it’s the Spirit of God that brings about Spiritual birth. It’s not a pastor nor is it a Church. In our Churches, far too often, we have basically used ( spiritual birth control ) or ( aborted ) the very aspect of spiritual birth.

In reality; our Churches are doing today exactly what the ( Shakkers ) intended to do. What the ( Shakkers ) desired to do was to get people to join them, therefore, the Church would grow without the need of having children. In the average Church, all we have is a lot of children and, children joining that group. The problem with that is that there is and, never will be any true spiritual growth.

Accross our land; there are many ( born again believers ) that truly desire to see people saved. We; me being one of them, are seeking other avenues to get the power of God the a lost word other than just sitting in a Church. although the spirit of God has been deminished over the years, there are many people still around that speak and move with the power of God on their lives. We are those that hold back the revealing of him that opposes all that God does. Our voice is still heard and used by God the Father. One day, even we will be taken out of the way. We call that the rapture. At that time Satan will truly be revealed and, we will be gone to our heavenly home.

In closing. I’d like to reveal what I believe it takes to truly be born again. There might be those that disagree with me and, that’s fine. However, if the Spirit of God moves on a heart then salvation will be real. As people, we are born into a world of sin, we are sinners. It doesn’t matter how spiritual your family might be and, how well you are taught to be a good person, you are a sinner in need of a savior and, without salvation you will die and, go to a Devil’s hell for eternity.

Being ( born again ) is the art of revealing the reality of hell to a person with the understanding that without the blood of Jesus Christ applied as a covering for you sin, that will be your home. Being ( born again ) is the ability of a peraon, let’s say a pastor to bring an individual face to face with God the Father in all his perfection, bringing a sinner to the nakedness of himself as revealed to a righteous God. We see ourselves without hope in this present world. With that knowledge revealed, we seek a way of redemption which is in Jesus Christ and his shed blood.

We become willing to die to ourselves and willingly start our walk with Jesus Christ being led by his Spirit that is birthed within our heart at that moment. Now, there’s a couple of ( pictures ) that can be used here. The first is that of a seed. ( John 12:24 ) Verily, Verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Our fleshly shells are worthless to a righteous God, that is until we see ourselves as such. When we see our selves as worthless and, allow His Spirit to move into our hearts then we can begin to do the work he desires for us to do. That seed that sprouted within our flesh begins to grow toward spiritual maturity.

I said all that to make the point that we are not seeing that transition taught today. We have Churches filled with people but they all remain as they always were. Because of this, as born again believers slowly leave this world the resistance to evil becomes less and less.

The people that are born again and, seek to share the truth of the gospel are those that let. We allow God Spirit to work through our flesh. We seek to do his will. We ( LET ) God have his way within us and, allow him to be seen in us.

One day we will be taken out of the way. The world hates us because the world hates Jesus Christ. It’s not that ( the world ) doesn’t use his name; he’s spoken of often in many Church and, we even see people pray in his name. So, what’s the problem? The world denies ( the power thereof ). ( 2 Timothy 3:5 ) Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

We that are born again don’t just have a ( form of Goliness ) we have the very power of God living within us. That power holds back the very power that Satan desires to have at this time. However, there will come a day when we will leave this world and complete deception will set in,even those that have a form of godliness will be deceived on a level that they cannot imagine at this time.

Can you imagine! Jesus Christ returning to take his bride on a Saturday afternoon, just a very small number of people in a local Church disappear. However, the pastor is still here. On Sunday morning the rest of the Church members and, the pastor meet at Church as usual. The members are concerned about what just happened. The same pastor, the one they trusted all this time now stands and convinces his people that everything is fine and, the lie will be believed.

As a matter of fact, in some cases, it will even be God that causes this. Let’s look at another verse here: ( 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 ) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: ( 12 ) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

I want you to know that the Church of Jesus Christ is alive and well today. It might be, compared to the world, very small in number but, we as born again believers have a very strong voice, that is whether anyone chooses to hear us or not.

We are not found in a building made of brick or wood but, we are found all across this land, speaking, writing, sharing the true gospel of Jesus Christ to those that will listen. True born again believer ( LET ) the Holy Spirit of God walk and talk in this world. While we oftern might be silienced in the average Church, we are not silent on the streets of our towns and cities, we talk to our friends, nieghbors and any person that will allow us to share the gospel.

Thank God for ( those that will let )!

Lord, I pray you will put you protecting hand upon every believer that seeks to share your gospel to a lost and dying world. Lord, help us to show forth our love for Jesus Christ, the love you placed within us the day we were born again, help us never to lose our ( first love ), give each of us strength to do your will in a time of great apostasy in every aspect of our lives. Lord, walk with us each day, help us to stay focused on your word, your will and the salvation of others until the day that we will be taken up from this wicked and perverse world. Help each of us to stay focused on ( the mark of the high calling in Jesus Christ ). Strengthen our inner man, all for your glory, AMEN

Marshall Clayton

2 Timothy 1:7