Disasters And God's Judgment #2

Fred Coulter – January  8, 2005

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The news was still filled with the earthquake and tsunami in Southeast Asia in 2004. The news channels were filled with panels of different 'religious experts' and other people, even including atheists, trying to figure out why that happened, and why so many thousands of people died. Even Kofi Anan was absolutely startled when he took an aerial survey of a great portion of what happened in Indonesia and Thailand, that whole villages were wiped out.

Yet, as I pointed in part one, that is nothing compared to what happened when the fountains of the deep broke up and the Flood came upon the world! There must have been tsunami waves—wave after wave—hundreds of feet high; the whole earth was affected.

The reason people can't figure out why these things take place is because they do not understand God:

• the so-called 'religious experts' do not know God
• the Buddhists don't
• the Hindus don't
• the Catholics don't
• the Protestants only have a partial understanding

They don't know why these things happen! But we need to realize—and we're going to see of all the so-called gods in the world—the true God is the only One Who takes credit for it.

• Allah didn't take credit for it
• the atheists don't understand about it
• the Hindus are perplexed because they have 38,000 gods and they couldn't tell you which one of them did it
• the Catholics are in a complete fog
• the Protestants have some partial understanding, but they get so maudlin and bogged down by John 3:16 that 'God so loved the world,' they can't explain why a God of love would do this if He's a God of love.

That shows that they don't understand it!

Now lest we get all exalted and think we know all the answers, let me just tell you this very plainly: The full Truth of the Bible is available to anyone who will repent and come to God and let God teach him!

The things that we're going to cover in this message is Why does God cause? God does not allow; let's get rid of that. God causes! Since 'the wages of sin is death,' and sin affects the environment, God causes it in relationship to human behavior! He also does it from the point of view that we need to understand: God has the power to resurrect back to life!

It's not like the atheist said on one of these panels, that this disaster came along and 'you have an impotent God who did nothing about the death of children, or nothing about the death of the rest of the people. Just an impotent God.' One of the other panelists said to this woman atheist, 'Well, if you don't believe in God then you must be very empty. Then in times of trouble and difficulty you don't know where to go and you have no answer.' I guess that pretty well caught the atheist by surprise.

Everyone wants the blessings of God regardless of how they live, but it doesn't come that way. In Deut. 28 we can see how we could have a better world. Or we could put it another way: how we could have as perfect a world as possible. Everyone wants these blessings, but we're going to see very few are willing to do what God says!

This is very basic, but with these disasters that are coming we are dealing with very basic things. Everyone wants everything easy, they want it nice, they don't want any disasters, accidents or premature deaths. Yet, they're not willing to do what God commands them to do to receive it! The true God, the God of the Bible sets before every human being the choice: 'life and death, blessing and cursing.' He made it very, very clear that the way the blessings come is through loving God and keeping His commandments.

Now let's see a few more details here before we get into the utter power of God and His destructiveness, which He will bring upon this world because of sin. As we pointed out in part one, the reason that these things come along is so people will understand that God is God and He means business! If He's God, and if He's Sovereign, which He is then God must show His sovereign power to a sinful mankind in hopes that they would repent. He's not going to force them to repent.

Wouldn't it be something if every national constitution in the world had this as the way to run a society? Just think of it:

Deuteronomy 28:1: "And it shall come to pass, if…" So, the condition is upon human beings. Human beings judge God and put the condition upon Him! 'If God is all powerful why didn't He stop it?' That's not the right question.

'Since God is all powerful, why did He do it and take credit for it?' Not one other god of any of the so-called gods of the world took credit for it because the true God did it! So, here's the IF Now notice what the IF is.

• Are you willing to do what God says in order to receive these blessings?

or

• Do you demand these blessings regardless of your behavior?
• Are you willing to take the challenge of this IF?

"…if you shall hearken diligently…" (v 1). That doesn't mean:

• part-time
• once a week on the false day of worship: Sunday
• or as Muslims have: Friday
• or as Hindus have 30,000 gods and any day will do

That any kind of worship is acceptable!

Those countries, where they have the false gods, are a testimony by the true God of the poverty and sin that is generated in these societies. That's why India is poor, and one of the poorest nations on earth. The most idolatrous of any nation in the world through Hinduism.

"…hearken diligently unto the voice of the LORD your God…" Now the children of Israel, at this time did hear the voice of God, but what did they say? 'Oh, don't let us hear the voice of God lest we die. Moses, we'll listen to you. You go up on the mountain and you talk to God, and then you tell us what God says and then we'll do it'—which they never did.

So, what God has done, He has recorded what He would speak to you or any other person or any other nation in His Word. There it is, the voice of God recorded in print! These are His words! How many times does it say, 'And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying to speak unto the children of Israel and say…" Moses faithfully transmitted all of the words of God, faithfully wrote all the words of God, and here is God's requirement:

"…to observe and to do all His commandments…" (v 1). Now stop and think:

• Do people do all the commandments of God?

just take the Ten Commandments

• How many have the true God?

or

• Do they have other gods before God?

Most of the world has other gods before God. As a matter of fact, the majority of the entire world—even the Christian professing world—has other gods before the true God.

• Idols: not making 'any graven image of any likeness of any kind that's in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth,' and don't bow down to them

Let's just take for example all of Catholicism and Eastern Orthodox, Hinduism, Buddhism, Shintoism, and let's see if they will all be willing to rise up in mass and go destroy:

• every idol
• every string of prayer beads
• every cross
• every statue

for the Buddhist in Tibet:

• every prayer wheel

Why, you'd have a riot on your hands. You would be killed. Yet, they want the blessings of God. Yet, when the punishments of God come they ask: Why did God do this? Well the reason is:

• they don't know God
• they don't know the Word of God
• they deny the power of God
• they deny the Sovereignty of God that He has the power to bless or punish

These things also happen automatically!

• Don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain

Ministers are the ones who do this worse than anybody else. The poor man on the street, the golf course or football field that's cursing, he's not as liable before God as the ministers who stand up in the pulpit and say that God says… and He never said! That's the most vain way to take the name of God—in sanctimonious human satanic apparent goodness—and say it comes from God. But that's what God spoke from Mount Sinai!

• Remember the Sabbath to keep it Holy

You run into any one of these so-called Christian-keeping, Sunday-keeping churches and you tell them that they're sinning by keeping Sunday and they will string you up right at the door, or run you out and tell you that you're trying to earn salvation. All this shows that people don't know God!

If you don't think that Sunday-keeping is a sin before God, well then you do a study in the Bible. I challenge you to do this: You keep the Sabbath every week for six weeks in your home; study about the Sabbath Day for those six weeks; and then read the article: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants {this if found in a number of publications, including a booklet at truthofGod.org}

If you still believe that Sunday-keeping is the will of God, nothing can get through to you, so don't expect the blessings of God!

• Honor your father and mother
• You shall not murder

How many people are murdered every single day around the world.

• You shall not commit adultery

More than half the population of the world commits adultery. And now they've found out with this disaster that one of the unspoken hideous sins that they have in Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia and those Southeastern Asian countries is pedophilia: selling children at three-years-old to be literally abused for years and years by sex maniacs.

It's very interesting, one of the mullahs for Islam said, 'God sent this to punish all those people—especially the Westerner's—who come to the beaches and are out there naked and committing fornication' and all of that. There may be a point to that. But God also wiped out how many of the Muslims right in the center of the hotbed of militant Islam that seeks to kill everybody if they won't convert to Islam. Some people say it's time and chance.

Let's give God credit and say that maybe all of those were true. For the rest of us to understand the awesome power of God and the very shortness of our lives that people can die so quickly, so swiftly, that we need to repent. So, let's get the big picture of everything here. Let's not just pick on one person or one religion, let's look at the whole human race and evaluate it by the Words of God so that we can have some understanding. Any other evaluation would not be good or true, or give us any understanding whatsoever. Just like all these panels on the news channels, 'you have your opinion, you have your opinion, you have your opinion and we're in post modernist thinking that since you believe it, it must be true because I'm so great and good.' No! Anyone can understand the Word of God if they will do what God says; it's that simple!

• You shall not steal

Guess what's going to happen to a great portion of this relief aid? It's going to be stolen by the ones who don't need it for their own profit and their own benefit, because they're liars and cheats and thieves.

They don't care if their fellow-countrymen die, just that they get rich. They don't care who gets the food, just as long as they can get it, and sell it on the black market. To give it to the United Nations, which 80% of it goes out from UNICEF for administrative costs.

That's why God says it's corrupt from the head to the foot. The whole world, there's no soundness in it. And if you think that this was an awesome thing, add up all the disasters that have happened around the world for the whole year. Get out your world almanac and look at it. As you're looking at it and looking at the disasters, and all the deaths, and all the things that happen, ask:

How many people are obeying God? You're answer is going to be an infinitesimal few. You can be thankful for them because God holds back His real powerful hand of judgment for the sake of those few who love God, and who keep His commandments, and who believe Jesus Christ, and who live by every Word of God.

• Bearing false witness
• Coveting

"…to do all His commandments, which I command you today, the LORD your God will set you on high above all nations of the earth.… [everyone wants that] …And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you…" (vs 1-2).

If you love God and keep His commandments—that's part of the second commandment, too—then these blessings will come upon you and they will overtake you.

"…if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God" (v 2).

• Do you believe God?
• Do you believe Jesus Christ?
• Do you believe the Words of God?

You have to because all the words and commandments of God are effective in everyone's life all the time everywhere in the world whether they know the Word of God or not.

We'll just take this for example because everyone can understand this: Why do you suppose that HIV and AIDS is such a virulent sexually transmitted disease? Because people are committing all kinds of sexual activity that brings it on! Not only adultery, homosexuality, perversion and pedophilia.

That is God's punishment actively taking place for sin. God doesn't have to come down here and do anything. He, through His laws and creation, has set in motion that those who violate the use of sex by saying they can have it with anyone anywhere with anything—animal—whatever you want to do, and then say, 'Oh we have this disease.'

You do not have that in lifetime husband/wife relations; never a recorded case. Do you think that everyone would be willing to put away adultery? homosexuality? bestiality? pedophilia? Do you really? Of course not! Expect God's judgment! That is God's judgment!

One nation, Uganda, is the only nation that took God's Word and the warning against AIDS seriously. They went on a nation-wide campaign, because AIDS was ravaging the population. The campaign was this:

• no sex outside of marriage
• they didn't pass out AIDS medicine
• they didn't pass out condoms
• they didn't do any of these so-called things to prevent it

Guess what happened? The AIDS and HIV epidemic went down from about 15%, and I think it's down to 2% of the population now. If they continue on it, all sexually transmitted diseases will cease. No medication, no expense, no cost to anyone except to obey the commandment: you shall not commit adultery.

We have to understand  that since God has given those laws, He must judge when there is sin. We also need to understand that when there is repentance, because of the severity of the penalty coming upon those who commit such things, there can be forgiveness! Never forget that. But what we need to do is understand what God does because of sin, otherwise you will never, never, never, understand why these disasters and things take place. Speaking of the sin of adultery, never forget the lesson of Sodom and Gomorrah! God gave that as a perpetual lesson to all who would do like they did.

Verse 2: "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you if you will obey the voice of the LORD your God. Blessed shall you be in the city…" (vs 2-3).

How many places in the city would you not go because it's filled with gangs and crime and you may lose your life? Just in Salinas, California, one of the big shopping centers just south of us, there was a shoot-out in the big Northridge Mall and two gang members were killed and three innocent bystanders were wounded. Cursed in the city! We'll read that a little later.

"…and blessed shall you be in the field" (v 3). How many problems do we have with crops, which we think we're going to solve with genetic engineering? No, that won't work, because genetic engineering is going to end up bringing mammoth curses in the long run.

Verse 3: "Blessed shall be the fruit of your body …" People don't want deformed children. I'll have to say this: the organization of doctors that go around the world and repair cleft palate children are doing a magnificent job in helping those children and adults have some decency in their lives.

But you know there would not be one deformed child, there would not be one cleft palate child, there would not be one hydrocephalic child, or all of the pitiful things that you would see if you had the guts to tour an institution where they house them because no one wants them. Oh but no, they want to go commit adultery and fornication and then have everything come out all right. You know why there's so much in-vitro fertilization today? Because of fornication and sterility because of sexually transmitted diseases! That's why!

People don't want their lifestyle interrupted. Well, God will interrupt it! Take all the medication you want. God's judgment is upon you. God's judgment is in your body and in your mind. It is a proven fact: the reason God says that you shall not commit adultery is because the very first sexual encounter of a person is burned in their mind forever.

I challenge you to think back and you will remember—maybe not the exact date—the place, the person and the circumstances where your first sexual encounter happened, regardless of whatever age it was. It is there permanently! That's why God says only in marriage. People underestimate the power of God, and they underestimate the authority of God. And they do not understand the automatic penalty for sin, but it comes.

Oh, but they want to be "…blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, the increase of your cattle, and the flocks of your sheep. Blessed shall be your basket and your store. Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out. The LORD shall cause your enemies that rise up against you to be stricken before your face…" (vs 3-7).

Sounds a little different than the war on terror. You can be guarantee the war of terror in the world is part of God's punishment on the world for their sins.

"…They shall come out against you one way, and flee before you seven ways. The LORD shall command the blessing upon you in your storehouses, and all that you set your hand to. And He shall bless you in the land. which the LORD your God gives you" (vs 7-8). Did not God give the land to every tribe and nation in the world? Yes! He determined the bounds of the nations (Gen. 10).

Verse 9: "The LORD shall establish you a Holy people to Himself…" That is those who enter into a covenant with God according to God's terms and conditions of the covenant. Now it is the covenant through Jesus Christ.

"…as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God and walk in His ways. And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the LORD, and they shall be afraid of you" (vs 9-10).

But now what's happened to us? We're afraid of them. Now we're making our nation to protect us because we don't trust in God. But we trust in ourselves, our munitions, our weapons and our technology. We are making us such a hyper-police state for total control. None of that's necessary if you love God and keep His commandments!

Verse 11: "And the LORD shall make you abound in goods…" The goods we have today are by cheating and lying. We have money in the economy that is based upon a lie and it's going to collapse.

"…in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your livestock, and in the fruit of your ground, in the land, which the LORD swore to your fathers to give you. The LORD shall open to you His good treasure, the heaven to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. And you shall loan to many nations, and you shall not borrow" (vs 11-12).

Look what's happened to America because we have violated all these commandments, and yet, we say we're a Christian nation. No, we're not! You claim the name of Christ but you believe in a perverted satanic, ungodly grace. That's what's wrong with us. What's wrong with America is sin, and permission to sin, caused by the 'religious' leaders of the nation.

I wonder where God is. We kicked Him out of the school and out of the homes. Can't even tell children in school to think about the fact that there is intelligent design. No! They go to court over it. God is going to make His presence known! I'll guarantee you one thing: there will be not any ACLU or any atheist organizations in the Kingdom of God—period! They won't exist!

Verse 13: "And the LORD shall make you the head, and not the tail. And you shall be always above, and you shall not be beneath, if…" Ifs means conditions set by God. In order to give our perspective and to understand who God is and what He's doing, we need to understand that since God is Creator, which He is, He and He alone sets the terms and conditions! Since man is God's creation, man does not march up to God and demand of Him and set the terms and conditions. That's another thing that is wrong with Protestantism. You cannot appropriate Christ. You cannot have Christ come into your heart unless God personally calls you. That's telling God what to do. No man is going to command God—period! That's all of understanding and knowing who God is!

You'll never understand these disasters, you will never understand the things that are going to be coming on the earth unless you understand:

• Who God is
• He is Sovereign
• He has absolute power
• He has absolute control
• He will punish for sin on an individual basis
• He will punish for sin on a collective basis
• He will punish for sin on a national basis
• He will punish for sin on a world basis

All that will lead up to the return of Jesus Christ!

"…if you obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you today, to observe and to do them" (v 13). Of course, that's for their good.

• What did God say? I gave these to you for your good!
• What do the religious leaders say? 'Oh that's a harsh God and He gave it to you to curse you'!
• Do you believe the lies of 'religious leaders'?

or

• Do you believe the Truth from God?
• God gave these to you for your good!

• Is it not good to know the true God?
• Is it not good to be able to worship God without having idols and statues?
• Is it not good to not take the name of the Lord your God in vain?
• Is it not good to keep the Sabbath Day of God where He will fellowship with you with His Spirit and with His Word, so you know Him and know where you are and what God is doing?
• Is it not good to honor father and mother?
• Is it not good to have a society where there is not adultery
• Is it not good to have a society where there is not murder
• Is it not good to have a society where there is not lying
• Is it not good to have a society where there is not cheating
• Is it not good to have a society where there is not all of these things that go on, and coveting?

Yes, that is good. But people don't want to be bothered with it. So there are some other ifs that come along. I want you to evaluate

• your life
• your country
• your city
• your town
• your own household
• your own children

because God is!

Verse 14: "And you shall not go aside from any of the words, which I command you today, to the right hand or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them."

There is one God: God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ. All of the others are inventions and fictions of men because they have rejected God; yet, they want to appear good and religious. Can't have it both ways; it's one way, one way only.

Verse 15: "And it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken to the voice of the LORD your God to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you."

Before we read that let's see something very profound, very important that we need to understand. As I've said before, God's judgment is on all people everywhere at all times through the power of His laws, which operate more powerfully than the laws of gravity. Let's see how God views the world, because 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The wages of sin is death.' Many of you have already heard that. But let's see how God views the world. This not an accurate description of the world today, and if you go back and see world history, continuously from the onset of human history…

Romans 3:9: "What then? Are we of ourselves better?…." That is because you know, God, He's talking about the Jews in that particular case.

"…Not at all! For we have already charged both Jews and Gentiles—ALL—with being under sin" (v 9). We're going to see that's what's wrong with the whole world today. They have their religions, which appear good. They have their philosophies and platitudes, which sound nice. But they're still under sin, because they're eating off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and they can't understand that the good which comes off the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is not the good which comes from God!

Verse 10: "Exactly as it is written: 'For there is not a righteous one—not even one!'" That's why we need a Savior. That's why we need the true God. Has anyone ever been able to totally straighten out his life alone? No, not at all!

Verse 11: "There is not one who understands; there is not one who seeks after God. They have all gone out of the way; together they have all become depraved…. [Isn't that a perfect description of this world? Yes, it is!] … There is not even one who is practicing kindness…." (vs 11-12).

We see a little kindness in helping the tsunami victims, but what's going to happen with all of that aid and kindness given to them? It's going to be all destroyed because of continually living in sin!

"…No, there is not so much as one! Their throats are like an open grave; with their tongues they have used deceit; the venom of asps is under their lips, whose mouths are full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood…" (vs 12-15).

What I'm reading is New Testament doctrine quoted from the Old Testament. So, if you're listening/reading this and you say in your mind: All you're doing is reading the Old Testament, well you better read what Jesus said, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.' So, that's perfectly 'fair game.'

"…and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes" (vs 17-18).

Verse 19: "Now then, we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law… [which is every human being in the world] … so that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God."

That's how God views the world. Because of this, God must judge! And that's what we are facing today.

As the Scriptures have said, 'There is no fear of God before their eyes,' so that's why God causes things like this to happen. Has not the whole world virtually stood still in its thinking?

• Why did this happen?
• Did God do it?
• If He did do it, why did He do it?
• If there is no God, how did it happen?
• Why did it occur?

God does this so the people are going to stop, think and fear God! That's why! God does expect every one of the survivors to pitch in and help out those who are left. But as time goes on, there will be more that will come out that we can say that, yes, this is probably adding to the cause of it. But I think one of the major things that has been brought up, the slave trade in little children for pedophilia activity. That has got to be a major judgment in it.

Romans 3:1: "What then is the advantage of the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way. Primarily in that they were entrusted with the oracles of God" (vs 1-2).

They were entrusted with the Old Testament. The Church was entrusted with the New Testament. But let's expand this on beyond just a Jew/Gentile confrontation as has been brought out here by Paul.

Verse 3: "For what if some did not believe?…."

• Isn't that true today?
• How many people have a Bible in their homes?
• How many have read them?

if they have read them

• How many believe it?

looking at the world, hardly any

"…Shall their unbelief nullify the faithfulness of God?" (v 3).

We're reading re in Deut. 28 some of the faithfulness of God; the blessings that He promised He would be faithful to bring them. Since God is the Sovereign of the universe and has the power to do so, and created the earth and everything on it and the human beings and every person that is here through the power of procreation, as He commanded man to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth. Because of what man does, that does not nullify the faithfulness of God.

And remember this: the promises of God fall into two categories: blessings and cursings. People want to claim the blessings and not believe the cursings. So when the cursings come, because they refuse to obey God, then they blame God, and they judge God.

What does Paul say? Verse 4: "MAY IT NEVER BE! Rather, let God be true but every man a liar, exactly as it is written: 'That You might be justified in Your words, and might overcome when You are being judged by men.'"

Isn't that exactly what is happening today with the opinions of human beings over this Southeast Asia earthquake and following tsunami, and destruction and death? Yes! Is God overcoming all of their judgments against Him? Of course!

• He's powerful
• He's Sovereign
• He rules
• He blesses
• He curses
• He judges
• He penalizes

It's all a part of the power of God!

Verse 5: "But if our unrighteousness brings to reality God's righteousness… [the comparison of human behavior compared to God] … what shall we say? Is God unrighteous to inflict His wrath? (I am speaking according to man's view.)" They don't like that; they judge God!

But God remains God! God is not going to change for any human being. God could care less what the opinions of human beings are. God could care less what their beliefs are unless they believe in Him and keep His laws, commandments, statutes and believe in Jesus Christ. God is going to judge you for it.

Verse 6: "MAY IT NEVER BE! Otherwise, how shall God judge the world?" God judges the world and all nations all the time, and that's how God does it.

Lev. 18—powerful instruction. Let's understand that one of the most powerful blessings or curses that is build into every human being is sex. There is a Godly way and there is a satanic way. We will see how profoundly important that this is. I want you to judge:

• your own life
• your own city
• your own town
• your own state
• your own country

in which you are living and ask your self: Is God judging us now? I think you'll find out, yes indeed!

Leviticus 18:1: "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "I am the LORD your God"'" (vs 1-2).

God is God! We're going to see how powerful He is here in a little bit. By the time we're done with this series on disasters you're going to understand that this earthquake and the tsunami tragedy over there in southeast Asia is not even a little tiny corner of sandbox.

Verse 3: "As they do in the land of Egypt where you dwelt…" A lot of people ask: Why did God do to Egypt what He did? Because of their idols, because of their sins, and because of their sex sins!

"…you shall not do. And you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing you. Neither shall you walk in their ordinances. You shall do My judgments and keep My ordinances, and walk in them. I am the LORD your God. And you shall keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live in them. I am the LORD" (vs 3-5).

Then He gives all of the forbidden sex: vs 6-8: no incest; that's one of the first places where the first sex experience occurs within the families. Then He goes on down through all the rest of it: adultery and fornication.

Verse 22—this is the one that the so called 'gay' community. It should be called 'homosexual' community because that's what it is. There's nothing gay about their lifestyle. What they bring upon themselves; they have:

• more disease
• more sickness
• more mental and emotional breakdowns
• more suicide

than any other proportionate population within any country!

That's all a penalty for what they do! Yet, they don't like to be told that God says this is not right. Well, even if someone doesn't tell you it's not right, it's still not right and you're going to suffer the penalty of it! Even if you are able to shut up every preacher and burn every Bible, the penalty is going to come because God is God!

So, don't get mad at me, and I'm not preaching hate. I'm preaching truth and showing you a way out of that IF you will only heed and take God's way and repent!

But God says, v 22: "You shall not lie with mankind as with womankind. It is an abomination to God. And you shall not lie with any animal to defile yourself with it. And a woman shall not stand before an animal to lie down to it. It is a perversion" (vs 22-23).

Notice this command and understand that sin affects the environment. Murder and sex sins affect the environment along with idolatry more than any other sin.

Verse 24: "Do not defile yourselves in any of these things, for in all these the nations, which I cast out before you, are defiled. And the land is defiled. Therefore, I visit its wickedness against it… [God judges (Rom. 3)] …and the land itself vomits out those who live in it" (vs 24-25). It comes by the plagues that we covered in part one:

• false prophets
• idolatry
• famine
• pestilence
• war
• wild beasts
• drought
• flood
• catastrophe

Stop and think for just a minute: God raised up the whole empire of Babylon and King Nebuchadnezzar for the sole purpose of invading Judea because of the sins of God's people. Also understand this: if you claim to follow God, know for sure—as God always promises—He judges His own first! And that's what He said of the Jews because of Nebuchadnezzar.

Then God said, 'And after 70 years I will visit Babylon and render My judgment upon them.' But God raised them up for that very purpose.

• Did that happen?
• Is that a historical fact that Babylon invaded Judea and destroyed the first temple and carried the Jews away captive to Babylon?
• Is that not so?
• Yes, indeed!

The Creator of heaven and earth says He did it. Now it doesn't matter if you can go through history and think you can find other causes. The fact is God did it. If you do these things, the land itself will vomit out her inhabitants.

Verse 26: "You shall, therefore, keep My statutes and My judgments, and shall not commit any of these abominations, neither the native, nor any stranger that lives among you." This is not only what people would call a 'religious law,' but it becomes civil law.

Verse 27: "For the men of the land who were before you have done all these abominations, and the land is defiled. You shall not do these so that the land may not spew you out also when you defile it, as it spewed out the nations that were before you; for whoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls who commit them shall be cut off from among their people" (vs 27-29)—through penalty and disease and all of the consequence that come from it.

Verse 30: "And you shall keep My ordinance, so as not to do any of these abominable customs which were committed before you, and that you do not defile yourselves in them. I am the LORD your God." Isn't that pretty powerful? Yes, it is!

Since God is God—this is the One Who became Jesus Christ, Who spoke these words—remember that Jesus said in the New Testament, 'The words that I speak shall judge you.' Not just those He spoke when He was God manifested in the flesh, the Son of man: Jesus Christ. but also the words that He spoke here to the children of Israel, which has gone out to the whole world.

Stop and think for a minute; if you think that this is some preacher on some kind of diatribe, understand this: I have no political position! I have no religious position! My love and my loyalty is to the Word of God, and God and Jesus Christ alone, which is the Truth.

God commands His servants everywhere to preach the true Word of God. He does not give us a choice. When the land sins and the people sin, God says, 'Stand up, cry aloud and spare not,' and don't worry about the politics of it because God is God. So don't think that I am on a pedestal looking down and judging everyone; that's not true. I'm reading the Word of God. I know and understand that the Word of God judges me, as well as anybody else. Furthermore, those who know the Word of God know better.

If the civil authorities would enforce these things in the land, God would not have to come down and bring His judgment. Because then the civil and religious authorities would be exercising the judgment of God the way that they are supposed to, to whom God gave authority to make those judgments and to give the penalties. But we are in a time where there is a deviancy downward to the lowest level of perversion so that you can have an all inclusive perverted society, and it's a satanic deception so that God will bring His judgment and destroy those people. Because Satan knows that God, being righteous, and knowing His judgment will have no other alternative than to carry out and fulfill His Word and will. But no, the atheists say separation of church and state. They really don't mean separation of church and state; they mean the elimination of the knowledge of God and the acknowledgement of God in the world publicly!

Now we're going to see that God means business, and we are going to see that if you are living in sin you're not going to receive any blessings. Please do not be deluded by the fact that there is pleasure in sin for a season. Please do not deceive yourself because you have gotten away with these sins and God's hand of judgment has not been heavy upon you yet. Please do not think that it's not going to come, because it surely will. Just like you throw a rock up in the air, it's going to come back down.

As we read this I want you to sort of put yourself in mind as if you were on a satellite above the earth and you could look down on the earth like God looks down on the earth. As the earth rotated beneath you, you could somehow see all of the nations and see all of the good and evil of all of them, and see the righteousness and sin of all of them, and see whether God's judgment is not upon them.

Deuteronomy 28:15: "And it shall come to pass, if you will not hearken to the voice of the LORD your God to observe and to do all His commandments and His statutes, which I command you today, all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you."

I don't care how many policemen you have out there, you're not going to stop it. I don't care how many medical researches you have, you're never going to cure these incurable diseases, and on and on and on!

Verse 16: "Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the field. Cursed shall be your basket and your store.… [look at the world: starvation, famine, etc.] …Cursed shall be the fruit of your body, and the fruit of your land, the increase of your livestock, and the flocks of your sheep. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out" (vs 16-19).

Like it says in one prophecy: A man escapes a bear and runs into a house, and exhausted, leans on a wall and a serpent bites him. You just can't get away from it; it's the active judgment of God.

Here is the best Medicare program of all. Have the people keep the commandments of God, learn about the health laws and you don't need all of these drugs, which make you sick and cause you to die anyway, right? Because these come because of curses.

Verse 20: "The LORD shall send on you cursing, vexation, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do…"

All of those who have suffered hurricanes in Florida can understand that; and the typhoons that hit the Philippines, Taiwan and Japan. Nothing they did worked out right. Had one hurricane, started to clean up and repair, here comes another one. Devastated by that. So, they got out there and said, 'Ok, we'll start cleaning up.' Here comes a third one. And got out there and were laid low with the fourth one. And I marveled: How many other countries came in with foreign aid to help Florida? But the ones down in Florida still didn't get it, did they? It's just like this here. Did it come? Yes!

"…until you are destroyed, and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings…" (v 20). That's why God always gives a message of repentance.

• Are you willing to repent?
• Are you willing to admit your sins?
• Do you think that God loves you?

You don't come to God with your sins. You come to God repenting, with tears and sincerity and ask for forgiveness! You'll receive the forgiveness. But you also have to understand you can't get up off your knees, dry your eyes and tears, blow your nose and go your way, and say that you have been forgiven so you can continue in the way that you are doing. That's why Jesus said to those that He forgave, "Go and sin no more!' The sin is a transgression of the laws and commandments of God. All the repentance that you do, if you get up off your knees and continue living your life the way that you have always led your life and you don't keep the commandments of God is vain, empty, foolish, and will lead nowhere and you will never find God.

"…by which you have forsaken Me" (v 20).

Now God's judgment gets real. It gets right down into the body, into your health.

Verse 21: "The LORD shall make the pestilence cling to you until He has consumed you from off the land where you go to possess it. The LORD shall strike you with lung disease and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword… [that's crime within the city, enemies coming within] …and with blasting… [that's wind, heat], and with mildew…. [rain and flood] …And they shall pursue you until you perish…. [it's going to get worse] …And your heavens over your head shall be bronze, and the earth that is under you iron" (vs 21-23).

I want you to look at all of the countries of the world and think about why they're not able to feed their populations, and why their land is cursed with heat and drought and famine, because of sin and because of greed.

Let's just use one nation—Zimbabwe—as an example. Before they kicked out the British they had plantations and plenty, and they produced and exported hundreds of millions of tons of food. But when they got rid of the British and at least the superficial righteousness that they were able to teach the population, and the population was left on its own so that they would have the worst of dictators rise up. Since they have destroyed the plantations, destroyed those who taught them the right way, they are in famine and they have to import food. Why? Their way of living brought those curses upon them! And that is God's judgment!

So, if nations like Zimbabwe want to have productive food and to have an exporting economy again, they have to repent to God! Stop all of your arrogance and your dictatorship to rule over people and crush them, to make slaves of them, to degrade them. Teach them the way of God. Teach them how to have a proper society. God will bless you just like He did Uganda in reducing the AIDS epidemic. There's action that nations can take. There are actions that we can do.

Look how much it costs us in dollars. Think of all the dollars that are wasted on disasters and health problems, death, disease and crime. No wonder no one can balance the budget anymore. You'll never balance it unless you get rid of crime. You'll never balance it unless you teach people proper health. We're speaking here of all the health problems that come.

• Have the drugs cured us? No, it's made us sick and killed us!
• Where are we as a nation?
• Where are you, living in your nation wherever it may be?
• Where are you as an individual before God?
• How do these things impact upon your life?

God is asking you:

• What are you going to do about it? It's your responsibility to repent!

Verse 24: "The LORD shall make the rain of your land powder and dust. It shall come down from the heavens upon you until you are destroyed. The LORD shall cause you to be stricken before your enemies.…" (vas 24-25).

We have an enemy that is undefined: the terrorists. It's not like going to war where you all have uniforms and you know who you are and who your enemy is, shooting and killing each other. You're never going to get rid of that enemy unless you repent to God. I'll guarantee you this: though they may have some victories against the war on terror, unless there is repentance worse things are going to happen!

"…You shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them. And you shall become abhorrent unto all the kingdoms of the earth" (v 25).

• Did that not happen in Judea during the days of Nebuchadnezzar in the 600sB.C.?
• Did that not happen in Judea in 70A.D.?
• Yes, it did!
• Is God's Word true?
• Did He fulfill His promise?

Remember what we have learned. Half of God's promises are blessings, half of God's promises are cursings. Everyone wants to claim the blessings but no one wants to obey God to avoid the cursings. So, most people receive the promises of God in the form of cursings and then wonder why. Well, now you know.

Verse 26: "And your dead bodies shall be food to all birds of the air… [Isn't that what happened with the tsunami and the fish of the sea?] … and to the beasts of the earth. And no man shall frighten them away…. [here's a source of health problems]: … The LORD will strike you with the boils of Egypt, and with the hemorrhoids, and with the scab, and with the itch, of which you cannot be healed" (vs 26-27).

If someone came and told you and said, 'Look, God says don't eat unclean meat. Don't eat unclean fish. Oh, but I love my pork. I love my shrimp and my lobster. I got to have my bacon in the morning. 'All right, do it. God's judgment be upon you and your health.'

Are these things true? I'm amazed! When you watch television, how many ads are on there because of some sickness or disease because of some allergy, itch, athletes foot? That's to say nothing of the serious diseases of cancer, tuberculosis, and now leprosy is starting to come in here in America.

Verse 28: "The LORD shall strike you with madness… [do we have mental illness?] …and blindness, and astonishment of heart…. [heart attacks] … And you shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness…" (vs 28-29).

Isn't that the way we are? You watch any one of these newscasting things. They really don't tell you the news. They give different opinions and you choose. I don't think that if I asked permission to come on any of these national news channels and give me one hour to give this sermon, that I would last two seconds.

• they can't stand the Truth
• they can't lose their supporters
• they can't lose the advertising dollar
• they can't lose their religious backing
• they can't lose their atheist backing

So therefore, it comes. Yet, when these things happen, they are just like the blind groping, wondering why it happened. Why did this occur? Oh, this is terrible. Yet, you tell them the true answer, which you are hearing here, they don't want to hear it.

"…and you shall not prosper in your ways. And you shall always be pressed down and spoiled forever, and no man shall save you" (v 29). That's the ultimate end, and that will increase more and more.

Verse 30: "You shall become engaged to a wife, and another man shall lie with her. You shall build a house, and you shall not live in it. You shall plant a vineyard, and you shall not gather the grapes of it."

When the economic crash comes that verse will be fulfilled to the nth degree everywhere in the United States.

Verse 31: "Your ox shall be slain before your eyes, and you shall not eat of it. Your donkey shall be violently taken away from before your face, and shall not be restored to you…"

These are all of the work animals. We could say today, cars and tractors, and these great fantastic trucks and scoopers and things that they have for lifting 70-80 tons of dirt at one scoop. And all of the mammoth equipment that we have shall be worthless. For example: What did the tsunami wave do to the main rail line there in Sri Lanka that runs right along the coast? Just took and twisted it up as if it was nothing. That's what will happen.

"…your sheep shall be given to your enemies, and you shall have none to rescue them. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, and your eyes shall look and fail for them all the day long. And there shall be no power in your hand" (vs 31-32).

What is it that at least they have learned in this disaster? Human beings are indeed weak. Human beings are indeed subject to instant and violent death, and no man can prolong his life.

Verse 33: "The fruit of your land and all your labors shall be eaten up by a nation which you do not know.… [hello, China] … And you shall only be oppressed and crushed always…. [that is yet to happen] …and you shall be driven mad because of that which you shall see with the sight of your eyes. The LORD shall strike you in the knees and in the legs with an evil ulcer that cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the top of your head" (vs 33-35).

You can read the rest of it. All that sin affects the environment. We don't live in a vacuum. We do not live in an evolved world. That's why God is bringing these things as judgment upon people because they do not understand God and this is the only way He can get their attention.

Verse 43: "The stranger dwelling among you shall get up above you very high, and you shall come down very low." We see that being fulfilled before our very eyes in America, in Britain, in Europe. Europe is petrified because up to 20% of the population are Muslim immigrants.

Verse 44: "He shall loan to you, and you shall not loan to him.…" I did a sermon on the coming economic tribulation? There was one day, September 8, when none of the foreign nations showed up at the sale of U.S. Treasury Securities. Everyone really got scared. And I think the foreigners were saying, 'We are tired of your cheap American dollars. Yet, we can't get along with out them.' So, they showed up the next week. But what that does, that puts them in the lenders position. And remember this: the borrower is always the slave of the lender—period! Automatic law! That's why in that sermon I said get out of debt as much as you can.

Verse 44: "He shall loan to you, and you shall not loan to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. And all these curses shall come on you, and shall pursue you and overtake you, until you are destroyed because …" (vs 44-45). Here's the cause of it.

You can have all the government programs, all the private programs, you can have all the research in the world that you want to do for whatever cause, sickness, disease, crime or whatever it may be, and you will never discover the cause of it because you reject God and reject His commandments and do not believe Him nor obey His voice.

"…you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God to keep His commandments and His statutes, which He commanded you" (v 45). That's why these things take place. That's why they occur.

Psa. 2—this is where we are in prophecy today, and is why the judgments are going to come. As Jesus prophesied in Matt. 24 and Luke 13, as we saw before

• there are wars and rumors of war
• there is famine
• there is pestilence
• there is disease

because this is what is happening in the world today!

Psalm 2:1: "Why do the nations rage…" They are raging against God. And all these other false religions—not that there is really a true religion because it's a way of life, but that's the only way to describe it of these other religions and other people and atheists—altogether are raging against God.

"…and the people plot in vain?" (v 1). What is the vainest thing that they imagine?

• that they can live in blessings by getting rid of God and sinning
• that we can organize ourselves and have a world government, which is going to solve all of the people's problems

That's why we need the U.N. and a stronger U.N. Imagine a vain thing!

Verse 2: "The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together…" All of these alliances, all of these meetings, all of the things that they do together.

"…against the LORD and against His Christ…" (v 2).They are against God because they don't want His ways. You walk into the U.N building and you go into their meditation room and it has every occult sign and religious sign of all of the religions of the world and God is not there. It is an organization dedicated against God, out of whom and which will come the anti-Christ.

"…saying, 'Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us'" (vs 2-3). In other words, get rid of God. You're not going to do that. How does God look at it?

Verse 4: "He who sits in the heavens laughs; the LORD scoffs at them. Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, and in His fury He terrifies them…. [that's why these disasters happen around the world] …'Yea, I have set My King upon Zion, My Holy mountain…. [talking about Christ] …I will declare the decree of the LORD. He has said to Me, "You are My Son; this day I have begotten You"'" (vs 4-7).

He is going to return as King of kings and Lord of lords and rule on this earth. So, any of the disasters that you look at now because of the sins of men affecting the whole world and everything that there is, is going to pale into insignificance the things that are going to take place when Jesus Christ returns.

Verse 8: "Ask of Me, and I shall give the nations for Your inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron…" (vs 8-9). We're going to see when they fight against Christ they're going to be broken with a rod of iron.

"…You shall dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel" (v 9).

Then He gives a little encouragement, v 10: "Now therefore, be wise, O kings; be admonished O judges of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling" (vs 10-11). There's a warning: Don't go on your own way.

We'll see why these things come upon the earth, and why these disasters will continue, and God's judgment is coming and we're coming down to the return of Jesus Christ. It's not going to be like people think. It is going to be awesome beyond belief, and the Word of God tells us.

All Scriptures from The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, A Faithful Version

Scriptural References:

• Deuteronomy 28:1-15
• Romans 3:9-15, 17-19, 1-6
• Leviticus 18:1-5, 22-30
• Deuteronomy 28:15-35, 43-45
• Psalm 2:1-11

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Genesis 10
• Leviticus 18:6-8
• Romans 3
• Matthew 24
• Luke13

Also referenced:

Article: Rome's Challenge to the Protestants {this if found in a number of publications, including a booklet at truthofGod.org}

FRC/cis
Transcribed: 01/14/2005
Reformatted: bo—1/11/18