It’s Time to Settle Up!

“‘If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘ I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.’”  –  Malachi 2:2

Many are the cries of “Peace, peace!” Our corrupt and evil government is the sponsor of these cries, but they are not alone. Godless preachers and pastors have taken up the call as well. The social gospel that dominates the belief and practice of many churches and seminaries is choking out the true gospel of repentance toward God and faith towards Jesus Christ.

There is a storm coming! Those who escape the wind will feel the lightnings’ strike. God will not be mocked! We in America are already beginning to reap what we have sown! We have sown to our flesh and we can only expect to reap destruction…unless we repent. (Galatians 6:7)

Do Not Hold Back

“Cry loudly, do not hold back; raise your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their transgression and to the house of Jacob their sins.”  –  Isaiah 58:1

For some time now, I have been seeking to give direction to God’s people about walking in holiness in these unholy days. The Church of the Living God has been in need of encouragement and instruction because the cunning and wickedness of the enemy have weakened the witness of many.

The scope, severity and growth of evil in our nation over the past several month has brought me to the realization that I must raise my voice in condemnation before God raises His hand in judgment! Our accommodation of evil has left the very foundations of our society in peril.

The major violations of God’s Law that we are guilty of are:

the acceptance of homosexuality as a lifestyle

the murdering of millions of innocent babies by abortion each and every year

increased armament build up due to the fact that we have forgotten that our real security is in God

the glorification of entertainment to the neglect of accomplishment

the conscious effort to rid our society of any reference or remembrance of God

and the development of a government system that is based on bribes and corruption.

Every nation that has committed the atrocities that America is guilty of has experienced the downward spiral of judgment found in the Scriptures. First comes suffering, then comes servitude and finally supernatural destruction. These are what we have to look forward to if we do not REPENT!

God is already bringing plagues on our country… unexplainable weather patterns, natural disasters, proliferation of drug and alcohol abuse, increasing violence and crime rates, and new strains of disease and infection that are unexplainable in the eyes of our health care community. The physical, social, spiritual and economical suffering will intensify in the days ahead. Because of our moral bankruptcy, this suffering will bring on even greater frustration and violence.

The combination of these pestilences will bring us very quickly into a bondage we have never known. Freedom has been turned over to hospice care in this country and is simply “waiting to die.” Our bondage to other nations will first come through our economic situation. Foreign nations, like China and India will own us! No, they already do!

Economic slavery will only be the beginning. Cultural and ideological slavery will soon follow. The influence of international law will become the “dictate of international law.” Sheri-ah law may closely follow our bondage. The Constitution of the United States is soon to be an outdated document if we do not REPENT!

Supernatural destruction is coming! God will not hold His holy and righteous indignation forever. The Bible says, “the wicked will return to Sheol, Even all the nations who forget God” (Psalm 9:17). There is a Bible in almost every home in America and a church on many street corners. Sodom was destroyed in a moment and Sodom had no Bibles!

What I have expressed here is often spoken of by pastors in private but very rarely voiced in public. I challenge every Christ-follower to stand up, speak out and not hold back! We will face the ire and castigation of our culture for what we believe but we must be faithful to sound the alarm. The blood of our country will be on our own hands if we do not speak now!

Difficult Times Have Come!

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather  than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  –  2 Timothy 3:1-7

In seeking to understand the times we are living in and the people who I live around, I felt that I needed to study what Paul had written to Timothy about the last days. In studying this passage, I believe I have identified twenty-one distinct characteristics of the people of my generation.

In order to avoid verbosity, I’ll just list the characteristics of our last days culture:

1. Unexcusable focus. (“lovers of their own selves”)

2. Unfulfilling pursuits. (“covetous- lovers of money”)

3. Untruthful estimations. (“boasters”)

4. Unbridled arrogance. (“proud”)

5. Unfearing disrespect. (“blasphemers”)

6. Ungrateful losers. (“disobedient to parents”)

7. Unthankful lips. (“unthankful”)

8. Unholy lives. (“unholy”)

9. Unnatural love. (“without natural affection – unloving”)

10. Unfaithful words. (“trucebreakers – irreconcilable”)

11. Unreliable witnesses. (“false accusers – malicious gossips”)

12. Uncontrollable desires. (“incontinent – without self-control”)

13. Uncivil motivations. (“fierce – brutal”)

14. Unscrupulous morals. (“despisers of those that are good”)

15. Unloyal actions. (“traitors”)

16. Unproductive attitudes. (“heady – reckless”)

17. Unrealistic expectations. (“highminded”)

18. Unheavenly affections. (“lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”)

19. Unjustified hypocrisy. (“having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof”)

20. Ungodly influencers. (“lead captive silly women laden with sins”)

21. Unpossessing fools. (“always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth”)

Many will say, “Well, brother, we have always had these kind of people in our societies. That’s just the way of the world.” I agree. But now these are the PREDOMINATE characteristics of our culture.

Paul’s counsel to Timothy in light of all this was two-fold: live the Word (2 Tim. 3:10-17), and preach the Word (2 Tim. 4:1-5). As in Paul’s day, our culture needs to be confronted with both life and lips. Its time for some sanctified “show and tell.”

Church, Where is Your Heart?

“Everything is pure to those whose hearts are pure. But nothing is pure to those who are corrupt and unbelieving, because their minds and consciences are corrupt. Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.”  –  Titus 1:15-16

I live in a part of the country where it is almost impossible to find someone who will admit that they don’t know God. In south Alabama, the response is always, “Sure I’m a Christian. I know God. I’ve been going to church all my life.” You would think I live in the most wholesome place in the world. Wrong!

Hypocrisy and false profession are nothing new in our world. Titus was warned by Paul that he would run into people like that. It is amazing, though, how thin the veil of separation has become between the church and the world. Many who profess to know God are living such godless lives that they make demons blush.

I am once again reminded that it is not a person’s profession but their possession that determines their authenticity. Anyone can say they are a Christian but where is the fruit of a Christian life? We flee from those who emphasize the importance of fruit…but then again so did the Pharisees when it came to John the Baptist’s preaching.

There will be no fruit where there is no root. Ultimately, our authenticity comes back to the issue of the heart. It takes a transformed heart to evidence a truly transformed life. Paul told Titus that a transformed (or pure) heart would interject purity or transformation into every facet of a person’s life.

Conversely, Paul told Titus that a heart that had not been transformed by the power of God was only capable of corrupting everything in a person’s life. Whether it be attitudes or actions, everything would be characterize by corruption and unbelief.

Church, how can we look like the world, act like the world, talk like the world, walk like the world, and ever expect to be transformational? In order to make a difference, we must be different! We must lay aside the things of the flesh and put on the Lord Jesus Christ. We must “cleanse our hands and purify our hearts” (James 4:8), if we ever expect God’s presence and blessing.

It is time for the Church to answer God’s call to holiness…it’s time for the Church to get a heart!

Shepherds with No Senses

“The shepherds of my people have lost their senses. They no longer seek wisdom from the Lord. Therefore, they fail completely, and their flocks are scattered.”  –  Jeremiah 10:21

The words of Jeremiah are hauntingly relevant in our day. They paint a picture that is too accurate to keep us from blushing. They indict the modern-day pulpit as never before.

There is a creeping darkness in our land today and I believe it is because of the lack of light from our church’s pulpits. Many a preacher is “treading water” in the pulpit on Sunday, just biding time until Monday when they can pursue their own personal interests and hobbies.

This is the day of the “microwave message.” Instead of spending hours in prayer and the word, sermons are “got” from the internet and every other conceivable source…and gotten quickly. Illustrations that are not personal and anecdotes that ring emptily, line the average sermon and leave the sheep week and anemic. Messages are no longer blood-filled but instead leave a “good feel.”

The so-called shepherds of our day “no longer seek wisdom from the Lord,” and the sheep show it to be so. Discernment is almost a lost jewel in the church today. The ability to identify truth and error is almost gone. Pews may be full, but hearts are empty. The slightest blow of the enemy brings many casualties in the church. Failure has become commonplace among the converts of these miserable ministers.

What can be done for the “shepherds that have lost their senses?” I found as a boy that the senses in my knees were intensified when a few layers of skin were peeled back. The flesh exposed became highly sensitive  to everything it came in contact with once the outer layers were taken away.

Drastic times call for drastic actions. It is time for the outer layers of hypocrisy and sin to be peeled back in the lives of those who call themselves shepherds. Let this happen and there would be a mass defection from the ministry. Pulpits would be emptied by two-thirds; that’s because many “good men” are not “God’s men!”

Judah was being warned by Jeremiah of coming destruction. America is facing destruction under the mighty hand of God. Jeremiah responded by praying:

“I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course. So correct me, Lord, but please be gentle. Do not correct me in anger, for I would die. Pour out your wrath on the nations that refuse to acknowledge you–on the peoples that do not call upon your name…”  — Jeremiah 10:23-25

Shepherds, come to your senses! Pray! Seek the face of God before it is too late! Stop dabbling and babbling and repent with your whole heart! Realize that your life is not your own! Realize that you don’t have all the answers…you don’t even know all the questions! Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God and He will lift you up!

These “Times”

 

“But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come…”  –2 Timothy 3:1

 

At the end of most years, I often take time to reflect on what type of year it has been in terms of biblical perspective and prophecy. Since this is the last year of the decade, I think it is all the more important for us to ponder what has occurred and what type of forecast we have for the new decade.

The new millennium began with a sigh of relief as fears of a Y2K computer bug proved to be a false alarm. In 2000, we had the bombing of the USS Cole and the disputed presidential election between George Bush and Al Gore. Since every year has its share of bad news, there was no need for pessimism.

What turned the decade decidedly sour was the terrorist attack on September 11th, 2001. More than half of people surveyed named the attack as the biggest event of the decade. Gone are the days when all you needed was a boarding pass to get on an airplane. Today, going from Dallas to New York is like going from West Germany to East Germany during the height of the Cold War.

The past decade was also marked by scandals, schemes, and financial meltdowns. Time Magazine has recently declared the 2000s the “Decade from Hell.” Time then predicted that the twenty-teens would be a period of sunnier days.

A majority of Americans share this negative view of the 2000s. According to a Pew Research Center poll, fifty percent of those surveyed expressed a negative view of the past decade, compared to 27 percent who viewed it positively, with 21 percent holding neither a positive nor negative view, and 2 percent undecided.

People at the close of 1929 looked hopefully at 1930s for relief. Little did they know the economic hardship was only at the beginning of the downward slope.

I see the last decade as one of squandered time. One writer called it the decade of “oughts,” because so much that ought to have been done wasn’t:

Control entitlement spending
Rein in Islamic terrorists
Solve our long-term energy needs
Invest in food production
Stop the spread of nuke technology
Combat the moral decline of our society

The writers and editors of Time Magazine better keep their “Decade from Hell’ label handy because they may soon find themselves needing to cut and paste it onto the new decade. After the ball drops on Times Square, all the problems of the previous decade will still be with us.

A lot of the blame for missed opportunity rests at the feet of the church. If America had its moral house in order, the economic, social, and political issues would eventually right themselves. The Bible calls believers the salt of the earth. Our job is to be the nation’s moral compass. During the past decade, we’ve collectively been going along with the ride.

I’m absolutely ashamed at what passes today as “Christian” television. I’d rather watch back-to-back hours of Obama speeches than listen to some of these top-rated preachers. While the feel-good message plays on, the forces of darkness have taken over our nation.

It may have been a bad decade for the secular world, but it wasn’t for the kingdom of God. The gospel message has made huge inroads in the past decade. We have to be very near the point of fulfilling a key prediction made by Jesus, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” (Matthew 24:14).

It is time for American Christians to “get their heads out of the sand” and pray for revival in our nation. We are on our deathbed. Drastic times call for drastic actions…to prayer my brothers and sisters!

The Truth About Our Times

The Antichrist spirit is alive and well. No big surprise, right? But the demonstrable fact that it is alive and well at this very moment within so-called Christian church organizations across America is a staggering reality to consider. Here’s what John the apostle, through divine inspiration, had to say two thousand years ago:

 

“Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.” (1 John 4:1–3)

 

The Laodicean church is symbolized as the church that will at the very end of the Church Age (Age of Grace) literally make the God of all creation sick at His stomach. The Lord describes through John that organization’s true character, and why He is sickened: “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 3:17)

 

Jesus spoke to the very things that mark the Laodicean church in foretelling the end of the age. The prophecy is prominent—is, as a matter of fact, the very first characteristic Jesus lists in His Olivet Discourse for the time just before His return: And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the [age]? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:3-5)

 

 Only one who denies that God’s Word is truth can miss the importance of the Lord’s words here. Jesus is speaking to the deception that will be tied up in false teachings and false prophesying at the time just before He returns. Please understand that I’m not meaning next that all large, even mega-churches, are evil. Some still adhere to Bible truth in their preaching and teaching. However, the “if-we-can’t-beat-’em-we-will-join-’em” false religionists of recent years have expropriated the church’s personnel and presented a compromised message before the senses of the glitz-mad American public. The tactic has worked.

 

The mega-church super-complexes under whose roofs the masses continue to swell mark this generation, almost certainly, as the Laodicean church. I believe these church entities are organizations or multiple level of organizations filled not with the Holy Spirit, but with the spirit of antichrist. A primary tactic chosen by most of these organizations to draw the masses is to give people an entertainment spectacle every time they sit in the plush theater pews. There’s nothing wrong with being physically comfortable while sitting, but to be always spiritually comfortable sitting under preaching and teaching that should point to the more abundant life conviction of the Holy Spirit is devastating to the soul.

 

The compromise is in the “Let’s talk about it,” feel-good, do-good message of “God loves you, and would never condemn you to a hell, which in any case, doesn’t exist.” God DOES love us—so much so that He sent His only Son, Jesus the Christ, to die as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for the sin in which we are otherwise lost forever. The thesis-antithesis-synthesis psychobabble theologizing—“Let’s talk about it” compromise—is proof that these organizations of religiosity deny that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation—to reconciliation with God the Father. They are of the Antichrist spirit. These believe they are indeed “rich, and increased with goods, and think they have need of nothing; and know not that they are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” in God’s holy view.

 

Troubling as these unredeemed type of churches are in these fleeting days of this age, the overt, deliberate ignorance of things of God’s prophetic Word in those true Christian churches who still adhere to Jesus as the only Way must be heart-wrenching to the Lord of heaven. Most Christians are without any understanding of the times in which we find ourselves.

 

To those who study the times in light of Bible prophecy, the seminaries, pastors, teachers, and Christians in the pews of America are observably, for the most part, happily ignorant of the astonishing fact that Israel is being put in the position of Zechariah 12:1-3—that the Jewish state is being forced toward a peace from which will come Antichrist and the Tribulation. Christians by and large have no idea that the European Union is shaping to be the matrix out of which Antichrist will come, that the Russian/Iranian/Turkey/other nation alignment is configuring for the Gog-Magog war of Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39.

 

 Today’s church can’t discern that powerful spiritual as well as geopolitical dynamics are forcing the economies of America and the world into a one-world mold that will eventuate in the ten-kingdom rearrangement of Revelation 17:12-13. They don’t see that we are in the “perilous times” of Paul’s forewarning in 2 Timothy, chapter 3. They don’t understand that this nation and the world are filled with the spirit of Antichrist, and that God’s judgment and wrath must be near.

 

As they go through their routines of life, Christians today are doing anything and everything except heeding the words of forewarning of our Lord: “And what I say unto one, I say unto all, watch” (Mark 13:37). He said also: “For when you see all these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your head, for your redemption draweth near” (Luke 21:28). Jesus said one thing more. He forewarned that a great many believers will be caught by surprise at the time of His return in the Rapture: “Be ye also ready, for in an hour ye think not, the Son of mancometh” (Matthew 24:44).

 

Seems to me we are in such a “think not” time at present.

Manna…is that All?

 

“We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” — Numbers 11:5-6

 

 

Just as each stage of physical growth has its own peculiar dangers and problems, so the different stages of spiritual growth present hazards and challenges. The younger Christian is zealous for the Lord but may lack spiritual knowledge. The older believer has a great deal of knowledge, but his seal may have grown cold.

　

I have felt for a long time that one of the particular temptations of the maturing Christian is the danger of getting accustomed to his blessings. Like the world traveler who has been everywhere and seen everything, the maturing Christian is in danger of taking his blessings for granted and getting so accustomed to them that they fail to excite him as they once did.

　

Emerson said that if the stars came out only once a year, everybody would stay up all night to behold them. We have seen the stars so often that we don’t bother to look at them anymore. We have grown accustomed to our blessings.

　

The Israelites in the wilderness got accustomed to their blessings, and God had to chasten the people (Numbers 11). God had fed the nation with heavenly manna each morning, and yet the people were getting tired of it. “But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!”

　

Nothing but manna! They were experiencing a miracle of God’s provision every morning; yet they were no longer excited about it. Nothing but manna!

　

One of the evidences that we have grown accustomed to our blessings is this spirit of criticism and complaining. Instead of thanking God for what we have, we complain about it and tell Him we wish we had something else. You can be sure that if God did give us what we asked for, we would eventually complain about that. The person who has gotten accustomed to his blessings can never be satisfied.

　

Another evidence of this malady is the idea that others have a better situation than we do. The Israelites remembered their diet in Egypt, and longed to return to the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. They were saying, “The people in Egypt are so much better off than we are!” Obviously, they had forgotten the slavery they had endured in Egypt and the terrible bondage from which God had delivered them. Slavery is a high price to pay for a change in diet!

　

Being in the pastorate, I hear my share of criticism from church members. I always listen to honest, sincere criticism and try to profit from it, but I pay little attention to the “wilderness grumblings” of the disgruntled saints who have gotten accustomed to their blessings. In fact, sometimes I even suggest that they pray about attending another church for a time, just to see if their criticisms are valid. They usually come back in a chastened mood.

　

In our families, our children go through this grumbling stage, usually early in their teen years. Their word is “bored”–they are bored with the old house, bored with the old car, bored with the same old food, bored with the same old church, and so on. Each of their friends has a better house or car, a better church, and enjoys better food. Of course, parents are hurt by this kind of talk, but they love the children anyway and patiently wait for them to grow up.

　

I believe Gpod is grieved when we get accustomed to our blessings and start to complain and criticize. The record in Numbers 11 tells us that even Moses became discouraged and wanted to die. I wonder how many pastors, Sunday school teachers, and choir members have resigned because of constant complaining of believers who got accustomed to their blessings. God chastened the Israelites because of their complaining. He gave them the flesh that they begged for, but this flesh brought death. They would have been better off to have settled for the manna! “And He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalms 106:15).

　

The best cure for the sin of getting accustomed to our blessings is this: Constantly give thanks to God for all He gives and all He does. A thankful heart, lost in the wonder of God’s grace and goodness, will never take God’s blessings for granted. Just as a child is constantly filled with wonder at what life brings him, so the maturing believer must marvel at God’s gifts and God’s provisions. Why should God bless us? Who are we that God should care for us?

　

In the final analysis, it is pride that makes us accustomed to our blessings. We forget that we have been saved by grace, not by our own merit, and that it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. Pride leads to complaining and criticizing, and pride leads to a fall.

　

We must beware of getting accustomed to our blessings!

Shouting Down the Truth

“But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness…Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.” — Romans 1:18, 21

 

 

There is an interesting phenomenon emerging in our society. The “town hall meeting” is not new but the manner in which they are being conducted is. The public shouting match is becoming a common occurrence in our day.

　

From the office of the President of the United States all the way down to the local politician, government representatives are experiencing this raucous reaction from the common citizen. It seems that people are mad and they are not going to take it anymore. A key contributor to this phenomenon is the fact that most of the politicians are filling their meetings with organized supporters who stand and shout down the opposition.

　

Questions are not answered–even ignored in most cases. Most of the government’s representatives seem to think that if they avoid the questions or drone on in conversation, that sooner or later those seeking truth will lose interest and walk away.

　

This is not really new. When Paul was writing to the Romans under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, he informed them of the mindset of the world towards the truth–the Gospel of Jesus Christ. He said they “suppress the truth by their wickedness.” The word “suppress” means “to hinder the course of progress.”

　

We are living in a day when our culture and our government is doing everything possible to hinder the course of progress of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God is not only being pushed out of the marketplace but out of everyplace in our country. Our country no longer promotes freedom of religion but instead is pushing for freedom from religion.

　

The tragedy is that when we, as a nation, abandon God, God will abandon us (Romans 1:24)! When we begin to shout down the truth by suppressing it in our lives through wickedness, God allows us to experience the consequences of our wickedness (Romans 1:25-31).

　

What are the practical consequences of shouting down the truth? The Bible says that suppressing the truth results in darkness and confusion. Our culture has no direction because our culture is in darkness. Spiritually, socially and politically we are adrift on directionless sea. We stand on the most luxurious vessel the world has ever seen but we have no power, no thrust, no forward direction.

　

Confusion reigns in our land. This is a second consequence of shouting down the truth. People who ought to be “in the know,” are acting like stupid beasts. Humanism has become the new “baal” and the ability to think clearly and look to God has all but vanished.

　

Is there any hope? Is there any answer? Yes there is! We must not join the crowd that is shouting down the truth. We must surrender to the truth–we must submit to the truth.

　

David gives us the answer to our plight. He gives us an answer for our society. He said in Psalm 43:

“Declare me innocent, O God!

Defend me against these ungodly people.

Rescue me from these unjust liars.

 

For you are God, my only safe haven.

Why have you tossed me aside?

Why must I wander in grief, oppressed

By my enemies?

 

Send out your light and your truth; and

let them guide me.

Let them lead me to Your holy mountain,

to the place where you live.

 

There I will go to the altar of God,

to God–the source of all my joy.

I will praise you with my harp,

O God, my God!

 

Why am I discouraged?

Why is my heart so sad?

I will put my hope in God!

I will praise him again–

my Savior and my God!

I challenge you to hope in God and hear his truth! If it doesn’t begin here, now and with you; then the ungodly of our land will shout down the truth and we all will go into darkness and confusion!

God is No Politician!

“For a child is born to us, a sone is given to us. And the government will rest on his shoulders. These will be his royal titles: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David. The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this!” — Isaiah 9:6-7

 

 

When politicians run for office, only fools and godless men take their promises seriously. Jeremiah 17:5 says, “This is what the Lord says, ‘Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord.” A great gulf often separates political promises from reliable guarantees.

　

We do not know whether the people in Isaiah’s time had arrived at such a point of skepticism, but we do know that they had little reason for confidence. The glory days of David and Solomon were long gone; the Assyrian hordes were knocking on the door. The future looked gloomy. Then the Lord spoke through Isaiah.

　

God promised his people that their land would be overrun and that the formerly great nation of Israel would be left like “a stump” in the land (6:13). But the term stump, while full of dire predictions, held a glimmer of hope: The people knew that a pruned stump would in time sprout, flourish, and bear fruit. “The stump will be a holy seed that will grow again” (6:13).

　

Later, God promised that the dynasty of David would not disappear–it would be overrun, but it would be resurrected and would spread across the world, bringing peace and prosperity, stretching into eternity (9:1-7). A universal, everlasting kingdom! The government of this new kingdom would “rest on” the shoulders of a “child,” a most unusual child who would be “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (9:6).

　

The Israelites might have been tempted to think Isaiah had lost touch with reality. They could expect not only survival but revival? This would happen through a child who would demonstrate divine qualities? Unbelievable. But Isaiah had not lost touch with reality–he had been in touch with the author of reality! The reality is that this child’s “ever expanding, peaceful government will never end. He will rule forever with fairness and justice…The passionate commitment of the Lord Almighty will guarantee this!” (9:7).

　

When God makes passionate guarantees, sane people sit up and take note. God is not a politician running for office–his announcements warrant a better response than skepticism or dismissal. When He speaks, men should listen! History shows that God does what He says He will do–when He guarantees something with “passionate commitment,” He comes through. Unlike any politician, God has the power to accomplish what He promises. In his guarantee we find the confidence to banish the darkness of despair–we find hope in an otherwise hopeless world.

　

As far as God is concerned, the politicians can go jump in the lake. He is in charge–He can do what He says. We must not look to man for answers but put our trust in God.