Covenant of Lies & Death #2

Fred R. Coulter—February 28, 2009

 - PDF | Audio | [Up]

Track 1 or Download

Track 2 or Download

This is the Covenant of Deceit and Death, or you can say, the Covenant of Lies and Death, #2. So let's pick up where we left off and continue right on here so we can see and understand what we need to do—what's happening in the world. It's kind of like there is a net or a pall, as I covered in the first message, of deceit that has fallen upon: the world and the people, on the politicians, on the economists, and on the religious leaders, and the people in general. That comes from Satan the devil who's deceiving the whole world, and who is the god of this world.

Let's look at some of the Psalms and let's see how deceit plays a major part in what we covered here, where it actually is said that they made a covenant with death. If you reject God totally and you never repent, you have made a covenant with death.

Let's come to Psalm 36. I just want you to think about all those down through history who have been supposed great leaders, who were really wicked in everything that they did and stood for, and think about some of these verses. We can also apply them to our current situation as we look at the political and economic and religious problems in America and the world. It seems as though that the common man and woman has far more sense about things than the leaders. They just don't seem to understand.

Psalm 36:1: "The wicked utters transgression in his heart. There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flatters himself in his own eyes until his iniquity is found to be hateful…. [You can apply that to anyone you want. It can apply to many different people in different circumstances.] …The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit; he has stopped acting wise and doing good. He plots iniquity upon his bed; he sets himself in a way that is not good; he does not hate evil" (vs 1-4). Quite a good description. It almost sounds like a survey of Washington, D.C. today or Sacramento, here in California. But they are just given over to their own evil desires, their own wicked plottings, their own spending, and the most deceitful and evil thing you can do is just print money—because you can print money—and so you can get this money out and spend it, and sooner or later it's going to break the whole world.

Now religiously, the same thing happens. You can only go so far with your own religion before it trips you up and evil comes down upon you. Let's come to Psalm 50:16. This is especially for the religious people. "But to the wicked God says, 'What is it to you to declare My statutes, and to take up My covenant in your mouth?…. [That is when you have a covenant with death.] …Yea, you hate to be taught, and you cast My words behind you.... [For they won't listen. They are more than hell bent to do what they're going to do. And what's happening in the world, economically—and in the capitals of the world—is that it's almost like a big plow to try and get as much money out there as possible to try and cure the problem. While wickedness caused the problem, more wickedness and deceit is not going to solve the problem.] (v 18): …When you saw a thief, then you were pleased to be with him, and you have taken part with adulterers. You give your mouth to evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit; you speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have kept silence; you thought I was like yourself, but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes'" (vs 16-21).

And what we're seeing take place now is the beginning of the heavy hand of correction of God in religion, in government, and in economics, because we have sinned as a nation, as a people, as a world. We've gone against God. We have a money system that is based upon deceit and fraud and cheating. We have a religious system that is based upon lies. And we have a governmental system that is based upon: make all the money you can while you're in office and all the rest of the people just take the hind-most. You can see the epitome of this with Mugabe in Zimbabwe. They kill, they loot, they steal, they destroy, and guess what the inflation rate in Zimbabwe is right now? About 3,000%. Everything becomes dissipated and worthless. That's the price that's going to come.

So God gives warning here. Verse 22: "Now consider this, you who forget God… [Or hate God, or go against God.] …lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver." Are we going to see that happen? Let's stop and think just a minute, because God is going to execute His judgment.

Come to Psalm 52:1: "Why do you boast yourself in evil, O mighty man? The mercy of God endures forever. Your tongue devises evil… [Double speak, silver tongue, great oratory.] ...like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. You love evil more than good, and lying more than to speak righteousness. Selah" (vs 1-3). Whenever they have Selah there in the Psalms, it means stop, meditate, think on this.

Verse 4: "You love all devouring words, O deceitful tongue…. [God is going to take care of it and make His judgment sooner or later.] …God will likewise destroy you forever; He shall take you away, and pluck you out of your place, and root you out of the land of the living…. [Now here's a little hope for us.] …And the righteous shall see, and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying… [Because we're to have true judgment. We're to have right understanding. We're to know the causes of these things, and He will say:] …'Behold, the man who did not make God his strength, but trusted in the abundance of his riches. He strengthened himself in his wickedness'…. [Now on the other hand the righteous do differently.] …But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever." (vs 4-8).

Now come back here to Psalm 10. And we could liken this to people saying, 'God, why do you allow this, why do You do this, how did this happen, why do these things take place?' And they forget to understand that they have their own sins and problems which also contribute to it. Because when God looks down on a nation to judge it, He judges it according to His laws and He also judges it according to the percentage of people who have righteous conduct in it, versus those who have sinful and wicked and deceitful conduct in it. And whenever it reaches the tipping point that the sinful and the wicked have more power than those who are righteous, at least partially righteous, then God begins to judge. So you ask the question here and sometimes this is perplexing. You look at some people out there trying to do well, and they have a difficult time. You look at some out there who are blatantly evil, and they're flashing around all of their wealth. So it presents a question.

Psalm 10:1: "Why do You stand afar off, O LORD? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? The wicked in his pride pursues the poor; let them be taken in the schemes that they have imagined." It always happens that way, doesn't it? I thought it was quite an interesting point of justice, the man who was so righteous who replaced Tom Foley in the House of Representatives because he text-messaged sexually explicit words to some of the pages there in Congress, so he was voted out. so here comes a Democrat in there, and he said, 'Oh, I'm righteous, we have good conduct,' and everything. And what happened? He ended up doing worse. Because when people get lifted up in their vanity and people get lifted up in their own self-confidence and they think that they can get away with it, they try it, but he got caught committing adultery—so he was voted out. They are 'caught in their own schemes that they have imagined.'

Let's expand that verse a little bit more. Let's think about the economic situation in the world. How are they going to solve it? Like I mentioned in the last message, do you know how much it would take to pay off all debt of the whole world, all the derivatives, all the leverage, and everything? Do you know how much it would take? $600-trillion, and there's not that much money in the world. "Let them be taken in the schemes that they have imagined." There will be a complete economic collapse somewhere in the not too distant future.

Verse 3: "For the wicked boasts of his heart's desire, and blesses the covetous but despises the LORD. Through the pride of his countenance the wicked will not seek God; in all his thoughts there is no place for God" (vs 3-4). Now just to show you how some of them really hate truth, I think it was Glenn Beck I was watching the other day, and he brought out how a senator, he called him Tad, I forget his last name now, but it was really Thad. He campaigned that he would not take any earmarks. So Glenn Beck, on his radio program, named him. Guess what happened? His staff wrote a completely absolutely insulting letter saying, 'Who are you to bring this out? Who are you to make this public?' I thought that Glenn Beck's answer was good. 'Senator, you work for the people, not yourself.' But they have no place for God.

"His ways are grievous; Your judgments are high, far above, out of his sight. As for all his enemies, he puffs at them. He has said in his heart, 'I shall not be moved; from generation to generation, I shall never be in adversity.' His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity. He sits in the hiding places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent. His eyes are on the watch for the helpless" (vs 5-8).

This shows the premeditated thoughts of doing things to take, to eliminate, to kill, to destroy. You can apply this at the level of gangs; you can apply this at the level of government. You can apply this at the level of an individual. "…His eyes are on the watch for the helpless. He lies in wait secretly like a lion in his den. He lies in wait to catch the poor; he catches the poor when he draws him into his net. He crouches and bows down, and the hapless fall into his mighty grasp. He has said in his heart, 'God has forgotten; He hides His face; He will never see!.… [The way some people act, that's just how they think.] (v 12): …Arise, O LORD; O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble…. [And that's for us who are living in these kind of circumstances around.] …Why do the wicked spurn God? He has said in his heart, 'You will not call into account.' You have seen it, for You behold mischief and vexation to repay it with Your hand. The poor commits himself to You; You are the Helper of the fatherless…. [So their day is coming. The judgment day is coming. As we saw in the last message, the whole system is like a great high wall that is bulging and bowing out and it's going to take nothing but just a little bit of something to cause it to collapse, just like the landslide that I described. Come suddenly, you don't expect it. There it is, so it's going to happen.] …Break the arm of the wicked and the evil one; seek out his wickedness until You find none. The LORD is King forever and ever; the nations have perished out of His land. LORD, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart, You will cause Your ear to hear, To defend the fatherless and the oppressed, so that the man of the earth may no more oppress" (vs 8-18). And of course, that's our prayer, our attitude, that we are the ones who are going to solve this. This is never going to be solved unless Christ returns and sets up His kingdom. It just isn't going to happen.

Let's look at the society in which all of these things take place and breed. The other day I was watching, because there was nothing else on, so I was watching National Geographic Channel, and they had a special on the prisons in Peru. Trust me, that's no place you'd want to go. But wickedness, evil, murder, homosexuality, drugs, all of those things flourish in the prisons. Because the prisons are not prisons with bars like we think of them, only certain areas of them. They are barrios and then the barrios are all wired off with barbed wire. And the guards are out there and designated criminals in the prison are the ones who run the prison. Every Sunday when the women and wives come in to visit, guess what they bring? Food, drugs, weapons, and they can't stop it. And it is the most evil place I have ever seen in my life. They're all just stacked in there, and unfortunately all the young men that go in there, basically teenagers, it showed one poor little fellow there, he was about eighteen. He got thrown in there at sixteen and he became the sex object of the prisoners in there and came down with AIDS and he's just wasting his life away. No one cares for him, no one wants him, no one does anything for him. He hardly has a chance to get the last scrap of food when the food is given, etc. There are pitiful people like that in the world. We can thank God that Christ is going to return and end all that.

But just remember, judgment is coming upon us. And as I said in the message earlier, don't be surprised if we become like South Africa in the next few years. I'll explain that later in another sermon. Let's see how God looks at it. Isaiah 5:1. We're going to spend a little time in this chapter because it tells us quite an extended lesson. Sometimes it's better to cover a lot so we can get the whole overall picture, rather than just a little review to get some of it. Now here's how God looks down upon Israel, and we're modern-day Israel today. How many times have you heard different ones saying, 'Well, we live in the most blessed country in the history of the world?' True, but there are responsibilities that go with it. As I read this, I want you to think about England, America, Canada (not so much Canada, but they're included), Australia, New Zealand, South Africa. God gave us the choicest places of the earth.

Isaiah 5:1: "Now I will sing to my Beloved a song of my Beloved concerning His vineyard. My Beloved has a vineyard in a very fruitful hill. And He dug it up, and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines, and built a tower in its midst, and hewed out a wine vat in it… [Sound like one of the parables there in the Gospels? Yes.] …and He looked for it to produce grapes. But it produced worthless fruits…. [Because God also judges us by our fruits.] …'And now, O people of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, I ask you to judge between Me and My vineyard. What more could have been done to My vineyard that I have not done in it? Who knows? I looked for it to yield grapes, bit it yielded wild grapes'" (vs 1-4).

You go back and look at the history of how America began and how the Bible was the textbook for everyone to read, and then you look at what we have today and you will see the whole panorama of the history of America. Verse 5: "'And now I will tell what I will do to My vineyard; I will take away its hedge, and it shall be consumed; and break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down; And I will lay it waste… [Now did God do this to Jerusalem twice in the past? Yes. If you have a book of Josephus, read Josephus' account of the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. It will take your breath away.] …And I will lay it waste; it shall not be pruned nor dug; but briers and thorns shall come up. And I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.' For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah His pleasant plant; and He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress!" (vs 5-7).

Then he looks at the whole panorama of Israel. And someone sent me a quote the other day which ties in with the next verse, or close to it. A quote of Thomas Jefferson, where he said that when we gather everyone into cities on top of each other, like they have in Europe, we're going to be in deep trouble. And I think that best describes much of the rest of Isaiah 5.

Verse 8: "Woe to those who join house to house, that lay field to field, until there is no place left, and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land! The LORD of hosts swore in my ears, 'Truly, many houses shall be deserted, even great and fair, without inhabitant. Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of a homer shall yield an ephah.' Woe to those who rise up early in the morning to go after strong drink; who continue late into the night while wine inflames them!…. [And you can add not only drunkenness and alcoholism, you can add into there the drugs, as I mentioned. That's all part of it.] …And the lyre, and the harp, the drum, and pipe, and wine, are at their feasts…" (vs 8-12). Now these are not necessarily religious feasts. What would you call a rock concert? That's a feast. What goes on there? Everything just mentioned here. In addition, adultery, fornication, and all of those things go on there. And if you look at how a rock concert is conducted, they have the music so loud that it blasts through your body and it affects your whole being.

Have you ever been irritated when you're driving along and you come up to a stop sign and here comes someone with the windows rolled down, boom-boom-boom-boom, and your whole car shakes? The driver is sitting there nodding his head; he has no clue as to what's going on, because that's just going through him. Add to that in a rock concert, what do they have? They have flashing lights. What's that for? That's to hypnotize and mesmerize you and get you all hyped up. So the next time it shows a clip of a rock concert, understand what's happening. Those people are being absolutely deluded by the music beaten into their brains, minds filled with hatred and lust and desire for drugs, and all of that sort of thing. Just think about it here, what they're doing.

What's going to be the end result? "…but they do not regard the work of the LORD…. [Could you imagine trying to go in as, how shall we say, pairs of men or women passing out religious tracts for them to repent at a rock concert? You'd be picked up and thrown out.] …Yea, they do not see the work of His hands. Therefore My people are gone into exile… [That will happen. It will happen.] …because they have no knowledge, and their honorable men are famished, and their multitude is dried up with thirst. Therefore the grave has enlarged its appetite, and opened its mouth without limit; and down goes her glory and multitude and brawlers, and he who rejoices in her, shall go down into it. And man is bowed down, and men are brought low, and the eyes of the lofty are humbled. But the LORD of hosts is exalted in judgment, and God, the Holy One, is sanctified in righteousness" (vs 12-16).

When you go through some of these things, you see God's judgment, then you see a little respite where God is going to deal with the ones who are righteous. "Then shall the lambs feed in their own pasture, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat…. [Now then He picks up again with the woes and with His judgment against them.] …Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin with cart ropes; Who say, 'Let Him hurry and hasten His work, so that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, so that we may know!'…. [He's going to show you, it will come.] …Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Who justify the wicked for a bribe, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!" (vs 17-23).

That's what they want to do. Guess what was in the budget bill? One little thing, mighty powerful though, says 'none of this money will be used to repair schools if they rent it out to religious groups.' Just the start. That's why some of the governors have turned it down. Just the start, "take away the righteousness of the righteous from him." So God is going to react. We're seeing the judgment of God coming and I know every day I watch MSNBC. I want to check and see what's going on economically and every time the market goes up a little bit, 'Oh, we've hit the bottom!' That's happened, no less than about every other day, and no less than every other week and many times every other day. As I'm speaking it's at 7,000 or less. One of the commentators made a comment, which was very interesting. She said, 'Well, if you go back to 1980-something and you consider the whole realm of the stock market, you know what? Nobody made any money if they held onto their stock.'

Here's another example of hatred toward Christianity and discrimination against it, even the world's form of Christianity: they won't allow a Bible, they won't allow prayer, but they just approved Moslem prayers, daily, in the school. Turning of things upside down.

Verse 24: "Therefore as the fire devours the stubble… [Now have you ever seen stubble burn? It literally explodes.] …and the flame burns up the chaff; their root shall be like rottenness, and their blossoms shall go up like dust because they have cast away the law of the LORD of hosts, and despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel." Now that's even doubly more important in the judgment for those people who have Bibles in their homes, and have never read them. Because the Word of God to tell you what's going on and how it's going on and what you need to do, is there in your home. God got it there one way or the other. But you have it, and once you have a Bible, it is your responsibility to read it. If you don't read it, you can't blame God because He got it there. So don't be surprised when this judgment that is now beginning to take place, comes down, just like He said here.

Because they "…despised the Word of the Holy One of Israel. Therefore, the anger of the LORD is kindled against His people… [Not just the leaders, not just the princes, not just the prophets, but all.] …and He has stretched out His hand against them, and has stricken them; and the hills trembles, and their dead bodies were as filth in the midst of the streets. In all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still. And He will lift up a banner to distant nations, and will whistle for them from the ends of the earth; and behold, they shall come with swift speed. None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep; neither shall the waistcoat of their loins be loosened, nor the thong of their sandals be broken; Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent; their horses' hoofs seem like flint, and their wheels like a whirlwind. Their roaring shall be like a lion; they shall roar like young lions; for, they shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and carry it away, and none shall deliver it" (vs 24-29).

You don't think that won't happen? Let me just give you a little sample of what the Chinese have said about America and their debt, and they own how many of these mortgages and government papers? The minister of finance in China says, 'We hate America, for all the debt, for all these notes.' They know this insane spending is going to make it worthless and when they come to collect there won't be a penny to give. Will they take action and come here? That's another scenario I will leave for another sermon, but the basic answer is: if we go like South Africa, something very akin to that is going to happen. We can't think of that, because after all 'we're Americans, we're good people.' But God says it's going to happen.

"And none shall deliver it. And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea; and if one looks to the land, behold darkness! Distress! And the light shall be darkened by its clouds" (v2 29-30). An amazing thing, isn't it? Quite a thing! And here we are just sitting there right on the verge of it, just like a bowing wall that's ready to fall.

Come over to Isaiah 43:21. Let's see why else this is going to happen. God has done so much for us. God has provided so much for us; wonderful fantastic land. "This people that I formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise. Yet you have not called upon Me, O Jacob; much less have you troubled yourself about Me, O Israel…. [See God is not in the thoughts of the ordinary people on the street. It's on whatever they want to do.] …You have not brought Me the lamb of your burnt offerings; nor have you honored Me with your sacrifices. I have not caused you to serve with a grain offering, nor wearied you with incense. You have brought Me no sweet cane with money, nor have you filled Me with the fat of your sacrifices; but you have made Me serve with your sins; you have wearied Me with your iniquities" (vs 21-24)—all of them. You stop and think about all of the sins and iniquities that go on every day in this land and God is judging for it.

Let's come to Jeremiah 7. Let's see what the population is doing and let's see the indictment that God gives us, He pleads with us. There would still be time if there were repentance. God would defer His judgment if there were repentance, but how many people really understand what repentance is? What happened when 9-11 took place? 'Oh, we've been attacked by the enemy. Everybody go to church, your synagogues, your mosques, pray to God.' Everybody said, 'God bless America.' How long did that last? Not very long, because there was no repentance. So likewise, everybody is missing the point. You're not going to solve the problems politically; you're not going to solve the problems economically, because they're all spiritually rooted. And until each and every one from the greatest to the least repents, there will be no turning back this onslaught of judgment that is starting. It may come like waves of the ocean, and in between the waves there's a nice little calm. But then the next one comes.

Jeremiah 7:1: "The Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this Word, and say… [They have to be told, has to be given to them.] …"Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD"'" (vs 1-2). Now what had they done to the temple? This was right after King Manasseh filled it with idols, tents for homosexual relations in their worship of Baal, and this is what the people were doing, much like we have it today. Now there was a little revival under Josiah, but that didn't last very long.

(go to track #2)

What I would like you to think about as I read this, so we understand that the United States and the Anglo-Saxon people of the world today are in exactly the same spiritual condition that we are going to read of here. So picture this, someone having to stand in Washington, D.C., in America; London, in England; I think it's Montreal, Canada (if not, forgive me); and Melbourne, Australia; South Africa; and whatever the equivalent is there in New Zealand, and here's the message that has to be given. Understand this, that for the average person who is living in these conditions, and not desiring to repent, how would they picture this person? How do you think CNN would picture this? 'Well, there's some nut out there, yelling and screaming for the people to repent. Wonder why he's doing that? He says he's sent from God.' So just keep this in mind.

Jeremiah 7:2: "'Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house, and proclaim there this Word, and say, "Hear the Word of the LORD, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD."'" Now just picture standing in front of the White House for an hour, standing in front of Congress for two or three hours, and all of these nice, wonderful senators and congressmen coming in; and then picture him standing in front of the National Cathedral and saying these words:

"Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Amend your ways and your doings… [So they get warning before God sends them off into captivity—and He did send them off into captivity. Now remember this, God always honors repentance, always—so there needs to be repentance. And He promises:] …and I will cause you to dwell in this place…. [Because up in Jer. 6 He said the enemy is coming; going to carry you off. Notice how He annunciates their problem.] …Do not trust in lying words, saying, "The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these"…. [Or we could say, 'Well, we're Britons, we're Americans, we're Canadians, we're South Africans, we're Australians and New Zealanders. We're God's people, why do we have to change?'] …For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings…'" (vs 3-5). That means individual conduct; that means economic conduct; that means governmental conduct; and that means, if I could phrase it this way, religious conduct. Because as I have brought out, the three most important things in how you understand about God is:

• The Sabbath, so you know who God is.
• The Passover, so you can be in covenant for eternal life with God the Father and Jesus Christ.
• The Holy Days, which tells you what God is doing.

But those have all been rejected by the so-called Christian nations of the world, and they have accepted the pagan substitutes:

• Sunday, instead of Sabbath, which then is Baal worship, because Baal was the sun god.
• Lord's Supper, Communion, or Eucharist, whichever one you want to name it, takes them away from God.
• Occult holidays of this world cuts them off from God, and they don't know what God is doing or what His plan is. And yet they say, 'Oh let's bring Christ back into Christmas.' Never was there. And all of the other pagan holidays.

So if you don't have the book Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? be sure and order it. We'll send it to you at no cost. So those are lying words. Now after you hear the message, v 5: "'For if you will thoroughly amend your ways and your doings… [Quit lying, cheating, stealing. Quit bowing down to idols and all those things we'll see here in just a minute.] …if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; If you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt; Then I will cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know; And then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name… [Where God put His presence and blessed it.] …and say, "We are delivered to do all these abominations"?.... ['We don't have to follow what God says.' And today it's even more so, because now we have the New Testament and we have the Old Testament, but what do most people say? 'Oh, we don't have to follow anything in the Old Testament. That's already been fulfilled.' And they follow in the same sins as the children of Israel did back then.] )Now notice what is more obnoxious to God, v 10): …And then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, "We are delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it," says the LORD'" (vs 5-11).

What did Jesus do when He came into the temple? He made a scourge of cords and chased out all the moneychangers and said, 'Do not make this house a house of merchandise. It's to be called a house of prayer for all nations.' Now God wants you to learn a lesson. You don't have to go to Shiloh, but you can go to any past civilization and see the destruction of those civilizations which collapsed at their very heights—be it Greece, be it Egypt, be it Rome, be it the southeast Asia—because God judges all the nations equally.

"'But now go to My place which was in Shiloh, where I set My name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of My people Israel…. [You can examine any country, any nation, because God judges all of them.] …And now because you have done all these works,' says the LORD, 'and I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking… [That is through the prophets.] …but you did not hear; and I called you, but you did not answer; Therefore I will do to this house, which is called by My name, in which you trust, and to the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of My sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim'" (vs 12-15).

While there is a chance to repent, God expects us to repent:

• As a nation and a people, minimum to the letter of the law.
• To His Church and to His people, to repent and really establish your relationship with God because in this time we're living—in the Laodicean era—without a doubt!

Now notice, there comes a time of no return, because it says, 'call upon God while He is near.' Notice what it says here. You never ever, ever want to reach this point, but, I think, rapidly the modern descendants of the ten tribes of Israel are reaching this point. "'Therefore do not pray for this people, nor lift up cry nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you'" (v 16). And then you read the rest of it and what is it that they do? They're keeping Easter, they're making cakes to the queen of heaven, and the whole family is involved in it, right? And God says that's an abomination.

Let's come over here to Jeremiah 8:1. Now because of that, and because they like to adorn the tombs of the kings and the prophets and the priests and all of that, because they have a covenant with death: "'At that time,' says the LORD, 'they shall bring out the bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of its rulers, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the people of Jerusalem, out of their graves…. [That is when the enemy comes and invades; it's going to desecrate all of that.] …And they shall spread them before the sun, and the moon, and all the host of the heavens, whom they have loved and whom they have served, and after whom they have walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have worshipped. They shall not be gathered nor buried; they shall be as dung on the face of the earth. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all the rest of those who remain of this evil family, who remain in all the places where I have driven them,' says the LORD of hosts. 'And you shall say to them, "Thus says the LORD; 'Shall they fall and not arise? Shall one turn away and not repent?.... [You can't have just good intentions, you have to have actions. And action in this case is repentance.] …Why has this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a never-ending backsliding? They hold fast to deceit; they refuse to repent'"'" (vs 1-5).

And that's where we are. Next time you watch a basketball game or football game, think about it. What if all of a sudden right during half time the music stopped, everything was shut down, and a man stood out there in the middle of the field or the middle of the basketball court and said, 'Every one of you up here I want you to get on your knees and repent to God.' You'd probably get soda cans, and cups, and bottles, and everything thrown at you because you're interrupting their fun. They refuse to repent.

"'"'I listened and heard, but they did not speak right; no man repented of his wickedness, saying, "What have I done?"… [Or we could put it today, 'who are you to judge me, who are you to tell me what to do?'] …Everyone turned in their own courses, as the horse rushes into the battle…. [That's quite descriptive, isn't it? Not only stubborn, but galloping headlong to destruction.] …Yea, the stork in heaven knows her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane and the swallow watch the time of their migration; but my people do not know the judgment of the LORD…. [They don't understand it. Why would God do this?] …How do you say, "We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us"? Lo, certainly the lying pen of the scribes has written falsely. The wise men are ashamed, they are terrified, and are captured. Lo, they have turned away from the Word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them?.... [They turned away from it, left it far behind. You don't find it in education today. So here's what God is going to do] …Therefore I will give their wives to others, and their fields to those who shall inherit them, for everyone from the least even to the greatest is given unto covetousness. From the prophet even to the priest everyone deals falsely…. [Because of that you know the judgment is coming and it's not going to be like it says in Ezekiel 13 that you're going to 'dob with un-tempered mortar or whitewash it.' You can make the ugliest thing look pretty good if you have some whitewash to put on it, but does that really change it? No, indeed.] …For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, saying, 'Peace, peace;' when there is no peace'"'" (vs 6-11).

Now I want you to think about all the illegal activities that are going on, drugs, adultery, fornication, abortion, lying, cheating, stealing, all of the things that were done with the economic collapse that we have had, of lying and cheating and taking people's money. Verse 12: "Were they ashamed when they had committed an abomination?... [What did you see with Bernie Madoff? He just ignored everybody, right, when you saw after he was arrested?] …No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush; therefore they shall fall among those who fall; in the time of their visitation they shall be cast down,' says the LORD. 'I will utterly consume them,' says the LORD; 'there shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; and the things that I have given them shall pass away from them'" (vs 12-13). That's what God says.

Let's come to Jeremiah 9—here's what Jeremiah saw, here's how he felt when he saw all of this because, you see, he understood the righteousness of God. He understood the mercy and patience of God and he tried to tell them. He tried to warn them and what did they want to do? Kill him, they attempted it many times. The closest they came to it was when they threw him in the sewer and he was in muck, up to how far. He was there, 'Oh, God, is this the end?' No, he was saved. But here's how he felt when he looked and saw all of it. Jeremiah 9:1: "Oh, that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!" Just apply that to this: look at all of the murders and sins and accidents and shedding of blood that takes place; look at all the lying and cheating and stealing that takes place—if you could be at one point in a moment of time and see it all. Look at all of the abortions that take place and all of that killing that goes on. And now we have a president who believes in infanticide. That's going to be a judgment against the nation. So you'd weep, too, just like that.

Verse 2: "Oh, that I had in the wilderness a lodging place for traveling men, that I might leave my people and go away from them!.... [Get me some relief.] …For they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 'And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. But they are not valiant for the truth on the earth; for they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,' says the LORD…. [Just multiplied, one on top of the other, over and over and over. It gets so bad, it says:] …'Everyone beware of his neighbor, and do not trust any brother!.… [Isn't that something?] …For every brother will supplant his neighbor, and will walk with slanders. And everyone will deceive his neighbor and will not speak the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and they weary themselves to commit iniquity'" (vs 2-5).

I have yet to see that special report To Lie. I don't know if it's a movie or a special report, but the sum of it is this. The one who did the video and the report said that in interviewing people, just the average person wherever you are, he found that they told three lies in ten minutes. Cannot tell the truth. "'Weary themselves to tell lies; they bend their tongues like their bow for lies. They are not valiant for the truth; they go from evil to evil, and they do not know Me,' says the Lord." [paraphrased] Amazing, isn't it?

Verse 6, what happens then? "'Your dwelling is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know Me,' says the LORD." Because they have a compact or a covenant with death, so here's what God says He will do, and He did it. Look back in history and see it. When you see all of these archeological excavations over in the so-called holy land around Jerusalem and in those areas, it verifies what God has done here.

Verse 11: "'And I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins, a den of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah desolation, without a living soul.' Who is the wise man who may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD has spoken, that he may declare it? Why does the land perish and burn up like a wilderness, so that none passes through? And the LORD says, 'Because they have forsaken My law which I set before them, and have not obeyed My voice, and have not walked in it. But they have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them'" (vs 11-14).

Now we're reading some pretty heavy words here, pretty tough things that are going to happen. I know someone is going to say, 'Oh, that's gloom and doom, I don't want to hear it.' Just like the people said there, 'Jeremiah must be nuts.' Do you want to go along blindly and then when it does come you say, 'What happened, how did that happen, why did it happen?' Or is this not something to give you strength? To be forewarned is forearmed. A lot of people are wondering, 'Well, what's happening?' And they don't understand it's God's correction.

But there was a report that came out which was quite interesting. It said, when things get tough, people seek God. Now, do they seek God to get a little relief so they can continue in what they were doing? Or do they seek God to amend their ways, to repent? What is it? Ask yourself this question, how much catastrophe has to happen in your life and around you, so that God will get your attention and you will repent? That's the question everybody needs to ask themselves.

Let's come to Jeremiah 14:10: "Thus says the LORD to this people; 'Even so they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and visit their sins.' Then the LORD said to me, 'Do not pray for this people for good…. [Second time He said don't pray for them. So there comes a point that God has to execute His judgment and He told Jeremiah, 'Don't pray for them.'] …When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and a grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the plague'…. [Those are harsh words.] …Then I said, 'Ah, O Lord God! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, "You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you true peace in this place"'" (vs 10-13).

Now they don't want to face the truth. They don't want to rock the boat, so God is going to shake the land. "And the LORD said to me, 'The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart'" (v 14). So as I mentioned earlier, turn on your religious channel on Sunday and just look at some of these religious programs. See how many are really warning the people. I'm sure you may find one or two that are, but what do most of them give? Nice platitudes and nice stories, and humanism to overcome your human faults, rather than repentance to God from the heart, and 'let's everybody now meet on the Sabbath instead of Sunday.'

"Therefore the LORD says this concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, and I did not send them, yet they say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land—By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed'" (v 15). And remember we can have famine very quickly here. We all are dependent on the grocery store, are we not? Even if you had a lot of supplies, how long would you last? Remember, famine starts setting in after about three or four days. And about the third and fourth day people get desperate and will look and seek and find out where they can get it and take it and rob and steal and kill to have it.

Verse 16: "'And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, neither them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their own wickedness upon them.'" So there it is. Now what I want you to do is read the whole book of Jeremiah. I've said that several times before, but if you read it, it will put you in awe of God and maybe help you also to repent.

Let's come to Jeremiah 23:25. God says: "I have heard what the prophets said, who prophesy lies in My name, saying, 'I have dreamed, I have dreamed'…. ['Well, the Lord spoke to me.'] …How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets who prophesy lies and who are prophets of the deceit of their own heart? They scheme to cause My people to forget My name by their dreams, which they tell, each one to his neighbor, as their fathers have forgotten My name for Baal. The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream. And he who has My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully…. [Quite a challenge, isn't it? That's what has to be done. Speak the Word of God faithfully. That's direct to all teachers and if you think you're a prophet, you better put the shoe on and wear it, instead of having your own vain false interpretations and things.] …What is the chaff to the wheat?' says the LORD. 'Is not My Word like a fire?' says the LORD; 'and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets who steal My words each one from his neighbor…. [Oh yes, they use parts of the Bible here, parts of the Bible there, and they steal God's Words, so they sound like they're from God. But if they do not keep the Sabbath and the Passover and the Holy Days, God did not send them.] …Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams and tell them, and cause My people to go astray by their lies and their wantonness. Yet I did not send them nor command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,' says the LORD" (vs 25-32). Quite an indictment, isn't it?

Let's come back to Isaiah 28:14, where we started in the first message. "Therefore hear the Word of the LORD, you scornful men who rule this people in Jerusalem. Because you have said, 'We have made a covenant with death, and we have made an agreement with the grave; when the overwhelming rod shall pass through, it shall not come to us; for we have made lies our refuge, and we have hidden ourselves under falsehood'…. [that's going to change:] …Therefore, thus says the Lord God, 'Behold, I place in Zion a Stone for a foundation, a tried Stone, a precious Cornerstone, a sure Foundation; he who believes shall not be ashamed. Also I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be annulled…. [That's going to take place mainly in the second resurrection, beginning at the return of Christ and then all the way down through the millennium, but for those who have died that's when God will do it.] …And your covenant with death shall be annulled, and your agreement with the grave shall not stand; when the overwhelming scourge shall pass through, then you shall be beaten down. As often as it passes through, it shall take you; for morning by morning it shall pass over, by day and by night; and it shall be only sheer terror to understand the message'" (vs 14-19).

So God shows that out of this, it's all going to come to an end. Living in the end of the age, and we always thought, 'Oh, good, we're going to live and see the return of Jesus Christ,' and we never really understood the profound, terrible events that are going to take place, though we read it in the Bible many times, right? Yes. So they will have an opportunity to repent and God will heal them. As He said in there in Jeremiah 31, 'I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah after those days.'

Now what about those who do not repent? Let's come back here to Revelation 21. Let's see what their fate will be. Now there will be some who won't repent, so let's read it. This is when the new heaven and earth is going to be. God's going to wipe away all tears. God is going to make all things new, (Rev. 21:5). Then He gives this promise. This is what we need to be doing now, while there is time, and there is a space of repentance and opportunity to do it; we need to do so, because He says, v. 6: "And He said to me, 'It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the one who thirsts, I will give freely of the fountain of the water of life…. [So we have to hunger and thirst after God's way; hunger and thirst after His Word.] …The one who overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be My son…. [For those who don't repent] …But the cowardly, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone; which is the second death'" (vs 6-8). And the second death is eternal death. No resurrection from that death.

So we have set before us, what are we going to choose? The covenant of life, through Jesus Christ Who is the way, the truth, and the life? Or the covenant death, through lies and deceit, as spawned by Satan the devil? The choice is before us.

Scriptural References:

• Psalm 36:1-4
• Psalm 50:16-22
• Psalm 52:1-8
• Psalm 10:1-18
• Isaiah 5: 1-30
• Isaiah 43: 21-24
• Jeremiah 7:1-16
• Jeremiah 8:1-13
• Jeremiah 9:1-6, 11-14
• Jeremiah 14:10-16
• Jeremiah 23:25-32
• Isaiah 28:14-19
• Revelation 21:6-8

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Ezekiel 13
• Jeremiah 31

Also referenced:

Books:

• Josephus
• Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? by Fred R. Coulter

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 6-12-09
Formatted: bo: 6/17/09