Illiteracy in our time.

Introduction.

How can we define illiteracy? Wikipedia explains: Illiteracy is the inability to read and write. An illiterate person may also have difficulties expressing themselves verbally.

In our time, this phenomenon has taken on unimaginable forms that were not known when the description of the word illiteracy originated. I maintain that we have at least three types of illiteracy in our time.

1) It is the illiteracy that we all associate with the word, that one is not literate, or has problems expressing oneself verbally.

2) We have the neo-illiterates, or digital/technological illiterates as I also call them, who, due to digitalization, do not have the same reading, writing and speaking skills as their parents’ generations had.

3) We have spiritual illiterates, and these are those who have no concept of Christianity, or at best only a superficial knowledge of it. This type of illiteracy is linked to the post-Christian era, where it is no longer okay to speak publicly about one’s faith in God.

It is the spiritual illiterates the Bible speaks of, and we will see that they become illiterate for special reasons. In Isaiah chapter 29 and verses 9-14 we find an exciting passage, which in the King James Version 1611/1769 is called The folly of trying to deceive God. Here God tells what He will allow to happen to those who do not seek Him.

Verse 9: Be stunned and amazed, blind yourselves and be sightless; be drunk, but not from wine, stagger, but not from beer, (New International Version 1984).

Just make yourselves blind, says the Lord to the wicked, and says they stagger but not with wine. What is the reason why they stagger like drunkards? What have these people done? They have adopted the teachings of the fallen churches, and it is in this way that they have drunk from the cup of the harlot which contains the abominations of the fallen churches, (see Jeremiah 51:7; Revelation 14:8; Revelation 17:4).

Verse 10: For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered.

It is an illusion to believe that God will lead the people who fight against Him in every way to a higher consciousness and give them insight and understanding of the Bible texts. The next four verses confirm my claim. Paul also says something about this, and in Romans 11:8 he says: According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear unto this day.

Verse 11: And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed:

Here is a person who is obviously learned, because he can read, but when he is given a scroll containing the word of God, he is unable to read it. He is by definition spiritually illiterate, but he will not admit that he does not understand the word of God but blames the fact that the scroll is sealed.

Verse 12: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.

In this verse we meet someone who is illiterate. This person, unlike the scholar, admits that he cannot read. These two have in common that neither of them can read what is written in the scroll, the word of God, but they each have their own reason for not being able to read the contents.

Verse 13: Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:

This is typical of people in our time as well. They have a high profession, … … Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? (Matthew 7:22). Their problem is that they do not know the commandments of God and the law of God. Jesus addresses this problem in the Sermon on the Mount … … and then will I avow unto them, I never knew you. Depart from me, workers of lawlessness. (Matthew 7:23).

Verse 14: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, [even] a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hidden.

This is an interesting way of putting it. Where can we get true wisdom and knowledge? Proverbs 1:7 says this: The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of knowledge: [but] fools despise wisdom and instruction. Fear does not mean that we should be afraid of the Lord God as we might be afraid of losing our job and the like, but we should have awe of our God and Creator, which is the same as respecting God, being humble before God and showing God reverence. If we live our lives according to this principle, the Lord will give us all the knowledge and wisdom we need to emerge victorious from life here on earth. The wicked, on the other hand, will lose what they call wisdom – which is the wisdom of the world, and their cleverness – which is the wisdom of the world will be hidden from them. In other words, they have nothing to offer.

All Bible verses are from the King James Version 1611/1769, unless otherwise stated.

The Age of Neo-Illiteracy and Spiritual Illiteracy.

Neo-Illiteracy.

Illiteracy leads to destruction and people remain ignorant, without the opportunity to acquire knowledge through reading. They cannot write either. Because everything revolves around mobile phones, tablets and computers – including in the school system – the rising generation is becoming learned illiterates.

We live in an era that scholars call the «enlightened age of science«. I believe that such a claim is shooting oneself in the foot, because never before has the situation been worse for young people and their knowledge! To put it a little more bluntly, and to generalize it all, I say that young people today cannot boil water without consulting the Internet. If the young people should one day get to the point where they can figure out how to make soft-boiled eggs for breakfast, they will take a pot, fill it with water, put an egg or two in the pot, put it on the stove, and turn on the power. When the eggs have boiled for a few minutes, they will take a fork and test whether the eggs have become soft and continue doing this until the pot has boiled dry, while the eggs are as hard as when they were put in the pot.

For my part, I do not call this era the «enlightened age of science» but the «Age of Neo-Illiteracy and Spiritual Illiteracy«. Our society is advanced and modern and great progress is being made in almost all areas. The man in the street is amazed at what humans are capable of. The computer age has flooded humanity like a tidal wave of cataclysmic proportion. What is happening on the other side of the world is unfolded in the media at the same time as it happens.

In 2023, the high school exams were ruined for many students in Norway when technology failed when they needed it most. It’s not good enough to hold a written exam with paper and pencil, no, now everything will be online. This gave us a warning of what will happen at the next crossroads. What if all the electronic help the air traffic controllers have suddenly fails and everything in the air traffic control towers goes black? Well, one thing is for sure, the planes always come down, but then there’s the way they come down … …

However, this is not the most serious thing about the technological revolution. It is a phenomenon that has come about in the wake of the mobile phone explosion. A national and international SMS language has been invented. It is no longer good enough to write the words in full, it must be shortened to the point where we are fully into a hieroglyphic or runic written language. Instead of writing «love you» in an SMS, a heart is inserted followed by a U.

Thanks to the new form of teaching in schools, young people today are unable to add or subtract, which we see if we pay with cash in the store. You buy for 75 Euro and pay with a hundred Euro bill. Instead of picking up and giving the customer back 25 Euro, the amount of 100 Euro must be entered into the cash register so that the person at the cash register knows that the customer should have 25 Euro back.

Due to modern teaching methods, we are in the process of developing an entire generation of technological illiterates. There is one thing that young people become experts at, and that is surfing the internet. But, because no one reads a book anymore, and because no one memorizes multiplication tables or hymn verses and the like, almost no one has what should be basic skills for everyone, reading, writing and arithmetic. All learning will take place online, with the problems that this brings.

But the use, or rather misuse, of technology is seen as a blessing by globalists who want to introduce the big-brother-is-watching-you-principle that George Orwell warned against in his novel 1984, written in 1948 and first published in 1949. The novel explores themes such as the consequences of state oppression and mass surveillance and warns against totalitarianism.

With all the modern technology, it is only a keystroke away from blocking access to banks and the like if you do not conform. And as Adventists, we are waiting for a decree that will make it impossible for people to buy and sell unless you take the mark of the beast.

Artificial intelligence has been invented, which is supposedly the best thing ever invented, but this is something I doubt … … but you know, I am a dinosaur … … … The question that arises is whether AI is for the good of humanity, or whether it leads to the ultimate destruction.

Everything can and will be misused, and we can state that AI will be misused in the most gross way, and the frightening thing about it all is that there are forces that want other people evil, whose views on life do not follow the mainstream, and then AI will be an excellent tool in the fight against destroying the lives of those who are not politically correct. All that is needed is a picture and a short audio recording of the people whose lives are to be destroyed, and AI will do the rest. You can then create a video that is posted on the internet, a so-called deep fake video, where it appears that the people who are to be destroyed are saying the opposite of what they stand for, possibly portraying them as racists, terrorists or whatever. We cannot ignore the fact that this is something that can be controlled from the highest levels.

This is the worst imaginable use of AI. The other use of AI let’s call it the «normal» use of AI, where you can get all kinds of information from the internet, will help make people dumber and dumber the more they use AI. This is technological illiteracy at its highest.

However, technological illiteracy is only one side of the story. The other side is the religious side, the spiritual illiteracy.

Spiritual illiterates.

Let’s make a little comparison. When Moses grew up, he did it as a prince at the Egyptian court. His future was to lead Egypt, Moses was to become Pharaoh. He received the highest education a person could get at that time in religion, state leadership, military leadership, and all subjects that were necessary for the future Pharaoh. This was Pharaoh’s plan for Moses.

However, God had a different plan for Moses, and in order to carry out this plan he needed an education that he could not get at the court of Egypt. As the future liberator of Israel, he had to learn completely different things, things that he could only learn by listening to God.

As long as Moses was in Egypt, he was an illiterate person in God’s eyes, despite having received the best and highest education that a person could get at that time. However, it so happened that Moses killed an Egyptian and had to flee. He came to Midian and became a shepherd, and during 40 years as a shepherd, shepherding the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, Moses learned everything he needed to do God’s will.

Midian was probably the place where Abraham’s fourth son with Keturah (Genesis 25:1-2) settled after Abraham had sent away all his other sons except Isaac. It says in verse 6 that they were sent unto the east country. Midian is located in present-day Saudi Arabia, which is geographically located east of Israel. There we find a mountain called Jabal Maqlā in Arabic, which translates to English is burnt mountain, and it is also called Jabal al-Lawz, which means (the) almond mountain.

There are many who will not accept any other Sinai than the one in Egypt, but when God met Moses at Horeb (Exodus 3:1), God gave him the task of leading Israel out of slavery in Egypt, and in Exodus 3:12 Moses received clear instructions to return to Midian and Horeb: And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this [shall be] a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.

Horeb has two meanings that are essentially identical: it is the mountain of Elohim and the mountain of Yahweh. This is not in conflict with the name Jabal Maqlã.

Moses was not able to lead Israel out of captivity until he had received his religious training from God. He received this training in the wilderness of Midian at the foot of Horeb, the mountain of God, while shepherding the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, the priest of Midian. Finally – when the time was right, and Moses had completed his training he met God – up on the mountain – who gave him the mission to free God’s people from slavery in Egypt.

After the Exodus from Egypt, God rebuked His people several times because they had fallen away from their God and Savior. In Hosea 4:6, God says: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge … What knowledge do God’s people lack, and why did God say this to them? Hosea gives us the answer in the rest of the verse … because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. God says that His people lack knowledge.

Moses was a spiritual illiterate in God’s eyes, despite having received the best education in human schools at that time. Moses was not able to free and lead God’s people with only a secular education. After 40 years as a shepherd with his father-in-law, he had received the education that God wanted him to give, and he was no longer spiritually illiterate, but ready to lead Israel out of captivity.

How do people today become spiritually illiterate

In our post-Christian world, it is no longer allowed to talk about Jesus and one’s faith; this has become something that can only be practiced within the four walls of the home, and barely there. Everything that is in opposition to the word of God, on the other hand, is perfectly fine to preach on the streets and alleys where good people walk. An example of this is the individual’s sexuality. This was a topic that belonged within the four walls of the individual’s home, but now it is unfolding in all media every day and in increasingly perverse forms. Everything is now permitted and not even imagination can set limits to what must be accepted.

We can only look at how the world has become in recent years, especially after 1967 with the great hippie summer. This is one of the most destructive movements that has arisen in modern times. Everything exploded in flowers, colours, anti-authoritarian attitudes and pacifist movements, and music took on new forms and The Beatles released the LP Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band which introduced psychedelic music into popular music. In 1967, Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan was hailed as the prince of Flower Power.

In the wake of 1967, several different festivals sprang up around the world, and in the state of New York, in the town of Bethel, a rock festival was held that was nicknamed the Woodstock Festival. The motto of this festival was “Three days of peace, music and love.” In reality, it was a three-day orgy of free sex where alcohol and drugs were flowing.

Such events have helped to shape the generations after 1967, and I was not unaffected by this during my youth. But thank God, I never took the full step into this subculture that developed after 1967. There are millions of people today who are strongly influenced by this life, and we see the results of this “revolution” every time we dare to approach a city centre these days. Here we find both young and old women selling their bodies to get money to cover the current demand for drugs, we find people living on the streets and who commit burglaries and other crimes to get money for alcohol or drugs. All of this can be traced back to the latter half of the 1960s. We also see that after these events it has become common for two people to live together without getting married. And today we have the phenomenon where a couple can say to their partner; “my children, your children and our children”.

All of this is a direct result of the hippie movement and the Woodstock festival message: “Three days of peace, music and love” or rather: “Three days of alcohol, drugs and free sex”. And in the wake of these human tragedies as mentioned, they manage to blame God for having become what they have become.

This is the dark side of post-Christian society. But even worse is that Christianity has been thrown out of the school system and the public space. The result of the de-Christianization of society that has taken place is that people in our time are spiritually illiterate.

Another way this is shown is in popular literature that is served over a low shoe. This helps to break down the last remnants of resistance even among sincere Christians.

Now it must be admitted that the Bible is still the book that sells the most copies in the world. But the question is whether the Bible is used to find God and to get to know God, or whether it is used as a doorstop. On the other hand, we find books about the occult, and these are so popular that the books are made into films, and entire industries grow up behind the books that sell effects that are described in the books and shown in the films. It should be enough to mention Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings, and the Wicca culture … … …

What such books cause is that parents become overjoyed when their children come and ask for a Harry Potter book, and then they ignore the fact that these are books about witchcraft and the occult. “It’s just fairy tales,” they say when they are told about the real content of the books.

There is a spiritual world, and there we find all of Satan’s evil angels. J. K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter books, had this idea quite suddenly on a train journey. These books were written in an unusually short period of time, and she herself has said on one occasion that it seemed as if someone was guiding her hand. This is a well-known phenomenon in the occult world and is called automatic writing or psychographic writing.

J. K. Rowling is not the only occult author who has been used by the forces of darkness to write books. Alice Bailey (1880-1949) also received dictations, automatic writing or psychographic writing from Djwal Kuhl*, and in 1922 Lucifer Trust was founded by Foster and Alice A. Bailey to publish her 24 books on esoteric philosophy, and to finance and administer activities related to the establishment of ‘right human relationships’. Note the name Lucifer Trust!!! The Lucifer Trust eventually changed its name to Lucius Trust, as the first name was relatively revealing. Alice A. Bailey was a New Age prophet and a New Age high priestess and prophetess who received messages from the Tibetan, Djwal Kuhl.

* Djwal Kuhl is another name for Satan.

In the 60s and 70s, Erich von Däniken was a popular author. He wrote about UFOs and y extraterrestrial beings who, in his opinion, should have come to Earth. He “proved” this with, among other things, the Nazca lines in Peru, the decorations on the ancient pyramids and temples on the Yucatán Peninsula, and with large parts of the book of Ezekiel, where he claims that the wheels that move are simply parts of a spaceship, (Ezekiel chapter 1). Erich von Däniken is what we can call a spiritual illiterate because he completely lacked understanding of the word of God.

This was not something Erich von Däniken made up. Already during the Second World War, unidentified flying objects were reported in several places around the world. This has gained more and more space in people’s perceptions, and in the 21st century there is more fuss about this than before. So one can ask the question. Who is behind these phenomena? It is claimed that these are living beings from other solar systems that have come to Earth, but if we think about it a little. The nearest star is called Proxima Centauri and is located 4 light years away from our solar system.

A light year is a distance of 9,460,730,472,580.8 kilometres (9 thousand 460 billion kilometres), four light years is about 38 thousand billion kilometres. How are we going to be able to travel such enormous distances? The travellers must be able to achieve a speed that is starting to approach the speed of light. Even though space consists of almost nothing, there are always some objects out there, and when the speed is a staggering 300 thousand kilometres per second! The universe will be so densely packed with particles and objects that the rush hour traffic in the world’s busiest cities will be a trifle in comparison. How are they supposed to avoid colliding with something while they are going at such a speed.

I personally believe that these manifestations that are reported in several places in the world are real manifestations, but they are not extraterrestrial beings in the sense that we use the word. The beings in question are Satan’s angelic army. All this to get people to spend their time on other things than searching for the Creator of the universe.

When something happens, such as people becoming spiritually illiterate, there is usually not just one reason why it happens, there can be many reasons why people become spiritually illiterate. We have to go back to Isaiah 29.

In Isaiah 29:9-16 we read what God says to the disobedient people through the prophet. Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which [men] deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it [is] sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near [me] with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, [even] a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise [men] shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent [men] shall be hid. Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us? Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter’s clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

In this passage we see two different men with two different forms of illiteracy. The first is clearly able to read, he is learned! but when he is asked to read a text from the Bible he cannot, and claims that the book is sealed. What we should notice in this situation is that it is God himself, the Almighty God, the One who is full of love, who finally punishes this learned man, who despises God in such a way that he cannot, or will not, read the word of God. In this way the learned actually punish themselves all the time they have the knowledge of God and the word of God, but they do not care about God and His word. Therefore, they are eternally lost because they are in opposition to God.

How can we avoid becoming spiritually illiterate?

In Deuteronomy chapter 6 we find the answer. This chapter comes after Moses has repeated God’s Ten Commandments and summarized this in the greatest commandment in Deuteronomy 6:4-5: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

After this summary, verses 6-9 follow, which say: And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.

So what is the situation in the world today?

What happened to God’s people in ancient times is happening again and again throughout history, even in our time. What God’s people do, whether they are Abraham’s fleshly descendants or Abraham’s spiritual descendants, leads them into what we can call the blindness of disobedience, or the illiteracy of disobedience. All of Israel, all twelve tribes, lived a life of constant rebellion against the Lord in Old Testament times. In our time, it is the church that lives a life of constant rebellion against God by bringing all kinds of paganism and human traditions into the church.

In Revelation we find seven letters to seven churches that represent the religious history of the church from Jesus’ death on the cross to His return. This is anything but cheerful reading for those of us who try to follow God’s commandments and laws.

To the church in Ephesus, which represents the first phase of church history, or the early church, Jesus says: Nevertheless I have [somewhat] against thee, because thou hast left thy first love, (Revelation 2:4). There are some within the church in our time who have left God, and it is very serious for them.

To the church in Smyrna, which represents the second phase of church history, we do not find such a description.

To the church in Pergamos, which represents the third phase of church history, Jesus says: But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. (Revelation 2:14-15). What was the teaching of Balaam and what did Balak do that was so terrible? Well, the teaching of Balaam is the same as the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

Balaam was a soothsayer and spiritist, and there were several of this type of soothsayers and spiritists in the city that is called Satan’s throne. The analogy with Balaam indicates that someone in Pergamos intended to destroy the church by dividing it and sowing paganism into the pure church. Balaam (see Numbers chapters 22 to 24) put his own interests before God’s people.

After Jesus’ death on the cross, the Christians were influenced by this mixture. Little by little, religious costumes and rituals from the pagan religions began to be adopted, such as the shepherd’s staff (4th century), holy water, prayer for the dead, and the worship of images and saints, and in this way paganism gained a greater and greater place in the church. In this way, the Balaam of the Christian church also sets up stumbling blocks for the Christians and teaches the Balak of the Christian church to seduce the Christians by an extensive cultivation of paganism.

These two “persons” Balaam and Balak appeared in the early church, as early as when Jesus’ apostles were still alive, and posed the most serious threat to the early church towards the end of the first century. These were some of the false prophets that Jesus warned against in Matthew 24:24, and it was these false prophets who defended dochtheism, which is an important Gnostic doctrine, which states that Christ’s body was not human, but was either spiritual or consisted of a heavenly substance, and that his sufferings were therefore only apparent. Here in Revelation chapter 2, the teachings of the Nicolaitans are compared to the teachings of Balaam. Irenaeus identified the Nicolaitans as a Gnostic sect, a sect that attempted to link Greek philosophy and Christian faith in order to achieve a higher knowledge. The Nicolaitans have also become a symbolic expression of the Gnostics who plagued the churches at that time. False teachings and paganism also characterize the church today, which is a result of the liberalization we see in almost all denominations.

To the church in Thyatira, which represents the fourth phase of church history, Jesus says: Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols, (Revelation 2:20). Jezebel is well known from Bible history. The historical Jezebel was a Phoenician princess and the queen of King Ahab. The name Jezebel means to exalt or to dwell, and this in itself should be thought-provoking, all the while the original Jezebel exalted her idols above God and got the king of Israel to do as she did.

Here Jezebel is used to describe a devilish power, who with the charming and cunning qualities of a woman seduces Christendom into an almost impenetrable darkness. The greatest spiritual adultery in history is found in this period, which among other things involves a systematic religious mixing, syncretism, implemented by the church’s own leadership. Jezebel is used in the Old Testament as a cover name for a false prophet. The congregation is enticed to commit fornication and eat meat offered to false gods. Here it may seem as if the worship of saints (fornication) and the sun cake or wafer (idolatrous sacrifice) that the Catholic Church eats at communion are specifically mentioned. As high priestess, Jezebel introduced the worship of the sun god Baal (Satan) and the mother goddess Astarte in Israel. It is probably no coincidence that the fourth phase of the church is described with Jezebel. Jezebel is probably a synonym for the catholic church that was dominant in the period covered by the fourth phase.

To the church in Sardis, which represents the fifth phase of church history, Jesus says: And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write, These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead, (Revelation 3:1). When we come to the fifth phase we see the beginning of the Reformation, which is expressed by thou hast a name that thou livest. But the Reformation was not old before Satan led other reformers to separate from Luther, and in that way Satan fragmented the reformed church, and finally the Reformation died completely, and hence the expression and art dead.

To the church in Philadelphia, which represents the sixth phase of church history, we find no such description either.

To the church in Laodicea, which represents the seventh and final phase of church history, the end-time church, Jesus says: I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, (Revelation 3:15-17). It is the end-time church in Laodicea that is given the harshest description. In our time, we have received much more light on God’s word than any previous phase in church history has received. The paradox is that this has made the end-time church content with being the end-time church and has become “lukewarm” without doing what we as God’s end-time church have been commissioned to do. We say we have received all the light, which is shown in the expression I am rich, and increased with goods, while we as the church are in reality wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.

As we have seen, there are many reasons why people become spiritually illiterate. People are in constant opposition to God. They want nothing to do with God because they do not know God. They believe that God is a strict God who punishes people arbitrarily, and that nothing good comes from Him, only coercion and commandments and laws that cannot be kept.

They completely forget, or perhaps they are ignorant of what God does for them every day. Every day He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, (Matthew 5:45). God therefore generously gives his rich gifts to all people. Even if you do not believe it, just think about it, you do not have to do anything for a new day, and you do not have to do anything for the field to be watered by the rain that the Lord sends.

Spiritual illiteracy is therefore intentional and learned. You can deny as much as you want and as long as you want, but please take my words to heart. I was there once. I didn’t want anything to do with God, I defied God every single day, and I opposed Him as often as I could. Yet God didn’t give up on me, because when the time was right I accepted Jesus Christ as my Creator and Savior. This happened even though I didn’t want it, I fought against this until I was more than 50 years old, but in the end God won. It is the greatest thing I have ever experienced in my life, and I have been through a lot, I have four children, among other things, yet my encounter, no, God’s encounter with me is the greatest thing I have ever experienced.

This can also happen to you. Just listen to what God is saying to you today, and answer: Come Jesus, come into my life and cleanse me from all the sin I have committed and forgive me of all my sins. Then you will see a reality that is much more beautiful than you can imagine. You will see God’s finger in all of creation and you will find a peace that the world cannot give you, a peace that comes from the God of love. Try it, what have you got to lose?

I was once a spiritual illiterate, and I was this because I wanted to be. I wanted nothing to do with God, and I couldn’t care less what others said about God and Jesus. I lived in a world where I thought I was doing well, but the life I was living at the time was anything but good. Today, however, I am doing well, because my life is in the hands of the Lord. I thought that life with God would cost me a lot, but it costs me nothing. Quite the opposite. I have a much richer life today, and when I accepted Jesus, I lost nothing. I gained a new life instead of losing anything, and I became a partaker of a wealth that is beyond all understanding.

God is calling you to take you out of the illiteracy you find yourself in. Remember that yesterday is gone, and that tomorrow we do not know if we will have, that is why I tell you that today is the day of salvation, (2 Corinthians 6:2).