Greetings,
"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not." Lamentations 3:22
God's mercy protects, delivers, preserves and helps. The very knowledge of God reveals that His compassion, longsuffering, grace and mercy and lovingkindness is beyond anything that we deserve. We deserve death, punishment, sorrow, and death because of our sin, unbelief and unfaithfulness. But God has been merciful to keep us from the full extent of His wrath and punishment upon our nation, upon our families and upon His church. Yet, due to the failure of men to seek and find Him not all find this mercy and compassion. For when men reject God; when they reject Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; when they reject the prompting, leading and invitations of the Holy Ghost; they will not find compassions and mercies; but they will find wrath and judgement.
1. the Plight of our Nation -
God has been merciful and shown great compassion to our nation and to the church in America. We deserve none of this, yet for God's purposes and ways He has done it. But where much is given, much is required. And our nation has not reciprocated to God for what He has bestowed. YEa, we have greatly increased in evil and sin. When men turn from God, God answers them in their sin. God has sent warnings to our nation time and time again. These are called 'Remedial Judgements'. These judgements come in response to the choices and ways of our nation, society and generation that defy God. They seek to provoke Him to anger and assault the very core principles of Christianity that is our nation's foundations. For it has been the history of our nation to see the hand of God extend mercies and compassion upon us. We deserved to be consumed, and often one may have thought we would have been; yet, His mercies preserved and delivered us from being consumed.
'We deserve to be consumed' - most will not like this, nor agree with it. But the understanding of the Gospel is that we are born in sin, sinners in need of a great Savior. And for the vast world, few there be that be saved. And with the majority dictating the course of history and this world, sin and evil rises and greatly increases. The forces of hell assault and afflict and annihilate. Choices, habits, laws, judicial edicts all are found contrary to the Lord. These ways against Him, greatly provoke Him to anger, greatly affront Him in our choice as a nation to abhor Him and choose Satan. These choices lead to God stretching out His arm against us and not for us. Such choices are desecration of His house, the church; forsaking of His Word; lack of knowledge of Him and His Word; prayerless; faithless; given to great sin and abominations. Whole homes broken and ravaged in rebellion, self and sin, countless souls bound in addictions; yes, we deserve to be consumed. Yet, in Him there is compassion and mercy to be sought and found. And in history it is revealed of such moments that He did not consume us, but extended grace:
--we see this in the times of war; Always it seemed we were over matched and yet His mercies preserved and gave victory. This was against Britain; this was against our own selves in the Civil War; this was against Germany, twice. And yet out of those victories it was times that God worked and moved with compassion to establish us and cause us to lean, trust and look unto Him.
--we see this in times of calamity and alarm Times of terrorism, Pearl Harbor, school shooting, have caused us to stop and consider where we are and what's really important.
--we see this in times of great death, sickness and affliction; We've been in these times of small pox, fever, polio, and now the drug & alcohol addictions, cancer, all of which continue the traits of Satan - "he will come to kill, maim and destroy'.
God has given warning after warning, but how much time does He give? This no one knows, it may be suddenly, like the following below:
We see in the Bible the instances of those that met God's wrath in a moment:
--Sodom and Gomorrah - and fire and brimstone rained down on them and consumed all but Lot and his family;
--Uzza put forth his hand and sought to steady the ark of God and was struck dead in a moment;
--Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord and fire from God came out of heaven and consumed them on the spot;
--Anaias and Saphira lied to the Holy Ghost and before the church and they were both struck dead before the church;
God gave Nineveh 40 days; God sent His prophets to Israel and Judah for 100's of years. God gives warnings for the hope and the sake of them humbling themselves and repenting and returning unto Him. Yet when they refuse, God after a time, seems to rise and send forth another wave. I do not believe these are unknown to us, but God reveals exactly what He is doing and why He is doing it. This was the same that the Lord said to Joseph, which told Pharaoh in Egypt, 'what God is getting ready to do, He has made known to you."
God has given rise to multiple times of mercy and compassion. God has given us more than enough time to humble ourselves, repent and seek Him. Yet, we have missed it almost every time. And if there was a moment of making it right before Him, it was quickly faded away. No long duration of time to maintain before Him. Therefore, the warning goes out, prepare for the next round of severe remedial judgments. All that we have seen culminating into one continuous bout of evil upon our nation. Mercy and compassion seems extinct in such times.
A time of mass shootings, (as I am in writing this, El Paso mass shooting of 20 dead, 26 wounded comes across the news); a time of suicides, murder-suicides, police officers shot and killed; police officers shooting and killing; home life already pushed to extinctions sees more rise in rebellion of children, divorces, adultery, abuse. It this not enough? Natural disasters of heat, drought, flooding, eruptions, earthquakes, wild beasts, animals, attacks, disasters after disaster upon regions, locales, states, whole swaths of land and cities, and homes, businesses' destroyed and ruined. Is this not enough? Added on more cancers, plagues, flesh eating bacteria, ebola, life/death, young, old not regards but His hand to go out against all.
How much more? Oh, when you read the Word, and you know God and what He is able to do against a people that have forgotten and forsaken Him, who have abhorred Him and walked contrary to Him, there is much more of His wrath that can fall upon a nation. but why would we continue in this path of death and destruction; 'for it is the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed; but His compassion is what we seek'.
and the one people who have such an ability to please Him, and turn His curses into a blessing is His people, the church. Do they know this? Are they seeking such? What do you do when His wrath is against His Own people?
2. the Plight of the Church -
There are several Scriptures to consider in understanding what God has already said about His church, and what He has warned about His church.
He said to Peter, "I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
He warned the church of Ephesus, "repent and do your first works, lest I come and remove your candlestick."
In the book of Acts He bares record, 'daily such as should be saved was added to the church"
And throughout history we have seen that when the body of Christ ceases from doing that which is right in the sight of the Lord, He, after multiple warnings, replaces them, with those that will do it rightly.
--we read of Luther seeking to reform the heresy of the Catholic church; rejected by them, Protestantism was begun;
--John Wesley was refused to stand int he pulpits of the Church of England for the Gospel; God began the Methodist church;
--General William Booth was kicked out of the Methodist church, began the Salvation Army;
--A B Simpson in ministering to the immigrants walked away from the Presbyterian church and the Missionary and Alliance Church came to be; of which followed by AW Tozer;
These are warning of any church, pastor, denomination that when we forsake the 'good and right way' and depart to man made ways, God will warn and correct. When that warning and correction is rejected, God removes their candlestick. Then God raises up those that will do His bidding rightly for His glory. Oh, contemplate that warning!
did not even the Apostle Paul say, "I keep my body under submission; lest by any means when I have preached to others, I should be a cast away." Set on the shelf, no more to be used by God. Whoa! to such a plight for any. Thus, we should understand where we are and why we are here. The judgements, the curses, the loss of Holy Ghost power and Authority is upon us for our rejecting of God. And will not be restored unless recognized, repented of and restored to new vows of surrender to Him, and Him alone.
Far too much humanism is in the American church today that has no faith, but relies on the arm of flesh, rather than the arm of God. "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord". And here we are!
--evil being legalized on our watch;
--record lows of church attendance;
--continue to seek numbers rather than God;
--having grieved, quenched, limited and resisted the Holy One of God;
--we stand powerless in the face of the forces of hell unleashing on our nation in minds, hearts, homes, and for our future;
And knowing all this, we continue on with 'church' as if its going to get better on its own. too many in church leadership and the prayer movement have expressed to me, 'they agree with me, however, they are not willing to do anything to change our current ways.' I was told of the time after 9/11, President Bush had been told to call for a Solemn Assembly for the nation and was in favour of it. But one leader turned him from that on church/state separation. And it was removed and forgotten. At the most crucial hour of judgement on our nation, the church should acknowledge their sins and the wrath of God upon us for those sins, the nations sins and call for a Solemn Assembly where there is fasting, mourning, lamenting, confession and repentance. And seek the face of the Lord that 'in wrath remembering mercy'; and seek Him for pity. The great cry, "help Lord for the godly man ceaseth and the faithful fail from among us".
Leaders are placed in leadership 'for such a time as this' to do that which is right according to Him, not according to tradition or what has been. 'What has been' is what got us into this plight. Therefore, the old must pass away and the new in Him must begin again. "This is the way, now walk in it'. Leadership to lead us into holiness, prayer, fasting and continued call upon Him for mercy. and remembering, that it is His compassion and His mercy that we are not consumed, but exist today to serve Him and revive.
The hour is late, the need is great; pray so as to prevail. May the church become a house of prayer again; and may we lead them to be a people of prayer. These things hinge on these truths.
3. the Plight of the heart - The surrender and yieldedness of the soul of a man determines what they receive from the Lord. the soul that humbles itself before the Lord shall receive His compassion and mercies. The soul that rejects Him shall receive wrath and judgement. These things shall be experienced in this life and determined in greater weight in eternity.
But the plight of the hearts of men today is that God is giving them over to reprobate minds (Romans 1). WE also see what God will do to the hearts of people toward family in the curses of Deuteronomy 28. "And the woman that is tender hearted, I will give her a cruel heart against her husband and her children." We see this happening today, and escalating. this is the hand of God gone out against us. Understand this and respond rightly is key in such a crucial hour of our day.
What is being asked of you?
1. Hear me with the warnings that God is sending us. We cannot continue on as a nation in such abominations and sin, and so quiet and unmoved by it. Look at the escalation of evil in our society, homes, and hearts over the last 20 years. And see our great need for God to help us.
2. Realize that God has spoken to us and revealed wherein our problem is - we have separated between Him and us. Our sin and iniquities have separated us and must be recognized, identified, confessed and repented of. A humbling of ourselves before our Great God realizing our great sin against Him as a nation, church, homes and personal.
3. Active pursuit of holiness to be restored in our relationship as a church and our own personal walk with Him. Putting out self, sin and putting in Spirit, and the things of God.
4. Do this personally and then do this corporately. Wait upon God, 'for who knows if He will turn and leave a blessing behind Him.'
Oh how we need Him!
The hour is late; the need is great; pray so as to prevail before Him!
Until,
Dan
Started: August 2, 2019
Continued: 8/3; 8/4;
Finished:
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