Do you think it would be a “political” message? Do you think it would be a “social justice” message? Do you think it would be a message addressing our “climate”? Do you think it would be a message saying, “well done”? Or do you think it would be a message of “mercy”? What about a message of “judgment”?
If the good news of Jesus Christ is preached to a nation, and a people, who have already been given the grace of God through Jesus Christ, having shown evidence of this in their original foundation, in their original history books, in their original educational system, in their original courts of law, by their many church buildings, by the stories of their grandparents and great grandparents, and by the many versions of the Word of God, and all things pertaining to the Word of God in their bookstores and yet … rejected the offer of salvation through Christ alone, and not only that, but have also … mocked the name of Jesus Christ, spitting in His face, being evidenced through their current foundation, in their current history books, in their current educational system, in their current courts of law, by their hypocritical churches, by the idolatrous worship and blasphemous words and actions of both the previous and present generation, and shown by the wickedness and mockery towards the living and true God in their current bookstores … then, judgment will come, or has already begun, regarding that nation and that people. This nation, America, has puffed itself up above the clouds, attempting to exalt itself in pride above the God of the universe. It has shown its pride through not only doing those things which God hates but also in encouraging others to do those things which God hates.
According to the nature of a Holy God who cannot tolerate sin in His presence, but One who has graciously given a way of escape from His wrath against sin and evil by sending His own Son to take that wrath upon Himself, so that all who desire this way of escape may freely take it, but at the same time, One who also cannot excuse those who take it in vain, taking it for granted, and lightly, as if it was worth pennies, according to His nature must punish those who have heard the message, experienced the results of this message on its own society, enjoyed the blessings of a nation built upon that message, and at the end of the day continually, hourly, minute by minute, exalts itself as God through its media sources and through every institution in society.
Consider these words: “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it. Now, therefore, … ‘Thus says the LORD, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ “But they say, ‘That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ ” (Jer. 18:7-12, emphasis mine throughout). Those “will’s” are words of pride. All, “I WILL” statements which are not followed by “submit to the LORD” are proud statements, exalting themselves above God! And so, God brought disaster to Judah. He sold them to Babylon.
Consider these words from the Apostle Paul in the first chapter of Romans:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them" (Rom. 1:18-32).
They suppressed the truth even though they knew the truth and so they were without excuse. They believed they were wise due to their pride but truly they were fools. Therefore … it was all downhill from there. God kept giving them over to their passions with ever-increasing hardness of heart growing inside them until they came to the place right before final judgment. That last state of them is the place where they not only do evil … but also promote evil.
THIS IS AMERICA
So, what can we do? We can continue to pray, continue to preach, continue to teach, continue to lead by example, and continue to warn and love, … and IN SO DOING … we increase their accountability before a Holy God. A God of judgment. I am not saying there are those who will not turn to the Lord. There ARE! But it is the least, broken, poor, homeless, mentally ill, the prostitute, the orphan and widow, those rejected, and the drug-addicted alcoholic who WILL listen and so be saved by the gracious hand of Jesus. It is NOT the majority, the popular, the rich, the comfortable, the “normal” and “accepted”, the average American churchgoer, the happy, the politician, the public-school teachers, the University professors, or even the “morality-keepers” or those who run the media outlets, or any who are NOT WILLING TO DIE to this world and to their daily lives in order to walk humbly with Jesus. And since America “as a nation”, or majority, has chosen education, success, wealth, popularity, and pride above humility, it must be judged. However, those who take refuge in the Lord will be sheltered under His shadow (Ps. 91).
The Lord gave me the mouth of a prophet and so I speak. What has He given you to do?
Aletheia: Truth in the Darkness 