Ambrose.J. Chakre
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning but the hearts of fools are in the house of pleasure. Ecclesiastes 7:4
To what was then and to what is now things has really changed. The things we now witness speaks a language of the last days and in the latter days the world will be ripe for judgment. As the years goes by the evils of Horn Bill are also at its worst and it is never in the interest of the church of Holiness to ever endorse this horrible festival. Whoever coined the phrases ‘Festivals of Festivals’ and ‘Land of Festivals’ has so many reasons to repent of their evils. Though what I write may sound stern, it is better to be rebuked in this life than to suffer for eternity in the next death. The messages of the last days are now preached in every church and it will be adulterous for God’s people to shake hands with the world when they should be shaking hands with God. The Book of James thus accounts “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred towards God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) Even to this regard I trust Horn Bill came into being because it was destined to be and it will be in the near future that the evils of it will suffer in hell. There are people involved in this festival and our desire is not for anyone to perish and we trust God’s people not to reject what we preach.
The government will certainly endorse it citing worldly reasons, not scriptural and it is not what Christians should seek. The State Government had been vigorously enticing the Nagas, the Indians and the world in particular by promoting music, fashion shows and a lot of worldly related events. The three days festival was extended to seven and now to ten and it is just a nuisance in itself. The world is mad indeed, even when there are fees to be cleared, debts to be paid and relationships restored, there are some who instead of solving their own issues, they tend to rush to the houses of entertainment just to entertain themselves. Somehow it is also the desires within which also tempts certain people to do what God forbids them to do. This is what the reality is and unless the truth is truly embraced the desires of God cannot be made complete in us. The 1st Epistle of John states “ Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world- the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does- comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away but the man who does the will of God lives forever. ( 1st John 2:15-17 ) This sermon will certainly create outrage but our intention is not to tease the fishes but to hook out the fishes with hooks. If you know what this means we trust you will look more seriously into the truth of God’s Word. The Church of Holiness thus writes ‘ Do not create platforms for people to sin; neither allow your children to associate themselves with sinners’. Remember, though we still live in the world our desires must not be conformed to its patterns, rather our eyes must be distinctively fixed on the truth.
In a certain place where the sick people lie I went there to pray and as I was about to leave, seeing so many fashion magazines lying about, I said to them, do not fix your eyes on this, fix your eyes on Christ. Then as I shared in another place a woman kept looking at her watch- so I said to her do not fix your eyes on the clock but let your eyes be focused on the truth. Some of them didn’t take it too kindly but certain things has to be said in the way it should be. Trust this, we are now in the end times and it is not for temporal reasons we live but for the eternal. For those who are of the truth they will have more reasons to pay more attention to what we teach. It is not for a show that this is written and neither do we preach for the cause of damnation but for salvation. The Book of Romans thus states “And do this, understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The nigh is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and pout on the armour of light. Let us behave decently, as in the day time, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. (Romans 13:11-14) The authencity of what we preach must rise higher and our satisfaction is also in seeing the sons and daughters of God rising higher in the truth.
Though people may laugh, joke now, can they be cruel enough to utter obscenity in funerals or even in their death? The answer is a staunch no and it will not be wise for them to drift back from the answer they gave. This happened years back, in a camp as I over slept one of those in charge of the Bible camp confronted me by saying ‘ Why are you still sleeping like a broiler, the confrontation only toughened me to look more into the future. The realities of what we face in this life are all evidenced in the scripture and the mystery of what we believe is a mystery in itself. Since we are on a countdown to the climax of the last days, the acts of our ways must be a step higher than when we first believed. The Apostle Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians states “ Be very careful then, how you live- not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ( Ephesians 5:15-17 ) This gives us a clear understanding of what the present evil is and it also brings to light of the realities of which confronts us.
Everyone knows that the days are evil and it will certainly not be wise for sinners to dance when they should be praying and it will be far worse for them to go to parties when they should be going to church. Somehow there is a naughty nature in every human and it is important to put to death the evils in us. the truth has to be told, even as holiness has to be embraced, we declare in the truth that Horn Bill is ‘ unholy’, ‘it is not safe ‘and we trust all of God’s people to take this seriously. The time of reckoning will surely come and in the near future the pronounced disaster on earth will make its presence felt. There was a major landslide in a certain part of Nagaland and to speak of it, it is only a landslide, the greater realities has to be acknowledged and there will certainly be great wars in the near future. So the point is: Will Hornbill be celebrated even in the event of a war or will the government promote it even when the threats of virtual conflicts looms large? The nature of this confrontation may be please some but in the days ahead many will understand. Though the Tourism Department promotes his censored festival our prayers are also for them to come to the way of truth.
Remember horn bill is just horn bill and it will be wiser to think more of eternity rather than endorsing the affairs of the world. Even as I spoke some harsh words, I said all that I said out of love, from my heart for a eternal cause. The Church cannot be sleeping in this moment of spiritual urgency and we call upon all of God’s people to be better equipped to confront the evils of this dark world. Let the armies of Christ be stationed everywhere and may the hovering powers of darkness be put to flight by the might power of the Holy Spirit. The world will only experience gloom and darkness and it will be far worse in hell but for us who are God’s people, the very powers of God shall deliver, protect and empower us in the truth. In the truth we declare that the world is dead but god is alive and it is we who are expecting the second coming of Christ. The voice of the Church shall demolish every stronghold of the evil one and it is through Christ that victory will be ours. The Church reigns supreme through Christ.
P:S; There were multiple computer shutdown prior to tying this and even as this was being written there were some strange events which clearly showed the defeat of the evil ones and it is in the truth we declare that God’s purposes will always reign supreme. Every thing belongs to God and it is His will which will always triumph. We are the slaves of Christ.
