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Lawlessness Shall Abound |
Dear Brethren,
As we approach the end time and the coming of
Jesus Christ, we are beginning to experience a pronounced depreciation of the abundant life and
physical blessings that we obtained as a result of the promises God made to Abraham. We grew up
in this country believing that we were a God-fearing nation of values, morals, and justice.
America became the most powerful nation the world has ever seen. God had promised that He would
set us high above all nations of the earth, if we would diligently hearken to the voice of the
Lord our God (Deuteronomy 28:1).
America’s greatness did not endure for long. An ominous trend began to set in – almost
imperceptible at first – those whom He had so graciously blessed were systematically rejecting
our Creator God. Abraham Lincoln, born in 1809, recognized in his day that our greatness originated
as a Divine gift, and that God was not receiving the honor, reverence, and worship that was due to
Him. He wrote at the time of the Civil War:
"It is the duty of nations as well as of men to own their dependence upon the overruling power of
God, and to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow, yet with assured hope that
genuine repentance will lead to mercy and pardon, and to recognize the sublime truth, announced in
Holy Scripture, and proven by all history, that those nations only are blessed whose God is the
Lord. And, insomuch as we know that by His divine law nations, like individuals, are subjected to
punishments and chastisement in this world, may we not justly fear that the awful calamity of civil
war which now desolates the land may be but a punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous
sins, to the needful end of our national reformation as a whole people?
“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these
many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation
has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which has preserved
us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the
deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and
virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel
the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us. It
behooves us, then, to humble ourselves before the offended power, to confess our national sins and
to pray for clemency and forgiveness." [March 30, 1863]
Abraham Lincoln’s words are more appropriate today than when originally written. Our
circumstances have worsened greatly. In this nation of extraordinary potential, do we any longer
dare to hope for peace, freedom, justice, greatness, and security? God is removing our hedge of
protection (Isaiah 5:5). It was not so long ago that we possessed most of the world’s gold
– how have we so quickly become the world’s greatest debtor nation – sinking into
debt at an ever-quickening rate? God said that it would happen:
“The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down
very low. He shall lend to you, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt
be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake
thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkened not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee.” (Deuteronomy 28: 43-45)
How many are able to remember the time when it was commonplace to have a helpful telephone operator
assist us in placing a call, or have a filling station attendant check our tires, oil level, or
clean our windshield while he filled our gas tank? Where we once expected simple things like
service with a smile, today, we are happy to get any service at all. What are the spiritual
ramifications behind this gradual degradation of respectable standards and plentiful services?
The answer is that God has begun to remove our blessings that we once took for granted. This
development is going to adversely affect the Church of God.
Let us realize that the dire warnings and predictions for our country, and all the modern
Israelitish nations for that matter, apply equally, if not more so, to those of us within the
Church of God. We cannot let down. We cannot mimic those in the world who do not know the True
God (2Corinthians 6:17).
Conditions are not going to remain as they are – they are rapidly deteriorating. As
Christians, do we realize just how terrible life is about to become for us?“ They
shall deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations
for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall
hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. Because
lawlessness shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” (Matthew 24:9-12)
This is a warning Scripture to those of us in God’s Church – it is going to happen!
Things do not get better or easier in the Church of God as the Day of the Lord approaches.
Critical days are ahead for the people of God. Do we have the wherewithal to endure until the
end (next verse: Matthew 24:13)?
The Word of God is Truth, but some in the Church of God are doing what seems right in their own
eyes (John 17:17, Proverbs 21:2). “Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and
prudent in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:21) God warns us not to rely on our own
understanding. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own
understanding.” (Proverbs 3:5) Why can we not trust our own motivations and
understanding? “There is a way which seemes right unto a man, but the end thereof are the
ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)
Brethren, as we see the day approaching let us be aware that Lawlessness shall abound – even
within the Church of God. “Many are called, but few are chosen.” (Matthew 22:14)
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called,
and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” (1Timothy 6:12)
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"Lawlessness Shall Abound"
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