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Hear, you nations, trouble is coming! Seek God and you shall live!
Fred R. Coulter—January 16, 2021
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
Everyone wants to know what's going to happen. We'll look at some of the things, however, no one really knows. What's going to happen with Donald Trump? That's what everyone wants to know!
Let's start with the oppressors in the White House. One of those in Trump's cabinet wrote in the past, recently released, that they have to do everything to get rid of Trump and thoroughly destroy him.
So, this shows you once evil takes hold and they have enough power. Then they will let you know what they're going to do. So, the first hundred days will be a lock-down with masks. Then taxes, Pelosi's plan $1.9-trillion just resurrected and is going to go through.
Read the letter that I sent out for January, because now we're going to have a debt of about $28-trillion. That's just the Federal Government. That is the biggest threat that could fall. In the meantime, until it does, China is going to own America.
The Chinese are very clever. They will lie, cheat and steal. However, they need America desperately:
1. for a market
2. for food
Think of this for a minute: what would you do if you had 1.4-billion people to feed every day? That's incomprehensible to us. So, they probably will not get into a shooting, bombing, fighting war, but they will infiltrate and try and take us over. Not with Chinese personnel, but with surrogates. That is Americans who will cooperate with them. Did you hear what the president of Starbucks said? China is one of our friends and allies! That gives you the thinking of much of the business world.
What is going to happen to America? Right now there are a good number of Churches of God sent out 'fast and pray' for America. Well, they better fast and pray, not only for America, but for themselves. We're going to see what God says concerning Israel today. Look at all of those people who were this at the rally with Trump, and Trump never said anything to incite any kind of violence at all. Now then, listen to this: they know that there were ANTIFA infiltrators with MAGA hats and flags, and everything else. They were the ones who caused all the problems.
However, Nancy Pelosi already had the Articles of Impeachment drawn up before the Trump rally.
- What does that tell you?
- Why would you have them all drawn up before the rally even started if you didn't know it was going to be taken down by ANTIFA?
Makes you wonder where the depth of evil goes!
There's another principle here that we're going to look at, and we've looked at many times, because Jesus told us about it.
Of all those people who went to the Trump rally—over a million—how many said, 'Let's return to God'? Did you hear that? I didn't! There may have been one or two. We are seeing in Matt. 24 a fulfilling of a couple of verses here in prophecy.
Always remember that God never fulfills prophecy to the minimum; He always fulfills them to the maximum. Here's what we're facing, and this is what is happening:
Matthew 24:10: "And then shall many be led into sin, and shall betray one another…"
Right here in Hollister, last night, they enacted facemask laws that you can snitch on your neighbor, take pictures and send them in, and individuals will be fined up to $500, and businesses $10,000. Talk about oppression! They've proven that lock-downs don't work.
"…and shall hate one another" (v 10). Look at the hatred going on! Look at how so many people loved Donald Trump and hated Donald Trump.
Because the way the whole structure is now being revealed for what it truly is, the odds of anyone making a great deal of difference have been diminished greatly.
Verse 11: "And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many; and because lawlessness shall be multiplied…" (vs 11-12)—everywhere:
- individually
- in groups
- in communities
- in neighborhoods
- in cities and towns
- in states
- in all governmental agencies
They are all lawless!
Those who want law and order are ridiculed. The call for 'unity' is not 'let's talk about it so we can become unified.' It is you come to us and you bow the knee, and you do what we say! That's lawlessness!
Look at all the drugs. Guess how they're coming in now? They're coming in with these drones. They now have drones that can carry 35 lbs of cocaine. They also send fentanyl. What would happen if they shot down with fentanyl? It would kill thousands of people immediately! Fentanyl is the most dangerous thing in the world! Guess who makes it? China! They send it here to the U.S.
You see lawlessness in the government. Look at just the thing of this snap impeachment of President Trump:
- no hearings
- no witnesses
- no hard evidence
It's just driven by hatred and emotion! This is why, brethren, we need to stay with:
- the Word of God
- the facts of God
- the Truth of God
Someone proposed that according to that theory it was best that Donald Trump lost so he could build up his base and go after the rhino Republicans and then run for President in 2024. Who knows?
We need to focus on what's going to happen next with America, and how it's going to happen. These things are going to come.
Judges 2—this always happens with the children of Israel. So, we may see a repeat of this again, because the people are not listening.
Judges 2:8: "And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being a hundred and ten years old. And they buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath Heres, in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of the hill Gaash. And also all that generation was gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD…" (vs 8-10).
You look at the generation we have right now, all the young ones out there:
- Do they know God? No!
- What do they think about God? That's old and old fashion!
God lives forever, and He's not old fashion!
"…nor even the works which He had done for Israel. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim" (vs 10-11).
That's what everyone is doing; everyone is doing his own thing! Even the one million people at the Trump rally, they weren't there to seek God! They were there to support Donald Trump. What has to happen—we're going to see—is they need to return to God. America, return to God, or be oppressed, because that's what's going to happen! That's what happened here:
Verse 12: "And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods, even the gods of the people who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger."
Anything that becomes your god in place of the true God is idolatry, and you bow down before it! How?
- by working for it
- by building it
- by breaking the Sabbath
- by breaking the Holy Days
- by participating in the religious observances of this world
- Christmas
- Easter
- New Years
- etc.
Everybody is so blinded to it, because of the lawless, lawless Protestants! You can add in there the Catholics, as well!
So, we find the rest of the story is all the way through the book of Judges. Then they were oppressed, and when they were oppressed they cried out to God and relieved them and sent them a judge who would take care of them.
- How much oppression can we take?
- How long will that be?
We don't know, but now the governments at every level don't even hide it. They just flat tell you! That's quite a thing when you consider all of that.
This happens quite often, someone sent me an e-mail saying: Why is there so much violence in the Bible? It's a true portrayal of human nature! So, why don't you look around the world and see what's happening in the world.
- Is there violence?
- Are there wars?
- Are there killings?
- Are there thefts/robbery?
- Are there drugs?
It was no different back then, so the Bible is the true history of the nature of men, and the true history of the nature of God! The only way to find out about God is through the Bible. People can have all kinds of ideas that they want.
You might think about 'if I were God, I wouldn't do it.' Really? Are you God and how do you know?
Amos 4:2: "The Lord GOD has sworn by His Holiness, 'Behold, the days shall come upon you when they will lift you up with meat hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And you shall go out at the breaches in the walls, each woman straight before her. And you shall be cast off to Harmon,' says the LORD. 'Come to Bethel and transgress; to Gilgal and multiply transgressing at Gilgal. And bring your sacrifices for the morning, your tithes for three years; and offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving from that which is leavened, and cry out; call out the voluntary offerings, for so you love to do, O children of Israel!' says the Lord GOD" (vs 2-5).
This is a description of the their fake religion, and how that did not bring them to God!
Verse 6: "And I also have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities, and lack of bread in all your places, [#1]yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD."
How far down the road will be rationing. We saw that when the pandemic first hit. Empty shelves in the stores!
- Do you have a garden at home?
- Do you have stored that you have grown?
The only place that 99% of the people know how to get food is to go to the store. How quickly could that be cutoff? Easily! Just have gangs blowup Hwy 5, 101 and 99! It would stop all traffic!
Another truth to remember: the more technologically advanced that people get in knowledge and in their civilization, the more vulnerable they are to many different things. Today, we are vulnerable to electricity!
- What if all electricity went off? The battery in your cell phone wouldn't last very long!
- What do you do when that's gone?
If you think I'm exaggerating, go online and look at Venezuela.
- Have you ever seen a report of what it's like in Venezuela now?
Go look, because you will be looking at what's coming to America. Maybe not right away, but lo, it will come!
- What's the fastest way to make it come? Call in the debt and bankrupt the whole nation in one day!
That's possible! Everyone is beholding in America to the largest of the Federal Reserve Bank. That is an independent corporation having nothing to do with the government. It is owned by the Rothschilds, in case you didn't know.
Verse 7: "And I have also withheld the rain from you, when there were yet three months to the harvest. And I caused rain to fall on one city and caused it not to rain on another city; one field was rained on, and the field on which it did not rain dried up."
- What's going to happen here in California?
- What are we supposed to be having a lot of in Jan., Feb. and March? Rain!
It looks like next summer is going to be drier with greater fires and greater trouble because there is no rain! The 'green-headed idiots' want to take down the Hetch Hetchy Dam, which provides all the water for San Francisco and on down to Burlingame. See how vulnerable it is!
Verse 8: "'So, two or three cities wandered to one city to drink water, but they were not satisfied… [notice how difficult it is]: …[#2]yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD."
What does it mean to return to God? Stop sinning—which is transgressing the laws of God—repent of the sins, repent to God and return to Him and start keeping His Sabbath, bare minimum!
So, all you Sunday-keepers out there, beware! It's coming! And you won't stop it! Will you return to God?
Verse 9: "'I have stricken you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards, and your fig trees, and your olive trees increased, the creeping locust devoured them; [#3]yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD."
That's quite a thing! What will it take for some people to return.
The Protestants say that all men and women have the Law of God written in their heart, and they have conscience. That is not true! Whenever a child a is born, the only programmed activity that it can do is nurse, and it practices by sucking its thumb in the womb. There is nothing in the brain! There can be no conscience unless there is teaching of right/wrong, good/evil, more specifically the laws and commandments of God, which if that is in your mind that will give the stop sign to quit doing what is wrong, called: conscience!
But if there is never any training that way, there is no conscience. Did we see that this summer with all the cities burning? No conscience! They were deliriously happy that the cities were burning! People were dying! All young people, because in their education there is no God, no right or wrong, it is all whatever you think you want to do.
There is no such thing as conscience without knowledge of truth and law!
Verse 10: "'I have sent the plague among you after the manner of Egypt… [we have gotten that, yet; but we have a plague among us] …I have slain your young men with the sword…'" All the wars we have been through!
Have you ever seen the ads about the 'wounded warrior.' You look at that and you think: what a pitiful, pitiful case: missing limbs, faces blown up, missing legs, unable to walk…
"'…and have taken away your horses….'" (v 10).
We have cars today, but how far will they go without gas. If you have an electric car, how far will that go unless you charge it.
Human beings think that they can handle their lives, that they can live their lives and do whatever they want, and they're going to be just fine. God says:
You live My way or you're in trouble, because all of these laws are automatic and they come down upon you automatically! I have created it that way.
God shows us so that we would know! But they won't listen!
"'…And I have made the stench of your camps to come up into your nostrils; [#4]yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD. 'I have overthrown some among you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah…'" (vs 10-11). That's interesting, we having had that, yet! But:
- What else happened along with Sodom and Gomorrah? Two other cities were also destroyed!
- Why? Because they were complicit in what they were doing!
Think about that in relationship to the alphabet perverts that we have today. We don't know what will happen.
"'…and you were like a firebrand plucked out of the burning; [#5]yet, you have not returned to Me,' says the LORD" (v 11)
What will it take? Here is the end result of it:
Verse 12: "Therefore, I will do this to you, O Israel; and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel!"
How are they going to meet God? Face-to-face with everyone of these disasters that we just read about! That's how they're going to meet God, and they won't know what to do!
Verse 13: "For lo, He forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what his thought is. He who makes the morning darkness, and treads upon the high places of the earth—the LORD, the God of hosts, is His name."
God says that He's going to do it! Let's see how He pleads with them, and how He gives us space. Whenever there is a disaster, God gives us a space of time for repentance to see what we're going to do.
- What are we going to do?
- Are we going to return to God truly, sincerely with all our heart?
- Are we just going to return to God because we're miserable and uncomfortable?
And as soon at that is relieved, we will forget God again!
Stop and think: Even in the Churches of God, remember when we had tens of thousands? Ministers? Where are they? What are they doing? Most of them just went right back into the world! Human nature and human choice and our relationship with God is all an individual thing. God always gives warning before He does certain things.
I will have to tell you that the fact that this election was stolen, and all of those in the establishment were in on it. That ought to be a sign to us: Watch out, trouble is coming!
Amos 5:1: "Hear this word which I take up against you, even a lamentation, O house of Israel. The virgin of Israel has fallen; she shall rise no more; she lies forsaken on her land. There is none to raise her up, for thus says the Lord GOD…" (vs 1-3). Remember:
- God is true
- His Word is true
- He doesn't lie
- these warning come
- we are the descendants of Israel
I say, pray tell, look at the state of the UK today; it's in the worst state it's ever been in its history.
"…'The city that went out by a thousand shall leave a hundred, and that which went out by a hundred shall have ten left in the house of Israel,' for thus says the LORD to the house of Israel… [here's what God wants] …[#1]'Seek Me, and you shall live'" (vs 3-4).
If you see God, even though you can't see Him, He will know that you are seeking Him. You have to seek Him with
- repentance
- truth
- change of heart, mind and attitude
This is called repentance, and not going back to your old ways!!
John 4:23—Jesus is talking to the woman at the well: "But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers…"—the ones who have the Spirit of God!
If you don't have the Spirit of God, you're not a true worshipper! If you're going to seek God, this will also tell you that God will know that you're seeking Him.
"…shall worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth…" (v 23). Think about that! Not after our own ways! Or our own thoughts!
- "…in Spirit…" means that there's repentance
- "…in Truth…" means that you're confessing all of your lies, sins and the fakeness of the Christian religion that is all around you
They can profess the name of God all they want, but they're not of God! Some people don't like to hear that! Well, tough!That's what the Word of God says.
Look at every instance in the Bible where someone tried to add to or take away from the Word of God and find out what happened! Remember the Prophet that was sent to Bethel to pronounce a curse at Bethel.
Jeroboam was there as the priest, and he was offering on the altar. The Prophet gave a curse on the altar and the arm of Jeroboam shriveled up and was paralyzed. Jeroboam said, 'O pray that my arm will be restored.' So, the Prophet prayed and his arm was restored.
Then the Prophet left. His initial instruction—from God—was that 'you go to Bethel one way, and you come back another way. Don't stop and don't eat.'
So, as he was leaving, here comes a false prophet who said, 'O I'm a prophet of the Lord and He told me to tell you to come in have lunch with me.' The Prophet said, 'No, I have to go!' The false prophet said, 'Well, the Lord said come, you have finished what you're supposed to do.'
But his instructions were to come back a different way, don't talk to anyone and don't do anything. But he went in and ate lunch with the false prophet who said that he was 'a prophet of the Lord.' After the Prophet left, a lion killed him and he lay right there in the road!
You can't cheat on God! It won't work!
"…for the Father is indeed seeking those who worship Him in this manner. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in Spirit and in Truth." (vs 23-24).
When God says to Israel, 'Seek Me!' you seek God by repentance! You seek by getting into the Word of God and understanding what the Word of God says. If you're familiar with the Bible very much at all, then whatever Bible you have you go to the book of Proverbs. Start there; that will give you a focus on right/wrong; good/evil, and what you should do.
Amos 5:4: "For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel, [#2]'Seek Me, and you shall live. But do not seek Bethel…" (vs 4-5).
That's where that golden calf was! There was a time, I think it June or July, they had this great get together in Washington, and this was supposed to be a revival and many different pastors and teachers of the Protestants were there, and Jonathan Kahn was there.
They cried out to God and confessed the sin of abortion, and confessed their sins. Then right at the end, instead of Jonathan Kahn telling the people, 'You must obey God, and I'm telling all of you here, you better start keeping the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week—Saturday—starting now.' No, he didn't! He got on his knees in front of everyone and prayed this simple little prayer:
'Lord, forgive my sins, I accept You as Savior.' Now they're all saved! That is a perfect description of returning to Bethel! They didn't turn to God; they flattered God! That was so that Donald Trump would be re-elected. How did that work? If you're going to come to God:
- you come His way
- you come to God repentant
- you seek the Truth
You look at your life and see what you need to do to change and make it right before God!
Then the whole process of becoming a Christian is learning to love God with all your heart, mind, soul and being. You whole attitude and everything is completely changed and transformed. That is called conversion! This is what should happen!
(break)
Seeking God with all your heart, mind, soul and being, with true repentance, is what is required! Look at all the blessings that God has given America. Look at all of the wealth and things that we have:
- the climate
- the land
- the food
- the abundance
- Are we thankful to God?
- Do we pray to Him everyday? We do!
- But how about people in the world? They don't!
Look at all of those who don't believe in God and run all the hi-tech equipment that we have. You wait and see, they're going to start cracking down on anything to do with Christian, and even the fake Christianity will be cracked down on, too. It will come! If they can turn off the President, and if they can cut other people off, that's exactly how tyrants do to take over. That is also part of the punishment from God because we didn't seek Him!
Amos 5:5: "But do not seek Bethel, nor enter into Gilgal, and do not pass to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing." Bethel was the main worship center there!
Verse 6: [#3]"Seek the LORD and you shall live, lest He break out like a fire on the house of Joseph…"
- What sons did Joseph have? Ephraim and Manasseh!
- Do you have the book America and Britain: Two Nations That Changed the World? That's all about Ephraim and Manasseh!
This is directly to us right here today!
"…lest He break out like a fire on the house of Joseph and devour it, and there be none to quench it in Bethel—you who turn judgment to wormwood…" (vs 6-7).
- Doesn't that sound like the judgments that we have had?
- Remember Georgia? Stacy Abrams sister was the judge that they had to go to for the problems with voting!
Of course she willingly turned over everything to them! NO! she rejected the truth! Wormwood!
"…and leave off righteousness in the earth! [#4]Seek Him Who created the Pleiades and Orion, and Who turned the deep darkness into the morning, and Him Who darkened the day into night. [#5]Seek Him..." (vs 7-8). Five times he says, 'Seek Me or Seek Him'
"…Seek Him Who calls for the waters of the sea, and pours them out on the face of the earth—the LORD is His name, Who causes destruction to flash out against the strong, and destruction against the fortress. They hate him who rebukes in the gate, and they despise him who speaks uprightly" (vs 8-10).
- Isn't that what happens?
- How many people would really listen?
- What would you happen if any true minister of God would get up in the pulpit of a Sunday-keeping church and tell them they need to repent of Sunday-keeping?
They would have the deacons up there moving him out as quick as they could! They hate to be corrected!
Verse 11: "Therefore—because of your trampling upon the poor, and because you take tribute of grain from him—though you have built houses of carved stone, you shall not dwell in them; though you have planted desirable vineyards, you shall not drink wine from them, for I know your many transgressions and your many sins…." (vs 11-12). God knows them all!
David said, 'Where can I hide from You, Lord? If I go up in heaven You are there; if I go down in the depths, You are there. If I'm in the darkness, You see me.' It's just like the light! No one can hide from God! But because God has given free moral agency, He wants everyone to choose. He didn't make us robots. We must choose.
"….They afflict the just, they take a bribe… [do they ever] …and they turn aside the poor in the gate" (v 12).
- Where are the homeless?
- Who is taking care of them?
- Have you ever gone out to the homeless and look at their circumstances?
We take care of some of them here with a few things that we have. It's been really cold lately, so we've gotten good sleeping bags for them so at least they can be warm.
They are pitiful sights. Those of you who come down Hwy. 101 you see the homeless all lined up along the way. Think about if you lived there. Think about what New York City is becoming. Think about Los Angeles is becoming.
Pretty soon you reach a point that the ability to return becomes harder and harder. What are they doing for those poor people? No, they don't take care of them!
Verse 13: "Therefore, the prudent shall keep silent in that time; for it is an evil time…. [that's what it is today] …Seek good and not evil… [that's what this whole country needs to do] …that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil…" (vs 13-15). What is evil?
- lying/cheating/stealing
- adultery/sexual perversion
- idolatry/other gods
Those are evil, and they bring penalties upon you automatically! You may never know it, because you don't know God!
If you've never had a personal encounter with God—in deep repentance toward Him—you may not even understand what I'm talking about.
"…and love the good…" (v 15).
That's what God wants! Someone just showed me a sample of the honesty of different nations. They took various countries and put money in wallets and left them out for people to find them. Hardly any of them brought anything back, and one of the worst ones were the Chinese. The Vatican was the worst, and the department against corruption kept them. Think of that! That tells you a story!
I remember a time when there was on the news that there was big money bag fell out of Brinks armored truck, and a man found the money and turned it in. Well, all the talk show hosts down in Los Angeles were going bananas, because people would call in and say, 'Why didn't you keep it? You had it; look at it, thousands of dollars!' His answer was, 'It wasn't mine!' How many would do that today? Think about it!
Verse 14: "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as you have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate…." (v 15).
Even when there are these terrible judgments that come along, that also affects the society, as well. Why? Because the judges are there at God's instruction forever nation, the civil servants. They are the ones who are supposed to enforce the good and punish the evil. But they're so corrupt they won't do it.
"…It may be…" In other words, if you do all of these things:
- hate the evil/love the good
- have proper judgment
- change your life
- draw close to God
"…that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph" (v 15).
This is directly to America and Britain today!
Verse 16: "Therefore, the LORD, the God of hosts, the Master, says this, 'Wailing shall be in all streets, and they shall say in all the highways, "Alas! Alas!'….'"
We can look for that to happen! We've already seen a couple of instances where they shut down a highway or two.
"'…And they shall call the tiller to mourning, and those who are skillful in mourning to wailing. And there shall be wailing in all vineyards; for I will pass through you,' says the LORD. Woe to those desiring the Day of the LORD! What is this for you?…." (vs 16-18).
I get an e-mail notice every once in a while from a place called The End is Near. The last one I got was The Pre-Tribulation Rapture is Almost Here! If you don't know about the rapture you need to get our in-depth study: The "Secret Rapture" is a Hoax.
God is not going to take those law-breaking, commandment-breaking, God-defying fake Christians to a place of safety so they won't see harm. Guess who is going to go? A few!
Sidebar: people in the past used to say that Petra is the place of safety. Go on line and look up Petra and see if you would like to be there. Then you have to ask concerning all the hierarchy that think they're going to go to a place of safety, who is going to be in charge?
You get to a place of safety and the first thing you have is a knock down fight to find out who is going to lead it.
So, don't count on that! God is going to take whom He's going to take, and it's not going to be by a Boeing 747 aircraft flying to Jordan to get to Petra. It's going to be angels! The angels will make the right decision! When that happens and you're still here, you better know that you have to dig in, because it's tough times ahead.
Verse 18: "Woe to those desiring the Day of the LORD! What is this for you? The Day of the LORD is darkness and not light; as if a man fled from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall, and a snake bit him" (vs 18-19).
Have you been watching the History Channel with the invasion of serpents or snakes in Louisiana and Florida? One python can bring about 100 offspring a year. They have so many in the Everglades that they are paying men to track them down and kill them! That was quite a revelation!
Verse 20: "Shall not the Day of the LORD be darkness and not light? Even very dark, and no brightness in it?"
Here is the main reason, the next few verses. Someone is going to say, 'Why would God do that? Well, everything that we have in this society, and every society in the world, is patterned after the good and evil of this world under the aegis of Satan the devil.
You may say that that is a hard thing to say. Look at it; let's reverse it: Show me one nation in the world that's for God the way God says you need to be for Him. With all of the fake Christianity, we're going to see…
{note our in-depth study: Bible Answers to Evangelicals}
They think that they're God's 'meow' to Christianity. They are not!Let's read why this is coming; He tells us right here:
Verse 21—God says: "I hate… [if God says that He hates something…] …I despise your feast days, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies."
The next time you watch TBN—if you can stand it for five minutes—God hates that! They're taking God's name in vain! They are preaching lies as if they're Truth. What are their feast days? Sunday, Christmas, Easter, New Years, etc.
Verse 22: "Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them. Nor will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals."
They don't have sacrifices today, but that is true in all of these assemblies. Look at them!
Verse 23: "Take the noise of your songs away from Me; for I will not hear the melody of your harps. But let judgment roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream" (vs 23-24).
Righteousness, first of all, starts off by keeping the commandments of God. But the righteousness that God desires is you having the Holy Spirit in you, after repentance and baptism, and that you have direct connection with God through the power of the Holy Spirit! There can be no greater righteousness than that, and that comes from God.
So, this is what God wants, true righteousness!Not simple, stupid little songs to make everybody happy, happy, happy!
Just like with Christmas, look at that. 'It's so much fun with the kids.' Sure it is! Satan wants to indoctrinate them, so you lie to them. How can that be good for the children if you lie to them? How do your children react to you when they find out that you lied to them all these years with Santa Claus, and the gifts and everything like that, and you would correct them for lying. It happens to every child when they come to the truth. They don't have to know anything about God.
The way I found out was that I finally discovered the presents, that 'Santa Claus' was going to bring, in the closet. I went to my mom and said, 'There is no Santa Claus is there?' She said, 'Really, no!' I said, 'But that's lying!'
Here I was, six-years-old, that's lying! Why, because when I lied, I would get switched. I would have to go out to the willow tree and pick the switch, to switch the calves of legs. What did my mother say, 'That's a white lie. That's a good lie. That's just the way the world is.'
Go through Jeremiah and really read that and look at two things. We're going look at it today. Look at the number of times that God pleaded with Israel to return. For 40 years Jeremiah was preaching repentance and return to God. He was the son of a priest, so he was a priest and could stand right at the temple and say, 'Here the Word of the Lord.' Think of that, for 40 years!
If you don't believe the Bible, then look at the history of the destruction of Jerusalem and you will see that in 539B.C. it was absolutely destroyed and burned to the ground, exactly as the book of Jeremiah said. God gave them 40 years to consider!
Here was Jeremiah's mission! Jeremiah 3:12: "'Go and cry these words toward the north, and say, "Return, O backsliding Israel," says the LORD; ;and I will not cause My anger to fall on you; for I am merciful," says the LORD, "and I will not keep My anger forever…. [God wants you to know He's going to forgive] …Only acknowledge your iniquity… [repentance] …that you have transgressed against the LORD your God and have scattered your ways to strangers under every green tree, and you have not obeyed My voice,"' says the LORD" (vs 12-13).
That's the main thing that God wants you to do. We have the voice of God written down and recorded for us right here so we know what God wants.
Verse 14: "'Turn, O backsliding children,' says the LORD; 'for I am your husband; and I will take you one from a city, and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.'" This blends into the Millennium that will eventually come!
Verse 21: "A voice was heard upon the high places weeping and supplications of the children of Israel; for they have perverted their way, and they have forgotten the LORD their God." Isn't that true? Look at it and think about it!
Verse 22: "'Return…" That's what God wants; He always gives return and repentance!
This has to apply to this nation and to the Church. Many of those who have left the Church, what are you doing? Return to God! God means business, and God does not like to bring the penalty, but will if there is not repentance!
Verse 22: "Return O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings…." Then the people said:
"… 'Behold, we come to You; for You are the LORD our God. Truly, in vain is salvation hoped for from the high hills, from the multitude of mountains. Truly, in the LORD our God is the salvation of Israel'" (vs 22-23).
That's what it has to be, return to God! How many times has He said that?
Notice that it's also conditional. We must choose! We can't come and fake it with God and flatter Him and expect Him to do things for us.
Jeremiah 4:1: "'If you will return, O Israel,' says the LORD, 'Return to Me.… [that is not to your idea of God] …And if you will put away your abominations out of My sight, then you shall not be removed.'"
IF you don't repent, you're going to Babylon! So, when you read the whole book of Jeremiah, that's quite a thing! Poor Jeremiah and what he went through.
Verse 2: "And will swear, 'As the LORD lives'…"
Notice what has to happen when there is repentance and returning to God:
"…in truth…" (v 2)—not in our own ideas! God's Truth! God's way!
"…in judgment…" (v 2).
- making a right judgment about yourself
- making a right judgment about your life
"…and in righteousness…" (v 2).
Listen to the promises that follows and see how great and generous God is!
"…then the nations shall bless themselves in Him, and in Him they shall glory" (v 2).
Now let's look at some other things that God says. If they don't, you will also see this phrase used a good number of times in Jerusalem, which is 'I will bring evil.' IF you transgress and do evil against God, He will repay you with evil! That's just the way it works!
Jeremiah 6:17: "Also, I set watchmen over you, saying, 'Hearken to the sound of the ram's horn.'…."
The ram's horn was always blown when there was a threat of war. We're already seeing some internal wars here this summer with the burning down of different cities. That's warfare, called gorilla warfare!
"…But they said, 'We will not hearken' (v 17). 'No, we don't want to do that.' A man was recently talking to an evangelical and she's convinced the law is done away; Paul did away with the Law. Paul can't do away with the Law. I'll tell you how you can know.
- the Law is spiritual
- the Law is eternal
- the Law is always working
If you can get rid of that, then you have to start with something lesser than the Law of God. Try the law of gravity; are you going to get rid of that? How would your life be without gravity? It's there and always working, and you know it every time you drop something, and you have to pick it up!
Here's what's going to happen; v 18: "Therefore, hear, you nations…"
This is a message to the whole world, and the punishment against the children of Israel—the so called lost ten tribes—is going to a witness to the rest of the world, that when Jesus comes you better watch out, because it's going to be worse for you.
Verse 19: "Hear, O earth, behold, I will bring evil on this people… [How is He going to do that] …even the fruit of their thoughts…"
God can know the thoughts of everyone, everywhere any time He wants to. Your thoughts are also subject to repentance and changing. Not just what you would do outwardly, but your thoughts!
As we get toward Passover and Unleavened Bread, we are going to see that that's the whole process of conversion.
"…because they have not hearkened to My words, nor to My Law, but have rejected it" (v 19).
Oh yes, they're 'religious.' He goes on to say, 'What's all this frankincense and all this sort of thing?' That's not going to save you!
I want you to now think of all the evil that has come upon Venezuela. Go online and you can probably get a pretty good history of it and see pictures. Look at how they have to live. Not much better than the homeless people in America on the sides of the road.
Jeremiah 11:3—Jeremiah was to go: And say to them, 'Thus says the LORD God of Israel, "Cursed is the man who does not obey the words of this covenant.'" That's the words of the Bible!
- How important is obedience?
- What is sin? Transgression of the Law!
- Are sinners actively practicing sin?
- Are they going to enter into the Kingdom of God? NO! No way!
Verse 4: "Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, 'Obey My voice…'" All of us all the time have to ask ourselves:
- Are we obeying the voice of God?
- What did we just read about the fruits of our thoughts?
That's not to make you despair; that's for you to understand the greatness of God, and the power that He has. He will be merciful and gracious to whomever repents! God doesn't want to bring it. How many times did God say that 'I'm not going to bring IF… but if you don't it's coming! It's coming!
Now, here's why it's coming. There are probably more people against abortion today than ever before, but that's not stopping abortion, because it is the law of the land. Remember when God said that there is no judgment? There is no mercy? Think about those innocents that are aborted, literally torn apart piece by piece! God says that 'you go get some of the priests and elders and come out to the Valley of Hinnom, and declare these words':
Jeremiah 19:3: "And say, 'Hear the Word of the LORD, O kings of Judah, and people of Jerusalem. Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, :Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, which shall cause the ears of him who hears it to tingle"—as God looks at the collective of all people in America!
Verse 4: "Because they have forsaken Me, and have profaned this place and have burned incense in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents." That's what they have done!
Verse 5: "They have also built the high places of Baal to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings to Baal, which I never commanded nor spoke, nor did it come into My mind. Therefore, behold, the days come,' says the LORD…" (vs 5-6).
How many years of warning have we had? From 1973 until now 62 million! We made Hitler look like kindergarten.
Verse 7: "And I will make the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem come to nothing in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword before their enemies, and by the hands of those who seek their lives. And I will give their dead bodies to be food for the birds of the heavens, and for the beasts of the earth. And I will make this city a waste and a hissing. Everyone who passes by shall be astonished and shall hiss because of all its plagues" (vs 7-8). And it goes on!
This nation is in a difficult position, indeed! We are at the brink and precipice of things to happen that we have imagined in the past. The catalyst that will spring all of it loose is the calling of the debt! The dollar will go to zero and there will be nothing to buy or sell with, even if the mark of the beast is not implanted at that time.
We need to think about these things; need to understand it. God's Word is true! God wants people to not go through it, but just like with Jeremiah, 40 years of warning and they wouldn't listen. Likewise with us:
- Will we hear God?
- Will we be faithful to God?
- Will we love God?
- Will we cherish the blessings that He's given to us?
- Will we cherish the knowledge of the word that He's given through His Church?
OR
- Will we treat it with contempt and lightness, because we are too busy with our own pleasures?
That's the choice for the Churches of God, as well! Brethren, yes, pray for this nation that there may be some kind of repentance! We don't know, but that there will be repentance with the Churches of God! We can't keep going on speaking pabulum when strong meat is necessary!
I hope that this will give us a clearer vision of how we need to view the coming future!
Scriptural References:
- Matthew 24:10-12
- Judges 2:8-12
- Amos 4:2-13
- Amos 5:1-4
- John 4:23-24
- Amos 5:4-12, 10, 12-15, 14-24
- Jeremiah 3:12-23
- Jeremiah 4:1-2
- Jeremiah 6:17-19
- Jeremiah 11:3-4
- Jeremiah 19:3-8
Also referenced:
Book: America and Britain: Two Nations That Changed the Worldby Philip Neal
In-Depth Studies with CDs:
- The "Secret Rapture" is a Hoax
- Bible Answers to Evangelicals
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1/21/21
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