I was slippin’ into darkness when I heard my mother say,
(Hey, what’d she say, what’d she say?)
You been slippin’ into darkness, oh, oh, oh!
Pretty soon you’re gonna pay.
by WAR
Recorded 1971
Poetic, of course, this song that was released in 1971 by a group called WAR. Slippin’ into Darkness – 43 years later, these lyrics are even more significant. Not only about individuals, but about our great country. We are slipping into darkness, living it, watching it happen before our very eyes. You know it is happening. And if you say you don’t, you are not “watching.” You are not listening to the “sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees” (II Samuel 5:24-25).
And let it be, when thou hearest the sound
of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees,
that then thou shalt bestir thyself;
for then shall the Lord go out before thee,
to smite the host of the Philistines.
And David did so, as the Lord had
commanded him; and smote the Philistines
from Geba until thou come to Gazer.
There is a day of reckoning coming – “pretty soon you’re gonna pay.” That’s just what the song said, but let’s go in a different direction with this text for the time being and see what the Word of God says as it speaks directly to mankind.
We will deliberately cover most of the senses today – sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. Let’s talk about “sight.” For not only is it important that we hear with our own ears the gross direction the world is taking, but it is equally important that we see with our eyes, that we watch. The writers of old, prophets and poets and kings and priests wrote about the “Watchman.” Who were those men placed upon the wall and what was their responsibility? The Watchman’s role was a critical one. First and foremost, he was to be vigilant. The security of the camp or city or village depended upon his alertness and responsiveness, which in turn depended on his fine use of all the senses.
I’m a Navy man and it is in me to refer to the calling of my youth to serve this Country. We call it guard duty and no one knows better than a serviceman the importance of all the senses while pulling duty as a guard, a sentry, a gatekeeper, if you will. It requires vigilance, sober-mindedness, accountability. Nothing must slip by this Watchman.
But that’s not all. The Watchman’s further responsibility is to warn. It’s one thing to recognize trouble when you see it or hear it or smell it. But if the Watchman sits idly by and acknowledges the trouble but does nothing about it, he has not done his job at all. The warning must come.
Son of man, I have made thee a watchman
unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word
at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
When I say unto the wicked, thou shalt surely die;
and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest
to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life;
the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity;
but his blood will I require at thine hand.
Ezekiel 3:17-18
Look – with your eyes!
Ezekiel, apparently, had encountered some of society’s bad behavior. We who know Christ call it sin. Any disobedience to God is sin whether it is committed by a common man or woman, boy or girl, or one with the loftiest station in life. Matters not. God deals with sin in a person’s life and there is no respecter of persons with Him.
It is one thing that I was a Navy man, but greater than every calling on the face of the earth is that of the ministry of Jesus Christ. As the prophets and priests and kings of old were called out to serve God, so God calls His preachers in this present dispensation to be Watchmen on the Walls. And that requires that men of God “be sober, vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour…” ( I Peter 5:8).
God calls men and women to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to be the gatekeepers, the sentries, the guards, to be those who warn of impending judgment as well as marvelous deliverance. America, in its present wicked condition, is no different from Israel in times past when God had to deal squarely with man’s disobedience. We are the country, who for reasons known only to satanic forces, have forgotten God. We have turned toward Sodom and Gomorrah. We shake our fist in the face of God, thinking maybe, just maybe, our arm is not too short to box with the God of the Universe.
And as God told the prophet to warn Israel of its sin and coming judgment, He has also warned us in Galatians 6:7 to, “Be not deceived; God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
Look again!
It is God’s message delivered through a human instrument. It was not Ezekiel’s message. It was not Paul’s message in Galatians. It is not my message in Birmingham, Alabama. It is God’s message. And have you ever noticed that God’s message is phrased to fit the situation and designed to bring people to repentance?
Israel was “Slipping into Darkness,” worshipping false gods, following bad and wrong leadership. Read the story of Ahab and Jezebel again and concentrate. See with eyes of understanding in probably the most wicked of human experience how God dealt with their sin. (I Kings 17 and 18).
America is “Slipping into Darkness.”
One of the major players, a doctor of renown, one whom, if I called his name, you would show great respect, said “our freedoms are being eroded away. There is a whiff of despotism.” Of course, you know what sense that is – “smell”! Did you ever notice that sin smells, and what is worse, it is a stench in the nostrils of a Holy God?
We are at a major crossroads in this country. We have Watchmen on the Wall crying aloud, sparing not, but are our people hearing? Are they seeing? Are they smelling the stench of sin? My friend, you need to seek out a man or woman of God and get some help if you find yourself going the way of the world, rebelling against a Holy God, participating in the world’s filth, slipping into darkness.
If you don’t choose to get help, please listen to me. I’m here for you. All the time. Let me explain this. There are two senses left that we have not discussed – taste and touch. When you think about it, these are precious senses. Is there anything sweeter than a delicious fresh peach right off the tree? Or maybe honey from out of the comb? You can think about it all day, but if you don’t bite into that peach or take a spoon of that honey, you’ll never experience the delightfulness, the taste. Listen (that means hear)! Psalm 34:8 says this: “O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him.” Oh, that is marvelous! Taste and see! But that’s not all, trust in Him! How do you taste the Lord? By trusting in Him. It’s just that simple. Cry out to God in Jesus’ Name and ask Him to be your Savior. Not until then will you know the peace that passes all understanding and joy unspeakable that’s full of glory.
We cannot leave out “touch”! The Bible is replete with this kinesthetic expression, this sense that is most important in a relationship with Christ. I think of the woman in Mark chapter five who pressed the crowd to touch the hem of His garment. She was determined to be made whole, and she knew the only way to do that was to encounter Christ. She said, “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.” Jesus said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”
We try to make something difficult out of something precious. I believe it is a matter of throwing up our hands in surrender (faith) and saying “Yes!” to a Savior that is willing to take us just as we are. Come to Him! And you’ll never have to worry about slippin’ into darkness.
Serving Him,
Victor W. Baugh, Sr., Th.D., Ph.D.
Pastor, St. Luke AME Church
Havana, AL
Author of The Anchor Holds, Victor’s Story
http://www.thatgracemayabound.blogspot.com/
