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State Of The Nation |
Dear Brethren,
When we think about the
Feast of Trumpets, we like to think about the return of Jesus
Christ. We think how wonderful it will be when Christ is ruling
from His throne over all the earth. But let’s understand this,
before Christ returns the entire earth is going to experience
unimaginable fear, horror, and dread. Trumpets pictures the time
when Jesus Christ will make a clean sweep of every institution of
man that stood contrary and defiantly against the will of God.
The Feast of Trumpets is about war, misery, and the destruction of
most of mankind. “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an
alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land
tremble: for the day of the Lord comes, for it is nigh at hand; A
day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick
darkness.” (Joel 2:1-2)
In the grand scheme of things, where do we stand? Some people think
that all things continue to be as they always have – that is not
true. Those scoffers say, “Where is the promise of [Christ’s]
coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as
they were from the beginning of the creation." (2Peter 3:4)
Let’s understand that world events are erupting into an explosive
crescendo. Jesus told us to watch for the signs that would
indicate that time is very short. “So ye in like manner, when
ye shall see these things come to pass, know that it is nigh [near],
even at the doors.” (Mark 13:29) “Watch ye therefore, and
pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these
things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.”
(Luke 21:36) With these admonitions in mind, let’s take a look at
the current state of mankind.
Let’s realize that in all the earth there are very few people who
know the Lord. You might say that the United States of America is a
“Christian” nation, and that there are many who know the Lord. From
God’s point of view – and that is the only view that counts – the
disobedient USA does not know their Creator God. “The ox
knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel
doth not know, my people doth not consider.” (Isaiah
1:3) The USA, along with all the other Israelitish people,
constitutes less than 10% of the earth’s population. And, the true
Church of God constitutes a very, very small percentage of that!
A wonderful world would be one in which God’s perfect way of life
produced peace, prosperity, and health in abundance for every single
person. However, that is not an apt description of the world in
which we find ourselves today. Because God has been rejected, we
live in a world of increasing war, poverty, and widespread disease.
Let’s take a brief look at the state of the world, the state of our
nation, and the state of the Church of God.
The state of the world
The world is teeming with power-hungry, angry men driven by a spirit of aggression.
Let’s look at just a few examples.
North Korea has unleashed a new international crisis by reprocessing
plutonium for the production of atomic weapons. Their nuclear
ambitions become a critical threat when coupled with their existing
ICBM type missiles which have the capability of striking
California. Add to this the fact that the leadership of the country
is in question. Sixty-six year old Kim Jong-Il is incapacitated,
following a stroke, and has not appointed a successor.
Iran is seeking its own nuclear weapons. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the
Iranian President, has vowed to destroy Israel and all the Jews
saying, "Israel should be wiped off the map.” Israeli President
Shimon Peres responds by calling Ahmadinejad a danger and a disgrace
for making a vitriolic condemnation and "existential threat” against
Israel and Zionism.
After serious aggression against the democratic state of Georgia,
Russian Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin, is sending a joint air force
and naval armada, including one of his largest warships, Peter the
Great, and his strategic nuclear bombers to join military exercises
in the Atlantic and Caribbean in conjunction with Venezuela. The
nuclear-powered flagship, Peter the Great, is armed with 20 nuclear
cruise missiles and 500 surface-to-air missiles.
Islamic peoples, with their culture, are inundating Europe. The
Islamisation of Europe is rapidly creating a clash of ideologies
that can only lead to increased hostilities throughout the region
and ultimately the world. World tensions are high with fear of
Islamic terrorist attacks. President George Bush said of these
jihadists, "We must see the terrorists for what they are: ruthless
extremists who exploit the desperate, subvert the tenets of a great
religion, and seek to impose their will on as many people as
possible."
Long ago God knew how to resolve the problem of the evil kings of
the earth – and His solution is closely associated with the Feast of
Trumpets. “I will utterly consume all things from off the land,
saith the Lord. I will consume man and beast.” “The great day of
the Lord is near.” (Zephaniah 1:2-3, 14)
The state of the nation
Everyone is acutely aware of the catastrophic nature of the American
economy. The economy is only one area in which our national sins
are taking their toll. Trumpets pictures the time when Jesus Christ
will make a clean sweep of every institution of society and
government that exerted itself contrary and defiantly against the
way of God.
Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. was part of the financial
system that has brought our country to the brink of collapse.
Federal Reserve board chairman Ben S. Bernanke failed to cry out a
warning. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman
Christopher Cox seemed to rubber stamp every measure that crossed
his desk. How could these financial leaders fail to protect the
interests of the people? We have had regulators that in many ways
have been "asleep at the switch."
Washington’s solutions will not work. They are nothing like God’s
remedy to the economic chaos we are in. God has His rules for a
vibrant economy that will not fail. One of God's laws is the
perpetual use of the land by family units. God said, "The land
shall not be sold for ever: for the land is mine; for ye are
strangers and sojourners with me." (Leviticus 25:23)
God does not allow usury. Usury is an exorbitant or unlawful rate
of interest – God said, “If thou lend money to any of my
people that is poor by thee, thou shalt not be to him as an usurer,
neither shalt thou lay upon him usury." (Exodus 22:25 )
"Take thou no usury of him, or increase: but fear thy God; that thy
brother may live with thee. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon
usury, nor lend him thy victuals for increase." (Leviticus
25:36-37 ) "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother;
usury of money, usury of victuals, usury of any thing that is lent
upon usury." (Deuteronomy 23:19) Without usury or interest,
the monetary system stays stable and without inflation.
God knows that the land needs rest. "In the seventh year shall
be a Sabbath of rest unto the land, a Sabbath for the Lord: thou
shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard."
(Leviticus 25:4)
To prevent financial meltdowns, God has a rule that prevents all the
wealth from ending up in the hands of a few – jubilee years.
"You shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout
all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee
unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye
shall return every man unto his family... In the year of this
jubilee ye shall return every man unto his possession."
(Leviticus 25:10,13)
The state of the Church
Not only are the world and the nation in appalling shape – so is the
Church of God in these last days. Satan’s ministers do not teach
the brethren to love God and one another according
to God’s law; they do not teach men to lay their lives down to save
another; they do not expect the saints to take a stand for the
truth. The Church is off-base so much in the end-time that Jesus
asks the question, "When the Son of man [Jesus Christ] comes,
shall He find faith on the earth?" (Luke
18:8)
Satan’s ministers teach the brethren to look to them as the anointed
ones who alone represent God’s government; they call themselves
apostles, prophets, and other high titles; they cause the people’s
attention to be diverted to substitute religion; and they
concentrate and focus on speculative issues within subjects such
as prophecy, the calendar, the place of safety, and the two
witnesses.
It is God who calls these false ministers, "Satan's Ministers."
"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no
great thing if his [Satan’s] ministers also be transformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their
works." (2Corinthians 11:13-15)
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Sermon: |
"State Of The Nation"
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