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Watch world events and trust God in everything!
Fred R. Coulter—September 28, 2019
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
I got a very interesting e-mail and the question was asked: When will evil ever end? What's it going to take? Satan will have to go!
- Christ has to return
- the resurrection has to take place
- Christ and the saints come back to the earth
- Satan is removed
- sin is minimized, not removed
- New Jerusalem
Everyone wonders what's going to happen. What's wrong with the world today? Look at what's going on. The news is happening so fast that it's almost to the point where you have to quit your job and watch the news to keep up on what's happening; but you can't do that!
Why are we in the trouble that we are here in America, as well as every place in the world? This is true of every human being unless they have some knowledge of the Laws of God and His Word, and are willing to be corrected by it, whether they're converted or not. Conversion is another whole story.
Proverbs 16:2: "All the ways of a man… [includes women] …are clean in his own eyes…" In other words, they're always right even in their evil! They think that they're right. Why? Because the spirit of Satan the devil is there and convinces them that they are right!
Verse 25: "There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death."
Isn't that exactly what we see in everything? Sometimes there's a whole lot more evil, and sometimes there's less evil. But nevertheless, there it is!
Let's go through Psa. 1 and then Rom. 1 and see that the pattern is almost identical, but very expanded. Here's a principle that God always gives: God always talks about righteousness, obedience and blessing first! Then He brings out the evil. This one Psalm actually is an encapsulation of the whole plan of God.
Psalm 1:1: "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful." Does that not sound like Washington, DLC (District of Liars and Corruption)?
Verse 2: "But his delight is in the Law of the LORD…" Think about that!
When you watch the news and see the things that are going on, what is operating in the back of your mind as you watch it? The knowledge of God's Law, the knowledge of God's way! You can see where the evil lies in what people are doing.
Verse 3: "And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water…" Jer. 17 says 'the rivers of water'—plural!
"…that brings forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not wither, and all that he does shall prosper" (v 3).
This shows that in spite of everything that's going on, those who are converted and stay close to God are going to not get involved in all the evil that's going on. God's blessing will be upon those people.
Verse 4: "The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff, which the wind drives away." No stability! Back and forth with every wind!
Verse 5: "Therefore, the wicked shall not stand in the judgment… [they're going to executed] …nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous… [because they can't stand to hear the Truth] …for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked shall perish" (vs 5-6).
Is that not an encapsulation of the whole plan of God? Yes, indeed!
Let's see the same principle that verifies the inspiration of the Word of God.
- God is true
- God never changes
- He is righteous
- His Word is always in effect
This is what we need to always understand about the Word of God. Though we have it in print, we need to understand that this is only in print so that we can understand it. The Word of God does something to our heart, mind and thoughts if we love it and want it.
Hebrews 4:12: "For the Word of God is living…" There's no way you can get rid of it anymore than you can get rid of the law of gravity.
"…and powerful…" (v 12). It's always in effect for blessing or for cursing! God always gives a space for repentance!
What is the greatest example of a space of repentance in the entire Bible? Manasseh is a good one, but not the greatest! Niniveh is also a good example! Rev. 7 with the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude! The seals are opened up and you have all the problems coming along, and the heavens are rolled back as a scroll and then there's a space of repentance before the rest of the most horrible destruction comes. Amazing! God always does it that way!
"…and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of both soul and spirit… [body and mind] …and of both the joints and the marrow… [that generates new blood] …and is able to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart" (v 12).
There is no other book that can do that! Why? What's another Scripture that talks about the Word of God that's almost like living? Jesus said that 'the words that I speak they are Spirit and Life! Always in effect!
Verse 13: "And there is not a created thing that is not manifest in His sight; but all things are naked and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give account."
- What does it say about God judging human beings?
- What is the thing He's going to judge? Our works!
- What kind of works?
Another person wrote me about what I said, that the spirit of man has recorded on it everything you've ever done.
- What does it say that God is going to judge of everything you've ever done? The secrets!
God cannot judge the secrets of men and women unless everything is recorded on the spirit of man. Notice the pattern: warning/repentance!
Verse 14: "Having, therefore, a great High Priest, Who has passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, we should hold fast the confession of our faith."
- What is that confession? That goes back to baptism!
- What is baptism on our part? It's our covenant pledge that we will be faithful to the end!
If not we will no longer exist!
Verse 15: "For we do not have a High Priest Who cannot empathize with our weaknesses… [note sermons on Rom. 7] …but One Who was tempted in all things according to the likeness of our own temptations; yet, He was without sin."
Therefore, Christ can perfectly know and perfectly understand everything about every human being and be able to help them in their weaknesses, problems and difficulties to overcome IF they are relying on Him!
So, you can see the pattern. This fits in with Psa. 1, and it fits in here in Heb. 4 and Rev. 7. Notice what we should do:
Verse 16: "Therefore, we should come with boldness to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."
We're going to see the exact same principle in Romans 1:6: "In Whom you also are called of Jesus Christ." If you get really down, and sometimes we get really down:
- remember Who drew us: God the Father
- remember Who brought us to the Father: Jesus Christ
- remember Who is teaching us His Word: God with His Spirit and the Words that we have preserved for us
Verse 7: "To all those who are in Rome, beloved by God, the called saints…" Not those who are called saints, but the called saints:
- the called
- the chosen
- the faithful
"…Grace and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ" (v 7). That's a pretty powerful statement used in every one of Paul's Epistles. It comes from God!
Verse 8: "First, I truly thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, for your faith is spoken of in the whole world; for God is my witness, Whom I serve in my spirit in the Gospel of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you in my prayers" (vs 8-9).
One of things that elders and ministers have to do is pray for the people of God. Those that have particular problems individually, and those whom you don't know collectively in a prayer that covers all of them. For example, it would be perfectly fine to pray for those you don't know:
- help those who having trouble
- help those who need an increase in faith
- help those who are struggling against sin
- help those who are sick
- help those who are down
- let Your blessing be upon them
Something like that should be nearly everyday, because we need it! Yes, indeed, we need God's blessing every single day.
Verse 15: "So, as much as is in me, I am ready to preach the Gospel to you who are in Rome also…. [notice how this follows the pattern]: …For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ…" (vs 15-16). Tie in with Psa. 1, blessed are those who keep their mind on the Law of God, on Christ!
"…because it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes—both to the Jew first, and to the Greek. For therein the righteousness of God is revealed from faith unto faith…" (vs 16-17)—a definition of a spiritual action from God to us, and us back to God!
We have faith in God and He gives us more faith. What kind of faith? We are told to have faith from God! It's a continuous thing. This is why we have prayer and study. You can almost guarantee that those who leave and give up have not been studying and praying, and they haven't had this continuous from faith to faith! That's why that's so important.
Spiritual conversion must continually be activated. If we didn't have the Sabbath, how far would we go? We'd be right back in the world. Some right away, some a little later!
"…according as it is written: 'The just shall live by faith.'" (v 17). That's quoted from the book of Habakkuk.
Notice the difference. Psa, 1 talks about the righteous first, 'like a tree planted by a river.' Then it talks about the ungodly.
Verse 18 follows that pattern: "Indeed, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness."
You can see this on a level of politics. There are true things in politics that need to be followed. You can see this in religion.
Example: Ken just gave me a printout from Sunday-keeping evangelicals. They had everything right about Rome, except one. What did Cardinal Gibbon say was the Roman purview? Sunday! Isn't it interesting that they say 'Sunday is our day, we made it.' And that's true, Constantine did make it! So Cardinal Gibbon—read the whole thing in the Bible, Appendix N: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants; or booklet online at truthofGod.org—examines every place in the New Testament that talks about the first day of the week and doesn't find a single place where that is actually a weekly thing that they do. Gibbon challenges the Protestants: 'You either come back home to Rome, or start keeping the Sabbath.'
So, you can have truth up to a certain point, but that's not salvational Truth, that's informational truth. We need salvational Truth!
Now, read what Paul says concerning what men do. Think about what is happening today. You can take v 18 and apply it to what happened this past week with the announcement by Adam Schiff who told a fabricated story about what the phone call that Trump had with the Prime Minister of the Ukraine. I have it and there's nothing wrong with it.
What do we have? "…ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the Truth in unrighteousness" (v 18). Schiff made a lie of the whole thing! Think about what this is with the Christian religion:
- Do they suppress the knowledge of the Sabbath? Yes!
- Do they suppress the knowledge of the Holy Days? Yes!
I got a book by a Seventh Day Adventist who gave a history of the Sabbath, but when it comes to the Holy Days he says that 'those are just ritual days.' Hello! What did they do every Sabbath? Morning and evening sacrifice and the burning of incense! Were those not rituals? Then why do you keep the Sabbath and denounce the Holy Days? Was it about people that they will take so much Truth, but not all of it? That's an amazing thing!
If you're someone who doesn't believe in God, go someplace where it's real dark at night and on a clear night look at all the stars, and when you're done with that, look up on like about all the things that the Hubble Telescope has discovered. When they improved the Hubble Telescope all the astronomers looked for one place in the universe that was really, really dark. They didn't think there was anything out there. They thought it was just blank. So, they focused the telescope out there and left it on for 15 days. Then they brought back the photo of it and they discovered that there were millions of galaxies in this dark spot out in the universe.
Nothing came into being without God! From the very smallest, and right here where we sit there are particles going through the earth and through each one of us that are so small that we don't even know anything about them. Yet, God has made all, the micro and the macro!
Verse 19: "Because that which may be known of God is manifest among them, for God has manifested it to them."
There are two ways that He does it, the first is with His Word! The ancients didn't have it. Remember that Paul had to tell them in Acts 17 about their idols and everything.
Verse 20: "For the invisible things of Him are perceived from the creation of the world…" They didn't just happen!
By the way, evolution did not start with Darwin, that started with the Greek and Babylonian philosophers.
"…being understood by the things that were made—both His eternal power and Godhead—so that they are without excuse." (v 20).
The very fact that no one had extended life after death except Jesus Christ is a testimony to everything about God in relationship to human beings. Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return!
Verse 21: "Because when they knew God…" There was a time when they knew God, and that's why if you don't have the book: Genesis Characters and Events in Ancient Greek Art by Robert Bowie Johnson (we have it and will send it to you) it tells you everything that you need to know that was not written down in history, but written down in art. They knew God!
"…they glorified Him not as God…" (v 21). Just on the news there was a big problem on a high school football game because they prayed before and after the game. So, the atheists were offended and didn't want it.
"…neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasonings, and their foolish hearts were darkened" (v 21).
The last part of this verse is going to boomerang on all the hightech people with their robots. They think that they can create nearly human beings and imbue it with artificial intelligence, have it so it can converse back and forth to you, but it's not alive! Take out the battery and what happens? That's why God made us as human beings to choose. He does not want robots! He could have made trillions of robots! He wants sons and daughters of God!
Verse 22: "While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things" (vs 22-23).
Notice what happens. God is always there with His laws, and these things happen automatically. That's why if you've known someone in the past and he's given up on God and you meet him at a later date—and his mind is cemented in against God—you wonder what happened! Here is what happened:
Verse 24: "For this cause, God also abandoned them…"—leaves them! If they're converted, how does God abandon them? He takes away His Spirit!
"…to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to disgrace their own bodies between themselves, who exchanged the Truth of God for the lie…" (vs 24-25).
What is the lie? That we all evolved and there is no God! That God in heaven above is evil, which He's not. They misunderstand the power of God to correct. If God is so evil—for those of us who know the Word of God—why then does God have a second resurrection for those who were cutoff and He never called. That shows a great amount of love in order to do that!
Deut. 32 is also a prophecy down to our day, which has happened over and over again. These things have been with Israel like cycles. There are times when:
- they're close to God
- they acknowledge God
- they reject God
- they give themselves over to evil and God has to send them into exile
Deuteronomy 32:12—speaking of the children of Israel: "The LORD alone led him, and there was no strange god with him. He made him ride on the high places of the earth…'" (vs 12-13).
From about the 1500s to after WWII Ephraim or Britain was the leading nation in the world. America was rising up and WWII brought America to the forefront.
- What happened after the war?
- What was one of the most significant things that took place? The empire was gone!
- How was it gone? The world's monetary system changed from the pound to the dollar!
Look what we have today. The dollar has not be unseated, yet. Maybe there will come a time when it will, but have we not in both England, with its empire, and in America with what it's doing today, ridden the high places of the world? Yes, indeed!
"…so that he might eat the increase of the fields. And He made him suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock" (v 13).
- What do we have today?
- How do they get oil out of the flinty stone? Fracking!
- Is the Bible modern, or not?
Verse 14: "Butter from cows, and milk from sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the sons of Bashan, and goats, with the finest wheat. And you drank wine, the blood of the grape."
Where do we find something similar to this that we do once a year? Passover!
Verse 15: "But Jeshurun… [another name for sinful Israel] …grew fat and kicked.…"—that true! If you don't believe that's true, sit out in the parking lot of Costco for about 30 minutes and watch people come and go. They're loaded down with everything under the sun. See how many are over weight. Think about how hard it is to lose weight, and I can attest to that! Why? Because they've gone their own way!
They're used to everything! Think about that the other day. I was watching people coming and going and I thought: What would happen if someone went up to someone with their cart full of every good thing that they could ever want. Not just one or two items, but everything, and tell them, 'You need to repent! You're sinning against God!' Why, they would call the police, and here's why:
"…You grew fat, thick, and satisfied. Then he forsook God Who made him and lightly esteemed the Rock [Christ] of his salvation. They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods…" (vs 15-16).
Are we not doing that today? Up in Canada they opened a temple to Satan the devil! They have one in Detroit, and there are people flocking to it because Satan always has his wonderful message. I'll give you freedom!
Verse 17: "They sacrificed to demons…" Is that not what they do with the Eucharist in the Catholic Church? And the Protestants do it with their whatever. Some have it every Sunday. The Seventh Day Adventists have it quarterly. God says that the Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month!
In 2030—11 years away, soon only 10 years—will be the 2,000th anniversary of the crucifixion of Christ! The Passover is on a Wednesday in 2030, April 17th!
For all of those with different calendars, listen up! Why would that be so accurate if the Calculated Hebrew Calendar was wrong. There are a lot of people out there who have different days. I got an e-mail about some people who are working on this day, that day and the other day, but we're going to take off for Trumpets, Atonement and Tabernacles, but they were two days off. I wrote them back that perhaps they needed to consider God's calendar. Let them choose.
Verse 18: "You forgot the Rock Who brought you forth and have forgotten the God Who formed you. And the LORD saw and despised them because of the provoking of His sons and of His daughters" (vs 18-19). What do we have today coming out of the colleges? Militant Nazis!
Verse 20: "And He said, "I will hide My face from them; I will see what their end shall be, for they are a very perverse generation, children in whom is no faithfulness…. [What did we just find out about faith?] …They have moved Me to jealousy with that which is not God. They have provoked Me to anger with their vanities….'" (vs 20-21). Look at all the vanities that there are! All the hightech vanities, in sports and all the activities!
"…And I will move them to jealousy with those, which are not a people. I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation" (v 21).
This tells you why we have the immigration problem. It starts, first of all, with abortion! Why do we have so much abortion? By the way, you know what they want to do now? Move abortion clinics right onto the grounds of universities! Once you start down the spiral of sin, and you don't stop, it's like a big vortex! It just sucks everything in and destroys it!
Verse 22: "For a fire is kindled in My anger, and shall burn to the grave beneath, and shall consume the earth with its increase, and set on fire the foundations of the mountains."
Think about this: What is the most frightful volcano potential in America? Yellowstone! That whole caldera that they have is the opening of a huge volcano! The lava is only 1500 feet below the surface. Could happen!
Let me just say that we're right at the crossroads. There are many crossroads in history as you go along, but we're at a major crossroad right now. It's very probably, and we can say that it's probably true that God sent Donald Trump to give a space of time for the people to see if they will repent of their grossest sins, and to see if they will have enough fortitude to reduce the abortions by how much. There's a lot going on right now to do that. But IF the forces of evil succeed in getting rid of Trump, you just read what's going to happen!
It might not happen immediately, but how long did it take for Venezuela to go down? Twelve years! Can you imagine President 'Pocahontas'?
(go to the next track)
During the break Steve came up and said something very profound: 'The ultimate of there is a way that seems right, but the end thereof is death is abortion! That's the ultimate! Instantaneous!
We don't want to get into discussing politics, but let's see how God is looking at things, because remember: whenever there is repentance, God honors it. There is a whole lot more movement to reduce, and probably eliminate, Roe vs Wade.
If that ever happens—I doubt if it will happen—and they reduce it where abortion is very low compared to what it is now, then I think God will honor the repentance of those who do that.
Deut. 29—I think these words also apply to this generation today. Statistically, there are fewer abortions than there have been in recent years. So, they're making headway in getting it down. Where do we stand as a nation today? We are the descendants of Israel, and I believe that in America we have Israelites from every one of the 12 tribes.
It's interesting that on the flag there were 13 stars, 13 colonies. How many tribes are there altogether? 13! When you add Ephraim and Manasseh, Ephraim and Joseph are synonymous, and Manasseh is the 13th tribe, because Levi is scattered in amongst all the 12 tribes.
So, I believe here's where we are right now. Deuteronomy 29:10: "You stand today, all of you, before the LORD your God: your captains of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and your stranger that is in your camp, from the cutter of your wood to the drawer of your water; so that you should enter into covenant with the LORD your God and into His oath which the LORD your God makes with you today" (vs 10-12).
What's going to happen? If things go the wrong way in 2020, I think we're going to be headed for a repeated disaster after repeated disaster!
Verse 13: "That He may establish you today for a people to Himself, and that He may be your God as He has said to you and as He has sworn to your fathers—to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. Nor do I make this covenant and this oath with you only, but with him who stands here with us today before the LORD our God, and also with him that is not here with us today" (vs 13-15). That's the descendants down through time!
Verse 16: "(For you know how we have lived in the land of Egypt and how we came through the nations which you passed. And you have seen their abominations and their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which were among them), lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turns away today from the LORD our God…" (vs 16-18).
Remember Psa. 78, that when Israel was corrected by God, they came back to Him in flattery, not in true sincerity! When they came back to Him, He at least honored that for the time. Let's hope that that may be a repeat with this coming election, so we can look ahead and see that that might be so, we don't know!
"…whose heart turns away today from the LORD our Go to go serve the gods of these nations; lest there should be among you a root that bears gall and wormwood, and it shall come to pass when he hears the words of this curse that he shall bless himself in his heart, saying, 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart'…" (vs 18-19).
In other words, we don't honor God, we don't believe there is God, we're all dependent upon our own selves, and we don't need God. How much of the population is going to be doing that? We don't know, but there's a likelihood that could sweep through, too!
"…to the sweeping away of the watered and the parched, then the LORD will not be willing to forgive him, but the anger of the LORD and His jealousy shall smoke against that man, and all the curses that are written in this book shall lie upon him, and the LORD shall blot out his name from under heaven" (vs 19-20).
This also tells us that the blessings and curses of Deut. 28 and elsewhere apply to the children of Israel down through time. Even after they sinned and God sent them off into captivity, He brought them back. He did not seek out another nation; He did not seek out another people operating on a national basis!
However, when Christ came and He died, that released them from that covenant! The New Covenant is much more binding upon us than the covenant of old with Israel. Everything is elevated to a higher spiritual level. The whole purpose of what we do is that we can learn:
- how God wants us to live
- how God wants the nations to live
- how at the resurrection we can help bring peace to the world
You can't have anything greater and more powerful of a goal than that!
Verse 21: "And the LORD shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel…"
In other words, God is saying that He will even deal with the individual in particular within the tribe if they do evil! We see that today even in the world! This operates automatically.
"…according to all the curses of the covenant that are written in this Book of the Law; so that the generation to come of your children that shall rise up after you, and the stranger that shall come from a far land, shall say (when they see the plagues of that land and the sicknesses, which the LORD has laid on it) 'The whole land shall be burned with brimstone and salt…'" (vs 21-23).
Have there been atomic weapons used sometimes? Will we suffer that? Undoubtedly will! When it happens, there will probably be an instantaneous surrender. No one will go out and fight. We need to think about that as we consider what's going to happen.
How many of us are going to live to see it? We don't know! Nearly every generation suffered enough to think that the return of Christ was going to happen during their day. So, we don't know how long it's going to be.
If you look at what's happening in Canada, the conservatives are going to come back to power, maybe even in England. In the United States, if the Democrats keep destroying themselves, then it looks like Trump is going to win. If he gets the House of Representatives and the Senate then he can straighten out an awful lot of things. Don't forget Netanyahu, he was suppose to lose the election, but he won it. Does this indicate that God is giving some spare time to Israel? Probably, yes!
But what's the most important thing that has to be done by the Churches of God? The words of God are true and living and will always be fulfilled! God is not going to leave it to other people. How can they preach the Gospel when they know nothing about the Word of God? They can't!
Matthew 24:10: "And then shall many be led into sin, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another…. [that is so true today] …and many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because lawlessness shall be multiplied…" (vs 10-12).
That's what we're looking at: lawlessness everywhere! That's going to lead to more troubles! I forget which state it's in—I think it's Washington—they said not to pursue petty crime. What's happening? They're coming into the 7-Eleven's and so forth and they're just ripping off things and walking out the door! The police won't respond and the owners can do nothing!
I'll tell you what's going to happen: there's going to be an owner with a gun and he's going to stop it! There's going to be a thief with a gun and there's going to be a battle. Who gets the first shot, and what happens? If you don't have law and order, evil rises terribly! That's not even bringing up all the problems of the drugs that are going on everywhere! That's quite a thing!
"…the love of many shall grow cold. But the one who endures to the end, that one shall be saved" (vs 12-13). Never get too discouraged! Salvation is the goal!
This tells us that we're going through difficult times. Christians have always gone through difficult times.
Verse 14: "And this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world for a witness to all nations, and then shall the end come."
So, if there is a space of time that God gives to Israel, the only reason that that is given is because God's schedule requires more preaching of the Gospel to all nations.
The only ones who can truly do it are the Churches of God; that's why pray for all the Churches of God almost every day. I don't want them to fail. I don't want them to get off into false doctrine. I don't want them to turn against God. I want them to do what God wants to do. Likewise what we need to do.
- What does God want us to do?
- How do we do it?
We're doing what we need to do at the present time! All of our digital things go around the world. That's our part. Sooner or later the two witnesses will come along, and I suspect that when they come along that the curtain will close on the churches, because God is not going to leave them without a witness.
Psa. 4 is a good sample prayer of how we need to come to God when we see all of these things coming around. We need not get ourselves so involved in watching these things. They're hateful, difficult, hard and sometimes very troubling to handle. But we have to recover from that like going to God like here:
Psalm 4:1: "Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness. You gave me relief when I was in distress; be gracious to me, and hear my prayer. O sons of men, how long will my glory be put to shame? How long will you love delusions and seek after lies? Selah" (vs 1-2).
Doesn't that describe the world today? Delusions! When Schiff gave that rendition of the phone conversation of Trump and Zelensky, that was lies and delusion! How many people accepted it as truth?
Psalm 7:6: "Arise, O LORD, in Your anger; lift up Yourself against the rage of my enemies, and awake for me at the judgment which You have commanded. And let the congregation of the people surround You; and rule over them from on high" (vs 6-7). Let God take care of things in the world and rule over His people!
Verse 8: "The LORD shall judge the people; judge me, O LORD, according to my righteousness, and according to my integrity within me. O let the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous, for the righteous God tries the hearts and reins" (vs 8-9).
Psa. 12—here's another prayer; here's what we need. It's difficult to say, because today, with all the news that we get, we get it from every corner in the world whenever something happens. If we didn't have television you wouldn't know anything about it. Maybe you would hear about it three or four weeks later.
Think about when it was all horse and buggy, donkey and camel, and sailboats. News didn't get anywhere until way after the event happened. But today it comes right into your living room and you watch it occur. Of course you can get upset with it. So, what you do is this:"
Psalm 12:1: "Help, O LORD, for the Godly man ceases… [watch some of this fake news and that's sure true] …for the faithful disappear from among the children of men. They speak falsehood each one with his neighbor; with flattering lips and a double heart they speak. The LORD shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaks proud things" (vs 1-3)—in its time! God will do it!
Verse 4: "Who have said, 'With our tongue we shall prevail; our lips are our own; who is lord over us?'" That sounds just like this coming election season; I tell you, it's amazing!
Verse 5: "'For the oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, I will now arise,' says the LORD. 'I will set him in safety from him who puffs at him.'"
Always remember this: In spite of everything else, when everything becomes difficult and it looks like its contrary:
Verse 6: "The words of the LORD are pure words, like silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. You shall keep them, O LORD; You shall preserve them from this generation forever" (vs 6-7).
That's talking about the Word of God. We have that fulfilled for us in our hands today. That's a great thing!
Verse 8: "The wicked walk on every side when vileness is exalted among the sons of men." That's what we see now!
Let's see some of the things that we need to follow in practicing in our lives, to qualify to rule the world. Here are some of the goals that we need.
Proverbs 19:1: "Better is the poor who walks in his integrity than he who is perverse in his lips and is a fool. For a man to be without knowledge, it is not good, and he who is impetuous sins. The foolishness of man perverts his way, and his heart frets against the LORD" (vs 1-3).
Doesn't that describe everything that's going on right now? Yes, indeed!
Proverbs 18:2: "A fool has no delight in understanding… [even though you tell them] …but only that his heart may discover itself."
This reminds me of a commercial. Here's this little pony and a friend comes up and says, 'Whose dog is that?' He says, 'It's my friend and it comforts me,' and he pets it. This guy doesn't even know it's a miniature horse. Then the horse walks out. No understanding!
Verse 3: "When the wicked comes, contempt also comes, and with dishonor comes disgrace."
Let's apply all of these things as we watch the politics. As far as political things, someone asked: 'Do you vote?' I said, 'Yes, I always vote for those who are the least evil and those who will cut taxes.' But to get deeply involved in all the politics, it isn't going to world, because they're not going to listen, even the best of them.
Verse 4: "The words of a man's mouth are like deep waters; the fountain of wisdom is like a flowing stream. It is not good to favor the person of the wicked, nor to overthrow the righteous in judgment" (vs 4-5).
Let's hope politically that this is going to set back the forces of evil and the Democrat Party for years, because there has to be a whole lot more preaching of the Gospel. We can look at these verses and say, 'Let God apply them.'
Proverbs 29:1: "A man who hardens his neck when reproved shall be suddenly broken, and that without remedy." Let's hope that this applies to the political system!
Verse 2 is a prophecy of us in the Millennium, but a practical fact in politics; "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when the wicked rule, the people mourn." We went through eight years of that!
Donald Trump is not the most righteous person in the world. Neither were the judges of Israel; some of them were pretty questionable. But they wanted to apply what was right for the people. So, in a political situation—and God is interested in the nations, in Israel—if there is a leader who is going to bring about good things, God will bless it! The people will benefit. So, let's hope that it goes that way!
Verse 4: "The king establishes the land by justice…"
Let's look at the difference between Trump and Hillary and Biden, and we'll throw in Obama for good measure.
"…but he who takes bribes tears it down" (v 4).
One is building up the land; the other is tearing it down! Isn't that what has happened with all the trading. Isn't that the result of why China is doing what it is. Some of those politicians who want China… Biden says that China is just fine; they're not an enemy. But Trump says that you have to quit stealing, quit demanding technology for nothing. You have to open your trade. That's essential.
You might ask why I'm talking about this? You're not going to be able to preach the Gospel unless there's a certain level of prosperity to make it possible to do the things that you need to do!
Verse 12: "If a ruler hearkens to lies, all his servants are wicked." Today that is called 'the deep state'! Even spying right in the White House!
Verse 14: "A king who faithfully judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever." Apply that to the coming re-election! It won't be forever, but through the term.
Verse 16: "When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases… [that goes right along with lawlessness shall be multiplied] …but the righteous shall see their fall."
Here's the great thing about the resurrection and being on the Sea of Glass: the judgment of God against the whole corrupt Babylonian system of Satan the devil! We're all going to see God's judgment and it's fall all at the same time! That's going to be quite a thing!
Proverbs 28:15: "Like a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the helpless people." Apply that to history down through time! Look at what Stalin did, what Mao did, what the Cameroons did, what Hitler did, what Maduro has done in Venezuela in our day.
Verse 16: "A ruler lacking understanding is also a great oppressor…" Think about that! You could take that and apply that so many different ways.
Look at what happened when the ministry was oppressive. It caused a lot of problems. What did God do with it? He got rid of it! The ultimate thing is that all of us were either going to do the will of God—if we don't He's going to correct us so we will—so that we can be perfected into what God wants us to be to rule the world.
I think that's just about enough for today. We've covered everything we need to do.
Question on Romans 13, about oppressive rulers. Even if they're oppressive, if you mind your 'Ps and Qs' and stay out of the way, trust in God, you will survive! Remember the book A Thousand Shall Fall. All during the war he had a carved wooden pistol. It looked so real that everyone thought that it was real. He was a Seventh Day Adventist. He was blessed to be put into the transportation division to haul supplies. He was not out there shooting and fighting.
His wife and children were back in one of the cities in Germany, and they bombed everything all around—even blew the windows out of their apartment—but nothing happened to them.
He survived and when they were entering the prisoner's camp, they all had to turn in their weapons. That's when everyone found out that his was a wooden pistol. They trusted God in everything. There were times when his family got food in very strange ways.
It's quite a thing! If there are oppressive rulers, that's the time not to be foolish to fight back when you know you're not going to win.
Romans 13:1: "Let everyone be subject to the higher authorities..." That's when we need to understand that if there's anything we can do to help the process be better that's okay, but not to try and convert it.
"…because there is no authority except from God; and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God" (v 1). Some for blessing, some for curse!
Verse 2: "So then, the one who sets himself against the authority is resisting the ordinance of God; and those who resist shall receive judgment to themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil works…." (vs 2-3). Sometimes that gets all mixed up, as well, but not all the time!
"…Do you desire not to be afraid of the authority? Then practice good, and you will have praise from it; for he is a servant of God to you for good…." (vs 3-4).
All of the police, all of the sheriffs, even the armies—because we're living in a world that's evil—are there. God has put them there for good if needed!
But when evil rulers come along and turn it into evil, then everything gets completely upside down and backward. You've witnessed that with different wars.
"…But if you are practicing evil, have fear! For he does not wear the sword in vain because he is a servant of God…" (v 4).
- Would it be all right for someone to be a policeman and still be in the Church of God? Yes!
- What if he has duty on the Sabbath? That's like one of the guards at the temple on the Sabbath! There for protection!
You could say the same thing of fireman! What if your house had a fire on the Sabbath? Certain things have to go seven days a week. God has set the earth in motion that it doesn't come to the seventh day and stop in it's orbit. Here we are on the seventh day, the wind stops. NO! From sunset to sunset wherever you are certain things are continuous.
Do we need protection, too, on the Sabbath? I suppose during the Millennium we won't have anything like that! That won't be necessary, but in this evil world today, we need it!
Scriptural References:
- Proverbs 16:2, 25
- Psalm 1:1-6
- Hebrews 4:12-16
- Romans 1:6-9, 15-25
- Deuteronomy 32:12-22
- Deuteronomy 29:10-23
- Matthew 24:10-14
- Psalm 4:1-2
- Psalm 7:6-9
- Psalm 12:1-8
- Proverbs 19:1-3
- Proverbs 18:2-5
- Proverbs 29:`-2, 4, 12, 14, 16
- Proverbs 28:15-16'
- Romans 13:1-4
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Jeremiah 17
- Revelation 7
- Acts 17
- Psalm 78
- Deuteronomy 28
- Revelation 13
Also referenced:
Appendix N (The Holy Bible in Its Original Order): Rome's Challenge to the Protestants; or booklet online at truthofGod.org
Books
- Genesis Characters and Events in Ancient Greek Art by Robert Bowie Johnson
- A Thousand Shall Fall by Susi Hasel Mundy
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 10/31/19
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