What a tragedy. On the day it mattered most, no sword was available in the hands of the Israelites. The fathers carried swords, but the children carried none. The Sword is the word of God. A sharpened sword is a sharp word, the blunt truth of God’s words. But how would your children and mine confront the rot and recklessness of their generation without a Sword?
“And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord.” (Judges 2:10)
The children of this elderly man cried profusely as they watched their dad suffer in the hands of the church he served faithfully for years. They professed regrets, wishing that the hands of time could be pulled back to rethink their decision for Jesus, and especially for the local church their dad ported them into. But it was too late. Their lives had been messed up by the leader they so much cherished, almost irrecoverably, except by a unique dimension of the mercies of God. They were shown a false version of the true God of the Bible. They were sold a fake Jesus, another Jesus, not the love personified son of God, the real Jesus of the Bible.
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They may likely never serve the God of their father.
Such is the case of tens of thousands of young people in the church, who are standing on the precipice of apostasy and crass atheism. Some are at the borderline of the complete rejection of Jesus and the Christian faith, given the hypocritical practices of many in the church, while others who claim to be Christians lead lives that rarely mirror what true and authentic Christianity represents. Most of our children are fireless and passionless.
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They are in church but are rarely in Christ. They can organise but can rarely agonise. They can pay for everything but can rarely pray about anything. They can feast but can rarely fast. They can sow for anything but can rarely grow for anything. If the fathers do not congregate a solemn assembly to repair the broken walls of the gospel, the next generation — the youths of today, are now standing on the precipice of brazen apostasy, a situation that could completely obliterate the influence of the church with reckless abandon.
“Now the sons of Eli were corrupt; they did not know the Lord.” (1 Samuel 2:12)
Persecutions of faithful Christians have now more than doubled around the world, and will yet multiply in numbers in years to come. The future of the church in Africa is now in the hands of the Christian youths of today. But will the youths of today who are drinking from the wells of the fathers bear and sharpen their own swords?
The fathers are aging. The children are aching. The world is getting hotter. God’s lovers are thinning out. Culture seems to be prevailing over scriptures. Post-modernism and relativism are now replacing absolute truth. Society is now finding it hard to tolerate true Christians, a situation that parallels John J Murray’s concerns in the following statement, “We have now gone back to the era of the early apostles. The Roman empire under which many Christians were martyred was pluralistic and supremely tolerant of religion. The only people they could not tolerate were the Christians.”
Persecutions of faithful Christians have now more than doubled around the world, and will yet multiply in numbers in years to come. The future of the church in Africa is now in the hands of the Christian youths of today. But will the youths of today who are drinking from the wells of the fathers bear and sharpen their own swords?
“So, it came about, on the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan. But they were found with Saul and Jonathan his son.” (1 Samuel 13:22).
What a tragedy. On the day it mattered most, no sword was available in the hands of the Israelites. The fathers carried swords, but the children carried none. The Sword is the word of God. A sharpened sword is a sharp word, the blunt truth of God’s words. But how would your children and mine confront the rot and recklessness of their generation without a Sword?
“But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.” (1st Samuel 13:20).
Our children must be rescued. Otherwise, they will be subdued by the society and the evils that are coming with it in this end time. They will not carry fire, nor will they distribute fire. They will be vulnerable, weak, and passionless. It is time for us to rise and contend for our faith to rescue our souls and those of the next generation.
The story is an allegory for the next generation of Christians, our youths. The fathers are aging! The children are aching. The Philistines were supposed to come to the Israelites to sharpen their swords, a replica of the light of the church being an influence on the world. But it was the other way round. It was the Israelites that visited their enemies to sharpen their swords. Rather than culture being shaped by scripture, scripture is largely now being shaped by culture. The present-day generation of young and teenage believers are at great risks of not following the Lord in their own generation.
Many of them have not been prepared to carry swords. Many of them don’t even know what a sword is. The sword is the genuine WORD of the LORD, which is the nucleus of the gospel. If the present generation of Christian leaders do not congregate a solemn assembly to train and retrain the youths of today in the undiluted truth of God’s word, the youths will go to the philistines to sharpen their swords. In fact, they are already mingling with the philistines in the land. Many of them are boldly and confidently singing the Lord’s song in a strange land. Our children must be rescued. Otherwise, they will be subdued by the society and the evils that are coming with it in this end time. They will not carry fire, nor will they distribute fire. They will be vulnerable, weak, and passionless. It is time for us to rise and contend for our faith to rescue our souls and those of the next generation.
What does the next generation know about intercession? What do they know about sanctification? What do they know about discipleship? What do they know about genuine repentance? What do they know about genuine love and compassion for the poor? What do they know about faithfulness and self-control? What do they know about the gifts of the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit? What do they know about eternity and eternal rewards? What do they know about purpose and vision? What do they know about evangelism? The walls of the gospel of Christ are being broken down and the next generation of believers are standing on the precipice of apostasy, if not called back to God with surgical urgency.
“And there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord.” (Judges 2:10)
Ayo Akerele is the senior pastor of Rhema Assembly and the founder of the Voice of the Watchmen Ministries in Ontario, Canada. He can be reached through [email protected]
