God’s JudgmentsUpon America
THE BIBLE DEFINITION OF JUDGMENT
Although judgment usually has an evil connotation to it (the execution of the penalty for sin), it also has a positive side. Judgment has to do with the sowing and reaping process. This is defined in Galatians 6:7-9: " Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not."
From this, we can see that the negative side of judgment is that evil reaps destruction, while on the positive side, good that is sown through Jesus is rewarded. God's judgment on evil is seen by the curse that is on wicked men, while God's judgment for the righteous will manifest in His blessings and rewards on them. This is true for individuals as well as nations.
As a nation (the USA), we have sown good and evil. I believe God has been gracious and merciful to us because we have reached out to help the other nations of the world. The church has sent many missionaries around the world. Christians in this nation have supported many missionary works, while Christians and others have supported humanitarian works in every nation. The United States government has poured billions of dollars into foreign aid and forgiven billions of dollars of indebtedness to other countries. We are one of the first on the scene to arrive with aid and assistance when natural disasters, such as earthquakes, strike other countries. America has helped the oppressed and poor of other nations. She has helped rebuild infrastructures, railways, etc. after nations have been ravaged by war. I could name many more, but this should suffice.
As a nation, we have also sown much evil. We have exported our ungodly music, movies, pornography, tobacco, alcohol. Our tobacco companies cannot sell their wares to the young people in our nation but they are allowed to export it to the youth of other nations. We have been hypocritical in calling ourselves a Christian nation when we allow abortion. Many Americans are drug addicts, and are consumed with pornography and vile movies. We commit adultery without blushing and are sex-crazed. I have noticed that the most prevalent types of ads that daily come across the Internet are ads selling something pertaining to sex, ads that tell you how to become a millionaire, and those that encourage gambling. Instead of being a good example to the world, we export our vices. Sharing Christ with other nations is difficult when they see our lust and materialism. Our American culture has been shot through with all types of sinful temptations designed by the devil to keep us weak and fearful and powerless to fight against him. Yes, judgment comes upon us as we reap what we have sown. God wants to bless us with good things, but our sins prevent God from blessing us.
Jeremiah 5:25: "Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you."
We are all being judged by the Word of God daily. When we fail to keep God's laws and Christ's commandments, we are judged in that respect. When we honor God and keep His Word, we are also judged as faithful. There is one way we can avert judgment. When we repent of our sins and walk in a daily relationship with Jesus, we no longer come under judgment. Jesus took our judgment on the cross to save us from hell, which is the penalty for our sins. We must pray that the church comes to true repentance that will produce a genuine revival in our nation and the world.
John 12:47-48: "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day."
JUDGMENT ON SIN
Judgment is already falling. What's happening to church leadership? Their sins have found them out. The Word says our sins will find us out. "But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23). If we have hidden sins, they're going to be exposed. So if we have any hidden sins, we need to go to God right now and cry out for deliverance. We need to get on our knees, pray and fast, and seek God for deliverance. If we don't, our hidden sins are going to be exposed. But if we take care of those sins in the prayer closet, they won't have to be exposed.
It's not by works that we gain deliverance from hidden sins. We cannot break sinful habits in our own strength. It's only by faith in God and by His power that we're able to gain the victory. Most Christians can testify of how God has delivered them from a major sin. Many have been delivered from alcohol, or tobacco, or adultery. If Jesus has delivered us from one sin, can He not also deliver us from the rest of them? We have the attitude, "Well, I'm just a sinner and can only continue sinning." No, God is saying He has given us the power over sin. He's telling us if we use His tools and His power we can overcome any sin in our lives. God is wanting us to deal with the sin problem.
"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness" (Romans 6: 14-18).
Sin is the problem with the world. The world is full of problems because of sin. People go to counselors to get their problems smoothed over when they really need to be facing their sin problem. Many psychiatrists listen for hours on end to their patients when they need to tell them their problem is sin and they need to repent. That's what's causing the majority of people's problems. They've even verified that most of those in mental institutions are there because they cannot face the fact that they have committed wrong. Instead of facing their sin, they blame it on someone else. They don't take the responsibility; they excuse themselves. They blame their parents: "If they hadn't raised me the way they did I wouldn't be this way." They blame the car accident: "I'm injured today because of what the other driver did." Even when someone is physically injured, they don't have to take on bitterness and hatred. Some people pick up those negative emotions when they've been hurt or offended.
We've all been hurt in this world. It's inevitable since we're in the world that is under the power of the devil or the "beast system". It's how we handle those hurts and wounds that determines whether we're going to have victory. We need to give them to Jesus. Our prayer should be, "Jesus, somebody hurt me today. Forgive him and help me to overcome. Cleanse me from any un-forgiveness or bitterness."
In this hour of judgment, all who take "the mark of the beast" are going to be destroyed. "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark on his forehead, or in his hand, The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb" (Revelation 14: 9b-10).
This destruction will be upon those who've picked up that worldly humanistic thinking. They're going to fall. Because they don't have the thinking of God, they'll be destroyed by the plagues and other calamities that are in the world. In these last hours we're not going to be able to stand unless we've got the Word of God in our minds and hearts and are doing the works of God. That's the only way we're going to be able to stand. Otherwise we'll not be able to stand when, for example, whole cities are plagued with disease. Fear will grip our hearts and we'll be open to receive the diseases, too, if we're allowing fear to rule in our lives. What we're going to have to do is stand up and say, In Jesus' name, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7). I'll not receive a spirit of fear.
Fear of God, Our Protection
One fear most Christians have not conquered is the fear of what man will say. We fear what our spouses, or church friends, or outsiders will say, more than we fear what God will say. We need to fear God more. Instead of fearing what man will say about us, we need to have that holy respect for God because our only safety is in Him. This is not a tormenting fear of God, but a respect for Him and His Word. If He says something, we respect what He says because we believe His Word.
If we're marked with God's Word in our minds and hearts and doing His works, then the devil is no match for us. The devil is the defeated one. He had a fatal blow struck to his head through Jesus Christ. We can now crush him under our feet with the Word of God, if we stand. But those Christians who aren't standing are being swept away even now. Loved ones are being snatched away as the enemy is creating terrible devastation upon the earth through such assaults as financial destruction, broken homes, kidnapped children, runaway teens, unwed mothers, terrible diseases, and so forth. What are we going to do in these times? We're going to stand on the Word because the Lamb has overcome the beast. We're not taking the beast's mark.
JUDGMENT HANGS OVER THE NATION
Judgment Begins at God's House
1 Peter 4:17 says, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God." Ezekiel 8 speaks of the abominations in God's temple and throughout Israel. Sin had become so vile that a holy God could tolerate no more. The command came to destroy all that was an abomination. Likewise, today sin exists in God's house. There's lying and cheating, greed and materialism, adultery and other sexual sins in church leadership. Many abominations can be found in our churches; such sin deeply grieves the Holy Spirit.
Obviously, sin abounds in our country too. As a result, our nation is racing toward judgment. It's going to take wholesale national repentance to avert judgment. Nineveh was spared because it repented upon hearing Jonah's proclamation. America, too, can be spared since prophetic words of judgment are conditional. This principal applies to all nations of the world. Fortunately, repentance averts judgment. First, though, the judgment is taking place within the church. Because God is purging His people, we see churches falling and sin in leadership being revealed. Hidden filth is being uncovered. Once the church is clean, she can enter into the glory promised her. Let's intercede for those within the church who are yet walking in filthiness. Let's cry and sigh for purity.
God Marks the Intercessors
Ezekiel 9:4 says, "And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof." Is your heart grieved over abominations taking place in the church today? Sin is not restricted to the world, for the world's abominations have crept into the church. There are unmarried couples living together who think it's acceptable since certain pastors no longer hold a standard against adultery. There are even homosexual pastors. God can and wants to deliver people from homosexuality which is a sin that many have condoned, whereas God considers it an abomination. God loves the homosexual and wants to free him or her, however God hates the sin. We're allowing sins in the church that were never allowed before.
We're to be sighing and crying over the abominations in the church, crying out, "O God, this isn't holiness, this is impurity." According to Ezekiel 9:4, those who have a burden over the lack of holiness in the church are going to be marked by God. God says He's going to mark those who are grieved over sin, those who are holy and pure in heart, those of who see the abominations and cry out for holiness in the church. Was the mark spoken of in Ezekiel 9:4 a literal mark? I don't believe it was. Instead, I believe these intercessors were spiritually marked two ways. First, they had the mind and heart of God as they were intercessors. Second, they had angelic protection assigned to them so that no harm could befall them.
Holiness is no longer a popular thing to teach. Many feel that the grace of God covers everything, no matter what we do. The way God's grace covers everything is by our first repenting of the sin. Repentance means to turn from the sin, not to keep doing it. In error, many have been taught we can keep on sinning and sinning and sinning, and God will keep on forgiving and forgiving and forgiving. God is merciful and forgiving but there is a point that if we've refused to turn away from our sin, the sin will overtake us and drag us right into Satan's territory. That's because being sorry is not true repentance, thus God can't forgive it. We must turn from sin. True repentance is turning from sin, not just saying we're sorry for doing it. Many are sorry they've been caught, but they're not sorry from their heart; they're not truly repentant for the sin. Judas was sorry for his betrayal of Christ, but he was not truly repentant.
Ezekiel 9 deals with holiness. The mark of God is going to be put on those seeking holiness. Do we think this is going to be a literal mark? Are we going to have G-O-D written on our foreheads? Of course not. We recognize that mark is a spiritual one. To be marked with God's mark on our forehead is to be marked with the mind of Christ. What we're to have is the mind of Christ, God's thinking, His Word indelibly written into our mind that we might think His thoughts and speak His words from our hearts. That's what it means to have His mark set upon us. In the natural, if we spend enough time with someone we become marked by that exposure. If we're around Jesus long enough, we're going to act like Him, we're going to look like Him, we're going to speak the words He speaks. But if we stay around the devil's crowd long enough, we're going to act like them, think like them, and speak the way they speak. So we're going to either be marked by the Word of God or marked by the enemy, the beast system, the world system. If our minds are not marked by the way of the Lord, they're going to be marked by Satan's ways. Revelation 14:1 describes this marking also.
We need to understand this concerning the mark of God. In Ezekiel, His mark went upon those crying over the abominations. Remember Lot, his soul was vexed day and night while he was in corrupt Sodom. We should be vexed over what's taking place in the church today when we confront it or hear of her sin. Continually I'm grieved over things I hear, such as the condoning of homosexuality to the point of allowing homosexual church leadership. Too many pastors are not holding up the holy standard of God's Word. Instead they're yielding to the beast system; they're being marked with that system rather than with the mark of God and the mind of Christ.
Judgment Falls
Ezekiel 9:5 says, "And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity." This speaks of the hour of judgment coming. When Jesus came to the earth the first time, He came as a Lamb. When He comes the second time, it will be as a lion, that is, with judgment to deal boldly with sin. So many Christians have no understanding of this. They think Jesus is coming again to deliver them out of all this earthly mess. In reality, He's coming to judge them of the self-pity and apathy in their lives, sin, etc. Too many Christians are crying out for God to deliver them out of their situations, when God wants them to be a minister of deliverance to those around them in those situations. They're to be on fire for God, doing warfare for Him, taking territory for His kingdom. They shouldn't be crying to get out of this earth when God has placed them here to be His useful instruments.