Someone wrote recently and said, “I know you don’t believe in conspiracies.” But that is not true. Of course there are conspiracies in this dark world. A conspiracy is a secret plan to pervert justice, to cause harm, to steal, to injure, to kill, to rig elections, to undermine legitimate authority, etc. The Psalms describe conspiracies. Consider Psalm 10, “He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.” That is a perfect description of a conspiracy, and this world is filled with such things. What I have said and emphasized is, first of all, that many conspiracies are myths and we must be careful not to get caught up in mythology. Second, I have said that to study and root out conspiracies is not the calling of God’s people. Let unregenerate conservatives spend their lives on that sort of thing. They have no higher calling. But the children of God have been bought with a great price, which is the blood of Christ, and they are not their own, and their heavenly Master has given them their marching orders for this present life. What this dark world needs more than anything is New Testament churches. It is the greatest need of every city and every town. I’m not talking about those weak, powerless, man-made things that call themselves churches. I’m talking about true New Testament churches as we see in Scripture, as we see in Acts 2:41-42 and Ephesians 4:11-16 and Philippians 2:12-16 and Colossians 1:28-29 and 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10. I’m talking about biblical, Spirit-led, life-changing churches that are truly the pillar and ground of the truth. The New Testament church is the headquarters for Christ’s Great Commission, which is God’s main plan for this age. It is the church that preaches the gospel, disciples the saints, trains the workers, prepares the preachers, and builds up the homes. This is what God’s people need to focus on like a laser. Christ said that he would be with these churches until the very end of the age: “and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world” (Mt. 28:20). God’s people need to know the times, and on God’s calendar it is Great Commission time and it is Church time. All of the redeemed need to recommit themselves to building strong New Testament churches. It is no small task. It requires every hand on deck. God’s people need to reject tradition and follow the Word of God. They need to be Christ followers, not man followers. They need to stop fretting and start trusting, stop lazing and start serving. That’s what I have said about conspiracies.
(Friday Church News Notes, September 16, 2022, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)