Page 11 - Good News March 2016 paper
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Continued from p. 10
                Continued from p. 10           foundation of His Word. He is the     process,  it  has  jumped  into  bed   drawn to Jesus and their hearts
          one:  "I  believe  we  have  passed   One  Who  has  blessed  it  so  with  the  world.  The  Bible  pro-       will be penetrated by the Gospel.
         the  point  of  no  return."   (Again,   abundantly.  He  is  the  One  Who   phesies in many places that the
          that was 1974).                      worked through us to spread the       end times will be characterized by   The message of the Holy Spirit for
                                               Gospel all over the world. But the    major apostasy - and we are up to    believers  in  these  end  times  is
          I underlined that statement in red   Word  of  God  says:  "to  those  to   our ears in it right now.           twofold:  "Commit  your  lives  to
          and put a question mark after it.    whom  much  is  given,  much  is                                           holiness  and  share  the  Gospel
          That's because I was not ready to    expected"  (Luke  12:48).  Our  It all began in the 1920s when our         with as many people as you can,
          say  that  in  1974.  I  am  now!   The   nation  is  in  full-blown  rebellion   seminaries  were  captivated  by   as quickly as you can."
          Bible clearly teaches that there is   against God, and God is not going    the  German  School  of  Higher
          a  "point  of  no  return"  when  a   to tolerate it much longer.          Criticism  which  argued  that  the   The  message  of  the  Spirit  for
          nation is in rebellion against God.                                        Bible is not God's revealed Word,    unbelievers  is  that  "Jesus  is
          It is the tipping point where God    In Romans 1:24 we are told how        but, instead, it is Man's search for   coming soon. He is returning to
          decides to deliver the nation from   God  deals  with  a  rebellious  God and is thus filled with myths,        pour  out  the  wrath  of  God  on
          remedial judgments to complete       nation. He steps back and lowers      legends, superstitions and errors.   those  who  have  rejected  the
          destruction.  In  the  Bible  it  is   the  hedge  of  protection  around   This  produced  the  liberal  Social   grace,  mercy  and  love  of  God.
          referred  to  as  "when  the  wound   the  nation  and  allows  sin  to    Gospel that soon came to charac-     Reach out now and receive Him in
          becomes  incurable."  For  exam-     multiply  in  the  form  of  a  sexual   terize the mainline denominations   faith  as  your  Lord  and  Saviour
          ple, God told Jeremiah to tell the   revolution: "Therefore God gave       as  they  focused  on  social  and   before it is too late!"
          people of Judah that their nation    them [those in rebellion] over in     political  action  rather  than  the
          was  going  to  be  destroyed  the  lusts  of  their  hearts  to  preaching  of  the  Gospel.  This             I must add that there is an ironic
          because "Your wound is incura-       impurity,  so  that  their  bodies    spiritual virus has since spread to   way in which there is good news
          ble  and  your  injury  is  serious…   would  be  dishonoured  among       the Evangelical sector of Ameri-     that  can  be  derived  from  the
          because your iniquity is great and   them."                                can Christianity in the form of the   collapse of civilization all around
          your  sins  are  numerous"  (Jere-                                         Emergent Church Movement.            us.  It  can  be  found  in  the
          miah 30:12-15).                      This is exactly what happened to                                           statement  of  Jesus  in  Matthew
                                               our nation since the 1960s when       Sixty years ago, in the 1950s, to    24:37-38 where He said His return
          The Lord directed Nahum to say       we  experienced  the  Sexual  be an Evangelical meant that the             would  occur  at  a  time  when
          the same thing to Nineveh: "There    Revolution.  If  this  action  proves   Bible was your source of autho-    society has gone full circle back
          is  no  relief  for  your  breakdown,   insufficient  to  produce  repen-  rity  for  all  beliefs  and  actions.   to  the  immorality  and  violence
          Your  wound  is  incurable…"  tance,  then  Romans  1  says  that          Today, the term 'Evangelical' has    that  characterized  the  days  of
         (Nahum 3:19). To emphasize His        God will take a second step back      lost  its  meaning  because  there   Noah.
         declaration, God even told Jere-      and lower the hedge of protection     are professing Evangelicals who
         miah  to  stop  praying  for  Judah:   even  further:  "For  this  reason   believe  that  the  Scriptures  con-  In  1996  a  federal  judge  named
         "Do not pray for this people, and     God gave them over to degrading       tain  errors  and  contradictions;   Robert  Bork  published  a  book
         do not lift up a cry or prayer for    passions;  for  their  women  that there is no Hell; that there are        about the moral drift of our nation
         them  and  do  not  intercede  with   exchanged  the  natural  function     many  roads  to  God;  that  homo-   that  was  titled,  Slouching
         Me; for I do not hear you" (Jere-     for that which is unnatural, and in   sexuality is a valid lifestyle; that   Towards  Gomorrah.  Well,  my
         miah 7:16).                           the  same  way  also  the  men        evolution is the true explanation    friends,  we  are  no  longer
                                               abandoned the natural function of     of  life  and  that  the  ultimate  slouching. We have arrived. And
         Ezekiel  was  told  the  same  thing   the  woman  and  burned  in  their   purpose of the Church is not the     that  terrible  fact  points  to  the
         when he tried to pray for Judah,      desire  toward  one  another,  men    salvation of souls but the saving    good news that Jesus is returning
         but  in  even  stronger  terms.  He   with  men  committing  indecent       of our planet! It is no wonder that   soon!
         was  told  that  the  prayers  of  the   acts  and  receiving  in  their  own   our  nation  is  wallowing  in
         three  most  righteous  men  who      persons the due penalty of their      spiritual  darkness  and  rebellion   In conclusion, let me say we live in
         had ever lived would not avail for    error" (Romans 1:26-27).              against God. And how can anyone      the  midst  of  an  increasingly
         the  nation  -  specifically,  Job,                                         truly believe there is any hope for   secular and evil society - a society
         Noah, and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:12-      We  have  been  in  this  second      our  nation  in  the  midst  of  such   that calls good evil and evil good.
         21).                                  phase  ever  since  the  Supreme      gross spiritual apostasy?            As  we  look  around  the  world
                                               Court  struck  down  all  the  state                                       today,  we  can  see  that  evil  is
         Today, 42 years after the publica-    laws  against  sodomy  in  2003.      But  there  IS  good  news  in  the   multiplying.  It  is  as  if  the  whole
         tion of The Vision,  God is raising   Romans 1 continues by revealing       midst  of  the  growing  spiritual   world is falling to pieces. But the
         up new prophetic voices all over      what God will do if the rebellious    darkness  and  the  consequent       truth  is  that  from  a  biblical
         our  nation  to  warn  us  of  our    nation sets its jaw and continues     decay  of  our  society.  There  is   perspective,  the  pieces  are  all
         impending  destruction.  Unfor-       to  rebel  against  God  and  His     individual  hope  for  those  of  us   falling  into  place  for  Jesus  to
         tunately,  there  are  Christians  in   Word. God will step back a third    who know Jesus as our Lord and       return!
         our nation who refuse to believe      time  and  lower  the  hedge  of      Saviour.  God  has  promised
         that God will ever touch us - that    protection  again,  and  according    repeatedly in His Word that He will   Here's  how Adrian  Rogers  once
         He  will  ever  allow  us  to  be     to Romans 1:28, He will deliver the   never forsake us. For example, in    put  it:  "The  world  is  getting
         destroyed. They tend to think that    nation over to a "depraved mind,"     Isaiah 43 He has promised to walk    gloriously  dark." As  we  wait  for
         God sits on His throne draped in      at  which  point  the  nation  will   with us through the fire and high    His return, we need to stand for
         an American flag. But, my friends,    either  destroy  itself  or  be  water,  comforting  us  in  our  righteousness  and  speak  out  in
         God cannot be deceived. He will       destroyed by an outside force. I      sufferings  and  providing  our  behalf of it. Jesus commanded us
         not tolerate unrepented sin!          believe  we  have  reached  that      needs  (Isaiah  43:23).  And  to do so when He exhorted us to
                                               point!                                consider this promise in Deutero-    be  light  and  salt  (Matthew  5:13-
         The  Jews  of  ancient  Judah                                               nomy  31:8  -  "The  LORD  is  the    14). But in doing so, we need to
         thought  the  same  thing  about      Is  there  still  any  hope  for  One who goes ahead of you; He            realize  that  all  of  us  have  been
         their  nation.  When  Jeremiah  America? My answer is: How can              will  be  with  you.  He  will  not  fail   desensitized  to  some  degree  by
         warned  them  of  imminent  there  be?  We  have  turned  our               you or forsake you. Do not fear or   the sin that is abounding around
         destruction, they cried out, "The     backs  on  God  and  rejected  the    be dismayed." We also have the       us and to our participation in it.
         Temple,  the  Temple"  (Jeremiah      very  One  who  gave  us  all  our    incredible hope of the Rapture of
         7:4), meaning they did not believe    blessings.  And  we  need  to  be     the  Church  when  true  believers   Thus,  before  we  go  forth  to
         that God would ever allow anyone      clear as to why that happened. It     will be taken out of this world in   confront  the  evil  in  society,  we
         to destroy His Temple. But He did!    was not due to the attacks of the     the blinking of an eye to be with    need to face up to it in our own
                                               Secularists,  the  Humanists,  the    Jesus forever.                       lives and respond in repentance.
         God  is  gracious.  He  is  long-     Atheists  or  the  Sexual  Liber-                                          Revival must begin in our hearts
         suffering.  He  warns  and  warns     tarians. No, it has been due to the   There is also hope for those who     before we can take it to society!
         before He pours out judgment and      failure of the Church to preach the   do  not  know  Jesus.  As  the  And  as  we  confront  society,  we
         ultimate  destruction,  but,  again,   Gospel, call people to repentance,   darkness  deepens,  the  light  of   should expect increasing hostility
         He  will  not  tolerate  unrepented   and  stand  for  righteousness.   In   Jesus will shine more brightly like   and  persecution.  Let  us,  there-
         sin! God loves our nation. He was     short,  the  Church  has  sought      a diamond on a black cloth, and      fore,  keep  our  eyes  focused  on
                                                                                                                                  Continued on p. 12
         the One Who raised it up on the       popular  approval,  and  in  the      more  and  more  people  will  be            Continued on p. 12
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