“But God released Him from the horrors of death and raised Him back to life, for death could not keep Him in its grip.” Acts 2:24 (NLT)

The enemy has been trying to wear down the church. And from an outward appearance, it looks like he has succeeded. As the church goes, so goes the world. The church restrains the evil and the evil one! Paul warned us that until the restrainer is removed, that is the one who holds back the man of lawlessness, the anti-Christ cannot be revealed (1 Thessalonians 2:1-12). The Holy Spirit filled church is that restrainer of evil in our world! But God has raised up a remnant!

The devil tried to silence Jesus before, and that only seemed to work for a very brief period of time. Then when Jesus burst from the tomb, the mask that was put over His face was removed and folded separately, as if God was saying, Jesus will never be silenced again!

Nevertheless, the enemy is trying to install anti-Christ in our nation! But it’s not his time yet! Our enemy has been totally committed to his goal to destroy our nation and release global anarchy. Whereas so much of the church has been lukewarm. There are actually evil men and women in our nation who are totally dedicated to the devil. Yet in this hour, God is allowing the lukewarm to be separated from His church, and He is removing lampstands from lukewarm churches that have lost their first love and have stepped into compromise and tolerance. And at the same time, He is stirring up a fiery hot, passionately devoted remnant people!

The enemy thinks we’re dead and that he won! But that’s what he thought when he crucified Jesus, his biggest mistake ever! Neither death nor hades could hold Jesus back! And that same power is working today to awaken His church! But it will require for us, an “all in” commitment!

Today the Lord says, “I do not lose!” So, the question is, what side are you on? Who will you stand with in this hour? For generations God has not required the consequences of our actions, but as the “seed-plant-harvest principle” goes, we live in an hour when it will be called into account. We will reap what we have sown!

Cry out to God to expose any place of lukewarmness in you. Ask Him to ignite you with holy fire. Ask Him to give you the grace to be all in, in this epic battle for your family, church, our city and nation! Ask Him to demolish every place of hopelessness and defeat that is in you. Ask Him for your faith to arise. Pray for your pastor to allow the Holy Spirit to ignite within him, with an even deeper passion and fire for Jesus in this hour of battle for our nation! Pray for your church to be ignited, so that every lukewarm place would become white hot and holy! Pray for every believer in our city who feels worn down and defeated, that those soiled garments of death would fall off of them, and that the truth that God does not lose would arouse His church to battle in this hour! May the truth that God does not lose resonate throughout the airwaves of our city!!!

(This post was inspired by and gleaned from a message by Kent Christmas at Regeneration Church on October 10, 2021)