The Mystery of Lawlessness is Working #1

Fred R. Coulter—May 23, 2009

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The mystery of lawlessness is working overtime! What do I mean by that? You look at what the Bible says concerning God's way, God's Truth, and His righteousness, and then compare that with the words of Jesus when He was talking about the world.

So let's come here to Matthew 24 and let's see what Jesus said. Let's examine what is happening today and you're going to see some very important things. I want you to tie that in with the sermon that I've also given recently that God judges the nations. And the nations receive the ruler that they have because of the general percentage of sin and lawlessness vs the percentage of those who try to be righteous.

Let's look at a Scripture we read how many, many, many, many times. We are going to see—and we will see it over and over and over again. The reason we have such an absolutely lawless government, which decides which laws they want by emotion, which companies they will take over by emotion, and by determination to destroy what has been built. And that is the consequences of sin of the general population of America.

We have been inundated with false religion—correct? And as we all know, Protestantism is right now coming apart because of its sins. Catholicism is absolutely ungodly from top to bottom through and through, and all of the other religions that are here. Especially as I have mentioned time and again, but I need to mention it here now, the sex-sins of the people; and being weakened with pornography, with sex, with homosexuality, with gambling, with lying, with cheating, and all of those sins run rampant in the country. That's to say nothing of robbery and murder and drugs, and all of those things in addition to it.

So you start mounting up this mountain of sin, and you end up with a great deal of lawlessness. Now what happens when you have a great deal of lawlessness? Those who want to keep the law are denied keeping the law. So how did we get this way? Let's read a few Scriptures and then we'll answer the question, how did we get this way.

Matthew 24:8: "Now all these things are the beginning of sorrows…. [And this is the time in which we are living. Do you not mourn and are sorrowful for the things that go on? Yes, to say nothing—in addition to all those sins that I've mentioned—of the weather, the drought, and the hoax of global warming being pushed down upon us, etc.] …Then shall they deliver you up to affliction… [That is happening in many places in the world, for those who profess Christianity. It is coming closer and closer to us. I'll show that in just a minute.] …and shall kill you; and you shall be hated by all nations for My name's sake" (vs 8-9).

Now we're living in a time when the name Jesus Christ is hated more and more by a greater and greater number of people—is that not true? Yes, indeed. Now, what happens when that occurs? Verse 10: "And then shall many be led into sin… [Remember what happened in the teenage population after the sin of President Bill Clinton and his Monica Lewinsky? There was an absolute flood of oral-sex behavior by teenage girls, and it's since degenerated even more.] …led into sin… [How are they led into sin? Because those who are supposed to teach the Word of God don't understand it and don't preach the Truth. Because the general society has rejected God—out of government, out of education—and education teaches them sin and gives license for all kinds of sexual sins, plus narcissistic behavior. That is really highlighted today with the cell phone and texting. You have an absolute dumb, weakened population of youth whose goal in life is: sex, pleasure, texting, cell phoning. You also have a great number of it with adults as you go up the scale in age.

Now what happens here?: "…and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another… [And that's certainly true—isn't it? You can be betrayed by a silent witness you never hear or see, by that witness picking up the phone and accusing you of things that are not true.] …And many false prophets shall arise, and shall deceive many… [Of course, that's self-evident, they are everywhere. What does this produce?] …And because lawlessness shall be multiplied, the love of many shall grow cold" (vs 10-12).

Now lawlessness—let's examine this about lawlessness and let's see how we got to this predicament. Now I wrote of it in the book Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? And if you do not have this book, I suggest that you get it, because this is the most vital book you are going to need in understanding where we are, because we are in an occult society—we are no longer Christian. Anyone who says we are Christian, has it absolutely wrong. Here's what I wrote in the preface:

A carefully crafted worldview being disseminated in western society today is one which is not founded on the moral absolutes of yesteryear—a time when most people agreed on what was right and what was wrong, what was good and what was evil, who was wicked and who was righteous, and which things were true and which things were false. Instead, this new mind-set tenaciously maintains that individuals must "consider" all the different religious and lifestyle alternatives of a culturally diverse world, accepting all beliefs and customs as equal and valid (with the exception of the Christian viewpoint, which is rejected with hostility and disdain)…. (Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days—Which? pg. v).

Now let me read you a headline here. This just happened on May 14. When Conscience is Criminalized.

A young woman Julea Ward, who was a graduate student at Eastern Michigan University, was kicked out for her religious beliefs, because she was studying to be a psychological counselor. Psychological counselors must, by all means, accept all diverse and perverse sexual behavior. She was asked to counsel a homosexual. She was counseling the homosexual but she would not, as dictated.

The thing we need to understand about lawlessness is this (as we will see in a little bit): they replace the Truth—the right; the good—with their evil; saying that evil is good. So when you have a lawless society, it doesn't mean you have no law—that is anarchy; that's another case. What you have is a substitute of the laws of the Bible, which then brought into the civil society, are called 'moral principles.' You have those completely changed. The whole extreme liberal George Soros-spawned society that we have today, they put law after law on the books and the current ones are thought-police laws. In other words, you can no longer hold an opinion contrary to the lawless opinion enacted by these laws. So here was this young woman [who] wrote a letter to Susan M. Drugger, Education, Department of Leadership and Counseling, in the Michigan Board of Counselors:

I'm writing this letter for several reasons. The first reason is to request a formal hearing, etc. etc…. [Well, those legal firms are already behind her.] …But the accuser says, alleges, that in refusing to counsel individuals regarding their homosexual behavior is part of practicum, or the part of the practice of counseling. I am discriminating against persons based on sexual orientation. The only thing I am unwilling to do is to validate or affirm homosexual behavior due to my religious beliefs.

Now, she's been hated because of that. She has been let go and persecuted, and made a public example of. She says:

As to my religious ideologies, I am a Christian, and rely on the Bible as a source of my beliefs. I am morally obligated to adhere to these fundamental teachings of Christian faith and express the Christian point of view.

And I might add here, before I continue, that in counseling a homosexual, perhaps his homosexual behavior or her homosexual behavior are at the root and core of the mental problems that they have. And so to affirm that as acceptable is completely contrary to the Word of God.

Sometimes when I do so, I was told that I had to conform to the counseling department and the profession's affirming point of view regarding homosexual behavior and/or told that my religious beliefs were incompatible with the counseling department and profession. Dr. Galloway, she declared that they advocated for everyone, including homosexuals, and that they would try to weed out those who were not on the same page.

In other words, now you can't even be a counselor if you believe in the Bible and believe in God and try and help someone out of their lawless position. So you see, the tables are totally turned. That's what happens in a lawless society. The laws of God have been replaced by the laws of human beings, inspired by Satan the devil.

The counseling department made it clear that if we are counseling a person regarding their homosexual behavior, we must affirm and validate that behavior…. [This is her letter and beginning of her lawsuit.] …Requiring me to affirm and validate homosexual behavior forces me to violate my religious beliefs and conscience. I would avoid violating my religious beliefs by being forced to advocate a point of view about homosexual behavior I disagree with.

So if she said, 'Well, that's okay. Let's go on with our counseling,' when that may be the heart and core of the whole thing.

The department has suspended me from practice because of my religious beliefs and has threatened to prohibit me from graduating with a master's degree in counseling.

Many such things are out there just like this. So there's currently a lawsuit going on, but where will it end? You must be tolerant of every sin. You must understand every deviant behavior.

Back to the preface in Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days–Which?, pg. v:

The inevitable outcome of this approach is a world where it is believed there is no absolute truth, or if there is, it cannot be known. The individual becomes his own god…

So what are we? Right back at the Garden of Eden and the first philosophy of Satan the devil 'you can become God apart from the true God.' And in thus doing:

…creating his own "reality"—and "truth" is whatever one wants or imagines it to be.

A lot of homosexuals say, 'God created me that way, so you must accept me.' But where in the Bible can you find that God did that? Not true. That is what they believe to justify what they are doing.

This pervasive "postmodern thinking," as it is called, has gone mainstream in just one generation.

So what does it do? It turns the world upside down. Here are the values held by the majority of people today:

There is no right or wrong, only conditional responses.
The collective good or the group is more important than the individual.
Consensus is more important than principle.
Flexibility is more important than accomplishment.
Nothing is permanent except change.
All ethics are situational; there are no moral absolutes.
There are no perpetrators, only victims. (OH, GHD, pg. vii)

So that's where we are; and it's all personified in America in the political left and the pervasive political left religious leaders. So the world is upside down today. People have rejected God's Truth and God has given them over to their own delusions. Truth, especially the Truth of God, has been branded as error and lies. Error and lies have been packaged as truth—new truth and new understanding.

Here's one you need to well remember:

When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations… (OH, GH, pg. viii)

This is what is happened in the educational system at kindergarten right on through graduate-school, and it is controlled by all the educational leaders who do not believe in God, who have no moral principles, whose relative truth of anything they believe is the concoction of their own mind—and they believe it. So when that happens over generations, which it has:

…the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic,'

and should be fired, and should be put in jail, and should be hauled before the court, and should be fined, and should be stripped of everything that he owns. That's where it's coming to.

So then, you might ask the question, 'What do Occult Holidays or God's Holy Days have to do with this?' Everything!—because if you don't have this book, and have read it and understand what is in it, you don't know what on earth is going on in the world today; and you don't know where it's headed. I won't take the time to read it here, but I'm going to read it and put on this CD, and I'll have much more to say about that when I do.

A woman in South Africa wrote me and told me what's happening. This nation [U.S.] is headed exactly where South Africa is going right now—down the tubes and into slavery.

Let's come to 2-Thessalonians. The mystery of lawlessness is not confined to religion. The mystery of lawlessness also includes politics, education, and the whole occult society that we are living in—and in the grips in—has constituted every person doing what is right in his own eyes. Remember the Proverb that says what? 'There is a way that seems right to man; the ends thereof are death.'It also says, 'Everyone is just in his own eyes.' Meaning: they convince themselves that they're right. They convince themselves that it's okay. They convince themselves that it's good.

I recently had to discuss some things with a young man who knew better, who knew the Truth, went out and played around, went against the laws of God, got his girlfriend pregnant, and now his life is all upside down. That's pretty typical. That's part of the mystery of lawlessness that permeates this society. Paul wrote here, not only concerning the one who is going to be the antichrist, but I want to come to 2-Thessalonians 2:7, just the first part: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already working…"

Now let's see how that is manifested. We know here it's manifested in the antichrist. It's already working; and this antichrist is where the present society, the world society, is coming. It's coming to the time when he can come to the fore, coming to the time when there will be a temple that the Jews will build, and he will go into that temple to defy God and to say he is God.

Let's come back to Revelation 17:1, because, yes, it does all start with the religion, but what we are going to see, it must have the cooperation of the government and business. So here's how it's done. "And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, 'Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters'"

We know [from] v 15 that is people, multitudes, nations, and languages. So this is a worldwide thing. Now the whore is the Babylonian religious system, personified also in the Catholic Church, but every religion in the world is part of this Babylonian system, as we will see. That includes Catholics, Protestants, Moslems, Orthodox, Hindus, Buddhists, Animists, etc., because it says 'people, multitudes, nations, and languages'—right?

Notice v 2: "'With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication…. [So you've got the politicians involved. You have the governmental structure involved—don't you? And do we not now have evil laws enacted even in the Congress of the United States and signed by the President and affirmed by the Supreme Court, which are contrary to the laws of God? Yes.] (Notice what happens): …and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication'"

Now, if you are drunk you don't know what you're doing, and the fornication includes not only sexual behavior, but I'll read you something (here in just a minute) shocking about sexual behavior, just a little speck from the tip of an iceberg. But it includes wrong government, wrong education, because it leads people away from God. It leads people from moral behavior to immoral behavior.

"Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast that had seven heads, and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy" (v 3). Now those are the civil governments, right there, controlled by what? The false Babylonian religion and it goes all the way back to the Tower of Babel; and the Tower of Babel goes back before the Flood; and before the Flood goes all the way back to Cain who was the first lawless one to come and exchange a law of God for his own idea. And God told him it was sin.

"And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones; and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; and across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH…. [Now notice who she persecutes. Notice how this ties right in with Matt. 24, that they're going to hate you, they're going to kill you, they're going to drag you out and try and destroy you.] …And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And after seeing her I wondered with great amazement" (vs 4-6).

So we won't go into all the technical details there. I want to read you from the San Jose Mercury News, May 21, 2009. I think this epitomizes the immoral laws, the pedophilia behavior of the Roman Catholic Church, and also all of the other religions of the world have very similar problems. That's why it's called 'abominations and filthiness of the earth.'

Boys and girls in Ireland were beaten, sexually abused, emotional terrorized for decades in workhouse-style schools run by the Roman Catholic Church…

While I'm reading this, think how many billions they paid out for pedophilia compensation here in the United States. And also remember this, that in Catholic countries they go by canon law and rarely can they ever get anything into court to sue the officials.

…where a culture of silence protected victimizers rather than the children in their care, according to a long-awaited report. More than a half-century…

Fifty years! Now if it's been this recent fifty years, what on earth was it like for the hundreds of years before then?

…of chronic, excessive and arbitrary punishment created a climate of fear in which students at schools administered by Catholic religious orders lived with daily terror of not knowing where the next beating was coming from.

One word on orphanages: They had those to take care of a good number, not necessarily all, because many of the children were killed who were born to nuns.

Through it all, the report said, government and inspectors failed to stop what was going on. The neglect came despite attempts by some individuals to bring their abusers to account in an effort to lesson the trauma that still haunts many victims today. These are some of the findings of the 2,000-page report which was unveiled in Dublin, Ireland, on Wednesday, after a nine-year investigation by Ireland's Commission on inquiry into child abuse. Drawing on the testimony of nearly two-thousand witnesses, men and women who attended more than two-hundred Catholic-run schools from the '30s to the '90s, the commission painted a damning picture of a church engaged too often in covering up the misdeeds, instead of rooting out their perpetrators. The panel found sexual molestation was endemic, committed by offenders who were then transferred to other institutions, rather than dismissed or turned over to authorities. Many victims are angry that the report includes no names of alleged offenders, an omission that one of the religious orders under investigation fought for and won in court.

So be sure when the Catholics are in control, and they nearly are in America now, you cannot count on very much justice.

Now let's see how God looks at it here in Revelation 18:1, so that we understand that lawlessness does not apply just to law of the land. It applies to business practices. It applies to individual behavior. Lawlessness is rampant in our food supply, etc. "And after these things I saw an angel descending from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because all nations…'" (vs 1-3).

So this is not to pick on any individual or church or organization—all. And unless you find those churches and organizations which follow the Bible, you can never be guaranteed how much of the Truth you're really going to be given. You can be guaranteed that in this lawless, occult society—which is coming swiftly down upon America—that Christianity is a number one target in their sights. So we have to ask the question, are we going to stand for the Truth, or are we going to roll over and be politically correct?

What did this woman do? She stood for the Truth. And yet what have people been told in the church? 'Oh, now, you can't say anything, especially against homosexuals. They'll come after you.' Look at how they're intimated on Fox News. I was shocked. Glenn Beck who's supposed to be the hero and savior of America today through 9-12, I heard him say yesterday, 'Oh, hooray, the independent voters are outnumbering all the rest. And I told you two years ago this would happen, hooray, hooray, hooray.' But he said, which guarantees a catastrophic end of what he's doing, that 'what people do in the privacy of their own bedroom is not the business of the state.' But, it is the business of God and it is the business of the state because what they're doing in their bedrooms now comes on the street, just like it is right here, 'you must support us.'

Remember what happened when the angels went in to rescue Lot and his family from Sodom? What did they do? They all came in a mob. They looked at the angels and thought, 'Oh, these are new men—fresh flesh for us.' They rioted right out at the front of Lot's house and the angels had to pull Lot back in. To show you even how mixed up Lot's thinking was, what did he do? He offered his two daughters to them and they refused. So it does matter; it does come into the society. Not only did God destroy those in Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, after the angels made those men blind. And in order to bring the proper judgment of God upon Sodom and Gomorrah, those two angels stayed out and watched all the behavior that night, because God had promised that if there were ten righteous people He would not destroy them—couldn't find them! So it does affect it. You need to understand that.

"'Because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her… [Ever heard of the Club of Rome, ever heard of the Treaty of Rome? That's where everything post World War II has come out to where now we are forming the New World Order. And guess who's right behind it? Roman Catholic Church and all the other religions of the world.] (Now notice): …and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury'" (v 3). These are all the major corporations in the world today. By going along, by getting along, by making profits; nothing wrong with making profits, but what have they done?

Let's just start with lawlessness in the food supply. Ninety-percent of what you buy on the shelves of processed food is composed of genetically-modified food which is lawlessness. You're changing the way that God created it; they have additives, they have chemicals in it. It destroys the health. Look at the medical profession: likewise, they don't heal they just give drugs. You're lucky if you overcome and get well.

Look at the educational system, from top to bottom. Look at the private lives of people who buy all their goods and all their services and things. So God gives a command. Here's what it has to be for us and for people that God is going to call: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, My people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (vs 4-5). So it is coming. It is going to come. That's a prophecy of how it's going to be here.

Let's look at how this kind of behavior then, is manifested with individuals and groups. Let's come to 2-Timothy 3:1 (pg 1,222): "Know this also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come; for men will be lovers of self…" Narcissism is the number one problem. The report on Barack Obama: the number one narcissist. What is narcissism? Narcissism is where you're all self-centered on what you think, what you do, how you act, how you behave, and you view things skewed through your terrible, self-centered thinking:

• you're vaunted
• you're puffed up
• you're arrogant
• you're selfish
• you're self-serving
• you're lying
• you're cheating
• you're stealing

because everything is for the love of self—men and women.

What else does it say? "…lovers of money…" Money, money, money, yes, indeed! So go back over the sermon that I gave, It's Not the Economy Stupid, It's God. What's happening? Well, I need to give a sermon on it, but do you know what's happening? We're going broke faster than you can even figure. The United Kingdom is about ready to totally collapse; and yet we have an administration that thinks it can spend trillions and trillions and trillions of dollars, that don't exist, by borrowing them—which they cannot do, so they have to print it. So I'll have to give a sermon on this.

Do you know who's filling in the vacuum? China. Remember, I don't know if you remember the sermon, but I do. I gave a sermon, The Rise of China. I said they're not going to do it by war; they're going to do it by business and then war. You see, when you look at Rev. 9 and the armies of the east, the kings of the east, 200-million, you've got to have a rich China, which it is becoming. You have to have a prosperous, whole Southeast Asia, which is coming. Now the Chinese are filling in the vacuum and they are going into Zimbabwe, South Africa and Nigeria, and they are in effect re-colonizing to fill the vacuum that the British left. So isn't that interesting? Since God took away the British Empire and the Commonwealth is dissolving right under its feet, the Chinese are there with their money.

Let's continue here, v 2: "…braggarts… [Notice, all of this is self-centered.] …proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection" (vs 2-3).

Hold your place here and come to Romans 1. Let's see how this 'without natural affection' affects both men and women, and even little girls. There was an eleven-year-old in Argentina who gave birth to a baby, wrapped it up and threw it out in a pasture to die, but a dog—a dog!—went out and dragged that baby in by pulling the blanket with his teeth, and brought it in where her puppy brood was. That's how they discovered the baby. I think that's quite a testimony to the narcissism and selfishness and stupidity of those who get involved in pre-marital sex.

Romans 1:21: "Because when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful; but they became vain in their own reasons, and their foolish hearts were darkened…. [That is a lawless heart. They don't understand truth, they don't understand righteousness, they only understand fulfilling their own pleasures and emotions and self-importance and narcissism.] …While professing themselves to be the wise ones, they became fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed creatures, and creeping things. For this cause, God also abandoned them to uncleanness through the lusts of their hearts, to disgrace their own bodies between themselves" (vs 21-24).

What is the number one problem that takes people down over and over and over and over again, which is promoted as good, as acceptable, and as the thing to do? That is immoral sex! That's why it is called fornication, the mystery of lawlessness; because Satan knows that if you can capture the minds of people with illicit sex, you can take them down and make them agree to almost anything. Then you throw out God.

Verse 25: "Who exchanged the Truth of God for the lie; and they worshiped and served the created thing more than the one Who is Creator, Who is blessed into the ages." They basically worship themselves, their minds, their ideas, which then is their ideology, and their sexual practices, and that nails Hollywood right on the head—the most evil, corrupt place on earth.

Verse 26: "For this cause, God abandoned them to disgraceful passions; for even their women changed the natural use of sex into that which is contrary to nature; and in the same manner also the men, having left the natural use of sex with the woman, were inflamed in their lustful passions toward one another—men with men shamelessly committing lewd acts, and receiving back within themselves a fitting penalty for their error" (vs 26-27). So that's what happens.

Now come back here to 2-Timothy 3. That's where we are in the society.

(go to track #2)

2-Timothy 3:3: "…implacable… [That means you can't reason and deal with them. They are adamant. That describes all of these radical movements that move in and take over. Implacable! That describes the homosexual movement enforcing so-called 'gay'—which it's not; it's anything but 'gay'—marriage, etc. ] …slanderers… [If you believe in the Truth, or they don't like you, they're going to slander in the press, slander you on television, slander you in every way that they can.] …without self-control… [That's what we have rampant. People can't control themselves. They are addicted to drugs; they are addicted to television; they are addicted to gambling; they are addicted to pornography; they are addicted to whatever else their addictions are.] …savage… [You just wait and see when. It's going to happen! It's going to be that way! Now this is not the talk-show host Michael Savage. This is savage in their behavior. Look at what they're doing to each other—killings, destroying.] …despisers of those who are good… [That's where we sit, hated, like we read in Matt. 24.] …betrayers, reckless, egotistical … [That's another word for narcissistic.] …lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God" (vs 3-4). That is sure true.

Far more people go to watch sports on Sunday than go to church, without a doubt. One way to get people hooked on doing things is to get them hooked on sports and following their team and buying all their paraphernalia and all of this sort of thing. Now here's the irony of it. They say, 'Well, we're good Christian people.' Nearly ninety-percent of people say they believe in God.

Notice he says here, v 5: "Having an outward appearance of Godliness… [And that's why God hates religion.] …but denying the power of true Godliness…. [They won't keep the commandments of God. They will laugh in your face, then just go on doing what they want to do. But here's what Paul told Timothy:] …But as for you, turn away from all these."

Don't get involved in any of that. Always remember this: none of these things that are listed here in 2-Tim. 3, that we have covered—or the other things that we've covered up to this point—remember this for sure: You cannot solve spiritual problems with political means or religious band-aids, you must have the Truth. There must be repentance! When God says, 'Come out her my people,' He is commanding them to repent—repent of their sins. So we might all ask ourselves, what are our sins? Are we involved in this? Especially those who may be hearing some of these things for the very first time:

• What is your life like?
• How have you turned your back on God?
• How have you gone down the road of self-indulgence and narcissism and serving your own self and your own pleasures?
• What are you going to do about it?

God commands you to repent!
Verse 6: "For from men such as these come those who are worming their way into houses, and are gaining control over empty-headed gullible women given over to various sins, being driven by all kinds of lust…. [That certainly describes the behavior of a great number of people today.] …They are always learning but are never able to come to the knowledge of the Truth" (vs 6-7). Why? Because they reject God and reject His way, that's why! That's where these things come from.

Let's look at some things on how these come about. What happens to the whole society? Let's come back here to Isaiah, the first chapter, and let's see a description of this nation today. That's why it's not going to be repaired by a new president, though he may be conservative, because he's still of this world. The only solution is the Kingdom of God. The only solution begins with you changing your life and repenting, accepting Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, and being baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, and the receiving of the Holy Spirit. That is the only solution, and it must begin on an individual, personal basis.

• It's not going to come about from any movement.
• It's not going to come about from being religious.
• It's not going to come from any Sunday-keeping church.

Those are only band-aids! You need to get right with God yourself, because here is what God says this nation is. A little later I'll read to where we are going.

Isaiah 1:2: "Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the LORD has spoken… [Now when it says the Lord has spoken, you better know that means business; and He calls the heavens as witness. Also remember this, Jesus said, 'Heaven and earth shall perish, but My Word shall not perish.' These are the words that He gave Isaiah before He became Jesus Christ in the flesh, because He was Lord God of the Old Testament.] …'I have reared and brought up children, but they have rebelled against Me.'" By refusing the commandments of God, and that rebellion takes place every Sunday in every church, everywhere in the world—because to keep Sunday is to keep a lie. Your pastors preach lies to you by saying that, 'Oh, now we have the first day of the week.' Lie.

If you don't believe that, read Rome's Challenge to the Protestants, because the ones who instituted in the so-called 'Christian Church' 325-years after Christ by a pagan Roman Emperor Constantine, the institution of Sunday worship upon Christians. It has nothing to do with God, not from God, never has been of God. You read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation and there is not one Scripture which gives the allowance or the enforcement of the first day of the week. Everywhere it enforces the Sabbath. You need to understand that. This is not time for patty-cake, nicey-nice, be-good. This is time of repentance to receive true good from God with His Spirit.

Now He says we are so dumb and stupid and self-centered, that v 3: "'The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master's crib; but Israel does not know Me; My people do not understand.'" And yet God says, 'I created them.' Isn't that amazing?

So Isaiah says, v 4: "Ah, sinful nation, a people burdened with iniquity… [And iniquity is another word for lawlessness. Think of every problem that we have in any country, anywhere in the world, you can focus on wherever you are, and every problem and every ill, and everything comes from breaking the commandments of God. That goes right to the heart and core of other religions rejecting the Truth of the Bible and Christianity rejecting God, by saying, 'The commandments of God have been abolished,' when Jesus said, 'Don't even think that I've come to abolish the law or the prophets, I did not come to abolish.'] …a seed of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the LORD…."

There's a perversity in human nature which is this. 'Let us sin, so that grace may abound. And let us sin, and God bless us in our sins.' No! Sin brings penalty! Sin brings curses! Obedience brings blessing. Probably not very many people could recite by heart the Ten Commandments out of Exo. 20, and that should be burned into your mind, because that will give you a greater moral compass than all the teachings and philosophies you could be involved in and spending twelve years at post-graduate education in some of these mind-altering institutions called universities.

"…They have forsaken the LORD; they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger; they have gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more…. [Now here's the description of our country. Think of it! From the lowest person that is a bum in the streets, or homeless, to the President of the United States in the White House, to the governors of all the fifty states, to all the legislators, large and small, city mayors, city counselors, all of those who belong to various boards, and everything, all the schools from top to bottom, great or small.] …From the sole of the foot even to the top of the head there is no soundness in it" (vs 4-6). It's all coming apart—isn't it?

Furthermore, every solution makes it worse—doesn't it? Why? Because they're all headed in the wrong direction! They're not repenting to God. You need to think about that! "…no soundness in it, only wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; they have not been closed, nor bound up, nor soothed with ointment. Your country is a desolation… [And becoming more and more desolate. And you wait and see, as it says in Deut. 28, the enemy is going to rule over us. It's at the door.] …your cities are burned with fire…. [That will happen.] …Strangers devour your land right in your very presence… [Because they hold the mortgages to your land and to your homes and they will come and claim them sooner or later.] …and it is wasted, as overthrown by strangers…. [Not quite yet, but on its way.] …And the daughter of Zion is left as a booth in a vineyard, like a hut in a garden of cucumbers, like a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left us a very small remnant…" (vs 6-9).

We need to stop here. There is a small remnant of people

• who love God,
• who keep His commandments,
• who believe in salvation by grace,
• who are striving to change and grow and overcome,

but there's another thing that's important that they are doing. They are preparing to develop Godly character, so when Jesus Christ returns, they will become the rulers over this world; because Babylon, the lawless Babylon, is going to fall. And the return of Christ is going to be an awesome, absolutely unbelievable thing that is going to take place. I'll reserve that for another sermon. So the reason that it is not yet as bad as we have fully described here is because of the remnant of those who love God and keep His commandments.

Otherwise, it says: "…we would have been as Sodom; we would have become like Gomorrah…. [Burned to a crisp!] …Hear the Word of the LORD, rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, people of Gomorrah…." (vs 9-10). You better turn to God and turn to His laws and stop all of this nonsense of post-modern thinking where there are no standards, there are no absolutes, there is no truth, and what we think and what we do in our self-centered narcissism, is the most important thing in our lives. Well, God is going to strip it all away. He's going to strip it all away.

Let's look at some more things concerning the wicked. Come to Psalm 1. Let's do some contrasting between what's taking place in the world and how God looks down on the individual man or woman to bless them, if they love Him and keep His commandments. Psalm 1:1: "Blessed… [Now maybe hated by other people in the world, but you're blessed in God's sight.] …is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked… [Don't agree with all of these things; don't go along with them.] …nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seat of the scornful…. [That's the way the world is.] …But his delight is in the law of the LORD…" (vs 1-2).

• Do you delight in the law of the Lord?
• Do you delight in the way of God?
• Do you delight in His commandments?
• Do you love them, or not?

I might suggest that you study all of Psa. 119, every verse very carefully, and you will get a true perspective on the laws, commandments, statutes, and judgments of God.

"…and in His law does he meditate day and night… [Why? Because it's written in his heart and in his mind. That's the Godly character that he or she is developing.] …And he shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water…" (vs 2-3). Regardless of what's going on around you; regardless if it's even planted next to a desert, if you're by the streams of water—which then the streams of water are a type of God's Holy Spirit:

• to lead you
• to guide you
• to give you strength
• to give you understanding.

"…that brings forth its fruit in its season… [And we're always to bring forth the spiritual fruit to God of love, and joy, and peace, and longsuffering, as well as our obedience and commandment-keeping to God.] …and its leaf shall not wither, and all that he does shall prosper" (v 3). And even God says in times of famine He'll provide for those who love Him. Those days are coming.

"The wicked are not so, but they are like chaff which the winds drives away…. [Just driven to and fro; have no moral anchor; have no moral background; believe in nothing. Every little whim of doctrine, every little slight of fashion, every little thought and fad and fantasy that comes along they just go with it. Isn't there a famous saying today, what does it say, how you get along? 'Go with the flow.' Right? Yes. Notice, there's no success in that, because God says:] …Therefore the wicked shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous" (vs 4-5).

Now here's a guarantee, a guarantee, because the Word of God is Truth. God cannot and will not lie, and though this was written by men, do you think God is so impotent and stupid that He can't inspire men to write what He wants them to write? Most people believe that. 'Oh, well, it was written by a man.' Why do they say that? To give them an excuse so they can continue in their sin, rather than listen to it and repent—right? Yes.

"For the LORD knows the way of the righteous… [He knows where they are; the remnant of God. This is who they are, Psa. 1.] …but the way of the wicked shall perish" (v 6) You never have success in sin, period! Whatever temporary profit may come, is doomed to desolation. Never happen!

Let's read Psalm 2:1 and let's look at the world here today. "Why do the nations rage and the people plot in vain?" We can learn a lot from that, too.

Just an injection here, I'm going to give a sermon on the coming world bank again, because it's well on it's way now, and the people plot in vain. 'Oh, we're going to get ourselves out of this.' No, all you're going to do is set yourself up, so when Christ returns, you're going to fight Him.

"The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Christ… [By passing laws of their own devising to outlaw Truth and righteousness and get rid of people like this poor little woman here who was only trying to hold to the religious conviction that she had—get rid of Christ.] …saying, 'Let us break Their bands asunder and cast away Their cords from us.'" (vs 1-3).

Once that they have homosexual marriage, what's to stop the floodgates from opening for every kind of perverse thing? What if people love an animal and want to marry an animal? God has a law against that—doesn't He? Then, what's to stop them from having multiple wives; and let's have polygamy, or multiple sex partners? See! First thing to get you away from God is get you involved in illicit sex—first thing! number one!

"'Let us break Their bands asunder… [Let's apply this to government.] …and cast away Their cords from us'" (vs 3). Let's have laws, which are not conforming to the Bible, when God is the original Lawgiver and Author of law Who made them. The Ten Commandments of God reflect the character of God. 'Let's get rid of that! You can't bring a Bible in school; you can't sing a hymn in school; you can't pray in school; you can't do it in public; you can't do it at a football game.' They, so far, haven't outlawed it in Congress, which is very hypocritical of them, indeed! Nor have they outlawed it at the Supreme Court, but you wait and see, they're going to do all they can to get rid of it. What does God think of this?

"He who sits in the heavens laughs… [Stupid, because a fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' Is that where you are? Are you an atheist or agnostic? God will deal with you, one of these days.] …the LORD scoffs at them" (v 4)—because He knows it isn't going to work. God knows right and wrong. When the world has given itself over to occultism, you need to understand that they have fallen prey to Satan the devil and Satan is deceiving the whole world, in everything that there is. And only those who know God and are holding fast to the Truth and the righteousness of God and the Word of God know, or will know, what is happening and why it is happening. Because the rest of the world is absolutely rebellious—and in rebellion and rejection of God—as Psa. 2 says.

Now we'll go ahead and end it here and pick it up in the next sermon.

Scriptural References:

• Matthew 24:8-12
• 2-Thessalonians 2:7
• Revelation 17:1-6
• Revelation 18:1-5
• 2-Timothy 3:2-3
• Romans 1:21-27
• 2-Timothy 3:3-7
• Isaiah 1:2-10
• Psalm 1:1-6
• Psalm 2:1-4

Scriptures referenced, not quoted:

• Revelation 9
• Exodus 20
• Deuteronomy 28
• Psalm 119

Also referenced:

Sermons:

• It's Not The Economy Stupid—It's God
• The Rise of China

Books:

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

Articles:

• Rome's Challenge to the Protestants
• When Conscience is Criminalized; (San Jose Mercury News, April 21, 2009)

FRC:lp
Transcribed: 6-26-09
Formatted: bo—6/29/09