Sin often leads to poverty and hard time, not only because of personal sin, but also national sin. In Judges 6 Gideon was frustrated...
Judges 6,13a, “And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the LORD be with us, why then is all this befallen us?.”Notice in verse 13 that Gideon was frustrated. “God, why can't I find a job?” “God, why are we suffering?” “Where are the miracles that our father told us about?” Gideon failed to recognize that Israel had sinned, which suggests to me that Gideon wasn't right with God. If he were, he would have recognized Israel's sins. ...
Judges 6:1, “And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD: and the LORD delivered them into the hand of Midian seven years.”
Judges 6:6, “And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites; and the children of Israel cried unto the LORD.”It was Israel's sin which brought God's judgment upon them. God always judges a nation by giving her over to an external enemy. All across America today we've got Christians (even Christian leaders) who still expect God to bless our wicked nation. Abortion is still a big evil, murdering hundreds of thousands of human lives each year. Public indecency, nudity, violence, lying, taking God's name in vain, crooked business practices, adultery, homosexuality, greed, lewdness in music videos, covetousness, drunkenness—to name but a few evils—plague America today.
Gideon didn't connect the dots to see why God's people were suffering famine, being overcome by the Midiantes, because of the sins of the people. God won't continue to bless a wicked nation! Gideon asked God where the blessings were that his ancestors spoke of. Gideon said, “I've heard all these things about God working miracles, answering prayer, and doing mighty things; but all I see is poverty and hard times instead! What's going on Lord?” Judges 6:1 answers Gideon's question—ISRAEL DID EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. In our own sinful eyes, Americans don't think we've done anything evil to murder 60,000,000 human beings in the womb. Our nation has much blood on its hands. Genesis 4:10, “And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.” Do you think God has missed the cries of 60,000,000 children whose blood has been crying out from the ground since 1973?
In OUR OWN EYES, we don't think we've done evil to get drunk, teach children that they evolved from stardust and gorillas, pass out condoms to the kids to encourage immoral sex outside of a legal marriage, talking filthy in the workplace, women dressing immodestly, and committing all manner of filth and sin; but in the SIGHT OF GOD, we have done woeful evil, so that God can no longer bless us. What saith the Scripture? Judges 21:25, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Don't miss that—they wanted to DO RIGHT—but they wanted to choose for themselves what was good or evil. Friend, everyone has a right to their own opinion, but no one has a right to their own facts! No one has a right to decide good from evil, except God almighty!
The Woeful Lack Of Godly Character In This Generation
Good character is godly character! We are living in a generation that lacks godly character. Character is the habit of doing right, which is cultivated by the continual doing of right. I highly recommend that you listen to a great sermon by Pastor Jack Hyles called: “WHAT HAS DESTROYED AMERICA?” You won't hear a more urgent sermon in this needful hour in America. The horrible attitude that children ought not be spanked and forced to do right has cursed our land. Today's adults are fools. I saw a group of wicked women all holding pro-choice abortion signs, pulling on the same rope as the Devil. Listen mothers, your body STOPS where your baby's body STARTS. In a godly society, even a decent society, a human being is protected by law in the womb. In most cases of a pregnant woman being murdered, the perpetrator is charged with TWO murders, not one. What hypocrisy it is to allow doctors to legally murder humans in the womb. They won't escape God's judgment (Ecclesiastes 12:14; Hebrews 4:13). Abortion is first-degree murder!!!In the preceding sermon, Brother Hyles teaches the importance of forcing young people to DO RIGHT, so that they will develop a habit (character) of doing what is right at all times. We're seeing a lot of religious people today (including pastors), who attend church, talk right, look right and go through all the motions; but they are what I call "one level character" Christians. They are one step away from committing adultery and all manner of evil. They are part of this characterless generation of spoiled American brats. A mature believer is what I consider a "seven level character" Christian. Put another way, Dr. Bob Jones Sr. said that behind every tragedy in human character is a slow process of wicked thinking.
Every time we allow something sinful into our life, it weakens our character and builds another layer of callousness upon our heart. I believe that is what the Bible means in Matthew 13:15, “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.” Some preachers falsely teach that this verse means a person can reach a point where they can no longer be saved. It doesn't mean that at all. It means that each time a person hears the truth preached, and they reject it, another layer of callousness builds up over their heart, weakening their character. No human being becomes a hardened criminal all of a sudden; but rather, it started with stealing cookies from the cookie jar in kindergarten; then it was stealing a kid's bike down the street; then it was stealing a car as a teenager; and now they are in prison for murder. I love what Dr. Hyles said: “If you want to never do anything that is terribly wicked, then you never do anything that is slightly wicked.” What a great truth!
We Need A Real Bible Revival Today
Obeying God strips away the pride and callousness from a man's heart. Each time we obey God, choosing to do right, we become a little more like the Savior, and our overall character is strengthened. David said through God's precepts we get understanding, therefore a believer right with the Lord hates every false way (Psalms 119:104). When we walk with Jesus in the Scriptures (John 5:39), there should be a hatred for sin and evil that intensifies in us because we love the Lord (Psalms 97:10), and He hates evil (Hebrews 1:9). Sin hurts people and ruins lives. I hate booze. I hate abortion and the promiscuity that leads to it. A shocking 86% of abortions are sought by unmarried women! Marriage is the best prevention against the evils of abortion. Folks, there is nothing wrong in America today that couldn't be remedied by raising up the next generation on the inspired Word of God. ...“Now, there's only one thing we need in America—and that is an old-fashioned real Bible revival! I mean a real BIBLE REVIVAL! It'll straighten out the home, straighten out the children, make the husband act right, put the wife in order; it'll take care of the preacher, the church; I mean it'll fix up the community, I mean it'll stop the Devil dead in his tracks; I mean it'll give victory to God's people—the Word of God!” —Brother Lester Roloff (1914-1982), “The Book That Makes The Difference!”Gideon was young and naive. He was your typical youth, having an entitlement attitude. He had heard of the miracles and blessings from God among his ancestors, and he expected the same miracles and blessings for his generation; but Gideon failed to understand that God will not bless a sinful people. Isaiah 1:4, “Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward.” That indictment sure applies to the United States today! There is absolutely no proof of evolution, yet ungodly teachers force that garbage into the impressionable minds of children every day in public schools across our nation. Is it any wonder why the daily news is filled with horrifying reports of adults and youth committing unthinkable evils? I think not.
“The reward that outdoes all others is the peace of knowing that you did right.” —Pastor Jack Hyles
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.